Shoot First Eat Later

Paris: Fauchon

On our second day in Paris we rode the Métro to Place de Madeleine to eat at a restaurant recommended by my cousin who was just in Paris a week before us. We went there early to walk around the area. To my delight there were 3 shops within minutes of each other that were a foodie’s paradise.

The first store we went in the world famous Fauchon, a purveyor of French gourmet food.

If we weren’t about to eat lunch I would have bought a pastry or two. These two below were my top picks.

If you’re planning to have a picnic in Paris everything you would need is available in this store.

They had ready to eat meals and salads.

This salad made with haricot verts (French green beans), mozzarella, almonds and raspberries are a very unusual combination that I would like to try to make.

salade de haricots verts aux framboises

My favorite display was all these varieties of foie gras.

Their cheese selections made me drool too.

I turned away when I saw all the bread. That would have been too hard to resist for me. Bread, cheese and foie gras is the perfect picnic fare for me.

Fauchon
26 Place de la Madeleine 75008 Paris, France
telephone: 01 70 39 38 00
website

Paris: Le Fontaine de Mars & Eiffel Tower

Hello Paris!!! As soon as we dropped off our luggage at the Lenox Montparnasse Hotel we went to dinner. We left the hotel early to give us time to figure out the Métro and find the restaurant.

We only took the taxi twice in Paris – to and from the airport. A tip for those who will take the taxi in Paris – If you call for a taxi from your hotel or restaurant the taxi meter will start from wherever the taxi driver was when he received the call. The cheapest way is to just flag a taxi from wherever you are.

Taking the very efficient Métro was the way to go in Paris. We just love the people of Paris. They are the friendliest and most helpful people. They were always people to help us navigate the Metro routes. They spoke pretty good English too.

One ticket costs €1,70 to any destination. This ticket can be used on the Métro and RER networks.

It’s advisable to buy a carnet of 10 tickets which cost €12.70. You can use cash or credit cards to buy the tickets on the machine.

Some stations are simple with just stairs while others are huge and fancy with elevators. At first we were confused finding which train to take but after a few trips we became experts. It’s similar to Hong Kong’s MTR just on a much larger scale. The most important thing is to remember the number of the line you will take and which exit. Easy peasy.

I chose La Fontaine de Mars since it was one of the few restaurants that was open on a Sunday night. This restaurant had very good reviews. Their website didn’t have any online reservations so I asked our hotel to make a reservation for me a month before. I’m glad I made a reservation since the place was packed.

A tip for those who don’t drink wine and want to save money on bottled water – ask for carafe d’eau or tap water which is potable.

menu (click to enlarge)

house wine €5

Wonderful bread!

Rochelle and I shared an order of delicious cold country paté.

paté de campagne (homemade country paté) €13

I had the crisp duck confit. It was the epitome of fine French food. Their execution was spot on. Crunchy skin, a thin layer of duck fat under and tender flavorful meat.

confit canard (duck confit) €25

Rochelle had the plate of the day which was roast chicken with mashed potatoes. Simple fare cooked with a French flair.

plat du jour (plate of the day) roast free range chicken with mashed potatoes €20

On the same street was Cafe Constant and Les Cocottes de Christian Constant which I wanted to try too but we ran out of time. Next time this is on my list.

After dinner we walked a bit and saw signs to the Eiffel Tower so we went there.

There are lines to go up the Eiffel Tower at all times. We chose not to go up anymore.

My only regret was not seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. Since we were there during the summer the darkness came really late. We were there at 9:30 pm and as you can see from the pictures it was still very bright. We were already too tired to sit and wait for the lights to come on.

Restaurant la Fontaine de Mars
129, Rue Saint-Dominique
75007 PARIS 7ème
telephone: 01 47 05 46 44
website

Paris: Lenox Montparnasse Hotel

Of all the things I researched for my recent European trip the hardest was choosing a hotel in Paris. The first thing was to decide which arrondissement to stay in. Paris is divided into 20 neighborhoods or arrondissements. Each area has it’s own charm and specialties. I really couldn’t decide which to choose until my travel agent suggested Montparnasse on the 14th arrondissement and on the left bank of the Seine river.

Having selected Montparnasse the next step was choosing a hotel and we turned to tripadvisor for help. Our criteria was reasonable price, good location, good reviews, elevator, air-conditioning (a lot of hotels and apartments in Paris didn’t have elevators and air-conditioning). Lenox Montparnasse Hotel (3 stars) ranked 5th in tripadvisor’s list of hotels in Montparnasse and 97th overall hotels in Paris and it met all our criteria so that’s the hotel we chose.

The staff at the front desk were very helpful. Even while in Manila I emailed them to make a couple of restaurant reservations for me in Paris and they did it. They also helped with directions and were generally gracious and pleasant. Our only bad experience was booking a shuttle for the airport. One of their staff guaranteed Rochelle that he was able to book a shuttle that will pick us up at a certain time but the shuttle never arrived and no one else knew anything about it. Luckily a cab arrived at our hotel and we took it to the airport with just enough time. The traffic to the airport was horrible and it took us almost 2 hours to get there and €70 in cab fare.

An elevator was important for us since we didn’t want to lug our luggages up and down stairs.

We chose a club room with two twin beds. Believe it or not this was their bigger room already. Small rooms are a standard in hotels in Paris unless you are willing to pay €400 and above for a room. We paid €175 a night.

We were quite comfortable in this room. We just had to make a conscious effort not to walk around at the same time. If you have big luggages then you will have a hard time in this room. We put all our other things inside the closet. There was a small refrigerator under the TV too.

There was free instant coffee and tea bags. They also had free wifi.
The bathroom was big enough and clean.

toiletries

An important feature we look for in all hotel rooms is a room safe. We left our passports and cash in the room safe everyday. It’s much safer than bringing with us and having the risk of getting pick-pocketed. It’s true that the hotel can open the room safe but throughout our trip our valuables were protected in the safe.

Just off the lobby is the Honesty Bar.

Help yourself to the drinks in the bar including draft beer and be honest and pay for it.

Our hotel offered breakfast but we opted to buy from the patisserie next door.

We bought a tarte tatin and drops chocolat. It was just ok so we didn’t go back.

Our hotel was located in Rue Delambre and there were two small supermarkets, a cinema, laundromat and a fruit stand. We just loved how convenient the location was.

There was an Italian deli that had so many goodies perfect for a picnic.

There were several restaurants and bars on our street. We passed by the Chinese restaurant everyday and not once were we tempted to eat Chinese food. The next street (Rue du Montparnasse) was filled with creperies!

Our favorite was the pharmacie at the end of the street right across the Edgar Quinet metro station. French pharmacies are a treasure lode for beauty finds that don’t cost an arm and a leg. I found Gwyneth Paltrow’s guide to what to buy in a French pharmacy very helpful. We bought most of the items on her list.

Around Bd Edgar Quinet were many, many restaurants and cafes.

A block away were more stores and patisseries.

Monoprix

To our surprise there was even a small brance of Galeries Lafayette 5 minutes walk from our hotel.

I highly recommend Lenox Montparnasse Hotel. Our room was comfortable and clean albeit small. The best part was the location. Any direction you go there are restaurants, quaint shops and several pharmacies and groceries. The metro station was 2 minutes walk away and from there the entire Paris awaits you.

Lenox Montparnasse Hotel
15 Rue Delambre, 75014 Paris, France
telephone : + 33(0) 1 43 35 34 50
email: hotel@lenoxmontparnasse.com
website

Deb’s Birthday Dinner by Bizu Private Caterer

When I celebrated my birthday a couple of months ago I slaved over a few dishes to feed my friends. When my friend Deb celebrated her birthday she did the smart thing and had it catered by Bizu.

When you have a dinner party at home the host is usually busy running around and taking care of unexpected things. When you have your party catered you leave it to the capable wait staff to do the running around. And that’s why Deb had a good time enjoying her birthday dinner with friends and family.

cheese & chorizo platter from Santi’s

I loved the honey orange yogurt dressing of their salad. I never realized orange went so well with a salad with grapes, apples, almonds and celery. I must try to recreate it.

waldorf salad with honey orange yogurt dressing

The basil cream sauce was gooood! Great with the rice or mashed potatoes.

chicken fillet in basil cream sauce

cobbler fish with dill butter caper sauce

garlic mashed potatoes

The pasta was very al dente when it was just served. My friend who came late said it was very soft when she ate it. Nevertheless the sauce was excellent and NOT sweet.

linguine with mixed seafood

pilaf with chickpeas & sweet peas

The star of the buffet was the beef belly roasted for 10 hours. When I tried to make beef belly I only baked it for 3 hours since I was conscious of the internal temperature wanting it to come out medium rare.

10 hour US roast beef belly with mushrom sauce & horseradish cream

When I saw them cut the slab with barely a nudge I realized my error. You really have to bake the beef belly for a long time under a low temperature until it’s cooked well done and all the connective tissue has broken down and you’re left with beef so tender you won’t need a knife at all.

This is what I ate. I just got a little of the other food since I knew I would concentrate all my food consumption on the beef belly.

I didn’t even bother to put mushroom sauce. Just a touch of the horseradish cream and I was a happy camper. I didn’t bother trimming the small piece of fat on the beef.

This has to be the best piece of roast beef I’ve eaten all year. The beef bore little resemblance to traditional roast beef. Instead it looked more like braised short ribs since the beef literally fell apart into shreds with a little poking from my fork. It was very, very, very flavorful and the fat melted in my mouth tasting like the most decadent foie gras. After consuming this chunk of beef I quickly went back for a second round to find the whole slab of beef all gone. Thank goodness the chef calmed be done by saying there was another slab. Whew!!

I may just order a slab of 10 hour roast beef belly from Bizu for P3,900 for my family’s New Year’s Eve party instead of running my oven for 10 hours and not knowing what the results are.

This was the 1st catering I’ve seen that came with an espresso machine.

Lavazza pods were used.

With Bizu as your caterer you can be sure that dessert would be good and these pastries did not disappoint.

creme brulee in vol au vent

mango chiboust

opera cake

You can never have enough dessert!

Roshan’s lemon torte

Dessert du Jour’s gateau de crepe

Bizu Private Caterer
telephone: (02) 812-64-51
email: bizuprivatecaterer@yahoo.com
website

mu noodle bar

I’m so happy to discover another YUMMY restaurant in my neighborhood of San Juan. I just love these small restaurants popping up in the area.

Mu means mother and their food tastes just like mom’s cooking only better. Mu Noodle Bar is located along Wilson St. just after you cross P. Guevarra from Greenhills. It’s right next to Share Tea.

I liked the clean and modern interiors. I went there in the afternoon to take out food.

Mu Noodle Bar menu

Even though I ordered the food for take-out the waiter was nice enough to plate all the dishes so I can take pictures before packing it all up again.

My favorite among all the good dishes I ordered was the red lamb curry. The lamb wasn’t that tender but it wasn’t tough either. I loved the mild curry with coconut sauce so much that I just had to eat brown rice with it. I rationed this small order into 3 meals which I ate consecutively. First for dinner then for my packed lunch the next day and the last for dinner again the same night. That’s how much I loved it.

✔ ✔ ✔ red curry lamb P260

I admire the creativity of the chef! Hofan noodles cooked with squid ink and seafood. It wasn’t as tasty as my current favorite hofan with pumpkin sauce but it’s quite interesting and a must try.

✔ ✔ black hofan P180

Whenever I eat dim sum in Hong Kong I always order XO radish cake since it’s one of my favorite dim sum dishes. I’m glad now I can have it in Manila anytime I want. It’s a simple but very flavorful dish, pan fried cubes of radish cake sautéed with spicy XO sauce.

✔ ✔ XO radish cake P180

Their version of 3 cup chicken is really one of the best I’ve eaten. I’ve tried making 3 cup chicken once before and it turned out oily and salty. Their chicken didn’t have any sauce but it tasted like all the chicken had absorbed all the flavor without the grease. It’s best eaten right away to enjoy the crunchy veggies.

✔ ✔ ✔ 3 cup chicken P220

Just take a look at all the soft roasted garlic in an order of 3 cup chicken. I ate some garlic with the chicken and it was mellow and delicious.

I’ve also tried their oyster cake at a different time and it’s good too. It’s the only oyster cake topped with lots of melted cheese. I would have never thought that Chinese style oyster cake would go well with cheese but it does.

I can’t wait to go back and try more of their other dishes. I highly recommend this restaurant!!!

✖ skip it
✔ not bad
✔ ✔ do try
✔ ✔ ✔ MUST order

mu noodle bar
197 Wilson St., San Juan, Philippines
telephone: 451-2681
cellphone: 0917-807-4057/02
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Rome: Gelateria Lo Scimmiotto

I wasn’t planning to eat gelato at 10:30 in the morning. I just went in to waste time while waiting for Tazza D’Oro to open and this gelato shop was just across it.

Look how near Gelateria Lo Scimmiotto was to the Pantheon.

Of all the gelato we’ve eaten in Italy this was the most commercial and touristy looking one. At least the gelato wasn’t in high mounds filled with air.

This was the first time I’ve seen pinocchio flavor gelato.

The crazy colors frightened me a bit.

I was about to leave when I spotted the flavor cioccolato arancione. With my almost non existent knowledge of Italian I had a feeling it meant chocolate orange and I was right. Chocolate orange is my most favorite flavor combination. I even wrote a post on all the chocolates flavored with orange that I love. Finding this flavor is ice cream or gelato is extremely rare that’s why I just had to try it. I paired it with torrone or nougat flavor gelato.

The gelato was way too soft and melted really quickly. It was a mess to eat. The chocolate wasn’t as dark as I liked it but I still loved the flavor. The orange was very distinct. The nougat flavor was a good balance for the chocolate too.

cioccolato arancione (chocolate orange) & torrone (nougat)

Gelateria Lo Scimmiotto
Piazza Pantheon, Rome, Italy
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Rome: Pantheon

The area surrounding the Pantheon was one of our favorite places in Rome and we wish we had more time to explore it. Two of the best coffee shops in Rome are located within walking distance to the Pantheon.

The Roman Pantheon is the most preserved and influential building of ancient Rome. It is a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods of pagan Rome. As the brick stamps on the side of the building reveal it was built and dedicated between A.D 118 and 125. source

Probably one of the most fascinating features of the Pantheon is the Architecture. The structure of the Pantheon is comprised of a series of intersecting arches. The arches rest on eight piers which support eight round-headed arches which run through the drum from its inner to its outer face. The arches correspond to the eight bays on the floor level that house statues.

The dome itself is supported by a series of arches that run horizontally round. Romans had perfected the use of arches which helped sustain the weight of their magnanimous buildings.

The Romans were aware of the heavy nature of their building materials. So they used lighter materials toward the top of the dome. On the lowest level travertine, the heaviest material was used, then a mixture of travertine and tufa, then tufa and brick, then all brick was used around the drum section of the dome, and finally pumice, the lightest and most porous of materials on the ceiling of the dome.
This use of lighter materials on top alleviated the immense weight of the dome. The Roman Pantheon was probably constructed by using an elaborate setup of wooden scaffolding, which in itself would have been costly. The elegant coffers on the dome were likely struck with a device that was exacted from floor level.

The detail of this building is extraordinary. If the dome of the rotundra were flipped upside down it would fit perfectly inside the rotunda. When approaching the Pantheon from the outside it appears rectangular in shape. But it is only the first small room (cella) that has corners. The rotunda is completely round. The small entry room would have been entered by climbing a staircase that is now entirely under modern ground level. source

Regular masses are still held in the Pantheon.

The Pantheon has been used as a tomb since the Renaissance. Two kings and a queen are among those buried there. The most popular tomb is that of Italian painter Raphael. His fiancee is also buried there.

tomb of Raphael

Ossa et cineres, “Bones and ashes”

tomb of King Victor Emmanuel II

Sunday Buffet Lunch at Spiral, Hotel Sofitel Manila

I’m not fond of buffets. Why? Two words – FOOD COMA. There’s too much food which confuses me to no end. I always promise myself not to overeat but even just a little taste of SOME food leaves me with a belly about to explode. My lunch at Spiral yesterday was the perfect case.

I’ve only eaten at Sprial once several years ago before the pre-flood renovation. I was curious what what $11,000,000 spent on renovations looked like.

There was a jazz trio which provided live music during Sunday lunch. I only heard it whenever I passed near the grand staircase. Maybe it’s because I was too busy stuffing my face.

BREAD
My favorite was the crispy sesame and cheese topped lavash.

THE CHEESE ROOM

So many cheese and cured meats to choose from.

I loved the Ferrari red meat slicer.

There was a huge of wheel Comté Marcel Petite by the exit of the cheese room. Spiral, please give me a call when you cut up this baby.

JAPANESE – TEPPANYAKI

There were several Japanese hot dishes including fried rice.

sukiyaki

I only tried the soft shell crab tempura topped with ponzu sauce. Yum!!!

tempura

FRENCH

pasta made to order

There was unlimited foie gras served with stewed pineapple and balsamic cream. Just tell the chef how many pieces you want and he will cook it for you. I asked for three pieces. Some asked for 6 and more.

seared foie gras

My favorite was the French stove section.

There was a French chef there.

The chef told me that the braised short ribs was cooked for 3 days.

braised short ribs

The baked fish was fantastic. It was cooked perfectly and the flavors were so aromatic.

baked fish

I got half a pork sausage and it was horrible. It tasted like rotten meat and the smelled like putrid and decaying meat. I told the girl behind the counter and I guess she was expecting it. She said it was made with intestines. I don’t think intestines smell that bad.

pork sausage

My dad loved the French food too specially the fish, frog’s legs and prawns.

rack of lamb, frog’s legs, sautéed prawns

Our table had 3 kids and the pizza (located near the French section) was the most popular food. I thought eating pizza at at an expensive buffet was silly but it turned out to be my favorite too specially the one pictured on top. It had finely chopped bacon and onions.

pizza

SUSHI & SASHIMI

nigiri-zushi and spicy tuna sushi

SALAD BAR

FRESH SEAFOOD

oysters

shellfish

ROAST MEAT

NORTH INDIAN

CHINESE
My friend’s young son declared in a loud voice, “the roast pork is inedible.”

made to order noodle soup station

hot dishes and dim sum

fried shrimp, crab

FILIPINO

THAI

KOREAN

private room

Spiral 2 Go goodies

Sunday buffet costs more because of the free flowing champagne and wine which we didn’t avail of.

premium champagne and wine

DESSERT
One of the most popular items from Spirals are their mini chocolate chip cookies. They’re still good but I liked the version before. They used to bake it in front of you. Demand was high and the cookies come out a little under baked and warm. It was so chewy and melted in your mouth before. Now the cookies are aplenty and crunchy.

cookies and 3 flavors of chocolate fountain

The French pastries were in this pull out drawer. Nice!

truffles and chocolates

There were enough varieties of candies that would make kids of all ages go gaga.

Filipino desserts were well represented with sapin sapin, puto bumbong, halo-halo and bibingka. The bibingka was excellent.

Filipino desserts

fresh fruits

These are what I ate. Eating buffet is not worth it for me since I don’t eat steak and I get full really fast. I made an effort to try more food.

Plate 1 – cheese, liver terrine, fig paste, jamon, lavash.

Plate 2 – French station: lamb chop, pizza square, braised beef, baked fish and super stinky yucky sausage. The lamb was tender, loved the super melt-in-your mouth braised beef, fantastic fish and pizza. SKIP THE SAUSAGE.

Plate 3 – seared foie gras, soft shell crab & miso cream tempura. The tempura was good and well fried and not oily. The foie gras wasn’t good as others I’ve eaten. Not bad but not swoon worthy. If it were good I wouldn’t have stopped at 3 pieces.

Plate 4 – spicy tuna sushi, bean curd roll dim sum, Korean ribs and lobster. Everything on this small plate was wonderful. The lobster was succulent and perfectly steamed.

Plate 5 – gorgonzola pizza and more spicy tuna sushi. I loved the first slice of pizza I ate a second one. No tomato sauce just thick white cheese topped with gorgonzola cheese and herb. Crust was thin and crisp. Love, love, love their pizza.

Dessert plate 1 – Apple tart was good but apples were too sour so I didn’t finish it. The bibingka was sticky yet light. Really a must eat!!

Dessert plate 2 – Very good chewy macaron with a jelly like filling, superb cheesecake. Chocolate chip cookies crisp and not bad. I liked their chewy cookies before better.

Dessert plate 3 – OMG the best chocolate truffles ever!! Tasted like 70% dark chocolate and the quality of Belgian chocolate used was so good that it tasted like quite exotic. The chocolate macaron was yummy and not too sweet.

The service was good except our coffee took more than 30 minutes to arrive and we had to ask for it more than 3 times. The coffee was strong but not aromatic.

I was so full from lunch that I didn’t have dinner anymore. From what little variety I was able to try I must admit the food was very good. The dessert was even better. Do go try it yourself.

SPIRAL
Hotel Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila
CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard Pasay City 1300 Metro Manila, Philippines
telephone: 832-6988 or 551-555 Loc. 6988
website
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Price of Spiral’s Buffet (As of November 2012):
Breakfast:
Monday to Friday: P1,719.55 (Adult), P982.60 (Kids 5-12 yrs.)
Saturday & Sunday: P1,965.20 (Adult), P1,105.43 (Kids 5-12 yrs)

Lunch:
Monday to Saturday: P2,431.94 (Adult), P1,351.08 (Kids 5-12 yrs)
Sunday: P3,046.06 (Adult), P1,596.73 (Kids 5-12 yrs)

Dinner:
Sunday to Thursday: P2,800.41 (Adult), P1,596.73 (Kids 5-12 yrs)
Friday & Saturday: P3,046.06 (Adult), P1,596.73 (Kids 5-12 yrs)

My Cousin’s New Book – The Greatest King

It’s hard to believe but I have a super duper talented cousin, Jerry, who used to be an animator for Disney. Now he wrote a children’s book!! Please support him by downloading the book. It’s free for the next 3 days.

It’s a Kindle book. If you have an Apple device you can download the Kindle app for free and download this book.

Here’s Jerry’s letter:

To family and super friends,

My revised book project is finally online. As part of my promotion, I am offering my book, The Greatest King, downloadable for free for 3 days. As you download it and enjoy it, please leave a review or like it. This will improve the book standing as it goes on paid status.

And of course, do not hesitate to share it to the world, since this publication is available worldwide.

It is a Christian-based children’s book for children ages 4-8. It teaches the value of humility and an introduction to Jesus Christ in time for the Christmas season.

This is just first of the many series that my co-author and I will be publishing.

Here’s the link.

As always, thank you very much.

Jerry Ching

Good luck to us;)

The Most Awesome Cookies EVER!!!

Cookies are my crack. I can give up cake, cupcake, donuts, muffins, ice cream for cookies. These cookies.

I have to be honest. One of the reasons I go to New York is just to go to Levain to buy my favorite dark chocolate peanut butter chip cookies. So far those are my holy grail of cookies. Until I received these gigantic cookies from Gourmet Finds. I was shocked at how big each cookie was. It was actually bigger than Levain’s (149g) behemoth cookies. Never in my wildest dreams did I think there would be cookies these big and good in Manila.

The first bite brought me back to New York. The second bite I landed back in Manila thanking the cookie gods that I can now get cookies like Levain’s in Manila. These cookies taste even better than Levain’s (gasp).

The ratio of chocolate to cookie seemed like it was 1:1. Some bites I barely tasted any cookie just melted chocolate oozing on my fingers. The texture was crisp on the outside and perfectly chewy on the inside. There were enough fresh walnuts to complement the semi-sweet Valrhona chocolate.

It’s not cheap though. A 170g (!!!) cookie cost P175 each. But when you think about the size it’s probably equivalent to 4 or 5 regular cookies. The ingredients are top notch too. You can really taste the Australian butter and all the sinfully decadent Valrhona chocolate chunks and walnuts.

With great difficulty and extreme willpower I managed to stretch my 2 precious cookies into 4 long days when I wanted to eat it all in one sitting.

If you know any cookie lover give them these cookies and they will be your best friend forever. For me these ARE the ultimate gift. For Christmas, my birthday, any day, everyday.

This is what a box of ginormous cookies look like when you order. I’m in heaven!!!

The other new product of Gourmet Finds are these Gougére or cheese puffs. Think cream puff but without the filling and add tons of cheese in the batter.

Toast them in the over for a few minutes and you can smell the cheese. It’s soft and chewy and oh so cheesy. I warn you these are so addictive. You can’t stop at just one or two pieces. I guarantee you’ll be popping these savory babies in your mouth non-stop.

Gourmet Finds
cellphone: (0921) 762-2240
pick up is at Narra Ave. Forbes Park, Makati
email: gourmetfinds@yahoo.com
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