Empty mug at three.

My body clock wakes me up at two-ish in the morning, all the time. Ditto this morning, at exactly two.

So after the washroom break, I headed to the kitchen to prepare a cup of Swiss Miss dark hot cocoa.  The bread at Pan de Manila looked inviting so I got one and simply spread it with butter.

Hot cocoa at two in the morning without TV nor book to read was purely boring and the computer looked sad, so I quickly powered it up.

Thousands of netizens surely commiserate with my situation because as soon as I logged in and posted, someone posted back.

In three minutes, my mug of hot cocoa was empty. Unlike coffee which I love to refill over and over, hot cocoa fills me up quickly and I don't long for seconds.

Which reminds me of brunch at Pancake House; there's no coffee refill and they use small coffee cups, not mugs, which further reminds me of breakfasts at diners in Canada or the U.S.A where you get tons of refills. As soon as you put in your order, the waitress comes in and pours your coffee, and comes back over and over.

Soon,  my mouth ached for a cup of brewed coffee, but my stomach was still bloated with the cocoa beans.

I would have to wait for sunrise. My opened can of coffee now is the Canadian Nabob, which is really robust.

My stack of coffee is down to one big can of ground and two bottles of instant. I grabbed the opportunity at the recent S&R March sale and bought an extra large can of Folger's with almost 150 peso discount.

Twinkies.

When I was new to New Jersey and living on my own, I dreaded cooking for myself.  I'd arrive past six in the evening to an empty apartment and preferred to buy take out food.

If I worked late in the office, we were assured of a free dinner and a free limo ride back home.

When I lived near Journal Square in Jersey City, I'd walk to a nearby Filipino fast food restaurant and indulged myself on kare kare and sinigang na baboy. But when I moved to Clark at WestSide, I had to learn how to cook. Luckily, the big supermarket was across the highway.

Twinkies and those boxed Entemman cakes became part of my grocery list.  I had no fear of sugar back then.  Coke Zero was not part of the language those days, and I never heard of the words "low glycemic index."

When I hit the grocery aisles, I was also thinking Lay's potato chips, Budweiser, Snickers, Oreo, Chocolate chip cookies, and later on, Reese's Peanut Buter, Pepperidge Farm cookies, and Molson Blue.

Those were the sugar-filled days, ooh la la.

Breaking Bread with Friends.

"Friends," the 1990's - 2000's America's top sitcom was not my favorite show; "Everybody Loves Raymond," was.

But when "Friends" went off the air, and I had free time due to my part-time retirement, I found a new chance to watch its reruns.  That's when I  discovered the bits and pieces of the friendship the four characters had.

This same route of seeing a show happened with Seinfeld.  When it was on its active telecast, I rarely watched it. But when it played on reruns, that's when I started watching it.

Funny, but I seem to enjoy more watching reruns.  Maybe this explains my ongoing fascination with the movie, "Back to the Future."  Whenever I find myself alone at home and have the urge to binge- eat on unhealthy food (chips, beer, peanuts, chocolates, etc), I would pop in my old video of Back to the Future I, sit back, relax and laugh. 

The scene where Marty McFly enters Hill Valley on the Saturday of Nov. 5, 1955 and "Mr. Sandman" playing,  never fails to excite me.  It's as if I were going back in time myself.

This love for the past, or nostalgia, happened in real time yesterday.

Wednesday, we had an extended lunch with some friends over at Mesa.  We enjoyed their cuisine tremendously.  Actually, last Monday, we were also at Mesa and a friend loved the food so much she asked us to meet there for lunch to meet another friend.

On Monday, we had tawilis with mango on a spoon as appetizer, seafood bean curd wansuy soup, pinaputok na tilapia with onions and tomatoes and the pride of Mesa - chicken adobo, mixed vegetables, and for dessert, turon with chocolate topping, and a San Mig for me, of course.

Yesterday, Nang Adors ordered pomelo salad with latik, sinuigang na salmon belly, crispy boneless tilapia served with four sauces, adobo baby squid with its own ink, green mango with bagoong, and another round of turon for our dessert.

The lunch was really intended to brush up on an important issue, but as always with old friends, it was a chance at lending assurance that no matter how long ago friends met each other, there would always be that same level of trust, camaraderie and love.

It was also a fitting way to welcome the start of the Holy Week (Holy Thursday), that of breaking bread with people whom you care about and who care for you.

Sugar 'N Spice and Everything Nice.

While visiting Seattle last spring, my bro-in-law and sister, who both have sweet tooth, would regularly drive us to a Baskin and Robbin's  for usual doses of ice cream.  I'm a regular fan of ice cream, that is, I always keep a tub in my refrigerator.

As to which brands, I try everything - from Baskin and Robbins and Haagen Dazs, to DQ, Ben and Jerrys and some lesser known brands.  Occasionally, when I go to Chinese groceries, I pick up a Magnolia.  

If I get a Magnolia ,  I almost always pick up "ube."  But with all the other brands, I go for chocolate, rum raisin, vanilla and rocky road.

At Baskin and Robbins, I always choose Butter Pecan, Vanilla Swiss Almond, Jamoca or Very Berry Strawberry.

At Japanese restaurants, their dessert usually consists only of ice cream, and only two choices - green tea or red beans.  I love both.

Growing up, we kids relied on the "Mamang Sorbetero Mang Delfin/Tony," who used to ply the streets of Mandaluyong with his clean ice cream wagon and equally clean clothes.

When buying, we brought our own cup/glass for Mang Delfin to scoop our ice cream into, and got the sweet or ordinary cone on top.

Occasionally, if our mother was not looking, we'd call the ice drop man for a stick of ube or mongo ice drop.  If we had extra school allowance, we indulged on a Magnolia twin popsies.

If there were birthdays to celebrate or during some fiestas, my mother ordered ice cream from Mang Delfin, and it came in that huge, aluminum tube, immersed in dry ice.

I loved those "sorbetes" flavours - ube, queso, mango, macapuno.  And during those good 'ol days,  it was hygienically safe to consume those so-called "dirty ice cream."  Today, I am not so sure.

I've always wondered what that "eat all you can Haagen Dazs ice cream," is all about. For 400 pesos?  I can't try it.  My blood sugar level wouldn't allow me to. 

Which reminds me, we tried the eat all you can merienda/snack at Barrio Fiesta the other day. It costs 120 pesos a piece.  For that amount, you can eat arroz caldo, ginatan, palitaw, dinuguan, puto and kutsinta, maja, lumpiang prito, pancit, pandesal with carne norte, pritong saguing na saba, etc.

After that snack, I had to chew on a Ricolla.

Fruit Plate.

At two p.m. we were ensconced in the seats at the Dome Restaurant in De la Rosa, behind Makati Medical Centre.  I wanted a banana waffle, period.

But I also hunkered for something hot to hit my stomach so we ordered clam chowder soup that came with two pieces of garlic bread. 

Then the waiter suggested a new sandwich not listed in the regular menu: the house special hamburger which comes with fries and a special mango tea drink.  Okay I said; then you can bring me the waffle later.

Mid through consuming the too greasy hamburger with its cheese melting as fast as the bottom bun, I had to order Coke Zero quickly to fight the grease off my tongue but settled for fresh orange juice when the waiter said they ran out of "zeroes."

After all the fat, I forgot all about the waffle, and coffee.  Anyway at that early afternoon hour, I had already drank four cups of black coffee.

The greasy hamburger alone costs 490 pesos.  Total tab for two was 1,067 pesos for two clam chowder, one hamburger with mango tea drink, and fresh orange juice.  That's more than $20 CAD.

So for dinner at home, I chose to eat a fruit plate, Pinoy-style.  A bowl of sweet yellow Papaya, apple and singkamas, and boiled egg.