C Going On 30!

It's C’s birthday and just like me & Ryan, she’s just turned 30, too!

We met up a few days before her birthday to celebrate in advance. Off we went to explore the Old Town in the Burj Dubai vicinity and checked out Dean & Deluca, an American café headquartered in Soho, New York. It was highly recommended by my friend at work, A. We didn’t regret swinging by the place – their food was really sumptuous!

Apart from the good gastronomical experience we had, we also loved the feel of the place…simple, straightforward and clean looking. It felt like being transported to an Anonymous shop with food, pastries and coffee being sold, instead of garments, trinkets and other what have yous.

We ordered their beef stroganoff, baked potato and eggplant pizza. Much to my surprise, the eggplant pizza was delicious! It’s got no weird after-taste and doesn’t leave an itch to your tongue. For dessert, we went for the M&M brownie and blueberry cupcake with buttercream icing. In contrast with their food, their pastries were like so-so.

But we’d definitely go back to Dean & Deluca, especially once the Burj Dubai and Emirates Mall open. It's located right smack in the middle of everything, so i’m certain come cooler months, the place will be packed - by tourists and locals alike. That would be a perfect time to enjoy the café dining al fresco.

To my dear friend, C, happy, happy birthday! I wish you more blessings to come! Thanks for coming back into my life. I hope you had a fun time the other night as much as we did. Xoxo!

Milestone And New Stone

Despite my horrible toothache yesterday, Ryan & I went on ahead to celebrate our 10th anniversary this year. (yes, i’m that stubborn!) Quite unconventionally, our simple celebration was done in reverse. We had dessert first at Haagen Daazs at the DIFC to pass the time before heading for dinner at Shang Palace in Shangri-La Hotel. Despite the 4 scoops of ice cream we shared, we still had room for the delectable Chinese cuisine. No doubt Shang Palace is the best Chinese restaurant in Dubai!

sucker for Strawberry Ice Cream

chocolate brownie fudge

while waiting for the food - love the ambience!

dimsum, claypot beef satay & prawn bread crumbs

But what made the event extra special to me was the gift Ryan gave me.

my new solitaire

It was included in my 30th birthday wishlist. I’m just so pleased I didn’t have to wait that long for it to be fulfilled!

Honey, you’ve made another dream come true for me! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

One Decade!

“10 years ago, under a coconut tree in Los Banos, Laguna, a boy & a girl made a promise. Little did they know that the promise they made was already the start of their lifetime of togetherness.”
Pardon me for being mushy. I just can’t help it…I’m so overwhelmed and enormously happy with the feeling that envelopes me.

Everything has been going great for us so far. We’ve been very blessed since our courtship days. Our lives couldn’t get any better! And now that we’re nearing our 3rd wedding anniversary, our only wish is to be blessed with a little angel soon. We hope and pray for a healthy bambino that will add joy to our abode.

Happy anniversary to us, honey! And thank you for deciding to celebrate this day still. Cheers to more blissful years to ahead of us!

Fun-Packed Weekend

I’m the type of person who’s never fond of going out on gimmicks every weekend, or bar hop as frequently as the others of my age group. My days of bar hopping had ended when I turned 25, I think. Blame it on my low tolerance for smoke and alcohol. Since then, I’ve shifted from a party girl to a home body person. Parties for me are now synonymous to nook crashing at a friend’s or cousin’s place or casual dinners suitable for a lively conversation. Anyone close to me would agree that I have indeed changed. Either that or I have aged ;-)

So when I said I’d join my fellow Pinay colleagues to go clubbing last Thursday night, they were all so surprised. For one, they’ve known me as someone who’s not into the clubbing scene. Since I’m already married, they were also worried that hubby will not approve of me going out without him. But having been blessed with an understanding and liberated husband at that, I was allowed to go out on a girl’s night out with my friends at work. in fact, he even drove for me, H and M to our meeting point.

We went to Trader Vic’s at Madinat Jumeirah and The Apartment at Jumeirah Beach Hotel for some bust a groovin’. It was sweltering hot on both places as they were packed with people, but even so, we had so much fun that we parted ways at almost 3:00 am.

As if we couldn’t get enough of each other’s company, we met up again the following day. We crashed at Nick’s pad for a get-together over chips, Marry Brown chicken, home-cooked Pochero, Black Forest cake, Brazo de Mercedes, Moist Chocolate cake and Cheese cakes. Just like any other visit to Nick’s, the evening ended up as a karaoke night. Thanks to his karaoke mean machine, the singing prowess of my Pinoy chums at work were unleashed!


After the rest of the ‘singing’ group had left, we decided to play a few rounds of boxing, baseball and tennis on Wii. M, hubby and I left Nick at peace at half past 2:00 am worn out and tired from all the singing and gaming.

It was pretty busy bonding time with friends at work last weekend, but I didn’t mind at all. I had an amazing time with them and I hope there’ll be more in the future! ‘till the next night out and house party!

Tanned, Toned And Tired From Jordan Part 3

This is the last installment of the 30th birthday travel treat for Ryan & myself. So sorry for the immense delay, folks. been tied up with lotsa things lately.

This will be a lengthy post again – with lots of pictures, too, so I warn you to proceed at your own risk. Pardon me as this is the highlight of our trip – a visit to the pride of Jordan, Petra.

On our 3rd day, we woke up to a cheerful morning with minds ready to meet our new conquest. Armed with two cameras, a light-weight tripod, 3 liters of water, and happy tummies filled with light breakfast, we headed to the Petra Visitor’s Centre to begin our day tour of the magnificent lost city created by the ancient tribe of the Nabataeans.

Working our way to get to the Al Siq, which is the entrance to get to Petra approximately 300 meters away from the Visitor’s Centre, we went past this grand tomb:

the Obelisk Tomb & Bab As-Siq Triclinium 

And this is the mouth of the Al Siq:

The Siq is a 1,200 meter stretch of long, deep narrow gorge brought about by the movement of the earth’s tectonic plates. Once inside, you’ll feel the coolness of the rocks. We didn’t notice the long walk we did because there were a lot of tourists making their way inside Petra, too. And because it was shady, walking was easy peasy.

As soon as we saw the end of what seemed like a never-ending Siq, we instantly felt giddy excited. Having a peek of this marvelous beauty was simply amazing:

the world-renowned The Treasury

This was the very same sight featured in the Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade film in 1989. After taking pictures of The Treasury, we proceeded to see more of Petra. Having gone past The Outer Siq, we were bowled over when we saw these ruins and tombs ahead of us:

According to the brochure that we got from the Visitor’s Center, if you’ve only got a day to spare, the best places to see in Petra are The Treasury, High Place of Sacrifice and The Monastery (and we intend not to see everything as normally, it would take 2 full days to do Petra justice). As the last two locations require a bit of hike, we weren’t sure we’d actually see them. We obviously aren’t fit to engage in a strenuous activity. Good thing there were donkeys available for hire so we opted to just take a shortcut as we were also pressed for time. We were enamored by a young boy who offered his donkeys to take us to High Place of Sacrifice and The Monastery. What made us bite the deal was when he guaranteed that we will take a different path to see the other ruins usually missed by tourists, and then bring us back to The Treasury by 4:30 pm. After agreeing with a fixed price for the donkey hire, we started on with the ‘real journey’.

We didn’t waste any time and took a donkey to go up the High Place of Sacrifice. Meanwhile, hubby had to take a mule going up. At first, it didn't bother me riding the donkey. In fact, I was pretty excited! It was my first time to ride one, and knowing how gentle donkeys are compared to horses, I never felt a slight bit of nervousness. But when I finally saw the trail that we had to take to go all the way up, fear started to creep in me. The trail was next to a cliff’s edge and the steps were pretty rough and narrow. You bend over a little and you could actually fall off the donkey and go straight into the ravine. The whole time I was hanging on for dear life and praying that the donkey doesn’t slip. When the donkey had to turn left or right on the narrow path, I always cringed with horror at the sight of what’s below. Yikes! Good thing my husband assured me that donkeys are sure-footed - that was reassuring to know, especially when they gallop (oh dear!). But I felt sorry for the calm beast whenever it had to step on rocks as I knew any hard surface could hurt the poor thing’s feet. In the end, I didn’t mind where the donkey had to step on to get atop, as long as both of us were safe.

When we reached the plateau where a makeshift refreshments shop was made, we got off the donkeys and hiked up to the cliff where the High Place of Sacrifice can be found. It was the first hike that we did that day, and my gawd, we were panting like crazy after just a few steps. But when we reached the top, we were rewarded for the bit of hard work we did with the breathtaking view of Petra.

top of the world

High Place of Sacrifice...sacrifice to climb indeed!

We took the ‘backdoor’ to go down the cliff. This time, we opted not to ride the donkeys as it was dangerous. We stopped every 5 minutes or so just to see the view, which was truly amazing! It was good that we went for the donkey ride because otherwise, we would’ve missed the other good spots in Petra such as the Lion Monument, the Garden Temple Complex, Roman Soldier’s Tomb and the Triclinium not normally visited by tourists.

The Garden Temple

Roman Soldier's Tomb

a peek at the Roman Soldier's Tomb

the Triclinium

After the Triclinium, we went on ahead and took the donkeys to reach the Qasr Al Bint, which looked like the center of everything in Petra. There was a restaurant just nearby but we decided to forego lunch so we wouldn’t feel heavy (and lazy) to go up the Ad-Deir, or more popularly known as The Monastery. It was an easy ride until we got to the climbing part again. But getting up The Monastery was less scary because the trails were wider and the steps were not as steep as those of the High Place of Sacrifice. A lot of people were also walking in the trail but we didn’t trust ourselves to make the climb so we pretty much relied on the donkeys to take us to our destination.

When we reached the spot, this is what we saw:

The Monastery was spectacular! It was basking in the afternoon rays of the sun, giving it a wonderful color that made it stand out perfectly. Just looking at its grandeur made us feel totally mesmerized.

After resting for about 15 minutes in the makeshift cafeteria along with other tourists who were either catching their breaths or having a snack after a long day, we decided to head back down and see the rest of the sights. Since we couldn’t take pictures going up the trail, we stopped every 5 minutes or so on our way down to shoot some pics. We didn’t take the donkeys going down so it was easier for us to snap away.

Heading back to the Al Siq, we took a pit stop at the coffee shop for some refreshments and a visit to the loo. We then proceeded to saunter back to the entrance. Part of the deal with the donkeys was a trip back to The Treasury, but we decided to go by foot instead so we won’t miss taking pictures of the other sights.

We went on with the journey and walked past the Colonnaded Street, the Nymphaeum, the Urn, Silk, Corinthian, Palace and Sextius Florentinus Tombs, and the Theatre as we neared the exit. By then, we were already dead beat so all we could do was take pictures. At some point, we even sat on one of those rocks in the shade because our feet were almost on the verge of surrendering.

are we there yet, donkey?

the Colonnaded Street

looks like Grand Canyon to me, honey

more tombs

the ampitheater

taller breed of camels

ugly, beaten  BUT happy feet

last glimpse of The Treasury in its rosy pink glory

In a span of 7 hours, I think we’ve covered pretty much of the essential sights to see in Petra. It was dead tiring but extremely fun! I never thought Ryan & I will be able to see much of the world renowned ruins considering the enormity of the place paired with incredible heat. But seeing that kind of natural beauty proved me wrong.

That same day, we travelled back to Amman. Jamil fetched us from the Visitor’s Centre at about 4:30 pm. We passed by the inn to pick up our bags, and then sped off to reach the capital in less than 3 hours. For dinner, hubby and I found this Filipino eatery behind our hotel, which was referred to us by the two Filipinas we met in Petra. We had Pork Spareribs Sinigang and Bistek – perfect after a long day of walking and hiking! We also bought Shawarma for our midnight snack and a glass of Slush Puppies to take back to the hotel. We spent the night just watching cable TV till we dozed off to sleep.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel’s buffet restaurant. We packed our belongings right after and checked out at 11:00 am. We were picked up by the same car that brought us from the airport a few days ago, and we were dropped off to the airport in no time. However, luck wasn’t on our side that day as our flight was delayed for 3 hours. We were so bored at the airport and had nothing else to do. To pass the time, we foolishly played a game where we’d pick a letter and call out a Filipino common noun that starts with it. Yeah, that’s what boredom can do to you!

Well, that wraps up our memorable trip this summer. I hope you learned much about Jordan through this 3-part account. If you do get a chance to come over this part of the world, please do visit it. It’s worth the trip, I promise!

Sad Gamer No More

An hour before the husband picked me up from work this afternoon, he sent me an sms with the good news that he can now drop by the Virgin Megastore in Deira City Centre to pick up his new PS3. Yup, you read that right - new! The console we brought to Virgin last weekend is apparently beyond repair so they've replaced it instead with a new unit. Your guess is good as mine.  As soon as we got home, the excited big boy immediately installed the console so he could play.

I'll just let these pictures do the talking.

Afternoon Treat

Sorry, I just had to document this rare occasion: my frienemy at work, A, has decided to treat the gang for some after lunch sweets today. I was the only lucky one to get something extra though – my all-time favorite double blended Strawberry Banana Smoothie! I was craving for one earlier but was too lazy to go downstairs to buy one. So when they grabbed some sweets from Café Bateel, he took time to make a quick stop over at Caribou for my smoothie fix. How sweet!


From someone who teases me like a bully every single day at work, this is such a welcome treat indeed! He had just proven he likes ‘geeks’ apparently! (yes, he calls me such just because I love scrabble!)

Note: picture posted with permission of the ‘generous guy of the day’

A Sad Gamer

...is what my husband is right now. Last weekend, we had to bring his PS3 gaming console back to where we purchased it from for repair. A week ago, while hubby was playing (I forgot which game he was playing then), the console had asked for an upgrade before he could proceed. But alas! The console kept getting stuck at 99% and wouldn’t budge. He waited, retried, switched off the unit and turned it back on several times but the upgrade kept getting jammed and won’t finish completion by a mere 1%!

When we went to Virgin Megastore last Saturday, we were told that they’re gonna look into the unit and may take 5 – 7 working days to have it fixed. It could be that the software has conked up. Poor hubby!

Weekend Wrap Up

As I was sick the day before, I mightily fought my way to get to work last Thursday. It felt like everything was a blur, but I was successful enough to endure the whole day barking like a pathetic dog at my workstation. My colleagues were asking me to go home but I just had to make them suffer with my unappealing voice and nasty cough *evil grin*. As soon as the day was over, hubby and I went home immediately and just relaxed by watching his favorite anime series, Naruto. We crawled to bed at half past ten, and woke up the next day re-energized from our 10 hour sleep.
Breakfast was served at 9:00 am by none other than me :) The aroma of bacon strips, sunny side up eggs and steamed Jasmine rice whiffed all over the flat. It was a real treat because we had Pampanga’s Best bacon - mmmm, yum yum! We only get to enjoy home-cooked breakfasts during weekends because for the rest of the week, we’re off to the gym as early as 6:00 am.

For the rest of the day, we just lazed around doing practically nothing. We just ate, surfed the net, slept, then ate some more, surfed some more, and slept some more. I guess we had enough rest that day because come Saturday, we were both feeling good and groovy. This time, we left the house to do some errands -- pay bills grocery shop, bring the PS3 to Virgin for repair – this is a different story!. Hubby also dropped me off at the salon for some pampering. I had my hair trimmed and treated for oil bath, and my nails done, too. It was a relaxing 2 hour 'me time', which I immensely liked! The hubby, on the other hand, spent two hours at Time Square Center for his technology update at Sharaf Digital while waiting for me.

For lunch, we tried Wagamama at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Sheikh Zayed Road. I’ve been here for more than 3 years but I’ve never tried this restaurant in Dubai before. In fact, my first Wagamama experience was in London one rainy day at Earl’s Court with my cousin last year.  It was Ryan’s first encounter with the funky oriental resto so he was pretty excited, especially when I told him it’s a ramen bar type of place. Anything Japanese catches my hubby’s interest…especially food!! ;-)
We ordered ebi gyoza and ebi katsu side dishes, and had teriyaki salmon soba and teriyaki steak soba for our mains. Their teppan fried noodles that served as bed for the salmon and steak were really delicious, I have to say! The teriyaki sauce for the meats were just right, too. not too sweet and not too heavy. Totally lip-smacking good!

After our very filling lunch, we went to visit my cousins at Baan Dusit for an afternoon catch up. We had early dinner at their cafeteria, which served a variety of international dishes, with mostly Thai food that tasted authentic (well, what do you expect - it's a Thai hotel chain!). We stayed there for a couple of hours, and then went home at 6:30pm. We arrived home tired but happy after a long day of gallivanting :)

How about you, how was your weekend?