MY BONCHON DATE WITH MASTER MATI

For so long now, I have been asking my master Mati for a date. We used to have it regularly before when he was obsessed with me. Now that he's older, he would only go with us if we're eating at a restaurant that he liked, or if we're watching his kind of movie.

Oh how time really flew by so fast! It was just like yesterday when my baby Mati cried while hugging me tight and begging me not to go to work. Now, the sad reality is they WANT me to go to the office because they knew if I stayed home, I would get in the way of their TV watching or gadget playing.

Grrrrr... Oh well! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

So FINALLY, my first born son agreed to go out on a Fridate because the Chinese Dimpol was out of town. I was so happy and asked where he wanted to go because the sky was the limit!  I'm willing to splurge and eat as much as he wants! He was a foodie like me so I was really excited with his choice. In the end however, he chose BONCHON!

BONCHON??? WHY BONCHON??? I mean, we could eat anywhere that's more classy and with special food!!!

My Master Mati answered thoughtfully "I like BONCHON na Mommy because I want to try their Bibimbap and I don't want you to spend a lot of money on our date. Let's save muna okay?"

Awwwww....  :(

I know that I always dread the thought of the boys growing up and leaving their Mommy. But moments like these make me so proud at the kind of gentleman my Master Mati is turning out to be.

Okay. So BONCHON it is, my little Padawan.

Sniff! Sniff!!!!

Master Mati picked me up at work!

Everytime he drops by the office, my friends would always remark on how tall he is already!

MAX'S RESTAURANT (LUCENA CITY)

I know that whenever we're out of town, we should eat in restaurants that are exclusive to that province only. It's just "Que Horror" to do things otherwise and eat let's say, at Jollibee, when we're at Baguio.

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against the bee. In fact, I love the bee. We love it so much we want to marry it. But I'm sure you know what I mean.

That "unwritten rule" though, doesn't apply whenever we're in Lucena City during the All Soul's weekend. Yup. Even if we have loads of favorites in the Chinese Dimpol's hometown, we are always drawn to "The House That Fried Chicken Built" come November 1. I don't know... Maybe because of its geographical convenience, the ambiance, the price,  and the familiarity of this restaurant that has been popular since 1945. But one thing's for sure, we don't mind "breaking the rules" when we are looking forward to some juicy fried chicken plus MORE from MAX'S restaurant.

Yup. Even in LUCENA City! 

MAX'S RESTAURANT!

SLASH'S RESTAURANT (LUCENA CITY)

When we stayed in Lucena for the Undas long weekend, the Chinese Dimpol already plotted the restaurants that we'll eat in for lunch and dinner: PALAISDAAN, CAFE ANTIGUA, BUBBLES, HACIENDA INN, PANSILOG, etc etc. However, when his Mom recommended that we try out the restaurant that's flocked by hungry Lucena diners, it piqued the curiosity of the Chinese D. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but my husband's favorite food in the whole world is Crispy Pata. And when Mama said the new restaurant had superkaduper delicious fried pork knuckles it made him forget that there was ever a list.

So the other candidates that night didn't stand a chance -- the Crispy Pata was the ultimo deciding factor.  And the new winner for our Monday dinner was.... 

SLASH'S RESTAURANT!

CHAMSIG AT PANSILOG (LUCENA CITY)

THE YAPPY BUNCH were in Lucena for the All Soul's long weekend and besides meeting up with the Chinese Dimpol's family, we were all eating up a storm! This is, of course, my husband's hometown and comfort food haven that our tummies are living the life. But even if we already have our usual favorites in Lucena, in comes a new restaurant that made the Chinese Dimpol craving and finding. He heard about this as the new thing in the area and was impressed that it has already been featured in news channels and articles.

So after doing our "Undas" duties that morning by visiting Yub's relatives in various cemeteries, we consoled our tired selves with the thought of the sizzling and saucy rave in town....

The CHAMSIG!

And where to get that? 

In PANSILOG!

A SUPERCHAMPZ AND IHOP SUNDAY!!!!

Have you seen those ads in Facebook by SUPERCHAMPZ where free seminars are conducted to help your child become more passionate about studying? I did, and I thought, what the heck, we should try it! The little lords loved playing more than doing their homework (as any child would) so it would really be a big help if I get more tips on how to get them to be more serious about school.

The seminar was free and it was only for about 2 hours. I'm sure there's a catch in the end (because nothing is really free these days) but I figured that if it is something that my little lords could learn from, then it's worth our time.

So off we went to SUPERCHAMPZ for our family Sundate!!!!  

Little lords Andrei and Mati with SUPERCHAMPZ Coach Dave!

HEALTHY SHABU SHABU WITH MY FAVORITE COUSINS

It's my peyborit cousin's last night before they head back to Las Vegas, and we are saying goodbye the best way we know how....

By eating at the FIRST restaurant our family treated them to at the first official day of their vacation!

Yup! We're sentimental like that. He he he he he he he!

HEALTHY SHABU SHABU!

As usual it's the big and center table for us!

MONGKOK TREAT BY THE CHINESE D!!!

I don't want to go into all the details but the Chinese Dimpol is starting something right now and we were so thankful that we got an early blessing for it. Just goes on to show that if you work hard for something and pray at the same time, the Lord will ALWAYS work it out for the best. And with that, we believe that with our early "happiness", we should share it with our family. That's why for our Sunday lunch, we will treat my Gatdula family at a restaurant of their choice.

And since my family had simple joys and always wanted us to save, they chose the very convenient yet delicious, MONGKOK!!!

MONGKOK!

It was a Sunday and many mall goers of Power plant would always flock to MONGKOK after mass. Good thing our big group was able to secure a table pronto!

ISLAND'S CAFE (CANYON COVE BREAKFAST)

When I have work on a weekday, I usually skip breakfast because besides wanting to sleep longer, I feel this meal of the day cannot be rushed nor hurried up.

But when it's the weekend or I'm on vacation, now that's different. I just HAVE to have breakfast because the lure of having tapa, tocino, danggit, bacon, fluffy eggs, toast, jam, garlic rice, coffee, bangus, adobo, dinuguan, etc. etc. are just impossible to resist. So even if we slept late the previous night, we will definitely wake up uber early to have breakfast whether or not it's included in the room package. It IS after all, the important meal of the day.

That's why when we were in our stormy staycation in CANYON COVE, we got up bright and early to have our breakfast. The thought going straight to the beach/pool without anything hot and filling in our tummies was just inconceivable. So we all trooped on over to ISLAND'S CAFE to have our much needed sustenance. We could go out and fill up in the nearest fast food restaurant (Jollibee breakfasts ARE one of our favorites), but we needed to start our day pronto and our hunger waited for no one.

And in ISLAND'S CAFE, we surprisingly had a delicious "top o' the mornin' to ya" brekky to start our day right  

ISLAND CAFE!!!!!

WORLD WRESTLING LIVE IN MANILA

It may not be obvious, but we are a wrestling loving family. Yup! The WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.) to be exact!

Our devotion to WWE started with the Chinese Dimpol who would tell me about his favorite wrestlers while we were just BF/GF (yuck). Back then, I immediately got curious and watched so that we have something more to do together (besides actually wrestling ourselves.... bwa ha ha ha ha... EW?). It did not take long before I became a fanatic marking The Rock, Stephanie Mcmahon, and Steve Mcmahon as my favorites (they're just crazy) and tune in to their show every week. The Yub and I were such fans of WWE that we would also play their videogames when we're not watching. On one date, he even surprised me with a THE ROCK shirt (which I still have up to now). So yes, the WWE is very significant to us and has even given special memories to our relationship.

And we're happy that it's something we're sharing right now with the little lords!

Yu-uh! The boys are the new generation of WWE fanatics in the family. They're wild about wrestling and know all of the new characters! Even if they slept late the previous night, the two would insist on waking up early to catch their special live shows. The house would suddenly become noisier when it's WWE time.

So imagine our excitement when we heard that WWE will have a show in the Philippines, and their new favorites, ROMAN REIGNS and JOHN CENA, are coming? We were all ecstatic!!! As soon as ticket centers were open, we immediately booked our seats and counted the days till the show.

Then finally, WWE arrives!!!

And THE YAPPY BUNCH will all be there to see where OUR kind of magic, HAPPENS!!!!

WWE!!!! WOHOOO!!!!

It was a rainy afternoon so we made sure to leave early so that we'll not be stuck in traffic.

Our WWE LIVE tickets!!!!

OF HANSEL AND GRETEL, AND MUSEUM CAFE!

For seven years now, THE YAPPY BUNCH attended Repertory Philippine's kiddie theater organized by Don Bosco Elementary School. Attendance is required but even if we could just buy tickets for our boys, the Chinese Dimpol and I choose to make it a family event that  we look forward to yearly.

And for last year's 2016, it was HANSEL AND GRETEL!

It was free seating and the lines were already very long even if we arrived an hour before the show.

PHO HOA WITH MY FAVORITE COUSINS

My peyborit cousins only have 2 days to go till their flight back to Las Vegas and even though our hearts are breaking, we know that life must go on. That's why even on another busy work night, we took them out for some dinner after a day of shopping. We just gotta spend more time with them!!!!  And when I asked Kuya Nap, Ate Sheila, and dear Mikee what they were craving for, their answer was Vietnamese.

So without further adieu, we went to our favorite PHO HOA!

PHO HOA!!!

PHO HOA is an ERICJAZ FOODIES favorite for so many years now! It never fails to make us all happy whenever we're craving for Vietnamese comfort food.

KRACIE EDIBLE JAPANESE TOYS (TAIYAKI AND ODANGO)

We're staying in on another Sunday night and instead of gluing ourselves to the telly, little Andrei thought of something else to do with ME!

KRACIE EDIBLE JAPANESE TOY -- TAIYAKI AND ODANGO edition!!!

I actually planned a night of blogging to catch up on the entries I was not able to do during the week, but my bunsoy was making lambing that I help him!

Awwwww! Okay! You know I cannot resist your cuteness!!!!!

NANBANTEI OF TOKYO W MY FAVORITE COUSINS

My peyborit cousins' departure back to Las Vegas is looming and besides being in denial at how our days with them are "numbered", we also wanted to treat them to our our favorite restaurants in the Metro.

And one of them is NANBANTEI OF TOKYO!!!

The Chinese Dimpol and I love NANBANTEI because it's where we get our meaty yakitori fix that's juicy, nummy, and very sulit.  The great thing about NANBANTEI too is that they offer more than just the usual skewered meats -- they also have our favorite Japanese comfort dishes that you could enjoy along with your yakitori.

LINGUINI FINI WITH MY FAVORITE COUSINS

My peyborit cousins are here from Las Vegas and we are loving every minute that they are with us. And of course, part of anyone's vacation is shopping. That's why the Chinese Dimpol took them to SM Megamall!

When it was time to eat, I asked them what they're in the mood for. My Ate Sheila was okay with anything. As for little Mikee, he was suddenly craving for some Italian food. And with that, "Ding! Ding! Ding!", I instantly thought of our new favorite, LINGUINE FINI!

Usually, the Chinese Dimpol and I are so used to going to IPPUDO whenever we're at SM Mega Fashion Hall. However, one restaurant broke our "foodie spell" the first time we sunk our teeth into their cheesy goodness. And naturally, we would love to have our peyborit cousins to have a taste of it too!!!

Because that's what loving relatives/foodies do, SHARING THE GOODNESS! He he he he!

Either THAT, or the Yub and I want to have some of it into our system as well. He he he he he he he!

And so LINGUINI FINI it is!!!!

LINGUINI FINI!!!

Now, what should we get????

Oh my poor diet!

LE CHING WITH MY FAVORITE COUSINS!

My favorite cousins from Las Vegas are here for a vacation. And besides sight seeing, church-going, and shopping, they are also SO raring to do some serious.... FOOD TRIPPING!

Yup! And that's why we get along soooo well! He he he he he he he!

When I say FOOD-TRIPPING, I don't mean going to some posh and swanky restaurant having expensive foie gras or caviar. They have a LOT of that already in Las Vegas!

What my cousins are looking for is the comfort food from hole in the wall restaurants that they cannot find in the US. Places where they went to while they were still in Manila. Eateries which would get them strolling down memory lane with their unforgettable dishes.

And with that, I thought of treating them everyone's favorite -- LE CHING!!!!!!

LE CHING has been in Greenhills Shopping Center for many, many years now!

The set up is like what you find in old Chinese eateries in Binondo!

Yup! Just our type of restaurant!!!!!

MY FAVORITE COUSINS' VACATION IN THE PHILIPPINES!

My superkaduper ultrapamatay favorite cousins from Las Vegas are FINALLY back in the Philippines for a vacation, and we are all stoked! The last time we saw them was during our Yappy Bunch vacation in the US (2014), and we have been missing them so much eversince! Of course, there may be Facebook and text messaging, but social media is not enough. We all needed to be together! Yup! That's how we love our Kuya Nap and Ate Sheila!!!!!

Andrei made a sign!!!!

WOHOOO!!!!!

OUR HOTEL HOPPING TO WELCOME 2017

When I was a kid, my Dad would always take us out hotel-hopping on December 31 before our Media Noche. Why hotel hopping you may ask? Usually on the last day of the year, hotels are decked with special decorations and oozing with that party vibe that we would always troop there and join the fun. We would often have snacks, drinks, and lots of laughs that it was really something memorable for me. I always had a lot of fun during our "hotel hops" that I promised that I would do it with my kids when I have my own family.

Fast forward to 2016 and yes we are STILL doing it!!! Too bad though that most hotels are doing countdown parties that it's difficult for us to get tables (we just relied on our cuteness before he he he he he). So now, we do our "hopping" days before New Year's eve. Though we still encountered certain drawbacks this year, my little family had an awesome again time that we lasted until morning. I could tell that it was a fun night for the little lords because not once did they ask to go home to play with their gadgets!!!

I'm really thankful that my Dad came up with these family traditions that I am now doing with my little lords. Though these days, he would rather stay at home to watch his movies, or go to his favorite mall come night time. Even if he wasn't able to join us, I could tell that he is also grateful upon seeing his apos excited faces when we are about to go. I'm sure he appreciates that we are continuing something that he started up AND having a helluva great time with it!

Yup! Our annual Hotel Hopping is a family tradition that we will ALWAYS be doing. As long as there are hotels, count on THE YAPPY BUNCH to do our usual hoppin' in saying adieu to the old year.

Yoo to the HOO!!!!! 

It's time to say good bye to 2-OH-Sixteen with some HOTEL HOPPING!!!!

OUR YAPPY NEW YEAR CELEBRATION FOR 2017!

It's already 2017 and THE YAPPY BUNCH had a very HAPPY WAY to welcome the New Year!

YEHEESSSS!!!  Eet ees olredi 2017!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oops! I promised nga pala not to be too "jejemon" anymore. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

It's already 2017!!!!!!!!!

WOHOOOOOOOO!!!!

GLORIA MARIS DELI AND RESTAURANT

It was my Mom's birthday and as usual my family will be celebrating with dinner. The choice for that night was in HEALTHY SHABU SHABU in Powerplant Mall, my family's new favorite, and I already made advance reservations two days before. Even if THE YAPPY BUNCH would eat regularly in HEALTHY SHABU SHABU, since it's our long time favorite too, we always look forward to having another meal there.  Of course, the anticipation is much more on my Mom's birthday because not only is it a special celebration, it's FREE as well!

HAR DE HAR HAR!

Well, the foodie gods must have sensed my hungry plan that with some stroke of bad luck, my husband got so stuck in traffic going to my office. By the time he arrived TAPE INC, my family was already plucking out the vanquished food with toothpicks. Auuughhhhhh!!!!! I doubt if they could still wait for us if we're coming from Quezon City going to Makati!!!!! 

My SHABU SHABU freebie plan, FOILED AGAIN!

Dishearted that we were not able to make it to my Mom's birthday dinner and hungry from missing our favorite Shabu Shabu, we headed for home with heavy hearts. As we were maneuvering our way thru the Monday traffic, we saw what could be our foodie savior/substitute for the night...

GLORIA MARIS DELI AND RESTAURANT!

OUR VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS 2016 (PART TWO)

Hullo everyone!

This is PART TWO of THE YAPPY BUNCH's Christmas celebrations for 2016. My blog entry on the holiday season was originally going to be one LOOOOOOOOOONG post but since I suddenly felt pity on your beautiful eyes, I decided to make a continuation part.

See? That's just how "concerned" and "loving" I am. Consider it the new "Jaz" this year, if you will.

Tee to the HEE!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE YAPPY BUNCH 2016!!!!

OUR VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS 2016 (PART ONE)

It's Christmas!!! Our favorite time of the year!!!! Not only was our Lord Jesus Christ born during this season, but everything just seems so magical and enchanting. Christmas just brings out the kid in us!

Oh and the gluttony as well! He he he he he he!

So as expected, even if I promised myself a GAZILLION times that I will watch what I eat and control my carb intake, I did the total opposite: I ate everything that I could and even had the gall to pair rice, potatoes, and noodles with each other.

Tsk... tsk... tsk...

Oh well. No regrets. It IS the season for eating anyway (yeah I know I read that somewhere). So even if I gained a ton this December, I'm still happy that I was able to spend Christmas with my posse THE YAPPY BUNCH, and our families. And, unbelievable as it may seem, I have learned to lessen my commercialism of the season and just truly observe the importance of the holidays -- Christmas after all IS the time for sharing and giving.

Happy Birthday dear Jesus!!! Thank you for everything!

Iiiiiits that... time of year when the world falls in love....

It's CHRISTMAS for THE YAPPY BUNCH!!!!

GREENHILLS COD (CHRISTMAS ON DISPLAY) SHOW 2016

Every year, THE YAPPY BUNCH never fail to watch the Christmas On Display (or COD) show in Greenhills shopping centre. I'm happy that my little family is now experiencing it because I used to watch the same show as a kid when my Dad would take us all to Quezon City. It's great that they have transferred the show in Greenhills and it has already become part of the Christmas season for THE YAPPY BUNCH for many years now.

Among the two though, it's my little Andrei who's still very enchanted with the COD show. I'm glad that my bunsoy has such an innocent and simple taste (aka mababaw ang kaligayahan) that even if there are more magical Christmas shows out there, he could still appreciate the rustic magic of the COD. He loves it so much that he often includes it in his birthday wishes for December.

And since the Chinese Dimpol and I are not only just happy to oblige but we are also very sentimental, we vowed to ALWAYS take the little lords to watch the COD, no matter what.

:)

The Greenhills' CHRISTMAS ON DISPLAY show!!!!!

GREEN PASTURES

It was the birthday of my favorite kumareng Gail and like what we've been doing for so many years now I treated this lovely lady to the restaurant of her choice. She was also preggers so making her happy was very vital. In the end, after thinking long and hard, she chose GREEN PASTURES!

And since I haven't tried this restaurant offering healthy food yet, it also made me SO happy as well!!!!

ERICJAZ FOODIES with Team Campo in GREEN PASTURES!!!

GREEN PASTURES has already been existence for a long time and I've heard many foodies rave about the dishes. It was something I was always putting on schedule but not really following through because well, I am just stubborn and lazy that way.

OUR AWESOME YAPPY 2016!!!!!!!!

And just like that, another year has ended.

Good bye 2016. It was a nice year.

Really? Just nice? I'm sure I could come up with a MORE exciting word than just "NICE"???

Well. Ok fine scary voice. It's just that I wanted to convey how I initially felt just "nice" with the year that was. You see, I'm not really keen on making a countdown of the best restaurants or hotels that we've been to this year because I will leave THAT to my other KTG mates who have more right to do so... he he he he. With that, I will just present to you again the significant events of 2016 for my family -- a summary if you will.

And like I said, I was prepared to just see the usual things that happened to us yearly -- my birthday, yub's birthday, the kids' birthdays, valentimes, Halloween, Christmas.... All thing's "nice". To be honest, I'm not even sure if I was going to put anything remotely "post-worthy" because it may be like a "seen-that-already" blog for you. But as I was reviewing the restaurants that we went to, the staycations we had as a family, the outings, the activities, the memorable life events, etc., etc., I really let out a long and happy smile. THE YAPPY BUNCH did all that?????

MAN, we certainly had an awesome year!

Yu-uh! To think that we just stayed put in the Philippines and did not have any uber expensive trip, THE YAPPY BUNCH was on the move on 2016!!! Honestly, I already got tired just by looking and compiling it!!!

So with that, thank YOU to everyone who has let me share these wonderful experiences of my family. Thank you for not blocking us on Facebook or reporting us to the MTRCB (calling Spanky... he he he he he)!!! Your kind words and views just get us all the more enthusiastic to live more our silly and crazy life.

So here's to 2016 and I salute it with all the blessings and greatness that it had bestowed upon us. Of course, you'll still read some blogs from the previous year that I was not able to post in 2016 (and believe me, they're a LOT) but it just goes on to show how each event is important and is a special memory for us.

Thank YOU 2016!!!!!  You did great for us!!!! Looking forward to another year with you all and with my HAPPY, aka YAPPY, family!!!
  

WOHOO 2016!!!!!