A Twist To Drive Thru Service

Where the vendors are the ones who drive their trucks up to where people are and foodies get to sample different fares, while merchants get to keep their costs low. Or at least lower.

I first came across Off The Grid on Andrew Zimmern's show Bizarre Foods. He was in San Francisco (known for its counter-culture, er, culture) and I suppose that characteristic of the city makes it an ideal place for Off The Grid to take off.

I don't see why it can't work here. We do have lots of spaces that remain underutilized, or local city governments could designate areas to be blocked off to entice local food producers and chefs to come together to showcase their produce, wares and food discoveries. (All pictures from and more information can be found at http://offthegridsf.com/)

Currently, the "markets" I see are, yes, cross cultural - I came across Persian, French, regional Filipino, Thai and Mexican cuisines all under one roof - but the prices of the foods ensured that only members of certain economic classes could partake of them. (I don't know about you, but getting a slice of Moussaka for almost 300 Philippine Pesos is not something I would say is "consumer friendly", in the context of a public market setting.)

I wonder if any of our local city governments would consider the Off The Grid model.

A Cheesy, Guilty Pleasure?

You want fries with that mess-waiting-to-happen?

(Courtesy of www.facebook.com/kfcphilippines)

Seeing this ad, the first question I had was how are consumers supposed to eat that?

If you say with a knife and spoon, it defeats the purpose of what a sandwich is supposed to be. Unless it's meant to be treated as an open faced sandwich, which it's not since there's also half a bun on top.

If you say "with lots of tissue paper!" then the cheese topping will get "wiped off" and the intent of having a cheesy, gooey mess coating your fingers would be lost. Not to mention an unfriendly environmental tactic, unless there is a tie-up with napkin companies, as hinted by one commentator.

(See http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/06/28/12/kfc-rolls-out-%E2%80%98cheese-top%E2%80%99-burger-ph for other reactions to the Cheese Top Burger of KFC.)

I won't even go into the subject of calorie counting - this is a country that eats lechon kawali and chicharon with pride so this cheese laden concoction from KFC is hardly a blip in the "evil foods" scale that is available in the local market. (I will have to say, though, that as an American Council on Exercise certified professional, there is a plethora of healthier options available. One of KFC's competitors in the chicken sandwich department featured a roasted chicken fillet in barbecue sauce. Ehem.)

It's a free country, we have free will, you choose what you want to load up on. As a liberal at heart, I always leave it up to people what they want to consume, as long as they are aware of the repercussions of their choices.

In this case, it looks like an unmitigated (but cheesy) mess on your fingers. I can't help but see the words Guilty Pleasure written all over the new KFC sandwich.

The New (Doughnut) Kid In Town

Hearing friends talk excitedly about J. Co Donuts, the newest doughnut franchise to sweep into Manila, I thought about how animated they were. These were mostly people who have been to Indonesia (where their first store opened) and had sampled these goodies there. (See http://www.jcodonuts.com/ for more information.)

Having lived in Makati for the last 7 years, I thought what a pain it was for me to have to travel all the way to Megamall just to sample these much talked-about desserts. (Which is where the first J. Co franchise in the Philippines opened.)

Fortunately, I had to meet my parents there and had a leisurely Sunday brunch so I thought I'd kill two birds in one go and pass by the store as well after brunch. I bought my parents and me and Art 1 set each of assorted goodies to try out.

Side note: I normally judge a doughnut store mostly on the strength of its' coffee. I'm not really a doughnut person, and once I've tried a particular flavor, I don't need to repeat it anymore.  And it seems like the doughnut stores know this - through the years, some of the best coffees I've had were from these kinds of establishments, and not necessarily from actual coffee shops.

The names of the doughnuts were what popped out for me, aside from the colors. Avocado Di Caprio really sticks to one's brain, given the actor's popularity. (And I thought what a strange flavor to have on one of these things.) After I made a selection and I brought it home for Art, we both thought they looked too pretty to eat.

I'd have to say it's a 50/50 proposition: Over the course of a week and a half, Art and I tried out all the flavors, and for every one flavor that was a thumbs up, there would be one that wouldn't be too well received. (The avocado flavored one didn't really register a wow on the tastebuds.) I liked the Tiramisu flavored one (we both did) and the Pistachio flavored treat was also one that stood out. Green Tease (green tea flavored) was my favorite, as it is a flavor I actually like (and a tea I usually have).

One big plus though was that these weren't the cloyingly sweet variety, unlike that other well known franchise. Which is always a good thing. And the variety was also another plus - I actually got a cheese flavored one, and I believe they used bleu cheese (?) as it had that distinct, sharp, pungent flavor punching through. (Last row, 2nd one from the left in the picture.)

As my Megamall jaunt was really more to see my parents, I just took the doughnuts for take out/take away and I didn't really stay, but from what I saw, the store was really spacious (it's located in Building B but in the strip that's in between both buildings). I'm assuming it has wi-fi because people had their tablets and netbooks turned on - probably blogging about their J. Co experience as it was happening.

Thankfully, as my client and I were jogging past Greenbelt, we discovered that J. Co was about to open a branch for the Makati crowd. 

I will be back for the coffee.

In Makati, of course.




J. Co Donuts (Philippines)
Building B, Megamall
Ortigas, Pasig
https://www.facebook.com/JCoDonuts.Pilipinas

Flying Out Of Mang Inasal's Coop

We used to go to Mang Inasal. Not anymore.

When it started out, we enjoyed the signature marinade, the almost precise perfection of their barbecue method, but most especially the value-for-money aspect: a complete meal for under 100 bucks. You would leave the place satiated and felt almost guilty about getting away with so much for so little.

Is it mere coincidence that under its new owner/management - it was recently bought by food business behemoth and business legend Jollibee - so many of the qualities that made it a veritable hit have burned into a crisp? Or did Jollibee impose its "business model" on their latest franchise?

In any case, don't take my word for it.

Having learned forensics and crime scene investigation not from a formal education program but from mammoth television hits, I decided to take the pictures below to scale the objects properly in their tradition. Take note: I am not a pianist so I cannot be said to possess unusually long metacarpals and phalanges.

At almost 50 pesos a stick, it would be wiser to take my business elsewhere. I haven't checked it out as well, but a friend who used to be a fan of Red Ribbon Bakeshop - also swallowed up by Jollibee - has been vocal about the dwindling portion sizes on a per-slice basis, as well as the upward inflections in price points. (I will have to check this for myself.)

If food business success means leaving behind the sterling qualities that made virtual upstarts such visceral threats for the big volume sellers, we may have to content ourselves with hole-in-the-wall places that will have to remain intensely guarded as to almost rival state secrets.

Throw some suggestions our way, will you?

The Last Jollibee Delivery. Ever.

Is there no refuge left for the concept of truth in advertising? I'm talking to you, Jollibee.

(Photo courtesy of worldstopbrands.com)

You have made it a point to be THE Filipino brand to aspire to, emulate, look up to. Your numerous awards seem to testify to your success. (I was planning to list your awards here in my post but when I looked at your website, you had too many awards to even fit here.)

How is it that you achieved all those, yet cannot deliver a basic promise? The use of the term deliver is deliberate because that is precisely what this post is about: your delivery service.

I should qualify it as your horrible, inept, and inexcusable-given-your-reputation delivery service.

In all your advertisements, posters and other publicity materials, you advertise this service as "30 Minutes Guaranteed". On the few occasions that we call your service, you have always been late and are never on time. 

We have received numerous "200 pesos gift certificates" from you, as this is your self-imposed "punishment" for being late, with regards to your 30 minute guarantee. And always, without fail, your riders have an excuse to rationalize their way out of giving the certificates: the order was dispatched late, the building was too confusing, he ran out of gas, etc.

None of those excuses can be attributed to the customer. You yourselves announced the 30 minute guarantee, it is your obligation to see it through, or the DTI should bar you from placing those guarantees in your promotional materials, and no one else should be blamed for it. Don't blame the roads, the building, or the cat...what's next, the dog ate our orders?

We recently (and might I add, foolishly) ordered breakfast meals, calling 87-000.

We placed the order around 9AM. This was confirmed by your call center because the last one - out of 4 call center agents I talked to for this single transaction - gave me a rundown of the important times. She said the order was listed as being received at 9:01AM.

The first call center agent - the one who received and placed our order - mentioned that there was a technical glitch of sorts - I didn't really care to hear the specifics - and the 30 minute guarantee would now be replaced with a 45 Minute Guarantee or we would get the 200 pesos gift certificate. ( I actually appreciated the fact that she said it upfront.)

9:49 AM

I call up the second call agent to confirm the time, and she said it was 9:49 AM already. That is 3 minutes already apart from the 45 minute guarantee, but I am not unreasonable, I wasn't planning to ask for the certificates, even though I was entitled to - provided the order was given that very instant. The agent then said she would ask the store assigned to our area - MCS or Makati Cinema Square - to call us up and update us on the status of the order.

No such call came.

10:15 AM

I call up the third call center agent, asking first for the time (10:15AM), and I ask her where our orders are and why hasn't anyone from the MCS Branch called us to advise us of what was happening. She said that she would place this in a feedback form and would again ask the manager of the MCS Branch to call to advise us. Again, I am a reasonable person, I know the call center is not to blame, as they are only transmitting the orders and not the ones actually preparing the orders.

No such call came.

10:34 AM

I call up the fourth call center agent, asking for the time (10:34AM). I repeat my questions but this time letting her know through my voice as well as my words that I am not happy with what was going on. She repeated the same spiel: feedback form, and she would ask the MCS Manager to call.

I said, "Look, two of you from the call center already said that they would ask the manager to call, and no one has called us yet to advise us what was going on. You are my third followup and the fourth call center agent I have talked to in a span of two hours. I will need your name this time so I can factually check up on who called at what time and why is that branch manager not responding."

She gave her name and wanted to drop the phone as quickly as possible, I could tell, as she began slurring her words, talking too fast.

10:42 AM (By My Laptop Time)

Food arrives. I tell Arthur that he should probably talk to the delivery rider lest I say or do something inappropriate because of my frustration.

Still no call from the branch manager at this point.

When Arthur comes back in, he has a frown/grimace combination on his face, and I knew the ordeal wasn't over.

The driver relays that the computer system is down in MCS and that they were doing things manually, accounting for the delay in all the orders. So Arthur was ready to pay, getting our orders, and when he asked the rider for the gift certificates, since we were obviously way out of the 45 minute guarantee, he replies:

Naubusan kami ng gift certificates, eh. (We ran out of gift certificates.)

Arthur gets the order, and tells the rider that he should get the gift certificates from the branch and give it to us because that's what Jollibee promised. Then and only then will we pay for the food.

As we were finishing our meal and discussing our incredulity of Jollibee's service (11AM by this point), the MCS Manager decides to call us.

Arthur asks what time the call center agent asked them to call us, and the reply was 10:01AM.

So Arthur says, "10:01 AM pa kayo inabisuhan na tawagin kami, ba't ngayon ka lang tumawag, 11AM na?" (You were advised to call us at 10:01 AM, why are you calling so late, at already 11 AM?)

The manager replies that it's because of the manual system, and everything is delayed.

So Arthur asks what the purpose of the call.

"We just want to inform you that your order is on the way."

I don't even know how to respond to this, and I'm glad Art fielded the call and not me. 

From 9:01AM, we waited until 10:42AM to have the food delivered to us.

Talked to 4 call center agents.

Three of them told me we would get a call from the branch, none came.

The rider had no gift certificates.

The manager calls up at 11AM to tell us our "food is on the way", when we were almost done eating.

And to top it off, some of our orders were missing.

This is YOUR idea of "World Class" Service, Jollibee?!?

Open A Branch In Manila. Please.

I'm addressing this post's title to the owner/s of Persian Palate in Cebu.

I first encountered Persian Palate about 5 or 6 years ago. I was in Cebu for a work related event and was graciously hosted by my friend Annie and her husband Jet. As foodies from way back, she brought us to Ayala Center in Cebu (which has been given a massive facelift, from what I remember) and told us to try the food in PP. I have since tried to find an equivalent for it in Manila, with little to no success.


I was in Cebu again recently, and I have to say: It really is better the second time around.

As can be gleaned from the name, Persian Palate focuses on (from their website) "the best vegetarian and non-vegetarian food with the touch of Indian,Indonesian and Middle Eastern cuisine". I was actually surprised to find they have a website, as the restaurant itself has that rustic feel, and the food is only freshly prepared when you order them, accounting for a bit of a wait for the food to arrive, all of which seemed to spell out "old-school", where no shortcuts are taken.

As soon as Art and I sat down, his eyes gravitated towards the lassi, a yoghurt drink that has been popularized in Indian cuisine as a way to refresh oneself owing to the spicy nature of the preparation of their foods. They had different flavors, all of which cost PhP 95.00. Art took the mango variant, while I settled for the banana version.

(Side note: This isn't a tablecloth/butler service restaurant, so prissy eaters who focus on tasteful, pristine surroundings way above food quality need not enter this establishment. The almost dilapidated laminated menu is a testament to this.)

We had both agreed to keep things light - we were en route to the airport for our flight back to Manila so the lassi actually raised a red flag for me, but I decided to wing it since I wasn't sure when I would be back to Cebu. So the plan was to order an appetizer to share and a main dish each.

Boy, did those prices fool us. In the most pleasant way.

We started with the Aloo Parathas (PhP 75.00), which was described as a stuffed potato patty in their menu. I had originally wanted either the Spinach or Garlic Parathas (PhP 85.00 and 75.00, respectively) - sadly, they were not available that day.

Do not let its initial appearance fool you: this appetizer is filling. There were 4 pieces that arrived at our table, and after we had one piece each, Art suggested we had the others wrapped up for our plane trip. You are instantly immersed in the scent of curry and potatoes, along with other spices that I could not really identify, nor did I want to - I was too engrossed in the heady aroma and rich taste, that I feared it would be asking the magician what's behind the curtain to do so. (Plus, I do not really cook.) It came with a siding of mango chutney, for those who like it sweet. (The dish stands on its own, in my opinion.)

After we waited for a few more minutes (approximately around 10 minutes from when we had the appetizers wrapped up to go), our dishes arrived: Art had the Chicken Kebab Wrap (PhP 120.00), which was a slice of their chicken kebab stuffed in a pita bread - a large one - along with cucumbers, tomatoes and onions, served wrapped in foil.

I know they used chicken breast for their kebabs owing to the "no fat" appearance the kebab had, and its general leanness, but what surprised both of us was how flavorful it was (an "about to be burned" taste that wasn't bitter, just tasty).

You had two choices for the dip, a green dip that was "sobrang anghang" (too spicy) as described by Art, and a yoghurt dip (white), which was better for those averse to more-than-a-touch-spicy food.

My order came along right after: Stew Tofu, Eggplant Tomatoes (PhP 165.00), which was served with organic rice. (I actually didn't notice that it came with rice, I just wanted my veggies for the day.) It had a rich coating, (I'm assuming tomato was the base as it was predominantly red), but when it hits your mouth, it translates itself into an almost luxurious feel, which was (Art and I deduced) helped by adding cheese into the sauce in some way, shape or form, not visually perceptible but our taste buds were tingling with that hint, more like an undertone, of luxury that one feels when digesting cheese. It was also tangy, which was perfect to cut through any ickyness one gets after having had more than a fair share of cheese products.

Art's reaction when it first arrived at the table (and the server had left) was "Ano yan?!?" (What is that?!?) as it was really a dark dish, so much so that it obscured the vegetable components - eggplant, and tomatoes, only "lightened" up by the tofu cubes, which were steamed. This is a must try: Art actually began placing bits of my dish inside his kebab wrap.

A contradiction was that while the texture of the sauce was almost silky, the character of the dish was swarthy: large cuts of eggplant and tomatoes looked imposing along the more modestly presented tofu slices, but because this dish was stewed, they were easily serrated through using fork and spoon. The organic rice provided a perfect canvas to showcase the aromatic flavors of this dish - I think taking the dish alone would have made it guilty of "having too much flavor".

Our bill came up to a little over PhP 500.00, which really surprised both of us. The same themed restaurants we try in Manila would set us back easily at PhP 400.00 per head, and with miniscule servings and just a merely-passable quality in terms of both authenticity and taste. Persian Palate should be the template for people wanting to find out how to make vegetarian dishes not just bearable, but also delectable and something to look forward to, instead of something to tolerate for the "sake of heath and beauty".

Mr. Ahmad Vatandoost (listed as Persian Palate's founder in its website), please consider opening a branch of your restaurant for Manila patrons. I am sure that you will be very well received, seeing as there really are not that much restaurants that have Mediterranean fare on their menus here that do it quite as well as you do.

Please?






Persian Palate
2nd Level, Active Zone
Ayala Center, Cebu 
+63 (32) 232-6898
http://www.persianpalaterestaurant.com/
(They also have branches in Mango Square Mall and Robinson's Mall in Cebu)

Veggies In An Unlikely Place

Having had to be at Newport Mall yesterday, I chanced upon Stackers Burger Cafe. I was actually looking for brunch since I hadn't had breakfast yet and it was past 11 in the morning already.

News flash for mall goers heading here: It starts off sleepy and late; officially it's open by 11AM, but you'd be hard pressed to find more than 50% of the stores ready for business. Some didn't even have personnel - the metal gates were pulled down - while others weren't really "ready" as employees had their hair curlers and what looked like sleepwear to me still on while fixing their stores up.

Stackers was one of the outlets that looked "on time" (read: the employees got there way ahead of 11AM to prepare for the day's business) as everyone was dressed properly, the manager was present and the place was lit up. On their floor, it was either them or McDonald's for brunch choices. (Another side note: never go to stores that say they're open for business at 11AM but the lights are down. I went to the restaurant beside Stackers and they said their chef hasn't come in yet.)

As can be gleaned from the name, it's primary product is a beef patty served in a bun. Or 2 burgers in a bun. Or 3...You get the drift. Which made me want to get something else, my irrational side getting the better of me. They also served fried chicken and the usual suspects, e.g. fries, the usual pair with burgers.

So it was no surprise flipping through the menu that my eyes gravitated towards the only vegetable entry I could find: Vegetable Omelette. (PhP 138.00) Of course, you could quibble that it really isn't strictly a vegetable dish, so I guess you could say this was the proverbial "lesser evil" choice (fat and calorie wise).

The food was freshly prepared owing to my being only the 2nd customer at that time, always a good sign. They have an open kitchen so you could see the preparation of your food. Utensils are provided already at the table in a basket with a linen cover, with containers of ketchup and mustard as well. (They use Heinz, which I like better than the other brands.)

The omelette was deceptively flat looking, and looked blah at first sight, even thought the hints of green were peeking under the egg cover. It came with 2 rather large pieces of bread, which had a hint of something I still can't name until now. (I should have asked the waiter about it.) It was a set order so it also came with a cup of coffee.

I decided to "butterfly" my omelette to see how big it was:

Yes, it practically covered the whole plate, including the bread that it came with.

I have to say I was not disappointed at all by the dish. The egg itself could have used a little more flavor, but the filling was pretty standard from what I normally expect and see from restaurants that offer this dish, and it sustained me until past 6PM so again, don't be fooled by how thin it seems when it's initially served at your table.

The bread was the best/unusual part, because it seemed like "plain white" but had a distinct but unidentifiable flavor that was pleasantly surprising. And the coffee was strong, the way I like it, so caffeine fiends can add this to their list of places to find unexpectedly good coffee, and I don't mean the mochfrappulatte orders we see proliferating in coffee shops, I mean actual coffee.


All in all, I had a filling experience (literally). I will have to go back in order to do justice to its namesake, that is, to actually order the house specialty.







Stacker's Burger Cafe
4th Floor, Newport Mall,
Pasay City (Across NAIA 3)
6598271/6598287

Taking A Bite Out Of Beijing

And when I say a bite, I mean it. You'd have to stay for weeks, maybe months, to have a proper meal.

(Photo courtesy of kinabaloo.com)

We were forewarned that it would be nippy, and that people from warmer climates would have to bundle up. In fact, the day we left for Beijing, China, the weather reports indicated a low of 1 degree Celsius! We would practically be in a freezer! Gloves! Boots! Oversized coats! A baggage problem waiting to happen!

(Photo courtesy of kaboodle.com)

A 6AM flight meant that we had to be at the airport at least by 4AM. You can imagine what that does for my sleep cycle. But the prospect of missing the flight - as part of a packaged tour already prepaid for - was much more disconcerting. That singular thought, more than anything, kept me up all night.

Seeing the area where we boarded gave me a dismal, sinking feeling: The carpets were even dirtier than I remembered, and we were asked to line up along the stairs, as the person checking the boarding passes was seated at the foot of the stairs. I felt like a college student back in Diliman all over again.

Thanks to some of our credit cards having "aerial" benefits, we were able to stay at the MIASCOR lounge before departing. It had a comfortable seating area (though not really suited for sleeping if that was what you wanted to do), and a spread of canapes, cereals, sandwiches, rice, chicken, as well as coffee, juices and other soda drinks, that you could keep going back for over and over - I guess we'll go with the description of "buffet".

We boarded our Air China flight on the dot. It turned out that every Filipino on that flight was part of our tour group, and when a get together like that comes to pass, you'd have to be prepared for the decibel levels, snarky asides and gales of hilarious laughter. Already, you could feel the involuntary body jolt, as if we were holding on to a live wire: This was a trip to remember.

Breakfast from the airline took a long time coming, so Arthur suggested that we take a look at some movies stored in my iPod. And that's when we discovered - I must have left the iPod at the boarding area, where I was looking at weather reports and any last minute news about China.

I was determined NOT to let this tragedy color the tone of my trip.

Breakfast consisted of an omelette that would make plastic goods manufacturers proud, some fruits and yoghurt, as well as a choice of drinks. When you add the snotty flight attendants to the mix, you could have thought all of these things to be a bad foreboding of the trip to come.

The moment we landed, things changed - all for the better.

(Photo courtesy of panoramio.com)

Where else in the world did you have to take a train just to get your luggage?!? To say that Beijing Capital Airport was "huge" would qualify as one of the year's grossest understatements. Someone from our tour group reprised us of the fact that all of the glitz and beefing up of their airport was really fast tracked in time for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

I wonder how we would fare should the Olympics be held in our fair islands.

As with most modern airports, the theme was sleek and modern. Shades of silver and grey, a smattering of white, metallic furniture and automatic gadgets - all of which lead to a frame of design that screamed "future".

One question kept popping up in our collective minds whenever we would drop in on the sights in Beijing, which was started in their airport terminal: Where does it end?

(Photo courtesy of crystalinks.com)

(Photo courtesy of noholidaynolife.com)


Whether it was Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, or the Great Wall, they all looked like they were stretching into infinity. While our lovely tour guide Laurie kept peltering us with facts about how many square meters each site was, my mind could not wrap around their metric measurements, as the visual landscape continued to stun and amaze me, one of the few times in my life where I am left in awe, my jaw dropped to the floor, and my mind was abuzz figuring out the amount of work it took to achieve these monuments and feats that can only inspire joy and wonder.

By the end of the trip, I had concluded that the Chinese were really size queens.

(More of these adventures in the next post.)

A Post Beijing Trip Dinner

I am currently suffering from withdrawal symptoms. From a trip to Beijing, China, that was at turns marvelous, infuriating, awe-inspiring, gaudy and most of all, unforgettable.

We had no recourse but to commemorate it with a dinner that would keep the experience alive. Well, that's how I felt, anyway. The older I get, the more often I observe how we project what we want as something that everyone else wants. Hmm.

(I apologize in advance for the grainy state of the photos. These were taken with a camera phone, not a professional grade camera.)

We started off with this dish.

The bean curd skin was fried to perfection, and topped with that savory dark sauce and mushrooms - a very good start.

Then we had the house special for rice offerings.

Special Fried Rice, that was paired with their Special Sauce, seen below.

I know, it looks like a pot of soup. I was surprised at how filling their "rice sauce" was, that was the only thing Art and I didn't completely demolish. In the mix were peas, roast pork, fish cutlets, squid, shrimp and mushrooms - unexpectedly filling.

And this is how you "formed" your rice.

We had two viands, which were pretty standard in our repertoire when we ate at a Chinese restaurant: Squid with Garlic and Pepper, as well as Spareribs in Red Sauce.

Aaah. Burp.

What better way to relive the memory of our recent trip to the land where the inspiration of these dishes came from. It may come as a surprise that we never had any of these dishes while we were in Beijing. Not even the fried rice.

What we ate and what happened in Beijing will be for another post.

But for now, dine with us. Visually.

A Fine Start For A Sunday

(Photo courtesy of bbcgoodfood.com)

Having had some restless (read: not so good) past two days stemming from news in the work department, I thought that my weekend was shot and I would have to contend with saying goodbye to it in a harried state.

I really needed this Sunday to salvage what was left of the weekend.

And it did.

It started out with a run with a client who has now become a friend in the process. (While the blurring of lines between personal and professional has always been something I have approached warily, I find that in the context of Philippine culture, the advantages of this blurring are far greater than the disadvantages.) We talked about many things during the run - it's always a pleasure to talk to her, as she is very well-traveled and I get to, even if only for a moment, savor her trips and experiences vicariously.

Now, to those who know me, I am not a fan of running, and do not find it hard to "resist" the running craze that has overtaken the metro, what with marathons happening every week, sometimes 2 or 3 happening at the same time. That reticence can be traced to a very weak ankle, one that has been instrumental in producing the most excruciating pains I have ever experienced - and I'm including the ear operation I had years ago where I was conscious to relive every gnawing moment. I would sign up for the ear thing any day over my ankle sprains. (I had a sprain once that was so bad, my entire foot turned black - yes, the foot, not just the ankle - and I had to stop work for one and a half months. I guess that wasn't a "simple" sprain, after all.)

But when we do run, it seems like I could do it forever, primarily because we enjoy each other's company. And the conversations are always, always interesting, to say the least. And I find that to be truer every day, as I get chronologically older. (I just had to qualify that.) You can be stuck in the stinkiest of situations, but when you have good company to help you commiserate through it, it makes things bearable and even doable.

Our route is a secret one, but one that passed by a known Italian restaurant. (I guess this won't be secret for long, haha.) And when we did pass by it, she told me, "Okay, we will have to stop for breakfast now."

And we did.

She had a Filipino "medley": a delectable combination of Vigan longganisa, tuyo, corned beef, fluffy soft scrambled eggs, garlic rice and fruits.

I had Eggs Benedict (pictured above) with a distinct Filipino twist: It had adobo flakes instead of the imported meats you see in the eggs above, which was made by Gordon Ramsay.

The oohs and aahs were so audible, people kept looking at what we ordered and wanted to have the same thing.

(I'm not really sure where the "Italian" part comes in. But I'm not complaining.)

And after we were done (the gastronomic moments punctuated by strong coffee), she turns to me and says: "Oh, shoot, how are we supposed to do yoga now?"

Which sent us into gales of laughter.

I wish your Sunday is going as swimmingly good as mine has.