I just went out for dinner with Steven and Jacob. We had so much fun – we went to shabu-shabu style restaurant, called A Thousand Cranes. I’ve never been to one of those before. I’ve done hibachi, which is called teppanyaki this side of the globe, where they cook the food right at the table in front of you, and it’s a bit of a show in the way they chop and cook as well.
Shabu-Shabu!
Shabu-Shabu is a Japanese type of cooking where there is a pot of boiling liquid in front of each person, kind of fondue-style, into which you put different spices and then add raw vegetables and meat and boil your food right there at the table! I told Steve this is just a way of them making us do all the work. ‘Here, come to a restaurant and cook your own damn food. Pay us for the opportunity to sit in our booth and do the work.’ The meat is really thinly sliced, though, and the broth is flavoured as well as the dipping sauce afterwards.
Giggly Jacob at Shabu-Shabu
Jacob, my cousin’s 14-month-old son was really great during the meal. He didn’t really fuss at all except for a moment when he got upset – scarred, probably cause Steven and I were both moved around quite a bit when my pot was boiling over! Regardless, Jacob is such a happy baby. At the end of the meal, he was in such a good mood. I was holdling him in my lap, and he was drinking his bottle, but he was just laughing around it, holding the nipple in his teeth and chuckling.
Earlier, I was making funny noises at Jacob, (mostly doing the thing where you vibrate your lips and blow raspberries) and he finds that hilarious. After a while, he figured out how to do it himself, in response to me. He was standing in front of me, doing the trick and cracking himself up! He would blow bubbles and laugh hysterically – the full belly laugh that babies do, that adults can’t help but laugh at. After a couple of minutes, I pulled out my phone and started videoing him. I don’t have a waterproof phone and I was in the splash zone, but I figured it was worth it, cause he’s so darn adorable and hilarious. The video turned out pretty well, aside from the fact that I was literally shaking with laughter! At first, I was egging him on a bit, but then he found himself so funny, it was a riot!
Jacob
I kind of lucked out, timing-wise, coming here. Steven is starting a new job on Monday, so he basically had this week off when I got here. Both he and Caroline work nights, so their hours are a little funny. They have a yaya (nanny) named Roma who lives in during the week and helps out with Jacob. They get up early or stay up late during the day, depending on when they come home, so they can spend time with him, but then have to leave for work in the evening. Since they both work for companies that work mostly overseas, they have to be at work during European or American business hours. It’s interesting, but it works! Luckily, Manila is very much a late-night city, so there’s always somewhere to go out to eat, or a bar that’s open….
Good times ahead in the Philippines!