Hello Kitty

* picture from Wikipedia

Is she or isn't she a cat?  Anita had to explain it to me several times.  Now I get it.  Hello Kitty is a cartoon character in the form of a cat, but with the personality and traits of a girl. She walks on two legs.  She is like Goofy (a talking dog with human character walking on two legs), rather than Pluto (a barking dog walking on four legs).  I know people who are certified Hello Kitty fanatics.  Seryoso!  Yeah, now I get it.  She's a girl alright... ;-)

Laurel & Hardy

* picture from wikipedia.org

I passed by Kong Kong and Gwammy's room, and chanced upon them watching a Laurel & Hardy film on cable TV.  It was a sure throwback to the late sixties and early seventies when we would watch films of the comedy duo, and looking at my parents enjoy the very same content from eons past made me smile.  Slapstick does have entertainment value, and more so, films of the golden era (Laurel & Hardy crossed over from the silent period, and their popularity grew even more during the beginning of the talkies) is sure-fire stress therapy for the both of them. Thank you, Fat & Thin, for making them happy!

Shyla's Tableya

Eddie brought us Shyla's Tableya for pasalubong. These chocolate tablets from Dumaguete are really concentrated, quite bitter, and perfect for chocolate eh!

Kia Sorento

* picture from kia.com

I've been looking at the Kia Sorento for some time now, and I've been happy with the wide and roomy interior.  Nice styling, a bit lower than some of the other SUVs on the market, but looks solid and durable.  Seats only 5 people, but I guess I won't be needing the third row anyway.  AWD, 2.2 diesel engine.  Not bad for P1.4 million.  Mulling it over...

Mongkok

The Mongkok restaurant at the Glorietta Mall is pretty memorable for Kong Kong and Gwammy, but not in the usual way.  You see, around 5 years ago, the two of them were dining at the restaurant when the septic tank of the mall exploded!  If you recall, part of the Glorietta Mall was subsequently demolished and now that the renovation work has been completed, I brought them to lunch at the new location of the restaurant.

It was just the three of us, and we had some dimsum items--siao long pao, siomai and chicken feet.  I had a transaction at the bank, so Gwammy ordered my favorite beef tendon rice meal for me.  We topped it off with some pancit canton, which we couldn't finish (serving size was generous).  All in all, you can have a good selection for around P300 per head, the food is generally tasty and freshly cooked.  Sitting is a bit tight, though, so be prepared to rough if out with the lunchtime office crowd.

Montano Sardines

My lunch today?  Sister Two introduced us to this wonderful brand of sardines, produced by the Montano family in Dipolog.  It has become our gold standard for bottled Spanish style sardines; each fish is full bodied, and you can see that the tummies of the herring are intact (which means that the fish are super fresh, the cream of the catch).  The product is seasoned just right, you can crush the chili pepper to up the spicy level a few notches.  Very reasonable price, around P80 in supermarkets.  I love this, perfect on Sky Flakes, panini or hot pan de sal!

Stuff Over

If you don't mind eating sloppy burgers, then Stuff Over is right for you.  They have fat patties that are stuffed with cheese and other condiments, so the juices run over just as you sink your teeth into the burger.  Yeah, it can get really sloppy.  The good part is that the burgers are tasty, and worth the wait.  Better yet, they are reasonably priced--your tummy can be loaded with just about P150 to P200.  The store is just off Maginhawa St. in Teacher's Village going to UP; the drawback is that there is practically no parking in the area (the store has only one slot right in front).  Sitting is also cramped, and there are probably just around 15 seats in the house.

Manhattan Transfer

* photo from fourquartersent.com

I opened the radio and the Shaker Song of the Manhattan Transfer was on.  This is one of the most exhilarating jazz groups of the eighties; I remember them well, and boy, we had such great memories with their music!  I missed their concert at the Folk Arts Theater--my friends and I couldn't get tickets to the standing room show, and we sat on the grounds right outside the FAT, listening to their music without actually seeing them perform.  Ah, you really regret what you miss!

Brazo

I like the yellow motif of Brazo restaurant.  Some people find it too bright for the eyes; I find it cool and relaxing.  I understand that the place opened just before the 2014-2015 school year started, and from what I gather, the restaurant has been making its mark in the Maginhawa strip.  The restaurant is simple, clean and has home-style dishes that begs comparison to Mom's cooking.

The crispy liempo was pretty good.  The callos was quite flavorful, and the bits of meat were tender, properly slow-cooked (my only complaint being portion control, which made the dish seem like a mere patikim rather than being the proper meal size).

I guess the meatball spaghetti is really geared for kids (yes, its on the sweet side).  The Iberian chicken was tender, filled with garlic (i.e. yummy), and came if freshly baked (we did wait some 25 to 30 minutes for it).  I must say, however, that one can't have too much of this dish, as it is simply too rich for the palate (and the tummy).

Kudos to the chef for the wholesome meal.  In addition to their staple dishes shown on the menu card, they do have a board for the specials of the day.  I'd say that you can get by with P200 per head, but it you are in a big group and want to have a taste of different viands, prepare around P500 per head (and that's literally a feast).

Dorissimo

The Maginhawa area in Teachers Village seems to be the preferred dining spot of a lot of UP students, given its proximity to the university.  We set off to try one of the Chinese restaurants there but wound up waiting for a vacant table instead.  As it seemed that the staff was too busy to entertain us, we looked to its next door neighbor, Dorissimo Pastries, for some comfort.  Doris, the pastry store owner, personally attended to us, and that more than made up for the discomfort we experienced at the Chinese restaurant.  Her cakes are reasonably priced, and she informed us that the shop had its soft opening only a few weeks prior.  A renovation was in the works (previously the area was rented by a beauty parlor, and the store configuration wasn't right), and that a light dining menu was being prepared for the coming months.  We picked up a chocolate cake with white frosting (less than P500 if I recall right), and had the cake for merienda at Gwammy's place. 

Ling Nam

Ling Nam has been around since right after the war (operated by the Fung family, if I recall right), and I remember that we used to patronize their shop at the Quad park in the early eighties.  The brand has since been relaunched, and I was able to have a fast meal at their Greenhills branch some time back.  The beef noodle soup was still tasty, nothing fancy but reasonable for just about P150.

Django

I enjoy Quentin Tarantino films.  You have a lot of gore and theatrics, and plenty of the dramatic action pays homage to the movies of the seventies.  Kill Bill, for example, takes me back to the days of the good old Kung Fu movies, while Inglorious Basterds has the same feel of the war movies of the same era.  While his defining film seems to be Pulp Fiction, I'd say that I particularly like Django Unchained; the character originally played by Franco Nero seems to take on a new life with Jamie Foxx's interpretation.  The best performance however, comes from Christop Waltz; I want to cheer him on, I want him to succeed, I don't him to die.  In Tarantino films, justice seems to be served in correct fashion, so aptly detailed despite all the bloody gore.  Given the feeling of helplessness I get when I read the daily papers, the ethereal escape watching Tarantino films is truly satisfying, both emotionally and philosophically.

Ming Bistro Cafe

I had a quick lunch meeting at the Ming Bistro at the ground floor of the Philippine Stock Exchange Building at the Tektite Drive in Ortigas Center.  This is a unique combination of a Chinese restaurant by day and an acoustic bar at night.  I had siomai and a bowl of soy chicken rice; both were not bad, and this came to around P300 (I guess a full meal would be somewhere around P600 per person).

Shakey's Pizzanatic

Admittedly, I am so gullible when it comes to foodie promotions.  Heck, the food attendant just informed me about the Pizzanatic membership card of the Shakey's Pizza chain, and I got one without batting an eyelash.  Of course, I'm a firm loyalist of Shakey's thin crust pizza, which is at the top of my commercial pizza totem pole.  Buy one, take one anybody?

Pirouette

Someone sent me a can of Pirouette wafers by Pepperidge Farm.  This is barquillos with an extra twist--hazelnut flavor!  One or two right paired with black coffee--perfect for lazy mid afternoon chit chat with old friends.

Flavors

We celebrated Lola Dee's birthday at the Flavors coffee shop of the Holiday Inn atop the Glorietta Mall.  This is one of the newly opened Holiday Inns; the fifth local iteration to be exact.  To those that remember the progression, the first was along Roxas Boulevard, then the old Manila Hilton became the Holiday Inn the the late nineties, followed by the Holiday Inn in Clark Field, and the Holiday Inn at the Robinson's Galleria in Ortigas.  The hotel is nothing extravagant, but posh enough to give a lot of dining comfort.

The brunch buffet starts off with some breakfast items such as bacon, sausages, and waffles; you can continue your gastronomic journey over to the salad bar and the sushi counter, transitioning from brekky to lunch with plenty of ease.

The hot plates are particularly savory; but for me, the surf-and-turf combination of sharawma and grilled prawns was very satisfying.  I just love the garlic yogurt sauce that they had.  The kids liked the pasta dishes, but I was too worried about all the carbohydrates, and merely concentrated on the grilled items they displayed.

The dessert corner is a compelling reason for a second visit to this restaurant.  We liked the chocolate creations, some of them were oven baked only upon order.  Buffet price is around P1,600 per person, which is just about the going rates for hotel buffets.  Be sure to make reservations, as I heard that sometimes they have a long waiting line.

These nicely presented cakes were not part of the buffet though, and are sold separately.  I though I could get slice, but I was disappointed.

The lobby of the hotel has a good view of the surrounding areas in the Makati Commercial Center, and it was a good place for some picture taking--the girls loved the opportunity for selfies!

Twirl All You Can

Japanese convenience retail group Family Mart has been making waves in the Metro lately, and the kids can't get enough of the Twirl All You Can activity at the ice cream counter.  Green tea is the number one flavor!  Only P25 per cone.  Anita is the champion in getting them stuffed and twirled to high heavens!

Yang Chow

I was on my way to a meeting in Caloocan; it was just past noon and my tummy was already grumbly.  I had to stop by to have something, or else I would be cranky at my afternoon meeting, and you just can't be cranky around bankers that would lend you money.  I turned at the Centris area (Quezon Avenue corner EDSA), and was trying to locate a reasonably priced restaurant when I came across Yang Chow.  The place was around 60% full, and it seemed like a good place to satisfy my hunger.

The name of the restaurant is often ascribed to Yang Chow fried rice, and I expected Binondo-style cooking.  I wasn't too happy though.  The hakaw (steamed shrimp dumplings) looked okay, but the wrapper was soggy, definitely over steamed.  The menu advertised that it was 90% shrimp, which was true (no ground substitute there), but the taste was very bland, something in the steaming process perhaps that made the taste vanish?  The beef tendon soup wasn't bad though, although this was on the salty side.  Probably two different chefs at the kitchen.

Interiors were quite well maintained, and the service wasn't bad.  However, I did feel like I was being served at a Divisoria carinderia; I expected a bit more polished dining level considering that the ambiance looked good.  Spent something just under P300, but I think there are other restaurants that I'd choose next time I'm at the Centris Walk.

Newman's Own

Actor and organic food proponent Paul Newman has got his own version of my favorite cinnamon mints.  Love the taste of Newman's Own, doesn't have that powdery feel that some other brands have.