Celebrating Two Occasions in One Day

Hello, foodies!

Yesterday was a very special day for me and my family because not only did we celebrate Mother's Day, but we also celebrated my birthday. :)






We went to the mall quite early that day, and even if we were tempted to visit Mooon Cafe which opened just recently, we still went to Max's Restaurant because brother wanted us to use the Complimentary Voucher for Max's 4 Sharing Meals he received during one of their events. We had the choice which kind of sinigang we would like, and we all chose Sinigang na Salmon because it's a family favorite. To add to our feast, we also ordered a serving of Pansit Bihon (for long life) and a serving of Veggie Lumpia Bites - sister's favorite. We all had a great lunch.

One thing I loved about our meal - Max's Restaurant still let us use mom's Senior Citizen ID Card. At first we were thinking they might not allow it because we already used a voucher for the 4 Sharing Meal (Chicken, Rice, Sinigang, Iced Tea), but we still gave them the card just in case. We thought, there's no harm trying; if they won't allow us to use it, then so be it... but, they did let us use it! So... not only did we have the other meal for free, we also got a discount for the added dishes we ordered! :)


For dinner, we had typical birthday party food - spaghetti, lumpiang shanghai, cake, and ice cream. Yes, the cake was actually for Mother's Day, but to save money, we also used it as my birthday cake. I cooked the spaghetti and the lumpia, sister bought the cake.

32. I am officially out of the calendar, but I am very happy and thankful because not everybody can live up to that age, and I am now filled with much positivity and enthusiasm that this year will be my best year. :)

- * - * - * -

So... what did you have last weekend? If you're new to the Weekend Eating meme, you can read the rules and get the badge codes HERE. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who joined last week.

Mother's Day at Bizu Patisserie

I have written back then that my mom and I didn't really have a close relationship while I was growing up, though of course we do love each other, it's just that I was closer to my dad back then. When my dad died five years ago, it opened the doors for mom and I and in the last 5 years we have been really close - even treating each other as great friends. I can tell her about many things - including love life, and even though it took a while for us to be like this, I am very thankful that I have her as my mom. She truly is the best. Well, admit it or not, our mothers truly are the best woman in our lives.


This year is going to be really special because our family will be celebrating two occasions at the same date - Mother's Day and my Birthday. This afternoon, my sister came home with a yummy gift from Bizu Patisserie - the Paris Brest Cake. My mom was surely surprised about it because this is the first time she got to see a cake like this, and she was so happy because it's not chocolate (she is not so fond of chocolate cakes and ice cream though she eats it).


Wikipedia defines Paris Brest as, "The pastry was created in 1891 to commemorate the Paris–Brest–Paris bicycle race. Its circular shape is representative of a wheel. It became popular with riders on the Paris-Brest cycle race, partly because of its energy-giving high calorific value, and is now found in pâtisseries all over France."

Bizu Patisserie's Paris Brest cake is made of Almond Pâte à Choux pastry filled with layers of white chocolate, rose cream (yes, rose the flower), lychee segments, and fresh raspberries. The pastry is light yet crispy - it reminds me of the profiteroles I ate not too long ago... and the filling was something new for all of us.

This cake is somewhat like my mom - it's simple yet very pretty, light but filled with lots of goodness. :) Bizu Patisserie's Paris Brest cake is really a great gift we could give our moms - and grandmothers, aunts...

This weekend - 12 and 13 of May 2012 - get a chance to win any of the goodies posted above when you buy the Paris Brest cake or any of their grande cakes. Well, the cake itself is already an awesome gift, receiving any of the items will surely make your gift more special.

Visit Bizu Patisserie at any of these branches: Alabang Town Center, Greenbelt 2, Glorietta 4, Greenhills Shopping Center, G/F of the Promenade Mall, and St. Luke's Hospital (Bonifacio Global City).

Sbarro (Robinson's Place Iloilo)

Sbarro
G/F, Robinson's Place Iloilo,
Ledesma St., Iloilo City
+63 (33)335-8455

Third day in Iloilo... not much places to visit for us, though there were a few tourist spots we wished to visit. The Museo Iloilo was a few minutes away by jeep from the inn, but when we got there are 11am, they were just about to close the museum for lunch break. We thought it was a little too early for lunch break, but the museum staff didn't allow us to enter and just asked us to come back at 1pm. Two-hour lunch break? Well, we thought it was too long to wait, so we just went to Robinson's Place Iloilo to wind up and eat lunch as well.


There weren't much food places at the mall, and most are already familiar food places for me. One restaurant that is "new" to me was Hong Kong Kitchen something... and we wanted to eat there so we can also include Chinese cuisine to our list of food choices, but the place was already packed with diners. I surely didn't want to eat at Jollibee and K didn't like McDonald's, so we went for Sbarro.


Compared to branches at SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia and Trinoma, this branch was small and there weren't much choices, but I saw it as a good thing - less choices means people will just have to choose whatever is available.


Spinach Lasagna. Years back, when I tasted Sbarro for the first time, I went for their Spaghetti in White Sauce with Meatball. Through the course of time, it was always my choice whenever I dine at Sbarro... and now that I have a food blog, I wanted to go for something different when I dine at a food place for the second or third time just to give it variation.

This pasta was good. It has a lot of fillings and it was actually a heavy meal - finishing this off made me so full, and me choosing the white sauce took me back to how I want my Sbarro pasta to be like. It is interesting to know that different branches offer the same taste of food, something I am quite pleased about.


Spaghetti with Meatball. K doesn't eat most types of cheese and he didn't want to go for their rice meal (which was something most diners ate that time), so he went for spaghetti with meatball (1/2 serving). He wasn't that hungry and he didn't want to eat the entire half serving, so while the staff was putting spaghetti on his plate, he asked the staff to stop as soon as she placed some spaghetti. I told him he wasn't getting his money's worth because it was obviously less than what the serving should be, but he didn't want to end up with a bloated feeling and he didn't want to force himself to eat the entire serving, so this was enough for him. Well, I guess I could consider that as a diet tip. :)

For drinks, we both went for Royal Tru-Orange.

We roamed around the mall for some good 30 minutes before we left and took a jeep to our next destination: Jaro Church.