a fun evening with an old friend, debbie, from grade school in Tagaytay (Josephine's Restaurant)

It's been a couple of months since the hubby and I last had dinner in Tagaytay. We try to get away from the scorching heat of Metro Manila as often as we can and Tagaytay is the nearest get away. I asked the hubby if we could go on a Friday , instead of Saturday, since I am on 'house arrest' ( just my term for being unable to leave the house on Saturdays because my maid is off to school at Miriam. )

Anyway, I asked an old friend, Debbie, if we could meet up for dinner at Josephine's. I knew she worked in Sta. Rosa, which is on the way going to Tagaytay, and we could just pick her up at her office. Boyet and I were an hour early, so we dropped by HMR, one of Boyet's favorite places to shop for second hand stuff, overruns and 110v appliances. After an hour at HMR, we ended up buying a gas BBQ grill, steak sauces, boxes of cake/brownie mixes and cornflakes. We should have just gone to Starbucks as Debbie had suggested.

Dinner at Josephine's is always delightful. For starters, we had oysters on the half shell. Ooops, Boyet had oysters. Debbie and I do not eat oysters. Then, we had Sinampalukang Manok, one of my all- time favorites at Josephine's. Been craving for this soup for days! The soup was good though, but the tiny sampaloc leaves were scarce ;( We also got the crispy tawilis , tiny fishes found in Taal Lake, Debbie's favorite. They were fresh, perfectly fried and very very crispy. Yummy! The crispy Kare-Kare was actually a whole crispy pata placed on a bed of veggies and peanut butter sauce. Debbie, a foodie like me, said it was sort of like the crispy dinuguan at Kanin Club. [Correct!] For dessert, Debbie and I shared a slice of cappuccino cheesecake. .. kakaguilty to eat a whole slice. The Cappucino Cheesecake was not really a baked cheesecake! ... But more of a mocha mousse cream pie. But itwas alright. Can't go wrong with anything that has sugar =]=]=] yum yum yum

Debbie and I did a lot of catching up. I had a really fun evening, chatting with an old friend. It felt like I was still in Grade 7, talking with a seat mate. Actually, Debbie sat in front of me in 7 th grade. Debbie and I 'talk' in facebook but having a conversation in person, 'face to face' , over dinner, cake or even just tea, in a cool cozy place, is sooo much better. We'll do this again Debbie. Next time, I'll bring the travel buddies!