New Year’s Eve Dinner

Aloha Everyone,

Mary Grace is one of our favorite restaurants in the Bonifacio Global City Uptown Mall. There were several free performances in the mall entertaining visitors and last-minute shoppers. We ordered our favorite dishes. My fusion salads plus pasta came with dark chocolate cake. 

Delicious but not so sweet, of course that was our excuse for eating this decadent dessert. One cannot have too much dark chocolate :-)

It was wonderful way to wrap up an eventful 2024. We are thankful for our wonderful family, friends and strangers who have made our adventures possible.

Aloha -- Cathi

Jose Rízal Day, Rainy Day at Bonifacio Global City Uptown

Aloha Everyone,

High chances of tropical thunderstorms today with very high humidity. Each time we step outside, our clothes get drenched.

Marugame was beginning to get filled. A couple with their two miniature poodles were seated close by. The dog owners love their animals and treat them like family members. We don’t interfere but we would like them to their pets outdoors.

J.J. and I returned to Cibo’s for light dinner.

Aloha -- Cathi

Senryo: Not so Authentic Japanese Food

Aloha Everyone,

Senryo located within Mitsukoshi Mall used to serve sushi and sashimi dishes that were expensive but considered authentic. Today we stopped for lunch and found place had undergone changes to make it more affordable for a local clientele.

Would we go back again? We probably will as the restaurant’s featured food or bento style box lunches. But it is no longer as good.

Aloha -- Cathi

Remembering Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States

Aloha Everyone,

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter died today at age 100. A Nobel Peace Prize winner, he will be remembered for his statesmanship and humanitarian work.

Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter redefined post-presidency. Unlike most past presidents who make money by writing books and giving speeches, the Carters redefined post presidency with volunteering their time to public service such as Habitat for Humanity & Rosalynn Carter on mental illness and caregivers.

Aloha -- Cathi

Feel Good Story - “The German Lady Married a Filipino Jeepney Driver”

Aloha Everyone,

The original story appeared at least a couple of decades ago. If you type the title in quotation marks into Google, you can read more. He was not simply a jeepney driver, but a filmmaker. Katrina de Guia describes their incidental meeting in Germany, followed by their marriage and lifelong adventure in the Philippines and personal transformation in her book KAPWA.

Aloha -- Cathi

Mitsukoshi New Year’s Events

Aloha Everyone,

Mitsukoshi Mall is all decked with Japanese New Year’s events. Japanese New Year’s holiday (Shogatsu) begins December 31 to January 1 and ends on January 4th.

Kadomatsu is a traditional decoration for main entrance to buildings, businesses and houses.

Osechi ryori, traditional Japanese food is available for those who want to observe the custom and culture. 

We were warned that BGC Uptown is where people go to welcome the New Year. Area residents can expect massive holiday celebrations with fireworks throughout the night. 

The two of us are hopeful that we will have heavy rain and thunderstorm to discourage some merrymakers from coming.

Aloha -- Cathi

Christmas Lunch at Las Flores

Aloha Everyone,

The rain wouldn’t stop. Finally, J.J. and I saw a very short break from heavy downpours and made our way to Las Flores. At 1:45 pm, the restaurant was empty, and we had the place all to ourselves.

We ordered paella valenciana mariscos as our main dish, augmented by a green salad and fried calamari. Nothing new but these are our favorites. For dessert, we shared a leche flan. 

Spent additional 20 minutes for another break from continuing downpours and then made our way back to our condo.

Due to the lateness of our lunch, I was happy with coffee & Mongo Beans Hopia as my dinner at 4:30 pm. J.J. is having the leftover takeaway paella for his dinner at 7:30 pm.

Everything got wet including our jackets. We are doing a big load of laundry on Christmas.

Spoke with our children and granddaughter. Tomorrow we will initiate calls to wish them Merry Christmas.

Aloha -- Cathi

Christmas Eve

Aloha Everyone,

74% rain from 8 am to 11:00 am with heavy tropical showers was what we experienced. We were able to purchase our drinking water, bread and fresh mangoes. J.J. and I are ready to enjoy Christmas Eve. To avoid getting wet, we stopped for early lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant.

The rain stopped long enough for us to return to our condo. More rain accompanied by thunder and lightning.  Milwaukee Bucks, one of J.J.’s favorite basketball teams played back-to-back games. J.J. mentioned, while players and teams are making more money than before, they have lost nearly 50% of their American audience.

Unable to go out for pre-dinner walk, I did a combination of Zumba, QuiGong and yoga exercises to achieve my daily goal.

Aloha -- Cathi

Lunch with Joy at Spice & Soy

Aloha Everyone,

Located in the Mitsukoshi Department store, we probably walked by this restaurant but never have really taken notice. The chef follows Nouveau cuisine with Japanese & Chinese flairs. The results are interesting as dishes are uniformly sauce based.

Venue for conversation was excellent. Tables are laid out with sufficient room for privacy.

I think the restaurant merits a return visit by the two of us. Looking forward to coming up with a different menu from today's selections.

Aloha -- Cathi

Christmas Party at Maricar’s House

Aloha Everyone,

Christmas Party was held at Maricar’s house in Nuvali in Ayala Land and Estate. Maricar is a fantastic cook & her daughters were in her spacious kitchen helping and assembling as the dishes were being prepared.

Cakes were mostly purchased from bakeries, each known for their specialty. 

The location of her house with vacant lots in surrounding neighborhoods has always been cooler than in town.  Today you can actually hear the wind blowing. Little children were urged to go outdoors to play but quickly they returned complaining that it’s too cold :-)

A group of Christmas carolers were invited to perform adding entertainment and festivities to the party.  Wonderful gathering of families and friends. It was worth attending even though I suffer from the motion sickness from the car rides.

Aloha -- Cathi