19 East + Side A

October 29, 2013


I honestly was not too thrilled about this plan at first but since Jeff was away then plus the place was just less than 15 mins away from the house, so might as well. haha

I love OPM a lot and I liked some songs of Side A, but I just thought then na 'lipas' na sila + super 'gasgas' na the songs that made them big then

well naisip ko na lang better Side A than Freestyle which was the group's first option, hehe

as early as 730 pm we were already at 19 East. the show was scheduled at 930 pm which gave us just enough time to have dinner.

this was actually my first time to 19 East considering that I live along Sucat lang. I've always wanted to go especially before Sugarfree disbanded, but just never got the chance to

we went inside the Music Hall to make sure we get the best seats, unfortunately they were still setting up, so we had to go out and have dinner outside at the garden

okay naman yung garden. we opted for a table which was overlooking Laguna de Bay (albeit dark) so it was a breezy and added to a good, relaxed atmosphere

19 East (view of the music hall from the garden)

unfortunately lighting wasn't that good, so I opted not to take photos of the dishes we ordered, but to share:

Pork Sisig (Php 198)
Halaan Soup (Php 179)
Grilled Squid (Php 93/100g)
Sizzling Veggies with Squid (Php 179)
Liempo (Php 179)
Beef Salpicao (Php 235)

haha 179 is the default price ata dito. the food was actually quite good. I especially liked the sisig. medyo medium rare lang ang luto ng salpicao kaya I didn't like it as much, pero malasa. over-all good food na for the price

by 9 pm we made our way inside since a lot of people started coming in na rin while we were having dinner. apparently Radha was there pala together with Jomari Yllana 

IG @jobnacpil tonight! #hrkaladkarins

it was only at around past 10 pm however when the band came in. you could tell they were just firming up their song list when they got there. I guess they also considered the demographics of the audience

iba talaga ang voice ni Joey G. still as good as how it was then. it was interesting to note too that all the band members pala can sing, and it was good that they were also able to showcase this as they took turns singing. I also noticed that they have younger members this time

I particularly liked their other vocalist, Lee Von. he has a deeper voice which helped complement Joey G's higher range; crazy guitar skills + he was kinda cute rin

IG @jobnacpil live music at its finest #SideA

I was actually expecting them to sing their original songs lang or the songs they covered in their albums so I got really thrilled when they started playing the likes of Africa (Toto) and The Man Who Can't Be Moved (The Script)

lalo when they did a cover of Kenny Loggins' Heart to Heart -- classic!

here's a quick video I took pala when they covered the song

during their 2nd set pala they even invited Radha over and she sang a couple of songs too. they started playing some sappy love songs though which I didn't enjoy so much and since it was already past 1 am, I opted to leave before the gig. hehe.

ibang klase talaga 'pag live music. sa totoo lang it has been decades ata since I last went to a legit concert. so I'm really looking forward to being able going to a big one atleast next year!

for now I think I'm gonna monitor that 19 East gig list and watch out for other performers too. but I sure won't mind catching Side A (and Lee Von) again soon!

IG @jobnacpil #Repost from @marijoanne #goodtimes with the #hrkaladkarins #Side A

19 East Bar and Grill

Km 19 East Service Road

Sucat, Muntinlupa City

http://19east.com/index.php

Weekend Eats (Round 5)

October 27

more weekend food finds this time with the family:

after mass, with grumbling tummies but no specific destination in mind, we set forth towards Aguirre Avenue to look for a place to have dinner

I was thinking of Mama Lou's, while Mama was thinking of Shabu-Shabu naman, tapos si Papa wanted something light, while the little sister just wanted Silvanas. period. haha.

somehow though we ended up in Dusadee Thai. 

I first chanced upon this place weeks back, when Jeff and I were in the same situation. unsure about where to eat. but we sped by fast and I only got to see the sign

the place was small lang but it was well-lighted and I liked the ambiance naman kahit open-air sya

I'm quite selective when it comes to Thai food particularly because of some herb/spice used in cooking (which one it is I can't recall lang now); hoping for the best in this one

Mama had an interesting choice in the form of the Tamarind juice (Php 35) which was surprisingly good

we each ordered Bagoong rice which came with mangoes and onions, strips of scrambled egg and our meat of choice: fish, chicken or beef (Php 80 each)

I also ordered a Pad Thai (Php 120) for sharing

I found the Pad Thai a little too saucy and peanuty but it was good naman. it was the first time I tried it with kalamansi, and I have to say I'll take it as is next time

yung Bagoong rice lacked flavor pa. but I did like the sides. yung meat was a tad too sweet for me and medyo I didn't like the chili powder they had in the store.

while service was quite fast, the food wasn't that hot though when it was served to us, so that's an OFI. still sulit naman for the price and while I could never say 'aroi makmak' or sobrang sarap about Dusadee Thai; would be keen to take Jeff here para I can try their Tom Yum soup naman

just before we got to Dusadee Thai, we also chanced upon Marisa's; and since the little girl craved for Silvanas, we made sure to drop by here just before coming home

Marisa's was just across Serenitea, also along Aguirre Avenue. it had a home-y feel because of the front porch area outside + the sofas + paintings inside the shop

neat artwork

and without further ado we went straight to the cashier to get the little girl a box of Silvanas (Php 222); (it was actually Php 18 each. so a box of 12 should just be Php 216 right? hmmm. I just realized that when I was doing this blog. shouldn't it be cheaper when you buy a box. Php 6 for packaging doesn't seem right?)

oh well. it came in 4 flavors: Original, Pandan, Ube and Chocolate

well little girl's verdict was it wasn't the best she's had but pwede na. haha. kasi the one that she likes a lot can be bought pa all the way in Pampanga, so a nearer option is good enough.

I have to say I liked the Pandan flavor a lot. so-so lang ung Ube, but the Chocolate variant naman we did not like at all

still a good option for a dessert fix if within BF area. they also had cakes so should be good to try rin next time

Dusadee Thai

40 Aguirre Avenue

BF Homes, Paranaque City

Marisa's

Silvanas & Sans Rival

67-A Aguirre Avenue

BF Homes, Paranaque City

Tagaytay - Cavite Weekend

October 20, 2013

I never seem to get tired of going to Tagaytay especially when with the family. the last we were here was for a distant relative's wedding and prior to that was our mini-reunion gathering at Bag of Beans.

this time we were meeting up with a family friend from Japan who came to visit. originally I thought we were just dropping by her relative's place in Amadeo. yun pala first on the agenda was an early lunch in Tagaytay.

I've always thought Leslie's was overrated. the last I ate here was with Jeff's former colleagues in DSI. but that was in another branch in Batangas. after that we'd often go to Green ATS na for our bulalo fix. so this was technically my first time at Leslie's Tagaytay

first look

I have to say consistent talaga sila sa ambiance. it had a the woodland type of vibe which was  similar to the one we ate in before.

what's unique about this one though is of course the scenic view of the Taal lake, which is no match for the other bulalo places, I have to say

whenever we get to go to a bulalo place. I only have 2 requests - syempre bulalo and fried tawilis

for a group of 8, we ended up ordering for 10 people. haha. apart from Bulalo and Tawilis, our meal also included Fried Kangkong, Ensaladang Mangga, Inihaw na Liempo, Ginataang Kalabasa at Sitaw, Fried Chicken and Leche Flan -- that was really a mouthful!

our photo below was a before shot. so you could just imagine how fuller we looked post-meal

by this time the fog had started creeping in. thus the view of the lake now gone

and after what probably was a 3-hour lunch, we then set off for Amadeo to visit Tita Menchie's relatives

here are some shots of the place:

side trip | backyard pineapples
taken from my IG account @jobnacpil

the property was actually within a golf course as they were the ones looking after the place.

it was quite a laughter-filled afternoon sharing stories and making plans about future trips back to Japan. we even ended up taking home bunches of banana, papayas and cooked-ube.

nothing beats a day spent with family and friends :)

Leslie's Tagaytay
Aguinaldo Highway Crossing
Silang West, Tagaytay

Going Japanese

lately Jeff and I have find ourselves wanting to try more Japanese restos. here's to share two of our recent food finds specifically in Mall of Asia

October 17

Oki Oki Japanese Restaurant

we would often pass by this resto but we would not end up eating here since they didn't seem to get a lot of customers. ergo food may not be good. haha.

one time though the other restos we'd usually go to were quite packed + the ones that did have space were not within budget haha. sooo we had might as well try Oki Oki

the place had good ambiance and they also had quite good offerings in their menu

we ordered dishes which we'd normally have in other Japanese restos:

Crazy Maki (Php 285)

the Crazy Maki was made of crabmeat and shrimpmeat roe. we were debating at first if we should choose this maki, kasi for less price the other maki dishes came in 8s, while the Crazy Maki only had 6 pieces. yun pala crazy huge naman ang size ng Crazy Maki nila so it was pretty sulit. 

Gyoza Ramen (Php 215) | Chicken Teriyaki (Php 200)

Jeff had the gyoza ramen which we requested to be served separately and I ordered the Oki Oki Chicken Teriyaki

I mistakenly ordered the a la carte version pala of the Chicken so I had no rice. but considering the size of the Crazy Maki I figured there was no need to have a separate order na. I liked how the chicken skin was fried. it reminded me of the time we were in Japan and my Tito introduced us to a skewer stall by the bus station. the sauce was good too but medyo nalansahan ako sa chicken

I didn't find the gyoza ramen that good though. the soup was a bit Maggi-ish for me (parang Tokyo Tokyo ramen) and the gyoza was not bad but not great either

I would probably come back for the maki and to try the other dishes too--top of my list to try would be the bento sets naman (our adjacent table had this and looked quite good. hehe)

October 20

Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant

this was another resto na ilang beses din naming dinaan-daanan before trying it. haha. we were pretty conscious about spending so we were pretty careful about choosing which resto to go to.

we had an unplanned trip to MOA after checking out the Off Price show at WTC. since we were there na rin we decided to have an early dinner or 'ban-go-han' as they say in Japanese.

coming in pa lang, I instantly liked the place. it was a fresh, modern take on Japanese style

nothing casual about the place

glad we were given complimentary tea. not a lot of Japanese restos do so. kaya this was a good surprise

browsing through the menu we came to know that Watami pala is a Japanese chain brought in by the Bistro Group.

they sure had a lot of interesting dishes in the menu. but since we weren't that hungry, we each got stone pot dishes

Beef and Kimchee Rice in Stone Pot & Pork Rice with Egg Yolk in Stone Pot (Php 295 each)

Jeff had the Beef and Kimchee and I had the Pork Rice. sayang I gave in to the server's offer to mix it up agad, so I missed taking a better photo of mine. haha

I would have to say this was one of the best meals I've had in awhile. at first glance parang ang onti nung serving. but as you go through the bowl it never seems to run out! haha. the stone pot was quite effective too in keeping the food warm which helped improve the dining experience.

I didn't have much of Jeff's as I wasn't too fond of kimchee, but he did take lots of spoonfuls of mine! it was really good kasi. while it was cooked with pork, the rice was very flavorful and it actually had hints of shrimp taste

we scrimped a bit on ordering this time, so this means there's a lot more we can try when we come back :)

Oki Oki Japanese Restaurant

G/F North Wing

Mall of Asia, Pasay City

Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant

2nd Level, Bayside Veranda

Entertainment Mall

Mall of Asia, Pasay City

Pepper Lunch Dinner

October 1, 2013

as it was the first pepper steak place we've seen, we've only eaten in Sizzlin' Pepper Steak ever since its branch opened in Glorietta 5.

kaya everytime we'd want to have pepper steak, that has been our go-to place na.

I've seen Pepper Lunch in Greenbelt and in MOA but never considered eating there na since I would not expect anything different from what we get from Sizzlin' Pepper Steak

but lately as we try to eat someplace new each time, we decided to give it a shot

compared to Sizzlin' Pepper Steak, Pepper Lunch had better ambiance as the place was much brighter and had less clutter without the vents

I also felt it was less intimidating to order as options were all laid out in the menu vs Sizzlin' Pepper Steak na parang you were overloaded with information on what meal choices you needed to decide on

these were our choices:

Beef Pepper Rice (Php 198)
Teriyaki Beef Pepper Rice (Php 235)
Sesame Chicken Shake-Shake Salad (Php 99)

I would have to say this was the better Pepper Steak option :) for one I think they really made use of Japanese rice and I liked the buttery surprise! I also appreciated the control I had on the meat flavor since they had sauces available in each table.

I also liked their shake-shake salad. it was very practical though Jeff felt otherwise and thinks the packaging was quite lousy.

from that moment on, I knew I had a new go-to-place for pepper steak! just need to convince Jeff lang though. haha.

Pepper Lunch
2/F Seaside Boulevard
Mall of Asia, Pasay City

"Last Minute" Tagaytay Trip

July 27, 2013

while this was trip was planned ahead, due to the heavy rains last Friday night, it was nearly postponed and I only got confirmation lang early Saturday morning that we were pushing through na.

first question when we all got together was of course, where to eat lunch. haha. normally Jeff and I would go to Green ATS for our usual bulalo fix. 

Mam Noki suggested we try the restaurant at Tagaytay Econo Inn which was recommended to her by a friend. kaso since the place was right on the tip of the road up Tagaytay, medyo lumampas na kami and we decided to try another place she suggested: Bali Seafood Paluto Restaurant

she got to go there recently and the food was good daw there. I guess masarap nga siguro talaga kasi we saw JLC there with his crew

our orders finally came: Fried Tawilis, Nilagang baka (haha dahil mas mahal ang Bulalo), Baked Tahong, Pinakbet and Fresh Buko Juice

timely rin na dumating ang trio na ito. while we were not too fond of these singing groups, it was impolite to shoo them away, so after 2 songs, we gave a tip na rin so they can move on to the next table na haha.

a glimpse of the huts within Bali Seafood

over-all the food was good naman. particularly liked the tahong and the pinakbet. enjoyed the fresh buko too.

Taste Him daw :p

our group selfie

we then went to Summit Ridge to check out some shops

foggy much

but we ended up at the arcade

first up: hoops!

team effort!

then the Star2Ball 

hit that!

after hundreds worth of tokens we got 96 tickets all in all

96 tickets = 5 chocolate candies

hundreds of them in one pack haha

since that turned out to be quite tiring, we decided to go some place else where we can just chill

we were already near the intersection when Mam Noki suggested we check out Breakfast at Antonio's

really like the whole feel of the place

medyo hindi lang sustainable ang menu nila haha

since we still were pretty full from lunch, dessert time!

Chocolate Chips waffle, Brownie and New York Cheesecake

really enjoyed the desserts we had and looking forward to having a full breakfast meal the next time we get to go!

next stop was Mahogany Market!

fresh produce

cheap beef!

my parents requested for fresh buko and got pretty big ones for 15 php each. Jeff bought veggies and meat for Nilaga. Mam Noki and Charlie got a week's worth of meals ata, while Katie got packs of Tawilis

and when we've completed our market errands, we went to the newest Starbucks branch in Tagaytay

the location was quite steep but had excellent view of the lake

Taal lake

Katie's photo shoot

yummy Chocolate Chip Cookie sandwich

had a really great time catching up with GW friends :) looking forward to the next trip for Team Siem Reap! hopefully soon!