Two days after realizing that spending the long weekend in Victoria Park, Hongkong or even in Pagudpud, Ilocos Sur is an impossibility given the limited financial resources (which we are always in) and the insufficient amount of time devoted to planning (we’re future envi planners) such escapades, my hny and I decided to think of activities to while away the precious three-day vacation.

Saturday, November 27

Watched the Noel Cabangon concert at the AFP Theater in Camp Aguinaldo. The concert was a hit! The man is really gifted with a magnificent voice. The set was cool (the designer tried to recreate the topmost floor of a building with billboards and lights) and the production laudable. There were graceful ballerinas, accompanying selected songs with their silhouette-like movement, and surprisingly it gave some spunk on the production, it blended well (they were not wearing tutus), far from being “trying hards”. Aiza Seguerra was his first guest and they sang “Kanlungan” together. Cooky Chua also graced the event with her dreamy, jazzy voice reminiscent of her Color it Red’s days. She sang “Huwag Mangamba”, one of the several Christian songs in Noel’s album. On the second set Noel sang Christmas songs included in the Medjas Album and gave the most soulful rendition of the song The First Noel.


Noel's new album, Medjas.


On the way home, we bought some bibingka with red egg and boy, it was delicious! A fitting feast to cap a wonderful night.

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Sunday, November 28

Watched the Nicolas Cage’ starrer “National Treasure”, did some shopping and dined at Chef d’ Angelo. As usual, hny ended up without any purchases at all while I admire two bangles I bought from the tiangge and a pink shirt for Jag. Came dinnertime, we spent the next hour devouring the extraordinary-sized chicken at Chef. I made a mistake ordering a sampler, which consisted of a fried chicken, a slice of medium-sized pepperoni pizza and a serving of spaghetti with white sauce, which I believe the cook had forgotten to sprinkle with some ham or bacon. My hny ordered their Chef Supreme pizza, which tasted quite good, pero siempre, nothing beats Pizza Hut, but for a mere P168, that was a steal. Next time, we’ll come back to order the spinach spaghetti with filleted chicken (?), and the Great White pizza.

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Side notes: We visited Gateway mall last Saturday to see if it’s already up and running, and it is. Several shops are already open, like Lacoste Chaussures, G.H. Bass, and Pabder Uomo. It is interesting to note that Filipino-owned retail shops Bench, Plains & Prints, Bayo & F&H try to balance the otherwise TNCs-controlled mall such as Marks and Spencer, Fornarina, Elle and Cumbia. What I am eagerly waiting for is the opening of their cinema, which promises to provide supreme comfort while watching with their Lazyboy-styled couches. I also expect a change in gourmet, with dining places like Itallianni’s and Havana restaurant. At long last, there will be another Chinese restaurant to split the diners of Gloria Maris with the opening of Superbowl in China. Sadly, there’s only one Japanese resto, Sachi, which already stopped its operations months ago. For coffee lovers, you have the power to choose among several coffee shops, viz: Seattle’s Best, Figaro, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, in addition to Starbucks. Happy Malling :D