My Kind of Trip

SM Hypermarket Bulalo Cook Off

2011-11-09T23:03:00.000+08:00

When one speaks of beef and Bulalo, only one place comes to mind: Batangas. Bulalo seemed to be Batangas' specialty that there are so many restaurants - even small-scale eateries in the province that serves this dish, and one's trip in Batangas is incomplete without eating Beef Bulalo. Now that it the weather's starting to get cooler, one's choice for rainy day comfort foods is Bulalo.

Last November 4, 2011 SM Hypermarket Batangas, set a new record for The Best Tasting and The Most Number of bowls to be served. There were 10 groups that participated in the event namely: Le Elegancia, Ginazel Catering, Siemen’s Canteen, Hot and Cold Cafe, El Torro, Joel Arceo, Madelyn dela Pena/Lutong Bahay, Tapa Kalderate Atbp., Karlos Place, Place of Mine Catering Restaurant.

Each team's Bulalo dish were judge by Chefs Aries Cueto and JunJun Borlan Jr. from Lyceum of the Philippines, Batangas and Mr. Jun Lozada, Assistant Manager of SM Hypermarket, Batangas. All of the participating teams needed to produce a Bulalo dish that is not only tasty and delicious, but creative as well. They also had to serve samples of their dish (not below 50 servings), with each bowl weighing at least 100 grams each - complete with meat, vegetables and broth.

The typical Bulalo dish consisted of Beef Shanks (with marrow), green beans, bok choy and/or wombok, and corn. Some participants went with that, but others opted to go the creative way - by preparing Bulalo Kaldereta, Sizzling Bulalo, and Bulalo Pasta.

This is a cooking challenge, and each participants had 30 minutes to cook thier dish and plate it as presentable as possible. I got to sample some of the dishes, and I was really thankful I wasn't part of the judging panel as it was really difficult to judge which among the dishes was the best tasting. In the end Le Elegancia won The Best Tasting Dish and Madelyn dela Pena/Lutong Bahay won The Most Number of Bowls, having served 165 bowls. Both teams won 25,000 each. After declaring the winners, members of the audience got the chance to sample the dishes, and I personally agree with the results. Le Elegancia truly served the best dish - it was so comforting and heavenly.

I was super happy to be a part of this event. Having to taste authentic Bulalo and witness how talented Filipinos are and sharing this day with other bloggers really made this day a fun-filled and knowledge-filled and yes, tummy-filling day. This Cook-off is part of the SM Hypermarket Master Chef which began last July 2011. I know you still remember the marathon that made up weekly cooking demos for three months, and the kitchen makeovers that have 5 lucky winners redesigned by PSID graduates and SM Hypermarket.

Jesz

The Day I Met Ms. Shamcey Supsup

2011-11-06T20:58:00.001+08:00

It was really fortunate that we were able to see an update on Pizza Hut Philippines' Facebook page asking bloggers to leave their URLs for an upcoming meet and greet with Ms. Shamcey Supsup, the newest endorser for Pizza Hut. When my sister and I received the formal invitation, we were very happy that both of us will get to be a part of the event.

We arrived at the Pizza Hut Bistro in Glorietta 4 earlier than the call time. Living far away, anticipating the traffic do have its perks, because being first to arrive gave us more reasons to enjoy Pizza Hut's food more in the future, as we were rewarded some GCs. Lesson? Do arrive early. :)

This meet and greet is for Pizza Hut's newest product - the Tuscani pizza. Pizza Hut may be known for their Pan Pizza, but because the Filipinos' preferences for food constantly evolves, they decided to create a pizza that is neither too thin nor too thick - just enough for people to enjoy both the crust and the toppings.

Ms. Shamcey Supsup went around the area to serve our pizza slices. Amazing, eh? Along with the Supremo Tuscani pizza, we were also served this for dinner:

Pasta Carbonara and another slice of the Tuscani pizza (All Meat). If my sister weren't able to finish her food (because she's currently on a weight loss journey), I could say that I was able to actually all my food. All were so delicious!

As for the Tuscani pizza, I appreciated that the crust weren't like crackers. One downside of thin crust pizza is that the crust gets too crunchy. The Tuscani, although the outer crust is quite firm, it was still chewy on the inside, so the whole pizza eating experience was actually more fun.

While all of us were enjoying our food, there was a Q&A portion, and Ms. Shamcey Supsup answered questions about the Tuscani pizza, and some questions about Ms. Universe and her plans for the future. Bloggers also took part of the Q&A, and two bloggers with the best answers were given some GCs.

Fancy a giveaway? Well, if you have a Facebook and / or a Tumblr account, you stand a chance to win awesome goodness from Pizza Hut.

For Facebook users, all you have to do is take a picture of yourself enjoying the Tuscani pizza. It can be a very simple picture, or something wacky like what I did here... let your imagination lead you. Then, check out the Pizza Hut Philippines' Facebook Page and click the "Like" button, and upload your picture using the "Flavor Your Life" app. They just picked the first winner, but this will run until December 8, so you still have more time to upload your picture.

For Tumblr users, here's what you have to do: The Pizza Hut Tuscani comes in different flavors and each flavor has its own corresponding prize: Supremo (iPad2), All Meat (iPhone 4), Roast Beef (DSLR Camera), 3 Cheese Bacon & Spinach (Trip for 2 to Boracay), and BBQ Chicken (20,000 worth of GCs from Araneta Center).

First up, choose what you want to win. If you're already certain about this, next thing to do is to blog about it, centering on the topic: What would make winning this prize add "Flavor to Your Life." The post has to have 500 words (or more), and must be accompanied with a picture and / or a video that features the Tuscani flavor of your choice (if you chose the iPad 2, your picture should have a picture / video of the Supremo Tuscani).
Go to http://pizzahutflavoryourlife.tumblr.com/ and submit your entry (there is a "Submit" button at the given address), making sure you follow all the prompts in submitting your entry.
Ask your friends to "Like" your post, because the number of likes counts to the 10% of the overall criteria. Of course, you also have to take into consideration the creativity, grammar, and use of media.

There will be one winner for each of the prizes. Tumblr bloggers can make as much posts as they can, but the blogger can only win once. Deadline of submission will be on December 8, so do write those posts as early as possible so you can get more likes.

For more details about these promos, check out Pizza Hut Philippines' Facebook Page and Tumblr Page. I am contemplating of joining the Facebook promo... so good luck to all of us who will join.

Big thanks to my sister Jenn of Tara, Let's Eat! for providing the pictures for this post.

Jesz

My Favorite McDonald's Meal

2011-10-15T09:43:00.001+08:00

I still remember my first visit at Mcdonald's, I was 7 years old then and wanted to own even just one 101 Dalmatians Happy Meal. I really bugged my dad to eat there just so I could have a toy. Cheese Burger was my first meal at the Mcdonald's, and as time passed, I would try different McDonald's food. When I was in college, there was a time that I ate breakfast, lunch and dinner at McDonald's! Needless to say, I really love the food here, and in my four years in college, I would often drop by a McDo branch to order the double cheeseburger with large fries and drink before I travel home.

This year, McDonald's is celebrating its 30th year of providing good fast food to the Filipino. We weren't able to check out the celebrations happening two weeks ago, but last week, my sister and I visited one of the newly renovated Mcdonald's store here in Quezon City - the McDonald’s Commonwealth branch, just outside Ever Commonwealth. Interestingly, this was also the same store where I had my very first McDo meal.

I really loved the ambiance of the new store, the place was so bright and spacious, the new uniforms of the staff looked so neat. What I really loved the most was how they presented the menu - giving customers a choice whether they like their meals to be in L or XL sizes (kinda like a shirt, eh?), giving customers choices what to eat depending on their budget. From the counter, I was also able to take a peek at their kitchen and how the staff prepare the food. Seeing the neat and orderly kitchen gave me an assurance that my meal was prepared in a hygienic way.

It's been past lunch and we haven't eaten our lunch yet so we decided to stop at Mcdonald's for a while before going home. I ordered my current favorite- the Chicken McDO meal with Medium Fries and additional barbeque sauce for my fries (I already lost interest interest with the ketchup since I tried dipping my fries in their barbeque sauce when I once ordered their chicken nuggets).

I really love the crispiness and the saltiness of the chicken and the meat was really juicy. Today seemed to be a lucky day for me, I got my favorite chicken part! I am thankful local fast food now offers unlimited gravy, and since I am a gravy person, I just drowned my chicken in gravy!

French Fries of Mcdonalds is one of my comfort foods, my fast food meal is not complete without these. Since I discovered that fries go well with their McChicken Nuggets barbeque sauce, I don't think I will go back with the fries and ketchup thingy, but of course I would gladly accept the ketchup sachets given at the counter for me to take home. Of course, we do cook fries at home, too, and since we don't have the barbeque sauce at home, I can use the sachets of ketchup, since we use banana ketchup at home. Why do I love the barbeque sauce? Well, the fries are salty and the sauce has this sweet/sour taste. Perfect combination! Now I am starting to wonder where they get the sauce... I should order a gallon! Hahaha.

Well, no need to put what my sister ate that day - she's currently on her "journey to become slenderella," and she went for Chicken McSavers meal, and it looked funny as her chicken piece was so small compared to my chicken. For 50 pesos, sister said it was worth it.

It's been awhile since sister and I went to a fast food to eat. Come to think of it, she couldn't recall the last time she ate at McDonald's and she found it nice to catch up with the flavors of their food. We do eat together everyday at home, but it was just so different eating outside - savoring food, having a girly talk, and sometimes we would watch people, too.

Eating my favorite McDonald's meal and being with my sister... it sure was a fine day.

Jesz

Lee Kum Kee Cook with the Masters

2011-10-14T13:41:00.001+08:00

We all know that Lee Kum Kee is known as one of the manufactures of the best sauces. However, what most people don't know (me included - before, of course) is that it was in 1888 when they invented the oyster sauce, and in time, more and more sauces were added to their long list of quality products, which made cooking easier for us. Celebrating its 123^rd anniversary of giving superior quality products to every home, they conducted four cooking demos around the metro featuring celebrity chefs - Chef Sau del Rosario, Chef Sandy Daza, Chef Eugene Raymundo, Chef Him Uy De Baron and Chef Ernest Gala.

Last October 9, 2011 Lee Kum Kee sets the biggest and one of a kind cooking demo called the Cook with the Masters Grand Cooking Demo featuring Lee Kum Kee’s brand ambassador for Southeast Asia and true culinary expert, Chef Bruce Lim at Glorietta Activity Center. Many mall goers and attendees had fun at the activity area while waiting for the cooking show to start. They first had to read about Lee Kum Kee's rich history, then they had to proceed to the “tasting area” where they will experience the exquisite flavors of Lee Kum Kee sauces (others were combination of different sauces creating another new awesome taste) and finally, the had to drop by “Lee’s Kitchen" to have a picture taken with the Lee Kum Kee products. Completing all steps not only gave them the chance to take home a souvenir picture, they were also given chance to take home some goodies. People also had the chance to shop for Lee Kum Kee products, and for every 300 pesos of LKK products, they can take home an eco-bag, which they can use (and re-use) whenever they shop.

Brigada (a percussion band) opened the program and host Ms. Issa Litton welcomed the guests and audience for the grand cooking demo.

For the first round of cooking, some members of the audience (which they picked before the show started) cooked alongside Chef Bruce. They cooked two dishes - 3 Cups Chicken and Oyster Chicken with Mushrooms. Both dishes were very easy to cook and are perfect for busy persons. Though both were easy to cook, both tasted really good.

The second round were participated by the culinary students from CCA and MICAH. They cooked Spicy Seaside Prawns, another easy dish to whip up. for this they used Lee Kum Kee Chili Garlic, Premium Oyster Sauce and Seasoned Soy Sauce for Seafood. It’s a little bit sweet maybe because of the oyster sauce, but it had a wee bit hint of spice, which anyone can tolerate. Of course, if you plan to cook this, you will just have to adjust its level of spiciness.

The third and final round of cooking was participated by the celebrities namely Baron Geisler, Phoemela Barranda, Desiree del Valle, Enzo Pineda, Rocco Nocino, Steven Silva and Djanin Cruz. They cooked Braised Pork Belly, which sounded a bit tedious and time-demanding, but the beauty of the dish was that it was another easy dish to prepare. Come to think of it, we all know that celebrities have busy schedule, but I guess them preparing this dish just testifies that anyone can cook an awesome dish despite their schedules. I do love this dish because it allows people to multi-task - cook and do other house chores. The combination of mustasa and pork blended well, I thought mustasa can only be used for fish sinigang, but thanks to this recipe I can allow myself to eat more mustasa.

Aside from just listening and watching how they prepared the dishes, Ms. Issa Liton threw in some questions to the audience and they will win a Lee Kum Kee products if they answered correctly. Since this is the grand demo, they also introduced the other chefs who demoed from the past cooking shows.

All of us got to take home a mini booklet of all the recipes they demoed from past cooking shows until the grand showdown. All of the dishes were so easy to do and I think the family will get to try almost all of the dishes.

Jesz

* Beautifully plated pictures of the dishes were scanned from the recipe booklet we took home; all other pictures were taken by my ever dearest sister Jenn of Tara, Let's Eat!

Celebrating Mommy's 62nd

2011-10-09T07:40:00.002+08:00

Papa John’s Pizza

Unit 107-108 Annex 2, Ground Floor

SM City Fairview

Last September 13, our family celebrated the 62^nd birthday of my mom. We celebrated it at the newly opened pizza house in SM Fairview which is Papa John Pizza. Finally the long wait is over to taste their pizza. Many people said that they have a good pizza. I'm a Pizza Pasta lover and this is one of my long lists that I want to taste.

My mom always want a soup when we go dine out, so we ordered their two soups, the cream of chicken and corn (above) and the cream of mushroom (below), which the family shared. Both soups are tasty but I love the cream of mushrooms, for me it’s already a full meal because of the croutons and bits of mushrooms.

My sister ordered Garden Fresh Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing. My sister said that it’s a little bit sour because of the mustard (this wasn't her first choice for salad dressing, but they ran out of Italian Vinaigrette), but she finished it so I think she loves it.

We want to order all of their pizza but instead of ordering one big pizza, we decided to go for 2 smaller size of pizza ( the 9” pizza) with different flavors. We try the Super PAPA Classic Pizza and the Grilled Chicken Deluxe Specialty Pizza.

Super Papa is a combination of Pepperoni, Italian Sausage, Ham, Mushroom, Green Peppers and Black Olives. Toppings were typical for a pizza, but I did find this one really tasty, the crust was so soft and I loved dipping it in their garlic butter sauce.

Grilled Chicken Deluxe Specialty Pizza had Grilled Chicken (of course) as well as ham, bacon, and mushroom in Carbonara Sauce. This was my favorite that night, I felt the taste of all flavors and even my mom loved this too. Good thing mom pushed with this flavor... when we were deciding which two flavors to try, my sister was suggesting their seafood pizza, but mom really wanted this. I guess moms do know best. :) Maybe we can try the seafood pizza next time.

Their pizzas come in three sizes. Their 9" pizzas were normally sliced into six parts, but since we were only four, sister suggested our pizza to be cut in 4, so we could have equal portions. Her salad already made her full, so she only got to eat one pizza slice, the other one she took home and ate it the next day.

I will really be going back to this place, all our food serves hot and that was the most important to me because you feel the freshness of the food, and their pizzas are not oily. I love the ambiance and their server was friendly and I felt that they were happy to assist us.

For more information about Papa John’s Pizza you may see their website at http://www.papajohns.com.ph

Jesz

*photos on this post credited to http://www.agent112778.com/. Thanks brother!

My Burger Food Trip

2011-09-30T16:48:00.001+08:00

I really love burgers and love to try new burgers here in manila. When The Food Scout had a raffle with the prize being 200 pesos GC for Boulevard Diner, I didn’t hesitate to join (as sister and I have been trying our luck joining contests with GCs for Boulevard Diner as prizes), and lucky was I to be one of the winners for Jill's contest.

The GC will expire on 15 August, and despite several factors hindering me to do this food trip, I was able to use it on its last day. Entering the shop, I found it so simple, cozy, and has this '80s ambiance. Not only that, the had a friendly staff. When she gave the menu, I was so amazed to see the photographs of their burgers that I want to try it all. As what was written on the menu, all of their burgers are made in 1/3 pound beef patties and the price was ranges from 150 to 270 pesos, and for just an additional 45 pesos, the burgers will be upgraded to a full meal with Freedom Fries and a glass of Iced Tea.

I decided to go for their newest burger, which consisted of double bacon, Swiss brown mushroom cheeseburger with pan gravy. It was so new that the time I had it, it still has no name, and that the costumers had to guess or think what the name of the burger will be. Now that this burger is officially on the menu, it is now called, Luigi Meltdown. Why Luigi? I surely don't know, but seeing the lettuce, maybe it had something to do with Luigi, Mario's brother (Mario Bros.).

Anyway, their burger was huge for me that I needed to use a fork and a knife to eat it. I felt that I was eating steak that time because the patty was cooked medium done, and I was really able to savor the juiciness of the beef. The Freedom Fries was different to the other kinds I have eaten, theirs had longer cuts and slightly thicker, which was able to give me the potato goodness I wanted.

Aside from the burgers, Boulevard Diner also serves buffalo wings called “wingerangs” that have heat-o-meter ranges (Hickory, Lust, Fury, Love, Smoked, Death and Better than Hell) so it depends to the costumer how spicy their wings will be. Costumers also have their choice to make their own burger from the base, topping to the sauces and dressings, in case they didn't fancy any of the burgers on the menu.

Since I was alone for this food trip (sister didn't have enough money to go on a food trip that day), I really want to eat there again with my family. I'm pretty sure they will also love this place (especially my siblings who are "certified" meatatarians), and personally, I also want to try their Wingerangs because it is a big hit to their customers and that even kids love it.

If you're a burger and wings lover, go check out Boulevard Diner. It is located at 91 Xavierville Ave. Loyola Heights Quezon City,they just in front of Regina Bldg. Call them at 504-5634. The diner is open Mondays to Fridays at 11am to 11pm and Saturdays to Sundays 11am to 10pm.

How to get there?

From Cubao, take Aurora Blvd the turn left to Anonas street then turn right at Chico street then just straight ahead until to Xavierville Ave.
From Katipunan, turn right when you see McDonald's at Rosa Alvero St.), then turn left at the first corner (Esteban Abad st.). Go straight until Xavierville Ave. then turn right.

Jesz

Gerry's Grill - Ginataang Kuhol

2011-07-28T22:36:00.003+08:00

I really love eating at Gerry’s Grill because of the ambiance and their affordable foods. In college, my friends and I always hang out at Gerry’s Grill Ali Mall branch because of one dish: the Ginataang Kuhol. At first I was hesitant to try it, but when I did try it, I was instantly hooked.

This serving of Ginataang Kuhol was something a friend and I shared. Both of us are now out of school, but whenever we meet, we sometimes go to our favorite branch just to eat this. Actually, even if I am with the family or some other friends and we would eat at any Gerry's Grill branch, I would always order this (with special request to the wait staff to serve this first - as quick as possible), so we could eat it while waiting for the other dishes to be served.

I guess there was something about how they cook this that made me love it a lot. The blend of all the flavors - coconut milk (or cream), shrimp paste and the ginger was just so good... plus, the slurping sounds add to the fun of eating it, too. Well, they do provide toothpicks to help take out the meat inside the shell, but sometimes, a little slurping sound makes the eating more enjoyable.

Jesz

SM Hypermarket Master Chefs Program

2011-07-14T00:18:00.006+08:00

In celebration of their 1oth year, SM Hypermarket created the SM Master Chefs Program, and part of that program is the Cooking Marathon. From July to November, we will witness great chefs touring and cooking at different SM Hypermarket branches. With the partnership of nineteen master brands that all the people are always buying and use in their cooking like Knorr,Nestle All Purpose Cream, Unilever Food Solutions, Tabasco, Lee Kum Kee, Lady’s Choice, Maggi, Clara Ole, Kikkoman Soy Sauce, San Remo, McCormick, Bounty Fresh Chicken, CDO, Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdog, Magnolia Cheeze Spread, Magnoila Purefresh, Magnolia All-purpose Cream and Magnolia Dare Crème, the SM Hypermarket Master Chefs Program aim to provide not just good foods people can re-create and serve at home, but also provide them with knowledge and a chance to have a kitchen makeover, too!

Last July 9, I, together with my sister and two blogger pals participated the cooking demo at SM Fairview. Chef Deejay D. Santos III (he does cooking demos for Sysu International) prepared three dishes viewed by students and SM Hypermarket customers. I liked how he presented the dishes because he explained everything to the audience and I did gain more knowledge in cooking because of him. He used Lee Kum Kee products for the three oriental dishes he prepared namely:

Spicy Prawns in Hoisin Sauce

I loved the blend of Lee Kum Kee hoisin sauce and the Lee Kum Kee chili bean sauce, but Chef Deejay didn’t put a lot of chili bean sauce because he acknowledged the fact that most of his audience were students who might not prefer too spicy foods. Very easy dish to make, perfect for busy moms and yuppies.

Oriental Pasta Delight

Tired of the usual white and red sauce? Try this dish, it’s like our Filipino pancit with a twist, but if I will cook this one in the future, I will put some nuts on it, too.

Delicious Chicken in Lee Kum Kee Soy Sauce

Very simple yet delicious dish, if you have some reunion or a typical Sunday dishes this will be perfect. This dish needs slow cooking, and you need at least two hours just to cook the chicken, but for moms, this will also give you time to do other chores, like cleaning the house. There wasn't enough time to make the chicken skin crispy, but still, it was a dish I really liked.

SM Hypermarket will also launch a series of supersized cooked-off events. It will be held in five different locations, with the help of local government units and the community, and participants will be feature a regional dish. Not only that, because SM Hypermarket is happy to serve their customers there will also be five lucky shoppers who will win a kitchen make-over with the help of the designer from Philippine School of Interior Design(PSID).

For at least 500php single receipt purchase including at least one of the sponsor in SM Master Chefs Program (see the first paragraph to see the list of the 19 brands), customers may join the promo. All registration forms are available at the customer service, just fill up the form and answer the question “Why does my kitchen deserve a free makeover?” using at least 50 words or less. You also need to attach at least three pictures of your kitchen, before dropping off your entries at any SM Hypermarket branches. This is a raffle, so equal chances to everybody.

Winners will be notified via registered mail and phone, but if you are renting your current house, you must have a written consent of the owners. All the employees of SM Hypermarket, all sponsors, its partners, its affiliates, and all companies and individual directly or indirectly connected with SM Hypermarket, its agency Ad Targets, Inc. and their relatives up to the second degree of consanguinity are disqualified from joining the promo.

For more information just log-on on their website at
http://www.smhypermarket.com/hypermarket/?p=420 or you may like them at their facebook account at http://www.facebook.com/pages/SM-Hypermarket-Super-Chefs/111494208866352 or you can visit any SM Hypermarket branch.

Jesz

Ice Cream Cravings: Satisfied!

2011-07-11T00:16:00.011+08:00

Yesterday my mom asked me to buy some ice cream and bread at the nearby supermarket, which she will served for the prayer meeting here in our house. Of course no more negotiations there, because I love going to the market and I can buy whatever flavor I wanted. When I was already in the ice cream section, I realized mom can't eat chocolate ice cream, so I tried looking for her favorite flavor - the Halo Halo. At first I thought I might just visit a different store or get another flavor, but thankful to the supermarket staff who digged into their freezer just to check, I was able to take home the Nestle Temptations Halo Halo ice cream.

I was already okay with that, but as I walked to the counter, something else caught my eye: the Magnolia Strawberry ice cream!

Needless to say, I bought the ice cream (pint) as I am not fond of the halo halo flavor. Ice cream is one of my comfort foods, and I enjoy eating it even on a cold weather. Actually, I can eat 800ml of ice cream in one seating, and would still crave for more (my sister will have goosebumps reading this - she can't consume that much ice cream because her tummy reacts quite fast). After eating dinner I ate this for dessert and shared a tablespoon of it to my sister because my brother was already eating the left over halo-halo flavor. This one is 425ml for 65php.

I loved my weekend, how about you?

Jesz

ps - sis said the Halo Halo ice cream was better than the typical ice cream because it was creamier and was packed with many halo halo ingredients.

Bloggers' Buffet at Carol's Texan 5

2011-07-10T15:47:00.005+08:00

Ms. Carol Chua loves American foods, before her mother branch right now, she has a two little store branches that delivered foods for the call center. Whenever she has a friend to come by her house for a party, they really enjoyed her foods especially the ribs. Her friends pushed her to make a restaurant and Carol’s Texan 5 was born.

Why Carol’s Texan 5? Well, obviously, "Carol" is the name of the owner, "Texan" because she loves American foods so much and "5" because the restaurant has 5 main dishes namely: Dynamite Chicken, the Ultimate Texan Ribs, Tomato Basil Pasta, Cowboy Roast Beef, and the Fish Fillet.

Last June 23, the first bloggers buffet event was held and my sister was one of chosen bloggers for the event. Upon seeing that bloggers can tag along people for the event (provided they pay p200 for the buffet), she happily tagged me along, something I was really thankful about. Being a newbie blogger, this posed a good opportunity for me to meet other bloggers, too.

Anyway, it was a rainy day, and even if there wass a storm, we still went to the event. We knew there will be some prizes for the early birds, but we never realized we would get there so early! Well, since the restaurant was bare (for the meantime), we grabbed the chance to take as much pictures as we wanted. I loved the interiors so simply and homey.

They also have a “wanted” wall that guests can enjoy while waiting for food, and they included hats, guns and some accessories - making this wall truly Wild West-like.

For the buffet, we were served three of the five main dishes of the store:

The Ultimate Texan Ribs.

Her friend was right, it was so delicious and perfect combination on the rice that mixed with red bell pepper and carrots. The ribs was so tender and tasty, put some sauce on it and was a two tumbs up=)

Dynamite Wings

When we saw this on the menu, “dynamite” made us think that was a super spicy food, but this dish wasn't really that spicy. This is my favorite meal that night, the wings was so juicy and I love to put a lot of sauce on it. I think it was mayo garlic, but not the typical mayo-garlic that we made at home. Even the kids will love this dish, and parents need not worry about its spiciness.

Tomato-Basil Pasta

I thought this would be sour because of the tomato, but it's not (though my sister said it was a bit sour - well, she isn't really fond of sour pasta). What made me love this pasta was the basil. I just love basil!

Magnolia Ice Cream

Initially, I was given the bowl with chocolate, but I decided to with the bowl with strawberry and vanilla because I don't like chocolate-laden foods that much. Soon, Carol's Texan 5 will offer this and other ice cream dishes for desserts.

I love this restaurant. They have affordable meals and I want to try more of their menu, maybe if I eat here I will want to try the two other main dishes and their burger - I was so curios what's in it. See you next time carol’s Texan 5 =)

For more details about Carol's Texan 5 just check their website or you can find their Facebook page. If you're in the San Juan area, you may reach them at 727-3843/0922-485-0154 for deliveries.

Carol's Texan 5
2flr. 713 J. Abad Santos Street

Little Baguio, San Juan

Jesz

So Good! Weekend with Brother

2011-07-06T20:47:00.001+08:00

Last Sunday, my mom and my sister went to the Prayer Mountain at antipolo. I was craving for KFC for almost a week so I told my mom last Saturday night that brother and I are going to KFC for lunch, since we won't be coming with them anyway. That day my brother insisted to eat at KFC for dinner (instead of lunch) because he had to attend their org's CLP. I agreed to him because I was so sleepy that day and I still wanted to sleep more.

We had the latest deal in KFC called the "Streetwise Bucket Meal." The meal had 6 pieces of chicken, 3 fixins, and 3 cups of softdrinks for only 399php. This meal is actually good for three persons, but because of the KFC cravings and that we love chicken, the meal was only good enough for the two of us. It was an extraordinary day for because not only did we get to eat this much, we also got to have our own big bro-lil sis bonding, which we rarely do since I always go out with my sister.

KFC may "just" be a fast food, but it helped strengthen my relationship with my brother.

So Good, indeed!

Jesz

Shabu Shabu

2011-07-01T08:44:00.006+08:00

Food trip this week was at Healthy Shabu Shabu. Actually, these pictures were taken from not so distant past, I was just happy that I can now use the old desktop PC here at home and seeing these old pictures, I thought I'd share these on my blog, too.

Shabu Shabu is a Japanese dish that is cooked on the table in a simmering pot of broth then dipped into a sauce. There are quite a number of shabu-shabu restaurants here in the Philippines (my first taste was at Maxim's Tea House - which was our late father's favorite), but the best for me would have to be the Shabu Shabu served in Healthy Shabu Shabu. Yeah, I worked there for 11 months but I'm not biased in any way, it's just that, their soup is really tasty and their sauce is superb for me. One big factor I liked was that they don't use MSG and I know how they take care of their ingredients (vegetables, fruits, and meat) to ensure that all foods are fresh when served to the costumers. Another plus was that each guest has their own pot, so they can cook their Shabu Shabu according to their liking.

Here in Healthy Shabu-Shabu, guests can choose the meat and seafoods they want, and of course they can also opt for the combination of the two. If you have an allergy in any one of the item, just tell the server about it, and they will gladly change it. Set meals can be good for one person or good for groups (group set for four comes with free iced tea, and good for six to ten person comes with free fruit juice and Japanese halo-halo).

Different set meals in Healthy Shabu Shabu:

The vegetable set contains pechay (either Tagalog or Taiwan pechay), black mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes, taro, corn, tofu, fish cake crabstick, squid balls, mushroom meatballs, meatballs, vermicelli and egg noodles. This one is good for one person but it's quite big enough to share as well.

The Chicken Set with Seafood A contains shrimp, oyster, sea cucumber fish fillet and squid, and cost around 535Php. This is the cheapest set on a shabu, but I personally found the chicken fillet tasteless. Well, that's just my personal opinion; any shabu-shabu meal I ate with chicken in it is something I am not fond of.

The Vegetable Set, like I said earlier can be ordered as is, but for group meals (good for four), guests can choose what kind of meat they want, and aside from the meat, their meal also comes with the Vegetable Set. Meat choices include:

Angus Deluxe (2,460Php) - This my favorite shabu-shabu meat, it’s very tasty and is really a perfect tandem with the soup. This is also available for one person, by the way.

Angus with Wagyu Beef Deluxe (3,870Php) - If you prefer two meats, I suggest you go for this one, but it's only applicable for deluxe plate (good for four people). This is not available as a single serving.

Just so you know, the darker meat is the Wagyu Beef, the reddish one is the Angus beef.

Beef Tenderloin with Shrimp Deluxe (2,680Php) - My favorite set in here, because of the tiger prawns, beef and vegetable. Although the beef tenderloin is not as tender as the Angus, it's still delicious and is a cheaper choice for people who just wanted to eat beef.

For dessert, they have the Japanese Halo-Halo and the Fruit Mix Plate. This is served with crushed ice on top of the fruits so it will be cold (obviously).

Aside from shabu-shabu, this restaurant also have rice toppings, noodles and tempura, as well as fruit juices and shakes.

These pictures were taken at Healthy Shabu Shabu located on the second floor of Shangri-La Plaza, beside Fish and Co. However, as of this writing, this branch will be unavailable because of the current renovation / construction in the area. Should you want to taste their foods, I suggest you visit their other branches - they have one in Robinson's Galleria, the Podium, Rockwell (The Powerplant Mall), Alabang Town Center, and SM Mall of Asia.

Jesz

Breads by Julie's Bakeshop

2011-06-27T23:52:00.001+08:00

I fell asleep on a rainy afternoon and didn’t notice that my mom went out to shop, she just woke me up and said that she brought some loaf and some peanuts for snacks. She bought it from Julie’s Bakeshop for 40 pesos each, and because I still haven’t tasted their loaf breads, I was so excited to taste it. I knew that Julie’s Bakeshop is known for delicious bread, even if their goods are much expensive compared to the ordinary bakeshop. Actually, one of my co-workers always brings me the choco-german bread that cost 5 pesos each, so I knew that their bread is really delicious.

Ube Loaf (topped with sweet glaze).

You can really taste the ube flavor and with the blend of the condensed milk on the top, I feel that I’m eating a donut =)

Cheese Loaf

I was so amazed when I sliced the loaf because there was a thick stick of cheese on the inside. It was a simple cheese loaf, but because the bread was soft and the cheese inside was thick enough, I really didn’t need a spread for it. For the cheese lovers like me, I am sure you you will also like this loaf.

Their bread is really soft and can’t wait to taste their other products.

Hope your weekend is fun even if there was a storm.

Jesz

Espasol (Sweet Rice Cake)

2011-06-24T22:57:00.005+08:00

{First up, let me thank Ms. Willa of Food Trip Friday for choosing my Pinakbet as the Featured Food of the Week.}

My friend Anne hailed from San Rafael, Bulacan. She now lives in Metro Manila with her Aunt because of our work, so there were times when she would miss her family. One time she went home in Bulacan, she brought us some espasol as pasalubong, and all of us at the restaurant where we used to work loved it. It was very tasty and it had a different taste compared to those being sold on the streets. I got to ask her to buy me some for my family last Christmastime, but even if I forgot to bring home the espasol the day Anne gave them to me and it had to wait for one more day before I was able to take it home, my family still loved it despite it's already "hardened" stage, because I left it in the restaurant's chiller.

Now that we both resigned at the restaurant, we seldom see each other, but we are still good friends. Whenever she would tell me she would travel back to Manila, I would always ask to bring some espasol, and last week, she bought me two boxes.

Espasol is a Filipino cake which originated in the province of Laguna. It’s made in coconut milk, shredded coconut, sugar and glutinous rice flour and dust it with sweet rice flour. Like most native delicacies, it is difficult to stir so much love is needed when making this.

Like what's printed on the box, this was made by Tessie's. Their factory is just near Anne's place, so whenever she buys some, I am sure that she gets the freshest espasol. Each box costs about 100php, and each box has about 48 pieces inside. My family loves it so much and my mom eats it like she was eating popcorn. My brother want to share this to his girlfriend living in Cagayan de oro, but Anne said the manufacturer only makes the espasol if they have a bulk order, so it's always not certain that I can get her to buy some whenever she travels back to Bulacan. I am just thankful that this time, Tessie's had an order and their family just added some more to the order.

Jesz

Mt. Pinatubo Trek | To the Crater

2011-06-23T09:14:00.006+08:00

If typhoon Ondoy didn't ruin the sky way nearly two years ago, this would have been an easy trek. However, because of such unfortunate event, we needed to use the old trekking way would take us 3 hours before we could reach the crater. As if the thought of trekking wasn't enough, it also rained right before we started. It wasn't really heavy, but since my sister and I didn't bring umbrella, it became difficult for us to handle it. At that point, our tour guide said that we needed to hurry because of the water's current.

Even though it was raining and I felt tired already, I still enjoyed trekking because of the different rock and land formations right before my eyes. However, part of me was worried because we (companions at the 4x4 ride) left sister behind. At my end, I knew I just have to keep walking because if I stop, it would make me feel more tired. Sister didn't at all mind that I had to leave her - she knew the trek would be a big challenge for her, so even with a heavy heart, I still went on walking.

After an hour and a half, the sun peeped through, and it got me more excited when the tour guide said we were almost there. Somewhere along the path, there was a rest area where we caught some breath, ate snacks and waited for other companions - including my sister. At one point, the guide received a message from the guide assisting sister and said that my sister had a leg cramp. It got me more worried, so I told my other companions to go on ahead and I will wait for my sister. It took a lot of time for my sister to reach the rest area, and when I saw her, I just clapped in happiness because she was able to pull it through.

The guide said the crater is still a few minutes away. When we saw this signage, we all laughed at the line, "Your trek STARTS here." Say what?!? So... what we did for the past two hours wasn't trekking? Actually, the signage wasn't at all wrong, because the guide said that if the Sky Way was open, the 4x4 ride would take us to this stop, therefore our trek would start here. The signage posed a challenge to us - giving specific time frame until we reached the crater. Now being in the "middle age," I thought I could reach the crater in 20 minutes, but it took me 30 minutes because at this point, it was already a subtle uphill climb, and because I was already tired, it was quite difficult for me to exert more effort.

Of course, once we reached the crater, it was pure paradise.

Jesz

"Beef Noodles"

2011-06-20T16:03:00.006+08:00

When I was still working at a Korean restaurant, my supervisor was always having a difficulty budgeting our daily meals. December last year, the owner of the restaurant added more staff because it was peak season, and we need to budget the 600 pesos meal allowance a day for 15 people.

I learned this dish from our kitchen helper, it was just instant noodles added with some bony cuts of pork and bok choy. It was just perfect warm our tummies before we proceed to our duty.

Last Saturday, mom asked me to cooked “Nilagang Ribs ng Baka” for dinner. After I cooked the beef ribs in a pressure cooker, I set aside some pieces and added it in a bowl of instant noodles added with bok choy. It became my dinner that night, and it was really, really comforting!

Jesz

Early Dinner

2011-06-17T09:48:00.011+08:00

Giligan's Island Restaurant and Bar
The Veranda - Robinsons Galleria
EDSA cor. Ortigas Avenue, Quezon City

Last May, my friend and I checked the newly renovated veranda of Robinson’s Galleria after visiting our former colleagues at Healthy Shabu Shabu (Shangri-la). We got there at 4:00 in the afternoon so all of the food establishments weren't busy yet. I guess these places are busy only in the evening.

My friend always suggests Giligan's Island Restaurant and Bar for their cheap price, so we decided to dine here. Even if the place looked lovely, it somehow gave us the boring atmosphere, maybe because we were the only guests at that time and it was so hard to call their server. Our main plan was to drink some beer but we ended decided to eat early dinner as well.

My friend was craving for some rice so we tried their Adobo Rice (124.00php). It was good - no lumps in the rice... every grain was coated with the sauce, but I really wished they did not include the cartilage part of the meat because it’s really hard to chew or to discard it while chewing.

For our viands, we went for their Pinakbet (85.00php), just to be on the healthy side. I really loved the blend of the shrimp paste in this dish, the vegetable was not over cooked and it was a perfect combination to the adobo rice.

To balance things off (healthy-"unhealthy"), my friend chose the Sizzling Bulalo Steak (198.00php). We were both unsatisfied with this dish because the beef was so chewy and dry and no more flavor on the beef. The only consolation we got was with the sauce - it was seasoned well and quite delicious. However, the sauce couldn't save the whole dish and we did not finish it because our jaws were already tired from chewing the beef.

Despite the not so good dining experience, I think I would still eat here given the chance. They offer big food platters for groups, and maybe, we could try that next time.

Jesz

Mt. Pinatubo Trek | 4x4 Ride

2011-06-15T22:19:00.009+08:00

I have been to many places and I can't wait to share them all, but since June is the anniversary month of Mt. Pinatubo, I decided to start the travel side of this blog with my Mt. Pinatubo experience.

Last June 4, 2011, I went to Mt. Pinatubo with some bloggers, thanks to my dear sister who told me about it. I also would like to extend my sincerest thanks to Let's Go, Sago for giving us a chance to experience this and to all the sponsors and to all those behind this gathering - it really made a dream come true.

There are different paths going to Mt. Pinatubo, but our group took the path from Capas, Tarlac. If you also want to take this path, you need to go first at Santa Juliana Tourism Council at the Municipal Hall where you can register and arrange for your guides and provisions.

After registering, you will ride a 4x4 jeep that can fit up 5 person travelers, your guide and the driver. I was a little bit nervous riding in the jeep because I still remember the accident happened here. But of course, the tour must go on, and I needed to conquer my fear.

We were given the privilege to choose the jeep we wanted to take (our group was given 5 jeeps, so we just chose from those), and my companions for the 4x4 ride were my sister, and new blogger pals Yodz, Alex, and Ed. The ride takes about an hour and you will experience some bumpy ride like riding in a roller coaster.

Riders choose whether they'd sit or stand, and because the five of us have our own cameras, we decided to stand. Like I said, this was one bumpy ride, so do take care of yourself and hold on tight. The time we went there, there were rain showers the night before, so it wasn't dusty... but, as much as you need to take care of yourself, you also need to take care of your camera (if you're using one) against the elements. We didn't encounter a whole lot of dust, but we sure had some mud splats, good thing we had some scarves to protect our camera.

From the foot of the mountain you will cross lots of streams, mountains, grassland, plain volcanic sand. You can also tell the driver to stop if you want to take some pictures.

More than an hour after, we reached our destination... but we still had to trek by foot going to the crater of the volcano. That story will be shared next post.

Jesz

Brazo de Yema by Cake Avenue

2011-06-13T10:23:00.008+08:00

My siblings (who are bloggers, too) join different blog memes, and being a newbie blogger, I also would like to have more blogger friends, so I decided to join memes, too.

It is a known fact that I really love eating Brazo de Mercedes. While searching details about Mercato Centrale online last Saturday night, I saw pictures about Cake Avenue Bakeshop, and seeing that they sell Brazo de Mercedes, I got more excited to go to the weekend market just so I could buy the pastry. Yesterday, my sister and I went to Mercato Centrale to pick up her Mochicko Mochi (which she won from a contest) and to roam around the market. At first I didn't see Cake Avenue's stall right away, but because we decided to take pictures of almost all the stalls in the market, I was able to find Cake Avenue - thanks to my sister's request of having her picture taken with the pig (from the Angry Birds game) cookie lollipop.

Brazo de Mercedes is also known as a jelly roll or a Swiss roll that's filled with lemon curd. Here in Cake Avenue Bakeshop they called it Brazo de Yema because they use yema as a filling of the sponge cake instead of lemon curd. I really enjoyed the combination of the yema and the sponge cake, it had the right amount of sweetness and the softness of the cake is just awesome.

If you want to try this one, they are available at Mercato Centrale located at the 34th street and 8th avenue (across MC Home Depot) in Bonifacio Global City every weekend from 7:00am - 2:00pm.

Jesz

Max's Chicken All You Can

2011-06-08T22:30:00.003+08:00

Yes its true, the much awaited promo is back!

I am so happy to announce that Max's Restaurant is bringing back the Chicken-All-You-Can promo! If you missed it last year (like me), now is definitely the chance to experience it. On June 10 to July 10, 2011 from 6:00pm to 10:00pm we can now enjoy as much Max's fried chicken as we can handle. For only Php199 per person, it already has ice cold glass of any soft drink or iced tea that can be upgrade to bottomless drink for only Php28.

If you think that's already a good deal, read more. As an added treat to their customers, Max’s Restaurant will give Php20 money coupon for every Php200 spent during the Chicken All You Can promo. So if you are a group and you spent Php1000, they will give you Php100 money coupon. You can use your money coupon on July 11, 2011 until July 11, 2012. It's good as cash, so you can also use it to buy pastries at the Max's Corner Bakery, or maybe eat different dishes from their awesome menu, Dine in or take out. Only 3 money Coupon for 1 transaction only. The promo is open nationwide, so more foodies can savor the goodness of Max's Fried Chicken, too!

Last night, I was lucky to take part of the Max's Restaurant event, but quite sad as I only got to eat two chicken quarters. I really love the taste of Max's Fried Chicken, so I am already excited for June 10 to come so I can try to eat as much chicken as I can. I am thinking of visiting the store this coming Friday, tagging my whole family so we can try to beat each other and see who can eat the most chicken. This promo will run for the entire month, so maybe I can also tag my friends along. Hope to see you there.

Jesz

My Kind of Trip

2011-06-05T11:37:00.007+08:00

Hello everyone. My name is Jesz, the author of this blog.

Before, I was already contented living my life as is - going to places if there's a chance, eating at different establishments... taking a picture or two on every occasion. Having two older siblings who are bloggers, I realized, I, too, have my own story to share, hence the opening of this blog. While the posts would be taken from not-so-distant past, I, of course will also share new adventures as I go on with my life.

"God didn't give us everything to enjoy life, He gave us life to enjoy everything."

One of the powerful things I heard during a mass homily. I came from a middle-class family - we are neither rich nor poor, and being so gave me the chance to enjoy both facets of life, where everything is a green pasture.

Welcome to "My Kind of Trip," where I share stories about my all sorts of trips - around the Metro, out of town trips, side trips, food trips, so on and so forth. I hope you'd enjoy your stay.

Jesz