Q & A at the 2009 Miss Philippine Tourism Contest held at Manila Hotel

Pre-pageant questions and answers during the 2009 Miss Philippine Tourism Contest held at Manila Hotel… (via email)

Host: If you had a foreigner friend, where will you bring him to showcase the beauty of the Philippines?
Contestant : Bocaue.
Host: Why Bocaue? There are so many places in the Philippines ? Why Bocaue?
Contestant: Because it’s a magnificent place.
Host: Which part of Bocaue?
Contestant: The Bocaue Rice Terraces.

Host: What is your best feature?
Contestant: My graduation picture and also my baby picture.

Host: What is you favorite motto?
Contestant: If others can’t, why can’t I!

Host: What would you like to say to foreigners?
Contestant: Please come back or you shall return.

Host: What is your typical day?
Contestant:I think Saturday po!

Host : If you were to describe the color blue to a blind person, how would you do i?’
Contestant: That is a very good and easy question but is hard to answer. He! He! He!

Host: What is your edge over the other contestants?
Contestant: My edge? I’m 21 years old, Sir!

Host: What, in your opinion, is the ideal age for marriage?
Contestant: Thirty-five.
Host: Why 35?
Contestant: Because you are already old enough not to make any mistakes.

Host: How do you see yourself 10 years from now?
Contestant: I am now 18, plus 10… I’ll be 28!

Host: What is the biggest problem facing the youth today?
Contestant: Drugs!
Host: Why?
Contestant: Kasi it is very expensive na, Sir!

Host: What is the essence of a woman posing nude in magazines?
Contestant: Girls should be proud because when she is naked it is pleasing and essential to men’s eyes!

Host: What makes you blush?
Contestant: I don’t blush because I have a dark complexion.

NOTE: Contestants who answered the questions above were eliminated from the contest.

— I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again.

Apple OS 3.1 and iTunes 9

Every time Apple has a new announcement I stay up and wait for it. The event usually starts at 1:00 a.m. Manila time. I usually monitor Engadget and Gizmodo at the same time via their live updates. That means a lot of reloading of the page. They both do an excellent job of giving a blow by blow account of what’s happening on stage and they support it with pictures. They must type really fast and upload pics as they go on.

What’s new?
1. iPhone OS 3.1 is out. It’s free if you already have OS 3. For iPhone and iPod touch.
2. Genius for apps: recommends what you might like.
3. iTunes 9 is released. Features “genius mixes” works like a radio station for your music. You can arrange your home screens and arrange apps around through iTunes. (This is what I’ve been waiting for!)

(from Engadget)
I’m going to concentrate on the updates now. Just go to engadget or gizmodo for the complete update. I can’t wait to download all the updates. 

Contact Me Button

I don’t if you’ve all seen that small contact me button above my picture. But somebody did and she sent me a really nice email which I would like to share. It just made my day!

hi!  i just stumbled upon your page today and have been reading your posts non-stop the entire night.  i really enjoy reading these kinds of blogs since i get an idea of restaurants that i myself could try eventually.  imagine my surprise when i saw your entries regarding your store and your packed lunch meals and realized that these were the very same meals that i used to eat when i worked at the 26th floor of jollibee plaza.  hahaha!  so not only did i enjoy your food but i now also enjoy your writings about food.  keep up the good work! 🙂

Thanks for your email C!

Sunday Lunch at Home

After eating lunch in restaurants every Sunday, it was a welcome change to finally eat at home. We were invited to a friend’s house for lunch. Nothing beats home cooking as long as I don’t have to cook.

The host and her sisters and sister in law are great cooks. These are their creations.


chicken wintermelon soup


shrimp salad


roast pork & soy chicken from Choi Garden


sauteed abalone w/ lettuce


paella


fried black cod fillets w/ sauce

The angus steaks were bought thinly sliced from Santi’s then marinated in a combination of soy sauce, olive oil and balsamic vinegar then grilled. It was very good although a tad salty.

angus steak

Wasn’t the menu impressive? Just like that of a restaurant!
The colorful fruit plate was made up of pineapple, dragon fruit, yellow kiwi, pomelo and yellow watermelon. Exotic huh?

fruit plate
What an creative way of serving Dolor’s sapin sapin.

sapin sapin bites


chocolate cake from Sugarhouse


cheese cupcakes

Dessert at Bizu Patisserie

Bizu is one of my favorite restaurants. I’ve eaten there so many times that I already have a discount card. Alas those were all pre-blog days. I finally went back for dessert after our dinner at Freska.

It’s not cheap to eat at Bizu but I can guarantee they have the best cakes, pastries and dessert. They definitely have the best French macaroons in town. At P35 per piece it’s a steal compared to buying it in Hong Kong, Usa and specially Paris. It’s comparable in quality too.

Note: This review was made in 2009 when there weren’t other suppliers of macarons in Manila. I recently tried Bizu’s macarons again and found the flavors to be mild and artificial tasting. The texture was dry and even a bit brittle.  Maybe it’s because I’ve tried much better macarons that I realize the difference between really good quality and mediocre ones. 8/20/11


We shared a plate of assorted flavors of macaroons. We tried the lemon, raspberry, chocolate, espresso, butterscotch, mango and vanilla. My favorite was the chocolate. It was dark and rich and the most intensely flavored among those I tried.

I’ve tried several of their small cakes. My favorite is the Amore. But the best dessert in Bizu is the Valrhona chocolate souffle with vanilla ice cream and a choice of chocolate or vanilla sauce. It’s not the typical light and airy souffle. This was more like a molten chocolate cake which was deep, dark, dense and delicious. A small order can be shared by 6 people. It’s the best fix for any chocoholic.


Valrhona chocolate souffle P285

Poke a hole in the souffle and pour in the chocolate sauce. Dip your spoon and scoop out a spoonful of chocolate heaven. Put it in your mouth, close your eyes and go mmmmmmm. Open your eyes right away and get some ice cream. Eat and go ahhhhhhhh. That’s how you eat the souffle.

Bizu Patisserie
The Promenade, Greenhills Shopping Center
telephone: 724-2498 • 726-2496

Paramore singing Use Somebody (Kings of Leon)-

I love Kings of Leon!! They’re my current favorite band. Here’s a cover of their hit song, Use Somebody sung by Paramore. I heard Paramore is having a concert in Manila in November. I haven’t seen any details though.

Their cover isn’t bad at all but I still love the original better.

Paramore – Use Somebody

Kings of Leon – Use Somebody

From the album Only by the Night
Use Somebody

I’ve been roaming around
Always looking down
And all I see
Painted faces
Fill the places
I can’t reach

You know
That I could
Use somebody
You know
That I could
Use somebody

Someone like you
And all you know
And how you speak
Countless lovers
Under cover
Of the street

You know
That I could
Use somebody
You know
That I could
Use somebody
Someone like you…

Off in the night
While you live it up
I’m off to sleep
Wagin’ war
To shake the poet
And the beat

I hope it’s gonna
Make you notice
I hope it’s gonna
Make you notice

Someone like me,
Someone like me,
Someone like me, somebody.

Go and let it out…

Someone like you, somebody
Someone like you, somebody

I’ve been roamin’ around
Always lookin’ down at all I see

Dinner at Freska Ilonggo Seafood and Inasal

It’s September, my birthday month. That means a lot of eating and treating different groups of friends from school and work. This is the first one. Our dinner at Freska was a joint treat among 3 birthday celebrants – me, Sergei and Kelly.

It was my first time to eat at Freska Ilonggo Seafood and Inasal restaurant at the Promenade in Greenhills.

Freska is at the 2nd floor of Promenade in between Burgoo and Las Paellas.


I’m not much of an oyster eater specially the raw kind. Sometimes I’ll try a baked oyster. But it’s not really my thing. Jay ordered the Oysters Rockefeller. Their version is light and not covered with a thick sauce like in most restaurants. The oysters were topped with some pesto, cheese and bacon and baked. I loved it specially with a generous squeeze of calamansi. It was very, very fresh. We ordered 2 servings and I ate 4-5. I’d go back just to eat the oysters. I liked it even more than Via Mare’s oysters.

oysters rockefeller P265

The scallops were soft and perfectly cooked. I’ve had fresh scallops in a 5 star restaurant in HK that was hard and rubbery. These scallops beat those by a mile. It would be easy to consume a whole plate of these by yourself.

grilled scallops w/ cheese, lemon butter
& garlic P188

I didn’t like their grilled squid. It was a bit undercooked which made the squid rubbery. I’d pass on this one.

inihaw na pusit P230

The grilled pork belly was just satisfactory. The servings were really small. So be sure to order more food.

grilled liempo (pork belly) P178

The binagoongang baboy and sugpo was a pleasant surprise. When I first saw the dish I thought the pork looked dry and petrified. When I ate it I was happy that it was very crunchy and the bagoong sauce was a little sweet and salty. This Ilonggo version used guinamos (Visayan bagoong) and it was definitely different from what we’re used to. We loved this dish and ordered 2 of it.

binagoongang baboy and sugpo P255
pork and shrimp cooked with Visayan bagoong

Freska is a good place to eat fresh seafood and Filipino food with a twist. It was a refreshing change from the usual Abe and Fely J that we frequent. Next time I’d stick to ordering more seafood though.

Freska Menu
appetizers, soup & vegetables, more seafood
house specialties, meat & poultry,
solo meals & family festival platters

Freska Ilonggo Seafood and Inasal
2nd Level Promenade
Greenhills, San Juan
telephone: 744-3446 / 0922-5550307

    All About Snow Leopard

    I recently upgraded my iMac’s OS to Snow Leopard. While I’ve noticed several improvements already there are so many more things I have to learn to maximize it’s power. These are the sites that have helped me so far.

    (from Gizmodo)

    Top ten tips and tricks for Snow Leopard (Cult of Mac)
    Snow Leopard: The Complete Guide (via Gizmodo)
    Adobe Flash Update for Snow Leopard
    100 Snow Leopard Tips, Tricks and Features (via Maclife)

    Hidden Features of Snow Leopard (via Tuaw)

    Dinner at Arya Persian Restaurant

    Some of us amigas had dinner last Monday at Arya Persian restaurant at the Promenade at Greenhills Shopping Center. It’s one of our favorite places for Middle Eastern food.


    partial amigas

    For starters we ordered the Arya dip platter made up of Hummus, Motabal, Tzitziki, and Mirza Ghasemi. It came with a basket of pita bread.

    Arya dip platter P245


    lassi

    All the dishes were served with an abundant amount of basmati rice and a couple of grilled tomatoes. Maksus is a combination of ground beef on one skewer and beef cubes in another skewer. Hmm I didn’t see this on the menu. Suki talaga si Deb!

    maksus

    Royal joojeh kabab are skewers of chicken breast marinated in safforn & yogurt. I tried a piece and found it very tasty but a bit dry.

    royal joojeh kabab P365

    Pat ordered the keema because she said it looked like arroz ala cubana or picadillo. She really liked it because she finished all of her rice plus 1/2 of mine.

    keema P235

    I ordered the lamb chops. I loved it! It was tender, full flavored and smokey. My only complaint was the slices were very thin. I only ate about 1/4 of my rice since there was no sauce. Well, that’s good news for my diet.

    Arya shishlik P555

    Beef koobideh is Elisa’s favorite dish in Arya. It’s made of seasoned ground beef that’s formed into skewers and grilled. Next time this is what I will order.

    beef koobideh P355


    garlic and chili sauce

    All our orders came with grilled tomatoes which can be made into a salad by the waiter. We had extra special service that night since our tomato salads were made by the owner himself.

    The tomato is first peeled then seasoned with freshly ground pepper and topped with yogurt garlic sauce and then mashed.


    tomato salad


    Dr. Shin Karami

    For dessert we shared a fig orange cake. It was warm and super soft. Dr. Karami told us it was sweetened with ground dried white figs. I loved the cake. It was the perfect dessert for our meal.

    Dr. Karami even brought out a container of figs to show us what it looked like. I never knew there were white figs. I’m only familiar with the fig newton kind. 🙂

    dried white figs

    Dr. Karami also served us cardamom tea in traditional colorful tea glasses.

    They even have water pipes called ghalyun in Iran or shisha in our middle eastern countries. You can sit outside and smoke flavored tobacco to your heart’s content.

    ghalyun or hookah or shisha

    We had a very good and satisfying meal. Next time we plan to go to their newly opened branch at the Podium. Dr. Karami was very proud of all the authentic art work and decor in the Podium branch. We can’t wait to see it.

    Arya menu
    soups & salads, cold & hot maze,
    beef, chicken, lamb

    Arya Persian Restaurant
    Unit L-9 Promenade Mall
    Greenhills, San Juan
    telephone: 584-6266

    Podium Mall
    Adb Ave. Ortigas Center
    Pasig City
    telephone: 571-3962

    2nd level Robinson’s Manila
    (Midtown Wing)
    Pedro Gil cor. Adriatico Sts.,
    Ermita, Manila
    telephone: 567-3800