I’ve always liked the dishes in Kai restaurant @ Greenbelt 2.  I love their lamb and duck dishes as well as their wasabi ice cream. This year, it’s a different Kai restaurant I have been frequenting.  This one is in Serendra and it’s named Polu Kai, which from the outset looks like a Hawaiian/Polynesian resto.  We always get the Baby Back Ribs and Grilled Chicken combo.  And I like the fact that their dishes are served with grilled pineapple slice.  I like grilled pineapples!!

We came from our Hospicio de San Jose outreach and when we got to Polu Kai, we were so famished that we forgot to take pictures of the food.  The only thing I had any good picture of is this Fried Banana with Ice Cream and we actually got this for free by using the Citibank Femme rewards.   

The last time I was in Circles was during one of my birthday dinner treats to Bubba on his 24^th birthday.  The first was a dinner cooked by me.  That was the first time I cooked Chicken Adobo, my first Filipino dish.  This was in January 2007.  I opened year 2007 by eating at Circles and closed it with a Spiral dinner. Spiral boasts as the biggest buffet spread in the Metro.  It gave Circles a run for their money. 

@ Spiral, they had more stations of food compared to Circles.  Thus, the sectioning is more confusing.  Both have modern interiors but Spiral’s garden lounge earns a few points.   I like all sorts of food.  My favorite cuisine is Mexican but they didn’t have it.  I also love Japanese, Italian, Indian, Mediterranean, Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese… etc. etc.  As long as it’s edible and there’s point in eating it, why not? However, the Indian section of Spiral disappointed me a lot, even if I liked their Paneer.  I also tried their lamb curry and chicken tikka masala and wasn’t impressed at all.  Circles wins this section hands down. 

Both are neck to neck in their Chinese fare.  Hakao in Circles and Spiral were very much the same; same smooth texture and taste as in Shang Palace restaurant.  Spiral’s Jap department: California maki tasted below average. Spiral also had a small Korean section which I don’t remember Circles having one.  The Korean section had beef bulgogi and grilled eel and the omnipresent side dishes, which had 5 varieties to choose from. Desserts are imaginative and arty endeavors that are too beautiful to chow on, but you have to always make room for desserts!  Spiral also wins this one by a huge margin since they don’t only offer one, but two chocolate fountains.  One is for black chocolate addicts like me and the other is white for Milk chocolate fanatics like Bubba.  The fruits selection is better too.  The desserts selection is bigger by a mile, with their Choco revel bar leaving a good memory.  It had the right crispy but not floury and overly rich that you want to keep chewing. They also offer different flavors of Ice Cream and the local sweets like Halo-Halo. New items I haven’t tried before: beef boiled and root vegetable soup, ginger and white fungi soup.   

One of the reasons why Spiral won our hearts is because of the Cheese selection.  Bubba and I are as much cheese addicts as we are chocoholics.  They have a small selection of wine to pair with the different cheeses.  You have a tray of different dried fruits and nuts to go with your cheese moment.  Dried walnuts, apricots, pecan among others.  There’s also a vegan bread cracker that was flaky and had a subdued flavor.  Perfect contrast with cheese.  Cheese selection included Camembert, Brie (my favorite cheese), Soignon, Edan, Goat Cheese, St. Nectaire, Len.  @ Circles, the cheese is paired with grapes.

The grill section of Spirals is one of the things I have to go back for.  I love grilled foods.  The lamb chops with mint was really worth the money you spend in Spirals.  The prime Beef cuts tasted delectable too.  The meat selection in Circles spelled ordinary in my taste buds.  We totally loved the grilled salmon with the crispy skin on it and the juicy, smoky and tender grilled shrimps.  I am salivating just thinking about it.  I like fish fats a lot and according to Bubba fish fats are good fats that increase metabolism. The huge clay pot of Parmesan cheese also captured our hearts.  Beside it is an array of Carpaccio.  We didn’t try again (same case as Circles) the cold selection of lobsters, soft-shell crabs and other seafood.

I have to give all the scores to Circles though for the wait staff and service.  @ Spirals, there were not much attendants in food stations to explain the dishes.  Circles also wins in the client relation department, because of their free edible make-up gimmick.   Lastly, coffee in Spiral is surprisingly good!   My handsome sweethunkt (sweetheart who is almost a hunk haha) is looking so debonair in his blue polo, but I was too distracted by the smorgasbord of chomps to stare that much.

Album: http://cushee.multiply.com/photos/album/331/07_1215_Spirals_Dinner-_Kakas_Debut

In the fourth chapter in James’ Epistle, he talks about why we fight with one another. 

Why do we fight?  Why are there so many quarrels in the family or friends?  Why do brothers and sisters or friends or husbands and wives find it so hard to get along with one another?  “Where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from?”  James asks.  There are several reasons, he says, for all the fighting in our lives.

First, he says, we fight because we want something, and when we don’t get what we want, we get mad and we fight.  Two children want the same toy.  Since they both cant have it, they fight over the toy.  Adults are like that, too, sometimes.  Two people want the same thing and when they both can’t have it, they get mad and fight over it like children fighting over a toy.  We fight over who’s going to use the car, or what TV program we are going to watch.  We fight, James says, because we want things, and when we can’t have them, we get mad and we fight. Second, James says, we fight because we are full of envy and jealousy.  Somebody has something we don’t have and we envy him for what he has.  We are jealous; we get mad because other people have what we don’t have.  And so we fight because, basically, we are greedy and possessive.  Another girl has the guy I want.  I get mad and fight her because I am jealous.  The other businessman is more successful than I am, or a friend’s prettier than I am, and I fight because I’m mad that they have something I don’t have and want. We also fight with one another because we are always asking for things that are selfish and not very good.  We’re always asking for things for our own pleasure, James says.  When our selfishness is frustrated, when we don’t get what we want selfishly, we get angry and we lash out at whoever happens to be nearby –a husband, a wife or a friend.  You want to go to a party, but your father says you have to stay at home to study because it is a weekday and there is class tomorrow, and you get mad and fight everybody in the house.  It really isn’t the husband or the wife or the friend or the parent you are angry with.  You are angry because you didn’t get what you wanted.  You’re angry because you want it –too much, maybe – but can’t have it. The solution to a lot of our fights is to want less.  When we simplify and purify our needs and wants, we are less likely to get frustrated.  Buddha taught that much of the pain in life comes from desire.  Minimize the desire and we minimize the pain and the frustration.  We are less likely to get angry and fight with one another.  If we have fewer wants, we will have fewer fights. 

Too many wants.  Wanting the wrong things.  The lesson of love is a hard one to put into practice.  Want less and you’ll fight less, he says.  But in the last half of the fourth chapter in the Epistle, James adds two practical rules for a lot of fighting that contaminate our lives and destroys our peace. Don’t criticize people, James says, and don’t boast.  Criticism is often really envy and disguised wanting.  It makes people mad and fight.  Boasting is often the cover-up we use to hide or compensate for the fact that we don’t have something we really want.   

Want less.  Don’t criticize others.  Don’t boast.  That’s what Love is all about.  And when there’s Love, we fight less.

I will regularly post a chapter from the book I am reading now, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.  It’s a very handy book that gives the simple ways to keep the little things from taking over your life.  It’s such a good read.  Richard Carlson, a Ph D, wrote this #1 best-selling book of the year (1997) who also co-authored Handbook for the Soul.

Think of What You have Instead of What You Want

Happy Life #49

In over a dozen years as a stress consultant, one of the most pervasive and destructive mental tendencies I’ve seen is that of focusing on what we want instead of what we have.  It doesn’t seem to make any difference how much we have; we just keep expanding our list of desires, which guarantees we will remain dissatisfied.  The mind-set that says that will repeat itself once that desire is met. A friend of ours closed escrow on his new home on a Sunday.  The very next time we saw him he was talking about his next house that was going to be even bigger!  He isn’t alone.  Most of us do the very same thing.  We want this or that.  If we don’t get what we want we keep thinking about all that we don’t have –and we remain dissatisfied.  If we do get what we want, we simply re-create the same thinking in our new circumstances.  So, despite getting what we want, we still remain unhappy. 

Happiness can’t be found when we are yearning for new desires. Luckily there is a way to be happy.  It involves changing the emphasis of our thinking from what we want to what we have.  Rather than wishing your spouse were different, try thinking about her wonderful qualities.  Instead of complaining about your salary, be grateful that you have a job.  Rather than wishing you were able to take a vacation to Hawaii, think of how much fun you have had close to home.  The list of possibilities is endless!  Each time you notice yourself falling into the “I wish life were different” trap, back off and start over.  Take a breath and remember all that you have to be grateful for. 

When you focus not on what you want, but on what you have, you end up getting more of what you want anyway.  If you focus on the good qualities of your spouse, she’ll be more loving.  If you are grateful for your job rather than complaining about it, you’ll do a better job, be more productive, and probably end up getting a raise anyway.  If you focus on ways to enjoy yourself around home rather than waiting to enjoy yourself in Hawaii, you’ll end up having more fun.  If you ever do get to Hawaii, you’ll be in the habit of enjoying yourself.  And, if by some chance you don’t, you’ll have a great life anyway. Make a note to yourself to start thinking more about what you have than what you want.  If you do, your life will start appearing much better than before.  For perhaps the first time in your life, you’ll know what it means to be satisfied. 

Resist the Urge to CriticizeR. Carlson 

When we judge or criticize another person, it says nothing about that person; it merely says something about our own need to be critical.

 If you attend a gathering and listen to all the criticism that is typically levied against others, and then go home and consider how much good all that criticism actually does to make our world a better place, you’ll probably come up with the same answer that I do: Zero!  It does no good.  But that’s not all.  Being critical not only solves nothing; it contributes to the anger and distrust in our world.  After all, none of us likes to be criticized.  Our reaction to criticism is usually to become defensive and/or withdrawn.  A person who feels attacked is likely do one of two things: he will either retreat in fear or shame, or he will attach or lash out in anger.  How many times have you criticized someone and had them respond by saying, “Thank you so much for pointing out my flaws.  I really appreciate it”? Criticism, like swearing, is actually nothing more than a bad habit.  It’s something we get used to doing; we’re familiar with how it feels.  It keeps us busy and gives us something to talk about. If, however, you take a moment to observe how you actually feel immediately after you criticize someone, you’ll notice that you will feel a little deflated and ashamed, almost like you’re the one who has been attacked.  The reason this is true is that when we criticize, it’s a statement to the world and to ourselves, “I have a need to be critical.”  This isn’t something we are usually proud to admit. The solution is to catch yourself in the act of being critical.  Notice how often you do it and how bad it makes you feel.  What I like to do is turn it into a game.  I still catch myself being critical, but as my need to criticize arises, I try to remember to say to myself, “There I go again.”  Hopefully, more often than not, I can turn my criticism into tolerance and respect. 

The posters of Amazing Cones are all over the lampposts surrounding GH, which sparked our intrigue. It was one of those last-minute Christmas shopping and we found ourselves in Greenhills. After eating at Yoshinoya for a late lunch, even on full stomachs, we decided to try the new store.

The price of the cones if hot cones ranges from 70-85, which a little more expensive than buying an actual slice of Pizza from our casual Pizza parlors.

They offer different pizza flavors such as Buffalo Chicken Pizza in a cone, all meat, pepperoni and everything on it.

More on Amazing Cones on our 2^nd visit.

Album: http://cushee.multiply.com/photos/album/319/07_1226-_Amazing_Cones_Pizza

25 years of servicing us with great congee. The last time I’ve eaten here was way back in High School, which was 10 years ago. Bubba wanted to eat here for Sunday’s merienda cena and I’m only but happy to oblige since I didn’t want to eat rice in our other choice, which is Le Ching. After hearing mass at the Chapel of Holy Family inside the Greenhills Mall, we took a few steps that led to Luk Yuen.

Bubba ordered Meatball Congee while I had a steaming Braised Beef Wonton Noodle Soup and Hakao (shrimp dumpling) –everything for PHP 350.

It’s a Sunday of pampering and relaxation. I always go to Skin Perfect for a deep cleansing facial with laser treatment but since they up their prices, this was a perfect time for me to try out new clinics. We went to Timog to check out Daisy, where Bubba’s mom gets her facial. Unfortunately, it was closed. We were surveying the area, when we saw this billboard with a Xmas Promo Ad. Their facial is only PHP250, so without much ado. We parked the car and headed to the 3^rd floor of the building that also occupies Net Now Internet Café.

Let’s Talk About Face.

Since I was in a hurry to get my facial and get out of there since I had a 3:30 PM schedule at California Nails and Day Spa, I wasn’t able to get the prices of their regular treatments. I was really lucky though that the PHP 250 promo included the deep cleansing facial, laser treatment, tightening mask and hand paraffin! What a great steal!!! Promo according to the specialist who was steaming my face is good until the end of January. Christmas doesn’t really end in December.

California Nails and Day Spa

I profusely apologized to Monique of CNDS for not making it to my 3:30 PM appointment, with all that I had done in Let’s Talk About Face. I arrived at Greenhills around 4:30 already. Monique was really polite and accommodating. I wanted to get the Body Scrub but since I didn’t have that much time to spare either… I opted for the Calming Back Facial.

Nail Art Design

Nail art is a great way to express yourself. Have little ribbons or flowers adorn your fingertips. Add rhinestones for extra glitz. Paint on different cartoon and comic book characters. Select from various “French Manicure” designs. Cost depends on intricacy and amount of designs selected. From PHP 15-70 per nail.

Spa Pedicure

Feet are soaked in a soothing bath, then a gentle exfoliation lotion is applied to remove dead skin cells. Includes removal of corns and calluses, if required. An aromatherapy massage follows exfoliation, and a splash of cool body spray will leave your feet refreshed, relaxed and ready for a regular pedicure. 1 hour and 20mins: PHP 420

Paraffin Treatments

These relaxing treatments will leave your hands and feet feeling baby-soft. After exfoliation, hands/feet are dipped in warm, moisturizing paraffin wax, then wrapped snugly in terrycloth mittens/booties for 15 minutes. Special oils are then massaged into the skin until hands/feet become smooth, silky and rejuvenated.

Paraffin Hand Treatment (30mins) PHP 445

Paraffin Foot Treatment (30mins) PHP 490

Foot and Leg Massage

Using the combination of Chinese and Swedish massage, this is a perfect partner with your manicure. 30 mins: PHP 175.

Aromatherapy Massage

A soothing body massage for detoxifying and total relaxation. Using pure imported essential oils will strengthen the immune system. Soft music and a scented oil burner will complete your relaxation treatment. 1 hour and 20mins: PHP 600.

California Facial

A detoxifying skincare treatment, which removes congestion and dead cell buildup. Patterned after the classic European Facial, this includes: deep pore cleansing, a luxurious massage, steaming, mask, toning, and hydrating. 1 hour: PHP 695

Calming Back Facial

Our specialized treatment to unclog blocked pores on the back. Offers many benefits-detoxification, scrub, extractions, massage to relax sore and aching muscles. 30mins: PHP 420.

Body Scrub

A body treatment using fruity grains to gently scrub off dead skin cells and build up of lotions. After a refreshing shower, a finale of light massage using scented lotions will leave the skin with a new glow. 2 hours: PHP 800.

They have a special 20% discount for all services until January 31, 2007. Hurry and get that much needed spa treatment at a lower cost. Happy Three Kings!!!

California Nails and Day Spa

Units 8 & 9, One Kennedy Place, #3 Club Filipino Avenue, North Greenhilss, San Juan, Metro Manila.

Tel. Nos. 722-9245 722-9275

Sunny day –sweepin’ the clouds away, on my way to where the air is sweet.  Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sex-same Street… okay okay, hold your horses, Rambo.  

1-2-3-4-5-SEX… I am about to tell you the Avenue Q experience.  This post is rated PG.  Peek while no Guard-iance.  It was a slow Saturday night, December 22.  Earlier that day, we went to the Karl Edwards Bazaar.  We got a bit tired from all the last minute shopping but we had a lot of fun getting different items for our dear loved ones.  First choice was to eat at Red Kimono and avail again their All-You-Can-Eat ala carte promo, but since I was too tired to eat that much and we were in a rush, we opted for Pasto and had our usual.  I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Avenue Q Play, which stars Rachel Alejandro as Kate Monster, the love interest of the lead, Princeton.  Since I’ve been hearing praises, I didn’t want to compromise my expectation by setting it too high.  Let me say that Avenue Q did not disappoint at all. We got good seats, just a few rows from the stage.  First impression: what a bright and cheerful stage styling!!!  Chirpy colors playing in front of my eyes.  I wondered what the LCD TV was doing at the corner of the stage, but other than that, I was enchanted by the stage décor. 

There were three houses that were used as props.  First house was colored green, 2^nd was blue and third was a red house.  It reminded of a painting at home which illustrates three kids flying kites in a beautiful garden.  The painting for me is very symbolic since they were all female.  It depicts our family’s brood of three girls.  The girl in the blue dress is me and I stand in between two girls, one wearing green and the other red.  Blue has always been my favorite color.  I like different colors but I find home in blue.  I’ve always felt like a lonesome traveler/drifter/poet back in my high school days.  Blue signifies loneliness, sadness… and it kinda describes that distant feeling during my rebel days.  I also like blue because it’s masculine and I was sorta boyish then.  Blue has always been attractive to me… simple, quiet but not all that grim unlike black.   Green is Joyce.  Joyce is my sibling who followed me.  She is a special child, but I treat her like a normal kid because to me she is normal.  What is abnormal is the bountiful of happiness she brings to our household.  Her innocence is the breach of this unruly world we live in.  Her simple joys take you back to the basics –to raw love where you just give without the fear of disappointing.  Green because it symbolized hope.  HOPE.  We need more than a bucketful of that to see light in this darkening world.   Joanne is the youngest in the rascal line-up and she is all RED.  Red because young blood signifies passion.  I see a lot of fire in her eyes.  I can see that she is driven and she has all the potential to succeed if that passion is channeled towards the right direction. The lights were dimmed, as the play was about to start. Sucks to be me.  Princeton is a young lad with a fresh-from-the-oven graduate degree, big dreams but with no work and no place to live in.  Kate Monster is a long-time teacher-assistant who wants to put up the very first monster school (a place where monsters can study freely without dread of discrimination) but has no funds to build the school.  No love life either.  Single from birth?  Bryan is an aspiring stand-up comedian who can stand up but cannot do comedy.  Christmas Eve, wife of Bryan, who is a Japanese mistaken for a Korean and discriminated upon generally as Asian.  She is a practicing psychologist with only one client and married to a jobless man.  Nicky, one of my favorite characters, is a closet gay republican and investment banker.  Gary Coleman is the has-been child star who became the superintendent of the building where everyone lives.  Trekkie Monster (whose appearance always result in a ripple of laughter) is the monster that lives in one of the higher floors and who enjoys masturbation extremely.  

Fine Line Between Love and a Waste of Time.  As all relationships go, Kate Monster and Princeton hit a rough spot too.  I really like the simplistic but vital altruistic lyricism of this song.  There is really a fine line between what you want and what you’ve got.  The grass might be greener on the other side, but it’s only one shade greener –and sometimes only because the sun is distorting your image.  There is only a hairline of difference between what you have and what you want but we tend to over emphasize the difference.  It all falls in how much love there is, the undeniable connection and how much two people want to make a relationship work.     

Schradenfreude is the German word for happiness from other’s misery.  I think everyone is guilty of this at least at one point in his/her life.  We might be the type of people who don’t wish anyone ill, but we kind of feel good that we are not in the “miserable” situation.  Like sitting comfortably in the car and looking out the window and seeing someone under the heavy rain –we remember the time we were in that kind of catastrophic scenario and breathe a sigh of relief that we are not the one in a measly state. Another example of Schradenfreude in the play, you’re a geek in college getting all the nerdy raps and getting bullied by your jock-roommate.  You get thrown out of your room the day before an important test because your roommate is going to get it down with the sexiest and hottest girl in campus.  The next day, you see your frat boy roommate fixing his hair in front of a mirror.  Little does he know where his d*ck has been last night –in the haven of the worse of diseases (worse than a garbage chute).    When You Help Others You Cant Help But Help Yourself Too.   D Ruv Song.  It was kinda difficult to listen to this song because of Christmas Eve’s Chinese accent.  –You Ruv but you want to kill the person sometimes –bottomline, Love is ultimately passion.   Bad Ideas, Lucy the Slut, Ron, Nicky, and Ricky… every character was unforgettable. 

It was the smallest ensemble I’ve seen so far with almost all of the theater actors playing 2 or more roles.  Every role was played considerably well. Overall, the play shows you the reality of life but without the harshness.  Instead of a straight punch, it gives you a soft jab on what reality is.  It gives you the awful aspects of life in bright colors and wondrous tones.  The play tickles you while giving you reality-bites undertones.   Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Avenue Q?   

Album:  http://cushee.multiply.com/photos/album/317

Sunday night in October 2007, before watching the movie Rendition, we had dinner at Green Tomato.  CW used to eat here a lot when he was still with San Miguel, which is just a stone throw away from Shangri-la Plaza.  It was my third time to eat here during the visit with my mom.  The second time was after the Premiere of the third installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean.  CW likes the food here but I find it ordinary.

You can split the pizza into two flavors.  We ordered 4-Cheese Pizza and all meat.  Their 4-cheese pizza includes a pesto sauce instead of a tomato base.  We also ordered a pasta dish that I forget.

Album: http://cushee.multiply.com/photos/album/273/07_1028-_Green_Tomato_Rendition#