Going a few days back

Let’s go back a few days back before September 17 shall we. 

The Sunday before that festive Tuesday was Sept. 15. In view of the fact that my lucky daughter has 2 Grandma ( Ben’s mom & mine), it would only be fitting to celebrate with both of them but . . . separately.

For Ben’s side of the family, a rough estimate of people to celebrate with us would be around 8, in reality thou it should be more than 8 but due to sibling rivalries of all sorts the supposed number of people celebrating with us would be fewer by a dozen, good for us huh ? Less costly hahaha I can’t say that I’m sorry they couldn’t be with us cause I’m not. Basically it would be the 3 of us + 8 guests, 3 of which are not entirely sure. Safe to say a table of 10 would be sufficient.

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My In Laws are Natural born Filipinos, Pampanguenos to be exact. The usual festivity would mainly comprise of Filipino food & delicacies, Pancit, Kaldereta, Hilabos na Hipon & kakanin. Kakanin would most probably be sapin sapin, biko, ube & bibingka. Benz loves kakanin but for this celebration we would bring them out of their comfort zone & into our delicious zone ! We are having  the Ultimate Buffet ! 

It’s a good thing The City Buffet is already here in SM Fairview, this will be maximum eating pleasure less the traveling difficulty.  The buffet will still have their usual native favorites, but it will also showcase a broader array of Japanese, western & Chinese cuisine. 

Ben & I can eat from all, a little of everything of course but the sure winner would be (always) the Sea Food dishes.

 Benz ? Hmmmm she will have a blast with the dessert buffet, but hopefully she would sample some of the western delights, yes – pizza, potato & maybe some paste like always.

This  banquet will commence Benz’s  8^th birthday celebration !

Presents no 3 & 4

Benz opened her present No 1 & No 2 after lunch during our retreat at the boutique in tagaytay. Tonight after her birthday dinner at Teriyaki Boy, she will opening present no 3 & no 4.

She has been asking her papa for this for the past 3 months. You wouldn’t think that at 7 years old something like this would interest her but it does – the iphone ! Her Aie Ivy has an iphone 5, she’s been begging her (all the time) to let her play with it. She wants to watch YouTube & play some games she said. But of course Aie can’t lend her the phone, it’s too expensive to play with. Not wanting to dampen her spirits, I told her that she should ask her papa to buy her one, she immediately did. For the past July & August, she would constantly remind Ben to buy her an iphone, this certainly gave him the shivers LOL. Obviously a 20 to 30,000 cel phone would be too much for an 8 year old, so we decided to get her the 2^nd best thing. With the aid of her Aku Randy, we decided to get her a Cherry Mobile. This phone will give Benz the look & the feel of an iphone. It will even give her more fun stuff to do. And it will give us a lower price tag for a gift she really likes.  

Your saying, ok that’s present no 3, what’s no 4 ? Well no 4 is a unli internet line from SUN, quite a pair huh ? This will keep her busy for a long time ( like a couple of days LOL) .

A family birthday dinner

Despite knowing Ben is not “inetersted” to celebrate Benzs’ birthday with the In-Laws, he didn’t have a choice but to follow my lead. My mom, sis & bro are the 3 most favorite people of Benz in the whole wide world, so it’s only fitting to share this happy occasion with them.

After checking out from the Boutique, it’s time to hit the road for a Family Birthday Dinner. The drive will only take an hour or 2, just enough time even after passing thru Rowena’s. 

My siblings are buffet eaters, my mom – well she can eat a little bit of everything. Then there’s what Benz would eat ? The adults are easier to nourish, it’s the celebrant that needs much brain storming. She eats the usual pizza & potatoes but that’s already what we had for lunch. Where to have dinner ? It could be someplace interesting or fun for her, yet also filling for the tummy.  Burgoo perhaps, Jade Palace ? If I’d ask her she’d say Cinnabon or Crispy Crème LOL that’s for dessert, not main course. In the end, I think the best decision would be Teriyaki Boy. 

Benz loves the Kani salad & the Chicken Teriyaki. If we want her to eat rice, Teriyaki Boy would be the perfect place (besides Jollibee hehehe).

For starters Soup & Salad. Nothing like the warm sweetness of Sukiyaki teamed with the refreshing Kani Salad. The sukiyaki will take the place of the usual birthday noodles to wish Benz long life. It will also be our Soup. 

For Viands : Chicken Teriyaki of course, the birthday celebrants favorite, Gyoza, All shrimp tempura, Tofu.  Even though the viands are already flavorful, I will still opt for the Gohan – Japanese fried rice. Ben & Benz prefers plain white japanese rice. 

Since were eating with my siblings, all orders are X2, albeit I don’t think it will suffice, remember buffet eaters haha so afterwards I think we’ll just spoil ourselves & indulge in much sugar. I am more of a J.Co person, Benz would be both Cinnabon & Krispy Krème, for best pampering we’ll buy all 3 & settle in a cozy coffee shop for dessert time.  Regrettably Star Bucks doesn’t allow other food items regardless of buying all beverages from them. Cinnabon is more client friendly, so off to Cinnabon we go. 

For Ben & Me, it will be Coffee Latte, Benz would be Mocha or Strawberry Machialatto + 2 Mini Bons original. From J.Co would be my Blueberry, Tiramisu & Pastillas De Leche Donut, while from Krispy Kreme would be Benz’z (yes still for benz) Original Glazed. The rest of the family will be treated to newyork cheese cake, oreo, cookies & crème & some other variants all from Krispy Kreme. I am proudly hoarding the J.Co stash, it’s mine mine mine BWAHAHAHA all mine !!! 

What do you want to do on your birthday ?

This is the usual million dollar question I ask Benz.

In the previous years, we went ZOO hopping. We 1^st went to Malabon ZOO, which was too pricey for the sights, then Manila Zoo which was rather economical. Benz enjoyed Manila Zoo more since it was like a park, plus she got to observe the animals in their somehow natural habitat, unlike in Malabon Zoo where we got a little scared (& worried) cause the Lions can almost reach us hahaha. The place was too small  to hold so

many feral beasts. So before heading back to Manila, since were here in Tagaytay, I thought we might as well visit Residence Inn.

Ben & I had visited this place years back during the early years of our marriage, entrance fee then was only 50 pesos (ok ok this was like 15 years ago) Now I know that the price has gone up to 500 per head ! It’s a lot, but why not, it’s a special day. From our last visit, I know that the place holds a lot of snakes, tigers, 1 lion, a family of wild boar & a couple of eagles & the likes. That viewing was for 50 pesos, I wonder

what the 500 pesos viewing will be all about hehehe Oh and I think there was also a camel, an ostrich & a brown bear. It was a nice collection I admit. There were also a couple of Peacocks running around too.

After our Pizza extravaganza of a lunch in our lush & comfy room in The Boutique, a visit to Residence Inn would be just right. This will give us time to think on whether we’d like to stay for another night or head on back to manila to celebrate with family. Decisions Decisions . . .  

Do you know a woman named Rowena ?

When going out of town, the most important thing before heading back to the city is the “Pasalubong”. It’s usually sweet treats from the locals. Here in Tagaytay, the famous pasalubong is the Buko Pie. There are 

stores here in there claiming to be the best in town. There are also peddlers. Our favorite stop over for pasalubong is Rowena’s. Rowena’s is not only a delicacy store, it’s also a restaurant. There’s ample parking with a security guard to assist you. The store itself has a touch of refinement, there’s a certain flair, then 

there’s this extensive assortment of goodies ! Shelves upon shelves of mouth watering pastries, pies & tartlets, this my friends is what Pie Heaven looks like ! 

Of course no. 1 in our pasalubong list  is the buko pie. Unlike the other variants you could buy from also a prominent shop here in Tagaytay, Rowena’s buko pie is not starchy, nor floury. It tastes of milk & coconut. 

And speaking of coconut, the coconut meat in not blended into unrecognition LOL it’s in fillets. Every bite gives you a chunk.

 Now the Sylvanias, I love Sylvanias, I love it more than Brazo de Mercedez or Sanrival.

There’s just a melt in your mouth happiness to it, despite it being whole in it’s look, the bite is so soft. My husband tells me that’s because of all the butter I am getting into my system, sinful pleasures what can I say. 

And for the rest of the hopeful family members waiting for our return from our retreat, since it's so hard to chose, I think the best choice would be ALL OF THE ABOVE hehehe, a little of everything !