Bacolod Trip

Officially, Bacolod is now my favorite project site. I still love you Dumaguete, but you have to come second from now on :)

After 6 years of working in my company, I was finally able to visit our Northern Negros project.  Just a little warning, I won't mention what we did for work in this post. But that doesn't mean that we didn't work hard while on site :)

Day 1 began with an 8:40 AM flight to Bacolod. We immediately proceeded to our site in Murcia upon arrival and the first day of work began. We had Guimaras mangoes as dessert after lunch and boy, were they delicious. Just divine! Dinner was at Aboy's. We had mostly seafood. Oysters, grilled tuna belly, garlic scallops, squid and fish sinigang (I cannot exactly say what kind of fish but it was great. They used this bean to make sinigang sour. I just forgot the exact name of the bean). We stayed at L'Fisher Hotel, across the street from Bacolod's famous Calea. After dinner, Pam and I dropped by Calea for coffee and to sample their famous cakes. And we weren't disappointed. After the first bite, Pam and I were instantly thinking how we're gonna bring home cakes :)

Imported Chocolate Cake and Strawberry Cheesecake

Day 2. We were on our way to the site by 8:30 AM. The breakfast at the hotel was okay. It is your usual fried rice/fried egg/tocino or tapa or danggit kind of meal. But since it's free, no complaints there. We had lunch at the Pataan Resort. The water fall made our stay relaxing. I guess the sound of running water does that to you.

We had dinner at a Japanese Restaurant, Kaisei, near our hotel. The Japanese consultant enjoyed the food saying he was quite suprised that the restaurant is "almost" authentic. I enjoyed the food (tempura, sashimi, soba, etc.) and it was also cheap. Our bill was a little over 2k (5 pax). Not bad! After dinner, we again trooped to Calea for coffee and cake. This time we tried the Apple and Caramel Cheesecake, Chocolate Cake again and the Cathedral. We went back to the hotel with smiling faces :)

On our last day, we just stayed in Bacolod to finish our tasks. Lunch was at Sweet Greens. Food was okay but again, not something I'd go back for. After the meetings, our colleagues brought us to a place they call RUINS.

Ruins was a mansion built by Don Mariano Lacson for his first wife. It was a grand place considering it was built several decades ago. The materials they used (based from what the guide says) were all first class, which is probably why the structure stood the test of time and weather.

After Ruins, we again dropped by Calea for snacks and to buy cakes to bring home to Manila. I decided to buy in slices so we can try the other cake flavors.

The trip was tiring but fun :) I am also happy that we were able to accomplish all the tasks we set out to complete.

The next morning, I gingerly opened the cake box:

What's in the box? Imported Chocolate Cake, White Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce, Blueberry Cheesecake, Tiramusa Cheesecake, Apple and Caramel Cheesecake and Chocolate Cheesecake. The verdict? JJ loved the White Cheesecake and I am still a fan of the Imported Chocolate Cake. The other flavors were yummy too :) Will definitely bring home cakes again when I go back to Bacolod.

Happy 30th!

Happy 30th Anniversary Popsy and Momsy :)

I hope you had a great time at Taal Vista. Thank you for re-scheduling the celebration so I can join the party :)

Love you both. Cheers to 30 more years together.

Just Busy...

Yup, you read it right. I am still here, just way too busy with work these days. For you to have an idea, this is how my weekly planner looks like:

That was for last week, things didn't change much for this week. Planner still looks the same. So crowded, one task after another :)

I will be off to our power plant site in Bacolod on official business next week. It will be my first time to visit Bacolod and I am looking forward to the said visit. I am still thinking if I will bring my camera. I want to take pictures but given that I have to bring my breastfeeding paraphernalia (freestyle, fridge-to-go), I am seriously having second thoughts. Hay, this is really why I want to buy one of those tiny cameras that fit in a small handbag. Ours is kinda big for trips like this one.

Anyhoo, that's it for now. Hopefully I'd be able to drop by here and write something again soon.

I'd leave you now with Lucas' pic wearing sunglasses :) He's really growing up too fast!

Nadal's 18th Masters Title

One word. WOW!

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Nadal The Master Of ATP World Tour's Premier Tournaments
by: Paul McPherson

Rafael Nadal’s 18 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles won before the age of 24 is one of the most jaw-dropping achievements of the Open Era. To give context to the speed of the accomplishment, the man with whom he previously shared the record, Andre Agassi, was 34 when he won his 17th Masters 1000 title.

Interestingly, it was Nadal’s stunning victory over Agassi in 2005 in the Montreal final that made an immediate impression with Agassi’s former coach Brad Gilbert. “After that win over Agassi I thought this kid was going to an outrageous level,” Gilbert said. “He won Canada on what I thought was the fastest hard court I had seen in 10 years and he also won the Madrid title indoors at altitude. It was then that I thought this guy could win a boatload of tournaments.”

Montreal was one of four ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles Nadal won during his breakout 2005 season, which reaped a career-best 11 titles. Nadal has won three or more Masters 1000 titles in five of the past six years. (He won two titles in 2006).

So just how many ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles may Nadal win over the course of his career? “Just looking at the next four years, if he can stay healthy, the over-under is 30 titles,” says Gilbert. “You expect him to win two a year on clay and at least one other – so that could easily add up to 12 more in the next four years.”

With the exception of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments present a challenge not found at Grand Slam level: the requirement to play without a day off in between matches against the best players in the world. The format doesn’t suit everyone. Former World No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov won two Grand Slam titles but tasted no Masters 1000 success.

Gilbert believes that Nadal’s exceptional conditioning and focus on peaking for Grand Slams and Masters 1000s work in his favour. “At the Masters 1000s the top guys often have to win five matches in five days to take the title and physically that takes a toll. Rafa knows how to manage that extremely well.”

Although Nadal has won six different titles and reached the finals of eight of the current nine Masters 1000s, the foundation of his amazing streak has been his dominance of clay-court Masters 1000 titles, of which he has won 13 shields in the past six years. He has won a record six consecutive Monte-Carlo titles, five titles in six years in Rome, one clay-court Madrid title (two Madrid titles in all) and the 2008 Hamburg crown when the tournament had Masters 1000 status.

Not only has Nadal won more ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles than any other player, he also has the best winning percentage (83.7 percent), boasting a 180-35 record.

And he may be just warming up!

Picture from Getty Images

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Keeping my fingers crossed for Roland Garros. Vamos Rafa!

Mother's Day

We had our Mother's Day lunch at Josephine's Tagaytay courtesy of Daddypops :) We waited for more than an hour before we got seated (I guess that's what you get when you don't call for reservations). The kids (Lucas, Miggy and Matt) had fun going around the place while we're waiting for the food.

After a short wait, our food was served. We had paella, sinigang na liempo, calamares, chopsuey, crispy pata and fried tawilis. The paella was yummy. Everyone loved the tawilis and crispy pata. My nephew, Miggy, was requesting for (*gasp*) "taba". He'd ask his mom to get the fatty part for him. Oh my.

My picky-eater didn't eat that much and just roamed around the restaurant with us or sometimes with his Kuya Matt in tow.

After lunch, we decided to drop by Nuvali. As expected the kids loved feeding the school of fish. Lucas was visibly delighted whenever he'd see the school of fish swarm near him as he throws them food. The kids (and okay, us too) enjoyed it so much that my dad bought around 8 bags of the fish feed. My mom was smiling at her grandkids the whole time too.

When everyone got tired of throwing fish feed, we all trooped to Starbuck's for a much-needed cool drink. The tireless kids went up and down the stairs (to the chagrin of the parents :) ). We just sat outside and enjoyed the sunset.

It was a wonderful day indeed.

Happy Mother's Day to all moms, moms-to-be and moms-at-heart.

Milk or Dodo?

In the wee hours of last night, Lucas woke up shouting "Milk! milk! milk!". Initially thinking that my son was just confused, I offered him my breast. He turned his head away and again said "Milk! milk! milk!". Surprised, I nudged JJ and asked him to make milk for Lucas (as in formula). In two minutes, hubby was back with the milk. Hesitantly, I handed him the bottle and was amazed when he took it and started drinking. After a while, he gave the bottle back to me and then turned on his side and snoozed off again.

I was left in a daze (and a little hurt that he said "no" to my breastmilk). But it's okay. I wonder if he's self-weaning already? Hmmm....

Amici and Cara Mia: Now Serving in ATC!

Warning: No yummy pictures in this post.  I didn't bring our camera :(

JJ met a friend in ATC to get some cards and Lucas and I tagged along. After meeting his friend, we went to the new wing to check if Amici is already serving. And it was!!!

I spoke with the girl manning the cashier and found out that today (May 1) is their first day in operations. We had spaghetti in olive oil and garlic and Four-Cheese Pizza. Our little boy enjoyed a cup of Mango Jubilee gelato while hubby and I shared a cup of Hazelnut gelato. My diet was (predictably) forgotten :-)

Will surely go back for more!