ANDREI'S 9TH BIRTHDAY (2015)

It's my little lord Andrei's 9th birthday and like we would do every year, we will be celebrating it in MANY ways! His wishes will DEFINITELY be our command!!! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREI!

The eve of my bunsoy's birthday was a Monday and he wished to have dinner at Jollibee in Robinson's Magnolia.

SIZZLER (GREENHILLS)

When I was in college, SIZZLER was one of my favorite restaurants for lunch with my friends because I was such a sucker for their thick steaks served on a hot plate and sizzling with the delicious thick gravy. Fast forward to 10 years (YES, 10!) and the Chinese Adonis and I just realized that we haven't really included SIZZLER as one of our regular date hubs because a lot of restaurants have sprouted and taken its slot in our puny lives.

So on one impromptu date night (aka the Chinese Adonis became my driver sweet lover and picked me up after work), we were thinking of where to have our dinner when SIZZLER conveniently came into view.

We realized that we have been putting too much attention to THIS place and THAT place that we haven't even tried eating at MY favorite restaurant 10 years ago (YES 10!!!!!!!!!!!). So finally we entered SIZZLER and immediately I got a whiff of the familiar. And on cue, my tummy let out a knowing grumble as if telling me the same words that Harrison Ford exclaimed in that not-so famous movie:

"We're home!"

YEHEESSSS! And that's just after 10 years!

Tee heee! 

SIZZLER!

When I was in college, my friends and I would often eat at SIZZLER in Glorietta because that's the branch nearest to our school.

For tonight, we went to their Greenhills branch and it still has the same look as the other one in Makati.

In SIZZLER, you have a choice to order from your tables or go directly at their counter where a display of their available viands are.

KRACIE EDIBLE JAPANESE TOYS (TAKOYAKI BALLS)

I think I have mentioned before how the little lords got so addicted with those KRACIE JAPANESE EDIBLE TOYS that we cannot stop shopping and ordering them online.

Check out our stash!

The thing was, even if there were more choices and other viands for the KRACIE EDIBLE JAPANESE TOYS, the little lords still stayed true to their favorites: SUSHI AND DONUT.

FINALLY, I was able to convince my bunsoy Andrei to go for something new. And his choice?

KRACIE's TAKOYAKI BALLS!!!!

BREAKFAST AT LAS CASAS FILIPINAS DE ACUZAR

It's day 2 of our LAS CASAS FILIPINAS DE ACUZAR staycation and even if we slept happy and full last night, we woke up excited AND ravenous this morning.

We're going to work for our breakfast this morning!

And when I say "work", I meant we're going to do some walking. He he he he he he he he he he!

People who hate exercise know what I mean.

Breakfast was still going to be at LA BELLA TEODORA. The same place we had our dinner last night. But I'm sure it's going to be different from last night's romantic dinner.

Andrei got ahead of us since he brought his very own bike to the resort.

Welcome!

LA BELLA TEODORA (LAS CASAS FILIPINAS DE ACUZAR)

During our super fun family staycation in LAS CASAS FILIPINAS DE ACUZAR, we discovered that the resort was isolated from the town proper. That meant, adieu, adieu, to all plans of having a Bataan food trip or having take-out!

However, we pleasantly discovered that LAS CASAS FILIPINAS DE ACUZAR was indeed like old Manila where there were also restaurants located in different corners of the resort patterned after the towns of distant past.

Oooh... Now where should we have a heritage tummy tour??? He he he he he!

So we already had a breath taking lunch at CAFE DEL RIO where the food was yum and the view was awesome. Now what should we try next?

When we went to the Heritage Tour that morning, we came upon the site where the movie HENERAL LUNA shot one of their memorable scenes. From there, we also saw that there was this Italian Restaurant hiding below the stone walls. We instantly decided that our family dinner will be in  LA BELLA TEODORA because we imagined how romantic it would be come night time.



And yes, we were right. We had a lovely time with the food and the ambiance! The dinner became more amazing with the ancient warmth of the dimly lit restaurant. We somehow experienced how it was to wine and dine when the world was still young.

Of course, we really didn't drink wine. But you know what I meant.

Here's our lovely and enchanting dinner at LA BELLA TEODORA!

Now aren't we so glad that we didn't have to go outside LAS CASAS FILIPINAS DE ACUZAR to have a wonderful meal?
  

LA BELLA TEODORA!

The restaurant could be found inside this dark tunnel. 

DIN TAI FUNG (PHILIPPINES)

Whenever the Chinese Adonis and I are in SM Megamall, the only restaurant for us would always be IPPUDO RAMEN. But for one date night, we decided to snap out of our addiction and try out something new.

Now what restaurant is worthy enough to get our ramen obsession out of our system???

DIN TAI FUNG!

It will be the Chinese Adonis' first time to eat at DIN TAI FUNG in the fashion mall of SM Mega. As for me, I was able to pig out here during a company trip in Hong Kong and loved it. I'm sure the yub will enjoy his meal here as well. 

DIN TAI FUNG just opened when we dropped by for dinner and I was expecting the lines to be horrendous (as I've so in many instagram posts). Good thing that there were not as many people as I thought it would be but we were still told to wait for a table to be available.

CAFE DEL RIO (LAS CASAS FILIPINAS DE ACUZAR)

THE YAPPY BUNCH were in LAS CASAS FILIPINAS DE ACUZAR for a family staycation and we're all having an awesome time. The sun may be at its brightest, the travel may be long, the wait may be a few more hours for our room to be ready, but we were all still in a jolly mood!

Of course, besides falling in love with the beautiful surroundings, what else could get us all giddy and happy?

FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We just finished our HERITAGE TOUR  and it certainly worked up our appetite. The restaurant nearby that served Filipino food was very full so we went to the beachfront villas area to try out the house that served Mexican dishes.

Well they did say Mexican dishes but I pleasantly discovered that they had a lot of Filipino and Spanish items as well!

CAFE DEL RIO!

LAS CASAS FILIPINAS DE ACUZAR STAYCATION (PART THREE)

Have you guys seen the movie MIDNIGHT IN PARIS? I feel that I am like the character there of Owen Wilson who is obsessed with the people, places, and cultures of the past. I don't know why but I share the same love and yearning to live the simple life before where there more open spaces than malls, everybody was genuinely nice and courteous to each other (without fear of getting mugged), and everywhere is so clean with fresh, unpolluted air. Even if I appreciate the technology that we have now, it's just too bad that I was born many, many years afterwards in the 90's....

Tee to the Hee.

Anywho, that is probably why I love going to places where it is reminiscent of the olden days. I would regularly drag THE YAPPY BUNCH to Intramuros for family days and when we went to Italy, I just fell in love with the ancient structures.  That is why when I heard of the resort called LAS CASAS FILIPINAS DE ACUZAR, I was really wishing we could save up enough funds to have a family staycation there.

And after limiting our shopping and eating times, we did!!!

This is already day two of our heritage trip in LAS CASAS FILIPINAS DE ACUZAR, and I was happy that it was as beautiful, romantic, and "ancient" as I hoped it would be. The great thing here is that even if my techie addicted boys were not able to play their usual games or go online, they were still having such a blast.

This is indeed another memorable family bonding for us. Although we actually have fun anywhere as long as we are together, LAS CASAS FILIPINAS DE ACUZAR made us appreciate what we had in the past, right in the present.

And that is why what we have now is a gift.

Naks! Right back atya Kung Fu Panda! :)

We L.O.V.E. LAS CASAS FILIPINAS DE ACUZAR!

We woke up to clear and sunny skies in our day 2 at this famous Bataan resort.

Breakfast was included in our booking and it was about many streets away from our room. We didn't really mind because the we fancied the walk and Andrei would have the chance to go on his bike again.