Mundanely interesting … today
[22-24, June, 2024]
A couple of high school friends now living in the East Coast (Philly and NYC), Terry and Lito visited for a weekend of reconnecting and of course, eating up. It was a great time to catch up amid several lavish and fun meals as is customary with Filipino get-togethers. Short visit, but long on memories to always cherish.
Went out with my “ramen gang” last night and had our usuals at our favorite Columbus ramen hangout, Meshikou.
[12-21 April, 2024]
My niece and I celebrated birthdays 6 days apart, and it turned out to be a series of food celebrations and get-togethers comprising dinners, breakfasts, and brunches over a couple of consecutive weekends. Deliciously fun times!
[ 22 February, 2024]
The former Japanese president of the engineering division I worked in at Honda was in town visiting last week. We had a little get-together for pizza and chicken wings with several retirees who knew or used to work with him. No less than three of these guys were former bosses of mine.
[31 December, 2023]
A potluck dinner with my breakfast club gang closes out the year with a ‘flavor’ bang! Lots of gluten-free fare and fine bourbon cocktails highlighted the evening, just before the ball dropped in Times Square.
[15 December, 2023]
Time flies … it’s that time of the year again. A potluck Christmas party for friends and former co-workers. A party that we aptly called … “Christmas Group Therapy”.
This year’s party invite.
[14 March, 2023]
An old tradition long observed with previous Honda co-workers is to share pie on Pi Day (3.14159 …. you know the drill). I hosted the annual get-together this year, so it was coffee and pie at my house this morning. Today is also Jiro’s 9th birthday, so there’s an extra reason to celebrate! (You can see his behind in the photo below.)
[21 February, 2023]
Sometimes I get together with long-retired, previous co-workers to reminisce the ‘good old days’ and for lively discussions of the topics du jour over breakfast. And it’s always fun to be the baby in the group!
[7 January, 2023]
Our annual ‘Breakfast Club’ holiday get-together was a bit late this year due to schedule conflicts as well as some illness. Nevertheless, our potluck dinner was a success, largely gluten-free, but not without Manhattans.
[10 November, 2022]
An initial stop on our Michigan Road Trip (see this Blog post) this past weekend was a lunch meeting with an old friend of ours, Del, a partner supplier whom we worked with closely on a previous work project. It was an overdue get-together after a few good years, and a good time to reminisce old times.
Eric, Ryan, and I at lunch with Del Costy at Cantoro’s Italian Market in Novi, MI.
[26 September, 2022]
Last few days in town and a couple of last-minute get-togethers with a couple of dear old friends I rarely see. First, lunch with Ricky and Carol at Fely J’s, and then dinner with Jun and Mimi at Manam. My final taste of authentic traditional Filipino comfort food this time around.
[22 September, 2022]
Another round of reunions with long-time friends, another Covid-19 antigen test. And of course, more delicious food, this time, Korean and Spanish.
[17-19 September, 2022]
A weekend that started with the community street food market led to an unintentional foodie tour of Southeast Asia. First, it was a family dinner at Nanbantei, an izakaya-style Japanese restaurant in the Greenbelt shopping, dining, and entertainment area.
The following day, it was lunch with a close childhood friend of mine and his lovely wife at Mango Tree, supposedly the best Thai restaurant in BGC.
Later in the evening, my nieces prepared some of my favorite home cooked Filipino dishes for a wonderful dinner replete with family nostalgia.
And finally, on Monday, it was another family lunch, this time at Tim Ho Wan, Hongkong’s Makati branch of their world-famous 1-Michelin star dim sum restaurant.
All told, a wonderful weekend of Asian-style small plates cuisine, shared and enjoyed with loved ones.
[15-16 September, 2022]
Nothing like a superspreader event to spoil reunions with friends of over 35 years so Covid antigen tests were in order prior to these get-togethers, Oh, and it’s already Christmas in Manila!
[3 September, 2022]
Catching up with good friends I go way back with always involves some great food, seasoned with corny jokes and old brags.
Another Korean BBQ this past weekend, this time, with Jeremy, who, back in his JBAD days, was part of the awesome design team that worked on my house. He and his wife also brought over everything needed for an evening’s worth of old-fashioneds.
My buddy Brad stopped by Thursday afternoon after I got back from donating blood to help me with some small projects at home. Afterwards, we decided to hit downtown Powell for some dinner at Huli Huli.
Started with crab rangoon dip paired with prawn crackers. And lobster roll is in the menu so of course I had to have it.
Crab Rangoon Dip
Lobster Roll and Fries
A cookout this past weekend to celebrate the Moodster’s birthday and to bid farewell to Steve who’s moving back to Alabama.
Colleagues from the EU were in town for three weeks (work-related) so we had to go to Bonifacio in Grandview for a can’t miss boodle feast, Filipino-style.
