For the witty, sophisticated charmer, celebrating his 23rd

.. this is for the 16 years of friendship. Hahaha. :)

From the awkward post-puberty/trying to look old phase (yes, your hair looks nice here)

to our weird moments inside the Kythe room, where we pretend to study..

to moments inside my car, where we talk about anything and everything, and where you are the official DJ, assigned to play music from Ateneo all the way to Makati..

for believing in the things that I am most passionate about (yes, seen through me trying to teach you how to fly a kite. Hahaha.)

and for still pushing me when things seemed hopeless and all I wanted to do was just bum around...

for allowing me to make fun of you (hahaha.)

and mock you whenever you feel cool (kasi cool boy ka na ngayon eh. hahaha.)

for being my Fully Booked buddy, allowing me to share the random things that I read wherever, and for helping me wake up my tired neurons..

and for being my ultimate kaladkarin friend, that's almost always available anytime (Remember this? SOSS Fiesta 2008. You went with me because I forced you. You got drunk. Hahaha.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLAN! :)
(You're gonna hate me for posting this picture, but I don't care. Hahaha.)

More adventures ahead! 2010 goal -- we're going to Boracay, okay? :)

Rapo and Leigh Adventures: Som's and Kikufuji

Because I promised Rapo I'd be chronicling our after work adventures, well, here it is. I'm blogging about it already. :)

Lately all we've been doing is to scout for good restaurants that serve really, really good food. Actually, if I remember correctly, our friendship started with us talking about where we wanted to eat and the kinds of food we wanted to eat. Since then we've been going as far as Binondo and Quezon Ave (we're both from the south, so those places are far from where we usually are,) to look for good restaurants.

Anyway, this is Part 1 of the places we've eaten at so far.

1. Som's Noodle House - Alger St., Poblacion, Makati City (very near Rockwell)

This is the first place we went to, outside of the vicinity of work (meaning, outside of Fort. Haha.)

Som's is sort of a hole in the wall restaurant near Rockwell that serves really, really good Thai food. The Tom Yum Shrimp is a staple everytime we're there, plus the Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce. I can't say much, because we usually stick to what we like, but we've also tried the Thai Siomai, and it was also pretty good.

Ambiance wise, it has that carinderia feel to it, with plastic chairs and tables with umbrellas just outside on the road and sidewalk. It allows you to want to eat more, actually (because nobody cares if you eat with or without poise. In my case, it's more of without. Hahaha.) It just sucks though, when you get there and it starts to rain. Som's has very, very limited space indoors, so when it rains, you just have to either have your food taken out, or just risk having to eat on a wet table. Trust me, it's not nice. We've tried it. Haha.

Leigh with the Tom Yum Shrimp
April 27, 2009

Rapo enjoying his Tom Yum also!
March 31, 2009

Som's closes at around 10pm, which is late, sort of, but too early for us (we get off work at around 9), and the food usually takes around 10-15 minutes to be served. Prices are okay. We average around 200-300 each, for the Tom Yum, one to two dishes, rice and drinks.

2. Izakaya Kikufuji - Pasong Tamo, Makati City (Part of Little Tokyo, beside Makati Cinema Square)

It was a rainy night when we decided on going to this part of Makati to look for something to eat. Rapo remembered he had already eaten at this restaurant which had really, really good grilled dishes, whose name he initially could not remember.

Of course, he eventually remembered it was Kikufuji. We got there right before they were about to close, just in time for the last order. He ordered random stuff, whose names of course, were all in Japanese, so I couldn't remember them. I was just initially intimidated because I had never eaten in an authentic Japanese restaurant in my whole life.

Anyway, he ordered a bunch of grilled things on skewers, tuna sashimi and salmon sashimi. My favorite turned out to be the grilled mushrooms wrapped in Bacon. Super, super, super yummy. Both types of Sashimi were equally good, with very distinct tastes that differentiate them. Personally, I prefer the Salmon Sashimi; it's much lighter on the tastebuds. :)

The grilled dishes that we like (from L-R) -- Beef Tenderloin (I think,) Pork Liver, 2 sticks of the mushroom wrapped in bacon, asparagus wrapped in bacon, and chicken liver

Him and his Yakisoba, on a Tuesday night
July 28, 2009

Me with my favorite dish! :)
July 28, 2009

Kikufuji is a laid back place, very cafeteria like. Expect no music, just snippets of conversation from the tables around you. The counter is where we always sit, while watching the Japanese dude prepare the dishes while drinking beer (seriously!) The menu's mostly in Japanese, but the servers are able to explain what the dishes are. Prices are okay, around 300 per person.

Parking is probably the only thing that I had difficulty with, because it shares parking space with the other restaurants in the area. Chances are, you might have to double park and be disturbed in the middle of your meal just to move your car. It's either that, or have your car parked across the street by the valet people. Valet parking is free, by the way. :)

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There you go. :) I promise to update more often. I've been thinking of writing about a lot of things lately, mostly about my adventures after work. Hopefully I find the time to do so. :)