Pepper Lunch photos

Here are photos from our dinner at Pepper Lunch. We would've taken more photos but we were afraid that we might overcook the meat. So instead of taking a gazillion shots, we took a couple of shots, then we attacked the oh-so-yummy food.

Here's OHA's cut steak and hamburger combo:



Here's my Pepper Rice:

We're going there again tomorrow, and I'll try my hardest to take better pictures. Maybe I'll even have the chance to capture it on video.

OMG, I'm so excited to go there again!

Approximately 29 hours to go!

Pepper Lunch!!!

Guess where my OHA and I are eating dinner later? :p

Here are some clues:
1. It's local franchise of the diy steak restaurant from Japan
2. It's in Rockwell
3. It has branches in Singapore, Korea, US, Australia, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand

Since I know how annoying guessing games are, I'll just tell you. We're eating in...

(drumroll please!)

Yay! Pepper Lunch!

I'm super excited to eat there. I've been salivating over the pepper rice for the past couple of days, while my OHA's been craving for the cut steak and hamburger combo. He also wants the Shake! Shake! Salad.

I brought our camera so I can take pictures of the lurvely food and post it here.

Cravings

I want to sink my teeth on these yumpies right now:

Unfortunately, I think See's is not available locally and I'm too cheap to buy a pack of the Mauna Loas (you won't believe how much the local supermarkets jacked up the price of these babies) so I'll just have to settle on a more economical alternative, like the Van Houten whole hazelnut chocula (the teeny tiny pack) or Ritter Sport hazelnut chocula. I'll buy those during lunch break.

I don't think there are strawberries in Pioneer so those can wait. Besides, I prefer eating strawberries with Cool Whip. In case my EQ plummets and I give in to the strawberry craving, I can go to Ice Monster to get strawberry ice!

Happy burp*day

I celebrated my 25th birthday last April 20. On the days leading up to my birthday, I was busy planning for a "unique" celebration since it's my first "married" birthday. I wanted it to be special because it was also my "last" birthday alone with my OHA. Next year, we'll be with LBJC. Yay!

As the 20th loomed closer, I felt panic mounting since I still haven't planned anything yet. Little did I know that while I was busting my head for ideas, my OHA was conspiring with my colleagues to throw me a surprise party! Here's how they pulled off the party:

On the 17th, my boss asked me to go with her to a meeting in Makati. She asked me to pick her up in her condo around 930 AM so we could go to the meeting together. When I got to her building, she asked me to go to her unit and snack on something since she still wan't done dressing up.

When I got to her unit, she offered me a gazillion things to munch on but I settled for the good, old Prima toast because I was trying to eat "healthier." After a while, she asked me to change my dress (I was wearing a black dress) because she's also planning on wearing a black dress and she doesn't want us showing up at Valero wearing matching outfits. I was taken aback but I didn't say anything because she's my boss. Besides, I couldn't refuse the lovely blue, green, and white Armani dress she was giving me.

So long story short, I changed into the dress. After a while, she told me that there was some emergency in Valero and that the meeting was cancelled. She told me to just go to Intercon with her to pick up spa gift certificates for the media. After about an hour in Suriya, she told me that she has to pick something up in Greenbelt so I said ok. She led me to Red Box where we saw Allan from Innove. They were talking about Jay being late for their meeting in one of the rooms there.

I was wondering why we were meeting in Red Box because there are like a gazillion other places in Greenbelt where we can have a nice, quiet meeting. My boss was talking to Allan so she told me to go on ahead and enter the "meeting room." When I entered Room 11, there were Happy Birthday signs on the billiard table and on the screen. I was kind of hungry that time so I was a little out of it and I totally didn't get it.

I looked at my boss and asked her, "What's going on?" That's when everyone started singing happy birthday. Yay! I can't believe they were able to pull this off without me finding out. We were always together so I don't really know when they planned the party.

On the 18th, I decided to treat my office mates to lunch (OHA joined in). Since we have limited options here in Pioneer, we went to Grilla. We had a cholesterol-laden feast that day. Since I forgot to take pictures, I'll just list down our orders:

-fried quail eggs
-grilled mussels with garlic and cheese
-chicharon bulaklak
-pork sisig
-chicken barbeque
-inihaw na baboy
-lechon kawali
-grilled tuna belly
-chicharon rice

Since we had an appointment with our OB on the same day, my OHA and I decided to have a mini-celebration for dinner. We went to Claw Daddy in Shangri-La. Here's what we ordered:


-Chicken Fried Pork Chop with Andoville Gravy (mine)


-Shrimp and Oyster Poboy (OHA's)



On the 19th, OHA and I went to my house to celebrate with my family. My sister wasn't with us that time so we just ate a simple but yumpy dinner of pancit canton (my request since I've been craving for this for like, weeks) and grilled liempo. There were other dishes as well but I don't remember what they were.


On the 20th, my family and I went to Mall of Asia to hunt for a good place to eat lunch. Out of all the restaurants there, I honestly didn't understand how we wound up in Burgoo. Here's what we ordered:


-Large chicken tender fingers



-Seafood Caesar supreme

-Large N'Awlins classic platter

-Hamburgoo (I dunno where the sides went!)

-Tomato and basil pasta (I was busy eating when this arrived so I wasn't able to take a picture)

On the 21st (yes, I went on leave), I bought four pies from Amici for OHA's family. Since I was craving for chicken fingers, I told OHA that I wanted to go to Friday's and that we should just call Amici to place our order. I told him that we could pick up the pies on our way home. He agreed (thank God) so here's what we ordered:

-Cajun chicken fingers (mine)

-Classic cheeseburger (OHA's)


After our meal, we went to Amici to pick up the order. I got two Tutta Carne pies, one Quattro Formaggi pie, and one Prosciutto e Funghi pie. Oh and macapuno gelato. Since I was too lazy to take pictures of the pies individually, I asked OHA to just "pose" with the boxes :)



Whew! That's how I celebrated my 25th birthday--with a lot of food :) I wasn't able to come up with something to make my birthday unique, but my 5-day celebration more than makes up for my lack of planning skills.

I'm very happy, though, that my OHA was there with me on all the mini-celebrations. That's really what made my birthday happy.

Happy weekend

Yesterday, OHA and I went to In My Womb in the new Glorietta Link building for a Congenital Anomaly Scan (CAS). A CAS is a basic fetal screening to check the baby's vital organs like the heart, kidneys, etc.

OHA and I were super nervous because we didn't know what to expect. It was such a relief for OHA and I that my OB, Dr Sheila Jane Illescas, really goes out of her way to put her patients at ease by being wacky.

The scan took about an hour and it was the most excruciating hour of my life (I'm sure that I'll change my opinion about this once I've experienced going into labor)! It wasn't until Dr Illescas told us that the baby's fine that I was able to heave a huge sigh of relief.

Our LBJC was a little hyper and gave Dr Illescas a hard time in trying to take a photo of his face. He's also a little on the chubby side, but still perfectly normal. The only thing I have to worry about is that his position's breech. My OB said he'll still have time to move but that I should start watching what I eat so that he won't take up too much moving room in my womb.

At P3500, the CAS is a little pricey but definitely worth it! When we were viewing LBJC in 4d scan, it was just a breathtaking experience. It brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't believe that OHA and I made that beautiful baby. I could go on and on with the sap fest, but what I just want to say is that parents-to-be shouldn't miss out on this opportunity because it's wonderful.

Btw, the doctor said he looks like me but my in-laws say our LBJC looks like OHA. We'll just have to wait and see!

After In my Womb, OHA and I went to Greenbelt to celebrate (hurrah! our baby's normal!). We originally planned to go to Sugi but I changed my mind and said I wanted to eat in Segafredo only to find out that the stupid place is already closed! So we ended up eating in Sugi because I was too pissed to think of another restaurant.

OHA ordered the kaki teppanyaki and yaki meshi while I ordered the Katsu Donburi and green mango shake. Because we were famished, I forgot to take a picture of the food *insert sheepish grin here*

After Sugi, OHA and I went to Gourdo's beside Gloria Maris. It was like going to chef heaven! They have all kinds of spices, sauces, and other thingamajigs that are used for cooking. If I knew how to cook anything other than pasta, I would have cleaned out my wallet in this place!

I was trying to get OHA to pick out stuff for himself like bratwurst or German franks but he didn't want to. I, on the other hand, ended up buying a big box of Honey Bunches of Oats, Nature Valley peanut butter granola bars and three pieces of soap for my mother-in-law.

There's still something I haven't written about, but I'll reserve it because it deserves a separate post.

If you're hungry, don't look at this post

I need to curb my appetite because my OB told me I gained five pounds since my last checkup. That's probably the worst news I've heard all year! I just want to eat, eat, and eat! It's not fair. I don't even think I'm that fat :(

It's not my fault that I gained weight, you know? Who in their right minds could resist these?

Duck rice

OHA and I found a nifty little hawker center right in the middle of Bugis. I was so tired and hungry that I already had three or four bites before I remembered to take a picture. OHA had a heaping serving of crabmeat fried rice.

Chicken chop

After Sentosa, OHA and I visited the food court in Vivo City. When I saw the words "chicken chop" scrawled across one of the blackboards in the food court, I almost cried! I love love chicken chops! The one they sell in the night market in Taipei is way better than this one though.

Three-cheese lasagna

I don't think I've eaten anything else on NYDC except for this lasagna. It's made of ricotta, parmesan, and mozarella. It's very yummy and very filling. Worth every cent.

Gyoza

I don't remember where I ate this. If I'm to hazard a guess, I'll say in one of the restaurants in City Link? It's only a few steps away from VNC.

Chicken and sausage pasta

We decided to have dinner in Bongo Burgers before entering the Night Safari. I ordered this pasta and OHA had a burger. This pasta was very good, but when I saw the burger that OHA ordered, I kinda wished I ordered the burger instead!

Godiva chocula

This one does not need explanations. The Holy Grail of chocolate. I. MUST. WORSHIP.

Ice kachang

We had this snack the same day we had lunch in the hawker center in Bugis. I ordered the ice kachang and OHA ordered kopi.


So tell me, is it my fault? Let's try to ignore the fact that I have no self-control. It's my LBJC's fault! He's always hungry! It's true!

Oodles of doodles

When I saw this charm bracelet in Rustan's last year, I immediately fell in love with it. It's a wishing bracelet with the cutest charms! This one is the "I wish I was on vacation" bracelet. The charms include a palm tree, a camera, a tiny plane, and a suitcase.

About a month after OHA bought me this bracelet, he bought me another one! It's the "I wish I could eat junk food all the time" bracelet. I'm going to take its photo when I get home since I don't remember where I saved the file. Teeny tiny slices of cake, sundaes, hotdogs, and tubs of popcorn hang from a sort of different type of metal beads than the one pictured here.

Because there is a strong, wacky side to our relationship, OHA thought of giving me a matching charm "anklet":


We're quite artistic, OHA and I. Here are some more of our lovely artwork :) We drew these on a Burgoo table. Because our order was taking forever, we busied ourselves by doodling.

My drawings

OHA'S drawings

Aren't we brilliant? :)

We only stopped doodling when the food arrived. Here's my order:

I don't remember if this is the New York strip steak or the Country style steak

OHA's order:

Seafood Caesar's supreme

either quesadillas or chimichanga

Holy Kettle Corn love

I'm quite bored today in the office. This feeling isn't entirely too alien to me because I'm always bored in the office. It's just so hard to muster up the enthusiasm to do mundane things every single day. I wish I could just stay home and spend time with my other half A (following my rule with LBJC, I'll refer to his father as OHA).

Speaking of OHA, I wonder what he's doing now? Hmmmm. Knowing OHA, he's probably tearing into the Holy Kettle Corn bag I asked him to buy. OHA and I have a funny game that's Holy Kettle Corn-related: I would trick him into buying a bag for me. It's not as bad as it sounds, ok? What I'd do is ask him to buy popcorn or something else that I know he likes and pretend that I'm the one who's actually craving for it. I'm forced to resort to dirty tactics because he doesn't like spending for himself!

He was so delighted the first time I played that trick on him. I always try to ask him to buy stuff but I don't always succeed. I actually tried to pull that stunt today, and I got him to buy a bag. I don't know though if he bought one because he believed me or if he was craving for it. Anyway, DHA, I'm glad you bought one. That bag is for you. I'm not craving for it right now.

If you would only listen to me, I wouldn't have to trick you. For the nth time, I'll tell you this: you should never hesitate to buy something that you like, especially food. OR ELSE.

Pffft, thinking about food is making me hungry. Extremely hungry. Oreos would be goodright about now. Or Froot Loops. Or fish balls. Sigh. Fishballs, how I long for you. Fishballs with spicy vinegar. Oh and kwek-kwek. Yummy, yummy kwek-kwek. Huhuhuhu. Why am I torturing myself with thoughts of food?