As predicted, last week was a disaster. I seem to be on a Get-Fat Diet. And I am very successful at it.
Monday
Siargao: I had fruit and coconut milk for breakfast. Raw and Paleo. A deceptively good start to the week. Of course, as soon as I boarded the plane for Cebu, I bought a pack of chocolate chip cookies. I only had two though and gave away the rest.
Cebu: Butch Carungay, of Avatar Accessories, is now the concessionaire at the Mactan Airport in Cebu (article to follow but I can’t say when). As research for the not-quite-up-and-may-never-be-coming article, I tried two dishes at Zubuchon – the lechon mami and chorizo pan de sal (- they sound better than they actually are) – then joined Butch at the bar for some chocoron, Belgian lace cookies, and red wine.
Manila: Went straight from the airport to Rosan’s Kundalini Yoga birthday celebration at Yoga Plus in Makati. After an hour and a half of Kundalini Yoga, we had some very non-Paleo vegetarian food, then I went to Cirkulo for more red wine to celebrate Kuala Lumpur-based BFF, Mia Trinidad-Hashim,’s birthday.
Plenty of smokes.
Tuesday
Manila: Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred, Level 2.
I was trying to be reasonable with my food at home, but then I went to my my sister-in-law’s exhibit at Whitespace and we were early so I treated my other sister-in-law to some cakes (yes, plural) at Kitchen’s Best, because it makes the best cakes in town. And then I ate everything at the exhibit, and drank everything, and smoked everything. My parents were there so does that count as misbehaving?
Wednesday (Nicolas arrived late in the evening.)
Manila: Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred, Level 2.
Tried to be good. Skipped dinner. No smokes.
Thursday
Manila: Jazz Le Pole (1.5 hours).
Spent the whole morning Googling “hole-in-the-wall restaurants around Makati Avenue and P. Burgos”. After my workout, Nicolas and I tried Min Sok for some Korean grub. He didn’t like the place, but we both agreed that the food was very good. Nicolas had a meeting in the evening so I ditched my hole-in-the-wall list and had dinner instead at Kabila (- I found the bagnet dry this time around, but the beef adobo was excellent) and drinks at M Cafe. Started with gin, ended with vodka. Some smokes.
Friday
Manila: Unexpected muscle pain from Jazz Le Pole. Bailed on Kundalini Yoga and had a massage instead. Must thank Chiqui Mabanta for passing on Karen Hennesy’s recommendation of Island Spa along Jupiter Street. Their deep tissue massage was exactly what I needed!
Discovered the grilled cheese sandwich with potato chips at The Clipper Hotel, my new favorite room service item! Lunch was at LSQ, a northern Chinese restaurant off P. Burgos. Nicolas didn’t like it, although he liked the hot and sour soup. I thought it was good. I liked the combination of century egg, spicy shrimp, Beijing-style stir-fried cabbage and preserved vegetables and pork fried rice. We both weren’t too crazy about the dumplings. Needless to say, I ordered too much. Again. Dinner was at Cirkulo with Malu and Rosan and a bottle of Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru. Snacked at Corner Tree Cafe in the afternoon and El Chupacabra in the evening (- both of which are Chiqui Mabanta’s joints). Some smokes.
Saturday
Manila: Another order of that grilled cheese sandwich with potato chips at The Clipper! (Don’t forget to crush the chips in the sandwich!)
Balesin: Nicolas and I flew with friends to Balesin Island for the weekend to celebrate Rosan and MiaTrin’s birthdays again.
For exercise, the girls and I swam in the pool and did this:
and:
Nicolas thought that our lunch alone at Sakura, the Japanese restaurant, was worth the trip to Balesin. The maki roll named after Chef Edo San was the bomb, as was the one with unagi and the one with soft-shelled crab. The creamy spicy chicken karaage is a must, as is the Japanese creme brûlée (- I tried the green tea, and the black sesame; I recommend getting the same flavored ice cream as the creme brûlée). It’s pricey, but well worth it. (Sakura is also at the 6th floor of Alphaland Southgate Tower. Tel. 02-337-2031.) The food at Mykonos was also very good (- order the lamb in advance).
Lots of snackage. Lots of wine. Some vodka and a shot of Patron XO. Some smokes.
Sunday
Balesin: We swam in the ocean and did the same Kundalini Yoga exercises, plus:
The buffet breakfast at the clubhouse was worth it for:
- the fresh bacon
- the bangus belly
- the Vigan longganisa
With lots of garlic rice and fried eggs, of course. Malu also brought some ensaimadas from the Salcedo Market that I should have polished off, except that I was being polite and they ended up being left at the table. Doh!
Storm Utor (a.k.a. “Labuyo”) was brewing so all the outlets were shut down except for Balesin and Sakura. I must admit that I am not a fan of the Filipino food at the clubhouse. I still ate a lot though because I had to try everything.
No booze. Some smokes.
Monday
Minimum exercise. Dodging waves in the ocean and swimming in the pool.
Balesin:
Breakfast highlights:
- the fresh bacon
- daing na bangus
- pampano in soy sauce and calamansi
We had a very windy lunch at Fish Fun. We ordered prawns and crabs in butter and garlic, ensalatang talong (eggpalnt salad), kinilaw (raw fish in vinegar, similar to ceviche), pinakbet (a vegetable dish with shrimp paste), and Chinese-style steamed lapu-lapu (grouper). Nicolas was swooning! He thought the quality of the food was very good and he declared it an excellent meal.
We finished all the junk food at the hangar while waiting for our flight. And I bought some of Joanna Ongpin Duarte’s espresso chip cookies (- totally yummy, but they are even better chilled), available at the shop called “Joanna’s”.
I had a margarita at 10:30 AM and a vodka-calamansi at lunch. Some smokes.
Manila: Back at The Clipper. Would have had another grilled cheese sandwich except that their room service is only up to 3 PM. Finally got to use the delivery service: 212-1212 (Deliver TwoAnyOne). Nicolas and I ordered from Draft Gastropub (- he had the fried camembert and the fettucine, while I had the onion soup and the mac and cheese). The food was yummy! Can’t wait to try other restaurants on the website, although the website could benefit from a search engine. Heck, the entire operation could benefit from a better website, full stop.
I’m dreading getting on a scale. I would promise to start behaving tomorrow if I weren’t planning on having another grilled cheese sandwich before checking out.