First Time to Try Project Pie, Try It Too!

Yay for Project Pie in the South!

Project Pie is finally open along Commerce Avenue near Festival Mall Alabang! I was looking forward to trying it out as it now the present hype because I see it in all my social media feeds (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc). So after I went to church last Saturday, I invited a couple of my friends to go with me there for dinner.

(STRESSFUL SIDE STORY: SKIP IF YOU LIKE, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK)

When we went there I had trouble parking my car and we were roaming around the parking space for more than 10 minutes. I am sensing that it was very crowded in that area during that time. When we finally found a space to park, my car passed by the space a little. Two cars were waiting on the opposite sides and I was stuck so I had no choice but to put my reverse parking skills to the test. It was very stressful but through the help of manong guard and my friend, I was able to reverse park like a pro! Not to mention that it got my armpits slightly sweaty and I was stressed with the other cars waiting to pass. Hahahaha. Lesson: Try to learn reverse parking as early as possible!

HOW WAS IT?

When we went inside, my suspicions were right, it was indeed very crowded. It was full of afterwork peeps, curious students, shiny families and smoochy couples. It was a good thing that my other friend is already waiting for us in line. The servers look sweaty and stressed because of the increasing surge of people going in. This gave me a chance to look around and they had this "construction site theme" going on which was nice. Upon checking the menu, we can opt to have a pizza from scratch (we will pick from their toppings) or choose from their pre-made pizzas. We choose to have 3 whole pizzas, 2 savory pre-made pizzas and 1 dessert pizza.

Lei with one of our semi-customized pizzas :)

When it was our turn to "build" our pizza, it was pretty fast but the servers looked like they were interns or novices and they missed out some ingredients which we reminded them to place. I realized that we have to cut them some slack because they seem to be very overwhelmed with their tasks. The good thing with the service is that although it took quite a while for us to take our turn, putting the ingredients, the actual time for our pizzas to be cooked is relatively fast. Not to mention unlimited drinks! So I was happy in the end.

My favorite one! The one with Feta Cheese, and Jalapeno Peppers :D

The pizzas also tasted great and "authentic" if you know what I mean. The ingredients and dough tasted fresh and it excited me that we chose some of the ingredients on our own. What I loved most is the feta cheese, unique mushrooms and Jalapeno peppers that we decided to place. Three pizzas are enough for me to be full but since it was so good, I ate a total of five slices. Hahaha! So much for diet. All in all, my Project Pie experience is good though I think the "hype" has to die down, so that the people will have a more comfortable stay there. I had fun staring at the walls and reading the inspirational quotes from famous people such as Albert Einstein, Theodore Roosevelt, etc. It's a good conversation starter.

Project Pie Alabang is located at Block 28, Commerce Avenue, Alabang Muntinlupa City.

How is your Project Pie experience, and what's your favorite quote on the wall? Leave a comment below!

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Imagine Yourself: Typhoon Yolanda Aftermath

Credit: http://philstar.com 

Imagine yourself looking outside from the window of your home, your heartbeat picking up its pace as you see the unbelievably strong winds sway the coconut trees. After a few minutes, you see  pieces of wood splinters, metal scraps and concrete blocks flying out of nowhere. The heavy rainfall is deafening, accompanied with the distant voices of people screaming outside and asking for help. Water level rises up to your leg, your knee, your thigh, your waist. You help your sick grandmother and your little brother move to the higher floor of your home. You prayed hard that the waters would not reach the second floor. You hear the loud wave of water from afar, and your body trembled all over. With a split second like a tsunami, a surge of water beat down the concrete walls of your home. You found yourself struggling to hold on to pieces of debris, realizing that your brother and grandmother are suddenly nowhere to be found. You felt your heart break into a million pieces, you felt that this day will be your last. You managed to hold on to a rusty pole, covering your face from the torrent. Your whole life you'd never have imagined yourself to be in such a place, experiencing fear, grief, and hopelessness to an ultimate extent.

Credit: http://philstar.com 

Imagine yourself sitting in the dirty, grimy concrete floor of the evacuation center, people scurrying around, struggling to survive. Your body is bruised, feet splintered with pieces of wood and glass. Your throat is dry, stomach in pain, feeling nauseous as it was your second day without food. You had no choice but to drink salt water. Everything is sinking in--you cannot find your grandmother and brother, memories of them kept playing in your mind. You are in total shock, and tears welled up in your eyes as you stare blankly across the area, people wailing, feeling anxious for their missing loved ones, and grieving for the ones they lost.

Related: "What's Your Tragedy?"

Imagine yourself experiencing all of this. Imagine yourself being in their place. Imagine yourself--all your property and your loved ones gone in a split second. This is what our kababayans are experiencing right now. This is reality for them. If you were in their place, you would want all the help that you can get.

You are blessed to be reading this. You are blessed to have a roof above your home, food on your table, to have a stable internet connection. You have all the resources that you need. You have more than enough, and if you have these things, what's keeping you to move, to help? Instead of posting selfies in Facebook, playing Video Games and complaining about your life, why don't you use your spare change to buy a kilo of rice and some mineral water bottles and drop it off in the nearest McDonald's? Don't say that you can't do anything. Prayers are great, but we are given blessings not just to count them but to share them. Remember that we are built for good works, we are made to show compassion. I hope this post encourages you to do something. Let's help our fellowmen. God bless the Philippines. #bangonPilipinas

Here is a resource page on how you can help: http://www.mb.com.ph/help-yolanda-victims/

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works." Hebrews 10:24

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand compassion and helping others in a Christian perspective:

Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life

In this provocative essay on that least understood virtue, compassion, the authors challenge themselves and us with these questions: Where do we place compassion in our lives? Is it enough to live a life in which we hurt one another as little as possible? Is our guiding ideal a life of maximum pleasure and minimum pain? Compassion answers no. 

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