Easy Walking to BGC High Street

Aloha Everyone,

A big breakfast gave me an energetic start. 

Among today’s lunch options I suggested to J.J., he might consider Modern Shanghai Dim Sum. This place is located farthest from our condo which benefited us in gaining additional steps.

Restaurant was getting filled with Christmas parties. They also occupied a good portion of the sidewalk. Anna, the seating host was helpful in getting us the last indoor table. She remembered that we prefer to get all our orders delivered to our table at the same time when they are ready. Anna was a recipient of our Christmas envelope.

Aloha -- Cathi

Market Market

Aloha Everyone,

Market Market was where we could find more authentic Filipino native food, clothing and handicrafts. My objective was to look for a simple Filipino woven fan. I would’ve been happy with a Spanish version or Chinese subtle fragrant wood type. There was absolutely nothing available at any of the crowded stalls.

Food stalls where they sell regional gift items have been replaced by Chinese, Korean and European imports. J.J. read that the single level building design of Market Market is outdated. The area will undergo major renovations to better use the existing space by building additional commercial levels. The project to be completed within a year but things always take longer in Philippine than in the USA.

Ayala Mall across the street from Market Market was packed. I feel more trusting when food preparations are made in a kitchen visible to diners. My food choices were as healthy as I could get.

J.J. and I did better at Scout’s Honor. My surf & Turf portion was 1/2 of the photo shown on their menu and my own photo. His Loco Moco was, “As close to the real thing as it gets,” said J.J. All said and done, another great day walking 5.4 miles or 14,051 steps for me and over 3 miles for him.

Aloha -- Cathi

Landers to Purchase Gifts

Aloha Everyone,

Our first order of the day was to go to Landers to purchase Christmas gifts, more socks, and probiotics like Yakult.

We also had a chance to speak with Jeff about his Jingle Bell run of 5K in Ko Olina yesterday. Very happy to be able to speak with our dear friend George who is in West Virginia spending the Christmas holidays with his friend’s family, plus Judy who was on her way to get a haircut. We were able to greet each other. With the time difference, my daily attempts to call my sister is not always successful.

It was close to noon when J.J. and I started to walk towards BGC High Street. Our level of enthusiasm was low. A few raindrops was all it took to persuade us to stop early for lunch. We never made it to our intended destination.

Kawa is a small ramen shop. We haven’t even noticed it before but they seemed to have regular customers. J.J. had gyoza pork dumplings as his side dish and I ordered steamed soybeans. Comparable to eating at McDonald’s, this was a quick no frill place but probably more nutritious. 

At Cibo’s we shared spaghetti prepared with garlic, tomatoes and extra virgin olive oil plus large vegetarian pizza. I guess neither one of us had much appetite. We had most of our pizza packed to go.

Stopped at Market Place to purchase two bottles of drinking water and a couple of mangoes. The mangoes should be ripe in a couple of days.

Aloha -- Cathi

Stayed in BGC Uptown

Aloha Everyone,

Today was our scheduled laundry day. We loaded our machine with whites and light colored items including a set of sheets. This was the day J.J. started to handout Christmas envelopes to security and maintenance staff at our building. Due to extraordinary activity, a plastic bag that contained dark color items including my socks was inadvertently given to the person collecting trash :-/

Mary Grace is always a great choice for us. The waiter who greeted us with her usual smile not only seated us at our usual table but knew what we’d like to eat and drink. She was one of the recipients of our Christmas envelopes.

We never get tired of bento selections at Santouki in Mitsukoshi. The two of us also like this place. Aside from the food and the services, the size of the restaurant is not conducive for a big group especially with little toddlers who run around the table playing tag.

Aloha -- Cathi

10 Days to Christmas

Aloha Everyone,

By the time we arrived at Abe’s, it was nearly 1:00 pm. The place was packed. We were fortunate to get a good seat.  The outside tables were also occupied. 

Bulalo (bone marrow soup) was excellent. I also enjoyed fried cooking banana prepared with Spanish chocolate.  With the sugar boost the two of us walked back to our condo surprisingly fast.

Dinner at Conti’s in Uptown. Afterwards J.J. and I shopped for our daily requirements of drinking water, whole oat bread and soda crackers.

Jeff texted us a beautiful photo of Hawaii Kai Christmas Boat Parade taken at their friend’s home on the waterfront.

Worked on facial expression drawings while JJ.. watched the Buck’s game on YouTube.

Aloha -- Cathi

Roundabout Route to BGC High Street

Aloha Everyone,

J.J. wanted to try walking to Saint Luke’s Hospital. I recall taking the same road before. I remember taking photos of a large wall drawing. I doubt we would be walking to Saint Luke. I rather take a taxi if we have a medical appointment. 

Anyway the roads ended up getting us to BGC High Street. It was nearly lunch time and we stopped at Din Tai Fung for a light lunch. I asked J.J. not to order any fried food nor spicy saucy food. Happy with steamed chicken Shaolin Bao and simple fried rice plus Volcano Buci dessert.

Our Friday the 13th luck continues. The cashier gave us senior discount :-). Maybe holiday times restaurants have to compete.

Had a simple dinner at NoNo’s. My go to plate of 3 egg white omelette with toast and fruits was always good and reliable. J.J. had his usual pasta. The evening crowd was boisterous. We opted to come back directly skipping a supermarket stop.

I took several snapshots of a woman seated at a nearby table with a couple of friends. Her animated facial expressions were too tempting. Looking forward to do some sketches in the coming days.

Aloha -- Cathi