Random Chika # 5

1.  Falling Prices of Oil. This pretty much illustrates Alberta's economy.

Picture taken from the net (credits to the owner)

It's so ironic. When I was in the Philippines, I kept on praying for the price of oil to drop. Our family operates a transportation business so the price of fuel impacts our operation the most. Now that I am living in Alberta, syempre gusto ko mataas ang presyo ng langis para "mayaman" ang lugar namin.

Oh well, again we are having a scary economy here. When will this end?

2.  New Buddy -- Handheld Vacuum.  At long last, may sariling vacuum na ako! Pod has a lot of "big" vacuums (addict siya dun) at ang tagal ko ng sinasabing bilhan niya ako nito. It took a while kasi wala siyang bilib sa akin. Dati kasi nagpabili ako ng walis tambo sa isang Pinoy store dito, hindi ko ginamit. Nakakatamad kasi. Ayun winarningan ako na kapag hindi ko raw ginamit ito eh never na raw niya akong papakinggan sa mga pinabibili ko.

But I've proven him wrong. Sulit na sulit ito sa akin. Nathan loves eating biscuits kaya yung mga kalat niya ang palagi kong vina-vacuum haha! I love it talaga! This is very cheap though. Less than $30 lang yata. When it breaks down, saka na daw ako bibilhan ni Pod ng mamahalin.

3.  Plastic Cover for Dining Table. Haha, this looks so cheap I know! Pero bakit ba kasi hindi uso ang glass na pang-protect sa table? People here use table cloths all the time. Kaso nadudumihan at namamantsahan naman. Even if you use placemats, di pa rin maiwasan na hindi matuluan o malaglagan ng ulam.

The only solution is to put a plastic cover. I bought one at Dollarama, saktong sakto ang size sa dining table namin.

Ford and I have not been using our dining table for a while. Sa counter lang kami kumakain para madaling linisin. But we have house guests now, at may parating pa next week, kaya mapapasabak ang table namin sa napakaraming kainan.

4.  Nando's to Open Soon. We were driving in the south area last Sunday when Ford made a wrong turn. And I couldn't believe what I saw, Nando's! I asked my driver to stop a bit so that I can see for sure. Pucha, Nando's nga! The restaurant is still under construction but by the looks of it, I knew that it is opening soon.

I love Nando's. I would always eat there whenever I visit my BFF Raxie in Kuala Lumpur. Mahilig ako sa grilled chicken eh.

Pero hindi lang dahil sa peri-peri chicken kaya ako happy. Again, whenever a new familiar franchise restaurant opens here in Edmonton, nadadagdagan ang hope ko na mas dadami pa ang makakainan namin in the future. Mas maraming options, mas masaya. Sana someday hindi ko na tawaging "Deadmonton" ang Edmonton hahaha!


5.  Dairy Queen's $7 Meal.  It was my first time to eat  DQ's "fan food." Puro vanilla ice cream cone lang kasi palagi ang binibili ko. But since McDonald's WEM Foodcourt is closed for renovation and I was craving for fries, sa DQ ako bumagsak.

Hmm, for $7, sulit na rin. The sundae in the picture is medium-sized. Dapat small lang talaga pero dahil kilala ko yung server, inupgrade nya haha.


Kaso gusto ko pa rin ng french fries ng McDo.

Celebrating the fourth

We can't do anything special for our fourth anniversary because it fell on a Tuesday. Plus what else can a poor couple do with a toddler in tow? Not that we're complaining lol.

So I just requested a simple dinner at Tony Roma's. The last time we ate there was May 2014 pa kaya namimiss ko na rin.  I chose the WEM location because we had to buy some things pa in the mall.

Since last year, dalawa na ang poging ka-date ko.

We'll always be grateful for this little boy. Mas meaningful na ang wedding anniversary because of him.

Mrs. Blanco for four years.

I ordered calamari for appetizer. Craving satisfied!

Our dinner.

Nathan was already happy with his gold fish and water-na-inistraw. He hasn't been eating solids lately. =(

Because we were too shy to ask our server to take our picture. Parang hindi kasi talaga uso rito ang pagpapakuha ng pictures. Ayan, groufie groufie na lang.

Tumatanda na talaga kami. Almost 9 years of  being bf-gf + 4 years being married. Magkasama pa rin kami. We are living a simple yet happy life. Salamat Po.

Ford and I are not into desserts so we just had a venti mocha frappucino for sharing. Lagi kaming share sa frappucino naman. Unang frapp ko pala ito simula ng bumalik kami last November.

Happy fourth year wedding anniversary to us!

VDay 2015 with my boys

All occasions are more special now because we have this little guy who always tags around!

Valentine's Day 2015 fell on a Saturday so we really long planned on eating out. But I wasn't in the mood on the day itself, sobrang malamig kasi. I slept the whole day. However, Ford woke me up late in the afternoon and insisted that we go out.

Ford suggested that we eat at Chili's but upon checking on their menu online, I kinda 'backed out.' Sobrang namamahalan kasi ako. With a baby, hindi rin naman namin mae-enjoy ang ambiance eh.

Then I remembered Swiss Chalet. We haven't eaten there and their food seemed reasonably priced naman.

We went to their Windemere branch.

Just as I expected, there were many diners. But the restaurant is quite big and there were still many vacant tables. We had to wait for a few minutes for a booth though. Meron nga kasi kaming dalang baby.

Our order took long to arrive so we had plenty of time to take pictures.

Our server was a Filipina so nakipa-picture na rin kami.

Nathan got hungry na haha!

Here's what we ate. Ford and I each had a soup and chicken-ribs plate. In fairness, masarap naman. Hindi nga rin ganun kamahal.

Valentine's Day now has a deeper meaning because of my son. Our love story has produced a very cute offspring!

Cheers to more Valentine celebrations!

Puro snow ang paligid. I admire my husband for being so patient in bringing us out kahit na sobrang mahirap sa part niya. Thank you, Dear!

Ang sarap magtampisaw sa malinis na snow!

We went to Walmart after to buy diapers for Nathan. Haha, very unromantic! Iba na talaga ang buhay namin ngayon!

I just had to end Valentine's Day with this...

I wasn't able to give my husband a gift. It's so absurd if I buy something for him kasi using his own money haha! He asked me if I want something but I said no na rin kasi kabibili nya lang sa akin ng iPhone 6 a few days before.

I really am beyond grateful. Sa bawat okasyon na kasama na namin si Cheeky Boy, tumataba ang puso ko.

Thursday dinner at Buffet Royale Carvery

October 9, 2014. The Husband was supposed to pick me up at around 5pm (after his work) so we could go to T&T Supermarket but ended up coming home a few minutes before 7pm as he still had to finish some paper works. He was starving and we had nowhere to eat (T&T Gourmet closes at 7pm).

We first thought of eating at a Filipino restaurant but decided against it. Dining there would cost us $30-40+ and we don't think we'll be fully satisfied. Then Pod suggested Buffet Royale Carvery (West) instead because at least there will be many choices.

I was actually hesitant because I am watching my diet but I knew that he is very hungry so I gave in. I won't eat carbs na lang, I told myself.

I wanted to back out the moment I saw the dinner buffet rate haha! Just when we agreed to save because we've already spent so much the past weeks. And it was an ordinary day, for heaven's sake!

very few diners

But Ford pointed my eyes on the buffet spread. I could see that he was already salivating so sige na nga.

Yep, here in Edmonton, malaking buffet spread na ito. I bet Edmontonians will be shocked kung masusubukan nila ang Spiral Buffet (Hotel Sofitel) ng Pinas o kahit Vikings man lang sa SM MOA.

"Best Buffet Restaurant" na raw for so many years ang Buffet Royale Carvery. In fairness, pwede na rin. More choices than other buffet restos. It's a combination of Western, Chinese and Ukranian food.

They actually have an extensive salad bar if you are a salad-lover. In our case, dedma. I don't eat salad. The Husband does but given the choice, he wouldn't. He's a carnivore, too.

They have a carving station for roast beef. May pizza and sausage din.

This is the only bread they had.

Pero meron silang nachos.

And hotdogs.

As compared to other buffet restaurants we've tried, Buffet Royale Carvery has the "best" dessert section so far.

Kasi may ice cream. Tsk, had I not been pregnant with gestational diabetes, susulitin ko talaga ito. I wasn't able to resist vanilla, tinikman ko talaga.

Here were some of my plates. We were particularly happy with the barbeque ribs and mussels.

Pod loves chocolate fountains!

We ate for around one hour then went home. Haha, I told Ford that the next time we eat buffet, we have to make it sulit. I am used to dining and talking in Philippine buffets eh, kaya madami akong nakakain. We paid $54+ tapos sandali lang kami, sayang talaga.

Overall, I like Buffet Royale Carvery and I am looking forward to eating there again soon (that is, when I am no longer pregnant and can already indulge on gluttony). Hopefully we could try their weekend brunch as well.