Lunch is something that all of us at work look forward to. The arguments that precede lunch are the antipasto.

I want to order from Sinangag.

Gaah! Another tapa and I will puke.

Pre, sa sizzling tayo.

No, KFC.

Ano ka ba? Chicken na naman.

Sizzling chicken tayo.

McDo na lang kaya.

Most of the time, we go together to the place of choice for that day, sometimes, we split groups and discover that we all end up in Mini Stop or the nearest McDonald’s.

Today, on a rainy Halloween day, we could not decide and then someone suggested Amici and so we all packed the already crowded Italian eatery.

It is a little pricey than your average carenderia but definitely cheaper than your usual Italian resto. I had the home-made spinach fusilli with sausage and funghi (mushrooms), brewed coffee and ta-da… cioccolato gelato. It’s a wonder how good food can obliterate bad mood and even migraine.

I walked happily under the rain with my ice cream cup back to my infernal desk.

P.S.
Amici is along Arnaiz Avenue, just under the skyway and is run by the Don Bosco order.

or should I type LASAGNE?

INGREDIENTS

* 9 thick slices bacon, diced
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 teaspoon fennel seed
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
* 2 (28 ounce) cans tomato sauce
* 2 pounds Italian sausage
* 1 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles
* 2 pints part-skim ricotta cheese
* 2 eggs
* 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1/3 cup milk
* 8 slices provolone cheese
* 6 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Brown bacon and onion in a large pan over medium heat. Stir in fennel seed, 1 teaspoon oregano, Italian seasoning, and tomato sauce. Cover, and simmer on low for 4 to 6 hours, or until thick.

— I’ll definitely add a few cloves of garlic and cut the cooking time to an hour.

2. Brown sausage links in a large skillet. Drain on paper towels. Cut into 1 inch pieces.

— Casings should be removed… can be substituted with ground beef and some pancetta.

3. Mix together ricotta cheese, egg, milk, parsley, and 1 teaspoon oregano in a medium bowl.

4. Layer 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan. Layer with 1/3 uncooked lasagna noodles, 1/2 ricotta cheese mixture, 1/2 sausage pieces, 1/3 mozzarella, and 1/2 provolone cheese. Top with 1/3 sauce. Repeat layers. Top with remaining 1/3 noodles. Spread remaining sauce over the top, and sprinkle with remaining 1/3 mozzarella cheese.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 1/2 hours.

Am making this for Jude’s birthday.

If you ask Una what the best part of our trip to the museum is, am sure she will answer pizza. She ate two slices and it didn’t surprise me as she was yakking about food while the rest of us was marveling over the intricate diorama at the Ayala Museum.

Birdy on the other hand, thought the miniature Katutubos scary and demanded for his milk half-way through our tour. We were the noisiest party that day as the kids made a lot of racket bouncing off the wood laminated benches and the little hands wanted to snatch off tiny pearls, the little lapiz lazuli that dangled from the neck of mixed media goddess.

Portrait of two Rugrats. Behind - Damian Domingo’s depiction of Spanish period couple.

Waiting for a kiss from the Kois.

Jude pondering over an Amorsolo.

I had this insane inspiration 2 weeks ago to brave Ongpin. Of course, I only have the courage when I have my sidekick and luckily for me, Jude was craving for authentic Chinese Siopao that day.

We took the MRT and then the LRT1. It was Jude’s first LRT ride and he hasn’t been to Manila at all. I interviewed the cabbie the night before for directions. He was kind enough to give us the correct stop (Carriedo) and estimated number of foot steps from the station to Ongpin and added a little gem: dress down and watch out for pickpockets. With those pieces of information, I felt I can conquer the whole Binondo.

Jewelry shops greeted us first but I am not crazy over jewelry and charms at the moment as my sole objective for that day was FOOD. Authentic Chinese cuisine. We checked out the first dingy looking restaurant we saw. The cashier was an old Intsik, the menu bore Chinese characters and the food was plain dismal. We checked the bakeries and the apothecaries next. We sampled fried Siopao and it was very delicious except for the spring onions. Onions in all its forms do not agree with me when I am pregnant.

The streets weren’t so busy that day and the fruits - all plump and looking juicy dot the sidewalk. I got my DIKYAM - dried plums that is sweet, sour and salty and thinking about it right now, makes my mouth water.

We got home with bags of pears, apples, hopia (mongo, ube and baboy), siopao and tired legs. I suffered a major migraine afterwards.

Sunday finds Una barfing and Birdy pooping wet mushy shit. Everything looks gloomy like how overcast sky portends an inclement weather.

I forced liquid antacids and Gatorade to crying mouths. I hate it most when either of the lovies get sick and especially when I am not feeling great myself. (What a relief to hear that it is just not me who feel sick the entire nine months. No wonder the term ‘knocked up’ was coined). I brought Una to the hospital where I inny-myni-mooed the pedia from the listing. The doc assured me that it is just upset tummy and no need for Maalox or any medication for that matter. “Just give her soft foods and bananas and apples.” With that I spent the entire day at home, shoving water into cracked lips and cooking arroz caldo. The next day, it was Birdy’s turn to barf and then Jude and I got the unidentifiable flu.

Wednesday evening, I was panicking because Birdy seemed weak and the frequency of his barfing has increased to an alarming rate plus the watery stools. We rushed him to the nearest ER (as advised by some venerable old folks). We didn’t know that the facility is only an ER unit and do not have rooms, just beds. We spent the night there anyway but the docs only hooked Birdy to dextrose after I told them that I am taking my son home. Actually I was thinking of moving to another hospital. They wanted to wait for him to poop so they can examine the stool for bacteria… What? You want to wait until my son gets seriously dehydrated before you’re going to do something to him?

The doctor relented and gave us a crib to strap him onto and the series of needle-pricking commenced. It is during those times that I get to tap onto my reservoir of strength – hold down a screaming toddler while a very thick needle is inserted into his vein.

The next day, they told us that they couldn’t find what’s wrong with the baby and that we have to move to another hospital with more facilities. I was hoping to find a decent one with rooms, you know, so I do not have to sleep on a tiny cot with 2 other human bodies. It was another government-run facility and when they showed us the ward, I couldn’t help but cry. “We do not have available rooms as of the moment and there’s a long list of people waiting. You have to sign up and reserve room in advance.” Gee, that means I have to schedule the exact time to get sick.

I told Jude that we are leaving tomorrow. We are going to contract diseases here. My germ-phobic husband actually refused the hospital-provided sheets. He laughed when I told him that he’s wrong, they’ve been washed but only they used Surf because they could not afford Tide and Zonrox.

The rest was a series of comic strips to me. Birdy in his fear of being pricked again told the nurse: “NO LOOK!” He also withheld his poop and barf so we can be released from the hospital and let them loose the moment we stepped inside the house. Good boy!

And did I tell you that we boarded an ambulance. Yeah, we did but it wasn’t the same in the movies where you see the other cars making way for the whirring vehicle. This is the PH, not Hollywood.