My husband went on half-day leave on my birthday, January 31, to celebrate my birthday again. I say again because we already had an advance birthday celebration last Sunday, January 30 at Mr. Choi Kitchen at Robinsons Galleria.

I finished work early so we could go to SM Megamall to have dinner at Mesa Filipino Moderne. This restaurant offers Filipino cuisine with a twist.


To get inside, guests will have to pass through a tunnel made of bamboo, which is distinctly Filipino. The staff were courteous and accommodating, too. They were genuinely glad to take our pictures.


They also have nice interiors, cozy and elegant, and our four-year-old son did not fail to notice the soothing background music. He said he liked it there.


Because there were only four of us this time (hubby, me, Justin and his yaya), we ordered only three dishes: Baby Squid in Olive Oil, Tilapia Crispy Boneless and Laing in 2 Ways.

Baby Squid in Olive Oil, Php270.00
This is baby squid sautéed in olive oil and seasoned with garlic and laurel. Hubby loves anything squid, so he ordered this. I liked this, too, but not as much as I liked Tilapia Crispy Boneless and Laing in 2 Ways.


Tilapia Crispy Boneless, Php290.00
I like how this dish is presented. I also appreciate that the fish meat is cut into bite-sized pieces. This comes with four different sauces, too: the Special Sauce, Honey Bagooong, Sweet Chili, and Spicy Vinegar. The Spicy Vinegar sauce was our favorite. Our four-year-old loved this, too. This is actually all that he ate with his rice. He said it’s yummy with the Special Sauce!

Laing in 2 Ways, Php150.00
This dish is made from taro leaves, pork, shrimp paste and coconut cream topped with adobo flakes, served original and crispy. Hubby liked the original version, while I preferred the crispy version.

I had a little of everything with my spoonful of rice because they’re all so delicious. I couldn’t stop myself from commenting how good their food tastes. We will definitely come back here to try their other house specialties.

Today, January 31, is my birthday, but because Justin’s lolo and lola (my parents) were with us yesterday when we went to church, hubby and I decided we’d have an advance birthday celebration yesterday, January 30, at Mr. Choi Kitchen at Robinsons Galleria. My younger sister and my eldest niece were also there to celebrate with us.


The birthday girl in red!


Me, my son and hubby!


My niece Tin-Tin and Justin’s lola and lolo

All of us!


My sister Meann finishing the big bowl of birthday noodle
Hubby ordered everything because he and his officemates have eaten there more than once already, and they all agreed this Chinese restaurant serves delicious but affordable food. Below is a rundown of what we had for lunch yesterday.


Hot Prawn Salad, Php330.00


Steamed Fish Fillet with Garlic, Php265.00


Braised Patatim, Php260.00


Fried Chicken in a Basket, Php250.00


Beef with Broccoli, Php250.00


Birthday Noodle, Php200.00


Yang Chow Fried Rice, Php185.00
My niece Tin-Tin bought me a White Forest Cake from Red Ribbon. She even made me blow out the candle on my birthday cake.


My birthday cake: White Forest Cake from Red Ribbon


That’s my son singing “Happy Birthday, Mommy”!
We paid less than Php2,000.00 for everything. My parents were given senior citizen discounts, too. Their neat and accurate receipts made me wonder what document management software they’re using. Anyway, we went home too full and satisfied.

So, that’s Part 1 of my birthday celebration for this year. Watch out for Part 2.

Last Friday, I, together with some high school classmates, got together for the pre-birthday blowout of one of our classmates, Neil, an engineer. Because I missed the first get-together because my classmates haven’t found me on Facebook yet and vice versa, I promised I’d go no matter what.

I started work earlier than usual that day so I could end it earlier than usual, too. I left the house at 4:30pm and arrived at the agreed venue (19 East Bar and Grill in Sucat, Muntinlupa) at 8pm. You could just imagine what I went through just to see my high school classmates!

It was raining nonstop last Friday, so traffic was expectedly heavy. Because of the heavy traffic, it was not practical to ride a cab from Ortigas to Sucat, so I opted for a bus instead. Because there was no air conditioned bus going to Sucat, I decided to ride an air conditioned bus going to Alabang. The driver dropped me off at South Station.

Because I don’t know where I was and had no idea how long it would take me to get to the venue on time, I commissioned a tricycle driver to take me there. It took us 30 minutes (more or less) to get there and he made me pay Php150.00. It was not really my lucky day!

I was the first to arrive, and I had to wait a few more minutes before I could finally see my classmates. There were only five of us, but the meet-up was fun nonetheless. We looked back on our high school days, reminiscing the good and not-so-good times we had.


Clockwise: Tetcha, Waggy, Reggie and Randy


Waggy and Tetcha


Reggie and Neil
I was amazed at how Neil has grown; he used to be so small! I also realized I haven’t really talked to my two other classmates in high school, Reggie and Randy, but that night, we were chatting the night away like long lost friends. I also missed my beautiful friend, Waggy. We will have another class get-together again in December, and we’re hoping for more attendees this time.