Curious Cat

Crystal Jade 翡翠拉麵小籠包

After my lonely lunch on my first Thursday here, I headed to Central to meet up supposedly with Dea, my English blockmate back in college (oh M03, how I miss you.. those were the good old days of chocolate grades with Ma’am Diaz and whatnot..). As of today (three weeks later), I still haven’t met up with Dea (she took a week-long vacation in the Philippines in between), but I’m sure I’ll see her soon enough, her bring a permanent resident in Hong Kong and all. Maybe in September?:)

But back to that first Thursday - Dea was unable to meet up with me, so I texted Justin (another Filipino intern at UBS) instead to see what he was up to, since I was already in Central. He told me to come to Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao at IFC Mall as he was about to have dinner with some Filipino visitors - Camille, Mia, and Kat.

After queuing for an hour or so (the line was crazy long), this was what we finally had:

Xiao Long Bao

“La Mian” (?) :) (? feel free to correct me if I’m wrong…)

Pork Spareribs (I would make a terrible food blogger, I realize…)

And here’s our group picture in Central, taken by Kat, the outcast from UP (University of the Philippines) :p (Although in truth, it was I who was the outcast..)

Filipino get-togethers have become such a treat to me lately. I never really thought it would happen as I always knew I was perfectly comfortable speaking pure English everyday, but then I find myself missing speaking in Tagalog. Especially exclaiming in Tagalog, if that makes sense, haha! (On a side note, I’ve discovered that talking to Spanish-speaking people in “Spanipino” somewhat makes up for it…)

Tonight, I’m heading to IFC again for a farewell party. This time, I’m literally taking my IFC experience to another level - we’re having drinks on the roof deck. And no, it’s not as posh and glitzy as it sounds, as we, poor interns that we are, are only staying in the landscaped rooftop of “resort-style sofas, tables, and armchairs for the use of the public. This means that while places like H One and Red would prefer that you blow a ton of cash on their meals and drinks, you’re perfectly entitled to bring your own if you’re sitting outdoors.” (Time Travel)

xx

PS - the staple mirror shot of the day (taken before the dinner at Crystal Jade). Get used to it.

(Source: TIME)