Skip to main content

Balikbayan Invasion

Balikbayan - refers to a person of Philippine origin, living outside the Philippines, who is returning to one's homeland.

--------------

Last week, we started welcoming Balikbayans who arrived to attend FIL's birthday celebration. The first to arrive was the Chicago chapter. Eight of them arrived on a Tuesday. These people are from Vic's mother's side of the family.

These people have a penchant for Filipino food. We decided to bring them to Barrio Fiesta for lunch since I am not in the mood for Chinese food. We agreed to meet at the Promenade before heading out to the restaurant. Our meeting time got delayed because we couldn't locate each other. Suddenly, I can recall how life was before the advent of mobile phones.

After nearly an hour of waiting for each other, the men were ready to enjoy Crispy Pata and Kare-kare. Knowing that hypertension, diabetes and cancer run in the family, we added bangus and fresh lumpia to even out the guilt brought by the hearty pata and kare. We capped it off with a round of leche flan and halo-halo for our Caucasian visitor.

I just realized that that was the 4th week I've had Pata and Kare.

I knew that that was the start of endless food tripping episodes.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Excited

That is how I felt when I got up from bed this morning. There are just so many things to do and to look forward to this week. I'd have to... ... get hold of CCP to discuss a possible tie-up for the next Three Festival. I may need to get some contacts from Tito Bal. ... get the space application form from Ayala Malls. ... visit the furniture fair at SMX this weekend. ... get a new copy of our marriage certificate for Vic's Visa renewal. ... obtain franchise terms from my top two food chains. ... interview the new househelp prospect. ...see if we can finally sell our SUV to make room for a bigger one. I hope I can get started soon. I hope Javi's yaya gets well right away so I can slip and get some of these done.

Luxury Bags in Japan

Since almost everyone I know visited Japan this summer, I would like re-live my visit this year through this post.  This time, I will focus on luxury bags. We've heard about the usual reseller shops that house these luxury brands.  The one I can remember now is Daikokuya. I must've visited almost all reseller shops I've seen on the road.  I've noticed that these shops carry the top 3 popular ones:  Hermes, Chanel and Louis Vuitton.  There still are several pieces of Balenciaga, Valentino, Tory Burch, Celine, Gucci and Michael Kors but not as abundant as the top 3.  I guess what carries the most value are the three popular ones. If you are looking for cheap designer bags, I suggest checking out Don Quixote.  You will usually find on the topmost floors on Donki.  I think this is the one in Shinjuku. I am not so sure. You find them arranged like this or inside locked glass cabinets.  I'm sure the artisans who made these bags will tu...

Peacher Grapes

Last weekend, we were invited to PAREF Rosefield's Open House. We've been meaning to formalize our intent to enroll Johann there. It was a great opportunity for us to know more about how the school is run and how it differs from other schools. The Orientation affirmed what we believe, that the parents are the primary educators. They also share the same values that we'd like to foster in our kids. Their method of instruction is not too limitting . It seems to have the right mix of structured and unstructured instruction. We were also informed that the kids got into the big schools of their choice. That speaks well of their effectiveness as a school. I also like the fact that they give formation and skills classes to yayas while they're waiting for their alagas to finish class. -------------------- We brought Johann with us so he'd be more familiar with the faces and the school grounds. There was one kid who wanted to drag him to the play area. She was ...