Rib Rubbin' Good at Rub Makati

My friends can attest to the fact that my family loves to eat. We are always on the hunt for the next best thing or the latest food restaurant to open. Okay, we are not literally going there when they open. We actually try to give them time. Read reviews from sites like Zomato, Booky or also based on our friend's recommendations.
I am still trying to learn the ropes on how you'll know where the people go for food so I kind of rely on my sissy to lead where we should go especially when I have the whole family with me. First, my dad is a big eater. He loves his rice and will not hesitate to have more than two cups depending on the main dish that was delivered to our table. Also, we go for the size of portions.

R and I were accustomed to the portions in Dubai that when they say it's for sharing - they meant it. Here in the Philippines, it's not the case. When they say for sharing, it actually means two girls with size 26 as their waistline.

The sister said that there seems to be a lot of buzz for Rub, a restaurant at Poblacion Makati that she said we should try. You see the main purpose of the get together was also a despidida for my mom when she left for Canada.

As told, I immediately searched Zomato and checked what their usual commenters said about the resto and at the same time, I checked the prices.

It seems to fit the bill so off we went.

BBQ Ribs Super Duo 

Grilled Fish (was a bit soggy) 

Unsure if this is their chicken buffalo wings or chicken tenders 

For a group of four, this was actually enough. We also ordered a few sides. 

The ribs were great. We initially thought that it was just half a slab so imagine our surprise when there was another slab hidden! Hahaha! We don't have anything but good words for the ribs. It was tender and juicy. 

The grilled fish would have been good too I think but it was soggy. We think it is because of the lemon butter sauce. It would have been better if it was just put to the side or maybe brushed to the fish. Of course, that is just a suggestion. 

The chicken was good too but I prefer a different dip. Maybe they can offer other dips to complement with the chicken. 

Overall, it was worth the price and the wait (yep, there was a bit of waiting however it moved fast probably because people were already seated and having their food when we came). 

I guess on hours where there are not a lot of people, it would be nice to just chill there. I wanted to catch my breath from all the eating that we did however looking at the line of people outside, you will feel guilty if you do. 

I might ask R to come back next time when they are off-peak. I wonder when will that be? Maybe we can try their branch here at Pasig. 

**This review was made by the blogger alone and not with any sponsorship from the store.  

Familiarising myself

to what Manila has to offer.

You see being away from this country or city for so long. You get to lose the essence of what you know then. The familiar places were either still standing or replaced with something new... sometimes better.

You might say but you have been coming back year after year.

That is true.

However, it feels like I have lost my understanding of the place. Add to the fact that I am not in the place where I used to live. I now reside a jeepney and a tricycle away from what I know as "home". We now live in R's area.

I don't mind because in Dubai, we were so used to moving about that you do not even have the chance to really get to know the place you are in. At times, the people you have lived with for a few months will say goodbye and you will be introduced to new neighbors so I guess moving here was not really a big deal.

The city that I sometimes miss (photo taken by R)

Unfortunately, being away made me feel a bit lost in this city. The only landmarks that I know are of shopping malls because when we were still OFWs, we frequent the malls to meet up with friends we have left behind or just to cool down because of the unbearable heat.

Aside from that fact, I am also taken aback by the prices of food and its portion. I need to understand that the word "to share" in the menu depends on who will eat it. The amount of money that you need to spend in order for us to finally say that we are stuffed (unless of course, we were just laughing out a lot that air fills our tummies temporarily).

Taco Bell experience with my mom - totally deserved a seperate blogpost!! 

The number of people that I see on the streets - of all ages and races. A mix of the working class and the people who try to find a way to steal from the working class (sorry but it is true).

There is still a lot of getting used to...and to re-acquaint ourselves with what the city looks like now.

At times, it's hard. You tend to compare and yearn for the days when we were still in that oil-rich land. I shrug it off because this is the present and we should start living in it.

Pinterest - is it Pinteresting? Really?

I think I was still in Dubai when I have noticed that there is a new website that is making itself known - Pinterest. 

For the first time in my tech life, I was not excited with it... I guess for the reason that I do not know what exactly to do with it. I mean, they say it will be like your personal corkboard / visual board of the things that you see online.

photo grabbed from www.inboundio.com

I shrugged it off because I was still obsessed then with BBM and Twitter.

Now that I have time in my hands and when I did an online writing gig two months back, Pinterest is slowly creeping up again... luring me to give it a try.

Honestly, I want to but I think I have to clear out my online space first. Though it is not like the physical stuff that you can see and be irritated that you are not doing anything (yep, like the mess on your table, just as an example), my virtual space is really messed up.

I have 3 email address that caters to different stuff (yeah, Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo). I also use Pocket for my articles to read later, Zinio and Buqo to read my magazines for later, Kindle and Bluefire to read my books for later.... yes, that is how messy it is.

I was actually thinking of signing up and if it does not suit me, just forget about it later --- but I decided against it. I might just hold it up for a bit (is this me slowly turning into a non-techie person *gasp*???). Though I did a bit of research and Sheknows.com has actually provided a few insights on how some people have fallen in love with it and others got addicted to it (click here for the link on the article

Hopefully, I will organise myself virtually and make space to welcome an addition to my ever growing online apps / friends.

Are you a Pocket user?

Since I am still waiting for our stove (thanks again for my sponsors - my friends), I have been browsing the internet for various recipes that can be done when the stove arrives (yes, that is how excited I am!).

Initially what I have been doing is saving/ adding bookmarks into my webpage which is now looking a bit heavy and to be honest, I don't browse a lot anymore.

A friend (or was it Itunes) introduced me to Pocket.

This app lets you save or bookmark a webpage that you want to read for later. I think I have used a previous app before (aside from bookmarking) but it did not satisfy me.

With Pocket, it allows me to also tag my recent finds so that it will be easy to search :) or if you cannot really remember how you tagged the article, you can also search it via the keywords on the title (which is what I do most of the time).

all of the Chicken recipes that I have saved appeared! :) 

Apart from recipes, I also save news or feature articles in this app which I want to read when I have the leisure to do so (which is supposedly now but I still do not do it boo!).

I *heart* this app :) 

#justsayin' 

Air Drop and its Hulaboos

I hate to admit that I have been bitten by Apple and is actually beginning a fan of their devices. Though I have to say the battery life of its devices is still considered to be one of the down sides, I still am all for it (hey, that's why powerbanks were invented right?).

It got me a bit excited when they started mentioning about Air Drop. You see when you have different devices on hand, having a way to share your files between devices is really a plus. You would usually take photos using your phone and want it to be shared on your computer so you can blog about it (ahem) or just save it in your photo library.

So when Air Drop was available, my colleagues at work (or should I say ex-colleagues) decided to transfer files via this application.

The verdict?

Well, it worked on some of our phones but not on all. This bummed us (most specifically the person who cannot receive the files! That wasn't me!!!). After that, I lost interest with it. Fast forward to now, my sister and I have the same phone and decided to use Air Drop again. It worked and so this has been the best way for us to share files (especially when she takes better photos than I do... hmm, did I just admit that?! :p)

I decided to give it a try with my laptop but after XXX number of attempts, I decided to call for Google's help and see if other users experienced the same issues.

Oh yes they did!

And I thought my lone device has that issue. I decided to search and search. A lot of users were actually frustrated about it and one user even mentioned just iMessaging files to his other devices since Air Drop didn't work!

Viola!

iMessage? Decided to give it a try and it worked! Sorry but I feel giddy and excited because that is the work around I have been looking for! And here is the evidence of it! :P

Our first Christmas Tree... 

The photo above was sent through to iMessage! This might be a late discovery and people might be doing the face palm right now but hey, that's fine because this is something new to me :P 

So... expect more original photos from me now since I can just iMessage them to my friend, the laptop. 

Banking Woes

R and I went to do a long overdue errand - have our details updated with the bank.

Being an OFW before, you will always end up having a lot of half-used prepaid SIM numbers because your main purpose was to contact your friends in a few weeks before you leave again and come back the following year or maybe a few months.

photo courtesy of http://siliconangle.com/blog/2013/07/21/sim-card-vulnerability-puts-one-quarter-of-all-phones-at-risk/

Others who knew they will be going home more often, invest on getting a roaming SIM which they ask their loved ones to top up when the credit is about to expire (yep, it only allows 75 days for Globe subscribers... not so sure about share-a-load credits... have to find that out).

Anyways, with any bank transactions, a contact number is required.

Now that we are back here (gulp!) for good we thought it is best to update the bank of our new contact details and at the same time, update any other necessary information that needs to be changed.

Upon coming in, we were greeted by a warm smile in our BDO branch. Immediately, we were offered to sign up a credit card. My mom informed us that there is a promo running right now regarding this and we thought

why not?! (BIG SMILEY for me)

After the initial purpose of going to the bank, I inquired about it and rightly so, we were provided with forms to fill in.

We obliged and fill in what we can. The customer representative was very patient and read through all the answers. She smiled and asked

Ma'am, we need to have your landline number so that the request can be processed.

Oh no (BIG FROWN-Y). I told her that we do not have a landline number as we did not think it is really necessary at this day and age. She offered to provide suggestions (like maybe we have relatives who have a landline or the neighbors!). We said there is really none.

She smiled again and said,

Okay Ma'am, let us see na lang po if they process.

So in the end, we do not have our hopes up about the credit card thing-y because they might not even give us a call because it's not a landline number.

Let us see how it goes... I will hold on to our bank's slogan (teehee) :)

photo courtesy of BDO

 

 

The Beach

R and I had the chance to wake up early and head to the beach!!!

Yes! It has been in the plan for weeks months now but it never happens. I guess this time schedule permits for us to visit the beach and it was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!

There were a lot of people in the beach... I think it is because the weather was just right. We arrived at about 10am and managed to secure a nice spot. Since we were in a rush to head to the beach, we were not able to have breakfast so we ate there before joining the other beach goers.

The water was uberly cold!!! You just need to take the plunge because eventually you get used to the water's temperature. R and I watched people's reactions when they take a step to the water and it was hilarious!

The whole experience was calming and fun.

R and I usually go out to be in the malls so this was another welcoming adventure. We do go to the beach but this happens once a year? Hahaha! So when he told me that we will be back next week! I am sooooo thrilled!!!

I hope to be reunited with the waters soon :) 

It made me think if we will be going back to the Philippines, most of the beaches are in the outskirts. You need to travel for about 1-2 hours before reaching the beach gem! Here in Dubai, it can take about 30-45 minutes to reach the beach or like what we did, we took the bus and it took us about 45 minutes (including the waiting time) only. 

Now, I am back to my thinking cap about 'the' options :)... I know you will not understand my readers (if I have any) or maybe you do... just cannot reveal it yet.

Drool!

I was just browsing through my emails when I stumbled upon HomeDesign's newsletter.

Their feature on the newsletter was all about bedrooms... and being a wife who always wants to have a peaceful bedroom, this definitely caught my attention.

You see, R is a light sleeper which at times turn into an insomniac :( He has difficulty sleeping. We have tried various stuff (vitamins for him to sleep, melatonin pills, sleeping pills, milk with honey, etc) so as to cure this. It would work for say 1-2 tries and then after that, we go back to the same problem :(

From our room, I think about 3 to 5 years ago, we painted our room ocean blue. I liked it because of the calmness that it brings into the room while R likes it because he feels the colour lulls him to sleep!

I talked to him about it and we have discussed changing our room colour to ocean blue so that he can rest well and for the calm feeling to remain (being that will be our resting / nesting place).

I guess that is enough background about this newsletter! :p

I like this room because it definitely spells cozy!!! The browns and a touch of green gives you a feel of nature in your room. The colours are not that loud and there is still enough natural light that comes in to your room. I like the LED lights beneath the shelves because it already serves as night lamps for us both (me in particular since I do like reading and right now, we do not have night lamps). 

This is my second option

Again, I am lured to take the brown/ earth tones because I think this is what a room should be. Calm and relaxing. I also like the fact that outside, they have a small breakfast/ nook area where you can just type away or chill...

This I might discuss with R since we do have a small space where we can extend our room and maybe come up with this design. Not sure though if this is possible but it will be nice to have a space like this in your room. I think if given the chance to choose over a walk-in closet or this nook, I will definitely go for this one!! :) 

Check out Home Designs website to get more inspiration on what you can do to the spaces of your house. 

Note: All photos were taken from Home Design's website

On New Year Resolutions and Goal Setting

Today is the first day of 2014 and I am writing a post!!! Hahahha...! Well, to be honest, R and I didn't go out and painted the town red because they were not given any day off (boo! I know)... reason is the malls have been jam-packed because of the holiday season... oh well, the holidays are over but here comes the Dubai Shopping Festival and just like that, the bad schedule continues :(

Yes, I want to cry but hey, this (I guess) is far better than him being miles away from me. At least I still get to see, hug and kiss him if I want to (I just need to sleep late and wake up early!!).

So... this is the first day and I come to think about resolutions or goal setting for this year. I saw a friend post in Facebook regarding goals

(grabbed from my friend, MJ Ces)

I admitted to him that I am not setting any goals... not sure why but for the past years, I have been aiming on finishing the payment for our house in Manila... and now that it's finished, I keep asking myself - what's next? 

Usually, I make resolutions and stuff that I am thankful for... but never about goals. I am not sure if this is because I don't know how to conquer failure or rejection. This feeling is something that I try to deal with most of the time and if I can, I try to avoid it (hahha!). 

Though thinking about it, I need to have goals not to show off but more of to keep me focus for the year. 

Hmmm... now, let me go and write them down ;-) 

Happy New Year!!

Favoured and Blessed

I went to hear the Victory church service today and was totally moved by one of the inspirational song that the Praise and Worship team sang.

This is the entire lyrics of the song.

Planetshakers - Favoured Lyrics

Artist: Planetshakers

Album: Nothing Is Impossible

Genre: Christian

Send "Favoured" Ringtone to your Cell

Listen while you read!

VERSE: 
You?re my Saviour, You?re my Healer 
You?re everything I need
You?re my comfort, You?re my best friend 
Forever You will reign 

PRE-CHORUS:
You are high and lifted up
And Your Kingdom will have no end

CHORUS:
I am favoured I am blessed
By the cross, and the blood that was shed
I am favoured I am blessed
I can do all things, because of what You?ve done for me

BRIDGE:
Nothing is impossible for those that believe
Nothing is to difficult for our God
Nothing is impossible for those that believe
I believe, I believe in You

Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/planetshakers/favoured-lyrics/#wriEzjFpGHQotUtK.99

I am moved by this song because I have been asking him my "whys" and telling him a lot of "it's unfair" but never really see what He has given me.

This song brought me back and snapped me back to reality that I am favoured and blessed. God not giving me what I asked for does not mean he has forgotten my other needs.

It is sometimes difficult to accept when we are not given what we wanted that we tend to forget what is being given to us without even asking for it... Ironic isn't it?

So, I thank you God for letting me know that you have not forgotten me and is working at me... preparing me for the promise that He has in store for me.

I know this is not the right time to be selfish but instead be selfless most especially because of the turn of events that has happened in the Philippines - the scam, the civil unrest, the earthquake and the typhoon - all happened I think a few weeks apart.

I hope people who were affected by all of the natural disasters will be able to stand up again and I know they will because they have God on their side :)

(from youtube) 

Me and My Dad

I am a certified Daddy's girl... and I think I still am! :)

When I was a little girl, my dad is everything to me. I always want to be next to him, when we walk, we eat, we shop and I think almost everything! I always wanted to hold my dad's hand. It's as if his hand was my sense of security that time.

When I was about 6 to 8 years old, Sundays are the best! My parents will always take us to the mall and let us stroll. I was never fond of going to the arcade (like what kids do these days) and tell my parents that I'd just meet them when they get tired.

I was always with them. I always want to see when they laugh about something, criticise a passerby or just discuss about us, their children.

As I grew older, my dad and I would still be together but our "going out sessions" were lessened. We had to tightened up our budget because I was up for college and my brother was already a graduating high school student.

Instead of going out, we'd spend our weekends glued in front of the TV, watching cable. At times, I do my siesta and he will still be beside me when I wake up, with merienda (or snacks)! During the days when I have to cram for an exam or finish a project and needed a lift home. My dad would patiently wait for my call or text to let him know that I am ready to go. No hassle of always asking, "where are you?"... "are you about to be finished?"... Instead he would patiently wait for me (isn't he the sweetest?).

Though I had 'special friends', my time with my dad is something I cannot trade.

It was non-negotiable.

My dad was always with me... When I had to get my passport to come to Dubai, he helped me processed my college credentials to take to Dubai with me, he and my mom would always pick me up from work most especially if they have heard on the radio that floods starting near my work place. He would always check up on me, my school, if I still have allowance, etc.

There's a long list of things that my dad and I loved doing.

I will never forget those moments... and even if we had a bit of a struggle for the past few years, I still see my dad as what he was to me before.

My sense of security.

So... to my Daddy and the other fathers out there, here's to all of you for being our pillar of strength and just being there.

Happy Father's Day! 

I love you Daddy... always...

Quiet weekend ...

Last Thursday was the beginning of the long weekend here in Dubai. Of course, for these type of once in a life time holidays, people usually take advantage of it by going to the beach or park, exploring the other emirates or for some just do the usual which is mall hopping.

Funny enough, I did not do any of this.

R (my hubby) and I just stayed at home. It was just a typical weekend but it was filled with lots of Q time with each other.

We kind of bummed up to be honest. Stayed at home, eat, watch TV, listen to some music, watch TV, surf the net, read an ebook, sleep and the routine goes back to the start. It was good because it allowed me to rest fully ( I had the worst case of cold and cough that would not go away) and regained my energy. For R, it was a quiet one for him because I did not pester him to go to the mall.

You see even with the long weekend, R still has to work the night shifts (boo!) and I think that is one of the reasons why we didn't go out.

Now the weekend is about to end in a few hours and I can see people posting their pictures of the weekend that was. Overall, everybody had fun on this long weekend... The next long weekend will be during the 2nd of December wherein the UAE will be celebrating their 41st National Day. I am pretty sure people will be on the streets that time especially the locals.

Hmmm.... I wonder where we will be.... till the next holiday!

(from my Instagram account)