July 30, 2012

Café Lago, San Pablo, Laguna

All of us get stuck with our feelings at one point or another. But life has taught me that those we should avoid or leave behind are the negative ones, especially anger. How do you deal with anger? Do you fight it? Or do you let yourself be consumed by it?

When it comes to emotional matters, I’m more of an introvert. I don’t jump with joy when I’m happy. I don’t drink beer when I’m heart-broken. I process my emotions, thoughts and observations internally. Most of the time, I’m like a still river, calm on the surface but raging underneath.

For the past few days, not a day in a week passed without someone getting angry with me. Some I guess have misinterpreted my otherwise normal behavior to nonchalant, inadvertent rudeness. I admit, I’m not a saint but I’m not that mean either. Minsan lang hehe. Anger is not bad per se. It is a strong emotion that sometimes needs to be expressed. Being angry is being human. I also get angry every now and then especially when I don’t get what I want, when I feel violated, or accused of something I never did or intend to. But I never let it maneuver my life. At least not anymore. How I wish I could just plainly tell the people who are angry with me right now – “It was never my intention to upset you.” or “I was just kidding.” or “Hold on to anything but anger.”

Flashback 12 years ago, I was in the basement of the Main Library, miserable and looking for a way to break up with anger. This was a time in my life when I was so angry with someone, that it has practically sucked me of all my positive emotions. My anger since childhood to that year snowballed into something I thought I could never handle anymore… until I found an audio tape by some psychologist whose words hit me bulls-eye - “You are angry not because someone made you angry. You are angry because you let yourself get angry.” I closed my eyes and digested what he said. This was like the break-up line I was long searching to ditch my long-time relationship with anger. I was ready to let go.

That day, I learned a thing or two: First, People are responsible for their own behavior and actions but how I react or respond to them, it’s my own volition. I should blame no one. Second, I can let my emotions control me or I can just show them who the real master is.

So the next time you get angry, think of the losses it entails. When you’re angry, you gain nothing, instead you are losing a friend, a colleague or a love one. When you’re angry, you are less capable of loving.  When you’re angry, you are robbing yourself a chance at happiness. And speaking of such, Café Lago is such a place flourishing not only with greens but with happiness.



Pako salad

Cream dory sa gata with mustasa

Fried halo-halo





Promise, this place and that pumpkin by the lake have the power to dissipate all your anger away.

July 23, 2012

Toro

Never deny yourself the simpler pleasures of existence.


Green tea

Salmon nigiri

Nori chos, volcano maki, crispy rice tuna

Salmon in caper sauce

Age dashi tofu and ebi tempura tartare

Spicy tofu fire bowl

Pork gyoza

Turtle pie and butterfinger shot


Toro is quite an interesting word. It means tuna meat in Japanese, a bull in Spanish, and something R-18 in Filipino (in this case eto lang ang Toro na legal sa Pilipinas hehe!). And anyone who tries the 12-course Toro degustacion and treats their taste buds to a marriage of flavuors from Okinawa to Tijuana, can officially claim the title Torero!

Toro Restaurant and Bar
One McKinley Bldg., Unit 6 G/F
4th Ave., between 25th and 26th St.
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig

July 19, 2012

A love unappreciated is a love wasted


In the end, you can't always choose who to keep.
You can only choose how you let them go.

July 18, 2012

Art Circle Cafe

“He’s not perfect. You aren’t either, and the two of you will never be perfect. But if he can make you laugh at least once, causes you to think twice, and if he admits to being human and making mistakes, hold onto him and give him the most you can. He isn’t going to quote poetry, he’s not thinking about you every moment, but he will give you a part of him that he knows you could break. Don’t hurt him, don’t change him, and don’t expect for more than he can give. Don’t analyze. Smile when he makes you happy, yell when he makes you mad, and miss him when he’s not there. Love hard when there is love to be had. Because perfect guys don’t exist, but there’s always one guy that is perfect for you.”
- Bob Marley


Wheat grass juice


Fish in oil and garlic


Seafood pasta


Black and white tart

Just found a perfect place that showcases countryside paintings and serves comfort food, good enough to cheer a lonely heart.

Art Circle Café
G/F Bahay ng Alumni
UP Diliman, Quezon City 

July 17, 2012

The Mind Museum, Taguig

Sometimes, I wish I could read everybody’s mind so I can find out how people feel about me. But unfortunately, only Professor X has such power. And he’s just some by-product of someone else’s wild imagination.

Maybe being powerless was the reason why you are one of the very few people I granted passage into my life. You’ve seen every atom of my dreams catching up with my reality. You’ve walked upon my grayest alley until my very last shabby corner. But there among the rubbish, you stayed, and cultivated a life. You told me things won’t always be beautiful, and I should find comfort in it. I wish I could just believe that.
















One day I will stop asking questions. But maybe not now. In this vast universe, enigmas are scattered everywhere like they belong nowhere. But you…  you are always somewhere in my mind.

July 16, 2012

Direct from the Studios of…

Have you ever wondered what’s going on inside an artist’s studio, aside from being makalat hehe? Take a peek inside the inner sanctums of contemporary Filipino artists Christina Quisumbing Ramilo, Maya Munoz, Romeo Lee and Leroy New. And see the place where their art was first conceived…









After discovering the artists’ private spaces, I realized that though the saying “no man is an island” is true, we sometimes need time to be alone, just be with our self. Happiness need not be shared all the time. There is a solitary kind.

Manila Contemporary
Whitespace, 2314, Chino Roces Ave.
Pasong Tamo Ext., Makati