Luxe-Dining: Lusso at Greenbelt 5

Forgive me dear readers as I'm still in truffle heaven.

I woke up this morning with a smile on my face as I thought of that delicious plate of pasta that I had last night. Indeed, this just got to be one of the best hangovers that I've ever had and here I am daydreaming about it again as I type this entry.

Finally, after months of planning, Paul and I met up with a couple of his cousins for dinner at Lusso. This is to bid goodbye to two cousins who will be traveling soon and to also celebrate ML's birthday at the same time. What a fun celebration!

We initially had a hard time looking for the restaurant as there was no huge signage which you will commonly see in most restaurants but rather all they have is an engraved signage spelling out LUSSO at the handle of the restaurant door. Very subtle yet so elegant. Reservations were made and our party of 12 was comfortably seated inside. The menu came in the form of a small lengthwise piece of paper with back-to-back printing. Once again, very simple and clean.

As a diligent foodie, I did my own research. Thanks to various food bloggers who gave their recommendations making ordering that evening a breeze.


Paul wanted to share but as we were advised, the serving is pretty much just good for one. Thus we decided to order to entrees and split both into half. Dinner began with a bowl of Truffle Potato Chips (Php. 150). As you all know, I love truffle oil! I love how I can easily smell the aromatic scent of truffle the moment the bowl was laid down on the table.

There were three bloggers present that evening (my cousin Lovely, ML and yours truly) and thankfully we were seated near each other allowing the other half of the table to have a head start on their own bowl of chips. We quickly took a couple of photos and began munching on the delicious chips. I got to admit though that while the scent was pretty strong, I had a hard time finding the taste of the truffle as I bite into the chip. I guess they were trying to strike a balance between truffle aficionados like myself and those who are not so into the strong, earthy flavor of truffle.


For our first entree, we got the Spinach Taglierini (Php. 350). Initially, we wanted to try the Luxe "Mac & Cheese" but upon asking the serving which of the three pasta dishes is their best-selling and he told us that it was the Spinach Taglierini, we immediately changed our order. Of course, this decision was made after I asked him if they also add truffle oil to this dish and once I heard the "YES", there goes our Mac & Cheese which we will try next time.

Now let me tell you why this particular dish has kept me daydreaming about it hours after our dinner at Lusso...

Shine in Barcelona with Sun Life Financial Philippines

Sun Life Financial,the pioneer insurance company in the country, has always been a part of our lives for as long as I can remember. It's simply because my mom has been a Sun Life Financial advisor since I was one. That's how loyal and successful Mommy has been with the company. In fact, I always like to say that Sun Life Financial has helped my parents in being able to bring us to the best schools in town starting from grade school up until our university years. It also has helped made our lives really comfortable and of course, this is all with the extreme hard work that both my parents have exerted to make everything possible.

Needless to say, the Sun Life community is like family to us. My mom's colleagues have seen my sister and I grow up. In fact, some of them have been my mom's kumares making us closer not only to their kids but to the entire family as well.

There's also a really fun part about being a Sun Life advisor! You get to TRAVEL! Through the years, Sun Life Financial has brought both my parents to Europe, China, most parts of Asia, and even down under in Australia to join their leadership conferences. While my sister and I would get bummed out that we both will be parent-less for two weeks or so, we love the gifts that they would bring home for us all from those trips. :)

Lastly, seeing my mom totally in love with her career, I realized that as a Sun Life Financial advisor, you do more than selling and explaining the wide-array for products of the company. You become a friend, a mentor and someone who will stand by not only your client's side but you watch out for the entire family as you help them achieve financial security all throughout the highs and lows of their lives. I've seen how close my mom has been with her long-time clients as they would confide in her, ask her for advice or just call her for a few minutes to chat. To them, she's more than their advisor, Mommy has been their life-long friend whom they trust and will continue to trust forever. Her career, to me, has transcended to being a mission in educating and bringing light to everyone whose lives she will continue to touch.

I really am so proud of my Mom! :)


If you feel that being a Sun Life Financial advisor is your calling or you know of someone who does, well here's your chance to make a difference! The best part is, you can actually win a trip to sunny Barcelona by simply making a referral.

Meatless Fridays : Jollibee's Tuna Pie

For Catholics all over the world, Lent began last Wednesday. This is the time when we try to make a sacrifice by either giving up something we really like doing or eating, practicing more good deeds and a lot more.

For me, I abstain from meat. I do this for every Fridays of Lent beginning Ash Wednesday and this goes on until Easter Sunday. Of course, temptation is out there. It’s really hard to say no to that juicy piece of lechon meat or to have a cheese steak sandwich especially when it’s right there sitting happily in front of you. Still, I stick to my sacrifice and for years I’m proud to say that I’ve been pretty much successful at carrying it out all throughout the 40+ days of Lent.


What make this sacrifice extra challenging is when we eat out. At times, it's just so hard to find a place that serves really good seafood options that's also friendly on the budget. Imagine my glee when I found out that Jollibee's Tuna Pie is BACK! Hooray!

Cookin' and Grillin' at Taza Mix in Madison Square, San Juan

While eating is a fun experience on its own, I personally find greater excitement when I get to cook and eat at the same time. This is the reason why I'm such a fan of shabu-shabu (hotpot) restaurants or those that have table-top grills where we can cook our choice meats to perfection.

To be honest though, Paul is a greater cook than I am. So, more often than not, I leave the cooking to him while I happily chew away. He's such a natural with a spatula on one hand and a pair chopsticks on the other. One evening while trying a new restaurant called Taza Mix with some members of The Food Club, I was so lucky to be seated beside Paul and Irene, two of the more talented cooks of The Food Club (this special category also includes fellow bloggers Carlos, Jane and Joan -- you should really try their kitchen specialties!). Just imagine how Richard and I were enjoying having our plates filled with delicious shabu shabu balls, strips of lamb and chicken, kani sticks, veggies and so much more!

Taza Mix is a newly-opened restaurant located at Madison Square that is adjacent to a Chinese restaurant called Taza de Oro. While the latter specializes in short orders ranging from dimsum, pork dishes, a wide array of congee, and more; Taza Mix offers diners with grill and shabu-shabu platters.


That evening, our group of 7 were given two shabu-shabu platters good for 3-4 each. We were surprised with the generous serving as one huge plate comes with a wide assortment of meat and fish balls, wanton dumplings, fresh shrimps and thinly sliced pork and lamb.

We also had another plate filled with veggies, corn, my favorite taro and some sotanghon noodles. What looks like just enough for 3 to 4 people turned out to be quite a bit too much. We ended up so full after consuming all the meat and seafood that we were not able to cook all the veggies served to us. We enjoyed the sotanghon though which was our only carbs that evening. 


Of course, shabu-shabu dining is not complete without creating your own sauce. I really enjoy mixing spoonfuls of chopped garlic, spring onions, hebi (dried shrimps), a few peanut sauce and satay sauce before I poured in the soy sauce. The trick here is to dunk everything into the sauce because taking a bite. Believe me, this makes all the difference.

Love Food. Love Mega: Awaiting the SM Megamall Food Sale!

It’s BACKKKKKKK!!

A year ago, my food-loving colleague excitedly told me about SM Megamall having a 3-day Food Sale. Imagine having at least a hundred food establishments offering discounts, free dishes and a lot more! It truly felt like a food lover’s holiday! I wasn’t sure what happened last year but sadly, I missed the fun weekend.



Well, I’m not going to let that happen again this year. In fact, as early as last weekend, Paul and I headed to SM Megamall to check out the participating establishments already and took mental notes on which ones we will definitely visit this coming weekend. We mean business which means, we need a surefire strategy. This is WAR! Food War! :)