Heart's or Hurts Day at Galileo Enoteca

February 14, 2010 is suppose to be me and my husbands first valentine day as a married couple. Needless to say, as a hopeless romantic that I am, I expected that something unusual is about to transpire. However due to a lot o forseen and expected circumstance our first valentine together was turned into a night of drama, hatred and melancholy. Heart breaking as it seems, it so sad to have a vday with no flowers or chocolates nor greeting cards at hand from someone special... but what is even worse is to have no valentine at all when in fact I am supposed to be married. Do not get me wrong, its not that my husband went far away, or was he reunited with our creator, he was just somewhere enjoying himself and has totally forgotten that he happens to ahve a wife waiting for him. How cool is that? Everytime I try to recount the story, it just makes me cry and pity myself even more.



Here comes what I then termed as making up for lost time and for tonns of tears and outpured emotions. My husband compensated his mishap by reserving a candle lit dinner for 2 at Galileo Enoteca located at Calbayog corner Molinao street in Mandaluyong. The place has a perfect ambiance for unprecedented hard core daters who wants to have time away from the stresses of the metro and have a feel of authentic Italian fine dining. Moreso, the bewitching architecture and the interior of the resto gives off the impression of you dining int he streets of Italy. Even more fascinating is the fact that this business all started out as a thesis project of the owners daughter, in college as an architecture student. Little do they know that what was once a means to pass and to graduate for their daughter was now a means of living for them. Interestingly, the italian ambiance of the restaurant was owed to the step dad who happens to be a wine connoisseur, and a marvelous chef in his own right.





The meal started off with a handful of their choiced panini bread with liver duck pate, anchovies and salsa. The bread appeared to be more of steamed than it was baked. As it lingers in the mouth, it tasted more of a rice pudding, and with impregnation of one's salivary amylases, the most coveted flavorful spices emanates. We cannot help but to ask for our second serving of this delight. Eugene is very fond of breads, he almost finished one bucket. Explains why he burps out alot right after the dine.

Comes the Salad as our First course: Salad with Tuna Flakes in Olive Oil. The taste of the balsamic vinegar was very enticing, the olive oil does not stick to the tongue and the organic lettuce finishes of the make. Though the tuna flakes seemed to be from some preserved entity, it was very well carried by the mixture of the olive oil and the balsamic vinegar. Very Italian.


The Spaghetti with Shrimp Scampi in Olive Oil. I totally adored the taste of this menu. The sun dried tomato shovelled out a salty taste unto the sauce and the olive oil neutralized it. You would'nt notice you are finishing off the entire plate, because every spoonful of the pasta makes you wanna eat more. Disgustingly ruining my diet, but very satisfying to the appetite centers. It's a clear fusion of piquant
and peppery spice of an italian dish.

My hubby's order is the Italian Baked salmon. The menu is a bit surprising. It was served with side salad on balsamic vinegar and mashed potato. I was about to ask for a gravy for the mashed, however when I tasted it, Hmmmm Impressing! This was the first time I tasted mashed potato without gravy but seems to be embalmed with caramel or honey sauce or what not! Very new to my buds. The salmon was so fresh that you would'nt have any hesitancy devouring it all. Moreover, Eugene is never a fan of cuisine flavored with sugar, but this one threw out that rule for him.


The specialty that they boast about is their choiced cold cuts, cheeses and ofcourse
their rich flavoured hot chocolate. Yes that same chocolate powder that Lucy Torres when gaga about, to the point of hoarding it all. Making the customers wait for a good 2 days before a bag of chocalate be available. When I tasted it? Hmmmm I loved it! Not to sweet, very rich and full of calories! What the heck , it only comes once!

The overall dining experience is prodigoiously fantastic. Whether the heart's day tuned out to be hurt's day...It certainly made its way back into becoming HEART'S DAY AGAIN.

Eating my words: Authentic Indonesian Cuisine

The weather might have been very uninviting for a Filipino at Kebayoran Baru Jakarta, but the food is exactly the opposite. At first, I thought I will be losing a good 2-3 lbs on my trip here. Why is that? Indonesian cuisine is a concoction of diverse regional differences of the more or less 6,000 islands. Their unique staple ingredients such as rice, peanut sauce , coconut milk and spices made all the difference. Big thing is that I despise all of these ingredient especially the spice/s! However to my surprise, the once was abhorred now well loved! That is why my wish to lose an ample weight is forever forgotten.

Day 1 of binge eating is at Warung Sunda. The restaurant spans an approximately 300-400 square meters lot area, with ample parking space and a good drop off point for customers (an advantage cause a simple 30-sec walk from parking lot to the inside of the resto will cause you to smell like he#@ because of the weather). Upon entering the place the beautiful interior will captivate your senses. The built-in fish ponds, that which houses well fed coys, beside the mezzanine-like-elevation-made-up-of-what-seems-to-be-nipa-and-lawanit material is very alluring. Mind you despite the bahay kubo feel of the interior, this place is fully air conditioned.



Interior Design aside, lets go straight to the food. We ordered quite a bunch of food from the vast array of authentic sudanese menu. First off, are the drinks, my hubby ordered an avocado juice with a tinge of chocolate in it and mine was their very own dalandan shake with honey. The taste was yummy and exceedingly new. We do have equally good tasting shakes at Dencio' s or Gery's Grill but these were really au courant to the tongue. Next off is the main course, we had a vegetable sauteed in their very own shirmp paste, the oxtail soup (similar to our very own sinigang na baboy) but with a real spicy zest, the fried tofu sudanese style and the Warung Sunda (a.k.a flying fish) not to mention the rice that was cooked in coconut milk. These were all exquisitely prepared and were all very well presented. What enraptured by taste buds were the wide selection of spices served with all the cuisine especially the sweet soy sauce and the ginger chili spices. I know I undeniably hate the taste of all these spices (as I have eaten in quite a few indonesian restos in Manila) but come my 7-day stay in Indonesia...I am eating back my words! I am a total convert now! The sweet soy sauce have been haunting my every settling at the dining table.





Now I am really eating up my words: Indonesian Food is but one of the best cuisine my tongue have ever landed on.

My Wedding is Timeless!

It was a Saturday afternoon and I was instinctively excited to have received a text:

"Ma'am are you back from Indonesia yet? can we possibly deliver your wedding paraphernalia now".

Wow, I am finally seeing my wedding bouquet back to life again! I was indeed anxious, excited and what not! However to my dismay, I need to be at work that whole Saturday and only my beloved husband can possibly receive the delivery. Hmmm is that ever a good idea? By the way my bouquet is made of cymbidium green and burgundy peonies! I simply love them.

It was 2pm, that drizzly Saturday afternoon my wedding memories went back to life. Verge Antiporda of Timeless memories made it all happen! Memories of my special day will forever be emblazoned in my heart and mind because of this. I also had my gown and all other wedding paraphernalia preserved. Man! This is all worth it! The wait and the money spent.

I asked my dear husband about it, "How does it look hun?" Okay, Maganda...that was his very scanty reply. If I would have been the one asked that same question I would fervently say. "Oh well, the peonies really looked awesomely same as it was when it was fresh, the way the paraphernalia were arranged looked absolutely strategic, however it seemed like the cymbidum color was a little off...but overall it is still exquisitely preserved with taste!




Timeless memories is a Laguna based company
FOR BOOKINGS AND INQUIRIES:
MANILA/LAGUNA :
09276214048 (globe)
09212314976 (smart)
09234102103 (sun)
Land Line No. :049-8275159
E-mail: timelessmemories08@yahoo.com.ph
Website: http://vergeantiporda.multiply.com/

First Honeymoon day: JACKarta!

Yes that's the new spelling of Jakarta for me, Jackarta. I really intended it to be as such, to elaborate even just a little bit about the experience I had in Jakarta. The woman that epitomizes what being JACK of all trades, the well rounded versatile lady whom I fondly call Tita Tattie. A loving mother of 2 teenagers, a devoted wife, a devout catholic, an accomplished entrepreneur, a wine connoisseur, a dilettante photographer, certified totter bud but most of all my most generous aunt. The thesaurus might ran out of words to describe her, but I wont run out of good things to say about her, her ways and her love for culture, character and compassion. She perfectly mastered the art of how to be the JACK of all trades!



Back to business. We woke up really early on our official first honeymoon day. We were savoring the moment that we didn't have to wake up because we hate to be jammed up on the road on a busy Thursday morning. Instead we want to take off early to prove the cliche "at ng makarami". The buttered mushroom cheese omelet was so heavenly that we (me and Eugene) finished one big serving of it (I am no good in math, but in approximation probably those are like 5 medium sized eggs) and would want to ask for more. Off we went to Taman Mini our first stop on that prickly hot thursday morning!

Taman Mini Indonesia Indah is "Beautiful Indonesia Miniature Park". Rightfully located in East Jakarta (few minutes away from Central JKT where most tourist stayed), this park is nestled in a more or less 250 acres of land. The Park is an impeccable compendium of the entire 27 (or more) provinces of Indonesia, beautifully depicting their very own collections of architecture, clothing, dances and traditions. Where we spent most of our time with, is at the province of West Sumatra and at the Balinese styled museums.

Many people (tourist in particular) would not bother to take a look at the park simply because its a bit far from the central business area of Jakarta, and that they find it a little pressing to go around a wide park literally on their toes with a good beating from the sun. Little do they know that for a tourist this place is an impressive microcosm of the many varied cultures that cultivated the legacy of Indonesia. It imparted the now known civilization and heritage of the country not to mention their prevailing beliefs and practices.

The West Sumatra provinces proved to be our favorite because of the bewitching wood carvings adorning not the inside of the house but the exterior of it. Each external carvings is worth a 5-6 years in the hands of more than 10 artist. This is a far cry from the current prevailing facades of contemporary houses and building in out country today but this is indeed priceless.


Another place that captured our hearts the most is the Balinese communal living! Their current status is surprisingly still being practiced. Communal Living meaning they build their houses in a one big compound, with a common worship place (mostly their religious practice is Hindu), kitchen and dining area and a common working or relaxation place. In this part of Indonesia their houses are adorned with heavy stone carvings! Bali is known as an island atop a Volcano, people feast on volcanic stones and turn them into priceless pieces of art!



The first day of visit here is but all worth it!