Volleyball Fun

All roads led to Dumlao Gym last Saturday night for ...

We had so much fun! Of course, the highlight of the night was our...

We had dinner and socials afterwards...

Ang saya-saya noh?! :-P

Comic Magic

It's been more than a week since my last updated entry here. Busy me? Not really. I guess it's just the time of the year... ;-)

Anyway, our good friend, Rudy, just came back from South San Francisco for a 3-week stay here in Manila. He bought us pasalubong... a Comic Life Deluxe software! Now I'm eager to test it! Here it goes...

I like! :-P

Mang Inasal Sunday

It was a nice and quiet Sunday. We decided to just have dinner @Mang Inasal along Makati Avenue. We welcomed back...

... Nes, after his long absence! We missed you!

Good thing Pau brought along his camera. We captured certain moments like...

... Badz showing off his "gun",

... our good friends posing while waiting for their orders,

... Jim and I savoring the pork bbq and
chicken pecho inasal (1 thumb up!),

And the highlight of the night...

... the jump shots!
Parang superhero lang si Abbu!

Nice one, Badz!
Abbu looked like he was playing with a magic yellow ball!

Thanks guys, I had fun... as usual. :-P

Happily Stuck With Each Other

Last Saturday night was the moment I've been waiting for...

I can't fully describe that feeling but definitely, it was an overwhelming one.

In the midst of tough times, I certainly believe that love and true friendship conquer all.

I'm more than glad to be stuck with these friends of mine... rather than be trapped in a cold and lonely universe.

You can't stop the river from flowing
To the sea.
Cos some things just happen, like
They're meant to be.
And it doesn't matter where you are,
Or where you go, or what you do.
You can't stop my heart from loving you.
-"Can't Stop A River" by

Duncan James/Guy Sebastian

We're back! :-P

Bon Appetit Revisited

I was checking my mailbox when I saw this message from Friendster Blogs...

Hello Chunkee,

We'd like to introduce you to your new blog on Friendster! We've been very busy building out Friendster Blogs 2.0 and your blog has been moved to the new blogging platform. It's ready for you to customize, edit, and add even more content to it!

Wow! The last time I updated my Friendster blog was July of 2006! Anyway, that was a smart move for Friendster to have major changes for the bloggers to enjoy. Among the entries I made for My Chunkee Life , here is one of my favorites...

Bon Appetit

November 9th, 2005

As my eyes were glued to Tyler Florence’s Tyler’s Ultimate on Lifestyle Network, I remember how we met John Cu-Unjieng in person during one of his cooking show stints in SM Makati. He was so nice and accommodating; he even agreed to pose for a picture with us! For me, he’s an epitome of an all -around Filipino chef. Now it’s quite obvious how I have that flair for food. No kidding! Does it show? Great food is having a grand time, above par from anything else. I consider it as one of the hallmarks of living well.

We all have our all-time family favorites. For instance, I’m a sucker for my Dad’s chicken and pork pastel and lengua estofado; my Mom’s rellenong bangus and leche flan; and my Tita Lorna’s beef caldereta and menudo. In fact, I’m one of those who would rather enjoy the home-made goodness of these dishes than eating out. But we cannot deny the fact that dining out is an exciting part of one’s life. We have the chance to mingle with family and/or friends and savor delicacies from different restaurants. In a way, this enriches one’s well-being.

Here are some of my preferred choices when it comes to dining out:

SOUP: Any creamy potage from The Soup Kitchen in Glorietta. Heart-warming, especially during the Brrrrr months.

APPETIZER: Buffalo wings from Don Henrico’s. Man, this rocks! The big portions can make you burp even before the main course is served.

SALAD: Sicilian Chicken Salad from Italianni’s. The combination of Romaine lettuce, pine nuts, ripe mangoes, red grapes, radicchio and creamy lemon-Dijon dressing bursts of exhilarating, mixed flavors! Mmmm!

MEAT: Rib-eye Steak from Chili’s. This 10-lb grilled steak goes with garlic bread, rice pilaf and buttered veggies (you can also have grilled prawns as icing on the cake). Me and my folks love it medium-well.

SEAFOOD: grilled tuna belly or blue marlin from either Dencio’s or Gerry’s. A much healthier choice than the pork sisig, LOL!

POULTRY: Cajun Chicken Fingers from TGIF. I love it with their honey-mustard dip, buttered corn on a cob and coleslaw siding. Fried Chicken from Max’s. Whatever secret recipe this Max (sino nga ba siya?!) had concocted, it definitely was a sure-fire hit!

POTATOES: the Potato Au Gratin side dish from Amici di Don Bosco. Not too savory and not too creamy. Just perfect! Goes well with their roast chicken and Italian sausages.

PASTA: any spaghetti Bolognese, pesto or fettucine Alfredo. Italliani’s, Pasto and Amici di Don Bosco are my top 3 for this category. Now can you imagine them splatter on your favorite shirt? Red, green and white… a white Christmas! Hee hee! But when I crave for pasta, Filipino-style, there’s one place to run to… JOLLIBEE!

PIZZA: any thin-crust variety. Don’t get me wrong… I also love the pan pizza. But I have this thing for the crunch when biting a slice. Preferred are: Belly Buster from Shakey’s (love the black olives and feta cheese) or Ai 4 Formaggi from Amici di Don Bosco (Mozzarella, Taleggio, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Brie cheeses in one pizza! Amazing!)

JAPANESE FOOD: buffet in Saisaki! Can’t get enough of sushi, sushi and more sushi! When on a tight budget, the set meals from Komoro Soba can suffice.

DIMSUM: shark’s fin or honey ham dumplings and quail egg siomai from Dimsum and Dumplings. Gad, I remember those nights when we review for our exams in med school. We keep on going to D & D along Tomas Morato and avail of their Siomai feast promo. Tai-pao from North Park. A big bun of meat-filled goodness! I don’t know why I keep on eating there, despite… oh well! When Reinier, Bullit and I were having fun at Streetscape in Shangrila Mall, they let me try Gloria Maris’ jumbo siopao. Saraaaap!

PASTRY: California White and Floss from Bread Talk. Both are so palatable, you can never have just one piece!

CAKE/PIE: a toss between Chocolate Thunder from Down Under from Outback and Turtle Pie from Sugarhouse. The former boasts of orgasmic, chocolatey gooeyness, especially when the freshly baked pecan brownie is topped with rich vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and chocolate shavings! The latter is simply amazing. I love the nutty flavor.

ICE CREAM: Dulce de Leche of Magnolia and Pistachio Gelato of Amici di Don Bosco. Forget about brain- freeze! These 2 flavors will definitely make my day after a heavy meal. Ben and Jerry’s and Haagen-Dazs are way too expensive. Better settle for the Filipino-made, hahaha!

COFFEE: Black Forest Ice Blended from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf; and Coffee Jelly from Figaro. I’m such an addict for coffee… it perks me up during mornings and it helps me get caffeine for my migraine attacks. These 2 faves are marvelous! I love the cherry bits in Black Forest and the jello in Coffee Jelly. Yum!

And the list goes on and on. Come to think of it, nothing beats eating food you cooked yourself and having it tasted by the people you care about. Which ever you choose — dining out or eating at home, just enjoy every bite! As Wolfgang Puck would say… “Live, Love, Eat!”.

Enchanted Sunday with Friends

We had a fun Sunday when Dave invited us to join him at...

I can barely recall the last time I set foot in EK. I just remember I was brave enough to ride the Space Shuttle on those visits. But... after witnessing the mishap of the roller coaster last year, leaving the people stuck on top of the ride's loop... I chickened out.

But not these friends of mine...
even Richard, who seemed very "delighted"! :-P

I just flirted with ...

... the space man!

Despite the charring heat of the sun, we roamed around the crowded place...

... and bumped into Mel's ancestor. LOL!

We never got tired of the jump shots...

... with nice backgrounds. Why not?

We definitely had the grandest time!

Us with the 3 "li'l" pigs...

Us at the "lake dock."

Us doing the last jump shot for the night!

Thank you so much, Dave... it's really heart-warming you consider us your own family. Hey, the feeling is mutual!
This has to be my most memorable EK experience so far! :-P

Ridiculously Hungry Jim

Yeah, at first I was thinking Jim wouldn't take the Ridiculous Challenge of Burger Avenue. Imagine this... 3 quarter-pounder grilled burger patties, loaded with juicy tomato slices, crisp lettuce, cheese slices, ketchup and mayo on an oatmeal bun... yummy, right? But you have to finish it in less than 5 minutes, then you can refund what you paid for! Well, Jim was all psyched up last Saturday night... he was as hungry as a horse that moment and that was his advantage!

The burger was ready for invasion!

Then the timer was set! Go Jim!
Chomp chomp chomp!

Oh no! Don't let the burger fall apart!

Wow! Past 3 minutes and he was almost done!

Good job, Jim!
You finished that humongous burger in 4 minutes!

Way to go! Besides the free dinner, you'll be placed in their hall of fame, amongst the other successful challenge takers!
Visit Burger Avenue at the A-Venue Mall along Makati Avenue. :-P

Tiendesitas-Rufo's Night

For a change, we opted to go Saturday night to ...

... which literally means "a collection of little stores".

It was my first time to visit the shopping haven in Pasig City and I must say I'm impressed with the place. It's like the local tiangge but it's more stylish and chic. The complex is made up of different pavilions, including fashion, handicrafts, pets, antiques, furniture, garden, delicacies and my favorite, food! The pavilions have Mindanao-inspired architecture, including Zamboanga vintas and...

... nice lamps!

I was so hungry that time but it took me a while before I sat down to eat... there were too many food stalls with lots to offer! But I ended up ordering bagnet with garlic rice, salted egg with tomato, a big bowl of La Paz batchoy and 3 big cups of sago't gulaman at Jose's. For only 200 bucks, why not?!

We then had craving for...

Good ol' native suman, incorporated with different fruits and flavors, such as nangka, ube, macapuno, sweet corn, camote,
red mungbeans, mango and chocolate.

Of course, how can we forget the photo op?

The food trip went on, this time at...

... along San Miguel Avenue in Ortigas.

I had my favorite Corned Beef ala Rufo's!

Burp burp burp!

There was still room for dessert!

Chocolate ice cream, anyone?

Even if we weren't complete as a group last night, we still had the never-ending kulitan and kwentuhan 'til the wee hours of the morning.

Ansarap pag weekends! :-P