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Bonifacio High Street and Serendra Piazza (a Photo Essay)

As predicted, Serendra area is one of the coolest place to hang out during weekdays/ weekends. Although, lately it feels too crowded but you cannot ignore how cool the place look. Here is a sneak peak on the latest places to see in Serendra and Bonifacio High Street. I'm sure by now you have a favorite place to hang-out, or places that you are anticipating to open. Let me know what are your favorites.

For me, my favorite resto is Chelsea -- I love it, and I can't wait for The Spa to open! Aidan loves a Different Bookstore, and Gymboree -- wee! Rache loves the shopping places in the second floor of the Piazza and I'm sure she can't wait for Charles & Keith to open :)

Very innovative rock waterfall which looks like aliens invading Bonifacio High Street.

Chelsea just opened and probably one of the Best Resto in Serendra (watch out for my detailed post on this)!

An Inconvenient Truth

We always talk about this movie within our leadership team but I never got a chance to watch it. We talk about it in the sense of how well the movie provided the truth about global warming that no one can dispute. Despite this fact, most would still turn a blind eye from the truth or decide to continue what they are doing to make the situation worse. If you have not watched it yet, watch it this Sunday in SM Cinema Malls. I'm sure there will be a lot of people watching this since it is free, but I will try my luck in Mall of Asia.

Global Warming affects everyone. See how you can help.

Watch it only at SM Cinemas.

April 22, 2007 - 1pm, 3pm and 5pm. Admission is FREE!

For more information, please call 831.7000 loc 2671 or log on to www.smcinema.com.

Participating branches: Mall of Asia, SM Megamall, SM North Edsa, SM Manila, SM Centerpoint,
SM Fairview, SM Southmall, SM San Lazaro, SM Cebu, SM Clark, SM Pampanga, SM Davao

Pinays on Everest 2007 -- The First Filipina in Everest!!

Janet Belarmino, Carina Dayondon and Noelle Wenceslao. Good Luck and Make us Proud!

After so much controversy (which I won't discuss anymore), I'm glad that the three filipina mountain climbers are now at Everest Base Camp in Tibet! They will be climbing the Tibetan / North Side of Everest which is cheaper by more than half versus climbing the Nepal side. This side is more dangerous so lets pray for their safe climb! They should be climbing Everest in May and they are now training in the The Summit Of Gokyo Ri.

" Early last week, the team climbed a 5,000+ meter peak in the Everest Region called Gokyo Ri. This was a training climb to allow the womens' bodies to get used to the thin air at high altitude. According to the team physician, Dr. Ted Esguerra, the women performed extremely well. While in an e-mail, team member Noelle Wenceslao said the climb up Gokyo Ri boosted their morale, as the perfect weather enabled them to see Mt. Everest in its full glory." (pinaysoneverest.blogspot.com-- official Pinays on Everest blog)

Check out this video of the Pinay Mountain-Climbers in Action:

Music: Adiemus from The Official Athens 2004 Classical Album

I'll be monitoring their progress and give them support in my own little way.

Related Posts:
3 Filipino women off to Everest
Three Pinays Ready To Climb Everest

a Silver Lining for Mothers of Bicol Project

SILVER LINING '82: Women helping women heal.

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill

Twenty-five years ago this year, we left the confines of our respective high schools to step into the Ateneo de Manila University, where one of the principles drilled into us by our Jesuit mentors was to become "Women for others." The challenge back then was to live it after we left the hallowed halls of Ateneo. Twenty-five years down the road, as we celebrate our respective high school silver jubilees, we asked ourselves—have we lived up to that ideal?

Early last month, five of us, representing various exclusive girl's schools, got together to form Silver Lining '82, a group whose mission is to help bring cheer to women and children affected by calamities throughout the Philippines . Our group is made up of Dimples Reyes-Rara for St. Paul, Mickey Rodriguez for St. Scholastica, Alya Honasan for Institucion Teresiana (now Poveda Learning Center), Vina Francisco for Assumption, and myself for Maryknoll (now Miriam College).

For our first project, it is our hope to bring some cheer and hope to the women in the towns of Daraga and Guinobatan, Albay, who to this day languish in evacuation centers, caring for their children while living under appalling conditions and suffering from various women's illnesses. Urinary tract infection is the most widespread and prevalent ailment among the women. Many of these women are single parents, having lost their husbands because of Typhoon Reming. Now, they have become the sole breadwinners and caregiver for their families.

Spidey 3 on Imax!

The Biggest Sticker Wrap in the World -- 113ft by 75ft Spiderman 3 (may be a Guiness Book of World Record in the making)

Yes! Spidey is coming to town! This is another reason to go back and watch Spiderman in the Imax big screen! I'm excited and I'm very happy that SM Cinema gave me a few tickets to the premier opening on May 2 12.01am which is also the press screening. (I don't consider myself as press, but I would like to have the freedom to take pictures inside IMAX -- hopefully) As shared during the iBlog 3 talk, I'll be sharing two tickets to the blogger who would give me a great feedback about the presentation. I'll just wait for a few days before I select the winner.

Here are the official dates from SM Cinema and reserve your tickets now (after reading this) for the May 4,5,6 weekend!

May 1(Tuesday) first day opening of Spiderman on regular cinemas
May 1 (Tuesday) first day opening of Spiderman on IMAX Theatre ( it is 2d just like the normal movies but you get to watch it in the biggest movie screen in the country.)

For ticket inquiries and reservations for IMAX Theatre you can call 556-0242 or 556-4629

If you are not going out of town on May 1, you can check out the Spiderman 3 launch events starting 4pm onwards in SM Mall of Asia. Most notably, there will be a local group of college students from U.P., Ateneo, & La Salle who will do a Parkour stunt similar to the chase scene in Casino Royale. If you are not familiar with the Parkour group, check out this You Tube video on Parkour.

Thanks SM Cinema for the insider's tip on this!

The Blooming of Playa Calatagan

Garden Cabana View of the Playa Calatagan River Pool

Unfortunately, the best beaches in Nasugbu and Calatagan areas are private beaches. In the case of Playa Calatagan, there will be a public beach area and a private pool/ clubhouse area for lot owners. There is no membership fee in this residential resort (which is a new concept) but you need to be a lot owner to use the facilities. Some time in the future, there will be commercial establishments for the public crowd and I can't wait to share this with you.

Aidan's Bonakid Pose.

For now, the pool area is for private lot owner's use and their dependents. Just to give you a flavor of how much it would cost to enjoy a day trip in Playa Calatagan:

Pool Usage Fee:
Lot Owner & Dependents (P100/ Adult, P50/ Child).
Guests (P200/adult, P100/ child)

Towel & Shower Fee Rental (P70)
Whole Body Massage (P350/ 1hour)

Cabana Usage Fee:

Week days:
Pool Cabanas (Small | Medium | Large) -- We love the pool cabanas, it is like having your private jacuzzi in the cabana.
9am-1:00pm (P200 | P300 | P400)
1:00pm-6:00pm (P200 | P300 | P400)
9am - 6:00pm (P400 | P600 | P800)

Garden Cabanas (Medium) -- We love the 2nd floor garden cabanas because of the privacy it offers.
9am-1:00pm (P300 )
1:00pm-6:00pm (P300)
9am - 6:00pm (P600)

Weekends/ Holidays:
Pool Cabanas (Small | Medium | Large)
9am-1:00pm (P300 | P500 | P700)
1:00pm-6:00pm (P300 | P500 | P700)
9am - 6:00pm (P600 | P1,000 | P1,400)

Garden Cabanas (Medium)
9am-1:00pm (P500 )
1:00pm-6:00pm (P500)
9am - 6:00pm (P1000)

Golden Calatagan Sunset at Playa Calatagan

Beach Club Complex is open from:
9am-6pm on Tuesday to Friday
9am-7pm on Saturday to Sunday.

Malcolm's Place and Wagyu Rib Eye Steak!

Wagyu Rib-Eye (P1,750). "The king of steaks! It's the premium steak cut fit for the royal appetite."

Malcolm's Place, one of the coolest place to hang out in Salcedo Village in Makati, next to Apartment 1B. Named after Chef Malcolm, the resto’s claim to fame is their mouth-watering selection of Wagyu Beef. I came to a conclusion that if you really want to get the best Wagyu experience, you have to order the rib-eye. All the other wagyu dishes fail in comparison to the rib-eye and you will just be disappointed with the sirloin, striploin or the burgers.

So your dilemma will start with its whopping P1,750 price tag. Fortunately, the meat was huge that it can satisfy three hungry carnivores on a tight budget. (Didi argued 3 hungry female carnivores) I didn't really have to worry about this because the timing was just perfect. We celebrated the despedida of Chris for his China assignment and the bienvenida of Tina to my team.

It is Wagyu Rib-Eye P1,750 or don’t try the other wagyu dish at all because they would just taste like over-hyped meat branded as wagyu. The Rib-Eye was soo good that it would satisfy your Wagyu fantasies of tender and tasty steak meat. Try to cut it as thin as possible to get that melt in your mouth experience.

****

Malcolm's Menu: Steaks Menu, Soup, salad, pasta Menu and Desserts

All About Waghu (From Malcolm's Menu)
"Wagyu is the Japanese word for beef. "wa" means japanese style and "gyu" means beef. It refers to several beef breeds of cattle genetically predisposed to intense marbling, and produces a high percentage of unsaturated fat. Also known as Kobe-style beef. The meat from Wagyu cattle are known worldwide for marbling characteristics."

"Wagyu is no ordinary breed of livestock. Traditionally raised in Kobe, Japan, they are pampered with sake wine massages and fed grain diets and beer in order to produce intensely marbled steaks. Fine strands of meat are embedded in dense ribbons of fat swirling into beds of exquisite flavor. This is also the reason Wagyu beef practically melts on the tongue when thinly sliced. Marbling is regarded as the finest measure of meat quality. And with Wagyu beef cuts looking like fine Italian slabs of Marble, it has surpassed USDA prime-grade beef standards. Often referred to as the "foie gras of beef". Wagyu has an intensely juicy, tender natural buttery and richly flavorful quality beyond compare. The beef contains essential combined nutrients that cannot be found elsewhere. Those nutrients for which beef is a significant source are: protein, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin 812, phosphorous, iron and zinc. All essential amino acids are present in the correct ratio to build protein for strong and healthy bones. Because of Wagyu cattle's genetic predisposition and a special diet, wagyu yields a beef that contains a higher percentage of omega-3 fatty acids and the tell-tale sign of a highly marbled beef. The increase marbling also improves the ratio of monounsaturated fats to saturated fats."

Apple Crumble Ala Mode (P125). Surprisingly, you can go to Malcolm even just for the dessert. I never liked Apple crumble ala-mode until I tasted Malcolm’s. This is one killer dessert that you got to try after that Wagyu steak to finish the meal with a bang.

Cheers to a great service provided by the Malcolm's Place staff! Glad you were open last April 9!

Check out the rest of the photo essay on Malcolm's Place...

Taj-aytay

Aidan meets the Taj Buddha.

I must admit that the Taj banners along the national highway was quite cheesy in a sense that it turns people off and makes one wonder if their marketing claims are true. It shows photos of the food branded as "Not Your Usual Tagaytay Food", or "Exotic Vegetarian Food". For me, I was hungry for something new in Tagaytay so the moment I saw it, we decided to check out this less than a month old Indian restaurant in Tagaytay.

Leonard and Grace (hope I did get it right), friends of OAP, were right. The Mutton Biryani and Mutton Masala were the best seller of the house. My mom immediately concluded that most of the food would increase her cholesterol level, mother's knows best! While I liked the flavorful dishes, my wife didn't at this stage of her pregnancy. The place was not ready for prime time since the glass for the railings were not yet complete (they should have installed it because this is for safety of the kids! There were many kids at this time already!) and they have yet to complete the 6 rooms beneath the restaurant. You could see that they had to open up to catch on the Holy Week crowd and there are obvious glitches in the kitchen operation. Try visiting this in a month or two maybe they've stabilized their operations and rooms will be ready for occupancy.