A couple of days before Valentine’s, Mela and I met at Friends & Family Express at The Podium in Ortigas. It was really sweet of her to give me something for my birthday even though it had already been almost a month ago. Thank you, Mela~

And I was so glad that she also liked the simple things I got for her. She’s wearing one of them here – the Island Girl necklace! 😊

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February 17, 2020: Getting Through The Monday Blues By Finding Joy In The Simple Things! Like Carrying A Cute Little Pink Bayong To Work! ❤ I've Always Loved Great Arm Candies, And This Pink @bayongmanila Bag, Is 100% #ArmCandySwag 😉 Necklace By @islandgirlph Cuff By @miaarcenas #MelaWears #MelaLoves . . . #BayongManila #BayongBag #BayongBagsPH #BayongFashion #Pink #ArmParty #MondayFavorites #MondayMood #MondaysMadeBetter #MondayMotivation #MerryMela #MerryAndBright #SupportLocal #LoveLocal #SupportLocalArtisans #EcoFriendly #NoToPlastic #ReusableBags #SummerReady #OOTD #OOTDPH #OOTDStyle #FashionDiaries #FashionDaily #Fashiongram #MyDailyStyle #NeverKnowinglyUnderdressed

A post shared by Mela Sison – Laxamana (@mela_superstar) on Feb 16, 2020 at 8:14pm PST

Anyway, it was a day of lots of chats and laughter, as well as good food from Friends and Family Express.

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This was what Mela had…

And this is what I had. I was told that their Laing was their bestseller!

I hadn’t had rice since October and @friendsandfamilyexpressph broke the streak! I just could not say no to their Bagoong Rice… 🤤 I blame you, Mela! 😂

I am not proud of it but if that made me break my diet, don’t you think it was that good?

I literally could live on bagoong alamang back then. Walang ulam? Basta may bagoong alamang, puwede na! We’d either buy ready-made ones in jars or just get the ingredients in the market and cook it ourselves.

I’m not so sure if Friends & Family makes their own bagoong alamang. But if I were to take a wild guess, I’d say that they did. And if they did, I would give them a 💯. For someone who looooves alamang like a long long long friend, theirs is definitely for keeps.

Their Chilli Garlic Laing… dude, I swear, it’s suuuuper good! For me, this dish is quite complicated since the taro/gabi leaves could make our mouth or tongue itchy if not prepared properly. I love its smooth texture, with the right creaminess of the coco milk and the well-cooked dried leaves. It’s seasoned perfectly, too. I love the crispy garlic that gives contrast to its richness. It’s quite hard to find a Laing that could pass my promdi taste. I’m not ‘laing’ (get it? 😉😜)

And their Melon juice? It was just like how my Nanay would make it back in the day. I could taste the true melon flavor, not like the others that are just sweet because of too much sugar.

Their Tokneneng was coated in a crispy batter that’s seasoned just right. 👌🏻 (Kulang na lang yung sweet sauce plus suka na may pipino hahaha!)

But I’ll be very honest with you, I had to make hataw with my workout. 😅 I even had to fast the next day because I had rice. Pero I don’t regret it. That meal was worth having! I loooooved it!

Visit Friends & Family Express at The Corner Market in Podium Mall. Pasok na pasok sa panlasang Pinoy! 👌🏻

Check them out on Instagram: @friendsandfamilyexpressph or @friendsandfamilyph

Have you tried their Laing, too? If not, what did you or would you have at Friends and Family? Share it with me in the comments!

Have a happy tummy this Friday!

Always,

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