Lunch at Home on a Lazy Sunday Afternoon

When not on travel, Sundays are usually spent at home to laze around since the following day is the start of a new work and school week.

Having done our grocery and attended an anticipated mass the day before, that's what we did. We slept late and woke up late. Aside from a cleaning lady who visits us twice a week to also cook for us, the food preparation is left to my wife for the rest of the week.

Since we had some left over food from the previous week, we decided to eat pangat (or pangatlong init or third time to reheat the food, ha ha ha). We are a green family after all. We reduce, reuse and reheat, he he he

Raiding our ref, we saw the pack of spicy bangus (milkfish) bought the previous week and which my wife wanted to eat ever since we bought it. However, since we always get home late, she was unable to have what she wanted. Now was the day where she had a lot of time. And that's what she did. It was not as spicy as we would have wanted. Also, we later found out that it was not boneless.

Watching the 2012 fireworks from a distance

Every new year's eve, we usually stay in a hotel to avoid too much smoke from the fireworks but at the same time giving us a good view of the same. This year, we decided to return to the Atrium Hotel on top of the EGI Tower in Pasay City. It is at the corner of Gil Puyat and Taft Avenues occupying the 15th to the 25th floor. The lobby is located on the 15th floor which has a business center, a restaurant and a casino.

15th floor with the lobby and the Christmas tree behind us

The staff were friendly although they seemed to be understaffed and there were too many guests that night. When we got to our room, there was only a king-sized bed whereas we understood from the website that we checked in was that there are two double beds. We called front desk and they immediately sent an extra bed at no extra cost. We also called housekeeping to provide us with another blanket which was quickly delivered.

The last time we were here was about nine years ago and the place looked as we left it, except of course for some aging. The room we had seemed not to have been renovated since the last time we were there. The carpet was very dirty that it doesn't feel right walking on it barefoot. The television is still the old picture tube type but has cable. The toilet was dirty and I tried to flush it. It seems the water is dirty or the plumbing is rusty which makes the water brownish. The paint on the wall is peeling.Lighting is provided by mostly lamp shades making the room a little bit dark,.

A Family Get-Together

Our family tries to find excuses to have a get-together. November is a special month for us. Four out of the five siblings celebrate birthdays on this month. My brother celebrates his on the 4th, a sister on the 9th, me on the 13th, and our youngest sister who is in the US on the 26th. Today, we decided to jointly celebrate my sister who celebrated her birthday last Nov. 9 and mine. My brother had earlier celebrated his the previous weekend.

After Angel's violin lessons, we went to buy pork barbecue (P17 per stick) and pichi-pichi with cheese (P200 for 40 pcs.) at Amber along Filmore St. in Makati City. The place has improved a lot since the first time we visited the place. It's brighter and looks cleaner.

the makati branch is near Cash and Carry

the counter for dine-in and take-outs