Category Archives: food trip

art & design, filmmaking, food trip, laundry therapy, movies, musings

cold onion rings, alice in gateway and a p300 masssage

yesterday we went to gateway for dinner and a movie. burgoo was a huge disappointment. tim burton’s alice in wonderland could have been more wonderful. i reckon it could have been lord of the rings-ish but the screenwriting didnt soar as much despite the multilayered original material. good thing the massage we had afterwards was beyond expectations 🙂 always welcome after days of shoot.

our search for food led us past the burgoo restaurant in gateway and we were enticed by a photo of its shrimp and rib platter. we also ordered soup and an appetizer. the food was cold, dry and utterly disappointing. wasting good food would be sacrilegious but this was not in any way good. and despite being very expensive, we ate about 40% only and left the rest behind. it was rather heartbreaking (heartbreakingly expensive!) and frustrating, and we didnt even have the energy to bring this up with the management. apparently there are other accounts by friends who’ve had the same experience with burgoo restaurants. how can management continue with this kind of service? and the waiter had disturbingly pink lipstick on. i had nightmares afterwards. carlo also writes about this experience in his blog.

with a heavy heart, we trudged to the cinemas on the top floor.  in a nutshell, depp’s performance was wonderful and i loved helena’s red queen. anne hathaway drowned in her plum lipstick and white hair. mia’s alice was a wonderful look, and the fashion was gorgeous. but the movie didnt have to be in 3d i think. tim burton is known to weave fantastic tales and paint gorgeous landscapes but when it was time to recreate an insane world and make it his home, this movie came as a letdown. the plot was too thin for such a crazy world. depp’s mad hatter was a surprise. beneath the layers of makeup and silk, he showed human emotion that transcended his character from being just a 2-dimensional cartoon to a living breathing creature. i miss the pink fur of disney’s cheshire cat but this version’s blue eyed wonder fascinates. this is this decade’s Hook and just like the spielberg pan, this confused and divided its audience.

after days of preparation and shoot, carlo and i sought to get a massage. after the movie, we headed for the one near his office in kamuning. an hour and a half later, we were renewed and ready to farm peas, white mellons and zombies again. love it ! cheers and have a good day.

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2008 birthday part 2

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just arrived from mindanao. brought over from cdo a lechon, 1kl of tuna jaw (panga) and 750 grams of tuna for kinilaw (including cdo’s famous tabon tabon). also brought bread hubs’ cinnamon rolls and sler’s chicharon. carlo prepared the now famous silofen cafe tuna pasta (dami kasi ngtanong sa recipe afterwards), garlic potatoes in butter, cheesecake and the crowd favorite all-around cheese sauce. people brought over 3 bottles of wine and 3 different kinds of cake. all for the late bday celeb of ben (june28) and early celeb of carlo (july13). yey!

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thanks ronnie janice kitty jhem grace jun gian jonas rupher stan paul tovic tacox joven (absent ang cuzins ej jade miel tricie). next year, kung masmalaki budget maybe we can invite over more people for the celebration 😀 yey –>

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food trip, musings

2008 birthday part 2

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despedida of tita penny and tito ramon, after enjoying a week long stay in cagayan. the dinner turned out to be a mini reunion as the seniors were in attendance. daddy ongcs and mommy lolet. tito ne and tita baby. tita leone. the bulans, esguerras, tongcos, padero rer and velez, mai mai and son paolo, johnmark, mike and zeny, dodjie and krystal (christian), katrina, and kirby with boyfriend and baby andre, ta edna borja.

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food trip, musings

dinner at mamati july 4 2008

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food trip, musings

2008 birthday part 1

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birthday dinner at mamati’s house velez cagayan de oro city mindanao philippines milky way universe. less food than the previous cdo birthday but no less exciting. and with more photos! this SAME SET of photos appears on multiply for the 4th time (1st time was by cuzin may, 2nd time by cuzin pating, 3rd time byu cuzin ej). but that doesnt stop me from posting it yet again hehehe cheers to you all! thanks for a great year and a great time!

update: so there’s no more link because multiply is no more. lol it’s 2018.

 

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food trip

trip to lunch 3: smairu

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found another great japanese fast food place! by serendipity carlo and i stumbled upon smairu in the food court area of trinoma in quezon city. the stall was interestingly laid out and their menu featured typical japanese fare but it’s less expensive than kitaro, so that’s a good thing. i didnt think dilis flakes would go well with a chopped cabbage with mayo salad but it did. the teriyaki sauce had more body and went well with the nicely grilled chicken. their bento boxes came with miso soup already and 3 pieces of sashimi. perfect! carlo had his usual tempura and that was great too. so what happens now is that we go to trinoma just to eat at smairu haha. the theaters (which are awesome) are now just a 2nd reason to go

then we went to watch stardust. coolness.

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food trip

trip to lunch 2: khas food house

had a blast yesterday eating out at UP. carlo and i met up with jopay my wardrobe mistress over at her place behind the university hotel. before that we decided to eat lunch at khas food house, persian food specialty resto.

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back when i was at the height of my involvement with the church, we (the upcym) frequented khas and i had my hearty fill of either keema with squid (sweet-spicy ground beef with squid) or beef garlic (sauteed spicy beef with garlic and shredded cabbage over rice). on occasion i would order ox-brain with ground beef, llong dan mong (sinigang style spicy soup with seafood), zetheska (pita bread wrapped ground beef with curry) or “that-is-not-what-you-think” (which delivers the unexpected, but with great results). as a student my budget for lunch would only allow me a p50 meal with a glass of water. if we got too lazy to go to rodics for my indulgence of baconsi (special order super crispy bacon with 2-3 cups of rice), we headed for khas.

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so yesterday we invaded khas and despite a few additions (like clear plastic rainproofing and tiled tables with lazy susans), the place practically stayed the same, from the cartolina marker-lettered menu wrapped in clear plastic, the flies in the area, the “off-the-menu” chalk board down to the wonderful waitresses and cook. it’s been years since i greeted the waitresses a cheery “good afternoon, beautiful” in bisaya, and this time was no exception.

impressed by the new full-color menu with photographs, we first called for samosas (stuffed pastry of baked potatoes, curry and other spices, served with a garlic dip) for appetizer. i then proceeded to order the classic keema with squid. carlo ordered the jambalaya (surprisingly a huge serving of spicy rice with veggies, squid and chicken, served with pureed tomatoes and spices, a serving of curry paste, token slice of cucumber and tomato, and a bowl of minty soup). i then had a nice glass of carrot shake, carlo got the fresh yoghurt chiller.

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the jambalaya was a real revelation for us both, with carlo sweating like mad because of all the chili. the keema used to be served with chopped chili. now they prepare it with ground sili and made it so much better. i dont think ive really experienced khas until now. i feel like ive missed out on the greater food experience they had to offer mainly due to my previous student budget limitation. there are other wonderful items on the menu i havent explored. that means i have to come back for more!

it took us a while to recover from the heady encounter. good thing we ordered the blended ice drinks as not only did they cool down our tongues, but both the carrot and yoghurt neutralized the spice in our tastebuds. i stopped to ask myself why i dont sweat when eating chili compared to carlo. me thinks there is more to my almost persian looks than i know. hehe

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i had to text some of my upcym barkada that i had trekked back to one of our eating places in UP, and that i missed their company as well. before carlo and i left we posed to have our pictures taken with the long-time waitress and cook of khas. as always, with any place it’s not only the food that makes the resto but also its people. this nostalgic journey did not disappoint, and has only opened more opportunities to seek and enjoy a more colorful, spicy life with food and people. cheers!

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food trip, musings

trip to lunch 1

because we’re both so busy working on costumes for univ of makati’s kahapon ngayon at bukas, the idea of cooking is taxing enough and a waste of precious time from crocheting yards of straw into collar pieces and grass skirts. so normally carlo and i would frequent outdoor katipunan (as suppose to eating in) in search of glorious food.

the default choices for places to eat is a categorized lot. you want japanese? kitaro is the place to be. how about meat ergo sisig? rice trucks at the overpass area in between miriam and ateneo. dessert? xocolat. caffeine fix? seattle’s best. go cheap? buy from the eatery next door and eat in.

kitaro katipunan has become a favorite tho, more than teriyaki boy which locates itself right outside the row apartments we live in. the usual order would be chicken teriyaki for me and mixed tempura for carlo. on occasion we order sashimi. service is good and food is more than ok. it’s become home. haha

rice trucks is also another favorite sisig place. the generous share of chicaron does make their dish more than ordinary. and the lady behind the counter is bisaya. she knows my rice is served separately from the hot plate. and the c2 must have ice.

the neighboring sisig house is fantastic, great sisig there but afterwards you get a head trip from too much cholesterol. their sisig is pretty rich, chopped skin, ears and stuff, globs of liver and brain, real skin chicaron and a whole lot of other fatty oily food matter! masarap pero mamamatay ka ! bakit nga ba lahat ng bawal masarap?

xocolat’s homey ambience is a real come-on for us. and their dessert (brownies original sin, adult, peanut butter chuvas) is to die for! tried the hot chocolate drink and it seemed i had to spoon the drink instead of drink it because it was so rich.

im a sucker for cheesecakes now but good ones are hard to find in katipunan tho. so far there’s only bo’s coffee house (red ribbon cheesecakes isnt all that great and ive yet to try sweet inspi’s offer). and theyre pretty good but p125 is pretty steep even for its big slice.

more on katipunan fare when i get hungry again. time to get back to work. cheers and bon appetit!

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filmmaking, food trip, musings

it’s very late now, it’s almost morning (that makes it very early also) and im still up and about. i was just working on the revisions in the screenplay of the short film my group and i are doing. it’s been a pretty exciting weekend. i remember when i was just whining to my friend ces about pen medina not being able to text back. by friday last week, i received a text from my professor that ricky davao has called him to say that yes, he’d like to work in our film! i was alone in the jeepney that afternoon and so i let out a huge hurrah (more of a wooh!). unfortunately chaka kaayu akong fone na gigamit wala koy text out capabilities (i could only receive text). so i couldnt share the news, and not until i got to the college of mass communications where i met old classmate berns that i could relieve myself of this news. we believe it’s a great opportunity to be working with a real actor, and it’s such a blessing that we actually got him (or he got us). God is good. a few hours later i was texting my friends gem ron macb ces and faisal, and my family tatay, mamati, ta an, toots, ta tems. it’s just fun, and i was so excited about it that i almost got into a fever! talk about pure excitement! anyhow im fine now, and quite adjusted. im actually tense that im still dealing with jaclyn jose’s manager. she has yet to read the script and make a decision. i will be contacting the manager again later at noon. i hope and pray she says yes too. that would be really really incredible.

last saturday ta tems, toots, ej and i met up in megamall to dine with tito momie who is about to leave for indonesia later in the morning (this 4am thing is confusing, it’s already the next day but im still last night mode, you get me?). we ate at saisaki, a japanese restaurant and our first time to deal with quasi-authentic japanese cuisine. my first run down the eat-all-you-can banquet was pretty safe, i took breaded meat and some fried rice. later i tried the raw fish and wasabe, sushi, maki, etc. it was pretty good and deceiving as well. i never though fish could get that heavy! after dinner we walked (thank God) out of megamall and had coffee at seattle’s best. after a really heavy dinner, it’s such a nice feeling to cap everything off with coffee (although im not a coffee drinker). then it’s walking time again to tito momie’s hotel where we checked out his new laptop (ibm thinkpad). had some pics taken and then it was homeward bound for us. God bless, tito moms on your trip! and yes, ill do your laundry. give me two days, three perhaps to do everything. ciao! =)

ps. got news pics of lucas maximus but i will be posting them as soon as i can afford the time. peace! in the meantime check out the old pics again, click mi familia!

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food trip, musings

today had been a good day. despite the intense heat i really had a great time. around 10 in the morning faisal alih came by the house and we went out to brother’s burger to eat their coño burgers. my friends from FA came to the house to resume work on the book we currently want to get off our hands. we did much today, and the book’s almost done except that we dont have money to have it printed. anyhow that didnt dampen my spirit today although it was still something we thought about the whole day. in the afternoon tootsie came home after getting her yearbook (she’s graduating earlier than i am — sigh) and we had a fun time looking through really great creative poses and okra-izing the really crappy ones too.

i left the house at 6 to meet up with pk and ronnie and we had a short meeting of sorts at the church. although before i left the house i cooked dinner pk, ron, and i went out to eat. butch later followed at the khas food stop where we ate. i had keema with chicken (they ran out of squid) and three cups of rice. then when we were heading for home and i was about to queue in for the katipunan jeep gemini texted me obviously wanting companionship for a lonely friday night. ron had to go to his frat’s party so gem was my date tonight. we went to gayuma and had coffee. i “unburdened” to gem all my travails in the past two weeks of work and play. later on ron caught up with us as we left the cafe. we hung out at the expresso in the strip (bad bad benjamin) and heard an earful from ronnie about my career options. now im home again, tired but still working. and still hungry. however i have to work on this graphic novel project. nevertheless im taking this break to “unburden” my baggage for tonight so that tomorrow i can fully enjoy life’s new blessings.

gracias ginoo

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