My parents were there, along with myself, Chea, Thirdy and Marlyn (Thirdy's other yaya). Chea's parents also arrived. My sister came too with Gerry, Figi, and Citti. Gerry's mom, Gerry's brother Jonjon and his wife Jenny were also there.
Then there was my brother's closest friends: Gino, Charlie and Gerard, as well as a couple of my mom's friends.
After the mass, we headed off to the Little Kitchen Noodle Place along Tomas Morato close to the corner of E. Rodriguez Avenue for lunch. My mom originally planned to have lunch at Max's main restaurant at Scout Tuazon and reserve a function room. But my sis and I felt that we should be a bit thrifty this year as there were some expenses planned for early next year.
We asked her to just settle on a restaurant very near the columbarium so we could walk in case there were guests who don't have a ride. We looked at a few places the past few weekends but couldn't settle on anything until my mom found Little Kitchen all by herself. We pass by it every single time we visit my brother, but it wasn't appealing from the outside, as the signage looks a bit tacky, and well, the place looks a bit dingy. It looks like a very old chinese restaurant.
There was only enough space to park about three cars, but good thing that it was noontime on a Sunday so our entourage managed to park nearby.
Inside, well it looks drab and gloomy. I'm not sure if they turned on all the lights, but it was a bit dark. Since it was noon and it was sunny outside, it's most likely that they purposely had most of the lights off.
It didn't help that the area directly on the far opposite side of the entrance, was a bit of a mess with their dishes and other equipment laid out. It almost felt like we just walked into the restaurant an hour before they should have opened, despite there being customers in tables already, and my mom having made a reservation the previous week.
The tables were bare, and the chairs were the ones you'd expect from really old establishments.
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| Thirdy ready for some soup |
My mom reserved a table for 12 people only, as we weren't expecting more than that to attend the mass, but we're happy that other people came. There were only a few tables occupied, so it wasn't difficult to get another table.
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| My mom and my brother's friends |
Since they were only expecting a party of 12, the other bigger table was filled with kitchen ware and had to be cleared out. Also, they had to cook another batch of dishes for the other table, so only our table was served with food within 10 minutes of us getting there, as they basically started cooking our meals when we arrived.
I wasn't aware of the menu that my mom had previously selected, but it's supposed to be more than enough for a table of 12. It's a chinese restaurant, so they usually come in large serving plates.
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| Pancit.Very saucy. |
The dishes arrived one after the other with the pancit first. There was soup, although I didn't get to ask what it was.
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| Meat platter. We gave the pancit to the other table since the kitchen had to prepare another batch of dishes for them. |
There was yang chow fried rice, crispy chicken with crackers, beef with broccolli, a meat platter with century eggs, fish fillet with mango sauce, and sweet and sour pork ( I think).
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| The complete spread. |
Now, here's where the age old adage, "Don't judge a book by it's cover" applies. Despite the place looking a bit unimpressive, and may even turn off people as soon as they walk in the door, well, their food is completely the opposite.
The food is pretty good (although a few of us would comment that they probably use a lot of vetsin/MSG in their dishes which is why the taste is very "umami"), especially the seafood in mango sauce. The beef brocolli wasn't bad either as the beef was soft and flavorful and the brocolli was firm and tasty. The rest weren't pretty decent too.
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| A buchi for everybody! |
Not to mention that a table of 12 only cost 3,500 pesos or about 291 pesos per person. Arguably, that price is enough for some eat-all-you-can restaurants nowadays (and there are quite a few along Tomas Morato Avenue), but the servings are plentiful with enough left over that you can take home as well.
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| Powerplant mall went all out. Best Christmas decorations I've seen this year. |
After lunch, my dad wanted to go home and rest, my sister had some things she needed done, while Chea wanted to take Thirdy to Powerplant mall in Rockwell to see the Christmas displays. We brought Marlyn with us of course, along with Citti, and Chea's parents.
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| Cousins with polar bears |
So after exchanging goodbyes, we piled into the car and drove there. For the next few hours, we went around Rockwell taking pictures of Thirdy and the family among the many displays.
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| Little angels for your manger. |
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| Thirdy fooling around with a bear. |
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| Thirdy riding a camel. |
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| Granma and Granpa! |
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| Like a Boss, Claus! |
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| Nanay Chea and Thirdy |
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| By the tree |
Then we had Thirdy take some rides at the arcade.
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| Vroom! vroom! |
We also spent some time at the retail shops especially Payless Shoesource store and bought Citti a pair of Minnie mouse boots.
Pretty tiring day. I miss you kuya.
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