Last July 14 was the birthday celebration of one of our close friends, Ms. Maanne Rodriguez.

I came to know Maan R. during our UP days, when she was (then) the girlfriend of my best friend Mr. Jonathan Leopando. Since then she’s been a staple during the outings of our Orgless Org (unofficial organization of our peer group), and when I introduced Maanne my love to my peers, she was one of the first to give my love a warm welcome.

The birthday girl and Mr. Leopando

Maan R. decided to hold her birthday celebration in the curiously named Gayuma ni Maria restaurant, along Sikatuna in Quezon City. This restaurant, whose name means “Love Potion of Maria” in Tagalog, is known for the sensuous and amorous-sounding names of its dishes, such as “I’m Wild for You”, “Marry Me Mousaka”, and their bestseller cake “Beats Sex Anyday”.

The interior of Gayuma ni Maria. Note the sweet nothings written on the walls as part of the decor.

Maan R. said she chose this restaurant for the following reasons:

1.) it had naughty names for the foods,

2.) her first name is “Maria” (Maria Angela),

3.) and the restaurant had a private room on the second floor that we could reserve for the party

My love and I arrived slightly behind schedule, but we were still part of the few who came early. After the usual introductions, we settled down and ate some of the gastronomic delights:

Tuliro (“confused”): nachos, lettuce, meat and fruits topped with sour cream and cheese sauce.

Exotic Lover, spaghetti cooked in rich olive oil and capers, with seafood.

Marry Me Mousaka, eggplant treat baked in rich tomato sauce and melted cheese.

Hi-Land Tea, some proprietary concoction that tastes better than the usual iced tea. Served in a weird “potion”-like bottle.

After satiating ourselves with the food served on the table, we took a group picture:

Group shot. L-R Top: Jonathan, James, Manny, Tiyaw, Bob, Fraim

L-R Bottom: Me, My Love, Maan R, Teta

and another one, this time wacky:

Wacky Group Shot

We had our share of sweetness:

Despi-Vergara Nuptials, according to Maan R.

Me and my love, after eating!

My love and I, with our D7000

And also our share of outtakes:

Manny, I’m not a paparazzo.

Mr. Leopando is having a hard time getting up.

Eww Tiyaw, I’m taken.

Bless you!

We saw some crack pairings:

I admit this actually looks like a movie scene.

…but this has more “heart” in it!

Manny, that thing’s not alive.

“Ouch, that hurts!” – Jonathan

Ridiculously photogenic James

And someone finally went out of the closet! haha just joking!:

Doña Manoy!

The birthday girl had fun with her friends:

Bob, Maan R. and Fraim

“soul sisters” Maan R. and Teta

And she had lots of fun with her cakes and treats:

“Tall, Dark and Handsome…cake”

The birthday girl with her cake

Blowing the candle!

And of course, the day wouldn’t be complete without a “studio” pic of me and my love:Me and my pretty princess! ❤

This was one of the most memorable adult birthday parties we attended. 🙂
And it was special because my friends welcome and love my princess as one of their own! ❤

Super happy (fat) prince!

Maanne and I tried to join the “This is how we BonChon” contest of BonChon Chicken, but sadly we weren’t able to make it by the deadline.

Our entry would have been this:Which just shows how much we love to share everything with each other (even delicious chicken!) ❤

Actually before shooting this, Iet me share the story:

We decided to have a weekdate in Robinsons Galleria, and we chanced upon BonChon Chicken, which has become a frequented place for us.

The store is nice and brightly lit.I had a dilemma though – my princess was soooo sleepy! (but so cute):

Repeated attempts to take our pictures did not beat her sleepiness:

But my princess is soooo cute when she’s sleepy, so I left her to doze off for a while while I ordered our food.

As always, I ordered our staple favorite, Chicken Chops Rice Box. I asked for one Soy Garlic chop and one Spicy chop.

After a little kiss and letting her smell the food, the sleepy princess woke up smiling!

We devoured the tasty food quite quickly.I had a very happy princess with me afterwards! And of course, when my princess is happy, I am too. 🙂

All in all, even if we didn’t get to win the promo (we didn’t even have a chance to join it), we still had a great time. Thanks BonChon!

One Friday, circumstances brought me to go home and leave the office early. I rushed to Festival Mall in Alabang to meet up with my love Maanne. After some “PDA-ing” and walking around doing window shopping, we got hungry and decided to eat at a pizza joint. My initial thought was to go to Sbarro, but my love had heard of a new restaurant called Sicily, located near Yellow Cab in the third floor of Festival Mall.

The restaurant is clean, airy and spacious. It exudes an aura of hominess.

Panorama – Sicily Restaurant

The tables at Sicily, view #1

They have a great selection of pizza and pasta dishes, as well as some other Italian/Mediterranean dishes:

They had a selection of hand-tossed, thin crust pizzas that were made on-demand by their resident pizza tosser. We ordered the Quattro Formaggi (“four cheese”) pizza, and it did not disappoint us. The sauce was tangy and went well with the chili flakes.

For our pasta dish, we had some Pasta Montanara, which is made with a tomato-based sauce, sausages and bell peppers. It was great!

All in all, we had a great time eating at Sicily, and we were even pleasantly surprised that the bill wasn’t that large. We feel that this restaurant is one of the most underrated pizza/pasta houses in the mall, and we’re actually puzzled as to why it isn’t more popular than it is. 🙂

Experiencing little things like this with my love is what makes me a very happy prince! ❤

Together with a bunch of cool game developers, we celebrated Smartwave’s 1^st team building held at Mira Monte, Pansol, Laguna. We were supposed to be there in the afternoon, but Mark was still in the office. Earlier I had tantrums and sought for Mark’s attention (his full attention), we had an argument,  but at the end of the day, we’re still together. <3_<3

We took a bus from Alabang going to Pansol and reached the resort at around 8pm. After dinner we played billiards, swam a lot, and my love served as the “secret boss” for their Pokemon “tournament” – where the winner got a copy of Diablo III.

the tournament.:)))

Ian and the “secret boss”

The next day, we had our breakfast at one of the developers’ house in Cabuyao, Laguna, then headed back to Alabang.

me and my loove.:D 

JC driving..:)

It was a very memorable experience – first because we celebrated our good friend JC and his company’s success and also because you have proven that my love will take all the risk and effort just to be with me. ❤ ❤ ❤ I love you so much, always forever! ❤ ❤ ❤