A couple of weeks ago, I got an SMS inviting me for an event in Timog. Wow, as in Timog in Quezon City. If you live in the south, Timog is far, far north. Haha! The text said that it is for a product launch and Ellen Adarna will be there. I asked right away if I can bring my husband with me. He's quite fond of the Adarna, you see. Who isn't?! I super like her pretty face, too! I also asked if I can bring with me Jeff's bestfriend, Jino, because you know... Haha!

So the four of us went on an 'out of town' trip -- me, Jeff, Jino, and Bea.

Grabbed from Nutririte's official Instagram account.

I needed a break.

Work and wedding preps have taken it's toll on me and I felt so stressed out the past few weeks. No, make that burned out. So Jeff took me to a quick trip to Tagaytay. I started browsing for places to stay in Tagaytay and I suddenly remembered Moon Garden Tagaytay. My former coworker, Leslie told me about this a few months ago.

They charge Php3,000.00 for an overnight stay for two plus breakfast. By the way, this officially became our last trip as a couple because we are getting married next month. :)

Blue moon somewhere in the garden.

I told Jeff I'll treat him out to lunch for his birthday. I wanted to eat at Pepper Lunch but the line was so long so I told him to check out the other restos. We ended up eating at Bulgogi Brothers. Here are some of the photos we took.

Happy birthday, love! :*

Happy birthday, beyb!

Last night, I've been thinking what to give Jeff for Valentines Day. I don't have enough budget, plus I don't have time to go out and buy whatever. So I recorded a song for him. If you need lessons on Gifts of a Poor Girl to her Fiance, please talk to me. I have a lot of ideas. :P

Since I don't have a gift for him, I called all the restaurants around the office to book a reservation. Dinner for two is the answer! Apparently, Apartment 1B and Chocolate Fire are fully booked. I can't remember the name of the other restaurant along Leviste, so when I called Apartment 1B, I asked them what was that restaurant. IKR? Haha!

I called Terry's Selection and thank goodness they are not yet fully booked! Yay!

We ordered paella and cuq au vin (geez, somebody teach me how to pronounce this!). Before dinner, Jeff ordered white wine and cheese. Naks pasosyal! Also, Jeff has a 'Valentine pack' for me. It contains: an edible flower, two balloons, and a box of Sonja's cupcakes!

So looks like our Valentines-on-a-budget plan backfired. Happy Valentine's day everyone!

Terry's Selection located at Leviste Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City.

Sorry for the late post. I know I should've posted this a week ago but I don't have the pictures. Yep, Jeff and I went on a trip without my loving camera. The morning we're leaving for Eumir and Sef's wedding, I just picked whichever I thought I'd need, realizing that I totally forgot my camera. So there, a pictureless trip.

Good thing Jeff borrowed his dad's camera. :D

We were late for the wedding. Sorry Eums and Sef! But we were able to see the you-may-now-kiss-the-bride part. Few minutes after the wedding, everyone headed to the reception at Balay Indang.

Few months ago, I bought a buffet deal from Metrodeal. It was from Prestige Cruises and today, we used it. I paid Php 250.00 each.

Jeff and I were seated upstairs as we paid a hundred more pesos to be there to have a perfect view of the Bay. Prestige Cruises served a very simple meal -- rice, pasta and two meat dishes. It was just disappointing that they charged us Php 75.00 for a can of Coke. But everything else is fine. Here are some photos that we took.

Two dorks making use of the good lighting.

A great year has passed. Whew that was quick! So many great things and great food and great trips that we had. We thought of sharing our Top 11 for 2011. I hope you enjoy our picks!

Our first and last picture in 2011. What a great year it was!

Jeff has been talking about a certain pair of shoes since his birthday last March. Or maybe even earlier. I never felt the 'importance' of these shoes to him until December.

He wants the Air Jordan XI Concords. I did a little research and discovered that the Concords was released in 1996 -- when Jeff and I were both in the 6th grade. He told me that it has been his dream to have a pair since he saw it. Jeff is a big Bulls fan and a bigger Jordan fan. So when he heard that Nike is rereleasing the Concords, he decided to do anything to, in his words, cop it.

Plan A
Two years ago, when the Space Jam XI Retro was released, I passed by Nike BHS and saw so many people lined up. That was December 19, four days before the actual release date. I worried a little for Jeff. He might not get his pair if the competition is this tight. So we planned to hire someone to fall in line for us. P600 a day, with free food.

Plan B
My friend RD is in Singapore. When the Black Cement 3 Retro was released, I asked him if there were still some stocks in SG. I also asked him if he can get Jeff a pair. He told me he might not be able to get the Concords because a lot of crazy sneakerheads are also waiting for it there. He suggested we buy it online at http://www.rmkstore.com/.

Plan C
Believe it or not, we actually thought of just ordering it online at http://www.rmkstore.com/. Oh well.

Plan D
Jeff learned that Titan, a basketball and barbershop in one, is dropping the Concords too. Luckily on December 10, we were at Burgos Circle when Titan Fort announced the release of the green poker chips, which was the first step in copping those Concords! Our friends OJ and Faye were at Bonifacio High Street and rushed over when they found out too. The poker chips were released at 2:23PM. Jeff was first in line, OJ was second, Faye was fourth and I was fifth. Four green chips while we only need two pairs of shoes. Looks like we have a big chance to get them!

We thought that we already have a sure slot to get a pair. We were wrong. Titan was too wise, firing away contests on Facebook, Twitter and other online pages.

December 18, after coming back from Ate Inggie's birthday trip in Quezon and just when we were about to go to bed, Jeff saw a new post from Titan on Facebook. I was too sleepy that time and all I understood was we have to email something. Jeff also messaged OJ and Faye, but they didn't answer. Looks like the couple was already sleeping.

Nothing special about today other than the feast of the Immaculate Conception, which happened to be celebrated in Antipolo. So mom closed the store in the afternoon. I get to have the afternoon for myself and thought of visiting my fiance. Naks!

I came around 2PM in Makati with a pounding headache and and empty stomach. I asked Jeff to grab some paracetamol before meeting me. He wanted to watch a movie and for the first time, I said no. Naks ulet! I have to leave Makati before 5PM because for sure, traffic will be really bad going back to Antipolo. I asked him if we could eat in Ayala Triangle. He suggested Bfast.

Bfast, or (I think) Breakfast is one of the restaurants in Ayala Triangle. We picked this because, well, it serves salad. Hahaha! Jeff has been on a diet for four days now and he is only allowed to eat fruits and veggies. So far, so good! I see less tummy. My fiance is working hard to lose weight for the wedding, while I still enjoy pigging out.

Anyway, Jeff ordered the Christmas Salad. I had Angus Beef but for some reason, I can't find its picture. Sadness. We also saw Z (aka @zeeheehee on Twitter) here. We have one thing in common, we found love not in a hopeless place, but on Twitter. Awesome, right?

Bfast may stand for 'breakfast' or 'be fast'. I should ask next time. ;)

One thing I loved most about my stay in Singapore back in 2008 was the food. Every morning when I go home from work (yep, I was in nightshift), I pass by the hawker centers to buy either Kaya set, fried rice with egg and sausage or whatever, nasi lemak, or whatever I thought of eating. At night during our shift, my coworkers would ask me to go out and eat prata, nasi goreng or nasi lemak. There's also a place in Singapore called Newton and Makansutra which is a must try for all tourists.

So today, we tried Toast Box. I definitely know what I want -- KAYA TOAST. Jeff had Nasi Lemak, which I think is what he orders most of the time when he goes to a Singaporean restaurant. He also likes his Hainanese Chicken steamed, while I like it roasted. We both love oatmeal prawn too. I wish we could go to Singapore so I could take him to the places where I loved to eat. Soon, I hope. :)

My kaya toast. Yum!

I'm turning twenty seven in a few hours. Jeff took me to Enchanted Kingdom. Yay for another surprise trip! Before going to EK, I asked him if he wants to have lunch in Tagaytay. Our friend, Jel suggested we check out Tootsie's. It is along the highway just before Yellow Cab and Leslie's area. We arrived around 1PM. We were asked to sit outside because there are a lot of people inside the restaurant. It was not a problem for me. I wanted to feel the Tagaytay breeze, though it wasn't very cold that day.

We ordered two of their specialties: Kansi Bulalo and Roasted Lamb with Potatoes. Both were priced at less than Php500 which is good for 2-3 pax. Not bad, yeah?

Candlelit lunch. <3

After our lunch at Ristras, we dropped by WINK (Written in Ink) for our invitations. After that, we went to Jeff's basketball practice at Rocky's village. ABL is coming up and he will play again. Of course, he/we need a recovery meal. Hey, I got tired watching him too!

He suggested Mom and Tina's along C5. We always pass by this place but never stopped. The place was sooooo Christmas-y. There are Christmas lights and decors everywhere. And it felt like home. Very cozy.

So who's mom and who's Tina in the picture?

It's been a few weeks since we dined out. I guess we were just busy? No, we're not. We went to our couturier, Te' Artsy Couture and had my gown fitted. I kind'a don't like the girl. She's a snob and not warm to her customers. We may be thirty minutes late, but that isn't a reason for her to frown. I'll write about our experience with her on my wedding blog.

So anyway, we later decided to have lunch at Ristras in Bonifacio Global City before heading to another wedding related meeting. We have a schedule with WINK for the wedding invites. Ristras is located near McKinley Drive. I heard it opens at 12nn so don't come too early. We had tacos and their famous burrito. Jeff was looking for some kind of drink that I don't remember.

Chili!!!

We decided to go home right away after the movie but it was raining so hard! I told him we should kill some time for a while and have dessert. My treat. LOLS. We walked around and found this little vintage crepe shop in the middle of the hall, La Creperie. Glad we found it.

I really loved the colors of the shop. Pale blue and white and some yellows and grays. The chairs are white too. I'm such a fan of old things. We tried their choco-mango crepe. It was awesome!

La Creperie.

Today is our anniversary. Yay for 365 days of togetherness! Jeff and I met in Shangri-La. I was surprised when I met him in front of Sumo Sam with tulips in his hands. I forgot to tell him no flowers because I am commuting. Then again, who am I to say to tulips. I mean, to him. Haha!

I wanted to have yellow tulips for my bouquet on our wedding. When we met our florist, Serge Igonia, he said that we can do it but there's a big chance that the flowers will wilt even before the reception ends. I was brokenhearted but I don't want that to happen. So we had to change my bouquet flowers to something else. this is why Jeff got my tulips today. Isn't he the sweetest? :)

We had lunch at Sumo Sam. We had our normal Japanese fix -- ricebowls and maki. I wonder why I didn't take pictures of the makis. We later watched Real Steel, a touch movie that will melt your heart.

Happy anniversary, love! :*

We left Tanay after lunch. It was a great drive going back to Antipolo because it was chilly and drizzling a little. Jeff suggested we go to Charm to have a massage. There's this Thai massage parlor near my place Thai Boran, that I visited a few months ago and I totally loved their service. Charm was my masseur. So I introduced this place to Jeff and he was totally satisfied too. We go to this place once or twice a month. For only Php350, we get an hour of foot massage and an hour of full body Thai massage. Yay! If you wanna visit them, check out their website at http://thaiboranmassage.com/.

Anyway, after having our massage, we felt hungry. So in front of the massage parlor was a bakery/restaurant. I told him that we should try it. The place was called Christopher Rolls Bakery Cafe. I used to eat here once in a while when we go out and drink in a nearby bar. A few months ago, my mom told me that she saw the place was a total wreck. I asked the staff what happened and he said that there was a fire in their kitchen and their gas tank exploded. The entire place was fixed now. The Rugby championships was also on when we went there.

Christopher Rolls Bakery Cafe.

For our anniversary, Jeff took me to Tanay. I've been telling him about this Baguio-ish place in like forever and he thought of going all ninja and surprised me with a trip. I didn't know we're going here until we were about to leave. We left their house around 3:30PM and arrived in Sierra Madre Hotel and Resort before 6PM. It's already dark when we came.

View from our room. Pretty, isn't it?

Jeff picked me up in my house this morning. He said we're leaving this afternoon. We have a schedule of ring fitting today with the Franco's. We dropped by The Wedding Lounge once again and we finally saw our rings. We were very satisfied. I will post a picture of the ring later. :)

We drove to his house where he needs to finish some errands. We had lunch at Papa John's in BF. I forgot my camera in the car so I took pictures using my phone.

Papa John's BF Homes.

Our anniversary started today when Jeff asked me if I wanted to watch STOMP. And we're so dressed up! I was wearing a little black dress and he was in his barong. We looked so sosyal. Hahaha! Before the show started, he took me to Aristocrat along Roxas Blvd.

My future husband and I at CCP while waiting for Stomped to start.