A well spent Sunday with Machi at Maginhawa and UP Town Center

After a couple of cancelled plans and whatnot last year, I was finally able to meet up with Machi! So, I have stories to share with you, yaaay!

The agenda was to eat out to our heart’s content without spending too much. Heh, we are the archetype Taureans. And so, we have tried 6 different “cuisines” in a day! We only spent and shared PHP1,252.00 (~$25).

Here’s how… the place to be is Maginhawa and UP Town Center.

Caution Hot (Chinese)

We started our foodscapade with Chinese noodles. I am surprised at the serving size here. We won’t able to finish one serving alone, so we shared. I am glad Machi brought me to places she is already familiar with; we got to spend wisely.

Classic broth, egg noodles topped with seafood
PHP220.00

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Mo:Mo (Nepalese)

Apparently, momo is a type of dumpling in the Himalayan regions. Our friend—Sami—is from Nepal, and she loves momo. I was really excited to know what it tastes like!

Personally, I love siomai and gyoza, but momo is nothing like them. Momo has a stronger taste (probably a different spice I am not aware of). It comes with achaar and various dips.

Momo (Chicken) PHP130.00

I love all dips, but I find spicy dips overpowering the real taste of the food.. if that makes sense. So, I settled with the one in the middle. It has enough spiciness to add an ‘oomph’ factor to the food.

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Black Scoop (Filipino)

If I am not mistaken, Black Scoop is a Filipino brand. Someone correct me if I’m wrong. Anyway, I find the ice cream normal – not really something that stands out, but I love the texture of the Ovaltine toppings we had on it.

Plain cup PHP140/cup
Ovaltine toppings PHP25/cup

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After the sumptuous meals that we had early on our journey, we decided to go around Maginhawa for a bit. We were supposed to go to Crystal Age because I am into crystals and I believe in people’s “energy” and stuff, but it was still closed! We also went to 55 Tinta because I want another tattoo. They are pretty expensive (but with really great artists) though, and they do not encourage finger tattoos because it’s “prone to fading”. I appreciate that they are honest about it. My first tattoo artist quoted me for the finger tattoo I want without asking me if I am sure of it because I might need to do a lot of retouching (which is another expense, lol).

We also walked around UP Diliman. It is my first time on the campus and I love it so much! There are lots of trees and it’s so serene (or maybe because it’s a Sunday and not many students are around). Nonetheless, I enjoyed our time there – specifically the Sunken Garden. We watched kids playing softball, and some are playing frisbee too.

We talked about a lot of things and my favorite one is when Machi mentioned the fact that leaves and branches of adjacent trees do not touch each other, like a space gap. It’s called crown shyness or intercrown spacing. Science really does explain mostly everything, doesn’t it?

I can’t remember all the buildings we went through because my memory sucks, but my favourite is the observatory. Machi also introduced me to this old cat staying in the Marine Science Institute (?) building. Really cute!

Machi took mostly every great photo on this post. I told her I am going to blog it, and she went all photographer with it, which I appreciate so much. 🥺🥺

After a lot of walking, we finally decided to go to the UP Town Center and have sushi!

Sushi Nori (Japanese)

Of course, we had to “Go Green”

Go Green PHP169.00 (6 pieces)

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Chung Chun Korean Rice Corndog (Korean)

Obviously, we have to try this Korean version of corndogs too! It’s our 5^th food place, wow.

We both had the original but Machi chose ketchup for her dip and I am in it for the cheese. <33

Chung Chun Corndog Original
PHP49.00/each

We ate at the park place and watched pets come and go with their owners too. There were two Siberian Husky in front of us while we were eating. We talked about pets and I learned from Machi that we should stop calling the dogs “askal” (because it is derogatory); it should be “aspin” (asong Pinoy) from now on. The mall also has pets going around and about and I was happy to see one cat near the Sushi Nori. Apparently, we can’t pet them, though.

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Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (American)

Before we called it a night, we had coffee and tea. And there you have it, the six “cuisines”! HAHAHAHA! Going around the world is really tiring. Phew.

Caramel Macchiato PHP185.00
Jasmine PHP120.00

I think that’s it for this blog. You might see more of Machi too in my blog because she’s shocked to know I haven’t been to a lot of places like Intramuros – so, we will probably go there the next time we meet. I will bring you all along with me. She’s interested if I will like Intramuros more than Vigan. We’ll see. 😉

I feel like we talked a lot that I don’t know which particular thing I would like to share more. I guess most of it will just go straight to my journal and stay there. I have learned a lot from Machi too and I told her that human interaction is so important because it makes you aware of a lot of things. Also, it’s always good for story-telling, which I really love to do. I love to talk about my day (when I’m in the mood) and share my takeaways wherever I go. :’) All thanks to Machi I got to do just that!

P.S. I smile the same in all photos. I don’t really smile too much or a lot. I remember a friend asked me once why I don’t have “emotions” in pictures. Ahaha! But I swear to God, I am happy here! :’D This is Saturnian culture, I’m sorry. 😛

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