A Day of Showbiz and Food

My cousin Butchie's request prior to his visit here in Manila was to get tickets to watch a live television Sunday show called ASAP. Don't ask me what the TV show's acronym means because I haven't the foggiest.

I coaxed hubby to wake up early so that we could have an early start to beat the traffic and be the first in line to get good seats. Hubby dropped off mom and me to LP to meet up with Butchie. Hubby opted to sit this one out and just stayed home. My cousin Butchie took his time getting ready to make sure he's absolutely camera-ready.

Mom, me. Butchie and Tita Honey finally set off about an hour later than what we intially planned and was happily being driven to our destination. Only to discover that Butchie had forgotten the tickets! We had to turn back and get the tickets. Fortunately, we haven't reached the highway yet.

Since we had delays, and we were not allowed to bring food and drinks to the studio, we had brunch at a nearby Burger King drive thru. I have never eaten a burger that fast in my life. It's not a pleasant feeling, I tell you. We barely made it on time to the studio. The studio closed their gates right after we came. Whew, close call.

ASAP is a popular Sunday noontime show here in the Philippines. It's a three-hour long variety show filled with a lot of lip synching, live singing (for real singers) and a whole lot of dance numbers performed by a bevy of young local stars.


Tita Honey, Me and Butchie

It was a fun show overall. Very lively. I only hope that they improve the sound. The voices of the hosts are drowned by the background music and I could barely understand what they were saying. One particular lady host had a very shrill voice that annoyed the heck out of me.

Here are some highlights of the show:


ASAP Stage


Piolo Pascual


The singers


A view from the other side of the stage


A cosmetic launch


Heart and Echo

Butchie and I even had our picture taken at the stage after the show was over. You know, to get a feel of what it was really like to be on a TV stage :-)



My cousin Butchie befriended one of the famous comedians in the country named Brod Pete :-) who was a guest in the show. He gave us a tour of the studio and even shared a few tips with Butchie regarding his (Butchie's) aspirations to be an actor/reality star/tv host someday. The first step was to sign up at the Talent Center which was closed since it was a Sunday. I reckon we'll be back another day to submit an application.


Butchie with Brod Pete


Butchie getting advice from the comedians

After all the excitement, we were absolutely famished. We scored some gift certificates from Tita Socky for a Japanese restaurant called Yoshinoya in Park Square, Makati. We ordered the biggest platters they had and stuffed ourselves with gyudon, chicken teriyaki, lobster balls and tempura. There are no pictures because we attacked the food as soon as it was served on our table. The beef was particularly good. Very tender.

Butchie also ordered Shrimp Sandwich from Wendy's next door since it's not available in the US. Of course a Wendy's purchase is not complete without a Frosty.

With our tummies filled to the brim, we spent the remainder of the afternoon roaming Glorietta. We had heard that Bizu has really good ensaymadas and purchased a box of 6 assorted ensaymadas. Cheese ensaymada, chocolate ensaymada and almond ensaymada.


Butchie at the Bizu kiosk in Glorietta

If that wasn't enough pasyal for the day, we make our way to another popular mall a few kilometers away, Rockwell. We roamed around the mall and found some really nice items although none of us managed to purchase one.

We also chanced upon a Baker's Dozen Festival where assorted baked desserts are exhibited and sold. We tasted almost every single thing on the booths and sadly just bought only a piece of ensaymada with grated edam cheese on top. I didn't buy any of the stuff since I've been on a abking high for the past few weeks, rest muna.





Dinner was at an Asian fusion restaurant called Banana Leaf and Curry House. It's called banana leaf because diners use a sheet of banana leaf as plates. We ordered Pandan Chicken, Thai Style Manila Clams, Sauteed Salted Squid and a noodle dish (the name eludes me at this moment). The food was good overall. The price is also reasonable. The service though is not very good. Be prepared to be ignored some of the time since the place is usually packed on weekends.


Our "plate"


Sauteed Salted Squid


Pandan Chicken


Thai Style Manila Clams


A noodle dish with shrimps

With our tummies filled and our feet tired, we decided to call it a night. Afterall, tomorrow will be another day of pasyalan to the max.