Joei & Me

For the longest time, S&R was the only membership shopping grocery in the area so the opening of Landers Superstore Alabang West was very much anticipated. The crowds and lines were crazy during opening week so T and I decided to wait a little longer to schedule a visit. We went on a weekday and had no problems with parking or cashier lines. 

Our visit was quick, just to buy a few things and not to check out each and every item per aisle. So for this post, I'll focus on what I saw in Landers that I haven't seen in S&R or what Landers has that S&R doesn't.. Sort of a little Landers vs S&R thing.

My good friend from high school Leah is giving birth soon so we all got together for a baby shower at the new Italian place (because pregnant momma said she is craving for pasta) in Westgate Alabang, Da Gianni Cucina Italia. You've probably heard or read about this even if you're not from the area because the restaurant is owned by the family of actor Matteo Guidicelli.  This is actually their second, the first one being Trattoria Da Gianni in Cebu.

I rarely go to Ortigas except if I have meetings but since the venue of the finance classes I enrolled in is in the area, I agreed to meet one of my colleagues at Ayala Malls the 30th. I learned that it's a fairly new mall so I went around to see what's inside. This is by no means an exhaustive list because I just went around to explore and I was lugging my class materials plus heavy books I got from Biblio, a used bookstore.

You may have noticed that I've been writing a lot about Rockwell lately. It's because so many new things are popping up there. Another new establishment is Wildflour Restaurant in 8 Rockwell. Yes, you read it right.. Restaurant. It's the first Wildflour branch which is not using "Cafe + Bakery" after its name and it's also the biggest. T and I are happy they've expanded to Rockwell because Wildflour is one of our favorites ever since we ate in their BGC branch in 2013 (read my blog post about our Sundate Lunch in Wildflour Cafe + Bakery).

I brought my friends for a day trip to Cintai Corito's Garden, a Bali-inspired garden situated in Batangas. It was supposed to be my birthday treat but because of our busy work schedules, it got postponed two months later. By then, T and I got engaged so it became more of our mini engagement lunch instead. I chose this place because T and I really enjoyed our trip to Bali (read about the highlights of my Bali Birthday Trip).

One evening, T wanted to go on a dim sum spree but didn't feel like dining in our usual places. Problem was we pretty much exhausted almost all of the Chinese restaurants in the nearby Alabang area and then we remembered the newly opened Thomson Road at the Molito Commercial Complex.

I have so many travel and staycation posts left in my drafts folder yet again and I realized that whenever I become oc (aka going about every detail of the trip) about my posts, I usually don't get to write about them anymore. So before I forget about our recent Sagada-Baguio trip, let me share with you a few photos T and I took during our vacation.

To see more photos, you can visit the Instagram accounts of @teemeetee, @neil_arce, @therealangellocsin, @bubblesparaiso, @dos2quizon_, @ronaofiana, @angelocolmenares, @ryanordonez, @gideonlasco, @cholobarretto, and @iamryzacenon, as well as the hashtag #SagadanSaSagada.

I used to read a lot but because I have many tasks to finish, I rarely get to read now. Starting this month though, I will be incorporating reading in my schedule as necessary "me time" so I will be able to read without feeling guilty that I am doing something not on my to-do list. I also set a reading goal of 12 books this year and to encourage myself to meet this, I will be posting book reviews at least once a month. 

The latest book I finished is "The Lying Game" by Ruth Ware. I really liked the author's first book called 'In A Dark, Dark Wood' and was excited to learn that she has another book coming out. However, her second book 'Woman in Cabin 10' extremely disappointed me. Ruth Ware had a good premise for this-- a journalist who was invited to a cruise sees a woman go overboard but when she reports it to the authorities on the ship, she was told that all passengers were accounted for. Intriguing right? But it was badly written, the story just went in circles, and the ending didn't really make up for all of that. 

So when her third book called 'The Lying Game' came out, I didn't want to get my hopes up. The premise is pretty solid again-- a group of high school girls play this game where lies are given corresponding points, the lie that affects people the most will garner the biggest points but someone died and now that they are adults, their adolescent lies are catching up with them.