Learn a new language
This year, my wife and I were looking for new activities to keep life interesting. We wanted to do something together. Since we love to travel, we decided to take up a foreign language course. We ended up signing for Spanish class at the Instituto Cervantes.
Learning a new language is a very interesting thing to do. It forces your brain to think differently, since languages usually have different grammatical rules. It also gives you a peek into other cultures that you might not have been exposed to before.
Spanish is a beautiful (bello) language. It’s especially interesting for Filipinos since a lot of Spanish is embedded into our language, even though we may not realize it. Learning that so many words like mercado, oras, casa and so many others are from Spain makes our language much richer. And Spanish is used in a total of 25 countries, so it’s not a bad language to know at all!
Our class at the Instituto was fun. We enrolled at Nivel (level) 1, which lasted 10 sessions every Saturday. All of our classmates were interesting people, and we think those who would take up a foreign language just for kicks are almost always interesting people. We augmented class with an audiobook for learning Spanish so that we could learn better.
Though we haven’t enrolled for nivel 2 yet, we felt the money was really worth it and plan to continue our classes sometime in the near future. Hasta luego!
More information about Instituto Cervantes:
Website: http://manila.cervantes.es/
Address: 855 T.M. Kalaw St. 1000 Ermita MANILA, Filipinas
Phone:63 2 526 14 82 - 85
Fax:63 2 526 14 49
Buy a cool shirt today
Ah, t-shirts. It’s so hard to find something that expresses your individuality. But it’s so cool when you find something that you think is just so you!
I’ve been in love with t-shirts again ever since I found Threadless. Its user-submitted designs are so beautiful, and you’re bound to find something that suits you. I’ve ordered a total of five shirts already for me and my wife, with five more along the way!
The shirt price is pretty affordable at $15, even by Filipino standards. What’s more, they have periodic sales where shirts go down to $10. Even with shipping, the shirts cost roughly Php 600. That’s cheaper than buying a nice shirt in Bonifacio High Street!
What are you waiting for? Buy now! 
Tiny Tweaks Post #4 – Just Food
Tiny Tweaks usually espouses finding the simple joys without veering too far from what is readily available or accessible. For this post however, we would like to tell you about the little adventures outside of our usual routine that have been real treats for us.
For the past two and a half weeks, we succumbed to personal and peer proddings to go on a food trip adventure:
Dampa near Mall of Asia
We have always wanted to go to the original Dampa Market (in Paranaque) but have gotten feedback that it’s not too clean and it’s usually crowded. Besides, it is not so convenient for us to go there. Anyway, our very pregnant friend sent a “Must Go To Dampa” email complete with set menu choices, itinerary and how to get there – how can we refuse, she’s pregnant!
As it turns out, the Dampa Market she was referring to is the newer one along Macapagal Avenue near Mall of Asia. Getting there is easy (from EDSA or Buendia) and parking is not a problem. Just like any Dampa Market, you have to:
1. Identify first where you want to eat. The wet market is bordered by several airconditioned, clean and spacious restaurants. We picked “Kuzina” because our pregnant friend frequents this place (great choice since service as well as taste of food is superb).
2. A crew from the chosen restaurant will accompany you to the wet market. The wet market is very organized. It is zoned in such a way that similar items are lumped together- i.e. fish sections, sea shells section, etc. Price is reasonable too (20-25% more than the ordinary wet market seafood) and the crew can also help you with the haggling.
3. After picking out all the ingredients, you go back to the restaurant to have it weighed and costed according to the type of dish you’d like it to be cooked. Make sure that you agree on the final service charge for the cooking. You can still haggle with the restaurant and even ask for complimentary sidings like tomato and onions.
4. Now you wait. Then binge on fresh, sumptuous seafood fare. Yum!
Miss Desserts
One evening, after a tiring and stressful day at work, I decided that I just needed something to perk me up before heading home. It was one of those days when you just wanted to do something… anything to temporarily relieve you of the days’ worries (based on experience, giving in to these cravings makes me less cranky and therefore results to a more harmonious married life. Hahahaha). Anyway, the search for that little dose of something took us to the Serendra Piazza at the Fort where we found a quaint dessert place aptly called Miss Dessert.
We tried their highly-recommended cheesecake (I think we were influenced by the numerous newspaper clippings on the walls, citing their cheesecake as one of the best in the Metro). We also ordered brownie-ala-mode, a tried and tested (and cliché’) mood booster. The desserts were too dainty to attack so we restrained ourselves and slowly savored each bite until the last tiny crumb. It definitely was a real treat (and a prescription for the stressed, irritable, edgy, *7^8*$#%&^%!!). So when the going gets tough, eat dessert!
Hawaiian Barbecue
The next food adventure takes us to the sunny, sandy shores of beautiful Boracay. Normally, when we go to Boracay, we do not visit the same restaurant more than once. Just like any vacation you want to maximize it and do something different every single day (e.g. try out different restaurants for every meal). But the moment we bit into the juiciest baby back ribs at The Original Hawaiian Barbecue (Station 2), we knew that this time we would have to make an exception.
We sampled pork, fish, prawns, chicken and even dessert – everything was delightfully delicious! Super!.
We went back, ordered exactly the same food items and the experience was as wonderful as the first one. We would’ve wanted to do it one more time but it was time to say bye bye Boracay. But if the craving for Hawaiian Barbecue is too strong to ignore, we can always drive up to Tagaytay where they have a branch at the newly-opened Boutique Hotel, just right past the rotunda (taking the road that heads toward Taal Vista Hotel).
Marakesh
Marakesh is my current favorite place. Before you start searching the web for this destination, let me just warn you that it will be a futile search as this place is unlisted.
Marakesh is actually the name that one of our friends coined for the newly-built house of another friend. The house is Moroccan- inspired and truly a feast to the senses (just like the dazzling markets of Marrakech —- hence Marakesh!). It is not just about the house but the total experience derived from being in a place that is very well thought of. The design and architecture is intricate, tasteful and detailed but it is not restricting and imposing. The place was intuitively designed to have something interesting for everyone (from kiddies to grannies). This is how I want my house to be – beautiful but well lived in, a place where everyone is genuinely having a great time.
Completing the total Marakesh experience is the food. Oh the lovely, wonderful food of Marakesh. Every meal is much awaited (even merienda). The food is not about expensive flavors and ingredients. The food is simple, usual comfort food items. But what is striking is the care that goes into deciding which food item goes with what, what drink suits the meal, etc. Even the table setting has the same beautiful consistency apparent in the entire house- but just like the rest of the house’s elements, it does not leave one feeling ill at ease but instead pleasantly charmed and delighted. Can’t wait to go back to Marakesh!
Going on vacation!
Tomorrow, Tiny Tweaks will take a short vacation as we go on a 5-day trip to Boracay. We’ll see if there’s anything there that merits posting in this blog. See you soon!
Tiny Tweak #3: Skip Starbucks, Get Rich
There’s a great article at Inquirer.net’s Money Smarts blog entitled “What latte can do to your finances.” Salve broke down the cost of buying coffee at Starbucks (or your favorite coffee hangout) and computes for us that our favorite pastime can cost us up to P43,200 a year! That’s money that could be invested in mutual funds instead of going down your throat.
Ever since I tied the knot, we’ve been preparing baon for my lunch. From spending around P200 or more a day in meals etc., I’m down to P15 (for parking) on good days, and around P100 max when going for merienda. (Of course, this doesn’t include dates). That’s money that we can put on savings or divert to buy things we really want.
Tiny Tweak Post #2: Yummy brown rice!
I have always been a sucker for healthy eating (but occasionally give in to junk food binges- from the “exotic” food stuff in UP Diliman’s roadside kiosks to the classic Chippy and Coke). Thanks to the Salcedo Market in
Tiny Tweak #1 – Check out a new place before heading home
Welcome to tinytweaks! This is our maiden post. What better way to start things off than to talk about the event that inspired us to set up our little blog site.
As a newly-married couple struggling to keep a household together, we usually just head home instead of going out to have dinner or drinks. This has been our routine for the past few months. Don’t get us wrong, it is fun (and we’re not just trying to convince ourselves here J Truly, there is genuine joy in going home to home cooked meals in a tidy house). But a sudden invitation from a friend to watch a free concert (with possible free drinks) at Bonifacio High Street was just too good to just pass up. Since High Street was just a few minutes away from our place, we decided to do a detour from our usual route.
At High Street, we were greeted by our jolly old friend, who incidentally was also the host of the free show (and yes he treated us to one round of beer). The show was actually a preview of the artistic entertainment offerings that will be in store at the newest Mag:net Café that is slated to open at High Street this coming May. Mag:net has been known as a haven of sorts for artists, poets, musicians. It has been an authentic creative space that has inspired these artistic souls to hone and share their crafts. True to its commitment to music and the arts, the preview showcased several bands each with a distinct and eclectic character, spanning a wide-range of genres that speak of the musical flavors that will be in store at Mag:net. We look forward to the new sights and sounds at Mag:net and hope to make this our tiny detour on the way home!
