Bookworming: Book Haul 112313

I went to High Street last Saturday thinking of clothes and makeup, but I ended up with a ton of books instead. I stepped inside Fully Booked and just lost it. The hubby says I had this giddy smile the entire night afterwards, heh. Besides, books simply last longer. Makeup and clothes are pretty much temporary things, while books stay around for years and years -- almost forever, actually. Here's my eclectic haul.

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories 3 by hitRecord and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

I saw this last and had to get it! I have the first Tiny Book and loved it, so this was a must-buy for me. I can't for the life of me find the second book here though! I will have to keep looking. These books are completely adorable but they also get you thinking. 

Attachments and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

After reading Eleanor & Park, I had to follow it up with Rainbow Rowell's other books. Attachments was published before Eleanor & Park, while Fangirl just came out and is the author's latest book. I can't wait to start reading these!

Classic Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen

This is a beautiful book of classic fairy tales. The stories are the realistic ones that are far from the Disney versions, and they don't always have happy endings. I have always wanted a copy. 

It'll be a while before I get through these books, but I'll be posting reviews as I finish each one. I've already started with the fairy tales, and so far it has been such a nostalgic treat! I'm such a happy bookworm right now. 

Food Trip: Silantro Fil-Mex Cantina - First Visit [Food Tales of a Kapitolyo Resident]

Silantro Fil-Mex Cantina is one of the newest restaurants to open in Kapitolyo. I thought it would be great to start off the Food Tales of a Kapitolyo Resident series with a fresh place. 

This newly-opened eatery was a random discovery. The husband and I rarely ever venture down East Capitol Drive, but one Sunday, we decided to hear mass at the Kapitolyo church for a change. We had to park a few steps away from the church, and on our way back to the car after the service, we spotted Silantro. We were actually planning on having dinner somewhere else in the neighborhood, but we readily changed our plans because we were so hungry that we were quite happy to find a place already right in front of us. I didn't have my camera with me because I didn't know I was trying a new restaurant that day, but I was mighty glad we found this place. 

Packed on a Sunday night

Silantro is a casual dining kind of restaurant. It has an al fresco area and an airconditioned area, but the place is on the small side, so expect it to be packed at dinner time, like it was when we went there. We liked that it's packed though, as that boded well for the quality of the food. Luckily, we were first on the wait list and we only had to wait a few minutes.

The Munchies: The Start of the Kapitolyo Food Trips

When I first moved to Kapitolyo in 2009, it wasn't the vibrant food hub that it is today. I've been coming to the area for years, since my husband has been living here since our college years. It was a quiet area, and there weren't a lot of good restaurants. Our favorite places to eat at were few, because there really wasn't much to choose from.

One is the Pasig institution that is Three Sisters, which serves one of the best barbecue sticks in Manila. Another is Poco Deli -- a quiet, tiny, corner deli that serves fantastic comfort food. Tokyu over at the Pioneer Center serves very affordable, but great Japanese food. Jade Palace, an authentic Chinese place just off Kapitolyo in Shaw Boulevard is another favorite. There are others, like Cafe Juanita and Kainan Au Gusto, and Bahay Pansitan that served Filipino food and have been in the area for ages, Good Burgers, which does quick burger deliveries, as well as Lia's bakery, but somehow we never ate much at/ordered from those places, or never went to them at all.

Then, Charlie's Grind and Grill with its Black Angus burger, and CAB Cafe, with its scrumptious desserts opened, and those quickly became our new favorites. After that, the neighborhood simply went food crazy. Fast forward to four years later and Kapitolyo is now a bustling, busy neighborhood, absolutely filled to the brim with cool food and parking problems, heh. The best part about it is that new restaurants are still popping up all over!

Even LooLoo's Fearless Foodie's Field Guide to Kapitolyo Map couldn't fit everything in. A lot of restos aren't here. 

Since my husband and I live smack dab in the middle of this wonderful foodie neighborhood and this is a new blog, I thought I would do a Kapitolyo Food Trip series. I will be writing about my old haunts, as well as document my experiences when I try out all the new restaurants. If you haven't been to Kapitolyo, I hope this convinces you to come here, and if you've already been to Kapitolyo, I hope this persuades you to come back again and again. This neighborhood just keeps getting better and better, and I'm very lucky I live here.

All Kapitolyo food trips will be up at this tag: Food Tales of a Kapitolyo Resident. Keep checking back for new posts. This is going to be fun!   

Out of Hiatus | Donate to the Red Cross #YolandaPH #Haiyan Relief Efforts

Hi everyone! This is just a quick update before I get back to business. The Blue Purse was on hiatus for a few days just because I had some personal stuff I needed to focus on. For site updates, please follow The Blue Purse @TheBluePurse on Twitter, and TheBluePurse on Facebook.

Then when I was ready to get back to blogging, a calamity happened, and it didn't feel right writing about my obsessions while the country is reeling from the wrath of the super typhoon Haiyan (local name: Yolanda). [Stories: CNN, Buzzfeed 1, Buzzfeed 2.] I had to take a few days off. It's a horrible, sad time for the Philippines.

The Philippines needs your help. The devastation is tremendous. Please donate to the Red Cross. For locals, the easiest way is to text. For international donations, please go to the Red Cross website.

Now it's time to get back into the swing of things. Life does go on and the world won't stop spinning. The Blue Purse will be back soon.