Hong Kong

Lately, I’ve been missing HK and so I felt that strong urge to reminisce about the city.

I love the vibe of HK. It seems to me a city that never sleeps and is always full of activity.

This was my second time at HK and we did less tourist-y things. This trip we spent more time walking around the streets and of course, shopping.

Tsim Tsa Tsui is an ideal place to look for a hotel and stay. It is near the metro and just the center of everything. Most of the restaurants at the area are still open if you are going to have really late dinner. There are shops everywhere for any last-minute shopping. And it just seems to be the center of most activities.

The first agenda was to satisfy our (by this time) really hungry stomachs. There are a variety of restaurants at TST. Mostly offer Chinese cuisine but I also saw some resto offering Thai and Vietnamese food. Restaurants there have menus outside which you can check. Some are in Chinese characters so you can just look at the picture and see if you like them or not. Most look scrumptious anyway.

Eee Lai Cha (or hot milk tea)

After stuffing ourselves, we just walked around the area. Then we chanced upon this store – where my friends probably spent at least 2 hours shopping.

After which, we went to The Peak, probably one of the highest peak in HK. The tram going the peak is an adventure itself especially for someone like me who is afraid of heights. The tram goes up at probably 45 degrees angle, now ain’t that scary? It was March when we visited and the weather was really cold. Here you can see me with my mittens on. Yes, the cold and the wind bring a deadly combination.

Our second day was spent at Macau but that deserve a whole different post.

On our third day, we went to the HK Flower festival. I knew that it’ll be huge but I didn’t imagine that it will be THAT huge. The event was held at Victoria Park. It was really a treat to the eyes to the see colorful and amazing flowers in bloom. There were various children who seem to be in art class and were painting and drawing the flowers.

One also can’t get near the flowers because photography enthusiasts are just all over the place. As I told my friend, if you can’t take pictures of the flowers, just take pictures of the photographers.

When my friend and I got tired of watching the flowers, we went round Central and then chanced upon Ikea.

Ikea is just heaven especially for someone like me who is planning to buy a house soon. The place is just full of things for the house that I want to bring home (well, of course, I cannot do that with the luggage limit). I managed to buy a few bed linens though.

The rest of the afternoon was spent around Central, Wan Chai and back to TST.

The fourth day was spent to one of the farthest station in the MTR, Tung Chung. This is the point that leads to Ngong Ping where the Big Buddha is seated. As we are scaredy-cats, we initially planned to do this but backed down on the last minute. We then spent the day shopping (again) at the Tung Chung mall where most stores are on sale (Adidas, Puma, Nike, Bossini, Giordano, ettc.) and branded stores like Coach, Kate Spade etc.

But beyond shopping, I really enjoy the train ride from Tung Chung back to Central where we pass by the ocean and the fishing villages. I feel serene just looking at the view from the train.

On our last night, we ate and shared comfort food at restaurant with a very unique concept – The Charlie Brown café – where as the name puts it, everything is dedicated to the much loved character – Charlie Brown. There were images of Snoopy and his friends everywhere.

Sipping peppermint chocolate while talking to friends is just comforting.

I am missing the busy streets of HK, the food, the shopping and the adventures. I’m crossing my fingers that I get to visit next year. I will definitely muster up the courage to take that cable car rode at Ngong Ping.

I am also missing the tong lai cha (iced milk tea). :)

Banapple

The Banapple branch at Katipunan, south bound, on any given day would always be full. Parking would be a difficult feat as there are only about 3 or 4 spaces available. E and I once ate there for a late dinner. The food was really good. But aside from the parking issue, the place was small and air conditioning could not keep up with the volume of people going in and out.

Recently, a new branch opened. Same venue, but just on the opposite road. This time, north bound, a bigger space, with a fresh look. Last Friday night, I was craving for the chicken roulade at Conti's. But eating dinner at Serendra meant we have to brave the C5 traffic afterwards and so we decided to just skip the Serendra dinner and look for a place much closer to home. Thus, we found ourselves at the new Banapple branch. Parking was still hard but they have already hired guards who would assist you with parking.

The menu includes dishes served with rice where prices are fairly reasonable (ranging from P165 to P180). I ordered a chicken dish served with creamy sauce while E ordered porkloin with gravy and mushroom.


E and I both loved what we ordered that we finished our entire plate. The dishes were very much worth the price. I was observing the people around me and noticed that a lot were ordering the sparerib dish and baked creamy penne pasta. I'm going to try those next on our next visit. We were seated just in front of the counter where the food was being served and I actually had a good time looking at the variety of food. They all looked scrumptious.


For dessert, we had the Santa's Chocolate Chipper Cookie Cheesecake. It was good but we wish it had more of the cheesecake part and less of the top.

Overall verdict, we loved our Banapple experience and we are definitely coming back to try more dished from the menu.

I had the banapple bread loaf for take-out! :)

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?

UP Diliman food trip

When I'm at UP, I try as much as possible to eat at Rodic's tapa. There is no other place where you can have tapa cooked this way. One night, E fetched me from Makati and drove all the way to Diliman, just so we can have this for dinner. It was worth braving the traffic. I would usually request for my egg to be cooked sunny-side up.




The next day I was back again at UP Diliman and had lunch with my favorite girl friends, Joanne and Zarah. Back when we were in college, it was a tradition for us to eat at Chocolate Kiss during sem break. We would usually stay there for several hours, drinking our favorite iced tea and enjoying the food.

Taco salad. It was both crunchy and spicy.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto. This was really yummy.

and our all time favorite is the chicken fingers! The taste has not yet change. Extra sauce please!

What is your favorite Starbucks treat?

Mine would be the cinnamon swirl! I especially love this when it has just been heated. The cream just melts on my mouth. This season, I would usually pair it with the dark cherry mocha. I miss the peppermint mocha frappucino but the dark cherry mocha is a sweet alternative.

What is your favorite Starbucks treat?

Updates!

I haven’t blogged in a really long while because A LOT has happened. A LOT seems so vague now. In a gist, I went to the United States, celebrated my birthday there, had management training, shopped, saw the White House and got hospitalized. Yes, the last statement was true. Of all the fortunate things that can happen to me and of all the places – it happened in the US. I was confined for one-and-a-half day at the hospital. It was really quite a short time but the incident left me feeling weak for about a week. The big deal really is not being hospitalized; I believe it has triggered in me a complicated set of emotions which is best summed up in one concept: quarter life crisis. Yes, I am still suffering from that. Still being the operative and important word. I hope it’s enough of an excuse for being so lazy to blog. I still have several things to write about: escapades; life realizations, future plans, pending Christmas season, wish list and of course my food mishaps and adventures.

(From L-R; T-B)

1st row: Barnes & Noble - heaven for a book lover like me; me at Nordstrom (a local mall); autumn

2nd row: Washington Monument; me riding the Metro; the White House

3rd row: Residence Inn by Marriott (where I stayed); Tara Thai - my fave resto there!; dinner at The Macaroni Grill with colleagues

Back home, the Christmas promo of Starbucks has started already. I've started already although I am not really that keen in spending more than P2K for a planner. But being the planner-obsessed person that I am - let's see if I can complete the collection of stickers.

Litratong Pinoy: Puti at Itim

Kung sawa ka na sa cake o cupcake bilang regalo sa isang okasyon, nasubukan mo na ba ang donuts na hugis paletra? Isang kakaiba at masarap na pahiwatig ng kahit anong mensahe.

Ito ay pinagawa ko sa Cello's Doughnuts and Dips sa may Taft Avenue (katapat ng La Salle). Lasang tinapay ang doughnuts nila, subalit matamis ang mga flavor sa ibabaw.

Luggage Dilemma

This somehow resembles what I bought.
Photo credit: erinweed.blogspot.com

I bought the pieces of luggage that I would be bringing on my trip to the US and Canada. I bought two pieces of luggage at a really cheap price (about P2200 – yup it was that cheap). The luggages weigh 50 and 30 lbs. I was really supposed to buy just a 50lbs luggage from Voyager which costs about P2100 but they no longer offer free duffel bags. It was something I am after. I gave in to the sales talk of buying those cheap luggages. I inspected those luggages very well and I knew that of course, it wasn’t as good as that of Voyager. However, I thought they were okay and since they were cheaper, I opted to buying them. I am really crossing my fingers that they would last my trip and I can still go back to the Philippines without having to buy new luggage.

Flickr Meme

I got this from Toni. Something to perk up my gloomy day - and it worked!



The concept:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste the html into your blog or Flickr stream. Or use the Mosaic Maker at fd’s Flickr Toys.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Looked up your flickr name and see what pops up.

Enjoy!!! and share with me yours. I would love to see them. :)

Litratong Pinoy: Tanso

Mahiwagang Lampara?

Sana nga ang mga ito ay mahiwagang lampara, subalit hindi yata.
Ang mga ito ay nakita ko sa pagkain ko sa Taj sa may Tagaytay.
Ang sarap ng pagkaing Indian, maanghang at malinamnam. Lubos na umaapaw sa ibat-ibang lasa.

Maganda ang dekorayson ng lugar. Kakaiba at kaaya-aya sa paningin. Sa isang taong malawak ang imahinasyon, mararamdamang mong ikaw ay nasa ibang lugar. Ang sarap kumain habang ang mata ay nabubusog sa magagandang paligid.

Litratong Pinoy: Mithi (Wish)

. . . gusto kong maglaan ng isang buong araw sa Tagaytay.

. . . gusto kong matapos na ang kasalukuyang semester at makapagpahinga mula sa mga takdang-aralin.

. . . gusto kong maglaan ng isang buong araw na nagbabasa ng mga kakabili ko lang na libro.

. . . gusto kong bumlaik sa Ilocos.

. . . gusto kong makita ang autumn (taglagas) sa pagpunta ko sa ibnag bansa ngayong Oktubre.

. . . gusto ko ng Sony Pink Vaio.

Marami pala akong gusto! hahaha! :)