Ynez's Wedding

It was my sister's wedding yesterday, the first one of our fine brood.

That's my mom, sister, brother-in-law, and dad! Pretty cool. You know those moments in movies when the doors of the church open and the bride walks in? I thought that was a total myth until my sister did it. I had to choke down the tears because my make up would run and the whole thing was just beginning. It's like she was walking in from the light. She met my dad and mom halfway down the aisle and they walked her to the front where they handed Julio her hand. My sister was sobbing under her veil already.

This is my brother Jiro and our little cousin Tomas, who was the ring bearer. Apparently, he asked his mother as he was walking down the aisle, "Mom, what's it called again when after you get married and then you don't want anymore?" His mother, appalled to the bone, exclaimed, "Tomas! When you get married, that's it, you stay married!" "Yeah, I know mom, but what's it called?"

Cutest kid ever. See his striped purple tie? He totally rocks it. Purple was the color of the entourage.

The Boyfriend looking dapper in his new suit.

Since I was maid of honor, I had to give a speech for the newlyweds. I totally got a bunch of people to laugh and cry. Ha!

How many wedding receptions do you know have a Rockeoke session after? Live band and drunken revelry by your guests onstage? That was FUN.

My sister and her new husband sang a duet of ...well I forgot the title but it was their theme song. I think it was Crazy For You by Spongecola Madonna. Real sweet but off-key. Heh.

The Veloso women (now including my sister) sang Like A Virgin. Yeah, right!

The groom and his entourage also rocked out.

This was the uberdrunk host Miko. Super drunk, super loud, super funny.

The Groom and his barkada from University of the Philippines. I spy...one chick in a barkada full of guys!

This is Tito Hermy singing solo. SOLO. What a sight, a balding ex-congressman inviting his friends (my father included) to join him onstage. One song isn't enough, he wanted to sing the whole hour!

That's my dad onstage with some of his friends. They took over the stage! Their wives all stood up and came to the front, started dancing...synchronized. Like groupies, all in a line.

After the band had tired of hearing guests warble off-key into the mic, they took over and started playing a couple of upbeat oldie songs. The real oldies in the front broke out into some kind of unidentifiable, bone-bending, epileptic dancing. My dad was shaking his leg and booty like a mad dog.

Aren't my progenitors so cute??

I hope my sister's marriage is like this.

Randomnomnom

I borrowed Tam's 50mm lens for my Canon 30D because my kit lens totally sucks ass.

My sister, mom, and I ate at this place in Bonifacio High Street called Agave. Food was pretty decent, I definitely liked my chicken fajita with a big siding of salsa fresca. I don't particularly crave Mexican food, but my mom loves it and barely gets to have it, so we hopped into the restaurant full of loud drunken yuppies to get her fix.

Very flattering.

This here's the boyfriend, who came along to my high school reunion in Sango in Powerplant the day after. Decent milk tea, but I dunno about the burgers.

The Sagada Kiln Project

A few weeks ago my mom, sister, and I, along with Nicky, went to this pottery exhibit in Cav in Bonifacio High Street. My dad and I had taken some pottery classes years ago, enjoyed it very much but were frustrated by the fact that our bowls and plates would get lost, our clay stolen, etc.

They passed around free food bites--shrimp cocktail and pumpkin soup! prosciutto and melon!--and sold the products on display.

It was a joint project between the Sagada community and the Australian embassy (in line with their Aborigine Week) to showcase the talent of Sagada's potters. The art of pottery in Sagada was declining, but ever since the embassy set up a kiln in the mountains, the tradition was coming back.

I particularly liked the large bowls they had, that were designed with a kind of sunburst in the middle. Absolutely beautiful.

It's on there 'til July 21 if anyone's interested in going.

Abu Dhabi Doo!

Serious movie reviewers said that Sex and The City 2 is terrible. Grossly dressed. An injustice to the original TV series.

I don't care what the critics say.

SATC2 is like girl's night out manifest. It's sometimes overly dressed, sometimes nonsensical. But it's also fun, sassy, and in-your-face. A lot of penis (clothed). And indulgence. It's one big laugh fest from start to finish, with serious moments peppered in between. Includes some SERIOUS manwatching.

I thought George Clooney (Good job on Elisabetta Canalis, she's hot!) was the only one who missed the memo that old guys aren't supposed to be this sexy. Apparently Max Ryan didn't get it either.

It's totally a girl/gay movie. My friend Yeni and I nixed our boyfriends and watched it just us girls. Liza Minelli singing Single Ladies, anyone?

Family Food

Last Friday our cook prepared cosido for us.

I frikkin' love cosido.

It's kinda simple, really: boil beef, put it aside, boil the potatoes in the same pot, put 'em aside, boil the cabbage in the same pot, put 'em aside, boil the chickpeas, chorizos, jamon, etc. in the same manner, then throw them together and serve the soup separately. At least that's what my mum told me, I've no idea why you can't just cook 'em all together.

Either way, it's delicious. It looks spare now, but then you have all these condiments you're supposed to put on them:

Let's go through them one by one. Vinegar, rock salt or sea salt or salt with herbs, Worcestershire sauce, and finally, extra virgin olive oil. In that order.

This is what really makes the cosido special.

During family reunions, like over Christmas or New Year's for example, my grand uncles always fight over who makes better cosido. So my grand aunt prepares two giant (seriously, huge) clay pots of the stuff, and my late grand uncle Eddie (God rest his soul) and his brother Horacio each had their own pot to work on.

When they're done, us nephews and nieces have to taste a little from each and proclaim who made the better cosido.

We always end up quietly telling both grand uncles that, yes, tito, yours really is the best, I'm just eating the other one to be polite.

But really, they kind of tasted the same: really freaking good.

You know what I love about cosido? The crunchy cabbage. The soft potatoes that serve contrast to the savory beef chunks with just a hint of sourness from the vinegar. The chickpeas that split in your mouth and spread over your tongue. The salty jamon and chorizo. Savory, sweet, sour, salty, balanced, all together. A spoonful of a little of everything. That's the perfect spoonful.

And after we'd stuffed ourselves on cosido and bread, we'd sip at the piping hot superflavorful soup.

And then have bread pudding or halo-halo for dessert. But that's another story.

thoreauism

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined." - Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau certainly got that right. I'm taking baby steps towards my end goal: to become a chef. So I'm about to start (fingers crossed) in the hot kitchen, no pay except meals, just to get some experience. Hopefully I don't lose any thumbs.

That would suck, not having opposable thumbs.

easy peasy japanese-y

This post is kinda overdue, but anyway, here it is.

A few weekends ago my family ate at this Japanese resto by Manila Bay. I don't remember the name of the complex, but it seemed a popular destination--it was brightly lit and attracted a good number of people. You could smell the sea and watch twinkly lights from across the bay.

The bay walk had so much potential, but now it's always crowded and incredibly smelly (because the people who sit on the walls by the sea don't know how to dispose of their trash--all the nooks and crannies among the big rocks have garbage stuffed in them). The sunsets there are the stuff poetry is made of, beautiful enough to rival Boracay sunsets.

Except, yeah, it stinks. And it's noisy because the restaurants along the walk put a bunch of carnival games and dancing girls and...it's really not what you'd want in a romantic walk by the bay.

BUT! The food in this place is still good. It's not exactly in front of Mall of Asia (where aforementioned unpleasantries are) so it's a little more secluded. It's on the second floor of its building, facing the bay so you get a good view over dinner.

This is it. "Tajima."

And this is the view across the bay!

This was the "tiangge" in front of the complex, by the parking lot.

And this interesting looking place is a floating restaurant called Mahi-Mahi that I want to try. It was closed then, but it looks worth a try, if only for the novelty of its place.

Anyway, Tajima. On your table they've got this built in grill so you can cook your own food. They serve great teriyaki beef strips that are sizzling hot and dripping in fat and sauce and just oooghghghghhh sooo yummy with the Japanese rice. Or even the lettuce leaf garnish. Their sushi is fresh and their uni sashimi is to die for. I know most people aren't taken by uni, and I used to be one of them, until the day I had another taste. It wasn't at all fishy, and it was cold and just so fresh tasting. 

You know what else they're good at? Beef sashimi. Raw slices of beautifully marbled Angus beef. I didn't get a photo of it because...well, I was too busy stuffing it into my mouth. It's so refreshing with just a dash of soy sauce. Who'd've thought? 

Raw beef. Ever since that episode with Mr. Bean spitting out his steak tartare and hiding it under his napkin and plate the thought never occurred to me that raw beef might be good. 

Well, it was. 

It's one of my favorite dishes there. If it's not your thing you can just throw it on the grill and watch as the slice begins to sweat and the fat begins to melt and then you can pop it into your mouth like a mini-steak. Now how can that ever be not good???

Be sure to give it a try when you're in the area.