34

Yup.  That’s me…tomorrow…Feb. 6…Ash Wednesday…my birthday…I am 34 years old…

An Open Letter to The Other Man in My Life

To my dearest Duke:

I do not have the words to express my gratitude and appreciation over the gift that I have received from you.  I was overwhelmed by your warmth, kindness, and sweetness that I could not stop talking about it with everyone.  I mean, it is soooo sweet of you to remember something that I have just mentioned in passing.  I imagined you going to that quaint bookstore with a cat sleeping on the counter that you are mentioning and seeing this book and you immediately thinking:  “Hey!  That’s Jerome’s favorite author!  I’m gonna buy this and I bet he’s gonna love it.”  And I did, dear sweet Duke.  I was in tears when I finally got a call from Abi informing me that she has MY gift.  When I finally got it, I wished that you were physically with me for me to show you my appreciation.  I have to be contented with hugging your gift, making sure that it’s close to my beating heart.  But imagine my surprise when I went to Starbucks to have coffee and I finally get to open your gift, I discovered love notes tucked inside the books!  Ugh, it was a Virginia Woolf moment for me.  I cried from the romance of it all. (A little sidenote:  for a doctor, you have good handwriting) You have swept me off my feet, my darling…

It’s such a shame that we have crossed paths at a time that I am already committed to my husband.  As much as I want to give more meaning to your gesture and let myself be completely swept by you, I shall be content in saying that you will always have a special place in my heart.  I am happy with my husband and I shall end this right now.  Let’s just be friends, my darling.  With a heavy heart, I am letting you go and will just let destiny decide whatever plans she has for us in the greater scheme of things.  I know it would be hard to accept this but time will heal all wounds, my love.  I promise you that…

That being said, I shall always treasure your gift…

Happy New Year to All!

From me and my husband, may 2008 bring you blessings, joy, and whatever your hearts desire!  Hugs hugs hugs!

Bridget Jones’s Dance with Dengue

Yes, dear blogfriends! I just came home from a 3-day confinement in the hospital for Dengue!  (cries)  I know!  It’s so third world public health! (wails and sobs)

I was not able to go to office on Friday because of a high fever.  I just took the day off, rested, took in a lot of fluids, paracetamol, etc.  The next day, my fever did not go away.  Sunday morning, I woke up with rashes on my extremities and with a high fever still.  So, I thought, maybe this is dengue.  I surfed the internet and looked for symptoms and confirmed that I have four of 21 symptoms.  I went to the Manila Doctors that afternoon with husband and they took four vials of my blood.  When I got the results, the friggin’ doctor informed me that I had dengue and that they wanted to admit me.  I refused, walked out of the door, went to the office to get my Pearl River TLR and went to Baywalk for a photoshoot with husband!  Yes, I did.

Of course, the next day, I still had fever so I went to Asian Hospital because it was nearer and my boss’s son was confined their for dengue and informed me that Asian Hospital’s dengue management program is the best.  So, I went there for a SECOND OPINION. And second opinion, I got…which was the same with the first diagnosis.  Doctor had me on a second round of CBC.  The next day, I called the doctor and he informed me that I need to be admitted because my platelet count fell down to 94.  Oh, dear blogfriends.  I was sooooo frightened because I have this unfabulous image of me having nosebleeds etc!  So they took me in, had me undergo CBC again and platelet count fell down further to 60.  The next platelet count gave me quite a scare because I hit 36, and the doctor informed me that I need to get donors already because they are setting me up for platelet transfusion.  I cried in panic!  It was sooooo unglamorous! (laughs)  But seriously, I did not show my mom and sister but I was really, really scared.

Friends and colleagues from the office went to Asian Hospital to donate blood (which was very touching because there were managers and people I don’t even personally know but went their to volunteer).  For some miracle, doctor informed me that my latest platelet count dropped only to 34 and that it seemed that it had stabilized so I might not need transfusion anymore.  So after 3 more CBC’s (I was punctured for a total of 8 times since Sunday), and a platelet count of 98, doctor said that my platelet count is going nowhere but up.  He discharged me with instructions of a repeat CBC on the 27th.

Whew!  But now I am okay.  I just finished marinating our baby backribs and chicken in my secret sauce.  And I am excited to spend Christmas at home!  I thank God for being there for me and for the friends and new-found friends with kind hearts.  I am still alive!  It ain’t over till the fabulous diva croaks.  Hugs hugs hugs!

Mario’s Restaurant - A Tradition of Love and Romance

My Mark Darcy and I were in our honeymoon in Davao when we received an invitation to the launching of Mario’s Restaurant’s Holiday Treats and Buffet.  Bloggers were invited to the launching for the establishment to have web presence, as Ganns put it.  To add a personal touch to the launch, invited guests will have a chance to talk to the owner, Nenuca Benitez, over lunch.  The immediate reaction was:  WHY WERE WE INVITED? (rolls in laughter)  I’m sorry!  But come to think of it, our blogs do not necessarily feature food.  And we do not think we are as popular as the others who were invited! So in other words, GANDA LANG ANG PUHUNAN NAMIN. Hahahahahahaha!

Okay. On to business.  So we finally RSVP’d and during the last leg of our honeymoon, I kept on wracking my brains out as to how I am going to write about it given two things:

1.                  I am not a food blogger, and,

2.                  I always veer away from how things are usually seen by most people.

I definitely faced a challenge!  The day before the launch, I told my mom that I was invited to the launch of Mario’s Holiday Treats and Buffet.  This is what she told me,

“Wow! Sosyal!  I love their steak!  Did you know that it is at Mario’s where the plan of going away with your dad was conceptualized?  He surprised me in the office with a call, and he asked me out on a date.  I found it unusual because he usually slips a note as he passed by my table but that day, he gave me a call. (I swear my eyes rolled because my mom was so kilig reminiscing. Hahahaha) That night, he took me to Mario’s and I remember thinking, “does he have money?”  (laughs)  We got this very intimate corner table and we ordered steak and wine.  The whole night, we talked about spending our anniversary in Baguio which was the week after that night.  A week after, the plan pushed through, 9-10 months after, you were born…”

Of course I screamed at her, “Oh my gosh!  Mario’s is responsible for my conception!”  We both laughed so hard but that moment, I knew how I would write about Mario’s.  I even plotted out a list of questions for Ms. Nenuca not about food per se, but of family, her romantic moments, with food merely as witness.  Unfortunately, she was not able to attend the event.  Nevertheless, invited guests, and husband and I, enjoyed the featured selection for their holiday buffet and these are some of my personal favorites:

Adobo Rice

Ox Tongue Ragout

Rockefeller Oysters (faints at the first bite)

Turkey Croquettes (heaven!)

Hoisin Chicken

Garlic Pesto Penne

Paella

Cochinillo (roast suckling stuffed with paella…*ugh*)

Canonigo

Chocolate Fountain (screams)

Note:  For pictures of food, click here.

Each  bite of the delectable feast was a taste of the Mario’s tradition:  good food to be enjoyed by people who love each other.  As I looked around the table, Ganns gabbing about the food while his wife Cathy looked so proudly at her husband, Noemi with her husband and daughters sharing the food while taking pictures of it, Anton and his beautiful wife and child enjoying the luscious chocolate fountain, Claire having lunch with her son, Dine enjoying the food with her very smart husband, Ajay who was the symbol of life being so unfair because after a series of children and sessions of devouring lots of food she remains sooooo sexy (hahahahahaha), the very pretty and prim and proper, Toni who was like a princess swept off by H (giggles), and of course me pigging out with husband, Jher, I said to myself—we are living the Mario’s tradition…and I, in particular, found it very profound, if you may.  It was decades ago when my mom and father plotted their anniversary honeymoon.  Now, many years later, I was also with my husband, whom I just celebrated my anniversary with, enjoying the same good food and ambience that Mario’s is known for all throughout the years.

For more of Mario’s Restaurant Quezon City, please visit their website at http://mariosrestaurant.wordpress.com.