La Vie Boheme

head in the clouds, feet on the ground

Eat Your Heart Out – Lunch at T.G.I.Friday’s

Friday’s is expensive; let’s be honest. Well, let me tell you about the time that J and I had this brilliant idea to spend more money on lunch than we’ve ever done.

Yesterday, we had to go back to Camp Sotero Cabahug today to get a stencil of the chassis number for the car. It’s frustrating because J and I were expecting that this was already being processed. And now they’re telling us that we need to go back because some papers were missing, papers that we already submitted. I just feel like if this has been followed-up on from the beginning, this wouldn’t be an issue. It’s already April, and the car should be transferred and renewed at this time. And now, it seems like we’re back to square one. But anyway, there’s nothing we can do about it.

To make up for the inconvenience, we took this time to treat ourselves to an expensive lunch. Lol. Please understand. We don’t always splurge like this, but I think every once in a while, we just feel like we deserve a little of the nice things that most people take for granted. So we ate lunch at Friday’s. We went to Robinson’s Galleria again because this is the one that’s on the way.

J ordered chops and I had chicken. If you know us, you’d know that J always get the red meat while I alternate between chicken and fish. It was a great meal. Of course, for the price that these restaurant demands, you shouldn’t expect anything less, right? And they definitely deliver. The service was more than satisfactory. The staff was friendly and efficient. The food was truly delicious. I don’t think we’d go back anytime soon, but who knows?

 

Pics Or It Didn’t Happen – Friday’s

On Katy Perry and Gender Equality

Let’s call a spade a spade, shall we?

 

I’m sorry, Katy Perry, but that was sexual harassment. As a judge, you are in a position of power over the contestants who aspire to join the show. Any kind of flirting or sexual advantage you take on them is considered harassment. If the roles were reversed and Luke Bryan forced a kiss on the lips on a naive young female artist, there would be a worldwide uproar over it.

 

Women fight for equality and empowerment. But it is situations like this that set us back to square one. If we want equality, then we also have to be equally responsible for our actions. Men are at the spotlight when it comes to their liberties and actions toward the women in their environment. Women should be held accountable too. We cannot be cherry-picking on when we want to be treated as equals and when we want to have special considerations.

 

Sure, the contestants may not make a big deal out of it. But that doesn’t make it okay. Let this be a lesson. This is a reality singing contest, not The Bachelorette. You are there to judge them on their talent, not to pick and choose who you are attracted to, whether in jest or good fun. If it was meant not to harm, then surely it will be easy to shift to a different approach when trying to make auditions more entertaining, right?

 

I guess with all these negative things I see on AI this season, I’ll be more than happy to stick with my tried and true favorite, The Voice.

Take It To The Beach – Tabuelan Weekend With I and J

Our Tabuelan trip was a blast. I had a great weekend. J and I spent one night and two days in Durhan White Beach Resort in Tabuelan, Cebu. Tabuelan is known for its beautiful white sand beach called the Maravilla Beach. It’s a public beach, much like Santiago Beach in Camotes or Basdaku in Moalboal. We opted to stay in a private resort instead of the rooms for rent in the public beach itself. The main reason was that the public beach accommodations were mostly already fully booked.

Here’s a picture of Tabuelan’s beautiful Maravilla beach. It’s gorgeous strip has one of the softest white sand I’ve ever visited. The place is clean. Props to their local barangay and also to the tourist who show discipline and respect for the place.

Tabuelan, Cebu’s Maravilla Beach

 

It turned out to be a great decision to just visit the Tabuelan’s public beach and stay in the private Durhan White Beach Resort overnight because the resort was also beautiful and the privacy that they offered really worked well for us. Here are some pictures of the resort. As you can see, it covers a huge expanse of land. The resort has its own chapel, a restaurant where you can order your meals, a mini bar to buy alcohol and other drinks as well as toiletries and basic beach needs like slippers. Soft, white sand also adorned their private beach, so even if we weren’t at the Maravilla beach, it didn’t feel like we were missing out.

If you’re looking for a good place to stay in Tabuelan, Durhan White Beach Resort should definitely on the top of your list, unless you really want to stay at the public beach, along with the rest of the tourists and visitors. DWBR has affordable room rates which you can check out on their website by just clicking on the attached links. Personally, I’d be more than happy to go back and stay with them again. J isn’t one for repeats, though, because, according to him, there’s still a long way to go on his list, so we’ll just have to see, I guess.

Durhan White Beach Resort

Eat Your Heart Out – Dinner at Denny’s with I and J

Denny’s recently opened in Robinson’s Galleria Mall Cebu, and J and I couldn’t wait to try it out. I mean, there must be something special there, right, considering all the hype and popularity? Also, the timing couldn’t be any better because J didn’t have a lot of things to do at work, and I had until 9PM before I logged in for another work day. A dinner at Denny’s sounded like a really good idea.

This is an embarrassing fact, but until yesterday, we haven’t been to Robinson’s before. It just wasn’t as conveniently located as J and I would have liked. When we’re in Cebu City, we usually just go to SM or wherever it is that we had important business to tend to. This would be hitting two birds with one stone for us. We get to finally visit Robinson’s and try out Denny’s as well.

Overall, I’d say Denny’s is a great place to try out, whether with your friends, significant other, or your family. It is pretty pricey, but the food really does taste so good. I got the Cajun Shrimp Skillet and J got the classic 3-pc Denny’s Fried Chicken. Honestly, I wasn’t over the moon with the shrimp. It was delicious, yes, but for its price, there’s another Southern flavored dish that I actually love from another restaurant, and that costs less. Their chicken, though, was amazing. I don’t know how many additional servings of plain rice J got, but he loved it as well. If we ever decide to go back, I’d definitely try out something else and maybe order that very yummy chicken again.

You can access their menu by click this link.

Pics Or It Didn’t Happen – Denny’s

Happy 3rd Birthday, Joeff!

Joseph Joeff is loved by everybody. Today is the 3rd birthday of the adorable little boy. We actually celebrated it on Saturday, but I’m posting this on his actual birthday. We had a double celebration because his mom, Jen, also had her birthday on the 8th. The celebration was a simple family gathering. We ate lechon, grilled pork, and fish. We also had ice cream and cake. My wish for him is that he will grow into a wonderful person who respects his elders, cares for his family, works hard for his future, and keeps his faith alive. Darling boy, may you have all the desires of your young heart, even as you grow into a man someday. I hope you continue to bring joy to the people around you.

As the eldest child, I pray that he will turn into a brother who protects his little sister, a son who helps his mom at home, especially with his papa away for work. I wish him a healthy life and an amazing future as well as a childhood that he will enjoy and cherish.

Joeff with his Mom and Sister

Joeff’s Birthday Visitors

Having Fun With Joeff and Janna

Of Love And Madness

The Tale of Love and Madness

A long time ago, before the world was created and humans set foot on it for the first time, virtues and vices floated around and were bored, not knowing what to do.

One day, all the vices and virtues were gathered together and were more bored than ever. Suddenly, Ingenious came up with an idea: “Let’s play hide and seek!”

All of them liked the idea and immediately Madness shouted: “I want to count, I want to count!”

And since nobody was crazy enough to want to seek Madness, all the others agreed.

Madness leaned against a tree and started to count: “One, two, three…”

As Madness counted, the vices and virtues went hiding. Tenderness hung itself on the horn of the moon, Treason hid in a pile of garbage.

Fondness curled up between the clouds and Passion went to the center of the earth.

Lie said that it would hide under a stone, but hid at the bottom of the lake, whilst Avarice entered a sack that he ended up breaking.

And Madness continued to count: “… seventy nine, eighty, eighty one…”

By this time, all the vices and virtues were already hidden – except Love.

For undecided as Love is, he could not decide where to hide. And this should not surprise us, because we all know how difficult it is to hide Love.

Madness: “…ninety five, ninety six, ninety seven…”

Just when Madness got to one hundred, Love jumped into a rose bush where he hid.

And Madness turned around and shouted: “I’m coming, I’m coming!”

As Madness turned around, Laziness was the first to be found, because Laziness had no energy to hide. Then he spotted Tenderness in the horn of the moon, Lie at the bottom of the lake and

Passion at the center of the earth. One by one, Madness found them all – except Love. Madness was getting desperate, unable to find Love.

Envious of Love, Envy whispered to Madness: “You only need to find Love, and Love is hiding in the rose bush.”

Madness grabbed a wooden pitch fork and stabbed wildly at the rose bush.

Madness stabbed and stabbed until a heartbreaking cry made him stop. Love appeared from the rose bush, covering his face with his hands.

Between his fingers ran two trickles of blood from his eyes.

Madness, so anxious to find Love, had stabbed out Love’s eyes with a pitch fork. “What have I done! What have I done!” Madness shouted. “I have left you blind! How can I repair it?”

And Love answered: “You cannot repair my eyes. But if you want to do something for me, you can be my guide.”

And so it came about that from that day on, Love is blind and is always accompanied by Madness.