Date Night: “400”

Boz is out of town (sosyal! aka Bacolod with my mom). I asked the Hubby to take me out on a moviedate. He checked his wallet and told me that he only had P400.00 left until payday (which is Friday). 400 is okay, I guess. We've done far more inexpensive dates in the past so I think 400 will do.

Since we planned to watch 300, our date was going to be 300 + food = 400! Cool!

Food is like a must in the history of my relationship with the hubby. We're both hearty eaters and we always make sure that each occasion is celebrated with some gastronomical indulgence. And this moviedate is going to be that, the occasion? time-off from our toddler. And so, I spent the whole of yesterday’s afternoon thinking of where we will be eating before we go to the movie. It has to be dinner because obviousy, hubby won't settle for anything less. So I shortlisted my dinner choices to the following:

1. Barbecue after dark at the Valeria strip. We've had our share of dates in this side of the city where barbeque kiosks are being put up at night. They serve pork and chicken barbecue at very affordable prices. But you have to look after your own where health is concerned. Fresh water for hand-washing comes from these black gallon containers, which, I guess do not get any washing at all. Tables and chairs get the occasional wiping with the use of a washcloth which screams filth from the lack of proper laundrying. There are no toilets around save for these foldable, booklet type structures that are place near the drainage so the pee goes directly down the drain. But in fairness, the food is great. You just have to be able to detach yourself from all these health hazards for you to enjoy your meal.

2. Budget meal at Kublai Khan's. Miki usually goes for the eat-all-you-can while I go for the one-time-fill bowl. But since our budget for the whole movie date is only 400 and meals will have to be kept at 250 max, we will have to make do with their value meal rice toppings and noodles. I haven't tried any of it yet but I am open to explore.

3. Value meals at KFC. If we're on a budget and we want to eat hearty meals, we always settle for KFC. It's chicken! in different forms. I would go for their arroz caldo and perhaps a gogo Caesar. Miki, hmmm, I think he would go for a chicken meal and spaghetti. Upsize the drink to be shared by two (“,).

4. Good chow at Chowking. Daming choices so they say. Knowing Miki, I'd envision our order would be pork siomai, crispy noodles or lomi, one large rice toppings for him and one medium rice toppings for me. And one large drink to be shared by two (“,)

5. Hongkong Kitchen! Yummy yummy food! Certainly way beyond our budget but I‘d like to talk about it anyway. I think I will order fish fillet with garlic, fookien fried rice and nori siomai. Miki would go with my choice and will order house tea and another dish perhaps.

6. Asian cuisine at Wok's Kitchen. Food is not as tasty as Hongkong Kitchen’s but sure worth it. From experience, we were able to feed 5 people for only P700.00! If ever we will choose this as our destination for the night, we’ll sure be ordering hot and sour soup, yang chow friend rice, fried dumpling and another dish to go with it.

I was busy populating my list of food choices when Miki called and asked my opinion about dining out and watching a movie at home. Not 300 though but Apocalypto instead. And so it’s not going to be 300 + food = 400 afterall but food + more food = 400! Better!

And so this is how our date went: We went straight to SM Delgado buy some house stuff, visit Globe to make a follow up on the arrival of his W800i via Globe’s loyalty rewards promo. Then, the decision on where to finally eat.

“Valeria?” I asked.

“Ka-cheap man sa imo man.”

We we’re not going to Robinsons’ so choices 2 to 4 were out.

Hence, Wok’s Kitchen – fried dumpling, hot and sour soup, squid with tofu, yang chow fried rice and house tea! And we only had to pay P330 for everything! 70 pesos savings which we could have splurged on coffee but decided not to.

We were home by 7:30pm so we still had time to freshen up, watch Miki’s favorite soap – Maging Sino Ka Man and then movie night. Miki cued Apocalypto on the DVD. The first 30 minutes we watched on the DVD player and the rest in the computer, some technical problem with the burning process, Miki said. My take on the movie? It’s gory, barbaric, and heartbreaking for mothers like me. I just don’t have the heart to watch children being casualties of brutality. But it is history and there’s no rewriting it. I’m just glad that I didn’t live during that age, I would have been the first to die if not to first to kill defending my brood. I fell asleep actually, after the first 45 minutes of the movie and woke up when the action was already building up. All in all the movie left me with a headache and some difficulty sleeping. But I didn’t mind really, it was a well spent P330.00, the P70.00 savings will go to next month’s date fund. Hmmm, P470.00. I think we’ll go for the big screen next time!