random thoughts go through my mind at different times of day. that's why i've decided to use the email to blog facility. this is me, thinking out loud ...
il padrino
it's been quite a while since i've been curious with the resto that replaced our old crispy pata haunt. so i decided to invite some friends and give it a try over the weekend.
the resto's name is il padrino located at wo on lane in central.
upon entry, i immediately felt the place was pretentious. it was trying to have this italian al fresco feel but trying to be high-class as well.
i had a booking, so the lady front of house led me to our table. it's a pizzeria so i was wearing simple shirt and jeans, and i was tugging along my gym bag as i always do for saturday dinner.
i sat down and settled in, then instead of handing me a menu, a waitress approached me and asked "do you have a booking?" as if questioning why i am there. note that the place is practically empty and that there's only 5 of us in the booking list. i said yes and she went to get the menu.
i booked a table for 4, but since friends cancelled, dinner ended up to be a "date" with lou. unfortunately lou fell asleep and left the house late.
i waited for lou for about half an hour, but that was okay. what i didn't appreciate was the look i was getting at the resto. there were these two papa bears - one chinese and one caucasian - who kept on giving me a look that says "are you going to order or what?". we reckon they are either the owners or managers.
you see them look at your table then check the pos terminal then have a heated discussion with the wait staff. hey, all these in full view of all customers.
throughout the night, these negative vibe from these two papa bears - especially the caucasian - was a cloud over your head that prevented you from enjoying your meal. in tagalog, masyado silang maligalig. papa bears were wearing black t-shirts. they kept walking back and forth looking stressed and concerned and grump. you just end up feeling uncomfortable and unwelcomed.
it doesn't help that you notice these papa bears give personal treatment to caucasian customers, and do not attend to asian customers unless they're with caucasians. the chinese papa bear spoke to the chinese sitting behind us, but i guess that's because they were dressed-up to the nines.
as for lou and i, we weren't dressed like trash, but we were made to feel like we weren't supposed to be there. and when we left the resto, the chinese papa bear said goodbye without even facing us or making any eye contact. ang bastos!
some of the wait staff saved this place from becoming a total crap. the lady fronting the house was smiling and was always helpful. the pinay who served most of our dishes was very helpful too (except that she kept on calling me "kuya"!). the rest were indifferent.
i know, italian meals are supposed to be about fun and family, not snobbish. the food at il padrino was great. but the place was cold and unwelcoming.
so if you're looking for good pasta and pizza, and nice warm service at a place that's very welcoming then il padrino is definitely NOT the resto to go to.
revitalization
the past 5 months or so have been bad.
had my share of personal setbacks. work has been terrible, stressful and challenging. to some extent, i've lost confidence. i've been bleeding financially due to a miscalculated investment. then i got sick. and got sick again - and again.
the gloomy, freezing winter weather this year didn't help, nor the current dreary spring weather.
i've been quite bitchy, irritable, impatient. i haven't been smiling much, feeling grumpy and depressed a lot of times (especially when i'm on my own). i've been running low on energy.
i've been pulling away, preferring to hide, hibernate and be alone rather than have fun. i've lost passion in things that i do. and i've been disoriented, disorganized and just all over the place.
what's happening? i used to have this "spark" ... or at least i believe i had it - i felt it. but where is it now?
would (another) holiday help? a break from work? meditation? exercise? dancing? a change of environment? i don't know. what i know is that i am in bad need of revitalization.
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