Wednesday, December 9, 2015

food for the mind & body

Last April wonder | wander | women introduced our followers to one of our fave pet projects, the SEO Scholarship Program in NYC.

As we approach the coming holidays and the end of yet another semester of purposely applied learning, our gifted and attentive SEO staff decided to give us all a fun break.

Mentors with our mentees and our tower.

Instead of the usual mentor-mentee work review sessions, this Saturday had us working in smaller groups on a team building exercise.

Building a tower of power with our limited supply of plastic straws, scissors, and blue gum. Luckily we had an unlimited supply of ingenuity and gumption among the four of us!

All done in record time!

Although we only placed second, had there been points allotted for stability, we would have taken home the crowning glory for sure.

We had great fun and discovered much about our individual strengths and how we accommodated each others input, and built a strong output. It was a simple yet powerful exercise and a fulfilling experience.

I have participated in and facilitated similar team building activities in the corporate arena. These SEO scholars would easily have blown their minds and upped the game to a whole new level.

We sure are a power team! 

After the session my fellow mentor and I discovered all that laughter and hype had made us ravenous. She had had no lunch and I only had a light brunch.

Five in the afternoon found us briskly making a beeline for Grill 21, a no-frills authentic Filipino restaurant a few blocks from where we were.

Exterior photo from Yelp!

Interior photo from Yelp!

Located on the East Side of 21st Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue, the place is small, clean, and cozy. The staff are all friendly and attentive and made us feel right at home. 

At 5:00 in the afternoon there was only one other customer when we entered but as we ordered and ate the place quickly filled up. 

They have some special combo platters where you can order two-in-one dishes of half portions each. Kim had tocino and lumpia [honey cured pork and fried spring rolls]. I had daing and liempo [fried milkfish and grilled pork belly]. We loooved it all! 

Grill 21 tocino & lumpia

Grill 21 daing & liempo

We both agreed though that the star of the dinner was the garlic fried rice. It was just sooo fluffy and flavorful we could have eaten it all by itself! 

Sinangag or Garlic Fried Rice

Sadly our choice of dessert fell short. Maybe instead of the turon [fried sweet plantain fritters] we should have opted for the halo-halo [an iced dessert] instead? 

Turon

Halo-Halo

Oh well, all the more reason to return! nom Nom NOM! The holiday feasting has officially begun! 

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