Food & Wine Galore

I have organized numerous parties before and that involved tasting the food from the caterers. But never have I been invited to do food tasting for weddings. That all changed today.

My friend, Jhie, with hubby in tow, will be coming over this March to celebrate their wedding with their family and friends here in Manila. If I'm not mistaken, she asked the help of our friend, Tina, to do the preparations (venue, caterings, souvenirs, etc.).

Got an FB message from Tina asking me, Nikks, Tabs and Bryce, to represent her at today's tasting. The venue is at Dad's Place in Quezon City. Nikks & I weren't able to attend the previous tasting 'cause of another commitment.

Tabs picked us up at the office and we battled the traffic from Makati to QC. And thanks to the food gods, we reached the place at 5 pm. Perfect timing!

After we got our table, we immediately sampled the appetizers. They have bruschetta, pritson, cocktail salads and quesadilla. The quesadilla is our favorite.

For the main course: we tasted everything. from pork, chicken to beef. They also have pasta. Tabs & Nikks love the lasagna. I enjoyed the fillet mignon in red wine sauce. Would've been better if the food is warm though. I thought the string beans is not a good substitute for asparagus wrapped in bacon.

Then it's dessert time! They have fondue, banana crepe, buko pandan, mango something and coffee something. I didn't like the chocolate used in the fondue. It tastes cheap. The buko pandan ain't fresh anymore so it's yucky. The only thing I like was the mango dessert.

Around 7:30, we wondered why no one was speaking to us. We're extremely full already. It's time to do business.

Then a representative from Hizon's named Crenz approached us. She was busy attending to other customers too. She informed us that she could give freebies (fondue, Tiffany chairs and coffee & tea bar) only for today, if we decide to pay 5K for the reservation. Tabs had to call Bryce to give Jhie a call in the US.

To make the long story short, we grabbed her offer. We left the area with satisfied stomach (thank you so much, Tina & Jhie, for thinking about me when it comes to food tasting. Hehehehe). I even had to return a second time for the fillet mignon chunks. Teehee...

Then it's time for A-A-Alcohol. Remember last time I went to Resort World and I found out about the wine buffet they offer there? Well, it's time to try it out with my friends. I didn't want to drink by myself. Also, we haven't celebrated Tabel's birthday yet so this is a good time.

It took us quite some time to enter the place. There's a big event happening (some fiesta thing) outside so it's hard to get valet parking.

First stop, the restrooms. While waiting for Tabs & Nikks to finish their bizness, I went inside a fragrance store called Art of Scent. I immediately looked for a brand that I haven't tried yet. My Abercrombie & Fitch Fierce and Hollister SoCal are already in need of a backup fragrance.

I grabbed a Bvlgari AQVA perfume and sprayed it on my wrist. I left the place and told my friends what I did. They liked the smell! I decided to get one later. Teehee...

Beurre Blanc didn't have a wine buffet for tonight because of that damn fiesta thing outside. We were so disappointed. We tried to use our charm but the manager just offered us some salmon carpaccio and cake (since we told him it's Tabel's birthday).

After going through the wine menu, we decided to go for Gossips Shiraz, the same wine I had last time.

People watching time. We saw Jose Mari Chan with family leaving some show.

Before we left the place, Tabel got her chocolate cake. It was delish! Happy Birthday again, Tabs!

We joined our friends, Beng & Lani downstairs. We went back to the Art of Scent and I bought my new fragrance--Bvlgari AQVA. Of course, there had to be some picture taking (Lani, again, ang ganda mo dito sa picture na to!

We went back upstairs and looked for a place to continue the fun. New Orleans was our pick.

More people watching time. We saw Tweetie De Leon (still looking fabulous!), Phoemela Baranda, Julia Clarete, Daiana Menezes, Jeremy Marquez and Pops Fernandez. They were all heading to the party place, Republiq. I wanna see this place soon too!

Around 2, it was time to go.

Hookah Night

After a very draining week, it's quite nice to unwind with friends. Am done with my antibiotics so I can get my alcohol fix once more. Wicked!

Beng, Ogz, Rich and I proceeded to a bar called Toyz. This is the closest bar to the office. We ordered a bucket of Gilbey's Premium beer. Love the taste!

Harley arrived a few minoots later. He got himself some Red Horse.

It was Richie's birthday a few days back so we celebrated it tonight. He bought us some sizzling mushrooms, calamares, chicken wings, potato wedges and peanuts to complement our booze. He noticed that it didn't take long before we consumed everything. He joked that we should've gone to Jollibee first.

While chatting, Ogz mentioned Hookah. I told them that I wanna try it. Ogz & Beng have tried it before. We all got excited 'cause there's a hookah bar at Greenbelt.

After Richie took care of the bill (happy birthday again, PapaRizzi!), we proceeded to Bollywood. Unforch, all the pipes were taken. 2 hours of waiting ain't gonna cut it so we checked out Bed Space. This time, we're lucky.

Our booze arrived first in a giant tower. Photo op, of course!

When the hookah was served, we requested for individual mouthpieces. Richie was first. No smoke came. Beng showed him how to do it. Then it was my turn. Inhaled deeply then I blew out the apple-flavored smoke. Mmmmmm....

After my fifth smoke, I began to feel warm and started perspiring profusely. Kept wiping my forehead, neck, chest and back. WTF! I stopped drinking & smoking and took a nap. It was such a weird feeling.

Next thing I knew, Anbby and Ramil already joined the group.

We transferred to a table inside. Beng & Ogz danced for awhile. Our eyes caught the attention of two American ladies. We kept telling Anbby to dance with them but he just shook his head.

Afternoon Delight

Reached Trinoma a few minoots before noon. I have no clue where the Red Box is so I asked somebody working there. Unforch, she's also clueless. I looked around the area and found it close to TimeZone.

Spotted Kendz waiting outside too. Uh-oh. That only means I'm the second to arrive. Teehee. Our other friends will be joining us later.

We approached the lobby and requested for our room.

Inside our room, we checked the song list but most of what we like to sing were music videos. Bummer!

I called the receptionist to ask about our lunch deal. It was buffet but they will be serving it in portions right in our room. They don't have a public area to serve them properly. By the way, Red Box has a policy that there shouldn't be any leftover for their buffet promo. Otherwise, we need to pay an extra.

Anyhoo, the food was good. We had pasta, pork, chicken and fillet of fish, perfect for what Kendz's mom cooked for us—laing. OMG! It was so good. Super appetite! We tried to hide it from the waiters 'cause we didn't know if we have to pay extra. We weren't so successful though. One of the waiters noticed it. My mind didn't work right away on what excuse to make. My mouth was open the whole time until he left the room. I should've said, "Uhm, sinuka ko lang yan." (Oh, I just puked it out).

Before 1 o'clock, our other friends arrived. Nikks came with Joy. Jhie came with Tabs. Only one missing is Ogz.

We had fun singing till 3 pm. I got to sing "I Can't Make You Love Me" and some Broadway hits. The ladies sang some Beyonce, Aegis and Sarah G hits.

Kendz also brought us some Ferrero Rocher chocolates so that made our afternoon more enjoyable.

Our friend will be returning back to Singapore in 2 days. Thank you again, Kendz, for a wonderful afternoon treat.

Drink & Be Merry.. with Patron

With Joy behind the wheel of her dad's brand spanking new Fortuner, we left Makati around 8 pm. I rode shotgun while Nikks, Beng and Ogz sat comfortably at the back. Jojo & Raz and Freya & Turon brought their own cars. Jun is in another car with the Docs team (Jean, Olive and Bel). Jhe is driving her van with Onse, Robert & Heddy, Diomar and Mitch. We're a big group, needless to say.

Traffic was really bad. 'twas already almost midnight when we arrived at the hacienda. All I can say is the place is huge! When we went inside the big house, my jaw dropped when I saw the wooden furniture. They've got this couch fit for a giant! Found out later that the furniture were crafted by "Jose", one of the caretakers.
Joy then gave us a quick tour of the place. There are lotsa beds to choose from. I thought there were 10 rooms all in all. I dunno which one I'll end up using when I'm wasted later ;oP

I immediately setup the MagicSing while some peeps decided to take photos and some prepared the chips & drinks. Joy found Patron at Rams, a wine store at Pasay Road. She also informed me that you can also get cheap ones at PriceSmart (similar to Costco). We just love Patron. The bestest tequila ever!
The goal of the night is to get Diomar drunk. After the third tequila shot, he informed everyone that he's already pissed. That didn't stop Joy to pour him some more.
Freya, Ogz, Beng, Bel, Jean, Richard and I took turns at the microphone. Unforch, we only have one small teevee. The bigger one was transfered to the other house.
We drank Tequila, Tequila Rose, beer and rhum coke. Bad idea! I got wasted too early. I remember chatting with Jojo about something. I remember smoking a bit. I remember seeing Beng on the rocking chair sleeping. I also remember Jun and Nikks taking me upstairs to sleep ;oP
Next time, we plan to go back with Onaks, Karen and Jet (hear that?!). I promise NOT to mix and match drinks anymore. I woke up with a freakin' bad hangover the next day.