SHIP'S LOG: A and B celebrate the end of the semester with a posh, very
bongga afternoon tea at the Manila Peninsula, which also marks the beginning of a new
A Plus B in the Sea-ries—Merry Manila
Meriendas.
When I was in preschool my grandmother would reward very good behaviour with tea at Manila Peninsula's Gallery, a sofa-filled balcony with gigantic floor-to-ceiling windows. I remember hot crumpets and violin quartets on a lazy, sunny afternoon. My three-year old self absolutely loved it, and to this day I'm stuck with what my uncle calls the 'Champagne taste, beer budget' dilemma.
So, after a really bad and equally long semester in law school, I decided to take out the piggy bank and splurge on a fancy afternoon tea buffet at the Peninsula's lobby (unfortunately, they closed non-guest access to the Gallery, which I could see was still draped in sunshine and dust motes). B and I discovered an obsessive predilection for scones
last summer, but now I think we'll be glad never to see a raisin scone again, so stuffed were we with scones and cheese and fruit and savoury tarts and gallons of tea.
We walked into the gilt and ivory columned and carpeted lobby at a quarter past two and were promptly seated next to the buffet. I could see the tiers of sandwiches and pastries, but the maitre d'hotel told us we couldn't start until two-thirty. Ah, delayed gratification . . .
He did get us our personal tea pots though. I chose darjeeling while Bea picked a lovely Japanese green tea. We oohed and aahed over the silver tea strainers and the cheerfully patterned china.
B and I hadn't seen each other for a month, so we were chattering like magpies until the maitre d'hotel gently reminded us that they were ready to serve us the lamb and celery pita pinwheels and chocolate and almond pudding. With that, we began a two-hour foray into lemon curd topped scones, goat cheese crackers, freshly made ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, and mushroom and cheddar tartlets.
The cheese selection was fantastic, and B in particular kept going back for more and more and more. I myself was partial to the gigantic scones with dollops of 'Devonshire' cream (nothing like the real thing, but all right under lemon curd and strawberry jam).
After awhile we threw in the towel and decided to take a brisk walk in the hope of burning some carbs to make way for more! We listened to the piano player on the second floor play a couple of old-but-good show tunes, while we tried to find a staircase up to the Gallery (but we never did, stupid hotel rules).
Then we went back down for seconds (or is it fifths?) in the form of Rocky Road and strawberry ice cream over steaming chocolate sponge pudding.
It was a lovely afternoon, and I was so glad to spend time with B in order to work out ideas for new photo shoots and
A Plus B in the Sea features. We have a lot of interesting things in store, which we hope will make up for the lack of posts in October. Brainstorming + sugar cubes in tea = numnumnum yumminess!
Though a
merienda at the Manila Peninsula is way outside the usual student budget, it's worth a visit if only for the people-watching that you can do. We saw a tall, dignified old lady in a neon green knitted coat over a white Grecian smock with gold bangles and pearls draping from every limb. If only we had the guts to ask for her photograph! She was accompanied by a doughty middle-aged man who accosted the waiter and told him all about his life, starting from his own experience waiting tables in high school and ending with enough cash for lunch at the Peninsula everyday.
B managed the shot of another Filipina dowager using the tried and true technique of pretending to take a picture of me, while directing the camera to a person in the background (though generally this trick is used by high school girls snapping shots of their crushes). I love the lady's shades and her powder blue plaid suit!
Eventually B and I couldn't manage another bite for all the tea in China. I was fair bursting with darjeeling and custard tarts. Lesson learned: don't wear a mod shift dress to a buffet, it gets difficult to breathe after an hour or two. So we asked for the bill (adios, dinero!) and smuggled a sugar loaf worth of sugar cubes in my boater hat. Heavenly
merienda, it made up for a horrible month of swotting.
Afternoon tea at Manila Peninsula's Lobby is held from 1430 to 1730 everyday. It costs USD 15.50/GBP 10.00/PhP 700.00 for the buffet and USD 8.00/GBP 5.00/PhP 350.00 for a cream tea. No reservations needed. A wears thrifted pink polka dot shift dress, Zara pumps borrowed from B, black bow necklace, boater hat from Sock & Sole Co., and a Zara sweater borrowed from mother's closet. B wears a thrifted floral sundress, tan clogs from Sportsgirl, and a gold locket.
