28 in 2011

To make up for my lack of any activity on the actual date of my birthday (February 17th), my friends and I scheduled a ton of stuff for the weekend. Well, that's if you subscribe to the idea that skipping work, fermenting in bed and watching a ton of dvd's don't count as "activity". =p

ACT ONE

Comida Espanola

SM Mall of Asia
2nd floor, Entertainment Hall
Pasay City, Manila Philipines
with a breath taking view of Manila bay.

For Reservations Call us at:
+632 804-08 37

Reservations For a minimum of 50 persons. We provide for Trio los Panchos for live acoustic music any day of the week.

Experience live Spanish acoustic music every THURSDAY to SUNDAY Dinner time.

Operating time: 10:00am - 11:00pm daily

 My birthday weekend began with dinner at Patio Guernica with Anna and Mia. None of us relish the thought of having to go to the Mall of Asia, as we all share the opinion that it's just too big. And not in a good way. (Wink wink) Anyway, I hear there used to be a Patio Guernica used to be along M.H. del Pilar Street, but I'm not sure if it's still there. 

I adore everything Spanish and historical, so anything Spanish AND historical is a little slice of heaven for me. This place is really pretty. I love their interiors. For a small place in a monstrosity of a mall, pretty good. Obviously, since it's in MOA, it's not exactly a historical place, but I love the -ahem- very flattering lighting, the dark wood-panelled interiors and the padded seats. Nos encanta charlar, y por eso, necesitamos sillas muy comodos.

Photo courtesy of http://www.patio-guernica.com

Photo courtesy of http://www.patio-guernica.com

Photo courtesy of http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3095/2753376534_a280eee2e8.jpg?v=0

Photo courtesy of http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3261/2753376568_7d0688de09.jpg?v=0

O.C. me also loved the clean restroom. 

Oh, and check out the cool menu:

Anyway, a teeny bit of trivia about Patio Guernica from their website:

GUERNICA in its old tradition in cooking Authentic Spanish Cuisine and fine dining service remains the same 53 years ago. Opened in 1955 by Senor Jose Ma. Hormacchea, a Spanish national, and a well known jai-alai player. His alias as a player was "Guernica" as he was born in the historic Basque town of GUERNICA. After he resigned as a player, he and his wife Vera Kogan opened a restaurant in M.H. del pilar which he called GUERNICA's. It is the First Spanish Restaurant in Manila which has a Trio singing folk songs entertaining guests at dinner time. In 1973, Senor Hormacchea retired and sold the business to Mr. Romeo "Romy" Bauzon, an antique collector married to Ms.Inge Horn of Ulm, Germany, and Australian partner Mr. Bruce Bernnie. Mr. Romeo Bauzon a well known antique collector was reluctant at first to run Guernica's since he does not know anything about the business, and yet he saw the opportunity thus he accepted the challenge and excelled as a restaurateur. Romy had worked in a Japanese Firm Nisho Iwai where he gained management skills. On its initial operation Senor Hormacchea assisted in the overall operation to continue the tradition in Spanish cooking, all secret recipes are transferred to the new management in 1973.

Guernica is a member Les Toque Blanches-international chef club. In 1983 Chef Peter Pfister the F&B manager of Guernica, started as a cook at the age of 16 in a famous ski resort in Switzerland, at 23 a chef at Hong Kong Holiday- Inn and later Fujian Hotel before joining Guernica. He was responsible in the over-all operation of the restaurant from weekly training and motivating staff and personally handles customer relations.

Its atmosphere and ambiance of romance is in a Spanish inspired setting, its rustic decorated place, authentic Spanish dishes and live acoustic music lured many well known residents (locals) and tourists.

In March 2008, Ms. Inge Horn-Bauzon went into retirement and transferred the restaurant to its management employees that have worked with the company for the past 20 years to continue the old tradition.

Now, the third generation of GUERNICA, with the same atmosphere, ambiance, authentic Spanish cuisine and live acoustic music will surely be cherished and remembered by its guests.

Especialidades de La Casa ranges from sopas, tapas, ensaladas, paellas, lengua, rabo de toro, entradas mariscos and pescados, steaks, and stocks of wines. You can also try our sweet sensations; Mango Jubilee - enjoy how fresh ripe mango is cooked in flames right at your table or Francescano - deep fried ice cream, a specialty you shouldn't miss! and for the perfect ending, try our Spanish Coffee, brewed coffee with Spanish brandy, cream and kahlua.

GUERNICA is currently managed by Rustico C. Apostol-President, Loida P. Lobo-VP Treasury, Rodrigo De Jesus-VP F&B and Customer Relations and Anthony Bauzon -Kitchen Operations. The new management will continue Guernica's tradition and with a vision to expand the business through a co-management franchise partnership model in select key locations by year 2009.

Cool eh? We're taking a one-month break from our Spanish classes, since it's been six months and cinco niveles since we started mid-2011 (Yes, right after the World Cup. I love mis hombres espanoles.), and we needed a semestral break of sorts, just so we don't end up gagging. Too much of anything is never a good thing, see. Anyway, it's been less than two weeks (I just checked my calendar) but it feels like so long, and I miss it. So meanwhile, comida espanola will soothe my Spanish craving.

We had the tapas sampler (gambas, champignones, lamb meatballs and calamares), paella valenciana, their house iced tea, and for dessert, mango jubilee and the fried ice cream. Everything was soooooooooo goooooooood.

Photo courtesy of http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3358/3284186879_7ea7cf07bd.jpg

And while all of this was going on, the in-house musical group serenaded us with Filipino, English and Spanish ballads. When they took a break, a pianist took and played a couple of songs.

Photo courtesy of http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/7f/4c/49/pasay.jpg

And, of course, nothing beats good company. =)

ACT TWO

An Attempt at Culture

While I was going through the TicketWorld website, I chanced upon the page for Don Quixote. I'd seen the poster at the Instituto Cervantes, but I never really considered it because I thought it would be too expensive, especially considering that the, errrrr, other tickets we were getting, were a tiny bit outside of our budget on a normal sunny day. One would think that ballet tickets would be outrageously expensive, but as it turns out, they're actually very affordable. Although I still regret not having found out that enrolled students at the Instituto Cervantes were entitled to a 50% discount. But then again, we were able to get a 10% discount because I charged everything to my BDO credit card. We were able to get matinee orchestra center seats (Row Q) for 550 each. Not bad at all.

We were supposed to meet up at 2, but as our luck would have it, Anna woke up late and we ended up sneaking into the CCP Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo fifteen minutes after the first act had started. It's been ages since I've been to a ballet, and it really helped that this one was something I was familiar with.

Photo courtesy of http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lffcru83xG1qcivhfo1_500.jpg

We're thinking of getting season tickets to the ballet. For the matinee, it's only Php1,700 for orchestra side, and Php2,000 for orchestra center. The next Ballet Philippines season at the CCP starts September. I'll post the schedule once I retrieve my program from Anna's car tomorrow.

Oh, and we're also going to watch ZsaZsa Zaturnah at the CCP next month. Sounds fun. 

ACT THREE

Take it ooooooooooooofffffffff!!!

Uhuh. We did.

I have groped a Chippendale. I can die now.

FYI, they did that number last night. Sooooooooooo hotttt.

Photo courtesy of http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/chippendales_3.jpg.

Think of all the situations you might imagine a stripper to be in, and they did it. They did road crew, construction worker, navy boys in those A Few Good Men uniforms, James Bond, man on a motorcycle, man fresh home from work, man on a bed. You name it, they did it.

Photo courtesy of http://i.wp.pl/a/f/pjpeg/18392/chippendales05_450.jpg.

I can't wait for next year's show. We are sooooooo getting VVIP seats next year.

Photo courtesy of http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l05whuoynB1qa1oc9o1_400.jpg.

Next up: THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER. Or at least we hope so. =p