Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Self-Date @EDSA Shangrila 08082013

Last August 8 (yeah, an auspicious day for the double lucky 8),  I went on a self-date. It's been a long time since I did that and I thoroughly miss being all alone, and because there was a free movie showing in EDSA Shangrila at that time courtesy of the Italian Embassy. After work, I ran to the MRT and I was 5 minutes early for the show. The free movie's title is "La seconda moglie" (The Second Wife).

It's about a woman who became the second wife of a man named Fosco. During the wedding, it was obvious already that Anna and Livio had an eye for each other. Livio is the son of Fosco from the latter's first marriage. Anna had a daughter named Santina prior to the marriage. Fosco is seen as being hard on his only son and is also part of a group of grave robbers. When he was caught raiding a tomb, he landed in jail. During his absence, Livio seduces Anna and the two developed an illicit affair.

You may watch the entire film thanks to youtube:


After the film, I went around in search of the newly constructed East Wing. I've been hearing a lot about this from Norma Chikiamco's column in PDI. Since I have been craving for ramen and since it was a cold night being alone with no one to warm me (LOL), I looked for Ikkoryu Fukuoka, a restaurant that's been earning rave reviews.

When I got there, the resto was full and people were continuously coming to have seats reserved. I was lucky I went solo so I got in easily. When I was shown the menu I considered leaving the place because all their ramen has pork save for one. This is my ramen dilemma: I don't eat pork unless it's deep-fried or barbecued or ground. When I was in Ukkokei early this year, I was saved from this dilemma because they had ground pork, seafood, and chicken variants.

In the end, I told myself, time to face my porky fears. I had a bowl of the spicy tanbanjan tonkotsu (P380 +10% service charge, total of P418) and requested for my usual cup of hot water. When I first tasted the soup, it was spicy yes so it did not disappoint. I love the rich taste and the soup' s really flavorful. When I took a bite of the pork, I was delighted to find that it was so tender. (Having the spices did its work to mask the unwelcome smell of pork. Yes, I told you I don't like pork.) So for a while I considered eating pork from that moment on (but I still fail now).


I did finish the soup, putting in much sesame oil for the wonderful aroma. But when I got to the MRT on my way home, I had this heavy feeling washing over me. I felt like just dropping to the floor and sleep. While inside the train, I thirsted for water so I gulped down a glass upon reaching home but by then I was already a bit feverish. I remembered one episode last year when I was knocked out by a heavy dose of MSG in 2011. So before I went to sleep, I made sure to drink water again and to urinate to somehow take out those unwanted MSG from my system. The next morning, my throat was dry as hell and I had to run to have a drink.

So in the end, I'll still stick with Ukkokei, not that they don't put in MSG, but at least it was at a tolerable level. And I also appreciate the fact that Ukkokei has chicken and seafood, not just pork.

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