Monday, January 30, 2006

A roadtrip on my own.. but with a few company

I got an impromptu visit from one of my cousin, asking my help to download some images from his phone and burn it on a cd and at the same time, ripped out some song from cds.

The topic of conversation soon became our wedding preparation and the recent "tour of luzon" that wit-wit and I had. I told him that we loved the Church of the Twin Hearts and upon hearing this, he gave me an unapproving grin and remarked, "Are you sure you want to get married in Twin Hearts?". I gave him a blank stare but it occured to me that he was married in the Church of the Twin Hearts and now they are living separate lives. HOLY MOLY! He added that he knew a couple of others who was solemnized at the same church and is now not so happily married. I'm a skeptic when it comes to pamanhiin and stuffs but his statement gave me a soft hit on the face.. hehehe.. And when I broke the news to Sarah, she was quite.. no not quite.. but really disappointed. I knew that she fell in love with the church and it was seen on her face hours after we left the church... haaay..

When I was about to finish transferring and ripping, my cuz offered to show me around a few venues around QC. My sister and I hopped in and we started our roadtrip.

While on the road, he mentioned that we don't need to spend so much for the venue and decide for us if we want to invest on the "memories" or invest on our lives together. It was a question that made me think for a while. He re-iterated numerous times that the Twin Hearts, along with other churches seem to have bad omen when it comes to weddings and stuffs. We were better off getting married in Our Lady of Lourdes Church, my own parish church. My good for nothing sister (hehehe joke) asserted this as well.. well she is a firm believer of those superstitions.


I have no major qualms about Lourdes Church though, being the photographer that I am, I find the church is well lit and very spacious; the center aisle is wide enough to accomodate 3 people walking in a row without the ones on each side having to turn sideways on a few occasions to avoid the decorations, the alter is nice and roomy and photographers aren't that restricted. Ironicaly, Sarah is not too fond of big churches. My only concern is that the facade of the church is not so photo-op friendly.

Going back... I remarked that I am a real skeptic with those pamahiin... My cousin said that if we are really decided on Twin Hearts, our best bet would be The Shangrila Restaurant, down Times Street near West Ave. The packages there are quite reasonable and offer a very tasty cantonese menu and the place itself is not so bad. One of these days, I'll bring my wit-wit over there to check it out. hehhe..

Back to our roadtrip, our first stop was Paco's along Sgt. Esguerra. It is a medium sized resto with filipino, grilled and sizzling plate menus. The food looks good but I'm not to impressed with the place. It looks more like a bar than a resto.. hehehe.

Next stop was "Blue Bacon", a private fine dining restaurant in the outskirts of Cubao, along Lantana St. The place is small but gorgeous. They have indoor plants, dioramas of fountains and a St. Francis of Assisi Statue (my patron saint), a place that an artist will sure to appreciate. But looking at the packages they offer, the price is too steep, P500 and P800 for just an entree.

On the way back to Timog, we passed by "The Stone House" along E. Rodriguez Avenue, but since it was already late in the evening, 10:00pm, no one seems to be there to assist us. On the outside, it looks like.. well.. an apartell but the interior looks decent enough and looking up, I can see a landscaped roofdeck. hmmm.. I'd definitely check it out with my wit-wit..

Upon arriving at Timog, we stopped at "A Taste of L.A." It was also a nice place but too bar-ish and the place has 2 levels.. not too good for a wedding venue in my opinion. Also, they serve entrees (again!) only.. haay.. this is really tiring.. hehehe..

Our last stop was Dulcinea, I hessistated at first since I very well know that it will be out of reach. But surprizingly, itis quite affordable.. from P370-P470 for a 100-person buffet. Not bad.. not bad at all. The function room was big enough and well decorated. What I didn't like about Dulcinea was the low ceiling and it was full of beams.

We were quite hungry so we proceeded to "The Original Pares and Mami House" along Retiro (some say it's a spin-off from the famous JONAS Mami house). The place was jamm packed and there were people lining up we decided to eat at the shop in front of it, "Sizzing ang Lugawan sa Matnog". I don't really know why it is called matnog, but it was really cheap! P138.00 for us three, we ordered a sizzling plate each, softdrinks and one extra rice for me.. mura no?!

Wit.. punta tayo sa Stone House this week ha.. and ipakita ko rin sa iyo yung Dulcinea... :)

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