California Pizza Kitchen

Last Friday night saw E and I having dinner at one of the pioneer shops at Glorietta, which is CPK. I've only eaten there once and I remember having tasted two fabulous salads there. I was with E and it was dinner time, so I knew that we won't be having salad at that visit. I also knew that CPK is in the same line with TGIF, Burgoo and National Sports Grill . . . pricey American food.

We stepped inside the restaurant and was greeted by very warm staff. Indeed, they were nice but I was really troubled by the smell the place was omitting. It was the smell of old, unclean cushion. I muttered several complaints about it under my breath. We were then ushered to our seast and were offered the menu. Again, the staff was attentive and courteaus. The menu included appetizers, salad, pasta and cocktail drinks. The menu did not include rice. Not surprising actually, but I secretly hoped they have rice dishes. I bordered on the safe side that night and ordered hawaiian pizza and spaghetti carbonara. Oh, plus strawberry lemonade. The lemonade tasted good even though it actually was just lemonade with strawberry flavoring.

Both the pasta and pizza tasted good me for me. But really, I could get the same taste in a much affordable price. It might take me a really long time to eat at CPK again. Only perhaps, if someone would treat me. :)

Spaghetti Carbonara

Hawaiian Pizza

Hearts Day

To the one who holds my heart . . .

I love you sweetie!

For this year's Valentine celebration, E surprised me with several things. Last Friday night, we had a simple dinner at Conti's Serendra. The first choice was actually Kanin Club at Westgate, Alabang. But given that it was a Friday and we did not want to get stuck at traffic, we opted to just have dinner at Serendra. On that day, we also discovered that Abe is still closed at around almost 6pm. Next choice was the reliable, Conti's.

I had the American grilled ribs. The meat was soft and tasted more on the sweet side.


E ordered a chicken dish. It was yummy but the taste resembled Chicken Relleno so much.



We also shared a serving of Italian-style pasta which was really good. I enjoyed the sweetness of the bell peppers.


We were too full that we passed on the desserts.

On February 15, the surprises still did not cease. E went to our house and was carrying a huge gift!

Aren't they beautiful?

UP Diliman food trip

When I'm at UP, I try as much as possible to eat at Rodic's tapa. There is no other place where you can have tapa cooked this way. One night, E fetched me from Makati and drove all the way to Diliman, just so we can have this for dinner. It was worth braving the traffic. I would usually request for my egg to be cooked sunny-side up.




The next day I was back again at UP Diliman and had lunch with my favorite girl friends, Joanne and Zarah. Back when we were in college, it was a tradition for us to eat at Chocolate Kiss during sem break. We would usually stay there for several hours, drinking our favorite iced tea and enjoying the food.

Taco salad. It was both crunchy and spicy.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto. This was really yummy.

and our all time favorite is the chicken fingers! The taste has not yet change. Extra sauce please!

What is your favorite Starbucks treat?

Mine would be the cinnamon swirl! I especially love this when it has just been heated. The cream just melts on my mouth. This season, I would usually pair it with the dark cherry mocha. I miss the peppermint mocha frappucino but the dark cherry mocha is a sweet alternative.

What is your favorite Starbucks treat?

Updates!

I haven’t blogged in a really long while because A LOT has happened. A LOT seems so vague now. In a gist, I went to the United States, celebrated my birthday there, had management training, shopped, saw the White House and got hospitalized. Yes, the last statement was true. Of all the fortunate things that can happen to me and of all the places – it happened in the US. I was confined for one-and-a-half day at the hospital. It was really quite a short time but the incident left me feeling weak for about a week. The big deal really is not being hospitalized; I believe it has triggered in me a complicated set of emotions which is best summed up in one concept: quarter life crisis. Yes, I am still suffering from that. Still being the operative and important word. I hope it’s enough of an excuse for being so lazy to blog. I still have several things to write about: escapades; life realizations, future plans, pending Christmas season, wish list and of course my food mishaps and adventures.

(From L-R; T-B)

1st row: Barnes & Noble - heaven for a book lover like me; me at Nordstrom (a local mall); autumn

2nd row: Washington Monument; me riding the Metro; the White House

3rd row: Residence Inn by Marriott (where I stayed); Tara Thai - my fave resto there!; dinner at The Macaroni Grill with colleagues

Back home, the Christmas promo of Starbucks has started already. I've started already although I am not really that keen in spending more than P2K for a planner. But being the planner-obsessed person that I am - let's see if I can complete the collection of stickers.