4 besties and 3 cups of gelato

An embarrassment of creamy richness!

At first the idea of having an ice cream parlor or a gelato shop in Baguio seemed as silly as carrying coals to Newcastle. And opening in February when the temperature in the city hovers between 11 to 14 degrees C in the evening and at certain times in the morning while people are bundled up like it's spring or fall in another country?

Yet people are streaming in at the newly opened Monte Gelati inside the Albergo Hotel on Villamor Drive And not just because the tables at Amare la cucina are already full and the owner/s just had to open another room for the spillover crowd.

Each time our small family of four eats out, we consult the youngest member, Kai, who pipes up heartily, "Amare!" Like the restaurant's name, she loves its pesto pasta and pizza Margherita. When budget allows and appetites are not appeased, we have the fall-off-the-bones ribs, too. The mint gelato is always an order for one with a request for four teaspoons.

With a mural of a snow-covered part of..well, I'm guessing it's the Alpine region. The caricature of the mustachioed gentleman offering a cone of gelati of different flavor is that of the Amare and Monte Gelati owner

But when we saw that Monte Gelati was open, we decided on feasting our eyes on the colors of the frozen desserts first, accepting free tastings before choosing what we'd each have. Our daughter Kimi and her Kai shared a cup of cookie butter. I went for something safe like the mango. Rolly Fernandez had his fave rum raisin, the flavor he goes for when we're in Pasig and hanging out at Poco Deli.

According to the waiting staff who served us, Amare's adventurous owner is initially introducing 16 (!!!) flavors to include biscotti, Red Horse, mango, rum raisin, cookie butter, mint, Amarena, matcha, strawberry, chocolate, dark chocolate, nutella, guyabano, dragonfruit, pistachio and Cabernet, the last to mean Cabernet Sauvignon with strong hints of red wine?

It seemed to me a perfect way to get tipsy after a hearty Eye-talian meal. Thank you, Amare, for giving us good reason to return.

Date night for two old fogies in a clean, well-lighted place

Photos by Kimi Fernandez

Paper cranes

Folded paper cranes on my keyboard

Last night my only grandchild opened the wings of these four paper cranes made by a poet friend, Marj Evasco. It is Marj's Christmas tradition to fold paper to shape these cranes.

Kai, my little one, was supposed to make four wishes, the wise poet said in her letter: one for herself, one for her family, one for her pet dog and one for the planet Earth, her home.

I got teary-eyed when I read the letter aloud to her, this child who has taken to also writing letters via snail mail, designing her own stationery pads with origami paper which she spells "organic papar" and wishing her pen pals "Amare Christmas" after her favorite Italian restaurant Amare La Cucina at Albergo Hotel, Villamor Drive, Baguio.

Today my husband will hang the cranes on our Christmas tree, and I will make a silent wish that Kai, who now owns a child-size fountain pen, will remain the way she is for a very long time.

Message in a bottle

Chris Ordas at his brewery Photo by EV Espiritu

Message in a bottle

Goodbye to almost all of that

A birthday, once you're entering the age of wisdom, becomes occasion for mortal thoughts. One thinks about conserving one's strength, preserving one's health, lessening or avoiding outright the prohibited in one's diet (the sweet and the salty).

But not yet, not while mint chocolate gelato, the authentic kind, can now be had in Baguio at Amare La Cucina.

Here's the Little One enjoying it unabashedly. Thanks for the Sunday and early birthday treat, Rolly/Tats/Grumps!

Photos by Kimi Fernandez and Babeth Lolarga