Ted's La Paz Batchoy

It has been raining lately and the weather is cold. This is the best to enjoy a bowl of warm soup. I remember reading an article about the anatomy of a good soup. Probably due to the Chinese influence, Filipinos also enjoy a bowl of noodle soup. Over the weekend, I chanced upon a branch of Ted's La Paz Batchoy where I had one of the tastiest noodle soup. La Paz batchoy originated from the province of Iloilo. E told me that the dish itself was an accident. It was created from making use of leftover meat. I am not exactly sure if that is true but yes, the dish has meat on it. The famous Ted's Old Timer La Paz Batchoy was created by Ted Lapura in the 1930's when he was a teenager. It started as a small stall in the province of La Paz, Iloilo. During that time, they only served the "original" version of La Paz batchoy. Now, it has evolved to dishes like miswa batchoy, bihon batchoy and sotanghon batchoy. As well, they have expanded and has now several branches. At least to me, the most accesible branch whereI can satisfy my batchoy craving is at SM Mall of Asia.

The batchoy has three varieties: special, super special and extra super. The extra super comes with pork meat, isaw (pork's large intestine) and atay (pork liver). One serving costs P80.00. Side dishes include rice, pandesal and puto. I had mine with rice.

Extra Super La Paz Batchoy

It was really tasty and filling. I added a dash of pepper on my serving because I wanted it extra hot. An extra bowl of soup can also be asked, free of charge. I was so satisfied, I came back the next day and had another one.


Ted's also offers namit meals. This meal with sisig, rice a small bowl of La paz batchoy and a glass of softdrinks is very filling at a cheap price of P120.

(Namit meal - sisig, rice, La Paz batchoy)

Batchoy maybe Chinese in influence but is very Filipino in culture. It is very simple yet very delicious.

Red Mango

I was at SM Megamall earlier and after some time of not going there, I found myself discovering several new stores and restaurants there. There were several food stalls and restaurants waiting to be tried and I can't wait! Bread Talk has moved location and beside it is Red Mango. I knew there was a yogurt craze happening and so I didn't hesitate in jumping in to the wagon. I am not exactly a fan of eating yogurt but I am definitely a fan of trying something new.

Red Mango offers yogurt with the smallest size prized at P80. That size can easily fill a person's craving. Green tea yogurt is also being sold at P85 for the smallest size. Adding one topping costs an additional P20; while it costs additional P30 for 2 toppings and P40 for three toppings. Toppings range from nuts, varieties of cereal, cornflakes to various fruits like mango, kiwi, banana etc. I chose the Special K (Kellog's cornflakes) and mangoes.




The yogurt tasted really good. Of course, it was quite sour but the combination of cornflakes and mangoes was perfect. I'm clarifying though that my only experience with yogurt is that with Nestle. I've yet to try the other yogurt craze and by that time, let me be a better judge about this. But so far, I'd be willing to buy this again. Although it was quite pricey for P110. Does yogurt really cost that much?

Anyway, I am glad that I ate something healthy today and something new. Although, I may have to clarify the exact number of calories I had! Oh, and probably next time, I will also try the green tea flavored yogurt.

Red Mango also offers yogurt smoothies.

Kanin Club

Last Saturday, E and I braved the rain and headed to the far South. We have been reading good reviews about Kanin Club and not having done something exciting for the past weeks, we felt that was the perfect time to try a new place. We arrived at the Westgate area at around 5pm only to find out that the resto opens at 530 pm. We then decided to stroll and explore the ATC mall. It was also my first time at the mall - and well, maybe that deserves a different review.

There varities of rice in the menu - from the conventional brown rice, plain white rice and bagoong rice to the unique sinigang rice, aligue rice and daing rice. We've decided to sti k to the plai white rice and be non-adventurours about it because we were craving for yet another specialty of the house - crispy dinuguan.



Crispy diniguan, I assume, is made up lechon kawali fried until it reached a crunchy and crispy consistency. And then cooked in the usal diniguan stew. Oh, it was worth every penny. One should watch his cholesterol level though - bu this dish is worth taking once in a while.



Being a sinigang lover, I ordered sinigang na baka. The soup was so sour and I loved it! E was cringing everytime he sips the soup. The meat was also tender and the vegetables were cooked just right.

Both dishes were too much for us to finish. We had some taken home. Those two dishes plus 4 servings of rice were priced at around P700. It was reasonable for the food we ate. Although, Kanin Club has only branches - the one at Westgate, Alabang and the other at Paseo de Sta. Rosa. It was a afr drive for us though. If you are at the area, it is definitely worth the visit.

California Pizza Kitchen

Last Friday night saw E and I having dinner at one of the pioneer shops at Glorietta, which is CPK. I've only eaten there once and I remember having tasted two fabulous salads there. I was with E and it was dinner time, so I knew that we won't be having salad at that visit. I also knew that CPK is in the same line with TGIF, Burgoo and National Sports Grill . . . pricey American food.

We stepped inside the restaurant and was greeted by very warm staff. Indeed, they were nice but I was really troubled by the smell the place was omitting. It was the smell of old, unclean cushion. I muttered several complaints about it under my breath. We were then ushered to our seast and were offered the menu. Again, the staff was attentive and courteaus. The menu included appetizers, salad, pasta and cocktail drinks. The menu did not include rice. Not surprising actually, but I secretly hoped they have rice dishes. I bordered on the safe side that night and ordered hawaiian pizza and spaghetti carbonara. Oh, plus strawberry lemonade. The lemonade tasted good even though it actually was just lemonade with strawberry flavoring.

Both the pasta and pizza tasted good me for me. But really, I could get the same taste in a much affordable price. It might take me a really long time to eat at CPK again. Only perhaps, if someone would treat me. :)

Spaghetti Carbonara

Hawaiian Pizza

Hearts Day

To the one who holds my heart . . .

I love you sweetie!

For this year's Valentine celebration, E surprised me with several things. Last Friday night, we had a simple dinner at Conti's Serendra. The first choice was actually Kanin Club at Westgate, Alabang. But given that it was a Friday and we did not want to get stuck at traffic, we opted to just have dinner at Serendra. On that day, we also discovered that Abe is still closed at around almost 6pm. Next choice was the reliable, Conti's.

I had the American grilled ribs. The meat was soft and tasted more on the sweet side.


E ordered a chicken dish. It was yummy but the taste resembled Chicken Relleno so much.



We also shared a serving of Italian-style pasta which was really good. I enjoyed the sweetness of the bell peppers.


We were too full that we passed on the desserts.

On February 15, the surprises still did not cease. E went to our house and was carrying a huge gift!

Aren't they beautiful?