UCC Canned Coffee

A few months ago, when I was trying to beat a deadline (and succeeded), my mom bought me some UCC canned coffee to help me through those difficult times. It made me wish I bought these again a few days ago, maybe I wouldn’t have lost to my deadline if I had them.

I don’t remember which one tasted the best, but I remember the white can on the right wasn’t as rich as the others? I like milk coffee, but I prefer more coffee than milk.

I’m currently letting my body rest from all the caffeine, but this caffeine withdrawal is making me sleepy all the time! I think I should start running again… if only the weather would cooperate!

Seven Days of Gratitude: Day 7

Gotta get the last day off of this meme so we can all finally move on, yeah?

1. Tea. Whoever invented instant tea in a bag, thank you. As much as I hate drinking hot beverages in warm weather, I can’t deny how much tea can help in easing off my mood swings.
2. Piano. Also, whoever invented the piano, or any musical instrument for that matter, thank you as well. It’s a good way to get rid of all this negativity I have to face every single day.
3. Iwata Satoru. Nintendo president who recently passed away, thank you for giving me so much fun times in my childhood, and in the office place. Whoever thought Mario Cart with a bunch of nerdy adults would be so much fun? I hope you continue to bring happiness to those around you, wherever you may be.
4. Monty Oum. You will remain an inspiration to me and to many others. You were gone too soon. I wish you happiness wherever you may be.
5. Fly Swatters. Again, another genius invention. If not for you, I would have lost so much sleep over cockroaches in the house.
6. Stars. Because looking up at them makes me remember how small I am and how small my problems actually are.
7. Computers and the Internet. Without them, I’d probably go crazy by now.

Now then, the photo? Those are giant, different flavored Yakults. They have grape, orange, and apple. Yes, they are delicious, and no, I am not sharing. c:

Seven Days of Gratitude: Day 3

I had obviously forgotten all about this meme… I’m not exactly sure why, but it probably has something to do with me forgetting to visit this blog for quite a while now? Maybe?

Anyway, let’s get on with a little life update to match, shall we?

And again, that meme instruction is available here if you’d like to join in~

1. Strawberries. It’s weird how this little fruit can bring so much happiness into my life. It’s my mom’s favorite fruit, and she apparently had cravings for strawberries during each and every one of her pregnancies with us. Probably why everyone here loves strawberries so much?
2. Chocolate-covered berries. A few days ago, I was incredibly pissed at everything and was on an unstoppable rampage. My mom decided to feed me these chocolate-covered blueberries and acai berries, and I somehow got my sanity back. Lol?
3. Mangoes. I’ve been drinking mango shakes for that past few months. I never really appreciated this delicious fruit until recently. What is with me and my fruity cravings?
4. Avocados. My best friend can’t stand them, but here I am, trying to get another avocado seedling to grow. My sisters and I love eating it with condensed milk… sometimes, we’d make a thick shake out of it, and it’s like eating delicious ice cream!
5. Good Conversation. This coming from my sisters and nephew. It’s been an insane couple of days, and these conversations keep my feet on the ground.
6. Music. I can’t imagine drawing without music. Even without an mp3 player, I would be humming in my head while I draw something. It’s literally impossible for me to separate the two.
7. Pillows. Or maybe, more specifically, a warm bed, with fluffy pillows. Dreams are one of the best things in life, unless you dream about a-… wait, no, I don’t even want to recall that nightmare.

Let’s hope I don’t forget this tomorrow, yes? Oh, and the photo is a bunch of strawberry desserts I had in Baguio. I’ll talk about some of the food from the trip another time.

Seven Days of Gratitude: Day 1

I got tagged by Honey Den on Facebook, so I thought I might as well post this here since it’s a good way to remind myself that there’s always something to be thankful for.

If you have the free time, please do this. It can be a pretty therapeutic activity. Reminds you how lucky you are and how beautiful life is.

The challenge is to post 7 things you are thankful for in 7 days. Tagging 7 people each day, a total of 49 people in the process. Hope you have a great time remembering things you are grateful of.

1. Very Little Floods. Although there was a lot of heavy rain and flooding today, our house managed to stay fairly dry. There was a bit of flood water in the kitchen and some parts of the house, but we weren’t flooded in for very long.
2. Electricity and Water. We lost power for a few hours earlier today, but it’s great that everything seems to be back to normal now. Before, we didn’t have power for nearly 2 days, and that meant no showers or flush water!
3. Galette’s Strawberry and Pistachio Cream Cake(?) (in photo). This delicious piece of dessert has become somewhat of a tradition for us. During Holy Week, we usually head to Sofitel for some afternoon snacks. This is my mo’s and sister’s favorite dessert.
4. Drawing. No matter how much I struggle with deadlines, drawing relaxes me and makes me very happy (even though it makes me really sleepy too!).
5. The Morning After (radio show). I work late. A lot. This radio program keeps me company during those times. I like getting greeted by Alven on air, even if there’s hardly anyone else awake to hear it.
6. The Morning Rush (radio show). This comes right after TMA, but I’m usually too tired to listen to it, so I usually grab the podcast. But this one morning in September, I got greeted, and Chico even said that being a Pinoy Manga Artist was cool.
7. Cold Weather. Air-conditioning and me don’t mix very well, so I sleep with a fan under any weather. So, right after a storm, when there’s no more rain, the cold air gives me a restful sleep and many sweet dreams.

I’ll tag a few people, but probably not all 49… Please try this exercise! It feels amazing~ and I want to go on and on and on~~

Same Mascot?

I thought this was kinda strange, so I took a photo of it…

The one on the right is your typical, Royal Tru-Orange litro that you can buy practically anywhere in the Philippines. The one on the left is a bottle of Fanta orange a friend of mine gave me as a gift from his trip to Japan (this was long before I stopped drinking soda last January, so I use the Fanta bottle as a water bottle nowadays).

Is she supposed to be some kind of game mascot? The two girls look very similar, except for the skirt. I’m pretty sure Fanta and Royal are two different companies, aren’t they?

Just a little curious, that’s all…

Zhu Kitchen’s Taho

Most of you probably know how much I love taho~! I’ve blogged about this delicious snack in the past, but I may have found one of the best versions I’ve ever come across~

Zhu Kitchen opened at Z Mall which is quite close to us, so my family and I have been their frequent visitor~ Sometimes we would have dinner there, but usually, we’d stop by for this tasty treat. Their taho is one of the smoothest ones out there and the arnibal is not that sweet, so it’s easy to get addicted and ask for second servings!

I should remember to take Misaki-taichou there the next time she’s in Manila… We might finish the whole order by ourselves, haha!

iHop!

For my birthday this year, I took my family out to iHop in Taguig. We’ve been there a few times before, and my mom really likes it there! I have to admit though, I went a little over budget on this feast, but I guess I only turn 30 once in a lifetime!

Their breakfast selection is pretty amazing! You can requested to have your waffles toasted extra crispy, and have the eggs anyway you want. And don’t let their looks fool you, those bacons are quite crispy!

I was a little disappointed with the country fried steak though. I may be a bit biased, but I think I’ve had better. It’s not bad per say, but it may need a tad more seasoning next time.

Surprisingly, this is my favorite – broccoli and cheese omelet. Talk about eating healthy! But seriously, it’s absolutely heavenly! The broccoli was crisp but not hard, and tasted so fresh! I didn’t know something so simple could taste so good!

This is only a forth of the entire order though, haha! We were too excited to take photos before eating it!

And this would be the deal breaker. Splash Berry is made with orange juice, frozen strawberries, and sprite.

Looks like I broke my New Year’s resolution again. But it’s was kinda worth it! I really love orange juice, and this combination is pretty awesome!

It was a great birthday celebration, despite the soda guilty pleasure. I also found it strange that, even though there were four different syrups to choose from, I always went for the old-fashioned maple syrup with my waffles.

Saboten – Japanese Tonkatsu

On my brother’s birthday last year, he treated us to this restaurant somewhere in Eastwood. I thought the name sounded funny, but hey, when there’s free food, who’s to complain?

My first impression was that of “Mind Blown” variety. The interior was absolutely breath-taking! I rarely take photos of the interior of the restaurant, but the way they added different patterns to the walls and ceiling made me wish I had thought of that for my room!

Normally, in any of my food posts, I never talk about the salad. I’m not much of a veggie eater, I prefer the meaty proteins, but this? That dressing they have is pure genius, ok? I’m not sure if it’s sesame vinaigrette or a really well-seasoned thousand island dressing, but that is one amazing salad! Simple, clean, and very addicting! I ate two bowls of salad, and that is just weird.

And now the main event! Saboten is said to be known for their tonkatsu (fried pork cutlets) and wow, was I ever surprised! The meat may be thick, but it was super tender and the breading is also absolute heaven! Why, you ask? Because the breading is crunchy but soft at the same time!

You know how some fried food tend to have hard breading that scratch the roof of your mouth? This is nothing like that, yet it’s still crispy! You gotta try it!

Oh, and they give you your own sesame seeds to crush up and add to your own tonkatsu sauce too, which I found really amusing… not to mention delicious! And their ebi furai (fried shrimp)uses the same breading as their tonkatsu so it’s just as good! (Or maybe the tonkatsu is still better?)

Overall very delicious, albeit a bit on the pricey range, but hey, according to a friend of ours, this place can compete with the many tonkatsu places in Japan. When you put it that way, a trip to Japan would be more expensive than eating here, so I say, it’s money well spent!

King Chef - not exactly “kingly” anymore…

There’s this restaurant near our place known as “King Chef” that my family and I enjoyed ever since it opened. The dim sum there was one of the best in Manila and the asado siopao was absolutely delectable that my brother and I used to eat 2-3 paos each.

Note the past tense. Because the quality has gone down significantly since it opened.

Nowadays, my family enjoys other places more than King Chef. Since it’s on the pricier side, if we don’t really like it very much, then we’re not willing to pay for it. I’m not sure what’s wrong exactly, but I do remember the siomai having actual shrimp in it back then. The asado tastes different too… and I’d much rather have the asado in Wai Ying than King Chef now. At least the fried shrimp dumplings are still ok?

I’m kinda sad… I really loved that place. I wish their quality would go back up again since they’ve already opened a second location in Manila. C’est la vie~

Seven Corners – Crowne Plaza Hotel

When my sister came over to visit us from Canada, my Dad decided to treat everyone to Seven Corners at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. We were going to the Chinese restaurant upstairs, but they were having some technical difficulties… Literally.

I’m not a huge fan of eat-all-you-can buffets, so I only had one plate of food:

That, my friends, is a beautiful slice of rib eye steak, cooked medium-well, smothered in gravy with a side of mash potatoes. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it! Everything else on the menu pretty much paled in comparison, and I would have gotten a second plate if I wasn’t on a diet.

Price-wise though, I think it’s a little too expensive. Unless you can eat a lot, and I can’t. The desserts were not really all that great either, so I’d much rather go to something less expensive like Tong Yang.

Mm… Tong Yang…

Yoshinoya~

When I was still young, I always looked forward to Sundays. Not only do we get to go to the mall, but I also got to pick the place where we would have lunch. Much to my sister’s amused annoyance, I would almost always go for one place: Yoshinoya.

I’ve always been a fan of their Gyudon Beef Bowl. I think they were more commonly as L.A. Beef Bowl before they closed down. I remember how they only had 3 selections at the time, which was beef, chicken, or a combination of both.

I’ve recently taken a liking to their chicken, especially when my nephew told me to try adding a little chili powder to the dish. I was completely sold! Now, the sumo meal is my favorite, but it does ruin my diet, so I don't have it often~

I guess you wouldn’t be surprised if I told you that I’ve tried Yoshinoya in Hong Kong and Taiwan, right? They’re pretty much the same, but if you like having vegetables with your meal, the Hong Kong’s gyudon bowl has carrots, corn, and string beans with it the last time I was there.

However! If you’re ever in Taiwan, you have to try their pork bowl. It’s like the beef gyudon, but it’s pork, and pork means bacon, and everything is so much better with bacon.

Now I’m hungry.

Teaberi ♥

I’ve been going tea crazy lately… probably because it’s still so hot in the Philippines even if it is December already! I’d usually grab a soda, but since I’m on a health kick, I’ve replaces most of my soda with tea.

This is probably my favorite among all the tea places out there. Teaberi’s green tea with honey is excellent with their grass jelly. I’d suggest that you only get 50% sugar with this drink, but I don’t have much of a sweet tooth to begin with. The jelly itself has some syrup on it, so 50% is pretty much all the sweetness I can take.

Their peach tea is also not bad, but I think this is more fragrant that the peach. I also haven’t tried their milk teas yet, but I think I may have gotten over the whole milk tea fad… Clear teas are less on my guilty conscience too! Especially the ones I brew myself~ Ehehe~

Anyone else who are addicted to teas out there? Suggest some new places for me please~

Hong Kong Food!!!

A dear friend was returning from a business trip in Hong Kong and asked what I’d like him to get for me. When I told him I wanted the Beef Curry from Cafe de Coral, I didn’t expect him to bring me home…

…this much food!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining! The white chicken (clear plastic container on the lower right) is not really one of my favorite foods, but my mom really enjoyed it. Of course, who can complain about barbeque pastries (white bowl on the upper left), chicken pot pie from a famous bakery (plastic wrapping on the upper right), and a delicious Hong Kong style egg tart (hiding behind my beef curry)?!

The beef curry was still as good as I remembered it~ Highly recommended unless you don’t like spicy food, but there’s always dong naicha (cold milk tea) available to cool you down. I’m definitely carbo-loading, but who cares about the stupid diet when you have this much delicious food in front of you?!

And that’s not all either! Here’s something Bong might be interested in:

These are the weirdest if not cutest looking Coke in cans that I’ve ever seen! I asked him to buy a can to bring home since I told him that cokes from different countries taste differently, but I never expected to see them canned in these designs!

I kept the empty can of the slimmer coke while my brother kept the rest. I haven’t tried the blue KitKat, Cookies and Cream yet, but the caramel one was a little too sticky for me. I don’t like candy that sticks to my teeth when I chew it… it’s bad for you!

I need to get back to my running… These pictures just made me feel a wee bit guiltier about being too sick to go out for a jog. Where are those running shoes???