koi

I'm just a small fish in a small corner of this big Laguna, and this is how I've been swimming it

30 November, 2014

Socrates' Secret

I do want this place to remain...secret.

Just because it is an ideal place for me to enjoy, in peace.  It is spacious enough for busy dining hours, but I like it spare, like this.









The interiors are very pretty, blue and teal walls...not exactly the usual Greece blue, but just as attractive; various owls in many shapes and forms; comfortable seating,  lovely lamps, interesting curios. Most of all, an inviting children's corner with wood furniture.




moussaka...there is also a vegetarian variant. They serve whole wheat pita 
The food! So delicious, so rich in flavor and scent. Ingredients are obviously not scrimped on. Portions are just-right to generous servings and picture-pretty presentation.  
I was told the chef was trained by a Greek chef.
lamb gyro

The design draws one in, and it's a really good thing the food equals the care put into the decor details. They even have board games for guests to play with...but really, the food is enough for me to come back.  I see this place as perfect for ladies getting together; and apparently, some faculty members of a nearby school have been coming over for the same reasons I would...the calm ambience, and the dishes, of course.

Okay, it is in the Laguna Central Mall...below Shopwise. At the corner of Laguna blvd. and the Tagaytay-Sta. Rosa Highway.It is next to...what happened to...Kenji's Steamboat? Where I enjoyed the Bak kut teh? Sayang...


These next two photos were taken at Ble, in BF Homes, Paranaque...


This was actually the only dining space (plus a table outside) they had.  As of a few weeks ago, they have a new branch on another street also in BF.

Oh, Socrates' menu has a good selection of popular Mediterranean favorites, except maybe for seafood like calamari...which Ble, pictured above, serves.  Ble is in Aguirre St., BF Homes, Paranaque, and from a tiny, 12 or so-seater nook, now has a branch on another street. It is owned by a Greek couple.  There are equally pretty pendant lamps but again, my photo fails to capture them.  Again, love the blues, but they are a bonus for the actual attraction---the food.  

27 November, 2014

Manila, Manila

     From a window in the National Museum of the Philippines...




  Teodoro F. Valencia circle in Rizal Park.  A 40-foot statue of Lapu-lapu stands in the center.  I have just learned something today: 







14 November, 2014

Real Rainbow Beats Faux Ice Castle

     Really...you know what my kid and the kids around screamed about more? This...on the opposite side of the sky...
"I wonder what caused it?", said Anna


Crown Asia's Ice Castle

     ...I am not in any way affiliated with Vista Land. Clever Marketing Dept...sulit inexpensive (much lower than store-bought), yet almost accurately detailed custom-made Halloween costumes...wigs sent by relatives...and voila!


ELSA? Do you wanna build a snowman?

Elsa?

Elsa?

Elsa?


Elsa!

Anna!



Anna?

Anna?






13 November, 2014

This weekend...

the road to Tagaytay from Santa Rosa will be awfully busy.  

Born and raised in Metro Manila (forty plus years remember), and having seen five Christmases here, I just know there is a pattern in the jumble   (jungles) of our cities.  Pay days are not universally on the 15th &30th anymore, and yet you combine the 15th with a weekend, throw in a full moon some months, and you will have a monster jam leading to the malls.

In these parts...here is where cars will slow down...
as seen from Nuvali's side.  View from the valley.

Last week, I was so sure that was the "north mountain" there.  Last Monday, with the addition of the ice castle's balcony...and squint, squint, do you see him standing in front...dear Olaf...it is confirmed.
Valenza a.k.a. Disneyland.
My kid's own C.O.D. Christmas or Greenhills Shopping Center. If you remember the C.O.D. displays then welcome, my fellow forty-something!  

See you at the castle one of these evenings, when the lights go on.   I wonder how the residents feel, when their village gate gets blocked...

I personally prefer "nativity" displays with nipa huts for Christmas, but some villages and churches do have them too.