Food, Friends, Travel

To DC and Virginia

E and I always say we’d go to Washington, DC for the National Cherry Blossom Festival every year, but we always miss it. I think we’ve only attended once or twice before. I was out of the country for the first week, so we decided to go during the last week before it ended.

We usually take the Metro to DC as parking and driving there can be a chore. The actual street festival that we were going to visit ended at 6p so we had some time to explore beforehand.

I decided to check out Lebanese Taverna in Pentagon Row since my dad raved about their food when he visited the one in Tysons Corner. They gave us bread with dipping oil for the table. We asked for a second bread basket and we ran out of dipping oil. Not sure if that was a testament to our hunger or how good the bread and dipping oil were

I ordered their chicken mashawi (chicken kabob), since I’m always looking for a good kabob replacement. It’s not the best I’ve ever had, but it was good. It was a lot more “gourmet” than I expected. It was also a lot more garlicky, which probably accounts for the mouth wash—that I gladly used!— in the restroom.

(Click the thumbnails for a larger size.)
Bread and dipping oil for the table

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Blog, Friends, Travel

mini hiatus and update

Hi guys! My mini hiatus was due to me going on vacation for a little over a week, but more on that later.

Anyhoo, I’d like to thank EVERYONE for their advice/suggestions/comments/etc. about how to deal with my bridesmaid issues from the last post.

With all your suggestions/advice/comments in mind, I talked to my close friends about it. We’ve decided to come up with a compromise for the bride. I would still attend her wedding, but would bow out of her bridal shower and her 2 bachelorette parties as these would help save me a lot of money. I would still be paying for my dress, my shoes, the gifts, and my hair & makeup, but at least I would be paying about $500-600 less. A good compromise, we thought, as she was pushing for my presence at her wedding, no matter what.

Well, she wouldn’t accept it. She said it was very important for me to be at all the events as her friend, and I didn’t need to buy her gifts to make up for it. I’m not sure how much money she thought I was gonna spend on her shower and wedding gifts, but it was not going to equal the $500-600 I would’ve saved by not going to the parties. I told her that, financially, this compromise was the best choice for me and I didn’t understand why, as my friend, she couldn’t understand. I told her that I was done talking to her as she wasn’t listening to me at all, and that I was out of her wedding.

She then told me, if I wanted, she and her mom would now cover all of my expenses. Of course, by this time, I was already seething and just didn’t want to be in her wedding anymore. But, I kept my cool. I told her that I didn’t want to owe anyone money just to be in the wedding. I said I thought it was unfair for me to ask anyone to cover for me as it was my fault I couldn’t afford it, not hers.

When she wouldn’t back down, I told her that I was finished dealing with her. I said I didn’t understand why she wouldn’t compromise with me, and why she didn’t understand that I couldn’t dip into my savings or borrow money from my parents (something she was open to me doing) just to be in her wedding.

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Family, Food, Travel

Big English breakfast

Big English breakfast

My mom ordered a regular breakfast, my dad ordered a medium, and I ordered a LARGE. Yes, I was very hungry. It was a long flight from Abu Dhabi to London!

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Family, Food, Travel

Combusog

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This “combusog”—a portmanteau of combo & busog (which means full in Filipino)—of barbecued pork, pansit, and rice only cost me a little over $3. If you’re ever in Abu Dhabi, stop by Philippine House Restaurant for some great food at a good value.

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