Odds and Ends

Such was the title I used for my other blog which remains empty till now. This entry may well be titled snippets like a previous blog because I intend to write odds and ends that materialized in my life these past days.

Snippet 1:

We were in Power Plant having ice cream at Pazzo when I noticed Anton Huang and family. (That I recognized the face may easily be explained. No, I don't move in his circles, not now, not ever. He is millions of pesos away, too far away in fact, from where I am.I recognized him and his wife Nina, however, from the innumerable pictures I've seen of them in Maurice Arcache's column, Johnny Litton's, etc.) So what's the big deal? Simply this. Anton Huang, as most of the old rich go, conducts himself simply and properly. He does not strut around calling attention to his wealth. As my son pointed out, "simple lang siya,no? He doesn't have anyone carrying stuff for him." When I looked, Anton was indeed holding two plastic bags. Yes two plastic bags, not bags of expensive products most stores of which he owns in the first place, but plastic bags carrying nondescript items. But even more than that, what caught my attention was his reminder to his daughter, "not so loud" as she animatedly told him a story. Now that's class. People who scream "look at me" are sans classe.

Snippet 2:

Don't buy a retractable mouse. It has a shorter life span/shelf life than a regular mouse. Months ago, we got two mouses (mice?): one retractable, one regular. While the retractable one cost hundreds of pesos more, it no longer works smoothly because precisely of its retractability. Portions of the wire are no longer firm so occasionally the computer doesn't "see" the mouse. Meanwhile, the seemingly laid-back version remains intact. In this case, expensive isn't necessarily better.

Snippet 3:

Had dinner at Myron's recently which is at the concourse level of Power Plant. Months back, when it had just opened, we tried it out but weren't impressed. And it seemed so expensive then. But I was hankering for steak last Friday and we were in Power Plant, so to Myron's we went. Their servings were huge: husband ordered baby back ribs which took up half of the plate. It was served with rice and vegetables. My son ordered a chicken sandwich which he specified should be served with the vegetables outside the sandwich. Tried those vegetables which were essentially mushrooms, onions, etc. and they were good. I ordered the smallest "Paolo's favorite" which was rib eye steak. As recommended by the waiter I ordered it medium rare with baked potatoes and vegetbales. The baked potato (yes just one piece) had a sour cream topping and a few minced bits of bacon so it wasn't too tasty. But the steak was oh sooooo gooood. It was a truly satisfying dinner and didn't come out too expensive after all. we'll certainly be back.

Snippet 4:

To celebrate a college classmate's turning golden, 5 of us from the batch went out to dinner. The birthday celebrator (Kris Aquino says, according to Ricky Lo, that there's no such word as celebrant. So be it) chose the restaurant and ordered the food. The non-celebrants paid. The restaurant he chose was ABE in Serendra. Though I reserved a table at around 4 pm, we were warned and correctly, we were 14th in the waiting list. When I told the celebrator he said, let's just go and if we can't wait, there are so many other choices in Serendra. I concurred.

My husband and I arrived a few minutes before the designated time and when we checked, we were still number 14. A few minutes later, the other couple came. They checked we were number 12. Fashionably late, the celebrator arrived 30 minutes after we did (parking difficulty explained his tardiness) and by then we were number 6 and were given menus to look over. An hour later we were seated. The place was forever jampacked and the noise level was terrible. Because I normally speak softly I had to strain my vocal cords to be heard by my companions across the table and I had to ask them to repeat what they were saying, more often than not, so I could hear. Conversation wise, it was horrible. Plates clanged, the tinkling of broken glass or porcelain interrupted the noise, voices were competing against each other, etc. I guess that it was difficult to talk made me look around and see a few of the odd, maybe charming, features of the place. On what might be called a tiny mezzanine was an upright piano tightly situated in a small corner held abay by a glass panel. I could not imagine how anyone could get to that piano without stooping. I couldn't imagine how anyone could get to that piano even, as I didn't see a door leading to it. Decor? One of our companions asked. I don't really know. But there was no activity there.

Just below where the piano was, my husband said, was a passageway leading to the water closet. A sign said something to the effect that the vertical clearance was 5'10" (and you'd think one could see vertical clearances indicated for vehicles only along roads or in parking spaces). My husband went to the toilet and he naughtily stood upright and half of his forehead hit the beam. When he came back to the table he said, "It's not 5'10". Someone in our table said, "You're wearing shoes." They apparently maximized the use of the space and sacrificed a few height conveniences. I said "what if Michael Jordan came?" Or heavens, Yao Ming? They'd have to crawl. Or eat al fresco.

Now to the food served.

I overheard the celebrator order baby squid but this wasn't available. He ordered another squid dish which when it came was pristine white with red chili flakes. Yummy appetizer. Then he also ordered adobong kambing which came with lots of garlic with their peel attached. The meat was tender and flavorful. It didn't look too visually appealing to me, though, as it was soy sauce dark. I liked the kare-kare which had a lot of meat (and fat). The sauce was tasty even without the bagoong. There was pinakbet which looked clean (clear sauce, in other words) but I saw the sliced okra which deterred me as I once heard Vic and Joey of Eat Bulaga say it was a slimy vegetable, so I didn't touch that. Also came with bagoong. And there was bangus belly sa bayabas. No bayabas leaves there, but ripe bayabas. The broth was thick and sweetish the way ripe guavas taste. (Reminded me of my childhood when we'd swim in our concrete pool and have bayabas hurled our way. we'd eat them soaking wet.) the bangus fillets were generously sliced and deboned. That dish was okay though I couldn't eat the entire serving allotted to me as this wasn't served first and I was a bit full by then. I found the manner by which they served the rice quaint. A lady with a bushel-shaped basket lined with foil spooned freshly cooked rice onto our plates. Bottomless rice, the celebrator said.

One of our companions noted that all the waitresses were slim, pretty and had long hair tied in a pony tail. They looked very neat in their black skirts and white long-sleeved blouses. And they were pleasant. Anyway, it was a relief to the eardrums to leave the place. A long table which was filled with people had a set of new guests, just as many as the previous occupants.

Snippet 4:

The previous entry was hardly a snippet but I'll go on. After ABE, we walked/wheeled to the next block of establishments in Serendra. The celebrator said, "Figaro" and so we went. I don't know whose bright idea it was to eat al fresco but it was a bad decision, at least for me and my husband. Thought it was night time, it was humid and hot. And the occupants of the table next to us were smoking to death. My nose began to itch and I felt a cough coming (it didn't). My other companion, who's a lot healthier because she eats vegetables, coughed. But we still didn't transfer to the air conditioned section. It wasn't fresh air we were breathing outside either, yet we suffered it. Figaro is ok, their food for the goods and sans rival too, which comes with a fancy name. I didn't eat the blueberry cheesecake though, as I know one of our companions wanted it badly. We were sharing all the desserts otherwise. AFter he took a bite of the cheesecake, he said, "DOME has the best", so I guess I didn't miss much. While all the rest had coffee in different styles, I stuck to water. I only take coffee in ice cream and candy forms.

Snippet 5:

An addendum to ABE. While I raved that the food was good because each tasted differently from the other (there are some restaurants where all the food the serve resemble each other), my husband said "yes they're ok but I couldn't see what i was eating." He was acutally complaining. No, the place wasn't dark but the sauces smothered the meat and vegetables, except for the squid and the pinakbet. It then occurred to me that, I guess, that's FIlipino style. Because we are a poor country, our native dishes are heavily "sauced" so that those who want to have filling meals can just use the sauce to add flavor to the rice and still have a satisfying meal if there is not enough meat or vegetables to have with the rice. Yes, sometimes, i do think beyond the superficial. Doesn't mean that insight is accurate though.