Two bits' worth

Cheap, satisfying, yummy street food I eat!

2010-05-28T01:13:00.000-07:00

I love street food. The wife might cringe and make funny faces, but I do plan to introduce Athalia to the wonderful world of street food. To be honest, however, I haven't really gotten my fill of these tasty and cost-efficient (sosyal version ng mura!) delicacies. I miss...

Balut.

Ok, so maybe not that much. I was able to corner a balut vendor outside the gates of our compound a couple of weeks back. Yummy!

Kwek-kwek.

These are actually quail eggs that are fried in some mysterious orange batter. I don't get these here in Cebu, but a bigger variety is available in Lapu-Lapu's city market, am not sure though if they substituted the quail egg with chicken egg or day-old balut. Technically, what they sell are not kwek-kwek but tokneneng.

But nothing compares to Manila's kwek-kwek. I guess it's because the orange coating is proportionate to the size of the egg. Over here, you get to eat too much egg with miniscule batter.

Taho

This is actually one street food that the wife approves off, somewhat. And that is because I try to buy taho while it's still very hot. The combination of soya pudding, milk pearls and caramel syrup is just heavenly.

Isaw

Isaw is plainly chicken intestines cooked over open charcoal fire. Yum.

Palamig

Before Thirsty! came into existence, Filipinos have always quenched their thirst and tried to cool down with palamig. I grew up trying to decide which between sago't gulaman or fresh buko should be named my favorite. But I also loved the melon drinks, avocado shakes, and those pink things that has gelatin in them.

Tempura and fishball.

I don't think a Filipino exists today that have never tasted these.

Scrambol

Honestly, this is one street food that I sorely miss. I think that it has been a good 15 years since I last had this. A pink liquid blended with crushed ice (this is not strawberry mind you) comes out a creamy, yummy and cold drink, topped with powdered milk and some cheap version of Hershey's choco. Some top it with sago. This is the original shaved ice baby!

Dirty goto, dirty mami and dirty ice cream.

As a kid, I snacked on dirty goto and dirty mami, depending on which vendor came to our street first. They usually have this sidecar that carried their gigantic pots and a stack of stools (wala pang monobloc nuon). People had the option to take the goto or mami home or try and balance it on thin planks on the sidecar's sides.

I loved the dirty goto more because of the litid and the ugat. But the mami had its moments.

And yup, who grew up here and entered their teens without this?

Yup, dirty ice cream. A favorite of mine was to have it served sandwiched in a burger bun!

Puto bumbong

Ahhhhh... puto bumbong is my "sadly" food.

Sadly, it was only available during the early hours of the 9 day novena every Christmas season.

Sadly, it doesn't last that long.

Sadly, it's nowhere to be seen in Cebu.

And its close cousin:

Runners-up: Siomai sa Tisa, BBQ, hotdog on sticks, all other chicken parts.

Almost: I almost included Cow Label and Tarzan bubble gum having grown up with these... only that they weren't really street food.

Images used for this blog post are all culled from the Web. I don't own them

Golden Cowrie (Mactan Marina Mall)

2010-05-18T23:38:00.000-07:00

Almost every Sunday, you'd find us at Golden Cowrie at the Mactan Marina Mall.

They have really good food, and unlimited rice to boot. Our favorites include the fried tadyang:

The halaan soup (the imbao soup is a favorite too!)

Inihaw food:

And the drinks:

The good: No two ways about it, if it is Filipino food you're craving for, then you should definitely try Golden Cowrie. The good food comes with a reasonable price tag, so much so that two viands, unlimited rice and drinks would set you back for around P500.

The bad: Being a regular at Golden Cowrie, there are times when one would wish that there was something new on the menu. But Golden Cowrie's menu has been the same and has been relatively unchanged since the restaurant opened. They should really introduce new fare!

The wish list: I'm just nitpicking, but Golden Cowrie food could use some presentation. :) We could use a wider selection of desserts, too (because we don't think budbod with tsokalate counts as one).

This post was written by A.

Bubble Bee Teahouse

2010-05-18T23:18:00.000-07:00

If you want a good place to enjoy good food, cold drinks and just chillax, then head on over to Bubble Bee Teahouse. It's at the TSI Bldg. in North Reclamation Area (if you're coming from Mandaue, it's past ParkMall, right beside the nearest Shell station.)

Their cold drinks are around P95 to P120 each, and they have lots of flavors to choose from. If you want hot tea, it's much cheaper at P60. You can ask to have more pears, lychee jelly, mango or taro pudding added to your drinks too. Nothing fancy in that it actually reminds me of pearl shakes like Zagu, but, you have to admit, they have some really cool flavors like Blueberry Slush, Milky Watermelon Slush, and Kiwi Green Tea. Or you can always try their own version of Taiwanese Halo-halo, which is good.

If their drinks are okay and reasonably priced, then you will be wowed by their food. Appetizers like French fries go for less than P100, but that is about one of the very few things on the menu that go below P100. Pasta bowls go for around P180, while main courses go above P200. We ordered their calamari for P180 and a bowl of beef stroganoff for P200.

If that sounds expensive, I'd tell you that it's well worth the price. This is their calamari:

And this is their beef stroganoff:

Not only are these dishes delicious, two hungry people can share each and still feel full afterward.

The food and the drinks are good at Bubble Bee Teahouse, but if that is not enough, then go there with friends and enjoy the ambiance.

They have two flatscreen TVs that show concerts (they really should change their repertoire, though, because both times we've been there, they showed Beyonce on stage, and it can get really noisy and loud). They have comfy sofas, an Indian area where you could take off your shoes and lounge on the carpet and cushions. You and your friends could also borrow board games that you could play. If you just want peace and quiet, you can stay downstairs.

We went there recently when there wasn't too many people around, so the food we ordered arrived quickly. The first time we were there, however, it took a good 45 minutes to one hour for the food to be served.

This post was written by A.

May 10, 2010

2010-05-10T21:47:00.000-07:00

Ang Presidente ko, hindi guwapo, hindi bongga, hindi nakapagasawa. Pero sana dala niya ay pagbabago.

Chef Iris' Destressing Routine

2010-05-02T05:34:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you get lucky. Life gives you a set of friends who just happens to share the same passion with you. One Sunday morning, we saw ourselves hieing off to Liloan for a rare treat: Chef Iris Sasing is cooking!

After some 1.5 hours of preparation, we were really to roll. That pita bread would turn into something magical, this:

This taco salad was great, and would simply put tacos by Mooon or some other mexican place to shame. Yummy to the bone, except there's no bone.

Next up, penne pasta, goat cheese, basil leaves, ham, veggies and then some turned into this:

And as presented, that penne in warm caprisse salad became more delish as:

And guess what this is?

If you answered yummy food that should have been expensive, you're right too. But to be more specific, it's shepherd's pie:

And for dessert? Some schmanzy gelatin: panna cotta!

Admittedly, these are not everyday fare even for the chef extraordinaire and graceful host. So what did she have for dinner last night? Even yummier:

Humba lover and food aficionado Atty. Bongkie Sotto proclaimed it as one of the best... and showed it by decimating the humba in 30 minutes flat, with conversation going on.

An Aside: Yes, We're DoFollow

2010-04-30T14:24:00.000-07:00

This blog is dofollow. Which means that we help you with your search engine rankings by providing you with a backlink to your blog or Web site that counts with Google.

But if you're here to spam, don't bother. All spam comments will be deleted.

Camwhoring at the Banana Booth

2010-04-29T00:21:00.000-07:00

Before, there was Neoprint (which thankfully came at a time when I was in my teens so it was okay to pose in front of those pink machines and look crappy) and there was Foto-me, that instant ID picture taker. Sadly, however, Cebu doesn't seem to have a Foto-me, so there goes one opportunity to be a camwhore.

Banana Book at the 4th Level of Ayala Center Cebu now offers a better alternative. Enter Banana Booth.

Yup, it's a digital version of Foto-me. At P95, you get two copies of your pic column composed of 4 different poses. Like Foto-me, it gives you around 5 seconds to think of how to pose next and if you're the type who likes to have coordinated poses with friends, then you have 5 seconds to deliberate and pose as you like.

Banana Book actually offers other services for the vain: photo books, photo magnets, photo bracelets, among others. You can customize ref magnets with pictures of you doing different poses, making different faces, wearing different colored shirts. In fact, you can have the Banana Booth print cut into two -- for the separate columns -- and get a ref magnet (the same size and length of one column) from them for P30. You only need to stick the print into the magnet.

Banana booth pictures come in sepia, full color, or black and white.

If you have a little one, getting her to stop looking upwards (at the camera instead of the screen) might be a challenge though.

A Banana Booth has also been spotted at the occasional bazaar at the Asiatown IT Park.

You can also cram the banana booth.

This post was written by A.

Women Loving -- Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz

2010-04-28T00:41:00.000-07:00

Joy Cruz is a beloved professor who imparted to me the more intricate techniques in Art Appreciation (both for ArtApre1 and ArtApre2) and Literary Criticism. I put that in sentence case for the sheer respect I have for both courses back in college. Ms. Cruz has a Palanca, M.A.'s earned from DLSU, enviable teaching credentials under her belt and lots of literary types the likes of Alfred Yuson, Virgilio Almario, Bien Lumbera as friends or colleagues. She was one of my coolest professors, and she's a self-professed lesbian (bisexual?).

So it is understandable why I had some sort of pseudo-intellectual orgasm when I found a book titled Women Loving written by a Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz. I wasn't sure it was the same Joy Cruz, the cool professor, but I bought it anyway.

Having said that, I am going to be honest and say that it sucked.

The premise of having a book that explores the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, lives and loves of lesbian women is just irresistible, I think. Also Alfred Yuson's recommendation on the back of the book, convoluted and verbose as it is, is quite convincing.

But if you are looking to gain insight in that sense, look elsewhere. Women Loving is a nice collection of stories where one or more, or all characters are lesbians to varying degrees, but that is it. Sometimes, lesbianism is not even a central theme, but more of an afterthought. It's as if Cruz finished a story 10 years ago and decided to include it in this collection, so she just adds "by the way, I'm a lesbian" at the end of the story. Sappho would have been livid.

What the reader is given is an avalanche of stereotypes. It is easy to feel like the book was written by a straight guy posing as a lesbian. Nothing of the intuition that riddles the pieces in Ladlad, nothing of the acerbic realities and witty introspection that is present in Louie Cano's worst blog posts. The reader is left with the feeling that he/she is being cheated of a sneak peek into the mind of a genuine lesbian. And like most of us who can only aspire to be lesbians in this life, it feels like Cruz is an outsider looking in... taking notes and relating to us what she's seeing, hearing and feeling, but never what she is experiencing.

There are times when you find yourself really entertained. Cruz does write killer proses and her imagination gifts the reader with the most impeccable details and imagery. And there are times when a story starts off as having enough potential to make you read on, hoping that like a dental extraction or a bad breakup, it would get better. But that simply does not happen. And perhaps it is knowing how good a writer Cruz is that makes the disappointment more glaring. You know that Cruz could translate angst, mental quandaries, and psychological dilemma well into words, so when you don't read these even when the story is shouting for it, you know that it was simply not intended to be there. Cruz can make ink transmute into blood, she is that good, but she doesn't use that power here.

I've finished the book just last week, and I can't remember a single story or character. Nothing stands out. To me it's all a mishmash of the same boring person with nothing to do, only that she has different names and finds herself in what should be interesting situations. I guess it's a lot like life that way, you are given everyday to live life and you choose to sleep.

Finishing the book, it makes me wonder if I were not mistaken. Maybe this book was really not written by the Joy Cruz I know.

This post was written by A.

RaiRai Ken - Gaisano Grand Mall

2010-04-26T23:26:00.000-07:00

Mactan has had a Rai-Rai Ken for the longest time, but they close after 2pm only to open at 5pm and they don't have proper airconditioning. At least not the few times we were there. So it was nice to see Gaisano Grand Mall open with a Rairai Ken branch. And we just had to try it out.

Bummer. Their airconditioning was not working too when we got there. They said that they relied on the mall's airconditioning which conked out the day before. And they had no fans. But that didn't stop us from ordering their Ramen. My absolute fave. Rairai Ken, I think, has the best ramen in Cebu, barring those expensive authentic Japanese places where you're forced to take off your shoes and squat like an Indian to eat.

This ramen is far from Japengo's version, which tastes like overcooked instant noodles. Dining at Rairai Ken is always a pleasure and for somebody who has a picky eater as a wife Japanese food is a rare treat.

This tofu soup came in free with the wife's order. We forgot to take pictures of what she had out of sheer heat and hunger. But she said it was good as well.

Rairai Ken is quite pricey, where a good meal for two people could easily run up P500 to around P700, but it's worth it. In fact, it was so good that the wife was terribly inspired that upon arriving home, she worked on origami geishas

and raped the kokeshi dolls.

Just kidding.

Rairai Ken had cool lanterns and great interiors too.

Now if they could only work on their airconditioning!

This post was written by A.

Brewpoint Mactan

2010-04-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

For years, Mactan Island has been getting the short end of the stick. While Cebu has been getting a bulk of the region's development, Mactan in particular languished. The Island does not have a single cinema with the closure of Gaisano Mactan's cineplex. For a while there good coffee was nowhere to be found on Mactan, unless you count McDonald's brewed coffee (which is too acidic for me).

Enter Brewpoint. One of the three coffeeshops I know in the island, and the only one worth being tagged as a coffeeshop and not having to contend with Caucasian habitues looking for a good time. Having a tagline like "Making Mactan Island better one cup at a time" might seem lofty, but all it takes is a visit to know that they're working on it.

First disappointment was their lack of food. I first found out about Brewpoint from Facebook where there were shots of pasta and cakes. When we got there, I was told that they still are not serving food at the moment. We came back after a quick lunch at Dimsum Break and got these for dessert:

I had the Mint Mocha, and the wifey's first comment was, "Where's the whipped cream?"

The whipped cream less concoction was good, however it could have really used the whipped cream not just for the aesthetics, but for added taste.

The wifey and the kid shared the Chocolate Cookie Blast:

This one, was yummy. :) It was really rich and the flavor stays with you hours after you've left.

You should really try their champagne rose cake:

The kid really liked this one. We also did. Champagne rose is one of a kind, and it was good. To-die-for even.

But probably the best thing about Brewpoint is that they provide you with a cozy place to hang around especially on a lazy and HOT Saturday afternoon. It was this hot outside:

But inside it was really comfortable. So much so that it was a perfect for some mother-and-daughter tete-a-tete.

I heard that they also have Wi-fi, but I was laptop-less during the visit so I couldn't check.

Brewpoint is at the ground floor of the GMC Arcade, two doors down from Dimsum and two doors up Rose Pharmacy. GMC Arcade is across the old PUJ Terminal.

This post was written by A.

Hmmmn.... That Was Yummy!

2010-04-22T02:24:00.000-07:00

Lately, Greenwich has been coming out with great food to expand their already good selection of pizzas, chicken and other foodstuff.

The latest, I think, is Crusty Breaded Porkloin. This one came with rice and fries. I really loved it. All for P131 (delivery price). That came with a regular coke.

You can see a photo here.

Greenwich also added three new pasta dishes:

3-Cheese & Sausage Macaroni

Bacon Chicken Carbonara

and Meatball Spaghetti (as opposed to the old spaghetti that they had)

I had the 3-Cheese with my delivery and it was ok. Their Premium Lasagna Pasta Supreme still reigns as their best pasta dish.

Greenwich Delivery serves all areas of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-lapu. Call 254-1000. Be ready to repeat yourself after every other sentence, and be very patient when you give out your phone number, they tend to make you repeat it 10 times before getting it right.

Visit Greenwich's site to see their new food selection.

This post was written by A.

REDiscovering RED Ribbon

2010-04-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

Back when I was still with my old company, the money was not really that flowing and we had to scrimp on dining out. Red Ribbon was usually a treat that we'd reserve for Sunday lunch (and almost always the Sunday after payday).

We used to take the baby and hie off to Country Mall to enjoy an hour or two eating whatever Red Ribbon had cooked for us. Char. And I say it's a treat because it cost us a day's worth of wages to eat there. That Red Ribbon routine came to a halt when we moved to Lapu-Lapu City. Other than that, I really don't know why we stopped eating there even if we spend almost every weekend at SM or Ayala, which both have Red Ribbon branches, given that a meal there costs lower than the meals we have at other places.

Fast forward a couple of years later and we found ourselves in line for a Red Ribbon meal. And so, it was time we REDiscovered RED Ribbon.

Red Ribbon now has cake shakes. And it's perfect for the summer heat. I got the Chocolate version:

It really could have used some added flavor, but it was ICE COLD and that's all that mattered to my parched throat.

Of course, we just have to order their chicken lollipop...

...which was -- and always will be -- a favorite of ours. The kids (our three-year-old imp and our niece) shared the plateful of their good-old spaghetti that came with the chicken.

And since it has been roughly two years since we ate at Red Ribbon, we tried out two things on their meals menu that was new to us. One was this Chicken and mushroom dish (for me):

and their tocino meal (for the wife):

Of course, what's Red Ribbon without cake? So we ordered a slice of Tiramisu Cake with one of the meals. Delectable.

All in all, the meals and the drinks for two parched adults and two equally parched kids, were satisfying. And they totaled LESS than PHP500. Not bad. I think we'd eat at Red Ribbon more from now on.

This post was written by A.

Yummy Mesa

2010-04-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

The wife and I first tried out Mesa when it was still on soft opening, and to be honest, I didn't really find the food good. But faced with three friends who had a craving for food somewhere they haven't tried yet and somewhere conveniently located (convenient usually means somewhere in the mall), we decided to have our kid's (overdue) birthday celebration and one of her "godmother's" (much more overdue) birthday treat at Mesa.

"Godmother" Omar was the other birthday celebrator.

Mesa is at the Ayala Terraces, and is owned and operated by the same people who own and operate La Mesa Grill at SM. Their facade promises Filipino Modern, and they did deliver on that promise.

Mesa is a quaint place that had big tables obviously targeted at family or barkada dining. And this is what you'd first notice when you enter the place; each table has groups of 6-8 people. There is an area for twosomes and couples right outside the main door, and it's al fresco, but seeing that it was a hot and humid summer night, we opted for the air conditioned comfort inside.

Mesa is not really a cheap place, but it's not outrageously expensive either. Not bad for the price of the food, the ambiance and the taste.

Our first order, the Tofu Sisig, is not really that appetizing to look at.

In fact, forced to described it, it looks like somebody's regurgitated dinner. But one taste and I fell in love with it. It is yummily cheesy!

Omar ordered Crispy Fried Tilapia with Four Sauces, and we were awed by the presentation. We obviously didn't expect it would be served in easy-to-eat bite-size pieces.

Take heart, the feast is not just for the eyes, but for the palate too. This was really one of the best fish dishes I've tasted thus far.

The pregnant friend was actually late for this dinner and texted ahead to get her something spicy. Or any chicken dish, because she's such a chicken person (that if we didn't know any better, we'd be compelled to think she'd be growing feathers very soon). It was an either/or, so the wife ordered this:

Garlic chicken. And for the third time, we were simply awed. This was mouthwatering as well!

A little disappointment was the Crispy Boneless Pata, which was the most expensive dish we ordered that night at PhP400. It wasn't crispy. It was CHEWY. It was even difficult to slice through it using a knife. Needless to say, there are better crispy patas in town.

Food was running low and the pregnant friend still wasn't sated. Besides, we ordered 8 servings of rice for all 5 1/2 of us (the half being the three-year-old imp who can only consume one-fourth a cup of rice). And because we never really anticipated that their cup of rice was bigger than most restos. So we added this:

This two-in-one beef dish (forgot what it was called) was half gone by the time I remembered about taking a picture. One bowl was a dried and fried beef dish, while the other was a curried one, which reminded me of Indian curry, but it was really, really good.

All-in-all, the food is great, the price is okay, the waiters were attentive. A group of five grownups coming into Mesa famished and hungry spent PHP2,000 for great food with drinks included, came out complaining how difficult it was to walk with their very full tummies.

Here's our rating ( = perfect)

Food:

Service:
Ambiance:
Washroom: (clean, one for female and one for male, spacious)

This post was written by A.

Duko-duko Eatery - Catmon Cebu

2010-04-19T00:45:00.000-07:00

Feeling the hunger in a resort outside of Cebu City and looking at all those grilling pork (sinful on a Black Saturday at that) and chicken, and people stuffing themselves with the charred remains of some dead pig or chicken (yeah, am still bitter at all those juicy yummy things fellow bakasyonistas stuffed their mouths with!), the wife and I decided to venture into town (or the municipality) to raid some eatery. We asked the front desk for a place they'd recommend and the nice lady said that they recommend one place to guests -- Duko-duko Eatery.

It's actually a hole in the wall that was like 4 minutes away from the resort we were staying in. It's quaint, in Bisaya--inato ra. In my mind, and knowing the Wife, I was sure she was planning on getting out of the place right there and then suggesting Gaisano Danao for another round of Jollibee fare. But we stayed put, seeing that other tables were filled and that there were cars parked outside, either eating in or taking the food home.

We planned to try out their specialty, which were, as their sign boasts, native chicken and pochero. Having been deprived of my weekly pochero fix by the wife, I opted for their pochero, while the wife opted for their native chicken.

Pochero

Native chicken

In short, both were yummy. The native chicken was tender and the meat almost fell off the bones. The pochero was okay, though it reminded me of lansiao due to its hint of spiciness.

The food was really good considering its price, PHP125 for the pochero and P35 for the chicken. Pluse five bucks for the rice-mais.

Kan-on Mais

Be sure to get enough Coke though, as both fares went really well with coke.

Burp! You can rest your full stomach outside.

Arce Dairy - Uhmmmm... I'm having second thoughts

2010-04-12T22:36:00.000-07:00

I used to love Arce Dairy as a kid. I remember that it was Arce Dairy's Atis Flavor that got me addicted to both ice cream and atis (sugar apple). So it was pure joy to have found that familiar old tin can in one of the refs of Rustan's Cebu. Nope, they don't have it anymore, but Arce is still available at SM Savemore in Park Mall.

I remember Arce's Atis as one with real fruit bits, sometimes, you get to bite on an atis seed. But apparently, they're not doing that anymore. Either that or I am mixing up some other ice cream in a gold-colored tin (which Selecta copied... actually Arce owned Selecta before they sold it to RFM) with the fruit bits.

Arce Dairy is no longer the yummy, creamy ice cream that I remember it to be. It isn't cheaper than Magnolia either. I think what's available now is just a ghost of its former self. So if you see Arce Dairy and try to relive your childhood by digging into a pint or a gallon, look for the thrill else where.

Now if only Presto ressurrects its ice cream gallons :).

This post was written by A.

Wakamatsu Yaki.niku

2010-04-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

Yaki-niku is Japanese for grilled meat. And Wakamatsu Yakiniku is an all-you-can-eat Japanese grill.

I was (and am) never fond of all-you-can-eat restaurants or buffets because I always find myself "shortchanged." My tummy can only take one round, at most two rounds, of food. And when I come back from the buffet table, you don't see my plate being filled to the brim. My husband and my friends (my constant food trip buddies), however, can go up to five rounds. And that's why they love all-you-can-eat fares.

When one of these amazing food-trip buddies celebrated her birthday, she suggested Wakamatsu. And although I knew she'd be paying for the tab, I couldn't help but show hesitation. Why? Wakamatsu charges PhP535 per head, excluding the drinks. My mind has this automatic shut-off when it comes to numbers, but I couldn't help but calculate the cost versus the amount of food I am capable of eating. I do this all the time when I get invited to buffet meals. So I automatically did the math and figured I'd only be eating a quarter worth or even less of the 500+ cost. And this is considering I am not fond of Japanese food. When the birthday girl said it was a Japanese place, I instantly had a picture of a long table laden with all kinds of sushi. And since I don't eat raw fish, I pictured stuffing myself with nothing but tempura.

The Birthday Girl

Birthday Girl had to correct me and say it's a Japanese grill. Now, I love grilled food. So to Wakamatsu we went.

And we all loved it there. Just make sure you don't need to go to any event afterward as you'd be smelling of smoke. Or better yet, bring a big bottle of perfume with you. This is because you do the grilling yourself!

Get dirty and grill or else you go hungry.

Your table has its own grill at the center and you only need to choose from their selection of meat (and seafood). You will be the one to cook the meat, just the way you like it. You can have things rare or well-done. They do serve their meat in little portions so it doesn't take too long before you can start eating away.

Eat while the second batch is grilling.

You don't want to wait until everything gets cooked.

(Because the wagyu beef is so yummy, the grilling never really ends.)

We had shrimps, scallops, kawali, and wagyu beef. We liked their wagyu best and kept on asking for more. It's marinated, and it suits our taste. We also had ramen, which, fortunately, is still included in their all-you-can menu.

Others also recommend their chili squid shashimi and their green salad.

Even little girls love ramen!

We'd certainly love to go back to Wakamatsu. We're thinking of taking the family with us, but I don't think we're ready to spend thousands (at least PhP3000 for a family of six adults) for that yet. They do charge half for little kids (although our 3-year-old wasn't charged anything that time).

Wakamatsu Yakiniku is located at Pacific Square Building, F. Cabahug St., Mabolo, Cebu City, Cebu. Call for reservations at (032) 232-5897 as they are always a full house.

This post was written by F.

Tsim Sha What???

2010-04-07T01:38:00.000-07:00

Tsim Sha Tsui. There, I got it correctly. I used to just call it "Chin chan su" because they all sound the same to me.

But really... I have this rule about never eating anything or at a place whose name I cannot even pronounce. And I should have stuck to that rule. In fact, if it were not because of a pregnant friend who got a really serious craving for dimsum, and specifically dimsum from Tsim Sha Tsui (and who was already 'wet-dreaming' about it days before our date), and a husband who was very curious about their conveyor belt all-you-can-eat buffet, I wouldn't have gone there.

The pregnant friend

Their buffet costs 390-something pesos, without the drinks, and I knew it was too expensive. One order of steamed fried rice (normally PhP35) and one order of spring rolls or quail egg siomai (normally PhP35) are already enough and filling for me. And that would have cost me less than PhP100. I knew that thinking up of something else to get that's worth the remaining PhP300 was going to be very hard.

This conveyor belt made Harbor City fare worth more than 3x as much.

If you notice, the conveyor belt had big spaces where there's no food.

Anyway, we did give it a try. And I have to say it's better for you to actually not go for the all-you-can-eat buffet unless you have a super elastic tummy capable of expanding into five times its original size. Go take a regular table instead of sitting around the belt. That way you wouldn't regret paying 400 bucks or more per head for something you can get for only around 200.

Overpriced food that's not even worth the doggie bag.

The food wasn't great, sorry. My husband says it's a glorified Harbor City, or Dimsum Break. In fact, I like Harbor City more. The entire three hours we were there, we were actually hoping something worth the expensive bill would come out of the conveyor belt. But it didn't come. Sad to say, there were only around five or six different kinds of food that rolled out. Okay, I am being mean... Five or six is way too few, but it should give you a picture of what to expect. The worst part? They rolled out only two kinds of dessert! One was the usual sesame seeds-covered botchi (does anybody actually still eat that?) and the other was that gelatinous cake (supposedly in ube and in almond, but they didn't taste like what their colors said). We saw the dessert cart pass by -- with all the yummy-looking stuff, like egg tarts and mango float -- and asked the waiter whether there's chance any of those desserts would come out of the buffet belt soon. But he said you have to pay for those separately. OHHKAY.

At least, they tried to impress us with the interiors.

So I guess by the first paragraph of this review you can already tell we don't give it two thumbs up. No sense wasting any more space here, really. We would just like to warn you that the conveyor belt is a bait! So don't be deceived.

Tsim Sha Tsui, by the way, is located at the second level of Ayala Terraces, along the lines of Hukad and Mooon.

This post was written by F.

Cordova Food Park

2010-04-06T21:45:00.001-07:00

I like it that this undiscovered gem is but a five-minute jeepney ride from where we live. And to be honest, I kinda feel sorry that not too many have discovered this place yet. This quaint, familial and cozy resto actually serves killer pochero at a price that is simply unbelievable! This actually costs only P150, and it's better than Triple V! (Which we once thought served the best pochero in town, before it closed its store in Cebu a few years ago.)

Cordova Food Park's food selection is more of the lutong bahay variety. And the thing is, you can fish from the pond that surrounds the nipa and bamboo huts. Then you can have the fish cooked in whatever way you want. But more than this and the low prices, it is the beauty of the place. Check out how Cordova Food Park is set up.

Don't mind the huge construction trucks (and the anapog all around) in the background. I know they shouldn't be there. They don't do anything to improve the restaurant's ambiance, sad to say.

And don't mind the mossy green, murky, muddy water. That's how fishpond waters really look like. Tilapias thrive in it.

And it gets lovelier at nights. Look...

If you have kids, they'd sure love the playground there as well.

And the minier than mini zoo.

There is also a billiard table for the adults.

Oh, and the fact that it's quite near the airport's runway and you see the planes just after taking off just adds charm to the place.

Cordova Food Park is near the boundaries of Opon and Cordova, it's really very hard to miss once you cross the bridge to Cordova.

This post was written by A.

The Cebu Zoo

2010-03-27T06:29:00.000-07:00

Unlike Mega Manila, Cebu has a dearth of places where children and adults alike can see live animals up close. There are mini-zoos, but the Cebu Zoo in Lahug and the Crocodile Farm in Talisay are the only ones that are big enough to visit.

We have been planning a trip to the Cebu Zoo for our little one to be introduced to tigers, snakes and what-nots. In her three years of existence, she had only seen crocodiles, chickens, dogs, cats and butterflies up close.

The Cebu Zoo is in Lahug. You can take two routes to get there, one is from Opra near the Capitol, and the other is through Lahug, going up to Ecotech, Beverly Hills and then the Girls Scout Camp, and then Cebu Zoo. It's quite hard to miss because of the murals they have on the gates and signs.

Children 3 years and below are free. Beyond that, they charge P12 for kids up to 12 years old and adults get in for P25. They don't sell food and drinks there, but there is a food stall just outside the gate, but it's limited to junk food.

Don't expect too much when it comes to the animals. They do have the obligatory snakes and monkeys, and disappointingly part of their roster are chickens and sheep. But they do have a Bengal tiger that goes by the name Bogart.

Unlike the previous incarnation of the Cebu Zoo, animals are better treated now, and it shows. When we got there, Bogart was being fed a slices of raw chicken. And we were told that we could pet Bogart if we wanted to. We didn't, but we did take a whole lot of pictures!

Bogart walks with a slight limp because he was born with polio. No more inhumane treatment, at least nothing worse than what they do at other zoos.

You could probably walk the whole zoo within 30 minutes, including taking pictures and having small talk. It's that small, but there are quite interesting animals there like this bald cockatoo.

And this monkey that likes sucking... uhm ... uhm... just see for yourself:

All-in-all, Cebu Zoo is a great place to visit. It is just one taxi ride away from Ayala (fare: P70), and it gives you a chance to spend time with family and friends. And gain new ones. The fact that they have some animals that you can actually pet like a boa (sawa), Bogart, and a monkey. They say that you could also pet one of the crocodiles, but please do tell us if you do :)

This post was written by A.