The Heat

If you happen to stay at the Edsa Shangri-la hotel, you definitely have to try this resto. Short termed for Healthy Eating Amazing Taste, this arresting tableau of culinary art is a perfect buffet setting that are best shared with friends & family.

photo courtesy of  shangri-la

3 stooges – yayan, diego, morgan

By the time you enter the place, you see open theatre kitchens where chefs are stationed. You see a vast selection of culinary specialties cooked a la minute for an engaging restaurant experience in a resort-like environment.

dinner buffet – indian, japanese, chinese, italian, desserts!

A rule of thumb that I usually do in a buffet is to avoid rice. Unfortunately, the biryani was an exemption, hehehe.. I tried 4 cuisines & mostly seafood, lamb & beef. As for desserts, its all about chocolate!! the chocolate fountain was sooo delish that i couldn’t stop dipping & nabbing spoonfuls!

the munchers

When I mentioned dessert earlier, we cannot forget ice cream! The choices last night were chocolate, coffe yogurt, melon, mango & vanilla. You can even ask the chef to mix the toppings for you, ahehehehe..

my fam & friends – yayan, me, car, chuckie, rayne, morgan, diego & nicole

breakfast buffet – tapsilog station, cereals, breads, veggie & fruits, ramen

taho, ice cream (coffee & pistachio), hungarian sausage, bacon, donut, muffin, tapa, glazed ham

As for my fave, the breakfast buffet, the place is stuffed once more as if it was just a flip of a page from a book & tadaaa!! super big thanks to melvin & rayne!

Golden Spoon

This yogurt store isn’t new to anyone these days, in fact they’ve got branches everywhere, 11 to be exact. This frozen yogurt retail chain is headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. You can easily spot this from the rest, because of their signature golden plastic spoon.

eastwood branch

It’s not good enough being the “Ice Cream Lover’s Frozen Yogurt”. As you can see from the photo above, they do think about nutrition. It’s a good natural source of protein & calcium. In addition to these nutrients, yogurt adds the benefits of healthy digestive cultures, found by independent studies to have beneficial properties. They also ensure that these live cultures are active & present in the final product. Dieters also appreciate that it is non-fat & very low in calories, so feel free to indulge!

Currently,  they have a total of 50 flavours you can choose but there’s a problem. You won’t be able to taste all of them since each Golden Spoon branch offers a different flavour & by the end of the month, they do a rotation & change their menu selection. So as customers, you are enticed to go back or better yet visit other branches to get a hold of your favorites (a perfect marketing strategy)!

belgian chocolate & simply tart

peanut butter

old fashioned vanilla & boysenberry

Due to hygiene standards & added service value, Golden Spoon does not provide self-service, therefore employees serve the yogurt in cones or cups. Another tip, you can also have different flavours per cup as well!

sizes

toppings galore!

If you’re not sure what to choose from their menu, you can always ask the server to give you a sample. They’ll hand you a tiny cup filled with yogurt. Yogurts will not be complete if they don’t have toppings. They do have a variety to a point that you can’t decide which one. Its as if you’re taken back to childhood memories, only in a modern way.

Here’s the list of their branches here in the Philippines:

1. Alabang Town Center
2. City Walk 2
3. Greenhills
4. Magallanes
5. Makati-Glorietta
6. Ortigas-Center
7. Paseo Center
8. Pergola-Mall
9. Robinsons-Galleria–Veranda
10. Shangri-la
11. Trinoma-Mall

Papa John’s Pizza

Have you heard the story of a boy who sold his prized 1972 Camaro Z28 to save his father’s business? Well it turns out that its now one of the best selling pizzas which arrived in our country.

1st Papa John’s branch

sm fairview branch

Papa John’s is famous for their pizza crust, why? A better pizza begins from the bottom up. The dough used for they’re hand-tossed, original crust is prepared with the finest ingredients, like high-protein flour & clear-filtered water. It’s delivered to restaurants fresh (never frozen), until it’s baked. And while it’s staying fresh, it’s also proofing slowly & naturally, maximizing the dough’s flavor.

simply cheese

We got a taste of some of their pizzas in small sizes. I’m a cheese lover so we tried one of their classic pizza called simply cheese which mainly contains mozzarella cheese imported from US.

chicken bbq pizza

One of their specialty pizza is the chicken bbq pizza. It contains grilled chicken, bacon bits & onions combined with a sweet & tangy bbq sauce. My bro is always a fan of less veggies pizzas.

super papas pizza

Let’s not forget Super papas pizza. Its their best seller pizza that has the combination of pepperoni, italian sausage, ham, mushrooms, onions, green peppers & black olives. You hear servers recommend this more often.

gift certificate

Their pizzas can be done two ways, thin crust or the thick one. Either way, what we love about this pizza is the taste of the dough plus its not that oily compared to other pizzas. When their branch in SM Fairview opened, I was one of the lucky winners getting a gift certificate just by spinning thru their mystery wheel. Currently, they only have branches here in the metro, 13 to be exact:

1. Waltermart Sucat
2. 102 Jupiter St., Makati City
3. Greenbelt 3
4. Cedar Executive Bldg. I #1006 arnaiz Ave. Makati City
5. SM North Edsa
6. SM Fairview
7. BF Homes Paranaque
8. Tomas Morato cor. Scout Rallos, QC
9. Brickroad Area, Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall
10. SM Megamall
11. #53-B Annapolis Street, Greenhills, San Juan
12. University Mall, Taft Ave.
13. Robinsons Galleria Veranda

So what’s your Papa John’s fave pizza lately?!

Spices ‘n Flavours

A lot of cooking shows have emerged in the television industry (locally & internationally). You get sooo inspired that when you visit your own kitchen, you often omit things on the list coz you couldn’t find that spice anywhere. I think I got a solution for you folks out there!

photo courtesy of DCF

Located in Market Market at the Fort, you will find this small spice house called “Spices ‘N Flavours”. Its just outside the mall near hapchan facing Serendra. It may look like a chinese medicine shop outside but once you enter the place, you’ve got an unparallel selection of spices & let me tell you, you may be several hundred pesos poorer but you’re spices are like information overload!

This is owned by Carmen Ragas and Claudine Mangasing. With towering shelves that hold tons of tea leaves, chilies & spices that come from Syria, India, Dubai, Turkey, US & Thailand. This small “hidden treasure” are answers to our so called spice problems.

As of the moment, this is the main branch. I did talk to the lady & she told me that they’re putting some of the spices on famous supermarkets. As for the rest, you have to visit the store. It may be far from people living up north but its sure one hell of a visit that is worthwhile!

Spices ‘n Flavours
RR-7 Phase 1 Street Market!
Fort Bonifacio Global City,
Taguig, Metro Manila

Adarna Food & Culture

Situated along the streets of Kalayaan avenue, this restaurant celebrates Filipino culture heritage by serving historical, regional & heirloom recipes in a warm, homey setting. Every table offers a special view of the place with its collection of Filipino memorabilia.

adarna menu

Patio Rosas

The first thing that you see as you enter the restaurant. The exposed area is a perfect setting date especially at night where trees are lit up. The covered open-air area at the right side features a collection of bottles, a 1957 jukebox, a sari-sari store with free candies and a display of old komiks, toys, old print ads.

Bulwagang Adarna

Inside, the main dining hall welcomes you with more paintings, old wartime currency, antique & vintage furniture, photos & other vintage items as if you are bounced back in time.

Pinapaitan (P150)

The greed of Spanish friars, who ate nothing but choice cuts became an opportunity for Ilocano culinary imagination to run bile! A taste of GI history.

Adobong Batangas ala Adarna (P250)

This recipe was shared by the granddaughter of a prominent family from Batangas City which pays tribute to a defining Filipino classic dish.

Lumpiang Freska Kabitenya (P150)

A Cavite lumpia with ten vegetables, cracklings and shrimp in homemade lumpia wrapper served with traditional paalat fresh garlic.

Rellenong Sugpo (P280)

Sugpo made more special stuffed with pork, shrimp, and vegetables rolled in butter and fried to a golden brown. Served with a sweet sour sauce that kicks (oooh yeahh).

Piassok (P335)

Hankering for something really different? Experience this exotic Sulu dish of beef chunks cooked slowly in smoked coconut cream & ten spices till tender – buttered, grilled and sliced just before serving.

Banana Peanut Roll (P75)

Ripe saba banana with roasted peanut cream in a crisp wrapper drizzled with old fashioned caramelo sauce. Ahh!

last 5 standing for Batch 9

What a way to celebrate another year of success! We’re the last 5 standing coming from Batch 9. Kudos to you Gil for this place, our tummies are satisfied. We can do this more often. Cheers to all of us!

Abe: Where good friends dine

Abe pronounced as (ah-beh) is the restaurant dedicated to Larry Cruz’ father, the late artist-writer, gourmet & bon vivant E. Aguilar “Abe” Cruz. The restaurant serves traditional Filipino food, mostly of Capampangan origin, and gourmet dishes inspired by Abe’s travels around the world. This resto is also part of the LJC (short for Larry J. Cruz) restaurants.

Serendra branch (photo courtesy of Abe)

We dragged ourselves; Chin, Mimi & I here in Serendra to get a different setting (besides our kikay agenda) & Chin said its her first time here, that’s great! We’re past office hours (night shift) so I let the girls do the decision making. It was just 30 mins after 11am that people started to flock inside the resto, good thing we were first to arrive.

menu

The menu was designed simply & if the title of each dish is confusing, there’s a little description to put it in detail. We didn’t order that much coz we have an appointment afterwards. I appreciate the servers who are very attentive plus the fact that we didn’t have to call them for a water refill.

Green mango w/ bagoong (P95)

We just had 1 appetizer. its a carabao mango which was very sour indeed that you need to dip it to the shrimp paste. Mimi even asked for a spicy one to cater it to her taste. I remember Chin telling a story about indian mangoes while eating this one.

Klassik Kare-kare (P595) & Spicy Sisig Pampanga (P175)

Now, to the main course, we had kare-kare & sisig. The kare-kare is done traditional style with oxtail, tripe & veggies in a peanut-based sauce. This reminded me of Mama Che’s cooking & I know Yanyan is now envious reading this. The sisig however, was spicy but I can still tolerate it. Let’s not forget that these dishes are sooo perfect with rice, right Chin?!

Mimi was joking about the resto’s slogan but kidding aside, they did achieve it that day. We we’re just continuously chatting of all sorts of topics & having good food as well. This resto is best for balikbayans craving for those delectable filipino dishes that you’re looking for. If you’re a huge group, it is best to make a reservation. They’ve got 2 branches: 1 in serendra & the other 1 in trinoma.

KLCC: Petronas Twin Towers

Tagged as the tallest twin towers ever built, this is considered to be the landmark of Kuala Lumpur. What makes this landmark the tallest? Well, according to CTBUH (Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat), the spires located at the top are considered actual integral parts of the architectural design of buildings unlike with other twin buildings out there, they usually have antennas.

(photo courtesy of wiki)

Did you know that Filipinos were part of this construction? Designed by Argentine architect César Pelli & Filipino-Malaysian Engineer Deejay Cerico under the consultancy of J. C. Guinto, & Filipino Designer Dominic “Minick” Saibo, now that’s an achievement!

 (photo courtesy of wiki)

The Petronas towers features a skybridge located in between, on 41st & 42nd floors. Its not attached to the main structure, but is instead designed to slide in and out of the towers to prevent it from breaking, as the towers sway several feet in towards & away from each other during high winds. It also acts as a safety device, so that in the event of fire or other emergency in one tower, tenants can evacuate by crossing the skybridge to the other tower.

“According to Lao Tse, the reality of a hollow object is in the void and not in the walls that define it. He was speaking, of course, of spiritual realities. These are the realities also of the Petronas Towers. The power of the void is increased and made more explicit by the pedestrian bridge that … with its supporting structure creates a portal to the sky … a door to the infinite.” - César Pelli, architect (1995)

Tower One is fully occupied by Petronas together with a number of its subsidiaries, associate companies, while the office spaces in Tower Two are mostly available for lease to other companies. At the feet of the Petronas Towers, we have Suria KLCC, which is an upmarket retail podium. Its attractions include an art gallery, a philharmonic theater, an underwater aquarium and also a Science centre.

rotiboy

One of the places that I like to visit & ask Yanyan for pasalubong is the bun from Rotiboy. Unlike the rotis I’ve tasted here in manila, this is just the perfect bun, whether if its hot or not. Also, they’ve got different varieties such as the buttermilkboy (vanilla), blueberry cheeseboy. Don’t forget to visit this store if ever you’ll visit the Petronas towers!