I presume Angeles City has such a rep among the males by virtue of word of mouth and what they read in the forums. I was here this week and the trusty pedicab I rode in drove through the city’s (in)famous bar strip in Fields Avenue where some joints were indeed open 24/7.

However, it’s an unfair accusation to just associate Angeles City with ‘ affordable girls’ and sleazy entertainment. I really like the food here…and I don’t mean the carnal kind The place was after all one of the sites of our forget-your-diet, ultimate food trip way back in ‘06.

This time around, I made sure to try the much-acclaimed C’ Italian Dining along Don Juico Avenue (also known as the Friendship Highway.) My first attempt to visit this resto during Christmas ‘07 was a failure because the place was closed. And my first impression now was that it looked like an enoteca due to the bar with all those bottles of wine that greeted guests upon entering. And of course those plates on the wall signed by satisfied guests.

Verdict: C’Italian deserves the accolades, even though it was a bit on the expensive side. Service was efficient and the food was very good. You should have a reason to go here though, like a date or a milestone celebration or simply be someone like me who’d like to know what the hype was all about.:D

The receptionist at the hotel recommended their panizza (P595), a cross between panini and pizza, which was the house specialty. It was a big square thin crust pizza with five cheeses which you had to top with alfalfa sprouts and fresh arugula leaves (served separately.) Only then can you roll it like shawarma. The fact that the pizza was thin and crusty enough made it perfect for biting. This, plus the order of spaghetti frutti di mare (570) , made it a very heavy meal. As a starter, the resto also serves their signature bread with salsa verde (green sauce) in olive oil. I could not wait to try their other specialties, if only the place was nearer. Fine dining all the way!

19 Copung Copung Grill along MacArthur Highway (near the grand-looking casino) was also another excellent resto we tried. The name is quite catchy.. I don’t know what the name means for Kapampangans, but Kopong Kopong over here sure refers to something that’s from a bygone era. Anyhoo, the resto serves the culinary specialties of Pampanga like sisig, adobong itik and others too exotic to write about. The waitresses are even garbed in their native Filipino costumes. A great place to drink beer, eat and hang out – the Pinoy way.

Last but unfortunately the least was my rather forgettable lunch at the VFW Canteen which I raved about in a previous post. This barbecue beef sandwich sure looked awesome on the outside, but was rather disappointing on the inside. The barbecue was sauce was too strong and sour for my taste. At P195, I would have been better off ordering the lunch specials, like the sirloin steak with mashed potato.

VFW Post 2485 Canteen is quite known for its huge American-size servings, for obvious reasons. VFW stands for Veterans of Foreign Wars. But it was quite a letdown to know they’ve scrapped a few of the choices from the menu, like the Reuben Sandwich and the S.O.S (Sh*t on Shingle). Don’t know what else is in store for this VFW. Like the veterans of war, it looks old and beaten.

The first sensible thing to do is to visit the Korean grocery. Most of the ingredients just can’t be found anywhere. Am lucky that I work in the tourist district of Ermita because there are a lot of stores here. I found out too that there are a lot of quality shops in Paranaque, but that’s for another post:D

Easily, the most common perception is that Korean food is uber-spicy – which is true in some aspects. But the popular bulgogi certainly is not. And so is this luscious piece of steak which is my own version of beef kalbi (or galbi). The beef ribs that was supposed to be used for this dish was at an astronomical P800 per kilo, so I substituted with T-bone steak instead. The meat was marinated overnight in cooking wine and other ingredients, then topped with crushed Korean pear for greater tenderness and flavor. The result was a T-bone Kalbi that was bordering on deliciously salty and sweet. It definitely made our Sunday lunch a mouth-watering one!

Kimchi chigae is another popular Korean dish. I even like the one where they put slices of Spam in it. This one I made uses canned tuna, and the oil or brine is even added to the soup to give it even more flavor. For this dish, you need kimchi (of course), slices of soft tofu, the broth from the kimchi, red pepper powder and several more slices of pepper. When you want an alternative to healthy eating, this is it. Caution: uber-hot!!!!

This kimchi ramen might as well be my comfort food for the rainy season. Nothing like spicy soup to beat the doldrums that usually goes with foul weather. This is easy to make too. Just buy a pack of instant Korean noodles (like the Nong Shim Brand), add kimchi and the flavorings that go with the noodle pack to boiling water, then top with egg, green onion and nori or dried seaweed, if desired

If you’re a noodle lover like me, the chapchae should be a welcome addition to the noodle varieties you’re already enjoying. I like this one because it tastes different from the Chinese or Filipino pancit we are accustomed to. You can add beef, but if you want to be more vegetarian, the spinach, mushrooms and sweet pepper should do just fine. Like other Korean dishes, this one also borders on salty and sweet because a little salt and sugar are added to the mix. Chap chae is love <3

I will try to make a part 2 of this Korean cooking series. Of course, I will try to post the recipes in my other food blog. The only problem is, I haven’t updated that blog in ages The gist of the matter is that Korean cookery is fairly easy and tasty too. No need to spend a lot of money too since you can enjoy it at home. You just probably have to labor in the kitchen for their banchan or assortment of appetizers. Even then, good ol’ kimchi will do

Jal-meok-kket-sseum-ni-da!

I still have to personally meet Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao, but I was certainly glad to mingle face-to-face with Paeng Nepomuceno who, in his heyday, brought pride to the country by being a World Bowling Champion SIX TIMES. Still lithe and limber at 52, Paeng is pushing for a different advocacy. he’s now working to include bowling as an Olympic sport, starting with the 2012 London Olympics.

“Bowling is truly an Olympic sport. It entails mental and physical precision, superior hand-eye coordination, unwavering muscle memory and tremendous stamina and endurance,” says he.

We were able to catch up with the great bowler at the family-owned Paeng’s Midtown Bowl in Robinsons Manila and he was game enough to answer some questions about his present lifestyle.

What keeps him strong and healthy at 52: ” I observe a year-round physical regimen that consists of going to the gym in the morning. On the second day, I go cycling and swimming. On the third day I rest, or practice bowling. I always take Nutrilite dietary supplement. I believe in this product, that’s why I agreed to be their brand ambassador. Their vitamins are all organic and grown in their own facility.

What his diet is like : “I try to avoid fatty, fried food. Mostly, I eat rice, veggies, chicken and fish, but not fried. Iwas din sa sweets.”

What his interests are, apart from bowling: “I go swimming and cycling. Either road bikes or mountain bikes. I consider myself a family man and spend a lot of time with my kids. Of course I keep myself busy with the family business.We have five branches of our bowling centers. I am also the International Ambassador of the United States Bowling Congress and I go around the globe to train and certify bowling coaches.”

Oh yeah, walang kupas si Paeng Nepomuceno!:D

I have to admit it was the husband who introduced me to online shopping. Because we’re apart, we’ve gotten into the habit of sending gifts to each other (okay, he’s better at it than me, hehe). It was here that I discovered the numerous websites existing solely for the purpose of selling through the internet. For example, when I want to ogle at new tees, I go to Threadless even though I already have a closet full of ‘em. They have an active online community where artists can submit their designs and members can rate ‘em. If you’re a t-shirt lover, there’s always something new to admire each time.

While buying and selling through Ebay, Multiply and Sulit.com is popular in the Philippines, efficiency of service is still an art to be perfected here. Hubby, for example uses a local site called Makulay.com to send us fastfood like Chow King and Jollibee from time to time, but the food always turns out soggy and cold. It makes me think that they should stick with boxed chocolates, flowers and stuffed toys, instead of perishables. Uh huh.

One should be wary of transacting through Ebay as well, after an officemate paid much for a Lacoste bag which turned out to be fake. Probably her fault for not being too discerning. As I found out, overseas companies are generally more reliable. For instance, our wedding rings – ordered from Tiffany New York – arrived safe and sound via US Mail. So were our Macs and Bike Friday bikes.

The beauty of online shopping (at least overseas) is that you don’t have to be physically present to buy even those high-ticket items. Because their online reputations are at stake and have been built over time,web-based companies are ever so careful of bungling things. That’s why they always strive to be prompt, reliable and efficient, otherwise there would be no repeat customers

When it comes to shopping online for all sorts of products, Amazon leads the pack. It is up there, in terms of name recall. Their items are so diverse that the only thing missing is a house and lot, LOL. The prices are affordable too and families and friends have always ordered from their extensive catalogue of movies and books. Their wireless reading device called Kindle is highly-praised by geeks from all over, as well.

Now, what am I driving at in this post? Because I’ve just opened my own Amazon e-store! Please go take a look! Over the weekend, I’ve had so much fun adding my favorite items, so you might as well say the things for sale were handpicked by me. I’d have to say getting busy with the store beats playing Farmtown or Restaurant City, and I’ll make sure to update the product list from time to time.

The e-store is actually the result of an e-commerce seminar I took under Ms. Janette Toral who taught us how to go about the whole thing. It has been on my list of things to do, and am glad I finished it. Being an affiliate is still something I have to try and I really don’t expect to earn much, if at all. But since the whole WWW space is free anyways, there’s no harm in trying to add another extra button which you can find in the topmost portion of this blog.

Of course, the online store is just a prelude to the fab online shopping site I am going to introduce soon, so do watch out for it

Brothers has become a byword because its charbroiled juicy, beefy meat is what we’d expect a burger should taste like, not unlike some deflated, soggy varieties in the market.

This kinda reminds me of a new burger joint I hang out over the weekend.

The Creaminal “cream cheese” burger at Heavy D’s Stuffed Burgers and Steaks along President Avenue, BF Homes Paranaque (P135 for a piece o’ hockey puck, with fries and iced tea.)

I do remember they have funny names for their stuff, and I’d have to dig their menu to find out. They also have the Burger Pounder Challenge where if you finish the whole thing, you don’t pay for the burger, and get a t-shirt for free. Look at the ‘contestants’ on the wall.

What’s even more interesting is that Heavy D’s is owned and maintained by five twenty-something guys. I promise to come back again to try more of their food and if only because this corner supports Filipino entrepreneurs whenever, wherever

Cellphone reloading is really the easiest sideline business to think of. There are countless load retailers around, from stand-alone types to those added as a supplementary service to existing businesses. I’ve already been thinking of going into this, but quite frown at the thought of buying separate retailer SIMs for Globe, Smart and Sun, the Philippines leading cellular networks.

Thankfully, I was at the Manila Food and Beverage Expo (MAFBEX) yesterday and chanced upon the booth of D-loads – a pioneering e-loading service which can send load to a full array of networks from a single SIM. D-loads can service Globe, Smart, Sun, internet prepaid cards, landline prepaid, online games like Ragnarok, TANTRA and the rest of them.

I bought their initial kit for P300 which treated me to a Globe SIM card, a Smart pillow giveaway, a tarpaulin announcing the load dealership and initial P100 load. We also got to test their system by sending load to my other phone. The inputting of PINs,codes and commands is quite confusing at first, but I figure that is just at the start. It will be easy when you or your staff get a hang of the system.

I just foresee the hassle of depositing in their accounts with BDO, Metro Bank and Landbank which is what load dealers have to do when they want to increase their funds. Their customer service is still one thing I still have to try too although they did list a hotline and a website.

Replenishing your account with P3000 entitles one to become a dealer and getting a minimum of 10 downline retailers entitles you to more income opportunities. So this should be good.

If you have experiences to share in the cellphone loading business, please share them here

First is this trio of chocolate packages from blog reader-turned-friend Marissa, who is based in the outskirts of Zurich, Switzerland. One brand is familiar, Lindt, while the other is called Cocktailbar and are shaped like liquor bottles. Most of all, they contain real shots of alcohol! The Lindt was delicately packed itself in pink with the most attractive feminine graphics – so Paris Hilton Tasting the savory pralines was another matter. We simply couldn’t have enough of it.

I figure that chocolate-making itself is an art. Before these confectioneries become desirable, they must first become presentable, right? Coming up with nibbles like those in the picture above requires special molds and the most exacting process. According to Wikipedia, Switzerland (which is famous for Toblerone) has the highest rate of chocolate consumption in the world.

The husband, on the other hand, sent us a box of Leonidas Chocolates, like he was wont to do during our courtship days. I love Leonidas! It’s one of the first Belgian brands to hit the Philippine shores, even before local makers started fashioning out their own, and labelled them Belgian chocolates too (or haven’t you noticed?)

An interesting factoid: there are more than 2,000 chocolate shops in Belgium, making the country a must-visit for those with a sweet tooth. Am certainly lucky to have gone there

Now, you just have to decide which of them you like better. Swiss or Belgian Chocolates? Both of them are certainly good!

For example, how does DTI Secretary Peter Favila and his staff explain the more than one month wait in the approval of business names? I am asking this because the DTI even goes to the extremes of spending millions for advertising their Business Name Registration Service (DTI BNRS is supposedly a frontline service for the registry of sole proprietorships). The last time, I saw their half-page ads in the Inquirer.

More than one month of waiting for government approval of a business name is just inexcusable. It certainly doesn’t speak of the prompt delivery of service and efficiency of the DTI. My fellow applicants and I have been in touch through cellphone and they told me that they haven’t received their certificates from DTI as well. We applied on the second week of May. DTI BNRS promised to process our applications in two weeks, and they were supposed to mail our papers to us.

Another question that begs to be answered is: have DTI services deteriorated? I remember opening an eatery eight years ago, and I got my approved business name on the same day at the main DTI office in Buendia. The establishment of satellite offices (now in Hi-Way 54, Park & Ride Lawton, and Kalookan City) is supposed to make their work easier, but look at what’s happening. Does the DTI have no computer software to search for any duplication in business names? If they are doing investigation as well, they probably shouldn’t promise two weeks , when what they actually mean is TWO YEARS.

I am worried about the shortcomings in DTI’s services. An approved business name is, after all, the first step in obtaining a business license. Without it, nothing else moves. The very slow approval process actually encourages corruption as some people would certainly be tempted to hire a broker or a fixer to facilitate things. But corruption is the least that a small business owner/ entrepreneur with very little capital would like to experience and encounter.

Now, do we still have to wonder why it’s better to do business online, or engage in the underground economy? High taxes, red tape, corruption and DTI’s big-time registration PHAIL make it all possible.

*END OF RANT*

My related post on Barrio Siete: Mag-monkey business na lang tayo

The kids and I hang out at the Manila Ocean Park over the weekend, just in time to catch their recently launched Mermaid Show. This is a 30-minute treat where attractive (and should I say, curvaceous) swimmers perform dances, moves and acrobatics underwater. Of course it’s a given, they gotta be professionals to do that!

I must say it’s a real delight for kids, who must be harboring fantasies about being the next Little Mermaid or even our homegrown Dyesebel. It was fun seeing the women-swimmers in their colorful, alluring costumes, waving and smiling at their audience while grooving to the beat of the music. I took a video but I still have to upload it to YouTube

The show is one of the free attractions you can have in Manila Ocean Park at the moment. It’s almost “free” considering that they give you one ticket for every P150 purchase at any of the park’s restaurants and food outlets. You can choose to buy the tickets per se, but I think the first option is preferable.

The performance happens at the Buhay na Karagatan exhibit area which is the biggest tank in the oceanarium. Viewing is being done at the Look Function Room and even though they announced that no picture-taking was allowed during the show, the rest of the pack was using their cameras like me, just no flash allowed.

The crowd is allowed to have their pics taken with the mermaids still romping in the tank after the show, and there’s more photo op in the mermaid booth, like this one:

The Mermaid Show at the Manila Ocean Park
happens everyday, except Mondays
4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 pm

Address: behind Quirino Grandstand
Luneta, Manila

Call telephone no. 5677777 for inquiries

Traffic along C-5 was smooth that day, which made going to Eastwood such a breeze – less than 30 minutes! Arriving there, I couldn’t help but be transported to another world. The new Eastwood Mall was far from crowded and did not look like the populous boxes of concrete in Manila. It looked every inch immaculate and upscale. I also liked nice touches like the man-made water structure and walkway bridge in the outside garden.

The high ceiling, escalator and cavernous middle kinda reminded me of Shang-ri La Plaza mall in Mandaluyong, except that Eastwood has better scenery outside. I dig the airy sunroof (if that’s how you call it.)

We’ve hardly done a tour of the mall and it was time to catch the 1 p.m. movie. We met up with Tinay of Megaworld who was going to show us the mall’s high-tech theater, with the uber-comfy fully reclining seats.It was heaven and relaxing indeed, plunking down ourselves in the plush chairs which fully reclined just by flicking a side lever.

The movie was another thing: it was downright gory and scary. Nyarks! I could have settled for the Japanese anime version of “Blood: The Last Vampire” instead of all that live action blood-sucking, piercing and stabbing. It didn’t help any that the theater had this really large screen and Dolby Surround Sound system which made it all look real. Ugh.

Plus points for this theater: butler service before the start of the screening, from where you can order your unlimited soda and popcorn.

Tickets for Cinema 7 cost P700 for two persons (or P350 each), although if you arrive by your lonesome, the ticket goes a notch higher at P400 each. We learned that this theater has been doing corporate bookings too. You can get the place for special functions.

Eastwood Mall likes to make its shoppers and customers comfortable!

The cinema’s modern lobby bathed in subdued lights, with a Nokia charging station and ergonomic chairs a la Philippe Starck.

More chairs and sofas in the main shopping areas.

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The Eastwood complex is certainly one place where I’d make lakwatsa over and over again.

Lakwatsa n. the act of gallivanting.