Between Bites

Posts Tagged ‘Fran’

Potluck Dinner and Armin Van Bureen

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

(Image source Paul Ang)

 

Friday evening, around 8ish, Bubba and I were at Sab’s place for potluck dinner.  It was a dinner for couples as three love duos gathered for an evening of good food and conversation.  It was too bad that Didi and Edmund, the supposedly fourth couple, weren’t able to make it.  We missed Didi on this dinner.

 

 

 

Sab’s place is a lovely home and what makes it lovelier is the presence of Brian and Sab’s little Sophie, the cutest Chinese tot I’ve ever seen.  We arrive earlier than Fran and Paul so we bonded with Sophie while her yaya feeds her dinner.  Meanwhile, Sab was slaving away in the kitchen.

 

 

Our Menu:
From Sab & Brian
Shrimp cakes
Grilled Salmon
Chocolate Ice Cream

 

 

From Fran & Paul
Chicken Mozzarella
Leche Flan

 

 

 

From Jane & Chris
Penne Al Tono Cream
Angel Hair Pasta with Sardines and Capers
Taco Salad with Tostitos Tortilla with Hint of Lime
Choco Crisp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fran and Paul arrived and we started dinner shortly.  Brian arrived a few minutes after.  There were so much food on the table that we just kept stuffing ourselves –even little Sophie after a full dinner and a bowl of minced apples for dessert partook in the feast! 

 

 

I was so full after all the good food!  We had to wrap up around 11ish to bring home my favorite dish plates and troop over to World Trade Center for the Armin event.  We got to WTC around midnight, just in time to meet our friends outside the tent.  Happily, the line at the entrance moved fast and it wasn’t more than 15 minutes that we were able to go inside.  Between the past three Big Fish Manila events, it was at this event I really enjoyed the music the most.  I had a lot of fun dancing with Camille, Carlo, Bubba, Francis and Martin.

 

 

 

 

 

Again, much love to Martini for getting us in the guest list!  XOXO.

 

Events This Weekend Album

Fran’s Album

Related Posts: Kitchen Goddesses 

 

Flapjacks -Greenhills

Thursday, November 6th, 2008

Price Range: PHP 150-250

Operating Hours:

06:00 AM – 11:00 PM          Sunday – Thursday

06:00 AM – 01:00 AM         Friday – Saturday

 

Flapjacks Greenhills is the new ray of sunshine in Greenhills Theater mall.  With its bright colors and welcoming interiors, people are drawn to take a crack at their dishes.  Thursday night was the scheduled dinner with the girls.  Since we arrived 30minutes earlier, we had time to go around first.  I went to Info Max for a long overdue purchase of a Lowe Pro lens case I can conveniently attach to my small Lowe Pro camera bag.  I had a blue case in mind similar to Ronald’s case, which is slimmer but they don’t have it so I checked their black Lowe Pro cases instead.  After much mulling, I picked my choice, a small black Lowe Pro case (PHP1,700 with PHP200 discount) for my 50mm extra lens.  I still held off on buying though and decided to go back next week.  I have such big control of shopping urges now that even for stuff I need I hesitate greatly.

 

We arrived first then Sab, Didi and soon after, Fran and Paul followed.  Checking Flapjacks menu, I was surprised to see that it’s so limiting.  There are about 9 choices from their breakfast list while only 6 lunch and dinner specials.  It says though that these specials are “feature of the month,” which can mean that they are still toying with their offerings checking what people like, otherwise they really change their menu every month.  What I highly appreciate is that all prices are inclusive of tax already. 

 

Sab tried their country fried steak (PHP 205) that Bubba was eyeing earlier.  Didi ordered a rack of pancakes and banana (PHP125) while Fran and Paul ordered open-faced tuna melt sandwich (PHP165) and the ultimate breakfast (PHP195).  Between Bubba and I, we ordered open-faced tuna melt sandwich (PHP165), Omelette with everything in (PHP195) and Local Favorite spicy beef tapa (PHP185). 

 

On the Table:

 

Open-faced Tuna Melt PHP165

Big chunks of tuna on 2 sandwich slices bridged together with a slice of melted Cheddar cheese.  Bubba really enjoyed the big chunks of tuna and reminded him of his mom’s home cooked version.  I on the other hand am not a fan of chunky tuna. I had a few bites and it was okay.

 

 

Omelette PHP195

I miss it since I love anything with eggs.  I haven’t eaten anything with egg for quite some time only due to diet constrictions.  Flapjacks Omelette had bell peppers, country sausage, ham, bacon, onion, tomato, mushroom, cheese but you can mix and match depending on your preference.  It was served with 2 toasts.  The dish did not disappoint and I could’ve finished the whole plate if the “incident” did not happen.

 

Bubba was on to his last tuna melt slice with the cheese slice still intact when suddenly while slicing the bread, dropped the whole plate on his lap and the food on the floor.  Instinctively, I felt so sorry for him coz I know his last “perfect” bite consisted mostly the cheddar cheese, but I gave out fits of laughter, that prompted Didi to laugh too.

 

Since I felt the lost of the “perfect” last bite, I set aside for Bubba my perfect last bite of omelette.  It still had a big cheese part on top.

 

Sweet and Spicy Beef Tapa PHP185

I started on the plate but let Bubba finished half of it since he only finished half of his first plate.  I like the sweetness and spiciness of the beef tapa.  It wasn’t tough too and didn’t have that much fat in it.

 

Because of the incident, Sab shared her FIC incident too.  It was really cute and super funny.  Fran gave us issues of our respective favorite magazines (thanks Fran!).  Although the food was limiting, the conversations over dinner weren’t and I really enjoyed the evening with the ladies.   Flapjacks is located in G/F Theatre Mall, Greenhills.  For inquiries, call 5840638/39.

 

Flapjacks Album 

Related Post:

 

Flapjacks the Newest…

Flapjacks by Sab

 

Hairspray Manila

Thursday, November 6th, 2008

Rehearsals for Atlantis Productions’ highly anticipated staging of the Tony Award Winning Musical HAIRSPRAY are in full swing and I can’t wait to catch one of the rehearsals before the big opening soon!  You can also get tickets from Our Awesome Planet for the Nov. 22 show at 2pm. 

Image source http://www.thebachelorgirl.com/2008/1242/hairspray-manila-rehearsal-passes-raffle-for-bloggers/4/

Image source http://www.thebachelorgirl.com/2008/1242/hairspray-manila-rehearsal-passes-raffle-for-bloggers/4/

 

It’s been a couple of months since I last watched a play and I’m itching to watch one soon.  I really enjoyed watching the movie version of Hairspray and it would be great to watch it up close and in flesh!

 

HAIRSPRAY is about Tracy who wins a spot on the local TV dance program The Corny Collins Show. The big girl with big hair and big dreams becomes a teen celebrity overnight. Soon Tracy finds herself pitted against the show’s reigning princess for the title Miss Teenage Hairspray 1962. Based on the John Waters film, Hairspray is the winner of eight Tony awards including Best Musical. It was recently made into a hit film starring John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer and Queen Latifah.

 

Like most Tracy Turnblads before her, Madel will be making her professional stage debut in Hairspray. She is a junior at Ateneo de Manila majoring in AB Political Science. Having performed in school productions including High School Musical. Madel is thrilled to take on her first major role. She says, “Girls like me don’t get opportunities like this! Honestly, I feel like I’m the modern-day Filipina version of Tracy. A big girl with big dreams. It’s a little scary to take on a role this big, but I’m really looking forward to taking on the challenge of playing a character with this much spirit and energy!”

 

HAIRSPRAY is directed by Bobby Garcia, Choreography by Cecille Martinez, Production Design by Gino Gonzales, Lighting Design by Shoko Matsumoto and Musical Director Archie Castillo conducts FILharmoniKA, who will perform the original Tony Award nominated Broadway orchestrations.

 

For tickets call Atlantis Productions at 892-7078, 840-1187 or Ticketworld at 891-9999.

 

Related Post:

Bachelor Girl: http://www.thebachelorgirl.com/2008/1242/hairspray-manila-rehearsal-passes-raffle-for-bloggers/

Frannywanny: http://www.frannywanny.com/2008/11/hairspray-comes-to-manila.html

 

Dialogue @ Starbucks

Friday, July 25th, 2008

Fran (Link: http://frannywanny.blogspot.com/) invited me to the first installment of Dialogue @ Starbucks.  Soon after, someone sent me an invite through email.  You’re sure to make time to meet the man behind OAP, Anton (Link: http://anton.blogs.com/awesome/) and the business brain behind my favorite Cinema Snack Counter, Chimara, JP Tancheco?

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June 14, 2008, donuts and coffees were served during the Dialogue, but I couldn’t get distracted from listening to Anton’s presentation by sweet warm donuts… Okay, maybe yes.  I miss Starbucks goodies.  I’ve long stopped hanging out at Starbucks since I was a staple at this coffee shop since college.  I’ve had my share of good and not-so-good college memories at Starbucks Taft –not to mention last minute studying.

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July 5, 2008.  About 3 weeks after, I’m at Starbucks in 6750 attending another Dialogue @ Starbucks.  Too bad I only caught the last part of Ivan Henares’ talk.  But I wasn’t feeling all that bad since the next speaker, Kidlat de Guia, gave a lot of insightful notes on filming documentaries.

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I have to say, these are probably the best times I spent in Starbucks.

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Album: http://cushee.multiply.com/photos/album/478/08_0614-_Dialogue_at_Starbucks