Market Man's EB

EDSA traffic - on a Saturday night en route to The Fort

Going out on a Saturday night may cause headaches - why? Well, simply because everybody in the Metro WANTS to be out. But nevertheless - my Panget, Jen and I weaved through EDSA just to get to Gourdo's at The Fort in time for dinner. It was a special occassion for Jen and I because FINALLY - we will be meeting Market Man. I have been a lurker of his blog and now I will be meeting him in the flesh, in the flesh! Most of you must be wondering - why I am excited at all?! Well, because in the local blog scene - Market Man is a celebrity, yes - he definitely is. I love his blog, I love his humor, I love reading his thoughts on just about anything.

On the information super highway, it is a rarity that one can put a face to a handle(nick name) because everyone remains anonymous (unless of course if you're friends with that certain person). This month - I am celebrating my blog anniversary - it was just last year that I started blogging. So, what a way to celebrate my blog anniversary month with the Market Man eyeball, right? Sweet!

I have never attended an eyeball - NEVER. I never had the reason and courage to do so anyway, but when I learned that Market Man was organizing one - I JUST HAD TO GO. It was a good thing that my good friend Jen, was just as game as I was! And so when we arrived at The Fort - Jenn and I were very excited, we were already looking forward to meeting fellow bloggers! (I just had to add that amidst the excitement, my Panget who is clueless on blogging was very supportive, mainly because he was looking forward to dinner and the dessert buffet! :) ) nearing Gourdo's we already spotted Joey, Katrina, and Anton. Joey and Katrina were already familiar to us because we had seen them at Lori of Dessert Comes First's Bakind demo, and as for Anton, well - I'm a big fan of his blog too! (Can you imagine how many lurkers/internet stalkers you have when you have a famous blog?!) Upon entering Gourdo's after registering - we were met by Market Man. Market Man in the flesh! Better - Market Man face-to-face, shaking our hands, welcoming us to the even and introducing us to The Kid and Mrs. Market Man. My my, here we are, finally - Finally!!

I had to contain my excitement, I just had to. I was looking around and secretly spying on the name tags thinking that maybe I know some of these people - unfortunately, I didn't. I was looking all over for cutie Aidan, then I saw Rache - I went up to her and introduced myself! One down! The next thing I knew was that people started falling in line at the buffet table - and so we did too! The first thing that we saw on the buffet table was the table FULL of desserts - what caught my fancy was the dessert labled 'Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Goo' - it had such a unique name and the balls looked interesting!! But dessert had to wait, as we still had to eat dinner. We were served with the anti-pasti, how I love bruschetta! I particualry like the mushroom with truffle oil - YUM!! Then on to the main course - both the pastas were great! I loved the fresh pasta more than the red sauced penne, but what I loved more were the pizzas! I am definitely a pizza person, I had to go back for seconds!! The pugod roasted pork was also good. After munching and chatting - it was dessert time! I am a self-confessed SLOW eater - I somehow tend to talk more rather than eat, thus - Jen and my Panget went on ahead to gather and sample the dessert buffet.

I know people will call me crazy and weird but - I absolutely HATE chocolates! You read it right - I do not fancy chocolates. It's something I never got to appreciate. I do like White Chocolates, but many will argue that it's not even 'real' chocolate. I don't even remember why I didn't like it in the first place, basta - I don't like it, period. My dislike for chocolates may be attributed to its color, but then again, maybe it's aroma, or it's taste? To make a negative become a positive, think of it this way - one less person who likes chocolates mean that one other person gets my share! Fair enough? Fair - well, because Jen and my Panget got my share! When they got back from the buffet table - all I could see was that everything on their plates had chocolates on them! Chocolate cakes, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate everything else! I was getting dismayed but still greatful because I saw that there was Peanut Butter Choco Chip Cookies (yes, I had to disect the cookie to rid it of the choco chips - I loved the consistency of the cookie!! Yum-meee!) There was this brazo de mercedes with crust - at first I hesistated but then - I got a small piece and boom - I fell in love with it. It tasted divine! To think that I am not a fan of Brazo de Mercedes! Then just before I left the buffet table - I saw it - Dulcelin's Mango Torte. My oh my - I had to get a piece for my Panget - he just adores this mango torte, and so I sliced a piece good enough for the both of us. When I got back to our table, the dessert plates of Jen and my Panget were almost empty - they told me in unison that EVERYTHING THEY GOT TASTED GREAT!! Such a compliment right? Definitely! I never heard anyone utter a negative criticism on the desserts! All I could hear was 'Ang Sarap!' 'Who brought this? I love it!' Nice huh!?

To end the evening - Market Man gave a few words and said thanks to everyone who attended. He even gave each of us a souvenir of his suman! The packaging was really nice - I was afraid to touch it! Since I fell in love with the Peanut Butter Choco Chip Cookies and the Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Goo - I had to bring some home - luckily when I got to the buffet table - they nice lady who made the cookies was there - she told the servers that she had to bring home the plate she brought together with the cookies. I immediately approached her and asked if I could bring some home, and you know what she said? 'Bring everything home! I'm glad you liked it!' and I took to heart what she said - unfortunately - I didn't bring any container, but there was this nice server (whose name I forgot, sorry!) who was nice enough to offer me a container! Thus - I packed 4 pieces home. Yey! The server then told me if I wanted to bring home some pasta - of course I did! The sis-in-law of my Panget is in her naglilihi stage - and her item of choice?! Pasta. While scooping some pasta - I accidentally turned to my left - lo and behold - I saw the name MILA on the nametag - I knew for sure that she was Mila Tan, but I had to ask to confirm - and she indeed was! And WOW - that's all I can say, WOW. Can you believe it? I just met Mila Tan of Watergirl.. It had to sink in first. Beside her was a guy named Jay-D, he was also a lurker - it was unfortunate that he didn't maintain a blog. Maybe now he will! I hope he will.. :)

After getting our baons, I headed up to Anton, Rache and Aidan - I had to give them my gifts. They're such lovely people - so fun and friendly! (I can't believe I spoke and met Anton!! hahaha..) When it was time for us to leave Jen and I just had to say goodbye to Market Man, we shook hands and he thanked us for coming. I just had to thank him one last time, because of this eyeball. What a successful eyeball! Market Man, Mrs. Market Man and The Kid were really gracious hosts! The 'perfect' hosts to the event. This is sure a first for me! I enjoyed it to bits! I'm now looking forward to attending the next one! (*hint*hint)