Meals with Mark: Hold my Bir(yani)

A new place to visit necessitated a new place to eat.

Before our Side A concert, we decided to have early dinner at SM Manila. Since there are a number of restaurants there that aren't in other SM Malls, that was the jump off point for our dinner venue.

Mark said that he saw an interesting biryani place. Since we're both fans of biryani, it was the natural choice.

And that's what led us to Biryani Boys.

They serve Middle Eastern food, from our favourite hummus and pita, to tikka, to kebabs and their biryani. With so many appetising choices, we ordered a little bit of everything.

We had the nachos - made with pita, the chicken tikka with biryani rice, the falafel platter, and they gave us free chicken soup!

Everything was so good! The soup was hearty and generous with the ingredients. The falafel had the right crunch. The nachos were interesting because of the crispy pita. The chicken tikka and biryani had bold flavours that complemented well.

This was a great choice, and thanks to Mark for spotting and suggesting it.

Hope these boys have a branch closer to us.

The right Side

Today was a day of firsts.

While Mark and I have watched a lot of movies and some musicals, we haven't really watched a full-on concert. And thanks to his friend - Gelo - we were able to.

We spent Sunday night together, enjoying the music that defined our generation. From that moment they sang "Tell Me," it was clear that the night was going to be rife with memories and nostalgia.

And it was!

From their iconic hits like "Eva Marie," and "Forevermore," to their upbeat encore of "'Di pa huli," Mark and I just sang and swayed the night away.

I'm so happy we were able to tap into this side of us tonight.

Prep work

Uniqlo called it. 

The preppy-era is back, yet again.

Time to bring out those polos, cardigans and sweaters.

But here's a reimagined way of looking at preppy.

Put together this ensemble using pieces that are normally preppy, but with little twists here and there. The top is a knit polo, but with a slightly exaggerated shoulder and a drawstring at the bottom. Got this at Landmark. 

The SHEIN skirt has an asymmetric waist detail and an off-centre hem.

Finally, the shoes are a cross between sneakers and ballet flats, with very preppy primary colours. This is also from SHEIN.

See? Looking preppy AND modern doesn't take a lot of work.

FMM: Not often enough

Saw some of my high school classmates today. 

In the case of my 2 classmates, Juliet and Marose, the last time we saw each other was during our HS graduation. And that was more than 3 decades ago!

Needless to say, there was a lot of catching up. Stories about our teachers, our high school retreats, our after school shenanigans - these all suddenly came flooding back. 

Then, we eventually talked about our HS choir - our performances and out-of-school concerts, and that's when this song suddenly popped in my head.

"Sometimes" was a song that none of us knew that time. But Mr. Ortega taught the song to us, and we preformed it several times. The more we performed it, the more we fell in love with this Carpenters song. Until now, this song is always on my playlist.

Sometimes, it just takes a mini-reunion to bring back memories like this. 

This Singer is a Driver

Chanced upon this photo on the internet that instantly resonated with me.

We had this exact Singer sewing machine at home, and I'd often pretend to drive using the sewing machine wheel. So, I'm basically the kid in the photo.

This made me miss the good old days of my childhood.

Yeoh a Star!

And she keeps on breaking barriers!

Now, Michelle Yeoh has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

She's the first Malaysian actress to receive this honour.

Yeoh go, girl!

Marry old time

Had dinner with Mark and his friends last night, and the conversation was about KDrama recommendations.

Peter and I shared our faves - some of them they've watched, some of them were new. Some of the recommendations were old, some were new.

On my way home, I remembered one of my faves that I wasn't able to recommend.

"Marry my husband" was a KDrama that aired on Prime Video in 2024. It's about marriage and revenge, and a bit of fantasy thrown in.

It's actually quite campy, which adds to its charm. I've re-watched this twice, and still like it.

Time to re-watch it again.

Sleeping Sphinx

For a change, this Monday's sleeping cat isn't lazily sprawled down a surface.

If last week's cat was a "masa" cat, today's cat is an example of the other Pinoy saying: "Puwedeng matulog kahit saang puwesto." 

This cat might not be a sphinx, but he sure sleeps like one.

Speak of the Devil

Here it is!

The full and official trailer of "The Devil Wears Prada 2."

So many questions. So much curiosity piqued. 

Can't wait to see this on screen in a few months.

Sweet students

Today's class fell on a Valentine's Day. So, it started with a quote from my UP Professor: "Valentine's Day is just a social & consumerist construct."

But of course, that didn't stop us from exchanging some Valentine's Day treats.

Two of my students handed me these heart-shaped and sweet treats.

Yes, it might be a social & consumerist construct," but it shouldn't stop us from being sweet.