How Could I Forget?

In my last post, when I was writing about the various eateries that have died out, I forgot one.

I was introduced to Tipunan sa Katipunan when I was a high school senior, and active in the Days with the Lord. After one Saturday activity, I went out to dinner with one of the other staffers, who brought me to Tipunan. Since I was unsure about what to order, I got what my companion got, which was beef curry rice. And, man o man, was it spicy. I think my stomach got a hole burned through it as we walked back to the high school.

What a delicious, delicious dish. Every time I ate at Tipunan, that was all that I ordered.

I don't know exactly when Tipunan closed down, but it used to be located underneath the Katipunan flyover, past Joppers Tailoring, and the vulcanizing shop.

Hey, I Used to Eat There

Listening to the DJ drool about the restaurants where he'd like to spend Christmas dinner got me thinking about the various food places which I miss, as they've closed down.

What do I miss?

1. Italian Village - now, this was the supreme Italian cuisine during the 70s and 80s. My family would always go there for special occasions. We would start off with an appetizer of chicken livers wrapped in bacon and deep-fried; for all you liver-haters out there, this dish might actually get you liking it. It would be followed by a green salad in a red wine vinigairette (spell-check, anyone?), which my brother and I would continue to attack, long after the greens were gone. And finally, the main course: pasta. I always ordered spaghetti with meat sauce, and no restaurant which followed has ever equalled the sauce that Italian Village used.

Italian Village closed down in the mid-80s due to a prolonged strike. I guess the owner got fed up and closed the restaurant down. That was a a sad day.

2. Angelino's/DC Diner - Angelino's never really came close to Italian Village in terms of the pasta, but the food was decent. I especially liked their Mushroom Soup, which was tomato-based, and had a raw egg which cooked in the soup's heat; that was a heavenly soup.

I don't know why the restaurant folded more than a year ago, but it enjoyed a brief resurgence tag-teaming with Seiji restaurant along Katipunan this year, and then fizzled out.

3. Jack in the Box - This American fastfood chain was simply squeezed out by the competition, namely, Jollibee and McDonald's, which was a shame. What I liked about Jack in the Box burgers were that the veggies were fresh and crisp, and the burgers were always meaty. There were some specialty sandwiches as well, such as the sourdough burger, which was one of my favorites.

4. 5 Anne's/Frankie's Steak House - For Katipunan Ave. old timers, these were the relatively cheap eateries to go to when one was on a budget. Both restaurants served a variety of foods, but I liked their grilled stuff best of all. For the uninitiated, the restaurants stood where National Book Store and Jollibee Katipunan now are (I think).

5. Tita Amy's - Located along the strip of stores in front of Ateneo's Gate 3, Tita Amy's promised filling and budget-conscious meals; there was a great variety of them, and I can't remember which ones I liked best.

The space where it used to be was taken over by another Chinese-style eatery, Red Fox, which also didn't last long. Maybe the space has bad mojo.

6. Ling Nam - This used to be my favorite place in Greenhills to go to for beef mami. I think a remnant of it still exists in Shoppersville, but I'm not too sure.

7. Joe Kwan - There used to be a food gallery across Glo-ri's Commonwealth, but it's gone now. Joe Kwan was my quick fix for beef mami (I know, I'm partially addicted to the stuff) after classes. Instead of going straight home, I would alight at Glo-ri's and help myself to a steaming hot bowl of beef mami.

There's still a branch of Joe Kwan's along Buendia near Roxas, but I'm not that addicted to go all the way there.

8. Chopstix Express - What happened to this restaurant to me is a mystery, because I figured that it was doing well. No, I didn't go here for the mami, but for their steamed chicken with black mushroom rice meal, which was really delicious. That dish disappeared from the menu a few months before the whole chain went under. Super Bowl of China has a similar dish which is just as good, but since H isn't partial to Chinese food, I don't get to sample it often.

Managing and maintaining a restaurant must be a difficult job; I remember reading somewhere that it's a very cutthroat business.

I just wish the eateries above had survived, as I miss some of their dishes terribly.

Christmas in the Philippines

There is an irony in singing "Silent Night" in the Philippines on Christmas Eve.

Because it rarely is. As the hours tick by to midnight, one can hear fireworks exploding in the distance, the din rising in crescendo until 12 o' clock, and then a great blast all around, lasting all the way to 1 am.

Still, it's nice and quiet afterwards.

Merry Christmas, all.

Visits

I brought G to CCHQ, which will probably be her final time to run and crawl through the shelves of the store, as CCHQ closes on Wednesday. I might go back there myself tomorrow, and maybe some other players may pass by and maybe we might be able to play one last game at the place which my brother calls "the best little comic store in the Nine Worlds."

G really enjoyed herself, and entertained T and K with her antics. It's amazing how fast she's grown, and how quickly she develops.

Side note: We'll be going to Iloilo on the 26th to spend the New Year there, so there may not be any updates until the 4th of January, unless I get to go to an internet cafe. It'll be a restful vacation (I hope).

That was strange...

I took one of those quizzila tests, which I found on T's blog. So, apparently, I'm Death. Cool.

I need a bit of technical expertise, though. When I posted the entry, an error occurred, regarding the href link. I'm not sure how to fix it, though. Maybe I'll take the test again and repost it, when I feel like it. :D

Which of the Endless Am I?

Death, the second of The Endless, you are
responsible for ending all lives and taking
them to your realm, from which no one ever
returns. You are bright, positive, happy,
optimistic and enjoy everything about life, but
that does not mean your silly or stupid. You
can lay the smack down when you have to!
Everyone loves you, and they don't know why.

Which Endless are you?
brought to you by

Stressful

It's been a while since I've written. Too many events in a week will do that. Toss in a few nights of little or no sleep, and the result is that I'm too wasted to write anything worthwhile.

I have a bit of downtime, so I can do some writing.

Ever since December rolled in, it's been a flurry of frantic shopping, and we're not yet done, although I believe we're in the home stretch. Somehow, some way, I'm going to have to be serious about doing the shopping way before the Christmas rush, or else I'm just going to be too stressed out like I am this year. Oog.

With classes ending this Friday, my first priority is to give gifts to co-teachers I won't be meeting until next year. However, my cousin is getting married on Friday, which means that I'll be absent from the high school festivities. It also means that I've got to get the gifts out by tomorrow, or else, give out the gifts when we all come back from the Christmas break. Given the hectic schedule, I'm leaning towards the latter.

Tomorrow's the beginning of the Simbang Gabi. With my house within walking distance of the chapel, it should be a cinch to attend. Assuming I wake up in time for it. In the four years of living in our subdivision, I've only completed the nine days once, which was last year. Can I make it two years in a row? I'd like to.

At least I can look forward to a relatively restful week next week, as our break begins then.

And maybe I can do some serious writing.

Milestone: 100 friends on Friendster

Who would've thunk?

When I started using Friendster a few weeks ago, it was mostly out of curiosity. My students had been bugging me since last year about it, but I resisted due to the fact that I have enough to to online as it is, and adding another task would complicate matters.

I was wrong.

What I like about Friendster is that it helps me locate old friends and rebuild connections that have grown stale or thin. I was able to reconnect with quite a few friends, and discover what they've been up to in the long hiatus of not keeping in touch.

And it doesn't take up that much time, only as much time as I'm willing to spend on it. Which isn't much.

Still, it provides me with another link to old friends.

And now I've gotten a hundred. I know, I know, a hundred is chicken feed for those who are dedicated Friendster. But, considering my purpose in using it, a hundred people connected isn't half bad.

End of an Era

Part of me tells me that I probably should have written about this earlier. But due to the hectic pace as the submission of grades drew nearer, it became difficult to find the time. But now I do, so I'll say my piece.

Central Comics Headquarters (CCHQ) will close down after three years of providing quality comics, manga, and VTES products to the nearby community.

I will miss the shop.

CCHQ, for me, more than just a comics store.

It was a place where friends could hang out and discuss a myriad of topics.

It was a place where people could sit down and try out the various games that were available (Munchkin, Fluxx, and VTES, among others).

It was sanctuary for me whenever I felt the stress of teaching get too much to bear.

What made CCHQ the sanctuary it was were the people who ran the shop. Whenever I would pass by, they would have some story or vignette to share, and generally made people feel at home.

After December, it will be back to going to Filbar's or Comic Quest for my comic fix, but it won't be the same.

Fourth

H and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary with dinner at Alba's Tomas Morato yesterday. We sampled the buffet, which, as always, was sumptious and delicious. I always feel stuffed after eating at Alba's.

One of the reasons why my family tends to frequent Alba's is that one of my cousins is married to the son of Don Alba, the man who started the restaurant decades ago. The perks are nice: we were treated to a free dessert which was prepared before us. It was some sort of mango flambe , which was ladled over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Man, o man.

The funny thing was that while the dessert was being prepared, one of the other dinner guests was watching the entire show. When the mangoes stopped flaming, the waiter went to get the ice cream. While he was away, the guest sidled over to the pan, and surreptitiously speared and tasted the dish. I guess he couldn't resist.

Four years of marriage. It's not always bliss, but there are the high points that make the low points easier to manage. I'm glad I made the right decision four years ago.

"National Treasure"

H and I were able to watch "National Treasure" last weekend. Neither of us really liked it, and maybe we should've listened to my brother's advice. Is it my imagination, or is Nic Cage starting to be like Kevin Costner in the sense that in every movie that I've seen Cage in, he's really just playing himself?

Snippet:

- One of the trailers shown before the movie was for "Constantine," which I believe is based on "Hellblazer"s main character, John Constantine. If that's the case, then why is Keanu Reeves the actor DC chose to portray Constantine? Constantine's a Brit, for bloody sake!

Hectic

It's been a very busy day, as our students' grades were due for submission. Still, I managed to finish relatively early, so no big wup. But I can feel the tension all around me, and it's almost palpable.

When the day is done, though, I'll be able to relax and have a little fun.

Milestone: 5,000,000 Neopoints!

I finally made it, reached my goal in Neopets!

Of course, my brother made it to 5M faster than I did, but it's still a nice feeling about having completed it.

I'll write about my Neopets addiction some other time.

Whoohoo! Hoody-hoo!

Lucky Break

I was planning to go absent today, on account of a bad cold, but due to the cancellation of classes, I can save my absence for another day.

This cold's been with me since yesterday morning; I hate it.

My Japanese Name (kuno)

My japanese name is 藤原 Fujiwara (wisteria fields) 拓海 Takumi (open sea).
Take your real japanese name generator! today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.