Manila

Siena Isabel's Baptism.....that was the main reason for going out to Manila...well that was of course the only reason we needed :-)

Mom, dad and Mutti had gone there a week earlier to enjoy some holidays in the Philippines while I only flew inn on Friday evening....I was welcomed by going to a restaurant at Rockwell mall....but how nice....we could sit outside...I am not a mall and aircon fan, so this was great.....starters was some manchego cheese, salami, crispy bacon pieces and calamari fritti with aioli and spring rolls...great...mains I decided to be a little bit more healthy and the appetizers were quite filling, so Fabienne, mom and I decided to share two salads (Fabienne said they were quite large).....we ended up choosing the pear, blue-cheese and walnut salad and the fried soft shell crab salad.....the dressings were great, so were the toppings...but when comparing to South Africa, I felt we received way too many green leaves and not enough actual salad toppings, but apparently this is how they do it in the Philippines....good to know :-)....still nice though and Mutti had some vegetarian type ratatouille with rice, so she shared some of the peppers and onions with me....filled me right up.....

 Fried soft shell crab salad

Pear, blue-cheese and walnut salad

Dessert...everyone gave a skip and in all honesty I was a little bit exhausted from the long trip :-) So if ever in Manila and you do not feel like eating inside a mall...Mamu is worth it....its good, but not mind-blowing....

Saturday morning we got ready and were collected by the driver to go to the brunch before the baptism.....it was at the Polo Club and the whole family was there, what an atmosphere....little Siena was held and cuddled and she was so good, it was amazing....Gina (Fabienne's mother-in-law) organised a brunch/ lunch and everyone could socialize, very informal but nice....little Siena Isabel's baptism followed afterwards at the church, but this was only for the Godparents and Sandro's direct family and Fabienne's direct family....it was in a small little room, Siena looked beautiful in her baptism dress, and it was quite short.....(not going to ass pics of little Siena cause I just feel she is still a little bit too young).....Gina invited us to her house in the evening for a typical Filipino dinner....starters chorizo (delicious) and marinated olives followed by a buffet of goodies, the highlight being the Lachon (the crispy whole pig)- also included various veggies, fish, beef, rice etc.....

Sandro carving the lechon

Dessert....wow....a dark choc Toblerone cake...it was mind-blowing, crispy wafer layers and dark Toblerone layer which was still hard....it was so damn good...I have to say I was quite a pig cause I went back not only for seconds but also for thirds....never mind how I felt about afterwards, this was so damn good.....

Yes, I know....I am talking a lot about food, but in reality, in Manila there is not so much to do, I googled "what to do in Manila" and there was nothing, I also asked Fabienne and Sandro and everywhere I seemed to stumble across the same answers....you want to go to a shopping mall...cause there is not much to do.....oh well...then I guess I will end this blog by telling you about our lunch on Sunday before heading to Hong Kong where we would spend some time with Fabienne, Sandro and Siena.

Fabienne knew a great lunch place in the Greenbelt mall which mom and dad already knew so the 4 of us (mom, dad, Mutti and I), made pour way to Greenbelt, first some looking around the mall and then it was time for a long lunch.....I say long cause our flight was only late at night so there was absolutely no rush.... starter we decided to share and anti-pasti plate....various cold meats from parma ham, speck, salami to paprika salami....very nice...and some cheese pizza to go with it.....great way to start a meal....(sorry photo I actually forgot).....

Mains....dad went for the seafood pasta, mom decided on the beef carpaccio, Mutti the frittata (shrimps, artichokes, potatoes and ricotta) and I was a little boring, I went for the blue-cheese, pear and walnut salad....this one was excellent, it still had a lot of greens but it had a lot of ingredients and what I like best, a lot of dressing....everyone else also enjoyed their meal, I had a taste of Mutti's frittata which was great and dad's seafood pasta which was also divine....the portions, perfect, really the right size for one to be able to have a 3 course meal.....

Frittata (shrimps, artichokes, potatoes and ricotta)

 Beef Carpaccio

Seafood Pasta

Sorry, to pic of my salad cause the ingredients were underneath and the greens on top....so the pic looks like I am eating rabbit food....hahaha...rather share the other ones :-)

Dessert...definitely....but we decided to share two 3-cone ice-creams, 3 cones in one protion and flavours to choose from included vanilla, strawberry, choc, rum & raisin and almond toffee....(choc, strawberry and rum & raisin) (toffee almond and 2 rum & raisin)...unfortunately when they came they mixed up the toffee almond with choc...oh well...never mind...thank God we decided to share cause they were almost full size cones...amazing, we were expecting these mini cones but they definitely were NOT.....the choc was real dark choc, divine and the rum & raisin, wow....and to top it off, the cones, crispy and sweet, not these soggy or plastic-tasting ones. I must say our lunch was fabulous, definitely worth a visit this Bistro Sala. The nice thing about this bistro was also the fact that once again we could sit outside....it was great...next time in Manila, I will definitely go back to this one, there were so many more items that tantalised my taste buds...but I am sure this was not the last time visiting Manila....so for this blog...cheers from me...time to head to the airport....