Waving Hello

Taxi scene while being held by traffic.  I was on the front seat while my friend A is at the back seat with her British colleague F. 

F:  A, what's going on.
me and A turning our heads in her direction and finding a boy with his palm pressed to the window
A:  He's begging for alms.
me:  But it's better to give them food instead of money.
A:  (after rummaging in her bag).  We better give him our takeout from the restaurant. 
F:  Oh.  Is that what he wanted?  I thought when he held up his palm that he was waving hello and so I have been waving  back but when he did not budge, I knew something was up.
A:  No, he's asking for a five-peso coin.

Ha ha. 

Chocolat Lindt Berne Swiss Dark Chocolate

Received this from a friend and so my sweet tooth was treated to an indulgence of premium Swiss Dark Chocolate from Lindt, a small yet one of the world's finest chocolatiers. 

I have adored Lindt since I tasted their Lindt mint chocolates way back in college.  Though not really a fan of dark chocolate as I prefer white or milk chocolates, this one became an exception.  The fragrant smell of cacao wafted into my nose when I peeled off its silver foil.  I took a bite off a bar.  Then another...  And I was reminded of how delicious Lindt's chocolates are.  

And this particular dark chocolate was quite addicting as I could savor the defined taste of chocolate but it was not bitter as most dark chocolates are or so sweet that I just kept on popping its bars into my mouth.  That is, until I remembered my diet.  Ha ha!  

Gerry's Grill: Sugba Kilaw, Nilagang Bulalo and Sizzling Sisig

My friend and I went to SM City Cebu yesterday for some groceries but first engaged ourselves to an indulgent lunch at Gerry's Grill.  

We ordered their best seller Sizzling Sisig at Php 189.00.  We also had an egg added to it.

The sisig was okay though it was not as delicious as the ones I tasted in their outlets in Glorietta in Makati or the one at Insular Building also in Makati.  Still, it was way better than the last sisig I had at Salagdoong Beach last February.

Sugba Kilaw at Php 265.00 also caught our attention as this is a combination of grilled liempo (thus the "sugba" in the dish's name) and kilawin tanguige.

The kilawin tanguige was quite a treat and served to perfection but the skin portion of the sugba was a little tough.  

Lastly, for our soup, we chose Nilagang Bulalo At Php 295.00.

This was the most delicious of the three.  The meat was oh so tender and the vegetables cooked just right that they had a crunch to it.  The soup tasted perfect and while relishing it, I couldn't help but remark how it reminded me of my daddy's superb cooking of the same dish. 

For my drinks, I had their unlimited Sago at Gulaman at Php 90.00.  But anyone can also have its single order at Php 65.00.

Unfortunately, my drink was too sweet for me.  Oh well, I should have known from its color alone.

At a total cost of Php 998.00 (cost of the above plus my friend's buko juice at Php 75.00 and 2 plain rice at Php 64.00 including the mandatory 12% tax) for two, it was a good and reasonably-priced meal. 

Gerry's Grill in SM City Cebu is located at the mall's Northwing and is opened daily from 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM.  You may contact them through (032)  412-7094 or (032) 238-9576 or send them an e-mail at smcebu@gerrysgrill.com.  Or click HERE for their official website.

Sunrise at Plantation Bay

One of the perks of being on graveyard shift is the chance to catch the horizon break as the sun rises. And today,  I got very lucky as I chanced upon a very colorful sunrise.

This was taken a mere thirty minutes after I took photos of the supermoon.  I was actually on my way back to the office from my rounds when I glanced back and gasped at the beauty framed by the acacia in our back lobby.

I stopped dead on my tracks and took two more photos.

Normally, I prefer to take sunrise and sunset photos by the beach but the acacia provided a great fringe against a backdrop of sunrise-painted sky and still waters.

Supermoon

According to this news in Yahoo, the term supermoon (or super moon) has become popular in recent years to describe a situation when the full moon occurs at or near the time when the moon is closest to Earth on its non-circular orbit.

And tonight happened to be the supermoon or the biggest full moon of 2012 when the moon was 14 percent larger than normal and 16 percent brighter than an average full moon.

Judging from the above photos, the moon indeed was more prominent today as even at past 5 AM, which was the time I took these pictures, it was still very visible.  

I even got a zoomed-in shot of it, which is posted below.