I heart Earth?

    A friend in another village found 6 copies of this brochure in her mailbox. I received mine electronically a week earlier. 6 pieces of glossy color paper. She says she received around 4-5 brochures for the Xavier school before.
    So much for loving the earth.


 

     Would love to attend something, but my schedule does not permit. Anyway, weekend traffic on the highway to Nuvali is a deterrent, and the crowd on the Solenad is getting too uncomfortable for me. Traffic jam is probably still not as bad as Metro Manila's, but it's enough for us residents to stay away.  Road improvements and corresponding advisories have begun, to Ayala land's credit.

Great Camp Out

McDonald's Laguna Bel-air

   This branch, at the corner of Laguna Bel-air's entrance and the Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay highway, used to be such a landmark and stopover for those heading to Tagaytay.  Well, it was for me at least, a pitstop (pee-stop) if we didn't stop by any of the gasoline stations along the SLEX (South Luzon Expressway).

   It is a cute and friendly little branch with a "Playplace" inside.  It is therefore also a party place. One drawback is the street boys selling sampaguita in the parking area, beggars, and pirated dvd vendors.  It has still retained most of its charm as a little neighborhood branch. Somehow, it feels more homey and cozy than those in Metro Manila in there.

   I'm trying not to consume too much of this fastfood too frequently, and try not to have the kid enjoy it too much too.  Thankfully the kid does not really look for it but just enjoys it when it's there.  I would rather avoid character themes for kids' birthdays, much less in fastfood joints whose philosophy is the louder the PA system, the better. I concede however, that having a themed birthday party in McDonald's is not too harmful and young celebrants really enjoy mascot costumes.  I would compromise and review the hosts' plans for music and games though.  McDonald's I guess finally realized that the original Ronald clown scared many kids and that young children are attracted to the baby-faced character with a big costume head and big eyes.

   Searching their corporate website for birthday party packages is not too helpful to the many moms searching. So I'm doing this out of compassion for mothers (because it's the mothers who usually prepare for this) who have to go out to the branch just to get ballpark figures and details.
  The party themes listed are not updated, there are no rates, and no contact numbers for branches.  So, here is some price information about the current packages in this branch :

   Themes aside from Ronald and the Gang:   Php 3,000
            Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
            Disney Princesses
            Toy Story
    Themes include gifts, invitation cards, party hats, traymats, balloons, giveaways, game prizes, a character appearance (choose between Baby Ronald and Birdie)

    Food packages (minimum 30 pax):
            1. Php 135   (with toy)
            2. Php 150  (with toy)
            3. Php  160 (with toy)
            4. Php 155

    There's also a "birthday partipid" promo until June 15, 2011, with freebies for food bills beginning at Php 5,000.
            Director's Chair, Pinata and Inflatable Bouncer

     Unlike Jollibee however, this McDonald's branch does not have a lunch hour party schedule.  The party times are 9-10:30 am, 1-2:30pm, 3-4:30pm and 5-6:30pm.

Services, shops and schools in the area

     Now this is what I really originally intended to do:  provide information, directions, a directory, and my own experiences with the shops and services around the area.  So far, with all the children of both expats and locals around, it is education and schools I am frequently asked about.  I have strong opinions about this (everyone does) which I prefer to discuss in another blog. So in this one, I will gather names and locations of schools/learning centers.  Philosophies and beyond will be in the other blog.

  I am quickly becoming a resource for expat wives who are not allowed to work and are therefore staying home.  Might as well post information I have been sharing with them, on this blog.  Soon.

Tropical Hut hamburgers

     Why is the Tropical Hut fastfood restaurant in Paseo de Sta. Rosa still open? It can get totally empty some days. When we remember it's there (at the far end of the strip facing the highway), next to Razon's, we remember we like Tropical hut burgers and we would rather have these most of the time than Jollibee's.  I also love their chicken sandwiches, and each time we remember to go to Tropical for a snack, I remember how much I love them.

      The only other Tropical Hut I know of is the one in BF, Paranaque, attached to the only other Tropical Hut grocery I know.  If you are my age and if you grew up in Metro Manila like I did, then you would relate.  You would recall the Tropical Hut (original one?) at the corner of Ortigas and EDSA, across the POEA building. 

       I usually couple my sandwich with their mais con hielo.  I do wish they had sundaes like the other joints.  

       Who is the market?  Well, they were tuned into that FM station that plays annoying insane canned laughter, and this was playing. So figure it out.  What fun, though!

        Eva Eugenio! "Kay rami nang, winasak na tahanan...kay rami nang matang, pinaluha, kay rami nang pusong sinugatan...o tukso, layuan mo ako!"

      As classic as their burgers, I guess haha.  Kind of hokey but I like it this way.   

John Bamboo in Nuvali Solenad

    This is not a blog about restaurants nor food, so I am not prepared with photos of John Bamboo's offerings. I am just prepared to say, it is good, it exists.  An Indonesian friend let me know this when this was newly-opened, and it had her seal of approval.  Enak! (Delicious in Bahasa Indonesia) Masarap nga, even if it was just the "Martabak telor" we had for merienda. Authentic. I forgot to take a photo of it, the presentation was more hotel-like than street-food like.  

    We met the chef, imported from Jakarta. A very friendly guy, he said he was employed at the Hotel Intercontinental Jakarta for seven years before coming here (no wonder the martabak was pretty). As we knew Indonesian dishes from a past life in Jakarta, he talked to us about how John Bamboo was originally supposed to be just a sate house.  The owners, he claimed, didn't know about the 300+ Indonesian students at the Adventist University of the Philippines!  I found that hard to believe.  The Red Crab, which owns this, is a major company, which I'm sure, planned this carefully with research. Within the first two weeks of opening, they were also raided by expats--Singaporean, Indonesian, and Europeans who were previously living in the region.  With many Filipinos also having experienced the region's cuisine, missing it, and purchasing property in  the area, the timing is good.  The chef had to change the menu, which now includes favorites as bakso (soup that can be had in the streets of Jakarta in warungs or streetside cafes).  He has also done special requests such as a huge, party-sized "nasi kuning" (yellow rice formed into a cone) for an expat's surprise party.

    I am sorry I don't get the name John Bamboo, and seeing Rambo up there in the mural. I like the red furniture, but really, the place could have had bare walls and it wouldn't have mattered--the food was good.  They also have drinks such as Markisa 7-Up, and passionfruit syrup mixed with 7-up that is an Indonesian thing.  We had their "STMJ--susu telor madu jahe" or milk, egg, honey and ginger.  It was warm but so energizing.  They have "es cendol" I don't remember seeing any apulkat shake in their menu though. Apulkat is avocado, and this drink usually has lines of chocolate syrup dripping into the avocado green. It's something I miss. 

   The prices are very reasonable in this place. Really. Good value for money.  It is owned by the Red Crab group. Ah basta, try it already.  I'm so happy it's there. There is nowhere else in that Solenad I'd rather eat so far.

Jesus is not dead

     Close to midnight, the sound of struggling English by both Filipina (because yes, there are foreign ones living large in Manila, I hear) prostitute and Korean man, the sounds of their moaning, giggling too, again.

     I tried to ignore it all, while working by the window again.  I felt different this time, empowered by today's service at church.  It is Good Friday,and today from 1:00-3:00pm we heard the "7 last words".  Afterwards, there was a mass, people kissed Jesus' feet, and many of us went on trying to have a reflective, meditative day.  Tonight I remembered what the priest said about battling the devil. We are confident, because we have God with us.  Did Jesus say don't get mad?

     I shut off my lights, lifted my window blinds noisily, and banged the windows shut.  This made the girl jump off the bed. Then, the man peered out, standing at the window's side. Ha! I banged the window with my palm hard. This time I felt cooler and calmer.

    What I really wanted to do was yell "Do you know what DAY this is????" and "YOU turn your aircon off, hang curtains, and shut YOUR windows, not me".
I realized I was the one suffering the stuffy room, I was the one getting upset. SO against my conscience's pleading, I checked again. They were gone!  I looked down and their car was gone too!  Hurray! I don't care if they were really due to leave anyway, I scared them off. They got the message.  And I didn't have to say a word.

     Thank you Jesus, I prayed.  Talking this way about Jesus is not something I do often.  I keep my faith to myself and I have my conversations privately.  But tonight I just felt its true power.

     I just met an old friend, who also longed for the very quiet, restful Good Fridays of the '70s and '80s..when we were kids.  Now, many shops and services remain open, people go swimming (forbidden by our mothers), make noise at 3pm (we had to be quiet and praying). All in the name of respecting that not everyone is Catholic or practicing.  I do feel winds blowing back to the time of veils and Latin mass...I'm not sure I would like that extreme, but how do we compromise? In Bali, there is one day in the year reserved for a celebration (which I forget) where EVERYTHING is shut down.  Regardless of the presence of tourists, there is no work, people stay indoors, and it gets dark as well.  The tourists are expected to respect this. I wonder if they do to this day.  I don't even want to think of the wasteland that is Boracay at this time.

    In Sta. Rosa, Mercury Drug was open, most other shops were closed.  There was still the usual traffic on the highway, though I did not venture further out to really check.

    That's because it's Good Friday, and I had planned on (not even going online) meditating and reflecting on the Passion of Christ.