i love it when things turn out way better than expected

vouchers ... have i told you my entire department's addicted to them?

me, i try to avoid them as much as i can. for one, i didn't have a credit card i could use until recently and two, i know in my heart that once i get started, it would be difficult to stop. after all, going to all of these group buying websites feels like there's a mall-wide sale all the time.

but, i won't pretend i'm not immune to all that temptation. so when i got approved by that company to do a lecture for them, i kept my promise and bought a voucher for a buffet dinner at manila pavilion's seasons for me and my boss.

now, i worked in the court of appeals and i passed by manila pavilion almost daily and it wasn't really that impressive. so, at P699 per voucher, i didn't have high expectations. and then we entered the restaurant and it was bright and spacious and lovely.

my boss left me at the table to freshen up. i said, it's okay, i'll wait. but right behind me was a huge slab of parma ham and this salmon with a huge blob of cream cheese. i wasn't able to wait. i made a beeline for the buffet line and grabbed these two plates.

let's just say that seasons had me at parma ham. i LOVE parma ham. even probably more than i love bags.
they had stuff on the side to go with their parma ham. all i wanted was parma ham, but i pretended to be chi-chi and all that and grabbed a small spoonfull of mango slices and that sweet-ish sauce.

it was still parma ham heaven.

and let's just say that this salmon + cream cheese was heaven part 2. i kept coming back for more, and more, and more. i wanted a fifth ball but i was in pain from eating too much.

and shrimps ... sigh. i love me some hakaw and while the dumplings they had weren't exactly hakaw, i was fine with that. i was a bit disappointed with the cold shrimp salad though. while i never exactly thought i'd say this, there was too much shrimp and too little salad action going on.

and these oysters ... i dislike raw oysters in general so i wanted these "rockyfellered" but they said the best they could do was put in some cheese and what not. i said, okay ... except they apparently didn't cook them long enough. i still ate every single oyster though, and even stopped the waiter from taking one away since i wasn't done with the last oyster yet.

i can't remember what plate number this was, but note that i had more parma ham. did i say i was in love with parma ham? yes? oh, can i say it again: i LOVE parma ham. i can get married to parma ham and be okay with it.

i remember eating pumpkin soup (my favorite kind) and some other stuff, but let's just say that if all they had was parma ham in that buffet, i would've been fine. i was so full by the time we left and there was still oodles i didn't get to eat. it wasn't circles, it wasn't heat, and it wasn't spiral, but for some reason, that buffet at manila pavilion gave me a whole lot of loving.

i hope they have more vouchers there soon, cause i definitely know where i want to go back again.

note the mooncake face? i was having difficulty digesting my meal by this time ... and guess what still was on my mind.

yes, still more parma ham.