When I Eat Paper
Right now, I’m finding solace in the truth of Vonnegut’s words.
So it goes.
Picking Persimmons
Things I Enjoy Doing # 1
Grocery shopping. Especially in the following sections, in no particular order:
- capsicums (they are the loveliest shades of red, yellow, and green)
- ice cream shelves
- bakery (New World’s bakery trumps Pak n’ Save’s)
- beauty and toiletries (I just love browsing through beauty products)
I don’t like going to the meat and seafood sections, but these guys wanted to say hi:
Charming, aren’t they?
96% Excellence
I work on Sundays at a pharmacy and I love it, usually. It was a good day at work today although there were quite a few overwhelming moments when I was by myself and there were about 10 people waiting to be served. I love working with the Sunday team, although we miss Sheila.
Sifting through piles of paper, brochures, and magazines in the staff room for something to read during lunch, I saw two mystery shopper reports. One got a 76% mark, and the other, a 96% with Darryl’s handwriting saying “Great!”. I first opened the 76% and saw that it was Anne who was “mystery-shopped”. The other report that scored the 96%, was about Summer and I.
From the report, Summer was the one who answered the phone, and I was the one who actually served the customer. The first mystery shopper I had last year gave me a 91%, so I must be consistent with my customer service. :)
The report says I am friendly, courteous, and patient. It just sunk in that I have come a long way from being someone with a very short fuse (I honestly thought I need anger management lessons before) to someone who would be described by a complete stranger as patient.
At the risk of sounding self-centered, I gotta admit: positive vibes and compliments are love. :)
But don’t get me started. I still have a short fuse, it just requires a bigger spark to start it. And let me mask that statement by a well-placed “winky smiley” to soften the blow and make it a cute threat, when in fact, it’s as serious as any hazardous warning can get:
;)
Victoria Bistro
Aldrin and I have gotten into the hobby of trying out restaurants. We are not food connoisseurs, but simply two people who love and appreciate good food. We’ve only started with our restaurant runs recently (dining out is very expensive for a broke uni student and a parttime retail staff), and we are thankful for the relatively good and happy experiences so far.
The latest restaurant adventure was with Victoria Bistro, last Thursday, June 2. It was unplanned, but we decided to push through with the dinner after watching Xmen: First Class. Aldrin found out about the restaurant online and was pleased to see that the place has 100% positive feedback. Seeing photos of the food and the place made me excited to go too.
It’s hard for me to take a decent photo because there were too many diners that night. To our right was a group of lovely ladies having a nice girls’ night out. We didn’t make any reservations but we were accommodated immediately.
Once settled, we were given pumpkin soup, on the house. I love it: it was thick and creamy, just perfect for the chilly night, but I felt it needed a bread stick on the side. Who am I to complain though, it was given for free.
Service was excellent. We were given a table at 7:15, have ordered by 7:20, and were on our way with our entrees roughly 10 minutes later.
For entrees, I ordered the Crispy Skin Pork Belly. Totally exquisite entree. Crisp skin followed by melt-in-your-mouth goodness of the meat, the palm sugar chili caramel sets it beautifully and the light salad provides a wonderful contrast in texture… Perfection in a plate!
Aldrin ordered the Chinese Five Spice Quail. He said he loved the sauce (a sweet soy reduction) but apart from that, the meat was just, “meh”.
I was very undecided about what to have for my main because I feel stuffed with my crispy pork belly. I have always loved salmon, so I thought I’d go with the Crispy Skin Akaroa Salmon. Crispy skins seems to be the theme of the night for me. Sorry for the crappy photo quality: the salmon is the loveliest shade of pink. It is buttery soft, and I love the pappardelle bed. I don’t know how I managed to finish the plate but I did ask for Aldrin’s help with the oysters.
Aldrin had the Hawke’s Bay Lamb Rump. He loved it. In fact, he was shaking his head and closing his eyes as he savors the food.:)
He also ordered Curly fries with Victoria Street Bistro Aioli Sauce. We finished it in a flash.
I am about to burst at this point. I am so full, I can barely even move. But, as I always say, there is always room for desserts. I ordered the Chocolate Fudge Sundae, which I felt was a tad too sweet for my liking:
Aldrin had the lovely White Chocolate and Frangelico Mousse. He shared it with me, thankfully. I ended up enjoying his order more than I did mine. His order had a sprinkle of caramelized peanuts which are just love.
Providing an excellent dining experience after our wonderful time with Palate and Gostiona is a tall order, and sadly, while service at Victoria Bistro is excellent, the food is not something that stands out. We couldn’t quite put a finger to what it is that is lacking because the presentation and food styling were amazing, the portion sizes were generous, and the mix of layers and textures in the food were okay. Maybe that was just the thing: it was just “okay”. There were a few glory moments, yes, like the Crispy Pork Belly, the Frangelico Mousse and the dining interior, but apart from those, I don’t think we will be coming back. I would recommend it to friends, yes, but only after telling them about Gostiona and Palate.
Mic Test. Testing. 1, 2, 3… Life Test.
2011 marks the year that I have put up (and taken down) the most number of blogs and online accounts. I have created a lot of accounts for different purposes, but there were just too many that I have forgotten some of them.
And here I am creating another personal one.
From this day forth, let it be known, that this blog will serve as an undefined and ineffective archival system of my existence.
Which is not very impressive. For now.
Anyhow.
Ehem.
I think this series of photographs shows our second week of rock climbing. 
I loved it before when I did it for the first time in freshman year in UP, and I love it again. I love the feeling of tingling and exhausted arms, of being frustrated when I can’t finish a wall, and of being satisfied when I do finish one. And I do all those with my converse leather sneakers. :)
This is my sister who led me to this place:
She is not afraid of heights unlike me, so she’s more willing to let go of the wall and rappel down, whereas I need to climb down halfway first before letting go of the wall. Funny how during my first climb, the kids were climbing faster than me and were just letting go once at the top (yes, I had to uhm — warm-up — on the kids’ walls on my first day) and I am just there, holding on for dear life.
Rock climbing is fun. That’s why we keep on coming back. :)
