Gone Green & Healthy

(Late post!) We originally had the intention of getting a student's permit so I could officially (and finally) start driving. Unfortunately, the printer designated for printing student's permits has not been working for the past 3 weeks already, says LTO Makati. Thanks for being so useless & unhelpful. I can't help it but wonder, where the taxes go if you can't even have a decent printer. Ugh. The hassle of having to deal with government documents! I wish the time would come when I can say something real good about how the government processes documents.

MOVING ON.:) We decided to eat instead. First attempt was at A-Venue, however the place has sadly died. I was being the pretentious me who wanted to try something new and something healthy. Haha! After trying to go around and look for something decent to eat, we decided to try the Vegetarian restaurant, Corner Tree Cafe (located at Jupiter, Makati), that Leo has been curious about for quite a while already, so voila!

The place is very cozy, comfortable and conducive for catching up sessions. It's quiet and quite small, also perfect for a romantic dinner probably:)

We had Corner Tree Starter for our appetizer. It's basically vegetable sticks and sliced bread sticks served with olive oil, tasty sesame seeds and the best hummus I've ever tasted!:) I will definitely order something with the hummus dip when we go back here. This delicious appetizer serves its purpose well, but also comes with a price.

Since it was our first time to eat here, we decided to try their sandwiches first. I had a vegetarian sandwich which as you can see is literally smothered with everything green! I love the pesto filling and how the lettuce was bathed in vinaigrette. Delicious!

Below is Leo's order, Dilled Egg sandwich. This is heavier than my order and more filling. Delicious as well, but for us to be able to try both, we had half of each kind:) The sandwiches come with either salad (above) or sweet potato fries (below) with a very tasteful dip. :)

Really enjoyed eating here! Their meals make me want to try becoming a "Vegan," if only restaurants like this would be more accessible and cheaper! :))

NCBS '11, We Meet Again!

I am truly grateful that this long planned & promised Meet Up / Catch Up session finally became a reality. I understand how everyone lives their own busy lives & meeting up meant setting schedules aside and going out of your own way. Thanks to the long weekend, we found time to actually meet up. Really missed being with these oh-so-dedicated bunch of people. :)

L-R Top: Bob, Dane, yours truly, ellah, nicole, royce; L-R Bottom: Vana, Shine, Ricca, Lyndz

Brief Overview ;-)

My NCBS '11 (Nursing Central Board of Students - official student council) family is among the many reasons why I felt fulfilled upon leaving my Alma Mater. It feels really good knowing that you've done a lot to serve the student body with the fullest of your capabilities - this gives you such a rewarding sense of accomplishment:) And these people, they're crazy, haha! In a way that they really work hard just to come up with projects for the College even if it meant sacrificing their free/study time, staying at school after class hours (for probably the entire school year), and spending a portion of their allowances for meetings which lasted until mid night, and the long list goes on. Doing all those without expecting anything in return and with the purest intentions of (just) serving the students. I may not be part of the core council, but I've spent A LOT of hours working alongside with them. The memories & experiences working with them are indeed priceless and worth all the sweat & effort:) I so love my NCBS family!:)

Moving on, we started off with a meet up plan of a group of 3-4, then invited more people, thus turned to a mini reunion - since there was also a good number who didn't make it either:(. They all lived at the far North (I'm from the South!), so I agreed to meeting them at Trinoma, which became Sambokojin, located at West Avenue. 

I believe it's just my second time eating here (we prefer Vikings! haha) I enjoyed the oriental mix, but I was more into listening to their stories, and amazed that a lot made it, thus I didn't pay much attention to the food - nonetheless, I still devoured into the assorted maki, tempuras, and sushi :)

We stayed at Sambokojin until around 2PM, trying to catch up with each other while feasting, then off we went to Starbucks Quezon Avenue to meet up with Sir Gian and to continue talking more:) Sadly, Ellah had to leave since she wasn't feeling well --Thanks for still coming on such short notice, ellah dear!

 Back in college, I would normally tag along with Sir Gian, Dane & Wanwan (who sadly didn't make it) - They're the usual group, (usually plus shine / mark / bob) when they conceptualize projects and when we study at various Starbucks branches - Banawe, Tomas Morato, and Quezon Ave. This is probably the very first time I went to Starbucks with them without having any reviewers on hand! haha:) 

It was so refreshing to see them again, specially in a non-haggard state (not thinking of projects nor proposals nor studies!) - hahaha! I sure hope I could see them more often! And hopefully I could also see the rest of the Council & Committee Heads who weren't able to make it. :)

Seeing them always reminds me of my good old college days. How I miss spending tiring & stressful days preparing for several events! But among the best lessons they've left me, is probably learning to serve before becoming a good leader:) And the thing I most admire about this group is their dedication:)

Until next time, NCBS '11:)

Chill Saturday at Chili's

Thank God it's Saturday!:) Nowadays, I really look forward to Saturdays for obvious reasons:) Fridays are great, but I simply hate the heavy traffic during Fridays and the hassle of getting a parking slot at malls, thus, it's usually stay-home-Fridays for me. I was feeling a bit off lately but having our usual #Saturdates make me feel better:) And extra yay for me, since Leo decided to have lunch at one of my ever favorite dining places, Chili's!

Great ambiance, good customer service, delicious food. What more could you look for in a Restaurant?:)

Our staple orders. More often than not, I have the habit of sticking to my favorite dishes. Loyal?!:)) And when ever it would be my first time to dine at a certain restaurant, I also have the habit of asking for their best sellers. 

Quesadilla Explosion - my second favorite salad (to Cyma's Roka Salata.) This is definitely better than Caesar! 

Chicken Club Tacos - usually comes with beans and another side dish, but we always make it a point to have it changed to mashed potatoes & onion rings. BEST COMBINATION! Since the first time we've ordered this dish, we always make it a point to get this:)

 Really love how creamy their mashed potato is:) HEAVEN!

Lastly, the sort of common dish: Chicken Crispers. Heavy & affordable, but not so unique. So this is the optional portion of our usual favorites:)

Cravings satisfied! It's always good to dine at Chili's from time to time. Now, time for our before & after shots:

 I love how colorful Chili's is, that's why I never fail to take photos whenever we're here;-)

Right after filling up our tummies, off we went to see Expendables 2. I enjoyed the prequel to this movie, and I enjoyed this sequel just equally:) It was funny though how they desperately tried to include all the holly wood big time action stars and have them throw lines at each other, but if you're looking for a an action packed movie from start to end, then this definitely is a hit for you:)

From Greenbelt, we killed time by walking all the way to a shop at Glorietta 5, then scrambling through the crowd at SM, since I had to buy something, then back to Greenbelt. EXERCISE! It's too crowded everywhere that it's actually exhausting to go mall hopping. We also went to S&R for grocery then at their house at BF for dinner with his family. They have amazing house helps who cook like chefs. haha! That's why I always enjoy home cooked meals at their house:) It was indeed a fun & tiring Saturday for me! Such a great way to end the week;-)

August 18, 2012

Saturdate Special with the Ladies!

After quite some time of trying to make our schedules meet and several exchanges of "I miss you" & "Hope to see you soon," we finally were able to make our long awaited 'Meet up / Catch up session happen! As we 'age,' it becomes harder to meet up because of our conflicting schedules and the distance of our houses from each other (in our case, we live all over north to south). But as the old saying goes, "If there's a will, THERE is a way" -- Always in all ways. Nowadays, one must really make time and exert effort if you really want to see you friends and I'm grateful to have them as my constant happy pills. :) Our previous catch up sessions were always in Makati, so this time, we invaded the North! Hello Trinoma:) Kudos to our doctors in the making who set their busy studying schedules aside just to see us - I'm sure it was worth the sacrifice!;-)

Since our schedules weren't as free, we had a compromise - Lunch and thereafter (which was only until 4PM-ish, since we're becoming such lolas! haha). We were even joking around that our next catch up sessions will be done during breakfast. Anyway, we ate at Bigoli to satisfy Mariel's cravings. Ordered ourselves a group meal consisting of 2 platters of pasta, pizza, a pitcher of iced tea, then we added chicken to complete the set. They had unlimited garlic rolls which came alongside with an order of any pasta. It was an indulgence of butter filled garlic rolls:) Their pasta was typical, but I enjoyed their white cheese pizza which was chewy (in a way) because of too much cheese and in Rufa's words: Butter pizza. haha!

After our delicious lunch over hearty conversations, Celeste had her dose of Gelatissimo, then off we were to Red Box for a few bottles and several songs. We were able to catch up with a short summary of what each other is into right now & probably the latest issues / happenings, but we were not able to really talk as much as we used to because of time constraint (Celeste had to leave early because of a previous commitment), and how can you talk while singing inside Red Box?! But regardless of not being to talk much, for some reason, their mere presence meant A LOT to me. I'm not sure if this is brought about being confined at home due to the bad weather the past days. However, I'm sure that I really missed having them around and seeing them in daily basis, just like in College. So nostalgic!

I think we have a thing for karaoke bars. Back in college, we often went to Tapsi (renowned drinking place near our school - haha!). They had a very old karaoke machine where you can drop coins and sing. But they only had 1 machine, so it was on a first come, first serve basis and whenever we had the opportunity to do so, we would usually take over the karaoke machine. Also, right after taking the National Licensure Examinations, we headed straight to a Karaoke place near the Mall of Asia. So, probably, we really have a thing for karaoke places!;-)

After singing relentlessly, well actually, Mariel had her own concert - as usual. haha! we went on with our schedules. Time spent with them is always never enough, ever since we graduated:( I'm just glad that we saw each other again and I'm looking forward to lots more!:)

We parted ways as I head off to Glorietta to meet up with Leo this time. He picked me up so we could catch a movie at Rockwell. Talk about mall hopping! And all 3 malls I've been to were jam packed! People surely missed going to the malls. It's a good thing though that even shopping malls offer drop of places for relief goods and Red Cross volunteers tried to seek for monetary donations at the MRT stations. It's the best time to be more generous than usual, specially after what happened to the Philippines.

Since I've heard not so good reviews about Bourne Legacy, we opted to see Step Up: Revolution, which was a bit chick flick in nature, but the dance numbers and stunts were amazing! Dropped by at Happy Lemon for a quick drink then off we went to BF Homes for dinner with his family. :) Indeed, it was a well spent Saturday!

Greek Feast at Cyma

Cyma will always be among the top restaurants of my choice! That's why I was very delighted when I was privileged to have been chosen to be their Mystery Diner, which entails dining at their restaurant in exchange of an honest opinion about their customer service, food quality & the entire dining experience. I have never imagined that Mystery Diners exist! So, people in the restaurant industry, lo & behold, your customers might actually be observing you!;-) Nonetheless, I think this is a very good way of improving their service & it was such a fun filled experience for me:) I feel terrible though for forgetting my camera, thus the low resolution photos from which are not at par with the excellent food quality:(

They do have a new branch at the Robinson's Place Manila, 2nd Floor of Midtown.

 Sundate special, care of Cyma Restaurants!

For the Mezedes aka appetizers, we chose Tzatziki - a dip made from fine grated cucumber, garlic and Greek yogurt. This was served with pita bread as shown below. I enjoyed this so much! It's very refreshing and serves its purpose well as an appetizer:) We finished this in an instant!

For the Salates / Salad, of course - it just has to be Roka Salata! This has to be the best vinaigrette based salad. We never leave Cyma without ordering this best seller:) The salad is made from fresh arugula (Roka), chopped romaine lettuce, sun-dried tomatoes, candied walnuts with shaved parmesan in Traditional greek vinaigrette (description lifted from Cyma's website). This delicious salad is simply heavenly. My brother who's anti vegetables can't resist this dish as well!

For the Gyros, we ordered their Chicken Gyro, which is very similar to a shawarma, only better:) The mouth watering Gyros are also a staple order at Cyma. I wasn't able to take a photo from the right angle, thus I had to borrow Cyma's photo:) Before I could even take a picture of it, my brother indulged in this tasteful gyro.

This picture was taken from Cyma's website

We also got a Chicken Souvlaki. This was really good too! It's my newly discovered favorite. The souvlaki is also similar to the kebab. It's basically skewered grilled meat served with tomatoes and onions, yogurt garlic sauce and pita bread. Despite the simplicity with how it was cooked, the meat is just tender, juicy and deliciously grilled to perfection.

We also had to try a new dish from their menu, and so, we tried this Fennel Mashed Potato which basically was mashed potato with shaved Parmesan on top. I wouldn't really recommend this dish since it's too plain and readily available elsewhere, plus it isn't as Greek-y as it should be. When going to specialty restaurants, I believe you must take advantage of unique tasting dishes. Nonetheless, the potatoes were finely mashed and it serves as a good side dish specially for kids!

They do serve brewed iced tea, which has improved from their typial powdered Iced Tea:)

To complete our Greek experience, we chose their Glyka (dessert) Sampler so that we could have a little of everything which included (Upper left clockwise) the Baklava, Yiaourti Me Meli, Galaktoboureko, & ryzogalo. What a tongue twister! haha! The Baklava is layered phyllo with walnuts & orange honey syrup. Yiaourti Me Meli is Greek yogurt served with pistachios. This yogurt is authentic and isn't your typical sweet yogurt found everywhere! Galaktoboureko is my favorite - creamy semolina custard in phyllo with orange and lemon zest syrup. Lastly, the ryzogalo is traditional creamy rice pudding with cocoa powder. Their desserts are okay, but basing on the taste & given the same value for money, it's probably better to either get a main dish, or the flaming mangoes, which I think is their dessert specialty.

Boy, we were stuffed with great food! We really enjoyed dining at Cyma! It will always be among my favorite restaurants because of their delicious, mouth watering & explicit Greek dishes. Thanks to Leo and my little brother, Nikko for accompanying me to my first ever Mystery Diner task!:) And of course, many thanks to Cyma Restaurants for the splendid treat! Hope my honest feed back would help you:)

Mission Accomplished:) That's it for the Greek Feast!:) 

August 5, 2012

Learning Basic Life Support & First Aid, the Red Cross Way

I finally decided to take the Basic Life Support Training (BLS) which I should have done a year ago, since it's a skill we nurses should be aware of in cases of emergencies. My said training just got delayed because I worked immediately after taking the Nursing Licensure Examinations (Board Exams), and most of the training sessions offered are held in the far & chaotic North (Quezon City, etc). So, when I learned that there's actually a Red Cross branch in Paranaque, I immediately took the earliest training schedule, which was just this past week. Moreover, they had the cheapest fee of Php 1,500 - inclusive of a 6-day training, the training kit (Red Cross envelope, a shirt, 2 hand books, a triangular bandage, pen, gloves, alcohol, cotton, face shields) & off course the certificates & the Red Cross membership card.

It was difficult getting hold of the schedule since it was rescheduled twice already, plus the weather the past week was just bad, that I remember going there twice, just to find out that it was moved sometime else. This was inconvenient because of the inconsistency when it came to scheduling (walk in trainees were not required to pre-register) because I made it a point to call their office right before going there. Other than this, the entire training experience was good & legit!

The first day of our training was last July 31, 2012 (Tuesday) - Normally they conduct trainings Mondays to Saturday, but due to the bad weather, ours was pushed to Tuesday thru Sunday. I got the BLS & SFAT (Standard first aid training) package, which lasts for 2 days & 4 days respectively. As we had our lecture, that's how I learned more about Red Cross & the voluntary help they offer to anyone in need of help. Also, I'd like to commend the fact that they're not after the money, unlike other training institutions who even request for down payments. I don't remember anyone from Red Cross who approached us to collect payments. In fact, when I got there, the hand books were already prepared in out seats. The instructors began their lecture. During our break, that's when we voluntarily approached them to pay the training fee - this was something new for me:)

Moreover, I salute the instructors who taught us as if they were paid to do so. (Everyone in Red Cross from the instructors to the staff, are literally volunteers - without salary). The handbooks were discussed properly in detail. We started at around 8:30 AM and ended usually at exactly 5:00PM, daily. Practical exams / Return demos were serious, where in you'd have to repeat the process if you can't deliver properly. This was what I was after - LEARNING the right way. :)

The BLS training covered Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation, giving Rescue Breathing. The First Aid Training covered bandaging techniques, splinting, basic carries / transfers, etc. They are well equipped with mannequins for CPR, which even had light indicators. They would know if you're doing it the wrong way, or if the chest thrusts were not done in a rhythmic pattern. It was also my first time to actually give rescue breaths into a mannequin! And the chest really rose if you do it correctly. Amazing!;-) (We were given BLS before, but we only practiced the CPR part of it.)

We even had to go to Red Cross last Sunday just to complete the 6-day training course. Even though it was a Sunday, our instructors made it a point to be there on time and supervise us, as we took the written examination. To be able to be certified, you must pass the skills portion (75%) & the examination portion (25%), passing rate for both is 75% :) Glad to have passed their training! And also, I enjoyed my overall experience at Red Cross Paranaque:) I was able to meet new people, learn a lot of things, and gain inspiration through the Red Cross volunteers - Yes, people who just like to be of help to others without expecting anything in return DO EXIST! 

Certificates are to be released after 1-2 months, along with the ID, but temporary certificates can be issued:)

If you're from down South like me, I recommend Red Cross Paranaque for their legit training. Contact details are as follows:

• 8208 Dr. A Santos Ave. Sucat Paranaque, that's beside Cable Link, 2nd fl of the East West Bank.
• 836-4790
• Red Cross Facebook Page (outdated though, still better to call them)

Only requirement they ask for is a MEDICAL CERTIFICATE indicating that you're FIT TO TRAIN