chocomusette.com

The downside of living in a small town is having limited places to hang out in. We just decided to check out the coffee shop that's in our family friend's old house.

We love the cozy ambiance. We love the tea and the smoothies!

And the wall artwork is way cool.

What I love about the place is there's a variety of books and magazines that you can borrow.

And my brothers love that there's wifi and of course it's a good getaway from the common coffee shop crowd.

Well hello there, it's been a LONG time! I can't say that I'm back for good, but we'll see.

Life has been swell for me and that probably took a toll on my blogs. One thing's for sure though, we continue to do what we love...dining. It's a first in years since we re-visited this Italian restaurant in Iloilo, and like all things, it had some minor changes, but it was all good.

Tonight, I have two of my favorite boys all for myself. Jason and Jerard.

When you're with the boys, you act like them, eat, laugh and talk like them. It became less about the food and more about of the people you're with that makes you enjoy every bite.

Al Dente

Sarabia Manor Hotel, Gen. Luna St., Iloilo City

I flew back to Manila just in time for my brother's birthday. Initially I just wanted to visit my little girl since it's been two weeks since I last saw her. Two for the price of one huh?

It was a Saturday so everybody was busy doing their own thing. My brother didn't impose that we should be there but we all tried to. I love family gatherings, and it's quiet notable that food always brings us together. We were so ready to get our tummies loaded!

Our uncle was also in town for a wedding, so it makes him a willing substitute for my dad.

And of course there's my brother's friends who are ever present to support him at any time. I'm guessing they flew in too for his birthday.

Food is served! We had one of almost every kind just so we could taste a little bit of everything. It was divine, we loved it all.

And of course, don't forget the cake courtesy of Sheila. And my brother giggled while blowing his 23rd cake. We love you bro!

Marciano's

Second Floor, Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati

Ever since my daughter spent an X number of days with her dad, they're instant friends thereon. And I'm left on the sidelines. But I don't really mind, because they do have a lot of catching up to do.

I remember when my mom was alive, she told me about a story of saving your spoon for dessert. And I have been after that. My mom was a big dessert fan, and now I've passed that on to my little one. She's talking about dessert in the last few spoonfuls every meal. While I am not picky with sweets, Kiara favors ice creams, frozen yogurts or gelato. Anything cold and frozen is her thing.

In rare occasions, this is the time when my daughter is hesitant to share, she'll surely give you a tiny portion!

It feels like I've posted here for about a year now. These pictures are still from the summer! And it's rainy season now. That's how bad I am with updates. Anyways, this was when we tried the new place in Iloilo. Terra, a Mediterranean fusion restaurant. The waiter insists that it's Iloilo's version of Cyma. Riiiight.

The food was alright for Iloilo standard, nothing phenomenal, but not bad at the same time. We had lamb since we're in a Mediterranean restaurant, but the serving was not at all what I expected.

I believe that Mediterranean taste is widely accepted in by the Philippine palette. So no complaints in the table, Kiara finished up half of the rice we ordered and we were left to share the remains. Kiara isn't really a Cyma fan so I was a little surprised with the sweeping.

Kiara: Can we make some of these at home?

Janice: What do you think of me? A chef?

Kiara: You can do these mom, some of your cooking are close to these.

Janice: You are by far the biggest fan of my cooking.

Kiara: Yeah, and I'm thankful that I was never served a burnt food from you.

Janice: I may not call myself a cook, but I'm not that stupid. *duh*

My daughter loves my cooking. For some reason, she brags to just about anyone -- how good I am at it. She's just a loving daughter I guess, but my cooking is within the boundaries of our little home. I was never taught because I hadn't even seen my mom hold a pan in her entire lifetime. So it has to come with my love for eating I guess.

Terra, G/F The Avenue, Mandurriao, Iloilo City

As a foodie, we're never afraid to try out something new. And I love that there's been quite a few new places to try out in Iloilo. We tried out this neo-mexican small scale restaurant Picante.

The place is something you can't even take a second look at but we did otherwise and tried out the good stuffs they're offering at a budget friendly price.

After we've tried it out, we just keep coming back thereon.

Leave it to our family to binge-out at any time of the day. We've had our dinner yet we're saving room for Crave's burger. I was with my cousin Katya and she was Glee-king out on me, so i need a food fest to keep her out of the the Glee world. And only food can do that.

I'm not really sure if the pattie was grilled, but I do hope so, too much calories for the night.

This is inevitably the hottest recorded summer in the Philippines -- in my lifetime! I feel like living inside an oven! Not to mention the frequent black out. *argh* I swear I don't mind being exiled to the north pole! But my girls have a realistic solution...dive into a pool!

We really were pleading the big boys to build a pool on our backyard -- a more permanent solution of the extreme Philippine heat during the summer. I'm guessing we'll get their heads up soon. But before that happens, we drove the kids to El Dorado Waterpark in Smallville complex.

Now that the girls have their share of fun, it's time for their tummy to start to have some fun too. And the solution was just a few steps away.

Janiz: Do I hear extra rice? Going once, twice...

(Girls readily raise their hands.)

Janiz: Now what's the plan?

Kiara: It's up to you.

Janiz: Go home?

Kiara: Cool us down with some ice cream please!

Janiz: OK. But finish your food first.

Kiara: No problem with that!

Usually before heading home, I'd ask to pull over and buy some street food. I'm a street food junkie like that. You can call it skewers, barbeque, or in our local term "inasal", this night was all about that. We tried out each one of them! Read: My stomach always has a little space reserved for binge nights like this.

When we got there, there was a short line forming. A little patience won't kill a hunger me.

Janiz: Let's try all of them!

Katya: Are you sure ach?

Janiz: Yeah. These are light food, no worries.

Katya: *shrug*

Eating healthy takes an extra effort coming from me. Growing up, I wasn't a veggie lover, I was afraid to eat anything green...I really go for meat. But since cancer took our mom 10 years ago, our family has been trying so hard to change the eating habits we've gotten used to. My dad is the ambassador of healthy foods at home. So everytime I'm back home, it takes a little getting used to eating fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. Day one is ALWAYS the hardest, it drives me crazy!

And there's the thing we call exercise. My only exercise is swimming, nothing more. I only get to run if I'm preparing for a competition and that's it, the farthest I can do for the thing they call exercise. Up until now, going to the gym like everybody else is not my thing, probably never will. So when my brother went for a jog in "Trenas Blvd.", I was only there for a stroll.

I would allow force feeding, but me and exercise would have to kiss and make up pretty soon. So the hopes of getting a hot bod is out of the picture.