Les Paellas: Back to Barcelona

It delights me to no end when I unexpectedly discover gems amidst the sprouting choices of restaurants in malls these days. That is exactly what happened when we went to Les Paellas. I just had a long and boring hair treatment at Toni & Jackie’s in SM North and I could already hear my tummy grumbling. When I’m in this state of being, I no longer have the patience nor the strength to stroll down a crowded mall and crave for a particular menu, when I’m in this point of hunger and frustration, I would gladly try anything within a few feet from me. Having said that, I told honey that we should just have dinner at Les Paellas coz it’s the most interesting restaurant within ten steps away from the salon where I had my hair treatment. That is how we discovered this food haven.

As the name suggested, the resto’s specialty is paella so we ordered paella negra which was absolutely divine, it brought back memories of our Barcelona trip. This paella is almost as good as the one we had in Les Quinze Nits, and that is saying something about this dish. The only edge of the Spain version to the Les Paellas version is that the latter had less squid in it. This is a must try!

Then we ordered Shrimp Pizza, and man was this a real treat! A single bite and your mouth is treated to a myriad of wonderful flavours that doesn’t seem to belong to each other but somehow went so well together, it was bliss! I’m definitely coming back to this place if only to get another bite of this pizza.

With such succulent dishes, I could care less about the ambiance of the place, but having said that, Les Paellas has a very homey feel to it, very comfy couches and very friendly staff. Only thing I found odd was that there was a wait staff lying on the last couch (we were sitting on the couch next to it) trying to nap and when new clients arrived she had to be asked to move coz they wanted to take the last couch. Oh well, that was just an observation and in no way would hinder me from going back to that quaint little shop.

I would recommend this place to anyone who wants to get a taste of authentic Catalan dish! Yummy!

Chillin’ at chilli’s

Normally, when we’re about to go back home to Manila, I would make a list of all the places that we have to go to and restaurants that we have to dine in, however, this year, because I was quite busy the week before we fly back, I didn’t manage to make that list. Luckily, honey is always on the look out for the restaurants that he knows I want to go back to, that is how we manage to go back to this all time favourite place.

During our vacation, we made it a point to make sure that our itinerary for the day would cover places within the same area to avoid wasting time in traffic. That day, we were in Greenhills area, we had a foot spa appointment and we were about to go to a dinner appointment afterwards. The spa appointment finished early and we had some time to kill, we were intending to go to the shopping centre when hubby spotted Chili’s. We decided to eat a light snack (or what we thought would be a light snack) coz honey had a conference call anyway.

I was just so glad to be back to this favourite resto, it brings back nice memories. The food is still great but the highlight of the night was this divine chocolate mud pie! Even better that I remembered it.




I sure hope we can go back to this place the next time we’re back in Manila,

My little one is no longer a baby

Has it already been twelve months, really? 52 weeks? 365 days? 8,765.8 hours? 31,556,926 seconds? Has it already been a year when your daddy and I brought you out into this world? Time seems to have evaded us, I can still remember that fateful night when I was in tormenting pain trying to cope while you’re pushing your way out of my body, but the real magic was when the doctor finally placed you on my bare chest, while the cord was still binding us, you looked up at me then all the pain melted into thin air, as if I didn’t feel any of them at all and my heart almost exploded with the amount of love I had bursting inside me only for you. You were this tiny little lump who meant the entire world to me and your daddy. Now, my little one, you’re a whole new person all on your own.

Twelve months it’s been, you’ve grown much taller, you’ve gained a lot of weight, a couple of your teeth have popped out, your face has changed and you are no longer a lump, you are now a very beautiful toddler, my beautiful toddler. I erupt with so much pride each time you achieve a milestone, and I know that most people think they are normal things that are bound to happen anyway, but for me, your mother, they were spectacular achievements that made you even more special to my eyes and my heart. I couldn’t even begin to describe how your playful grin could wash away any illness I have, how your laughter can take away all my stress, how your simple touch can make me go over the moon and back. You might be tiny, but you have no idea how humongous you are to me, and the mere thought of being a witness to more of your spectacular moments make me look forward to the years to come.

My little one, I pray to God everyday that he transforms me into the mother such an angel like you deserves. I beg our creator that he guides me and your dad to raise you and hone you and cultivate you in such a way that you will achieve your fullest potentials. Above all, every night and day, I implore our Father in heaven that your dad and I may manage to fill your life with so much love, laughter and fond memories to last you an eternity.

It doesn’t matter how many more centimetres or feet you grow, or how many pounds you gain or loose, or how many teeth would pop out or fall out, no matter if you’re a lump or a toddler or a young adult or an adult. It doesn’t matter if you’re in kindergarten, elementary school, high school, college or even post graduate studies. All of these won’t matter to me. In my eyes and my heart, you will always be a reason for living. You and your daddy are my motivation to strive and be a better person, just because in my heart I feel you deserve more. I can write platitudes about how deep and profound my love for you is, and still they wouldn’t be enough, nor would they even come close.

Someday soon you will read this humble note from your doting mommy, and someday you’ll understand, and I hope and pray that someday as you read this you’ll know that no matter the years, you will always mean the world to me and your daddy, it won’t matter how many years pass, you my girl, will always be my baby. I love you so much Charlie!