we went to mass at the holy redeemer at 4. i was forced to ride with my sister and her boyfriend in the boyfriend's car because we would be "cramped" in the car. anyway, after that we went to trinoma (ate heny's choice). we planned on seeing Iron Man at 6:10 and then having a wonderful family dinner.

as usual, things went awry. finding a parking spot in trinoma on mother's day was absolute hell. we all shook our heads in regret. the scene was way too familiar (we went to trinoma on father's day '07). we should have known. trinoma is always full. even without a hallmark occasion. we eventually found a spot on the third floor - north area. ate heny and her boyfriend arrived earlier so they already got us tickets. tickets for the 7:10 screening. the 6:10 one was already full.

no on really wanted to brave the crowds so that cancelled shopping as something to kill the time. we were all hungry so we decided to eat at taco bell. we finished earlier than expected. we didn't want to risk being late so we headed up to the movie area. surprisingly, a queue of people were already at the entrance of cinema 3, waiting for the ticket lady to let them in. the only logical thing left to do was to get right in line with them. we were inside soon enough and for once, we didn't miss a single trailer. there are loads of good movies coming out. awesome!

Iron Man was really cool. he was a lot like batman in a way. they're both hella rich, their parents are both gone, and they have unlimited access to cool weaponry. the only thing that made iron man a little bit cooler was that his assistant is a really pretty girl. all batman has is his butler, alfred. but i bet they're equally dependable.

ate ida told us that there was something to watch for after all the credits were gone. we hung around. a lot of people did too. the clip wasn't what i would file under "worth waiting for". it just gave you a small preview of what the next one will be like. i thought that maybe war machine might still be alive. but, as my brother pointed out, he got totally fried. grrreat.

we met up with ate heny on the garden part of the mall. she told us she reserved a table at crustasia. my heart sank immediately. didn't she know that i was allergic to seafood? of course she does! i whine about it constantly!

when we got there, we were immediately given our menus. and as can be expected, 95% of their dishes are seafood-based. grrreat. i finally settled on "chang mai barbecue chicken". my family got a big crab in some singaporean sauce, bouillabaisse (had to use spell check for this one :D), pad thai, and some taco-looking dish.

the first dishes that was served was the pad thai and the taco-looking dish. i took a bit of pad thai off my mom's plate. the pad thai had some big shrimps on it so i didn't bother getting some for myself. i ignored the taco-looking dish. who ordered that anyway? we just had taco bell. the bouillabaisse came next. it was tomato-based so it looked a bit odd. it was laden with everything i was allergic to - squid, clams, etc. i dipped my fork in it and took a taste. i didn't like it.


i remember reading about bouillabaisse in the harry potter books. specifically in the goblet of fire. hermione told ron that it was a french dish and she had it when she vacationed in france. ron really liked it. fleur came over to the gryffindor table and asked if she could have their bouillabaisse. haha. so obviously, i couldn't resist tasting the mysterious bouillabaisse.

the chicken and the crab finally arrived so we started digging in. i took the chicken and my mom gave me a tablespoonful of crab meat. she told me it couldn't hurt. i ate everything and soon enough we were all filled to the brim. my lip started to swell. that's my allergic reaction to seafood. it was so noticeable. my brother started taking pictures to spite me. ugh. i hate my allergies.it was already around 10:30 when we finished eating so the mall was already closed. we took some wrong turns so we ended up in the mindanao parking area instead of in the north parking area. by that time, my stomach was aching pretty bad. by the time we got to the car, i was in agony.

it was majorly cramped in the car. i was already writhing in pain. i thought that it was just a simple stomach ache so i wanted to get home as soon as possible and take some pain relievers. but soon enough, my lips started itching again. my hands followed soon after, then my back, then everything just started itching really bad. we stopped for gas and my mom examined me. i was doused in cold sweat and the itching was getting more uncontrollable. my dad told my brother to stop at the nearest mercury drug to get me some allergy medicine. we didn't find one until we got to quezon ave. my dad and my sisters went inside to get the meds and buy ice cream. they wanted to get ice cream since we had to skip cheesecake, etc. they took their sweet time. by the time they handed me the medicine, i was praying for a scratching post. i took the little tablet and hoped for fast results.

no such luck.

we finally got home and i changed out of my clothes. i got to see my body and i was red all over. i looked in the mirror and my face had gone as bright red as a tomato. at about 1:00 AM, there was still no signs that the allergy medicine was effective. i was still bright red (like i had a nasty sunburn) and the itchiness was not going away. i couldn't sleep.

i finally gave up on sleeping and i picked up the nearest book i could get my beyond itchy hands on. gossip girl. reading it made me focus on the story, not the itch. at around 2:00, i stopped reading. i realized that the itch was gone! like a miracle! i was still a bit red but alas! the itch is gone!

after that, sleep came easily. i woke up the next morning feeling normal. finally allergy-free.

the food at crustasia is great, just not for those allergic to seafood.