S & R's Double Chocolate Chip Muffin

One of my loots when we passed by S & R Bonifacio Global City a few months back, hubby and I visited a friend and walked around the area, drooling over stuff we can't buy and dining establishments we can't afford to eat in, hahaha.

We all know that besides from New York pizza and churros, S & R is a pastry and chocolate hub, so everytime we went or chanced upon the place, you'll be sure to spot me on the bread, cakes and pastries section, well, you'll be sure to find me ogling chips, curls and other junk foods, chocolates and ice cream, too.

Halloween Treat

We made this last weekend, wala lang, a little something for the halloween daw, nakiki-ride sa halloween spirit, hehe.  I think my bro got the idea from the internet, I'm not entirely sure, but the recipe/procedure is as you see it.

Ingredients are hotdogs and spaghetti noodles, cut the hotdogs to bite-sized pieces or as you prefer, then poke the uncooked noodles to the hotdogs, in any way you like, have fun, be crazy.  Then cooked the noodles as you always do, try to make it al dente, okie *smiles*.  

When you're done, call the fam and enjoy your simple and affordable halloween snack.

Dada's Birthday

Husband and I celebrates our birthday 15 days apart, same birth month but different zodiac signs.  

His was celebrated (one time) at home with family, his sister cooked some Pancit Bihon while we ordered Crispy Pata and Pizza, syempre, we had his favorite drink of all time, Coke.

Happy days! Walang ng pasok, marami pang food *grins*.

Pancit Bihon

Crispy Pata

Day 3 at Work

Note: I don't really care for edited pics (read: I don't have the know how nor the time to do it) so pardon the messy table, ganyan kasi talaga ang mga tables sa PIO-Navotas eh :)

They say that third is a charm, so let's just hope it really is... third birthday celeb, this time for the office friends and colleagues.

Special thanks to Dete Irene, sya nagpakahirap magluto lahat nito.

Steamed Fish 
(fish: aliling, topped with mayonnaise and garnished w/cheese,chopped boiled eggs, onion, carrots, pickles)

Day 2 at the Crib

Birthday celeb no. 2, this time, it's my real natal day *smiles*.  I celebrated it with my family, of course.

We bought to go goodies, you know me, I'm not the so-domesticated kind and I'm totally lazy *grins*.  We had Baby's Crispy Pata (BCP), as in the real one (story will be provided some other time) with steaming white rice, syempre para carbs and protein galore.  Then we doused the cholesterol with Veggie Salad (lettuce, cucumber, onion, tomatoes and commercialized salad dressing) and my very own Spaghetti (hotdog lang ang halo para sa baby boy ko).  Then there was cake and ice cream, simple and fun!

Baby's Crispy Pata (BCP)

Day 1 at Balsa sa Niugan

Birthday Celebration 101!  

The birthday was spent with friends, though some unfortunate events prevents us from seeing each other at the moment, I know that time will pass and we'll all see eye to eye again.

We decided on Balsa sa Niugan, as it was the last place we visited and dined at with Ms. Anne, we're a group of four, at least we're used to be before she left us, then we became three, the last I celebrated my birthday we were still a trio, now we're down to two, the only guy in our group sort of missed a step and stumbled out of our grasp, but he'll come back, I know he will *smiles*.

Anyways, it was Balsa sa Niugan for us and with all the discussion, debates, reminiscing, foolishness, laughter and memories, we ordered some of our favorite dish.

As you enter the premises, the waiting staff will ask you if you would like to eat the normal way, you know tables and chairs and waiters at your beck and call or if you prefer to stay in a floating balsa (bamboo raft), of course the waiters will be there to serve you, you just have to wait a bit of a time to catch their attention.

Photo above was the set plate at our table and my preferred drink - Mango Juice, Prof had some Iced Tea while R had a can of soda.

It's Not Mallows, It's Ghana

Got some loving from my dear cousin, she's currently staying in South Korea, getting rich, hurhur!  Though I envy her for earning all the dough, I envy her more for her current location, imagine living in the same country as Korean idols and Hallyu stars, I would die trading places, hahaha.  I would love to see Hwangbo Hye Jung, seriously, she's my ultimate girl crush.  Wanna know why? Go google her awesomeness *grins*.

And as usual, I digress, hahaha.  Ghana is one of the flagship products of Lotte in the world of sweets, it is hugely known for its various chocolates in the market.  That's it, I don't really know that much about Lotte or Ghana or the rest of what they offer as I don't read Hangul, but I want to *pouts*.

But I know one thing - these stuff (points to the pics below) are super-duper yummy!

Fatboy's, Fatman's

Mother's Day was spent at home (too tired to dress up and go malling) eating pizza from Pizza Hut, then Father's Day was spent at home (got home sore and tired from a team building in Bulacan) eating... can you guess? Of course, pizza!

This time, its from Fatboy's Pizza Pasta, got a voucher from Metrodeal for Php500 which entitled me to two boxes of family-sized pizzas.  Hubby opted for Mushy Pepperoni and All Meaty Special, I think if you claimed your pizza using a voucher only a few choices are available to you. Discrimination, hurhur!

Fatboy's family pizza boxes

pizza and soda

Puto Kamoteng Kahoy

One of the reasons I love being a Pinoy and living in Pinas - you can see great finds just roaming around the street and I mean it in great many ways.  Yes, even food!

Photo below is called Puto Kamoteng Kahoy in my side of town, its main ingredients is kamoteng kahoy (cassava) and it is cooked through steaming hence the name puto.  But contrary to the usual puto who comes as plain as they were made (pun for as plain as they were born, hur) or with toppings like cheese and salted eggs, this kind of puto has sugar and grated coconut as fillings and is usually smothered with margarine.

You should try it, it's superbly Pinoy and budget-friendly, it cost about Php6 - 10.

Puto Kamoteng Kahoy

coconut filling

Dinner at Chowking

A late post, as usual, teehee.

Our fam's late dinner when we went to Star City several months ago.  There were only few dining establishments serving the public left in the amusement park, most already closed down or possibly just closed when we went there, kiosks were abundant but as we were tired and wanted to seat, we opted for Chowking.

Honey Garlic Chicken Bowl

A Cup of Spinner

We spotted Swirls Ice Cream when we went to SM San Lazaro several months back and because it is a new brand, we got curious and tried it, and well, it's ice cream, I think that's reason enough *grins*.

Pardon the sloppy texture of the ice cream, I got distracted and it had to wait long before I could snap a shot but don't let its appearance stop you from trying it out, I assure you the melting part was entirely my fault, technically, it was my son's but we can't blame him, so yeah, let's just drop this *grins*.

There are lots of choices and I'm sure they can cater to our individual sweet cravings and you can opt to have it in 8oz cup for PHp49, 12oz at Php69 and 16oz at Php85.  It's a cheaper option to DQ but, of course, it couldn't compare to the classic blizzard *smiles*.

Signature Chocolate Spinner

Brownies, Brownies, Brownies!

One of Pampanga's finest, and you can quote me on that... not that what I say matters, hahaha!

I'm not really privy to where their shop/bakery/establishment is as I bought my share of sweet treats from a city hall peddler (I invented the term just for this post, wee!), I googled the name Pines' Brownies and Delicacies and found their un-updated FB page.  I know that they hail from Guagua, Pampanga and they have other goodies to offer like Food for the Gods, Revel Bars, different kinds of tarts, etc.

Photos below cost Php150 a box, you can opt for a 20 piece-box of the same treats or you can choose a variety box of sorts (see photos) - 5 bite sizes each of Brownies, Butterscoth, Marble and Cappucino.

4 treats in 1 box

the packaging

Capping it Off at Seattle's Best

A week ago, I blogged about an awesome meet-up and bonding with my chinggus at Seoul Garden and to capped off the day, we had some Ice Blended Drinks while talking about the OTP (only true pairing) that we shipped, okay, okay, still shipping *grins*.

We ordered a round of Magic Mocha and Ice Blended Drinks from Seattle's Best, since it was already ages ago, I don't know who ordered what anymore and how much we paid for, but be assure that the four of us had one drink each, hurhur!

Magic Mocha and Ice Blended Drinks from Seattle's Best

I Love Churros!

I had the chance to visit S&R at Global City several months ago when I visited a grandson at St. Luke's and what do you expect, syempre Churros moment na!

Many prefer the cinnamon sprinkled variety but I still prefer and love, love their bavarian-flavored one, you can grab a piece for Php45.

I had two while we roamed around and had four to go, that's what you call churros gluttony *laughing evilly*.

Bavarian and Cinnamon Churros

I bought 4 to go

Pasalubong from Malaysia

I recently posted about my cousin's pasalubong from Palawan and some personal attacks on her person, hehe.  Well, I'm baaack, to blog about her other pasalubong sans the attack *grins*, this time it came from Malaysia.  Yes, dear friends, she spend a week visiting another country, while I'm still here, just here *pouts*.

Anyway, she brought home some Malaysian Cake and I was lucky to received one (see, I can be nice *tongue out*), according to the package, the product which you can see on the photos below is - 'This famous Malaysian Cake has been prepared with premium ingredients using traditional recipe and modern food technology developed by our founder, Tan Kim Hock.  A favorite among Malaysians, this sweet delicacy has a wonderful creamy and lingering taste.'

"It tasted like coco jam," its the simplest and most accurate description I can give.

Not a fan and didn't became one!

Sampling Chic-Boy

Chic-Boy is one of those fast-rising casual fast food chain in the country, which mainly offers chicken and pork, hence the name Chic (from chicken) and Boy (from baboy or pork).  They first served the public in 2010 and they instantly caught the hearts of many Pinoys as they offer unlimited rice to patrons, and we all know that rice is more than just our staple food, it is a way of life, hahaha!

Photo below is one of their Lechon offerings - Cebu Lechon Liempo priced at Php250.  

I don't really have good things to say so I'll just shut up but my husband said that it could have tasted better if we ate it at the establishment when it was still hot and maybe crunchy.  So, I'll hold my tongue until I've done so *smiles*.

Lechon Cebu Liempo

Foursome at Seoul Garden

Chingu in Korean language means a friend, and eversince I got hooked in everything Korean, I met a few really, really nice people whom I keep and treasure as friends, my very own chingus (plural of the word chingu, english grammar applied, hahaha).  We came from different parts of the world, hmm, actually, only one of us is residing in the US, the rest (five, last I count, hence the abovementioned word  few, hurhur) are living here in the Philippines, albeit, a bit away from each other.  But as we live different lives (but bonded by our love of Joongbo, hur), we seldom see each other, and on those times that we do, we binge on food and coffee and talk non-stop about our melodramatic and hilarious life stories and of course, Korean showbiz tidbits *grins*.

And this is one of those moments when our schedules met and collide, in a good way, hehe.  We decided on trying Seoul Garden, a Korean resto in SM North EDSA, they offer eat-all-you-can for a little less  than Php600, we didn't avail of such as we felt like we won't get our money's worth at that time, we all came from work and not that hungry.  We, instead, ordered ala carte items in their menu, which the staff would ask on your way in, if you opted for ala carte, they would cover the stove in the middle of your table.  Even their ala carte items are ordered in set as it comes with unlimited drinks and a serving of dessert; they have yogurt, ice cream, brownies and fruit slices as dessert choices and they have iced coffee, milk tea, plain and red iced tea, mango, orange and pineapple juice, and various flavors of soda where you can pick your beverage of choice.

the menu (front)

the menu (back)

their logo

Kalamay Take Two

Remember my post about Kalamay Lucban and Kalamay Batangas way, way back in 2011?  Well, it's not that informative or entertaining so if you don't remember or you haven't read it yet, just pretend that you haven't read anything prior to this, hehe.

Okay, presenting, another version of kalamay (glutinous rice cakes), drum roll please - Kalamay Laguna *clap, clap*!  Hahaha!

Personal observations:  I think it was made of the same ingredients, they all looked and tasted the same, maybe, just as aling tindera once told me, the variation relies solely on how it was cooked/made.

Ber Months Na!

Tayong mga Pinoy, big deal lagi sa atin ang Pasko, tayo na yata ang nasyon na nagse-celebrate ng pinakamahabang Pasko, isama mo pa ang haba ng preparasyon natin, saan ka pa?  Dito sa atin, kapag dumating ang buwan ng Setyembre, kalimitan mo nang maririnig ang salitang "Ber months na!", which equates to "Malapit na ang Pasko!"  At kapag Ber months na, bukod sa mas mahaba na ang gabi at iba na ang simoy ng hangin, nagsisimula ng sumulpot ang mga pagkaing may trademark ng kapaskuhan tulad na lang ng nakikita nyong larawan sa ibaba - ang hindi natin pagsasawaang mga Pinoy na Puto Taktak.

Kain na!

A Family Meal at Kenny Rogers Roasters

We (husband, son and moi) went to the mall a few months ago to buy some school stuff and as usual, a lunch, dinner or snack is in order.  We opted for Kenny Rogers Roasters (my son used to hate it, so it's a bit of a nice change to hear him say aye to Kenny) and decided on ordering their Roast Chicken Group Meal, which is good for four persons and though we're just three, we can take any regular four persons in an eating competition anytime and make them beg for mercy, hahaha.

Our choice of group meal cost Php690 and it comes with whole roast chicken, 4 regular side dishes, 4 servings of rice, 4 muffins and a pitcher of iced tea.  One actually have a number of choices, if and when they settle for a group meal, and with the price and the taste, I say you all should go and try it *smiles*

Whole Roast Chicken

Tita Belle's Birthday Celebration

Tita Belle's __th birthday celebration, it was a simple feast prepared by her lovely children.  We brought the kakanin and shrimp pasta, but that is not the reason why they are on top of the photo list, the blogging platform-blogspot just arranged it like so, no manipulation whatsoever from the blogger, hehe.

My first entry for Food Trip Fiday after a very, very long hibernation.

Note:  Please don't mind the date and time on the pics, the date/time setter of our digicam is all warped out.

Dolor's Kakanin

S & R's Lava Cake

I live miles away from the nearest S & R outlet, so applying as a member do come to mind from time to time but the reasonable and practical part of my brain always win, "what's the point of having a card and being a member if I'll use it as seldom as I exercise, hurhur!", so yours truly remained a non-member after all these years.  But we do get the chance to experience some of the goodies that only S & R offers, through my best friend, through my bro's friend and colleagues, and some other ways I better not tell (choz!, hahaha).

Anyway, photo below was a 6-piece pack of their trademark Lava Cake, it cost less that Php300 (I think), which is very much worth it.

Late Post: Twister Fries

Super late post, I know, but I can't just junk these photos, the chance to grab a bite and have a taste of McDonald's Twister Fries doesn't come that often, so even if this is later than late, I'll still post it *smirk*.

Don't expect any rave reviews or drool-worthy descriptions, I don't do that, I'm too lazy to do that, hahaha!  Besides, it's twister fries, the name says it all.

Despidida sa Balsa

One of the most memorable food trip of my life, I'll always look back and smile remembering this one. This one's supposed to be a send-off dinner for one of our buds who was going to work abroad again, somewhere in Europe I think, but it turned out to be a goodbye dinner which is altogether different from what it was.  It became the last dinner that we can ever share with another friend, a last get-together before she left us.

the menu

Pasalubong from Palawan

My cousin went to Puerto Princesa, Palawan with her entire family last summer, and because she was such a tightwad, well actually, she isn't, she travels a lot and travelling requires a lot of spending and she shops for shoes like crazy which also requires a lot of credit card swiping so no, I formally deduced, just this minute, that she's just barat in buying pasalubong, hehe.

I'm thankful still, imagine, I was able to taste Hopia Ube from the island of Palawan *grins*, I haven't been there so I'll take anything that came from there that is not a keychain, house decor or wind chime, hehe.

Palawan's Baker's Hill Bakeshoppe's Hopia Ube tasted like the usual hopia ube in the market but more milky and light.  AND IT COMES FROM PALAWAN, hahaha!

Late Post: A Taste of Colette's

Coming back from a business trip, vacation or that spur of the moment joyride from Tagaytay, Cavite or Laguna, and you're wondering what to give those colleagues, family and friends who are sure waiting and hawking around like vultures waiting for you to pop out the goodies?  Well, well, fret no more, just head on to Colette's Buko Pie at Pasalubong and grab a box or two or a dozen of their famous Buko Pie and I'm sure you'll be well-loved and welcomed on your return.

Don't ask me for the official price list as I was just one of those waiting-and-hawking-around-like-vultures-kind-of-peep that I mentioned, hurhur!

Late Post: Kakanin Cravings

Late post alert, late post alert! 

Hahaha, I can't and won't even deny how late this post is, a year and a half in the making, can anyone beat that *chuckles*?

My cousin was pregnant during those times and she was always craving for and asking for Dolor's Kakanin, lucky me (sarcastic po ako!), I was the one she's always calling and texting and private messaging in FB and nagging to buy her some and because I am such a dear cousin (and sort of an uto-uto sometimes, hehe), I always do.  Photo below was taken one time I decided to buy myself my own bilao of kakanin, you'll crave for one too if you witnessed her devour those rice cakes.

I usually buy the small bilao worth Php150 and the medium one worth 250 but they do have ones in bigger sizes, you know for bigger family / friendly consumption *wink*.

Pizza Hut Day

On my part of the world, Mother's Day equates to Pizza Hut Day.  It might be different in yours, I do know that the world tends to tilt differently as preferred by our children. 

We were not in the mood to go out so delivery it was.  

Super Supreme

Late Post: Another Party

Almost three months ago, I blogged about my nanay's 1st birthday celebration on her 50th, with a side promise that I'll post the other one sometime this year, well dear friends, that time has come *raising hand in jubilation while saying yahoo!*

We surprised my parents (luckily, they have the same birth month) with a simple celebration at Tita Belle's house, as there are lots of kids in the fam and tita has a pool waiting to be dipped in, we decided on a swimming party, lucky us *grins*.

Relyenong Pusit by Tito Arnel