Guijo's 7th Month and Cafe Ysabel's Chocolate Truffle Cake

Narra blowing out Guijo's 7 candles as he watches.

I use my son Guijo's monthly milestones as an excuse to engage in mini celebrations with family and friends. For his 7th month, I had my friend Kanami Namiki over to our house as our guest for dinner.  Kanami and I were classmates at the National University of Singapore, and she's currently in the country to do her field work research for her doctoral dissertation.  She's turning her MA thesis into a book and asked me to take a look at it, so we spent the entire afternoon talking about her research.  It was a very welcome break for me, talking academic stuff with a good old friend.  We decided to meet at a nearby hotel, found a quiet spot at the lobby cafe, and took our sweet time talking art and politics. The conversation lasted for hours, and before long, I had to get home for dinner, I invited Kanami over, and we stopped to buy a cake for Guijo.

The lovely Chocolate Truffle cake from Cafe Ysabel.

The cake I got was a Chocolate Truffle Cake from Cafe Ysabel which I bought at their outlet by the entrance of SM Hypermart at Mall of Asia. It had this lovely thick coat of chocolate ganache on the outer layer - so thick I had to poke the surface with a fork to help the candles slide in easier.  The sides of the cake was wrapped in a very attractive shell of chocolate with a maple leaf print. Narra loved to break it off in pieces.  Inside, the cake was dense and moist, and had more layers of ganache at the bottom, and in the middle, making each slice a decadent piece indeed.  The cake was so rich that even a thin slice offered much in taste and texture. Kanami took a thin slice, she's disciplined with portions which is why she maintains her slim figure (that and the fact that she's puts in hours of exercise for countless dance rehearsals). 

My good friend Kanami, with my children, Guijo and Narra.

Kanami's been one rare friend who's seen the last 6 houses I lived in as I transitioned from being single to being a mom. She's visited my homes in Singapore, Manila, and Batangas, and even my parents' old home, and new one, and now my house in Pasay.  We have an international friendship, really. We first met in Singapore, where we were supervised by Prof. Rey Ileto. We became close when we attended the Philippine Studies Conference in Japan, and I got to stay at her house and meet her family.  When I gave birth to Narra, she visited me in Batangas; We last saw each other last year, when I was pregnant with Guijo, and now, it's her first time to meet Guijo post-partum, in our new home.  It's a perfectly timed visit, we've an excuse to celebrate! 

My half-eaten slice of cake.

Aaaah, it had all the ingredients of a good day. A visit from a good friend. Great conversation about her scholarship and feeling inspired to start working on my own book manuscript. It was great getting to invite her to my home to meet my family, and ending the night with a yummy chocolate cake.  Guijo is growing up fast. He's now sitting up, crawling, eating solids, and doing a lot of baby talk. I sometimes need this monthly reminder to step back and take a good look at how much he's growing so I can savor these precious baby moments which seem to go by so fast. I can't wait for him to cut his first tooth, to start eating more, so he can actually partake of the cakes we buy in his honor. 

My boys.