Google+

Google+ is luring me back to blogging. The moment I joined, my dusted existence over at the Picasa web and Blogger beckons me to reconnect. I would have forgotten about the inanities that I spread over time at these sites in favor of Twitter, Plurk and Facebook until the Plus came about. Why am I blogging now and why the hell am I blogging this from Multiply?

I find Google+ strangely engaging. Aside from the fact that they have a wider infrastructure base than Facebook (Android, Gmail, Voice, Talk, Picasa, Blogger, Docs, Youtube, just to name a few), the integration model that Google offers is tighter than I could have imagined.

I don't mind that Google is about to rebrand Picasa Web and Blogger into Google Products. In fact, I expect lots better things to come.

This idea of having a strong, individual service being able to stand on its own two feet, yet being able to function as a single product makes a lot of sense. The Google+ Android App that enables instant upload of photos is deemed to be a killer feature and is an example of how tight Google can integrate their mobile platform into their photo cloud-hosting facility.

I will not go into the merits of how Google Hangouts is probably technologically superior than the Skype-powered Facebook video calling feature, or how Chrome apps are slowing creeping into relevance. And while there may be some FB experiences that Google won't and probably never be able to provide, having essential services running shoulder to shoulder on a unified platform seem to offer a lot more potential and be worthy to spend geek time and effort on.

Of course, if you are sentimental like me and still value older technology like Multiply, I guess simple features like Cross-posting still makes sense :)

We're supposed to be outdoors

...but we're not.

because of this:

and new episodes of Dr. House S05 1-20, Dollhouse S01 1-8, and Legend of the Seeker S01 1-17 (between old episodes of CSI, NCIS, Law and Order, The Practice, and everything else in the CD album).

There's also that anticipated boxing match last Sunday between Bradley and Holt, aside from the Valero and Pitalua bout that I could only watch in Youtube.

We're supposed to be outdoors on a long weekend, but pleasurable indoor cardio activities keep me locked in.

Dinner at Mom and Tina's

Google for Mom and Tina's and you'll get good raves about the place. It's very near our place (located in Ugong, Pasig, just along C-5), so deciding where to eat dinner on our 5th anniversary, the choice was obvious.

At first, I dismissed the place as another bakery cum restaurant (just like red ribbon and goldilocks), albeit for a niche market. We almost always pass by the place but we never entered the establishment. Only when a good friend passed word on how great the food was, I decided to do some research.

It didn't take long for me to find reviews on the place. Dessert Comes First wrote a lot of good words about it and photos looked very enticing.

After surprising Gid with lavender roses and belgian chocolates, I told her that we're having dinner somewhere in Ugong. She doesn't have a clue. I took her through the streets of Ugong, and asked her how she likes her tapa, because there are good tapsilog in the area. She made a frown and the frown became a surpise and the surprise became a smile when I parked in front of Mom and Tinas. Why the bakery, she asked in a slightly confused but amused tone.


The area is well lit, the cakes are all prominently displayed. We ordered the soup of the day, a Chicken Spinach Lasagna (picture above), and a lengua (forgot the name). The iced tea is really good (and they're color blue!). We also got the baked Oreo Cheesecake which is super good also.

The price is very reasonable, and the food experience has been really good. Worth the return trip in the future.