grandmomma's kitchen

i love love lola-ness

lola-ness (noun): the art of being a lola

I do not like it when things get noisy and rowdy. I prefer a cup of coffee over Bacardi. I spend my Friday nights mostly in a coffee shop, reading or writing or doing both. My weekends when not spent out of town are sacredly protected from the malls - my security come in the form of my bed with a book which seduces me to never go out of the house or lovely breakfast dates. Yes, I have no problem waking up early on weekends. My friends and colleagues and sometimes even my boss call me a lola. And I like it that way. Grandmothers are comforting and warm and true. They are the glue that keep the family together.

One Sunday afternoon, I was overwhelmed with personal drama that I needed to step out of the house and take comfort elsewhere. My feet (and Alan's too) were led to Il Terrazo in Tomas Morato and shred a late in the afternoon lunch in Grandmomma's kitchen. I love its cottage-y vibe, it is like Mom and Tina's only if both were farm houses, Grandmomma's kitchen has more chickens and cows and hays. :) No, this is not a food post (I do not think I can ever write one and I always say I go to restaurants only for the experience) but a mere appreciation of the comforts that a true and warm establishment brings. :)

 Pictures (from top to bottom):

1-3: the homey interiors

4: pillow case

5: pates and pastes

6: table tops

7: wall clock

8: crab fat pasta with quarter chicken

9: pan seared salmon with vegetables and mashed potato

10: spicy pumpkin soup

Grandmomma's Kitchen

G/F IL Terrazzo

Tomas Morato Ave cor Sct Madrinan  

South Triangle, Quezon City

date with an eight

i love love being a tita!

My blog's number one fan is my niece. She asked me, "tita are you famous already because of your blog? Write about our date in your blog so we'll be famous." I did not have the heart to tell her that she may be one among the five regular readers of this page (the four others are a friend, an aunt, a boyfriend and a sister - haha!). So that makes the perfect circle of 5. And this is my first ever commissioned and imposed post courtesy of an eight-year-old little girl. :)

I promised my niece a date once upon a time but somehow, my weekends got filled up with non-niece affairs thus the promise was kept hanging until I can no longer stand the waiting and longing stares from her every time I go home from the office or somewhere else. So one rainy Saturday, we finally had our date.

How exactly do you entertain an eight-year-old without bringing her to the mall? Haha, yes, I still dislike malls.

one: Make her feel like a lady. 

And what do ladies do? They obsess with their feet. Haha! We headed to Nail It Spa in Eton Centris for a little pampering for our tootsies. School shoes are as stressful as high-heeled office shoes, you know. Haha! :)

 two: Feed her!

You can never go wrong with a snack shack with bright green walls, washed out dining tables and serves lychee slurpee! After our footsie-roll date, we headed to Soya Bar for light snacks and gossiped until the rain stopped. :)

 

  Happy weekend little ones!!

yoga mat

i love love yoga!

even if it seriously and clearly does not love me back

My hands slide from the yoga mat and my toes curl, desperately clinging to the mat to maintain my position. The instructor pushes my back further downwards in full confidence of my flexibility. "I'm slipping", I say, silently cursing this el cheapo mat I got from Chris Sports. My core is in tremor. My heart is heavy and gripping in frustration. I skip the hot shower I usually take after every work out, run out of the gym and get in a taxi.

Two of my classmates did a headstand.

The instructor yogi-fully stopped at every student and checked the stance/pose and said in a heavenly Ghandi-whisper, "good...". BUT ME. She did not stop and look at me. And whispered the heavenly airy, "good...". 

I so wanted that "good...".

My yoga mat neighbor is a 50-something bearded man who can lie down on the mat, bring his knees towards his chest, grip his big toes with his key fingers then stretch both arms and legs without releasing the toe grip in perfect 180-linear-degrees.

I am a soon to be 27 kid-dult (kid adult). 

And I cannot even stand on both feet. 

rain

i love love the Universe!

"We are praying for rain", ate joan, a friend based in Singapore sent this message when I asked her how she is with the news of rising pollution index in the city due the forest fire in Indonesia.

Let us all do this.

Pray.

chasing the tail end of summer

i love love the beach!

magalawa island

palauig, zambales

Though June is a welcome relief from the punishing summer heat, it also means the end of summer for the year. On Thursday, it rained hard - so hard the EDSA was cursed at every Facebook and Twitter status update, with the traffic and the horrendous flooding. On Friday, the sky was still dark, the usually calm view of the ocean on the 15th floor of our office was bringing in clusters of waves, heavy and angry and dark. On Saturday morning, I woke up early, went outside the house and checked the clouds - the sky was still gloomy, the sun still shy or resting from its summer performance. I prayed for sunshine. It drizzled on our ride to the dock. Still, I prayed for sunshine.

And so sunshine happened. 

Because prayers work that way.

Magalawa island is a dream. It's untouched by frills, pressuring standards of the urban life, noise of ambition. It is all earth - water, sand and leaves. And juicy shrimps. And sumptuous crabs. Dipped in calamansi mixed with salt and chili. :)

 

 

  

read more about our Magalawa weekend here :)

independence day

i love love Fully Booked!

Fully Booked for me is like Mango Store with 50% sale (or more) to a shopaholic. Or like a 2-hour full body massage in The Spa to a stressed out executive. Or Toy Kingdom to a toddler. Or Divisoria to my kuripot tita. :)

Last Independence Day, out of sheer curiosity, Alan and I headed to the Fully Booked of all Fully Booked's in BGC to attend a creativity workshop sponsored by the British Council. We were at the venue early (because I do not like getting late - except in the office, haha!) so we had free time to look around. Oh! Oh! Books everywhere. Many times, I feel tempted to give in to the lure of Kindle and the convenience it promises but for a conservative, old soul, lola like me, the printed page does not have a replacement. 

Book Canvass by Mike Stilkey

I brought home Wild by Cheryl Strayed because anything about travel, getting lost and then finding oneself is my kind of literature - haha! If I had extra cash I would have bought David Sedaris' latest collection of essays. Last year was my David Sedaris episode - I read his books in several consecutive weeks with no authors in between to the point of satiation. I like prose and essays and real life chronicles.

We're in mid-June of 2013.

The start of rainy days in the tropics.

The rain makes a good book company.

Happy Reading!! :)

thursday sermon

i love love words!

via infinite satori

neil gaiman

i love love Neil Gaiman!

he is my hero

And now go, and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make good art.

Neil Gaiman Addresses the University of the Arts Class of 2012

from The University of the Arts (Phl) on Vimeo. 

university

i love love UPD!

a Before Nine entry

After breakfast at Chocolate Kiss, we went for a quick stroll in UP. The ground was a little wet with the light drizzle early this morning, the sunlight was ever so gentle and the Philippines all hopeful that lovely Independence day morning.

Whenever my dreams overwhelm me, whenever I forget that once upon a time I believed in the partnership I have created with the universe in making all that I aspire for come to life, whenever I need to get in touch with my hopeful spirit, whenever I need a lift from melancholia and be a witness to all things of beauty, whenever I need to be true - I go to UP Diliman. 

I am Noah and the University is my ark. 

All Sunshiny,

Tina