Lacy Days

A couple of lace stuff I got recently:

A similar top in F21, which has softer fabric and looser fit

Family Dinner

A nice family dinner is a rare occasion for us now that almost all of us are vegetarians. Good vegetarian restaurants are just not easy to come by here in Manila, so I was really excited when Dad said he would take us to Summer Palace in Edsa Shangri-La Hotel to try their vegetarian selection, which, he discovered, was fantastic. These are what we had that night:

Farmer's Salad, a mix of fresh watermelon, papaya, cucumber and turnip cut in thin strips with fried wonton wrappers, raisins and shredded corn in a slightly sweet vinaigrette dressing

This simple homemade tofu with seaweed and served with mushroom was surprisingly good. The fried tofu was very soft inside while the seaweed and mushrooms made the dish flavorful.

The best dish so far was this fried mushroom with cornflakes with a light mayo dressing, which was very similar to the popular fried prawn salad. The cornflakes looked weird but it complemented the dish well. The mushrooms were soft inside and not at all greasy.

The last dish was mixed vegetables in beancurd wrapper, a simple dish presented wonderfully in this gift like "bean bag."

Mango pudding, my favorite Chinese dessert, although this one was not really any special.

A meal in a Chinese restaurant is incomplete without hot tea. My personal favorite is jasmine tea, which was what we had.

Other pluses of dining at Summer Palace were the clean china and utensils, the attentive servers, and the spacious dining area.

For our dinner, I called Wendy, the Malaysian-Chinese manager of Summer Palace, beforehand to order the above dishes. However, the menu also has a list of other vegetarian dishes that the restaurant offers.

Currently Liking..

...the low-key luxury of leather goods. The texture of these just get better and better with every use.

Multi-colored purse made from distressed leather

Ostrich skin hobo bag

Leather oxfords get a worn-in look after being used only a few times.

Will I be judged for being a leather-loving vegetarian? I certainly hope not, I don't plan to buy a lot of these things.

F21 Experience

DJ and I finally had the chance to spend the day together, and what better activity to do than something we both love--shopping. She suggested we visit Forever 21 since both of us haven't been there yet.

I've heard many stories about the first few weeks of F21 here, that there were long lines both at the entrance and the cashier, that new stocks come in every week, that there were bouncers (ha!). I'm not really surprised about any of these stories. F21 has a dizzyingly huge selection, there is something for everyone, and the clothes and accessories are way cheaper than similar retail chains Mango, Zara and Topshop.

Cute romper, just not sure if I'm the romper type

Does this look familiar? (A: Mulberry Alexa)

Unfortunately for guys, the men's selection was few, plus the men's section was surrounded by a lot of girl clothes.

Of course, not everything here is cheaper than everywhere else, I found the top on the right at half the price in Greenhills.

Upon leaving, we spotted this shirt that DJ thought was very Marc by Marc Jabobs-ish. Unfortunately, it's the last piece and it was already reserved.

Overall, I think F21 is a great place to look for outfit updates. I'd definitely go back there now and then. The trick would be in styling a piece so as not to end up looking like everyone else. (I think this is true not just for F21 since almost everyone buys from the same places now.)

We rested for a while at The Coffee Experience. During the '90s, whenever our family would go to Quad (Glorietta), we would eat Potato Corner fries and drink Chocolate Latte from The Coffee Experience located in the middle of the mall where the stage and fountain were (is the fountain still there? I haven't been to Glorietta in ages).

NYC: Day 8 (Last Day, Grand Central, UN, Union Sq, Macy's)

I was off to JFK at 730 that night. Since it's my last day, I wanted to go to all the places in my itinerary that I hadn't been to yet. Initially, I wanted to spend the day just lounging around at a coffee shop. But this wasn't how the day turned out. Upon heading out, I went straight to Grand Central Station to have breakfast at Magnolia Bakery. I also wanted to try Junior's cheesecake but decided to have the cupcake then regretted it afterwards. Since I was already at 42nd St, I decided to drop by UN at 41st and 3rd Ave., then went back to 42nd St to the New York Public Library. Afterwards, I headed off to Union Square to look at the weekday market then stopped by Strand Bookstore which was already in the area. Queen J and I met up at Macy's but the place was crazy crowded so we only stayed for coffee. We finally went off to purchase an iPad for Dad but discovered that the 64GB WiFi was out of stock in NYC. The other day, I was informed by the NYU computer store staff that they had this model in stock so we went back to get it there only to be informed that we must have a student card to be able to purchase. Whew. Off to the hotel to pack, refresh and have one final NYC Chinese food takeaway of chao fan and broccoli in brown sauce. Then it was goodbye NYC for me.

Originally, there was only one staircase in Grand Central. The exit to Vanderbilt Ave was the original staircase. The one on the opposite side was added later on.

Magnolia Bakery at Grand Central food court. This was even sweeter than Cupcakes by Sonja from Serendra, and I thought that that was already too sweet!

UN, no entrance fee to see the lobby, where various exhibits were set up, and gift shop. Tours were available for a fee.

Walking back to 42nd St from UN

NYPL facade was under renovation, Patience and Fortitude guarding the entrance while flanked by pigeons

Union Square. I didn't get anything from the market, though, since most of the items were fresh produce.

NYC government set up a few of these drinking stations around the city in response to the heat wave that had started 5 days ago.

I wasn't sure what this building was or why there was smoke coming out of from it. Making my way to Strand Bookstore.

Finally there, spot the shelves of books from the windows.

The weekend crowd at Macy's as viewed from Starbucks

My favorite Starbucks drink in NYC was Caramel Frappuccino light. I noticed that the fraps in NYC had a stronger coffee base than the ones in Manila.

Spotted a Shakespeare & Co Bookstore in NYU, didn't go in though

Saying goodbye to On The Ave. The Super Shuttle van that would take me to JFK arrived earlier than expected and I didn't have time to take photos of diners and groceries that we frequented during our stay.

Wasa light rye crispbread from Westside Market. Mom told me that I could get this in Santis here.

And the overpriced Smart Water.

That's it for my NYC trip! 7.5 days there but still wanting to know more about the no. 1 city in the world and to get more out of it than just visiting tourist hotspots. This should guide me during my next NYC trip (!!!).