ganito daw ako! heehee it's funny!

but why?

Why is it that the person who makes me cry the most is also the one who can make me stop.

It's not fair. No matter how much I tell myself that I deserve someone better, or that enough is enough, it still isn't.

Marco told me that we have not eaten at the same restaurant twice since before our mini-vacation in New Jersey. So to continue with this, we planned the weekend to be an adventure for our tummies.

Marco and I decided to do brunch on a Saturday and considering all the good restaurants that offer Restaurant Week lunch are closed Saturdays, we decided on an apparently popular diner in Adams Morgan called Open City. And true to the reviews I read on Yelp.com, it was packed with people and the line outside went all the way to the curb. Although we were a bit hesitant, considering the wait, we put our names on the list and just walked around the block to pass the time. When we got back, we asked for the menu and after a couple of minutes, the lady called out our name for out table. We were lucky! It had a bunch of different stuff on the menu but we were determined to get breakfast. So I was eying the multi-grain pancakes or the french toast but I was looking for something new, so I tried the Croque Monsieur (sp?) which is basically a ham and cheese sandwich with bechamel sauce and a side of salad. It was very good. Marco got the Western omelette which he's been craving for and a frozen mocha drink. After this feast, we decided to walk a bit to the zoo and then we headed over to the Pentagon City Mall.

It was my Daddy's first death anniversary so Marco, Regina and I attended mass in Bethesda and had dinner at Moby Dick Kabob on Wisconsin Avenue. It was cheap but really good. We went to La Madeleine to buy bread and some pastry for dessert. After that, we went home to buy some sparkling wine for our wine and cheese night. We chose a rose brut cava which was a bit sweet and complimented the nutty cheese that I got from Balducci's the other day. I got four kinds of cheeses. The humbolt fog (sp?) which is a cheese made out of goat's milk, the Rembrandt and brie which were both made out of cow's milk and Manchego, which is a Spanish cheese made out of sheep's milk. We enjoyed our cheese plate and wine, which is considerably cheaper than ordering it from a restaurant.

We both slept full and a little tipsy and we woke up the next day craving for paella. So we dressed up and headed over to Divino's lounge in Bethesda because they offer all-you-can eat tapas for brunch every Sunday. Sadly, when we got there, it was closed for brunch till September! Aww.. so I racked my brains thinking of another Spanish restaurant in the area and I thought of Jaleo. It was so nice outside and it was a good thing we got window seats which are as good as outside seating but with a breeze of cold air from the airconditioning.

We looked at the menu and decided to get two tapas from their special menu. One was bread with goat cheese, hard boiled egg and smoked salmon with capers. The other one, which was our favorite, was a Spanish pork sausage with white beans and mushrooms. A couple of minutes after finishing the last of the Spanish sausage, the main dish came. The paella was served in a big cast iron pan and all kinds of seafood was in there, waiting to be devoured! It had shrimps and a rock lobster (sabi ni marco eh), fish chunks and mussels. It was delicious! And the end to the perfect meal, peppermint ice cream from Gifford's!

It was the perfect end to the perfect food tripping weekend.

Now, I just need to go to the gym to work it all off, so I can do this all over again this coming weekend! :)

sunburnt!

I have not been sunburnt since I dont remember when. It was all because we went tubing this weekend. It was very relaxing and in the company of good friends, it was a lot of fun.

This was a first time for everybody and we made the best out of it. I'm glad they broke the rules by buying beer because it was so much funner with them drunk. heehee.

We all met up early in the morning at my friend's place which is soo rare for my friends because they're all sleep-in most days. Two cars, 8 people and 1 1/2 hours later, we were in Harper's Ferry, WV, right in the heart of the country.

We were greeted by a really big woman with tattoos all over her and she explained everything to us and gave us life vests, a cooler tube and tubes with and without bottoms. It was very brave of my friends to still go with their plans to bring the beer along, considering how big the woman was and how big a trouble we can get into.

They then shuttled us to the mouth of the river where the dam was and then they told us to just relax and go with the flow, literally. And we did just that. We kind of panicked at first because the flow took us apart but after paddling ( a lot of it!) we all tied ourselves together with the cooler in the middle and relaxed.

It was awesome. The flow, the feel, the sound of the water and being with the people i care about helped me relax a bit from all the tension I have been feeling the past few weeks. I was laughing, we were all laughing. It was the first time I swam in fresh water and it was really refreshing. I did not have to worry about chemicals and I only worried about the living things swimming from under us.

We started tubing at around 12:30 PM and got to the end at around 4:30 pm. We did not know it took that long. But everyone had fun ( i hope) and got burnt.

Lia's

So, the OC in me took over when the summer Restaurant week came along. Oh my gulay, there were too many restaurants to try and so little time! Restaurant week in DC and Bethesda gives us the option of trying really good (and EXPENSIVE) restaurants for the pulubi price of $20.00 for lunch and $35.00 for dinner. Considering that it's a three course meal, it's a steal! They do have special menus during that time, but I bet everything is well worth the price.

So I spent late nights browsing Yelp.com (my new bestfriend) and dcfoodies.com waiting and looking at possible restaurants to go to. Argh, there's too many to choose and with my limited resources, Marco and I decided to do Lia's in Chevy Chase, MD (and thats not the actor!). It's technically part of B-CC (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) Restaurant week and at only $30 for dinner.
Definitely a bargain in our part.

So last friday(8/1) we had a mini-date and went to dinner after work. We were both so tired and looking forward to the food.

When we got there, we were seated right away even if we were too early for our reservations.
It was a cute restaurant. Jam-packed with people like us, wanting to take advantage of the cheap RW specials. People had wines on their tables, but me and Marco were there for the food. Maybe, for his birthday, we will get a bottle of wine when we go to La Chaumiere, which is another entry.

"Water for me please" "me too!"

No soda, argh. Frustrating. I've been cheating a bit here and there, but most of the time, I've been able to steer clear of the refreshing "gumuguhit" Coke.

anyway!

It took us a while to decide what to get. So while waiting, I decided to try some cheeses. I said it was on me since, according to the menu, it was only 3 dollars for 3 ounces. I was thinking, "wow mura!". He chose a sheep's and goat's milk cheese, and I chose a cow's milk cheese. When the waiter brought us our cheese plate, there were two tiny slices of cheese on a big plate with two biscotti-like bread and fig jam in the middle. I was thinking to myself, "eh kaya pala mura, kase malaki pa daliri ko sa slice." It was good nonetheless. Now, we're both into trying new cheeses. So for our next outdoor movie/picnic, I am making a cheese plate and bringing wine!

I decided on getting the Risotto balls with Fontina cheese for my appetizer and Marco got the chicken dumpling soup. Very ordinary if you ask me, so I asked him TWICE if he really wanted that. heehee.

When the table beside us got their entrees, I decided to copy them and get what they got. I ordered the Pork tenderloin wrapped in proscuitto (sp?) with sauteed spinach and sweet onion polenta. Marco got the Pan seared scallops with asparagus and mushroom risotto. Funny how the waiter mixed up our orders and thought that Marco got the meat and not me. That means he has girly taste! (kidding, Marco :))

The pork was a little tooooo spicy for my taste and I didnt like the polenta that much. He liked his entree by the looks of his almost empty plate, save the last piece of risotto rice left on the side. No, wait, ok, nevermind, his plate is all clean.

For dessert, I got the panna cotta, and he got the peach upsidedown cake with vanilla gelato. His gelato was YUMMY! My panna cotta was so-so. Nothing wow, or mouthwatering. I've baked better! hehe yabang.

It took us an hour to eat all this. Faster than the almost three-hour dinner we had at the Melting Pot about a month ago.

It was fun. I had fun eating and trying not to be clumsy at such a posh restaurant while we were surrounded by people who were dressed up for dinner and we were still in our work clothes.

On Saturday, we're going tubing. So that's another story.