MIREIO'S LUXE SUNDAY BRUNCH BUFFET

THE YAPPY BUNCH was in for something super special one weekend, and I'm not just talking about the usual buffet or breakfast. We're doing it the French way, and I cannot be more excited because well, we all know how they are and their cuisine -- extraordinary!

And after trying out the MIREIO LUXE SUNDAY BRUNCH BUFFET, I will forever add a word that would be synonymous to that experience -- unforgettable!!!

Well either that or sacre bleu, but I'm going for "les dikomalilimutan" for now. He he he he he! 

MIREIO LUXE SUNDAY BRUNCH BUFFET!!!!

WILD WEST ROADHOUSE GRILL WITH COLLEGE FRIENDS

My college friends and I had a getogether sometime last year because our favorite FOB was in town (tee hee).... 

We would usually have one place in mind when we meet up (helloooo TGIFRIDAYS), but since we were not feeling like going al fresco that night, we went for the next available... 

WILD WEST ROADHOUSE GRILL!!!!

Good thing we arrived early so there were available tables for us.

IPPUDO ON A FAM NIGHT

I'm sure you know by now how THE YAPPY BUNCH should always have ramen in our system; it's almost like a body necessity that when we don't slurp on piping hot soup and noodles, we'll become weak and useless.

Yes. Ramen is somehow like life support but in a delicious way. He he he he he he! And since we had a deep need for it one night, we asked my Mom and Kuya to join us!!!! 

For that night, we were craving for hot bowls of ramen in IPPUDO!!!!!

BELMONT HOTEL STAYCATION (2018)

In the second month of the year, we packed up our bags again for a family staycation at... 

BELMONT HOTEL!!!!! 

It was dear Gem's birthday and once again, she treated the whole BP Group to a family staycation in the hotel near (whispers) RESORT'S WORLD Manila.

Yayyy! It's going to be another awesome weekend!

ARISTOCRAT AND SWAN LAKE

Sometime last year, we thought of watching SWAN LAKE because we remembered how much we loved it when we saw the show decades ago with my Dad at the CCP. The swan of the night then was prima ballerina Lisa Macuja and even now that I'm 32 (ahem) I would never forget the way her arms swayed smoothly like that of a swans. Ang ganda talaga!

For the SWAN LAKE we're going to watch in Aliw Theatre, Lisa Macuja was not going to play the prestigious Giselle role but she will be there as the Queen mother. At least she was still part of the ballet and I was curious how her protegee would handle it.

Of course, whenever we watch a show, we would always go for dinner afterwards no matter how late it was. Though I'm not too keen on afternoon shows, it at least insured that we would be having an earlier dinner. So hooray for that. I know it's medyo mababaw but I always get a bit excited whenever we have "theatrical night outs" where you have the complete "package" of a show and dinner. He he he he he he he!

Check out our fun SWAN LAKE show and ARISTOCRAT dinner. As I am writing this, I suddenly had the craving to watch another ballet show AND have dinner.

Yup! Let's not forget the latter. He he he he he he! 

Yohoo! We're going to watch SWAN LAKE!

SALVATORE CUOMO AGAIN

It was Master Mati's birthday weekend and after having a staycation at our favorite F1 HOTEL MANILA, we thought of going Italian that night at SALVATORE CUOMO!

Yehess!!!!

It was a Sunday and there were many diners that night in SALVATORE CUOMO!

OUR HOLY WEEK IN CAVITE 2018 (PART TWO)

THE YAPPY BUNCH are with my Gatdula family celebrating the Lenten Season in my Father's hometown in Cavite. Though my Dad is not anymore with us, we know that he's just there "helping" and "enjoying" every day of this longtime Gatdula tradition.

As expected, we all had an enjoyable yet meaningful time. To think that every year we are at the same place doing the same things eating the same food, but everything is still fun and memorable for us! 
Sharing with you our great times and delicious food in this second part of our Holy Week. 

Breakfast for day TWO!!!

The Yubhub said he will only eat fruits this morning so that he could devour all of the grub for lunch.

OUR HOLY WEEK IN CAVITE 2018 (PART ONE)

Like what we have been doing for the past 38 years, my Gatdula family and I went to my Dad's hometown in Cavite to participate in the Holy Week procession. It is the first time though that the patriarch of our household is not with us. But really, even if my Dad was not physically in Cavite, I somehow felt his presence thru various ways like the help from his long time staff, the cool weather, no technical glitches, the fresh talaba (his favorite), and etc. etc.

It may be just me associating him with everything but I would really like to think that he had his heavenly hand in everything so that we wouldn't feel too sad in his absence. (Yep, that's what his OC self would always do when he was still with us. Ayos lahat. Ha ha ha ha ha!)

ANYWAY....

Check out our Holy Week in Cavite this year. Let me remind you though that you won't find any educational religious information here. This is just us sharing our experience (and the food we ate) for this Lenten holiday!

YEAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!

Last year we drove to Cavite Wednesday night and got stuck real bad in traffic. We now know better so this time, we just woke up early on Thursday to go to Dad's province.  

Wohooo! Clear roads rule!

And in less than 2 hours, we're here!

We live in front of our town's church and even if we reside in Manila, the sight of this ancient structure makes me feel right at home. 

ANDREI's WISH CAME TRUE

Let me be a VERY proud Mommy for this blog entry.

Or better yet, a PROUDER Mommy at that!

There's nothing better talaga than seeing your children achieve their dreams and goals. And for this year, the Yub and I were so happy to witness (and assist) our bunsoy to fulfill his little boy dreams.

It all started last year when Andrei told us that he wanted to join Mr. Bosconian 2017. We were all shocked because if you know Andrei, he wouldn't come across as somebody who would join competitions of that nature. My little guy may be naughty but he's not the "pabibo-bibo-look-at-meee" type; sometimes you wouldn't hear a tiny peep from him.

So imagine our surprise when he announced that he wanted to join his school's competition.

"Is it required?" We asked.
"No." He answered.
"Are there extra points?"
"I don't think so."
"Did your teacher ask you to join?"
"No. I was the one who signed up."
"Did your classmates force you??"
"No."
"It IS like the Ms. Universe pageant right except that there's no bathing suit competition and you're all boys?"
"Yes!"
"You have to do modelling, present a talent, and do the question and answer portion in front of ALL the grade school students right??"
"Yes Mommy."
"You DO know that the competition is for Grades 4, 5, and 6 year levels so there are A LOT of other students?"
"I know Mommy."
"Why do you want to join?"
"I just want to."

Hay! Curiouser and curiouser!!!

When we asked him what he planned to do for the talent portion. My bunsoy said that he would like to play drums. Now that would be a problem because the only drumset we have was the one my brother used in the 1980s (Yep! We still kept it!). When my Androse showed interested in playing the instrument and asked us to buy a set, we said that he could use his Ninong Jay's drums. It may be a bit rusty but it still sounded good since it was a Pearl.

We told Andrei the bad news though -- since his Ninong Jay's drum set was old, it might break down in transit going to school. Also, since he just received it, he may not be able to practice enough in time for the contest.

"Okay." My bunsoy said. "I'll just join next year."

"YES!!!!!" The yub and I said as we gave each other a high five.  Sorry it may sound mean but we were not really looking forward to Andrei joining the contest. Well... for one, there were a LOT of requirements for the contestants to be eligible to join and we have to prepare for many costumes. Also, even if we loved him, we were toying with the idea that if he lost, my bunsoy might not be able to handle it (I'm sure we couldn't).

So yay. He decided not to join this year. Maybe he'll forget about it in 2018.

Of course we were wrong. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

When he told us that he's going to join Mr. Bosconian 2018, I felt a small groan in my heart "Egad... again????" We went through the usual questioning (see above) and I tried my best to be a human lie detector test to see if what he's telling is the truth. Yes, all was consistent.

I received the list of requirements plus the rules and regulations. "Inangkupushness..... How could I prepare all of this??" When I saw the date of the competition, hala, it was a work day! Why can't it be on a Saturday? Because they want me to suffer more that's what (ha ha ha ha ha). Add to that, we needed to rent some drums because my brother's set was already geriatric. Gastos yun!!! HAY!!!!!

I wonder if I could still change his mind? Okay. I could begin again by asking about the contest and based on his answer, I made up a lot of arguments that would convince even Pia Wurtzbach from joining Ms. Universe.

"Andrei, why do you want to join Mr. Bosconian ba? In contests there are winners and losers. Are you prepared to lose?"

Without any sort of hesitation, my bunsoy answered "I don't care if I win or lose Mommy. I want to join because I just want to show everyone that I could play the drums. Some kasi don't believe me."

With that, we dropped all forms of doubts and hesitations. My bunsoy Andrei IS going to join MR. BOSCONIAN 2018.

And we WILL be right behind him. This time, no questions asked. 

Yay! We're Team Andrei!!!!

First up... the pre-pageant where contesnts will be performing their talent and do a bit of modeling. There were many requirements to be eligible and one of them was to submit a video promoting the Don Bosco's Core values. The winner of the video automatically becomes one of the top 10 finalists so it's important that we do this good! 

Andrei chose Faith and when I asked him, what is Faith to him, he wrote down a lot of reasons. We edited his script and thought of video support for the audio. He also thought of using "Imagine" by John Lennon as background music. THIS is what we submitted...

MANN HANN ESTANCIA MALL

When I was planning the birthday celebrations of Master Mati, I immediately asked the BP Family if they were free the first weekend of the month. Everything was good and confirmed but lo and behold, we suddenly had a family staycation at F1 HOTEL MANILA with the Kain Tulog Gang that I thought was perfect for Master Mati's birthday celebrations. so we had to reschedule.

It was no problem for the gang (bless their kind hearts) and it was agreed that there could be a joint celebration for another celebrant that month. I realized later on that the Yub will be out of the country. And to put it off another week would be sooooo far off from my big guy's birthday.

No worries of course. What's important here is that Master Mati's wish gets fulfilled and have fun in our birthday getogether. Great thing too that we have a BP Family who will always be there for us to share and give joy in the events that are dear to our hearts.

Check out his birthday celebration with the BP Family!!!!  

The agreed venue for that Saturday was MANN HANN in Estancia Mall!