Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010 *soon!*

To celebrate the end of a wonderful 2009 and the beginning of 2010 (hopefully just as wonderful, if not better than wonderful), here's MY reveal (the last for 2009) :D

Hermes Cyclamen Chevre Birkin 35cm with Palladium Hardware :) *WoOoOooHoooOoO!!!* She made it before 2010 !!!! :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR and CHEERS to all!!!! :) :) :)

x
Mrs.T

Travelog: Let it Snow in Tahoe!

Eeps forgot to post some Lake Tahoe photos for you all. (I meant to publish this post the other day but instead, I just "saved" it. Oh my am I getting forgetful or what?!)

Anyway, at Tahoe, we stayed at this place called Aston Lakeland Village where we had our own 5 bedroom cabin. Very nice place, newly renovated, quiet, and direct access to Lake Tahoe (as in, the lake itself!)

And then here's my money shot photo *muwahahaha where's the money?!)  Moi, frolicking in the snow on the front yard of our cabin in Lake Tahoe.  And yes, again, I took the heart off my face before the end of 2009 :D *That's as far as it'll go, folks. Please don't make me take my glasses off hahahaha*  And oye, it's a photo of ME. Not someone else. Note my signature onion bulb nose ;) And my new $15 sunglasses hahahaha (I keep losing my nice glasses *think LV, Chanel... I guess that's my punishment for being a label whore*), so I ended up buying 2 pairs of $15 glasses at Target. Believe me, I am Hap-peeee!! :)

Note that I wore my Burberry boots (yeah, those fireman boots... hehehe ok snow boots). Hmmm... somehow they belonged in Lake Tahoe *muwahahaha and not in Manila or anywhere else without snow :D*

And here's our pathetic SnowPee which I *emphasis on "I"* built from scratch!!!!  (I built it from across the yard and I carried *yes, I carried* the bottom ball to our own yard before making the smaller parts hahahaha)

*Beams!* So it's a pathetic looking one. But I made that to the height of all the kids with us! The kids wanted a kid- sized snowman ;) *Excuuuuses!!!*

But mind you, you'll never find another Snowman wearing a Goyard bag!!! :D (Thanks for donating your Goyard fidji to SnowPee, DSIL*muwahahaha*)

x
Mrs.T

The Boxing Day Sale "Damage"

It may be just one, but this ONE put a sizable hole in my poor pocket. It may have elicited some kind of unpleasant reaction from DH (but what do men *ahem, hubbies* know about these "killer" shoes anyway hahahaha), but I still love her!

Meet the newest member of my shoe family-- from Chanel *at Neiman Marcus* ;)

Now the question is: WHERE will I wear these shoes??? *baffled* Ah! I'll prance around the house with these on (and I'm sure DH is secretly hoping I'd trip so I'd retire these shoes already hahaha. He especially hates the fact that these shoes make me taller-- I think I'm a little over 6 feet tall in these hahahaha... Jolly Giant! :D *and proud!!!*)

On another note, I'm blogging while my buns are freezing (ok that was a bit exaggerated... I'm sitting in a  warm 70 degF room, but outside it's -1 degC now, with light snow). I'm in Lake Tahoe with my side of the family to enjoy a little bit of retail abstinence but still a LOT of fun :) *muwahahaha re: retail abstinence-- I can't possibly buy a pair of Chanel snow boots because they're not available here that would be a complete waste of money and I am NOT wearing them in Manila-- I've made a fool out of myself way too often and I refuse to make a fool out of myself again by wearing Snow Boots in Manila-- those Burberry boots (that make me look like a fireman) are bad enough hahahaha...* Ok, no Chanel snowbunny boots UNLESS: someone out there decides to buy me a nice little log cabin here... Ok better yet, make it a chalet in Gstaad, and a small log cabin in Tahoe hahaha!!

Anyway, more retail stories in the next few days. And oh yeah, I will not forget to post a photo of the pathetic- looking snowman that I made-- and all the kids helped by watering the snow to harden it. But oyyyye, I take full credit *coz I like to credit- grab from the kids hahaha* for the design and creation of Snoopy (pronounced Snowpee, not Snoo-pea *muwahahhaa*)!!! ;)

x

Mrs.T aka Your Neighborhood Snow Bunny Bunion *eeeeewwww hehehe*

Boxing Day Sale 2009: The Floor Report (Neiman Marcus)

I overslept. After having tweeted half the night (and morning) away, I fell asleep. I think it was 6:30 am. I figured I'd take a quick nap (1 hour) before hitting the stores downtown. Call time for the "mission" *muwahaha* was 8.30am. I was obviously in deep sleep around that time-- after not having slept a wink (thank you, Thai Iced tea. So darned potent!!!!). Instead, this baghag wannabe was glued to the screen of the laptop, checking out stores like Saksfifthavenue.com, Neimanmarcus.com, Barneys.com, and other major retailers like Target.com and Walmart.com. And then I was tweeting the night away with what I saw and the frustration of wanting something, only to find out my size was no longer available.

Fastforward to 10:00am, we were finally in Downtown SF.  DH decided to tag along for the ride. (thank you DH for driving hehehehe) I knew I had to hit Macy's before 1pm (because the markdowns revert back to the old discounted rate... or something like that). The streets were already full of shoppers.

 But instead of Macy's, I headed straight for Neiman Marcus. I smell a goood deal :D *oye, I may have an onion bulb nose but this very nose is helpful when it comes to sales, so don't ever underestimate the powers of the onion bulb! Muwahahaha;D*

Because I needed to check out the bag bargain bin wanted to see their talllll Christmas tree ;)

It's soooo prettttyyyyy.... 

The tree at Neiman Marcus may be pretty, but the bag sale section was PA-THE-TIC.

The noteworthy bags that got sold were Chloe Paddingtons. I was late too, so maybe that was what was left of the bags that were on sale. There were Stella McCartney totes, as well as Marni balloon bags and Marc by Marc Jacobs beach totes, some Fendi monogram bags, and some more Chloe totes (which I believe also got sold because after I went back for them, they were gone). Where were the Guccis, Chanels, and Pradas????

Two years ago, the bag selection in their bag bargain bin was quite good (not great, but at least it wasn't as bad as this year's!)  This year, it was really disappointing. So if bags don't do it for me, I turn to the shoes ;) *these two can't be apart, really*

I love NM's shoe section.

 

The whole place was abuzz with shoe talk (which store has the best deals) amongst shoe fiends. I heard one say "Saks Fifth!", but then I decided it would be too risky to leave the shoe department of Neiman's for Saks now, without even looking at the sale section! So I lingered on and checked out the shoes

Lots of beautiful boots!

 Ooh flats! I espied a beautiful pair of Bottega Veneta ballet flats!

But instead of flats, I got attracted to these!!!

 

Black: Bruno Frisoni (I confess: I had purchased these earlier but had decided to return them because they're too pretty to be worn *a.k.a no "wearibility" mileage-- this baby's meant to sit atop a beautiful pillow, on a pedestal!*. Blue: Balenciaga. I loooooove these soooooo much!!!!! But they don't fit me :( And I have no EQ to wait for them to send over my size from L.A.!!! :( Camel: Christian Louboutin. They're just wayyyy tooo high and too "steep" to wear. But gorgeous though! (These shoes were marked down further:  +25% discount!!)

In the end, I chose not a pair of flats, but a pair of skyscraper high shoes. Can you guess what brand? I can tell you this much-- the shoes are black, and they have a bit of green too. DH says they're very "Can Can" and Moulin Rouge-y. I think they're very artsy sculptural (whatever that means). Bottom line, though they may get uncomfortable after wearing them awhile, I love them. DH has some not too kind words for it hahahaha. Like if I wear these shoes and walk around the block outside our house,  he saidI COULD get picked up based on my shoes *muwahahahahahaha baaaaaad insult to meeeee hahahaha!!!!*

Ok peeps, go ahead and guess, guess, guess! (I already left you a nice clue in the past paragraph as to what brand it is :D) I will post the photo tomorrow. And hope one of you gets it correct!

Before I forget, I will be out of town for a few days, but hopefully I get internet connection. If I don't, please bear with the temporary absence :D Give this baghag wannabe a little vacay time ;) *That's only if I can't find internet hahahaha*

x

Mrs.T

If the Shoe Fits, Get the Bag too :D

I'm writing this post ahead of time because by the time I blog, it might already be after Boxing Day. And you all know by now that I'm too excited to sleep the night before because Boxing Day = BIG sales! :D

Check out Gap's store windows.

They put these window stickers up the day before Christmas but it's meant for Boxing Day :)

I'll probably forego Gap, but I do want to go to either Bloomingdales or Macy's or to Kate Spade to see if these ballet flats will go on sale.

I looooove them!!

Or if this Marc by Marc Jacobs Pey vey sey zippered Little Miss Marc bag will go on sale.

Oh please, please, please let them be on sale. I don't want anything else except these 2 things.  I've been banning myself from spending too much because of the one thing that's coming my way (with a big bang to end 2009 hahahaha). Anyway, I like the purple flats and I will wear them with the Marc bag, so I hope they're both on sale ;) *hehehehe mismatched much? :D*

More Boxing Day report tomorrow :)

P.S. Sorry I forgot to publish this post-- I didn't realize I had saved it earlier and not "posted" it! :(

x
Mrs.T

Christmas Eve 2009 Dinner

Sorry I wasn't able to post anything last night (Christmas eve for us) because I had a little bit to drink and was really sleepy :D I made it past 12 midnight with the kids to open presents, but when I went up to our room to turn on the laptop, I started to fall asleep *hehehehe old age!!*.

So today, I am writing about the fantastic dining experience last night. We went to Sundance, a Prime Rib place,

with my side of the family, all the kids, and the inlaws. There were 21 of us. INSANE! But hella fun!

Without further ado, the food!!

Ok, I ordered appetizers for the kids because we got to the restaurant early (we got there at 6.30p and the reservation was still at 7p, so we hung out at the bar where the kids had appetizers and well, I had a drink ;D)

Filet mignon spring rolls

The DKs loooved this. Said it was really good. They devoured in in less then 5 minutes. So I guess it was good :D My Frangelico on the rocks cost $9 *shock* and the appetizers cost $10. Shikes. Shouldn't have ordered drinks hahaha *cheapskate!*

When we were ushered into our private room, we all knew what to order already.

The award- winning slow- roasted prime rib. Almost everyone had the House cut (12 oz). I felt like a wus. I ordered the Standard cut 10 oz (I should've ordered the 12!!!!)

My DB's plate, with baked potato (which he said was wonderful)

And THIS was my plate!

Medium rare! :) With garlic mashed potatoes.

Even all the kids had kid-sized portions of Prime Rib. I love that this restaurant even had a kids meal with Prime Rib! :D

Now the verdict: The Prime Rib was really fantastic-- melt-in-your-mouth goooooooood!! (I want some moooooore!!!!!!) It was worth the travel time to eat here.

I just have to type this out-- I was unhappy with having gotten a 10 oz (because I knew I could finish a 12 oz! hehehe yessss, big appetite), so I ordered dessert too.

Apple pie a la mode! :) *Needed my fill of apple pie. It's Christmas Eve!! If there's no lechon around, I'm still pigging out :D*

(It wasn't as good as SugarHouse's apple pie hehehehe, but it did its job-- get me full :D)

My brother had mud pie. DH had mud pie as well and they were both shocked with their individual orders. It was HUGE!

 

It was a fantastic Christmas eve dinner. I was a happy camper (which was probably why I fell asleep after waiting for midnight-- I normally sleep later here, but last night, I just konked out. I was thinking cholesterol overload since I cleaned out my plate-- even ate the fat hahahaha).

 

Sundance, The Steak House is located at  1921 El Camino Real, Palo Alto CA 94306 (www.sundancethesteakhouse.com)  Call (650) 321-6798 :) * you will not regret eating here!*

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! It's December 25 here in San Francisco right now :) And it's time for lunch :)

Tomorrow is BOXING DAY-- and yes, we are attacking The City for THE SALES!!! *Darnit I hope I get to wake up super early tomorrow!!!* :)

x

Mrs.T

From San Francisco With Love

From thebaghag (wannabe) in San Francisco to baghags in Manila and the world over,

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL !!!

Here are some photos I took of the City by the Bay that I'd like to share with you all :)

Pictionary time :)

 

Enjoy Christmas!!! Hope your day is filled with joy, love, a lot of positive energy,  wonderful blessings, and mucho happiness! :)

Let's learn to be happy for others who are more successful than us *ouch that hurt 'coz I'm a green- eyed monster most of the time... I haven't stopped envying Bill Gates for his immense wealth and  especially his humility!! The guy never let success get to his head! *How does he manage that?!?!?!* Meanwhile if I were him, I'd probably become a Dr. Jekyll *muwahahahahaha*.

On a serious note, let's all keep our fingers crossed that 2009 closes with good things happening to everyone-- yes, even to people we may not necessarily like! Case in point, if you encounter rude people this holiday season, just grin and bear :D Don't get angry! Noooot a good idea!  I saw a retail fight happening right before my very eyes here in SF and it got real Ugly :( Sooo, let's all be the better person. Be nice so Santa will come bearing you presents again next year hahahaha.  There's already too much hatred in this world-- no need to let that spill over to the new year! 

Much love and positive ju- jus to all,

Mrs.T

(Christmas fairy spreads positive ju- jus :D)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

These are the things that make me realize that it's really Christmas! And these make me grateful to be here this Christmas. I love spending the holidays in Manila, but like everyone, I hate the traffic :( And I do wish we had:

Real eggnog drinks (not just like those biscuits :D) Eggnog is pretty potent! I drank one whole carton already since I got here-- and realized it's a recipe for a heart attack *muwahahaha*. Ingredients: Grade A milk and full cream, egg yolks!!! *gulp* But I looove eggnog. It's a Christmas drink that I'd love to have if I were in the Philippines. Someone learn to bottle eggnog and sell it in Salcedo Market, please! :) *Cha Ching! Business Idea Alert!!*

Special, limited edition flavors of ice cream. Like Dreyer's peppermint flavored ice cream!

 

 Safeway's own Special flavors, Pumpkin Pie and Gingerbread!

I've had Pumpkin pie ice cream (Dreyer's) the last time I was in SF. I loooved it!!! I finished the whole quart unassisted.

A wall full of gift cards!!! Here's another Business Idea Alert!!! Can someone out there come up with this kind of system? It's so perfect! Don't know what to give your friends? Give them a gift card (instead of a gift check). They even have visa/ mastercard/ amex pre-loaded cash cards! :)  Cash is still king (angpao/ red pocket), but oye, a gift card will help the economy :) At least you are obliged to spend the "gift" or the card will just be good for opening locked doors *muwahahaha*.

Holiday cookie cutters in cute Christmas tins!

Perfect gifts for your Martha Stewart-y friends or kids who love to bake *with parental assistance of course :)*

Meanwhile, here are some tthings we probably have in Manila and are likewise available here:

Welch's Christmas packaging :)

Christmas- themed mylar balloons. They cost anywhere from $5 up.

Candyyyyyyy!!! Stocking stuffers :)

Christmas cookies :)

And of course, those fancy miniature Christmas villages (that actually cost an arm and a leg!!!)

The temperature's been dropping. It'll be about 5 degrees C tonight. Meanwhile in my folks' home on the other side of town, it's going to be 2 degrees C!!!!! *Chillllyyyyyy*

It's really beginning to look (and feel) a lot like Christmas :) Have a wonderful Christmas Eve!! Eat a lot tonight :D :D

 P.S. Are there any folks reading this blog from the Bay Area? :) Anyone going to the boxing day sale in Union Square on the 26th? Send me a message!! :)

x
Mrs.T

Travelog: Lousy Chinese Soup in SF???

Yes. For the first time, I had disappointing Chinese food in San Francisco. :(

In the past, this restaurant, known as Koi Palace, was one of the best Chinese restaurants on this side of town.

I used to drive 40 minutes and then wait another 40 minutes with friends or family  (this was WITH a reservation) just to get a table in this restaurant. Koi Palace was THAT good. And we didn't mind the wait-- neither did the rest of the Chinese community with a penchant for authentic Chinese cuisine in the Bay.

But last night, we ate dinner there to celebrate the birthday of DH's uncle. We were all expecting that same excellent food (and lousy service-- yes, service had been consistently lousy hahaha), but yikes, we were all surprisingly disappointed. Apparently, Koi Palace had briefly closed for a time *this is unconfirmed, but I was told this by a local* (I don't know if it was for a renovation, or change in management/ ownership, or perhaps even for expansion). But I guess if they did close briefly, quality went downhill after they reopened.

The thing is, they are still full as always (I'm sure they have some good dishes for diners to still want to come back), though no more of those crazy long waits when we dined there.

The tanks filled with the freshest seafood were still all there. Seafood remains a forte in this restaurant.

Abalone!

 

 

I'm thinking dimsum is still good, but the ones we ordered for dinner were very lackluster and borderline disastrous.

Except for the boneless porkchops, and the fish. Very tender pork. (sorry about the fish in the background. We attacked it hahaha-- the fish was fresh-- it ought to be, because it was fresh from their tanks!)

Scallops, Celeries, and Cashew nuts. Very bland :(

Fried Rice. Very bland :(

Braised sea cucumbers and abalone mushrooms. Very bland :(

This egg drop soup with seafood had some kind of flavor, but salt is obviously missing!! I felt like I was drinking hot water with a ruined poached egg... yep, that bad :( I am a soup- lover and soup drinker, so if the soup is bad, everything else good might just not make up for the bad soup. (Soup Snob Alert)

Is it possible the chef forgot to sprinkle these dishes with salt?! Or has salt become so expensive of late that the kitchen was told by management to start scrimping??

Doubt I'll ever go back to Koi Palace for dinner. I can go back there to try their dimsum which is something I'd like to do on this trip (if I wake up early enough hahaha), and maybe give this restaurant a second chance after this bad gastronomic experience. But I welcome dining experiences of other readers who have dined at Koi Palace in the year 2009. I hope thy didn't have the lousy soup we had :D

Koi Palace is on 365 Gellert Blvd. Daly City (650) 992-9000. They have a website, www.koipalace.com *which incidentally has a "great review" made by a writer from the SF Gate some 7 years ago*

On a lighter note, one more day and it's Christmas eve! Just to let our Fabella donors know, our total donation of 339K++ has grown to Php 440,000 from an anonymous donor :) So as of last December 18, I have already turned over the full amount of Php 440,000 to Rea Harrow of Moms for Moms for her to make the purchase of 1 micro- infusion pump and 1 oxymeter :) She has already placed the order for these 2 pieces of equipment, and hopefully we will get them in 60 days *long time, but I guess the medical supplies company also had to place an order for these*. Will keep you peeps posted :)

 

x
Mrs. T