Cafe Juanita at the Fort
Hubby and I dined for the first time in Cafe Juanita at the Fort a few days ago, after visiting my doctor in St. Luke’s Global City. It has been my wish to dine in this resto because the original location in Pasig was simply inaccessible for me. Am glad they opened in the bustling foodie strip called Burgos Circle in Forbestown Center since last year. (Prior to our visit, the only eatery we’ve tried in Burgos Circle was the Kebab Factory which unfortunately couldn’t compare with the authentic Middle Eastern restaurants in Ermita 
)
The first thing that catches the eye about the cafe is its shabby chic interiors. The decor’s sure to make good conversational pieces. The soft lighting casts a romantic glow which makes the resto a great date place.
But am not about to join those who’ve made rave reviews about the place. In fact, I think it’s a bit overrated, food-wise. I would happily go back there again to try the other dishes though, and for a slice of their heavenly sticky toffee pudding served with a single scoop of vanilla ice cream and lip-smackin’ caramel sauce. It was simply delish!
Catch and shoot Barbara, win a Macbook Pro promo by Veet
Last Thursday, I wrote about this mystery woman we saw in Greenhills which jibed with what I read in two of the leading blogs, byahilo and chuvaness.com. As I had suspected, she’s a real character and her true name is Barbara Cruz.
According to Barbara’s close friend, “she’s real, all right. We’ve known her for some time, but she’s always looked that way no matter how hard we’ve tried to convince her to go with the modern times. She is afraid of change, and insists on clinging to tradition. Her appearance reflects her old-fashioned habits.”
A few weeks after the Barbara sightings, it seems she’s caught the interest of leading depilatory brand Veet which has launched a promo aptly titled Catch and Shoot Barbara. A gadget freak like me would like to join this contest, if only because the top prize at stake is a Macbook Pro, an iPhone 3GS and other exciting prizes.
Bb. Pilipinas 2010 winners chosen; Ma. Venus Raj from Bicol to represent country in Miss Universe
I stayed up late tonight to blog, and caught the last leg of the annual Binibining Pilipinas pageant just in time. Before then, my friend Ojie told me the top title will already go to Candidate No. 11 Krista Kleiner but she turned out to be the Bb. Pilipinas International.
The top plum of the night, Bb. Pilipinas-Universe, went to an unknown – Ma. Venus Raj who stands at five feet nine and is described in her bio to be working as an information assistant for DENR Region 4. She had vital stats to die for though, and I knew what made her win – the 22 inch waistline! phew!
(photo courtesy of Bb. Pilipinas website)
Max’s Restaurant launches new fish dishes
I’ve never hidden the fact that Max’s is one of our favorite Filipino family restaurants. Chicken is my kids’ comfort food, and in our book, nothing beats fried chicken cooked the Max’s way. Well, am sure a lot of Pinoys agree with me – regardless of whether they’re voting for Aquino or Villar
It was a pleasure to be invited by Max’s marketing and test kitchen as they launched new fish dishes just in time for the Lent. Devout Catholics in this part of the world still adhere to a no-meat diet on Fridays during the Lenten Season and the new dishes are ideal. Aside from this, there are simply people like me who prefer eating fish to meat and guess what? Am just glad it’s not another cream dory variation this time!
My vote goes to Max’s Spicy Laing Tilapia because it combines two of my favorite dishes. Two slices of tilapia (P195 per order) are deboned and fried to a golden crisp. Layered between them is a serving of spicy laing (taro leaves) with a topping of coconut cream sauce that is just heavenly and delicious! 
I also couldn’t resist their Salmon Belly Skewers, am sure six pieces on a stick is not enough and you’ll order for more. We’re used to sinigang na salmon belly or ones which are simply pan-fried. Max’s style of grilling the salmon belly and glazing it with a teriyaki-style sauce is a welcome addition.
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Spotted in Greenhills: who is she?
Hubby and I went to Greenhills (’twas his first time there) and while he looked at video games, I spotted a familiar-looking woman. She looked out of place because she was wearing turn-of-the-century costume (think Maria Clara) and had bushy eyebrows that could put Brooke Shields to shame. Then I remembered that she looked familiar because I saw her pic previously in Chuvaness’ blog. Although one can’t help but notice her in the crowd because of her appearance, I couldn’t really bear giving her a lingering look, baka maging kamukha nya baby ko, LOL. So I took one shot of her with the DLSR and off we went.
Manny Villar ad budget to exceed one billion?
Expect happy-go-lucky Pinoys to make fun of the present election campaign merry-go-round. Posted on Twitter and Facebook was somebody’s answer to the ethereal question “who would be the ideal Philippine president: ” ~ somebody with Villar’s $$S, Aquino’s heart, Gibo’s brain, Erap’s appeal, Bro. Eddie’s faith and Gordon’s dick.”
It doesn’t take rocket science to deduce that among all the presidential candidates, Manny Villar is the one spending (and investing) the most on his campaign. A report by global market research company Nielsen showed that for the period October to December alone, Villar’s approximate ad spend already amounted to P543 million. This has ranked him No.14 among the Top 20 national advertisers for the said period. You can just imagine how the Villar camp’s expenditures has gone full-blast since the start of the official campaign season. (Source: adobo magazine)
Adobo points to Villar’s segment buy of “Stop my Hirap” in the popular noontime TV show Eat Bulaga as most pioneering. It’s something that hasn’t been done before by any presidentiable (foremostly because it’s expensive.) The segment is totally in line with Villar’s overall strategy to appeal to the masses, although I can’t quite reconcile how joining a noontime show jibes with the “sipag at tyaga” morals he’s trying to preach.
Gulp your vote to the 2010 elections, 7-Eleven urges
If the cheery folks of 7-Eleven Philippines have their way, the next Philippine president will be determined by the number of Gulp drinks that their customers buy.
Improbable, you might say, but it has actually worked in the US for three consecutive elections, according to Jose Victor Paterno, president & CEO of Philippine Seven Corporation. Indications that Barack Obama will win first showed in the informal poll called 7-Election that 7-11 conducted along with prominent global news networks CNN and USA Today, he added.
The Philippine version of 7-Election works this way: each 2010 presidential candidate is represented by a color-coded cup (for example: yellow for Noynoy, orange for Villar, blue for Gordon, green for Gibo etc.) There are cups for “minor” candidates and the abstaining or “undecided” portion of the populace. The presidentiables are assigned a specific barcode, which 7-Eleven cashiers will scan upon purchase of their Gulp drinks.
Anyway, I do love the colorful cups. I think they’re a nice memorabilia of the coming crazy por crazy elections
1st Philippine International Pyromusical Competition: France vs. Japan
I now work on Sundays and was wondering why there’s been traffic in the Macapagal Boulevard area in Pasay nearing nighttime. It turns out the culprit is the 1st Philippine International Pyromusical Competition ongoing till March 14 at the Mall of Asia grounds. So last Sunday, the whole family decided to just bear with the traffic and watch the fireworks display itself.
VIP tickets with dinner cost P1500 and I presume those who bought these tickets get the best view and best seats. We just decided to hang out in one of the veranda restaurants which were also selling tickets. We were at TGI Friday’s, to be exact, which charged P750 per person of which P500 was consumable (and the garlic chicken primavera I ordered was godawfully unpalatable).
I found out that the spot was far from ideal because the table we were in was blocked by the foliage of trees and this really irritating giant replica bottle of Tanduay in the background. Still, I managed to get these shots using my trusted Lumix LX3
Search for first Filipino flag bearer to FIFA World Cup 2010
Parents with sports-minded kids aged 10-16 years old: here’s one worthwhile thing to do this summer. Create and upload a video answering, “Why I deserve to win the Sony Ericsson Search for the FIFA World Cup™ flag bearer.” The winner will get to proudly carry a FIFA flag live on the pitch in South Africa and get to travel with his/her parent or guardian to the said country, complete with plane fare, pocket money and hotel accommodations.
To qualify, contestants must creatively answer the question in a 30-60 second video through a song, dance or any kind of performance. Interested candidates can submit as many entries as they want. Five finalists will each win the Sony Ericsson Kita, the gesture gaming phone wonder with 5-megapixel camera, photo geo-tagging, Net access, high quality media player and stereo speakers.
Pregnancy massage at Sujivana Spa
Going to spas and getting a massage was the one precious thing I had to give up for the past six months that I’ve been pregnant. It was for the simple reason that none of the regular therapists wanted to touch me. Most of them thought that I was in such a delicate stage to be kneaded and rubbed thoughtfully. One time, I even tried to Google “pregnancy massage in the Philippines” just to know my chances, and a few names came up. I began to understand that this type of massage needs some type of training on those who performed it.
It was probably heaven-sent that we went on a tour of the Westgate Alabang. Here I chanced upon Sujivana Spa which takes pride in their Mama Mia (prenatal) massage. I wasted no time in booking myself for a session. Sujivana Spa is in a complex in Westgate called Serenity Place which I truly found to be an oasis because here, I can have my favorite coffee drink (now limited to only one per day) at BonaCoffee, shop for delightful Indian jewelry at Bohemian Nation Trading Co. and have a pampering pedicure at the Sujivana Salon.
Blogging since 2004 and recently married to Mr Z. I can't live without coffee....and brown sugar.
