'til then, minneapolis...

With my unexpected early flyhome, all our plans for a proper 'goodbye' to the Twin Cities were scrapped off. My roomie and I already had a gameplan on how we'll spend our last 2 weeks which included a last trip to Albertville and MOA, taking our summer picture with the Cherry on the Spoon, eating for the last time at our favorite restaurants (good thing we had an early start on this and we were able to check Benihana, Quang and Seafood Palace off our list), last night out and bar hopping at downtown, a send off dinner for our downtown friends and for our last day, we were supposed to watch the midnight showing of Harry Potter with mommy and daddy then have our very early last breakfast at Perkin's. Sayang.

But even if we weren't able to do all that, I would always have fond memories of my 2009 Minneapolis adventure. This time around was very different than my last assignment, but what I liked most was that I was able to really have fun and bond with my good friends, and meet new ones as well.

I've been back home for about 3 weeks already and seeing Ros eariler (she's back!) brought back all the things that I'll surely miss...

...Symphony Place, apartment 1612
...midnight trips to Cub Foods
...cooking nights with my roomie - not to mention instantly whipping up our 'signature' dishes using ingredients available in our fridge and pantry simply because we're too lazy to go to the grocery (in fairness, our lunchmates always love them!)
...lunch breaks with our pinoy friends at the Oracle Centre - never a dull moment!
...morning bagels at Bruegger's - cinnamon sugar bagel with honey walnut cream cheese is the best!
...mint condition at Caribou
...sausage and egg croissant (for me) and biscuit (for Ros) at this German (?) stall along the skyway which were run by Chinese people
...winning over the downtown boys at Taboo
...Friday nights with the downtown peeps - you can always expect lots of yummy food, staying up late, and having fun, fun, fun!
...$5 movie nights at Southdale on a weekday
...our daily dose of vitamins at Jamba - Orange Dream Machine is a sure winner!
...anime nights with Fro and Ros. I don't watch anime but I just like hanging out with them (and not to mention the couch!) so I always end up sleeping...hihihi
...happy hour with Cads and Lawrence
...our daily dose of bongbong and bangbang kwentos!
...Brit's Fish and Chips paired with a cold glass of Bluemoon
...Solera's Peach and Ginger mojito and Shrimp croquettes
...Fogo de Chao's Caipirinha and cheese bread thingy (and we also love their buffet especially at lunch time - 50% off!)
...hangover breakfast at Perkin's
...dancing the night away at Drink
...impromptu weekday trips to Albertville when we don't have anything to do after work
...Angry Whopper at Burger King after our shopping spree at Albertville
...shopping sprees with my roomie (she's just so easy to convince!)
...swimming at the 7th floor
...Black and White nights at Newsroom (we braved the -40 temp one Friday night and walked just to get a fix of our fave martini)
...buffalo wings at Hooters! it has to be half hot, half 911 with a side of curly fries :)
...freshly baked chocolate chips and brownies (with a cold glass of milk) just before going to sleep
...weekend nights with mommy and daddy
...Seasalt's calamari
...parties with the Bastards at Dave's (always remember to have just ONE Mountain Don't!)
...watching Harold and Kumar then heading to White Castle afterwards
...Chiraz nights at Fro's
...grilled steak dinners
...the Fat Car! - we never changed it even if we can get a different car every month
...Cheesecake Factory's Shrimp Scampi and Chicken Madeira combo and Godiva Cheesecake for dessert...sinful!
...weekend shopping at the Mall of America

These are just some of the things which made this trip memorable. Never say goodbye, but rather, 'til next time... :)