The 25 Wants: Hoping God & the universe hear me!

I want:

1. A credit card. No, seriously. Bringing so much cash is worrying. X_x Most likely the UnionBank EON account because it's PayPal-friendly.
2. A decent pair of shorts that I can fill out without riding up my crotch or simply just looking skanky.
3. MATCHING UNDIES!!! Because none of my bras go with my knickers, WTF. >_>0
4. 2TB hard drive. Just for back-up. Seriously. So my computer can keep its games and pr0nz hahaha.
5. New wigs, especially those with FULLER POOFINESS! So I can be more gyaru and just go hair-crazy some days without worrying over my ever-increasing hairfall. T.T
6. A Sony Walkman with matching Bluetooth headphones. As much as I love Apple, the iPod has become seriously overrated and less fun. I want to go against the norm. ;P
7. Skins, decoden and rhinestones for my phones, lappy and camera. I kinda like my PC looking and staying black but if a gorgeous yet supremely monstrously functional case comes out of the PC manufacturers I may just change my mind. XD
8. Old issues of Es POSHH!, Ego System, Honey Girl, Vanilla Girl and all the lovely but sadly defunct gyaru magazines.
9. Volume 13 of the original Japanese version of the Ayashi no Ceres manga so that I can FINALLY complete my collection. XD
10. Work-out videos, particularly for Tae-Bo, Hip-hop Abs, Bellydance and anything to do with dancing and martial arts.
11. A tan, or a less-than-PhP1,000 artificial tanner, to even out my skin tone.
12. Sony Creative Software 2009 Editions, especially Vegas, the original of which is rare and hard to come by here where I live.
13. More make-up! Preferably mineral and/or hypoallergenic. (Sadly, the Shu Uemura testers my younger sister gave me caused some crazy breakouts that I never recovered from. X_x)
14. Shiseido skincare and beauty products. Because, to my greatest frustration, this is about the only brand that still agrees with my skin. 
15. A perfume that comes thisclose to the bouquet of The Body Shop's Oceanus, which sadly has been phased out. T.T
16. DVD sets of all the following: Ayashi no Ceres, Sailormoon (all 5 seasons), Saint Tail, Inuyasha, Sugar Sugar Rune, Tsukikage no Ran, Jubei-chan the Ninja Girl, Candy Candy, True Blood, Peach Girl, Hana Yori Dango, Meteor Garden, Hana Kimi, Vision of Escaflowne (movie is optional), Flight of the Conchords, Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Black Lagoon, Card Captor Sakura, Angelic Layer, Vampire Princess Miyu, CSI: Las Vegas (only the episodes with Gil Grissom in the lead though), Roswell, Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Audrey Hepburn Collection, Sex and The City, Heroes, Oh My Goddess!, HBO Films' John Adams, and last but definitely not least Joan of Arcadia.
17. An upright piano and some starter music scores I can use to teach myself to read notes and play piano with again.
18. Piano, voice, street/hiphop/pole dance and clothing technology lessons that someone else will be willing to sponsor in my behalf. (For the music lessons, I'd rather take them at The Ryan Cayabyab Music School, BTW.)
19. Personalised calling cards for Midwest Ocean and for my own business purposes. Must make time for this.
20. I still want the Chloe leather alligator fold clutch. Second-hand, or preferably someone can produce a version locally, one which doesn't have to be made of real leather. Close-up here.
21. Sexy black legwarmers with chains. (Granted, I COULD make them myself but I don't have the necessary skills to ensure they don't all fall apart after just one wearing. XD;;;) Photo taken from Royal Jelly Clothing, no longer in stock in that store though.
22. Music-themed anything! Whether it be this Forever 21 Melody hoodie jacket (alas, it's no longer in stock either, I really should've bought it during the holidays! DX) or this piano and musical-themed bag from the Japanese brand JUNKS, I am totally and madly in love!
23. These Kvoll strappy sandals with heart-shaped heels, sans ribbons. I first fell in love with Christian Lacroix wedges with heart-shaped cut-outs during the Lacroix exhibit 2 years ago at the Ayala Museum (thanks Ate! XD), and when I was in Taipei this past June I stumbled across another set of heels in this exact style. However I didn't have money at the time so I never got to buy them.

FOOD PR0N! [WORKSAFE = starring only food, not pr0n XD]

I'm not sure if I've indicated this on my profile, but I am a die-hard foodie. I'm a die-hard foodie to the point that I know I'm going to die by overeating a certain piece of food - what it is yet I'm not really sure though, so it's possible I'll die by overeating in general. XD;

But enough of death. As I was saying I'm a die-hard foodie and so I enjoy eating out immensely. I have been to a lot of restaurants, cafes, bars and eateries here in my hometown, Metro Manila, and thanks to my blog-happy sister I've begun taking photos of my food. I just LOVE the sight of food, it makes my mouth water. And I hope that my photos have that same effect on you! XD; (Don't forget to CLICK ON THE THUMBNAILS to get the large photos. ;3)

First, we have the lovely Kapampangan (Pampanga province-themed) restaurant Abe, in the boutique mall One Serendra in Fort Bonifacio, City of Taguig. It's home to the best Ensalatang Pako (fern-based vegetable salad, with boiled egg, and onions), Binukadkad na Pla-pla (fried tilapia cut up and made to unfurl like a fan) and expensive Spicy Sisig in Metro Manila, among other things. XD I especially love their Lumpiang Ubod (steamed egg "crepe" roll filled with vegetables and garnished with peanuts, garlic and sweet peanut sauce) because the vegetables they use for it are very fresh - you can tell by the taste. Highly recommended.



Next is the lovely niche known as Cafe Juanita. Tucked inside a tiny home in the corner of a busy street in Barrio Kapitolyo in Pasig City, this "hole in the wall" began as exactly that, catering to taxi drivers and other blue-collar denizens making their way through the barrio. However, as the cook had never lost his aspirations to become top chef (he used to work in a cruise ship, or so I'm told), he decided to steadily upgrade the place into a swanky, slow-food cafe serving Filipino and Southeast Asian cuisine in a sea of antiques and Southeast Asian bric-a-brac. It's won great recognition and a lot of positive buzz, noteworthy among them the praises and recommendations heaped by no less than the Philippine Tatler - and twice! Although not all of their food are my favourites, I will admit Cafe Juanita does cooked fish exceptionally well, and everything tastes reasonably good and reasonably priced. It was a recent discovery of mine, having been brought there for my birthday by the family last month. Too bad I don't remember a single name of what I ate, except for the Kinilaw (raw fish in vinegar, see 2nd and 4th photos) which didn't really taste so good. D:

For geeks into Greek (bad pun, I know XD;;;), the best place to go is Cyma. With four branches in four select upscale malls in the metro, it's accessible enough but still undeniably exuding class. The atmosphere is warm and familial; it always feels like I'm coming home no matter what time of day I'm here. And the food is superbly prepared, though I will have to warn you that their lamb dishes aren't always easy to cut up, and their Greco-Mediterranean desserts are a bit on the cloyingly sweet side. Try their couscous, kebabs, pita bread and pasta, and bring your appetite because the servings are extra-large by Asian standards (though they are pretty reasonable for European and American palates).

Let's take a short day trip outside the metro and enjoy the spectacular provincial venue of Sonya's Garden. Originally just an organic botanical paradise for its owner, it soon expanded into food after Sonya realised that her friends were going there for her cooking as well. Of course, if you grow your own food, and the healthy type at that, you will always be patronised no matter where your customers are coming from. Besides its signature vegetable salad in cream-and-onion vinegarette, the set meal of Sonya's includes pasta (the kind of pasta you get varies between "seasons" or the four quarters of the year), juice (normally dalandan, or the local orange) and some sweet dessert (usually either local fare like bananas dipped in hot caramel, or foreign fare like tiny slices of creamy, icing-rich cake ... lol, so much for keeping healthy XD;;;). All in all the food is worth the day trip. ♥

Back in the Metro, Xocolat is a franchise cafe specializing in chocolate, undoubtedly the best export of Aztec, Incan and Mayan civilizations. My favourite branch would have to be the one in Eastwood City, Qnezon City, as it's outdoors and literally right in the center of the Eastwood plaza square, and for the fact that my boyfriend and I had our first date there. ♥ Also, this branch doesn't serve the chocolate too thickly or sweetly as the other branches do. I am completely enamoured with their hot chocolate drinks ... thick, bittersweet and perfect for a rainy day. ♥ (My boyfriend prefers the iced chocolate-coffee concoctions better, since he finds the Philippines a terribly hot place. XD;)

Closer to home is Tsoko.Nut, a fastfood cafe built to reinstate and focus on Philippine chocolate culture. Although it serves modern food like Spaghetti and Pancit (Chinese pasta), its true star is the chocolate made into tablets, and then mashed with a special mortar and pestle called collectively as a batirol, making the drink a refreshingly bittersweet experience. The Arroz a la cabana (pictured here) eaten by my boyfriend was terribly dry in comparison. Oh well!


And now here are some random bits of food. Bonus points and a nifty little online surprise to anyone who can guess where these photos are from! (Hint: only 2 are in one place; the rest are in different places.)

So everyone, what are your thoughts on food? Let's discuss! \^0^/