A Fun Night @ LaMesa Grill

August 25, 2012

It was not a planned meet up nor an accident get together. There was an event held at SM Sky Dome courtesy of our company and we have registered to join the said event. We decided not to stay and finish the  event and just stroll around the mall. It was already nighttime when we got out of the event venue and unfortunately we ended up not knowing where to go and what to do! Haha.

Suddenly, one of my friends(who doesn't drink much) suggested to have a drink in some restaurant at the place. Since its been soooo long since the last time we had did drink all together(the originals and the extended "family"), we nodded with enthusiastic approval.

Actually, we had a hard time looking for a place as most of the restaurants were full and we had to wait inline. We don't want to go home too late, and we were at SM North Edsa, so we decided to check out some restaurants in Trinoma, hoping that the place is not too crowded. We planned of dining in at Gerry's Grill, but same as their branch in SM North, we still have to wait inline. We also tried at Gilligan's but same with Gerry's, we still have to wait. After searching more, we decided to dine at Lamesa Grill.

Photo credit to the owner

We just wanted to have some drinks since we have already eaten at the event we have attended earlier so most of our orders were some Tanduay Ice and food for pulutan and of course non-stop chitchat and laugh trip.

Tanduay Ice: First Batch

Chicken Sisig: Php 180.00

Leche Flan: Php 45.00

Cassava Cake: Php 60.00

Pork Sisig: Php 198.00

Mango Shake: Php 70.00

Perfect Match! :)

Sisig Rice: Php 180.00

Weng-weng: Php 227.50

BJ - Buko Juice: Php 60.00

Seafood Combo: Php 485.00

All in all, we had 2 buckets of Tanduay Ice and 1 pitcher of Weng-weng. My friend told us to order Weng-weng as it was good tasting and sweet daw. Most of us are not casual drinkers so we were skeptical at first but since she assured us that it is good so we ordered it. I am one of the first to drank it when it arrived as I haven't tasted it before, excited how good tasting it was, but to dismay it tastes like cough syrup. I'm not used to drink hard liquors so I didn't liked it so I just stick to drinking Tanduay Ice instead. We complained to her about it only to find out that what she was thinking was not Weng-weng but the mixed drink "Badtrip"! Haha. Anyway, the drink has been order so she didn't have any choice but to drink it all! Haha! My other friend helped her though! :)

We also ordered Chicken and Pork Sisig as our pulutan. As usual, everytime I eat at Lamesa, their Sisig is one best of the best tasting Sisig, especially the Chicken. Their Sisig Rice is good too! My friend ordered Leche Plan, Cassava Cake and Mango Shake but I don't know if it is good or not as I wasn't able to taste(since its not my order anyway). Baked Tahong with cheese was also ordered but I was bit disappointed as I do love seafood. It doesn't taste really good and the meat was fishy and a bit thin, "malnourished" as I call it. Haha!(I don't have a picture though). Lastly, a friend of mine ordered their Seafood Combo. The fish was good. The Shrimps tasted a little blunt and tahong were "malnourished". Average meal I guess.

Eventhough that was the case, nevertheless we really enjoyed the night. Too much enjoyment, we ended up paying this:

After the fun and noisy drink and dine, we decided to stay a little longer and stroll around the place. Some of us were a little bit tipsy most probably my friend who drank the pitcher of Weng-weng(she was so quiet back then). Nevertheless, we continued of chit-chats and laugh trip along the way.

Its already getting late so we decided to go home. Even if where already on the bus on the way home, we still had non-stop chitchat and laugh trip, even if this one's already quiet. Haha!

Peace! \m/

P.S. I don't make any review or have plan of being a critique or whatsoever. I wrote for the fun of sharing my happy time with friends, that's all. :)

Time to end this post.

Ciao!

Ber is Coming to Town!

Advance Merry Christmas everyone!

It's the first day of September, the day where most of us are starting to get in hype about the start of Christmas celebrations and upcoming bonuses(ahem)!

Anyway, I am almost done with my 2012 backlogs and now on my way with my 2011 backlogs. And in 1 month time, I'll be blogging about my, I think, best travel destination this year, Hong Kong-Macau! This will be my 3rd time out-of-the-country trip and I am really looking forward to it!

But for now, time to face the backlogs! After two post of recent endeavors(of which are about food and friends bonding), I'll be posting of my trips last year. Yay!

So hop on and check out my previous, present and future post!

Arigato Gozaimasu!

The 17th Hot Air Balloon Festival

February 11-12, 2012

Some of us were lack of sleep, some came straight from their shifts but these didn't stopped our excitement for our overnight trip to Clark, Pampanga. We are going to see the 17h Hot Air Balloon Festival this year!

Beforehand, we have already booked for our place for an overnight stay, which is the America Hotel. We have also previously bought tickets for the event. There is no need for reserving bus tickets as there are many bus companies to choose from either in Cubao or in Pasay that goes to Pampanga. All are packed up so off we go to Clark!

It's around 04:00am in the morning, our scheduled meet up time at Cubao Bus Terminal. It took sometime before we were assembled completely. Originally, we planned to ride an air-conditioned bus of whether Victory Liner or Five Star but unfortunately there were no more available air-con buses that will leave immediately. All their next air-con buses will be leaving on a later time and we have no choice, so we ended up riding an ordinary bus instead. Fare is Php 70-75.00.

It was almost a one hour and half ride and we reached the Dau Bus Terminal. We walked all our way to the  highway where we are going to ride a jeepney going to Clark Airbase. Since we are a group of 20+ people, we rented a jeepney so we can immediately reach the event place. The ride cost Php 10.00 each.

It was still dark when we reached the base and a lot of people were on their way to the entrance. The place was jam packed with people, from children to senior citizens, civilians to soldiers. It is still way to dark to see what's inside. When we managed to get inside. after combating with a large wave of people, we saw lots of stalls. From food stalls to souvenirs, lots of them! The show has not started yet and the show-makers were still preparing for their acts, so we were waiting in vain. I think we have waited more than an hour, as the show started when twilight strikes. But nevertheless, its worth the wait! :)

Waiting in vain! :)

The Walang Kain and Walang Tulog Duo! :)

Too many people

Jam-packed!

And the show starts...

The balloons are starting to inflate

Posing a shot before the balloons

Up, up and away! :)

The Panda and the Car! Cute! :)

The show was really fun and amazing. Never thought that seeing hot air balloons floating up in the air would be this much fun! We watched the balloons up until they were so far from us and then the jet plane exhibition started. As much as we wanted to watch the air show, the scorching sun is starting to hit us and we can't bear it, so we searched for a shaded place. On our way, we bumped into some Air Force soldiers with their tanks and weapons, ready to pose for a picture. :)

After searching for a shaded place to take a rest (the place was to crowded with people), we finally got our refuge! Hahaha. That moment, it was too hot and windy and our lack of sleep already taking its toll on us. Since we were so resourceful, we found ways to sleep and rest then after that we had our lunch.

Getting a quick nap

Our lunch (It took zillion years before we had it)

Power nap

Munch, munch, munch!!!

I think we stayed at the place for about two hours or so, since we were waiting for the clock to strike at 11 o'clock. Our scheduled check-inn time at the hotel was 12:00 noon so we have to wait till 11:00 am. We gathered ourselves and we were so sweaty and kind of exhausted, so off we go to America Hotel!

We decided to rent a jeepney going to America Hotel. It was a 10-min ride from the airbase and is just across SM Clark, fare is Php 10.00. Since I was one of the tired people and I am the one who have settled our check-inn details with the receptionist, I haven't got our arrival shots at the hotel. But anyway, time to rest and freshen up.

We planned to get back at the airbase for the night show, but apparently we were so lazy to even get up from bed! Haha! Eventually, we decided to go to SM City Clark for our early dinner and grocery shopping for our snacks, since we have planned to have night swimming at the hotel. Yes! There is a swimming pool at the hotel! We were so excited to immediately jump into the water and enjoy but to our surprise.... the pool water was soooooo freaking coooold! Brrrrr. Anyway, it didn't stopped us from munching our snacks and drank some Tanduay Ice! The life! :)

After swimming, since the pool is so freaking cold and we couldn't stand the water, we decided to call it a day and finally have a hot bath. Some of us have already slept since it getting late at night but some of us were still up and watching television. I, for the meantime, took some shots of our room(ransacked though.. haha), hotel exterior, and many more. When we arrived earlier, we were so surprised to see our room. It is too big, beyond our expectation. Two connected rooms were given to us, actually good enough 10-15 people(given that you have extra mattresses), but I guess you better be there for you to see! :)

The lighted area you see there is SM City Clark

All fairness, their streets are clean

Opening leading to the next room

The bathroom is kinda gloomy, there is a vibe as if someone is there.. Awwoohh! :)

And just before sleeping...

That was a goodnight sleep! Anyways, I think we woke up at around 09:00 am as we are now going to head back to Manila. We were scheduled to check-out at the hotel by 11:00 am so we needed good enough time to pack our things up. But before that, I got to have some shots of the hotel interior (and exterior).

We were done and ready by 10:30 am, all bags were packed and ready to go. So some of us were waiting and seated at the lobby while I was setting and completing our check-out details. Before leaving, we rested for a while and had some photo shots. And then off we go...

We took a jeepney from Clark going to Dau Bus Terminal, fare is Php 10.00. Then, we had our brunch(breakfast and lunch) at Chowking. After eating, we made our way to the bus station and rode the bus going back to Manila. There was a commotion at first but eventually we made ourselves seated and relaxed as we're on our way home.

The Hot Air Balloon Festival was a very nice and fun experience. I don't know if I or when I will come back again but if I am given the chance, together with my friends, I will go once again. Clark is a nice place to visit but the place is too hot, way hotter than Manila, and I don't know why? :)

So end of this long post!

Ciao!