beautiful saturday

i had a really nice weekend when i went home last saturday.
i bonded with my mom over breakfast early AM, then left for mall of asia at 11. finally, i got to go there. and i can't think of a better person to accompany me than LL.
when i stepped into the mall of asia "complex", i was a bit awed by its vastness. yes, jaded manila girl that i am. got a bit swept away. i was ready to hate it because it was on reclaimed area and was another mall...but i didn't. the first point that made me love it is the fact that there's a pollo loco and mexicali just a few feet away from each other. finally! a pollo loco nearer our house! next, i liked that they at least planted a lot of trees along the parkways. third, i like that it doesn't look like a megamall clone--that place just makes me dizzy. MoA is easier to navigate! that's why LL and i were so eager to walk around and explore--she had been there before, but never really got to explore it. we had a mission: to cover the entire floor area!
we walked around a bit, then watched the first movie from the chinese filmfest: when ruoma was 17. the cinematography is amazing! it's set in the rice terraces in china--breathtaking! we then went off to go to the barbie event that LL was supposed to attend, but the sked was pushed back, so we walked around and were able to visit all the bookstores: powerbooks, national, and fully booked. found "out" and "mao" at fully booked. LL gets a discount, so she'll buy them for me soon.:D
we had dinner at mann hann, where we had some awesome food and deep conversation. though i discovered something terrible about LL: she orders like crazy! we ordered hakaw (i had been craving it for a few days), salted fish fried rice, and lechon macau hotpot (which LL highly recommended). AND she wanted to order more! blame it on the chinese family thing. hehe. we didn't finish the food because we were stuffed. not only from the food, but from the satisfying conversation. we then rushed off to watch "a time to love" which, as it turns out, stars the cute lu yi. but it was too melodramatic for us.
then we bought some hizons pastries (yummy!) and i walked with LL to imax where her mom picked her up. i then proceeded to books for less. the store area is smaller than their other branches, so i didn't find anything worth buying there. but it's okay, i already had a bountiful harvest at the NBS cut-price book sale. i then went to mcdo to wait for my ride. thankfully, i had already asked my dad the night before to pick me up from MoA, because it was pouring rain. i stayed at mcdo, enjoying my second milkshake (yes, second! the first was about 10 hrs before, at the very same store) while reading one of my new acquisitions.
the only food cravings left unfulfilled that day were: hainanese chicken rice and chili crab. but that can wait til next time.
now LL and i have an alternative (though not substitute) hangout place aside from chinatown.

pleasant walking experience


yummy-looking display at tokyo cafe...next time!