Good food, good friends, great day

A week before my birthday this August, I met with one of my best buddies, who I haven’t seen for over a year. This guy, along with his wife, went through really tough times when he suffered a ruptured aneurysm in 2010 and went under the knife twice. It was only more than two weeks after we met up for my birthday treat that year that I received a text message from my friend's wife that he was in the hospital. The almost two months of hospitalization that followed was agonizing for the couple and the rest of their family and even us in their circle of friends. It is truly by God’s amazing grace that he has completed the travel on the long road to recovery.

Some two weeks ago, my friend’s wife texted me asking if we could meet up at Centris in Quezon City.  And so I jumped at the chance to see them.  At noontime, we were foursome not at Centris, however, but in Trinoma (my favorite mall and hangout place). My friend asked for my lunch venue suggestion and knowing that he hasn’t tried Taco Bell yet, I broached the idea, to which they agreed. By the way, there were four of us because the couple brought along their smart three-year-old kid, my godson. So, Taco Bell it was for lunch and we had:

Fiesta Rice, Seasoned Ground Beef, Fiesta Salsa Salad, and Fiesta Bites with Cheese Sauce, 129.00 (Meal C)

Fiesta Rice, Chunky Pork BBQ, Fiesta Salsa Salad and Churros with Chocolate Dip, 129.00 (Meal A)

My lunch.

Crunchy Taco, P39.

Margarita Slush, P39.

Nachos, P39. Note that they're generous with the cheese dip :-)

I’ve satisfied my Mexican food cravings several times here at Taco Bell and walked away happy on all occasions. Food here is delicious and filling without burning a hole in the pocket. My companions this time liked it at Taco Bell, too.  
 For dessert, my friend’s wife asked me again for a suggestion. Without batting an eyelash, I answered “Dunkin Donuts,” because I have this undying love for their Blueberry Cheese premium donut. But as quickly as I gave that suggestion, my mind changed as I remembered admiring the Black Forest cake donut on display at Mister Donut one time. And so off we went there for coffee and donuts. My friends shunned coffee, though, and opted for the Mango Frostbite. I got a Black Forest, of course, while my friends had  Sansrival and Chocolate Mousse cake donuts plus a choco muffin. My brewed coffee was good! I've always liked it at both Dunkin Donuts and Mister Donut. The cake donuts were quite okay, except that my friend’s wife commented that they were really just like regular donuts just prettified.  I agreed. Yes, nothing spectacular about the cake donuts. Although they're not bad, they were way too sweet that you'd want to stop eating after three forkfuls.

Black Forest cake donut, P45.

Sanrsival, P45.

Chocolate Mousse, P45.

Choco muffin, P26.

Mango Frostbite, P35.

Brewed coffee, P35.

Meanwhile. there were two other things (aside from coffee) I liked about the Mister Donut shop in Trinoma. One is the cozy ambiance and the other, the expanded menu. I was impressed that they now offer a penne pasta dish called Baked Cheese Tomato Penne and a burger steak rice meal. There's also a gourmet sandwich, the Chicken Burger with Chips, which looks yummy on the menu display. Next time, next time...  

My good buddy has a caption for this: "Destruction in consumption!"

Anyway, it was time to go a little shopping after we were done at Mister Donut and not long afterwards, to go home. It was one great day I had with good friends, sharing good laughs and good food. :-)

Our Toast Box experience

I'm a simple eater with a huge appetite. Does that confuse you? Haha! Well, since I was a kid, I've always had a healthy appetite though my favorites come in a narrow range - Filipino dishes plus burgers and then a little Chinese when I got older (college). This was when my sister started bringing us quite often to the now long-closed Peacock Restaurant, a Chinese fine dining restaurant whose owners were her bosses. Then, one day in the '80s, my good friend from high school brought me to this Japanese restaurant and cajoled me to try one of those raw delicacies. I didn't like it, I even threw up, sorry. And I thought I'd never come to like Japanese food. More than 10 years later, however, I found myself working in a Japanese-owned company and it was then that I was reintroduced to Japanese food. This time, I liked everything that I tried, including the raw stuff and sashimi became one of my favorites. Still, whenever I dined out with family and friends, the choices would be the usual Filipino, Chinese, Italian (pizza and pasta) and a few times, Japanese. When I started reading food blogs last year, I realized my taste buds were missing out on a plethora of flavors offered by food specialties from other countries. I learned that so many restaurants have mushroomed around the metro, offering various Asian, Latin American and European dishes. I don't really go out and around the metro that much, you see, and the only places we frequent are the two SM Malls near our home in Manila which are the San Lazaro and Sta. Mesa branches. One of such restaurants that I've often read about is the current casual dining craze in Singapore called Toast Box, which immediately caught my fancy because of its unique concept. Who would have thought that toasted bread could become huge money makers, right? Seeing the menu on the Internet, I knew it was high time I tried Laksa, which is probably Singapore's version of our very own Chicken or Beef Mami or even Lomi. Also on the menu are other Asian specialty dishes that include Hainanese Chicken and Nasi Goreng. I love spicy soup so I thought I'd have to taste Laksa. So when I finally had the chance to bring myself and my eldest child to Trinoma after picking up our organic veggies from the Quezon City Memorial Circle, we went straight to Toast Box.

In the Trinoma branch, Toast Box shares space with its sister-food firm Bread Talk. The interiors are clean and simple, the wooden tables and chairs awashed in white paint. The lady at the counter was cheery and accommodating with my questions, me being a first-timer here. I asked what the barley drink was and she explained that it was a cereal drink quite comparable to Nesvita. I asked whether it was "masarap" (delicious) and she answered, "Yes, ma'am, masarap sya (it's delicious)." I was relieved because if she answered on the contrary, I would have to admonish her for being a disloyal employee. Haha! Minutes later, our orders arrived and these were:

Nonya Laksa, P215.

Floss toast set, P150.

Two soft-boiled eggs that came with the toast set.

The soft-boiled eggs mixed with soy sauce and a dash of pepper.

My coffee (Kopi), included in the toast set.

The cold barley drink that came with the Nonya Laksa.

The floss toast which was cut up in bite-sized pieces was good except that it was quite cold and lacked the crunchiness that I wanted. As for the soft-boiled eggs that were served with soy sauce and pepper, I knew exactly what to do with them, thanks to my fellow bloggers. :-) I cracked their shells at mid-point, poured the soupy eggs into the saucer, put some soy sauce and a dash of pepper, and mixed them altogether. Of course, had I not read that this was the way to eat eggs at Toast Box, I would have simply put a pinch of salt into it. Haha! My daughter who watched what I did with the eggs with eyes wide open, was suspicious of how they would taste but when she took a spoonful, she was reassured and almost finished everything even before I could try it. The "little" problem came with the Laksa, though. My daughter didn't like it. Me, I wasn't sure. I took spoonfuls and could go on because I liked its spiciness. But half of me knew I wasn't prepared for the somewhat strange combination of curry and coconut milk. I guess I was not ready for introduction to this Asian dish that is loved by many in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, and was quite disappointed with myself. I thought I'd already developed an adventurous palate. Thankfully, the coffee that is called Kopi here, saved the day for me. Just by looking at my cup, I knew I was about to have something different from what I usually had. It's thick, almost like hot chocolate in appearance. I took a sip. It was full-bodied but didn't come too strong. I was happy with my cup of joe. I also tried and liked my daughter's drink, the cold barley, which had a nice, mild milky taste. So, will I come back to Toast Box? Well, yes, to try their Hainanese Chicken, the taste of which I already have an inkling as I remember the White Chicken from Peacock Restaurant.

Cicada song: The enthralling sound of the night

The Pycos tree in our small garden, where I suspect the cicada rests and "sings" at night.

I love nature. I am such a sucker for the sea, sun, trees and animals. This is one-third of the reason I so love my hometown of San Francisco in Quezon Province. My parents who live there comprise the other third, and food, glorious food, make up the remaining third part. Whenever I end a vacation in our small, sleepy town (the townsfolk go to bed early at night) and head back to Manila, I always bring with me part of what I had enjoyed in San Francisco - food, of course, usually consisting of locally dried fish (daing), my mom's tocino and longganisa, and fruits, usually indian mangoes and lakatan bananas from my folks' backyard, plus seashells that I always gather at the beach, and once, a rooster which I'd kept as pet. These things keep me happy until my next visit to San Francisco (the food till supply lasts, of course) . In our home here in the big city, I love looking at these things because they invoke the happy feeling of rural life, which I always dream of living for good. And then, last Saturday, there was this occurrence that unexpectedly added to that feeling - the "singing" of a cicada or kuliglig right in our small garden. What a pleasant surprise! I'd lived in this house for over four decades and this was the first time a cicada visited our yard. I just love hearing this insect's "song", which other people might find annoying. It sort of transports me to another world where the night is at its blackest and cloaked by mystery. Moreso, it makes me relive moments of vacationing in my hometown, where this is the sound of the night, along with the croak of the frogs, and the vocalization of the geckos. I knew it was fate that made me get up and go out of the bedroom at 1 a.m. to hear the cicada. Haha! Of course, I did not pass up the chance to record that "song" in my cellphone. 

The cicada is such an interesting insect. According to the Animal Planet website,

"The cicada's claim to fame is its singing. The high-pitched song is actually a mating call belted out by males. Each species has its own distinctive song that only attracts females of its own kind. This allows several different species to coexist.

Cicadas are the only insects capable of producing such a unique and loud sound. Some larger species can produce a call in excess of 120 decibels at close range. This is approaching the pain threshold of the human ear! Smaller species sing in such a high pitch that it cannot be heard by humans, but may cause dogsand other animals to howl in pain.

The apparatus used by cicadas for singing is complex. The organs that produce sound are called tymbals. Tymbals are a pair of ribbed membranes at the base of the abdomen. The cicada sings by contracting the internal tymbal muscles. This causes the membranes to buckle inward, producing a distinct sound. When these muscles relax, the tymbals pop back to their original position. Scientists still don't fully understand how this apparatus produces such extreme volume."

After that night (early morning, actually), it took five days before I and the rest of the family heard the cicada again. The first time, it was just me and my teenage son who heard it because the rest of the people in the household were already asleep. Last night, everyone did because it started its "singing" early into the night. My hubby, upon coming home from work and hearing the cicada, went straight to the backdoor, thinking the door alarm was activated. Haha! He too, expressed surprise and delight that there was a "kuliglig" in our garden. I guess it will now be a nightly habit for us to wait for the mesmerizing cicada "song". 

Burrito blues: The Mexicali experience

Burrito and Taco plate, P265, regular combo. Comes with nachos and a glass of iced tea.

Basket of Fries, P88.

Taco and Quesadilla Plate, P175, junior combo, with iced tea.

Last Sunday, my daughter and I were at SM City San Lazaro to buy some stuff. As we went hungry after going halfway through our errands, we mulled over and debated for a good few minutes whether to go Japanese at Tokyo Tokyo or Mexican at Mexicali. We were discussing in front of Mexicali, however, so it easily won for the both of us. This place offers a nice, laid-back ambiance with the marriage of vibrant wall and chair colors with subdued lighting. My daughter and I both went for combo meals. Burrito and Taco plate for her, Taco and Quesadillas plate for me. Both came with a glass of iced tea. My daughter ordered fries as well. The taco was good enough (I love any taco!) and so were my Cheese and Garlic Quesadillas. According to the server, the latter is their best-selling Quesadilla. They offer other variants of this Mexican sandwich such as Jalapeno and Cheese, Ground Beef, Roast Pork and Grilled Chicken. As to the fries, they were large-cut and tasty, especially when dipped in the orangey sauce that came with it. Even the iced tea was good, refreshing and served in a somewhat large glass so there was more than enough to drink for me. The disappointment came, however, with the burrito. It sorely lacked filling such that you could almost count the morsels of meat. It was so wanting in flavor, which to me was not justified, considering the price (it's steeper here compared to Taco Bell's). I guess I won't be going Mexican again when at SM City San Lazaro, unless of course, the call of the taco grows too loud to ignore. Haha!

Instant cappuccino - something to feel good about on bad days

Last Tuesday and Wednesday (August 7-8, 2012), many portions of Metro Manila and nearby provinces in Luzon went under water after hours of continuous heavy rains. Our home was not spared by the flood. Water covered all corners of our bungalow-type abode, including all the four bedrooms It was the second time we experienced flooding since our house was built in 1981, the first time during typhoon Ondoy in 2009. It was very annoying having to wade in floodwater inside the house, add to it that my hubby and I were worried about our safety in case the water went higher and that our wooden furniture and parquet flooring would get damaged. But then, we couldn't do anything but accept and endure the situation for two days. Good thing there was instant cappuccino in the pantry - Kopiccino by Kopiko. It offered warmth on those two wet days, its creaminess and mild sweetness somehow lifting my spirits. It was something good amid a bad enough situation.  

Of plants, zombies and french fries

Plants vs. Zombies musical show at Trinoma Mall.

See those gorgeous curls? They're yummy as they are pretty.

Love, love, love Iced Coffee at McDonald's.

What sent me to gastronomic heaven over the weekend.

The other day being a Saturday, I deemed it best to tap into my inner child to destress after finishing a week's workload. And what better way to do just that than to watch the Plants vs. Zombies musical show at Trinoma Mall and eat Twister Fries (those curly french fries dipped in seasoned batter) afterwards? Yessiree, Twister Fries is back at McDonald's! (Which makes me wonder..why don't they make this a regular part of their menu?) Around middle of this week, I saw the Twister Fries comeback ad when I opened Yahoomail and since then, I've been daydreaming about it until I was able to haul ass off to a McDonald's store. Before finally eating however, I had to endure a few minutes of watching the Plants Vs. Zombies musical show which the smallest guy in the family tremendously enjoyed. Well, I never got to play this very popular computer game which my kids and my hubby (even more!) sometimes delay eating for. I don't play anything on the computer anyway (except for a fishing game once in a blue moon), but I brought the kids to Trinoma so they could enjoy this show. Even before it ended, however, I deemed it proper to go ahead to McDonalds so I could already make my fantasies a reality. Hahaha! And so, Twister Fries I and everybody else in our group had, along with a Cheeseburger and the oh-so-good Iced Coffee. Needless to say, I was in coffee-and-fries heaven! 

Chapchae: Loving Korean pancit

On Wednesday last week, I had the pleasure of having as my office lunch quite a special dish courtesy of my coworker-friend. It was Chapchae (also Jap Chae) - Korea's version of Filipinos' beloved Pancit Bijon. I say it's quite special because it's not an everyday type of dish. Why? Because one, its ingredients are on the expensive side and two, cooking it can be tedious as it is done in several steps. Consider this: glass noodles which are used in this recipe, are priced at around P200 per kilo (Bijon, I think can be bought at around P80 per kilo). Chapchae doesn't use chicken or pork, it's beef and we know this is the more expensive meat. And then there's shiitake mushrooms and spinach, which are not ordinary veggies for most Filipino households. For the cooking oil, you use sesame oil and in some recipes, olive oil as well. If you haven't eaten Chapchae and you want to try it, you can find it at BonChon and probably in most Korean restaurants, which now abound in Metro Manila, thanks to Super Junior and those cheeky Koreanovelas (which I love!). Well, I haven't tasted BonChon's Chapchae yet but I'm eyeing to do just that real soon. Once, I bought an order of Chapchae at the Sidcor Sunday market in Centris, but it didn't quite measure up to my friend Leslie's cooking. I hope it's good at BonChon. If you want to learn how to cook Chapchae, I'm sharing a video here from YouTube. Happy cooking!

Circles Café: An afternoon at the park

Menu on tarpaulin outside Circles Café.

Inside the café.

Nice country-style interiors.

My brewed coffee (came with my meal).

Tapsilog (well, almost), P100. Brown rice takes the place of sinangag (fried rice).

Spaghetti al Pesto with wheat bread, P125.

Mango Juice, P40.

Mango Cheesecake, P60.

My son loves the Mango Cheesecake.

My boy holding the candies given by the Circles Café owner.

As we eat, this is what we see outside. Nice view! I love trees.

This is Circles Cafe from outside.

QC Memorial Circle.

Fun time for my son at the playground.

It was a work and play Saturday for me and my youngest child. It was palengke day once again and I had to get our organic veggies for the week at the QC Memorial Circle, so I decided to have some fun whilst doing the chore. Fun, my son had (me too!), as I let him romp to his heart's content at the playground before picking up our veggies. This was, however, after we had a nice merienda at Circles Cafe, a quaint coffeehouse tucked into the bowels of the QC Memorial Circle. This side of the Circle was unfamiliar to me till we ate at Serye some two weeks ago. 'Twas good choosing to dine at Serye, it turned out, 'coz I discovered this side of the park, which is quieter than the playground side, where we'd gone picnicking a few times already. It was a major plus that there, too was a row of small eateries and coffee shops here that appealed to me because they looked cozy and quiet inside. Outside these establishments was even more appealing to me because there's a lot more greenery here than in the other side - more trees, more grass and more seats and tables where I imagined I would be reading a book while sipping coffee one day soon. But on this particular day, since I had a small guy with me, I could not, of course, just sit under a tree and read a book. I had to let him play and in exchange, he let me choose where we eat instead of at Jollibee or McDonalds, which are his usual choices. So, Circles Cafe, it was for the both of us. Looking at it from the outside, I thought it  was a "cute" coffeehouse and that it was cool and comfy there as it offered al fresco dining. At the entrance, there's this menu on a tarpaulin and the picture of pesto pasta appealed to my son. Inside, as I ran through the menu, I overheard the woman (I learned later that her name is Tess Garcolitos and that she's the owner of this cafe) telling another customer that their bestseller was the Vigan Longganisa and Lucban Longganisa meals. However, this was after I have ordered the Beef Tapa meal. Rowan, of course, went for the Spaghetti al Pesto. Minutes later, after having spoonfuls of my order, I realized it was wrong for me to say "Tapsilog" when I gave my order because what I was served was not sinangag (fried rice) but brown rice. I read the tarpaulin menu inside and yes, brown rice indeed it was. It was somewhat disappointing but I wasn't gonna fret, of course. After all, I was hungry and anyway, the tapa (beef) was good - well-seasoned and tender and I was happy with it. I asked my boy how his pesto was and he answered on the positive. However, as he went "deeper" into his food, he started tasting something "burnt' and refused to finish his pasta. Being the mom, I finished it for him, of course, and discovered that the "burnt" taste came from toasted garlic bits. This made me review my pesto recipe in my mind as I thought it didn't include garlic (Once I got home, I asked my daughter if she puts garlic in her pesto sauce and she said yes, only she doesn't saute or fry it, she just put it with the rest of ingredients in the blender). In truth, I liked the pesto here at Circles Cafe and  welcomed the nice twist that the toasted garlic offered, but you know how kids are. For dessert, the little guy and I shared a slice of Mango Cheesecake, which was good! My son liked it very much. As I paid for our food, I asked the woman who looked like the owner of the cafe if she was it indeed and she said "yes", and that the man who was there also serving customers was her hubby. She said that they opened Circles Cafe November last year. She asked my son if he liked his pasta but it was me who answered that he did, but not till he tasted the toasted garlic. Tess then asked the cook if she put toasted garlic in the pesto and when the woman affirmed she did, her boss told her not to put garlic next time if a child is ordering. Tess then apologized to my son, then, handed him some candies and Ben 10 stickers. My boy was delighted! Well, isn't that good service?. And yes, good food, too.

Back to basics

Donuts on the wall.

My daughter and her beau. Just to show how big those donut pictures at the wall are.

Blueberry cheese premium donut, P35.

The Blueberry Cheese up close.

Strawberry froothie, P70, small

Cafe Mocha Frio, P110, large.

BLT (bacon, lettuce, tomato) Bunwich, P50.

Tuna Salad Croissant, P70.

Brewed Coffee, P35.

That's a lot of blueberry!

Long before J. CO, Krispy Creme and even Mister Donut came here, Dunkin Donuts lorded over the donut lovers' world here in the Philippines. Coming ashore from the US in 1981, Dunkin Donuts, to me and my contemporaries, brings back memories of childhood. In 1984, me and high school barkada would often hang out in an outlet on C.M Recto Ave. My old favorites here were Boston Creme and Black Raspberry. I was already in college around 1987 when I first visited a Dunkin Donuts store in Quiapo, Manila. They were already offering croissants by then and with the Tuna Salad, it was love at first bite. The other croissant choices are Chicken Salad, Bacon, Coleslaw & Tomato and Ham 'n Cheese. I don't remember trying out any of these as Ive always ordered for the Tuna Salad. In recent years, Dunkin Donuts products grew in number and now they've got premium donuts which come in yummy varieties. Last Saturday, me, my daughter and her boyfriend tried one of these, the Blueberry Cheese and we loved it. Yesterday, I bought a Sansribav on my way to work and I loved it too. Next time, I will try the Black Forest premium donut. These days, some people may raise an eyebrow about Dunkin Donuts since J. CO and Krispy Creme are the "in" thing but to me, I'm happy going back to the basics of donut here in the Philippines, as I find comfort not only in my old favorites but in new yummy discoveries as well. :-)