Moving on.

Moved this blog to a new site click here

I will surely miss this blog. see you to my new site! =)

It's 2016!

Yes. I know I know. I didn't write anything for 2014 and 2015.

Roller Coaster ride. Ups, Downs, Circle, Fast, Slow.


EXHAUSTING.



I miss blogging honestly.


You all know I'm currently finishing my Master's Degree, and yes that was 2013 and I'm still stuck in trying to finish my thesis about ASEAN Integration.


Exhausting indeed.


Change in career, change in perspective, change in location, changing myself

2013-2015 Bye.


P.S. Will re-launch this blog. wait for new and better blog.

Hi Guys!

I'm sorry that I'm unable to update this blog due to significant events like work, health, etc. nonetheless I promise I will write soon.

Thanks!

Newly renovated Linden Suites

Family of 4? looking for comfortable space with great location?

Linden Suites is one of the hotels that is family friendly. The lobby is small but good enough to entertain guests. They have nice and good looking staff at the reception =)

We stayed at a 2 bedroom accommodation at the 9th floor. 10th flr - 15th flr are closed for renovation.

So, when I entered the room I was amazed with the new furniture, kitchen, flooring, etc. 

Sala (and my dad) I like the new interior! It's spacious, bright, and eye-pleasing. They retained the big flat screen TV, speakers, and dvd player. On the corner is a desk with internet socket.

Kitchen

Dinner at Rub Rib's

What's better than roast chicken? It's Baby Back Ribs!! 

Kapitolyo is a district near our home which houses a lot of upscale restaurants but affordable in price. Kapitolyo is a village with nice houses and the houses in the main street of the village are converted to restaurants. You can find american food, thai food, vietnamese, european, arabic, and so much more!

We went to Rub Rib's last Feb 5 to celebrate my sister's birthday together with my cousins. The place is quite small but always full of hungry customers. What I like about this place is their famous yummy ribs and it's very close to my house.

Menu. 

Some designs

2 big ribs (good for 4 persons) Family size meal costs P685 with 3 side dish (potatoes, buttered corn, vegetables) The ribs are absolute divine! it's soft, tasty, and very bbq in taste. We ordered additional rice because it's hard to eat the ribs w/o rice =) The meat is so tender that we can't resist to make simot the bones! 

I love the coca cola cherry =)

Dinner at Sushi-Ya

Hello! 

We know that during WW 2 Japanese Empire sided with the axis power (Italy, Germany) and with bombing of Hiroshima, Japan forced itself to isolation.

Kamikaze - Military tactic used by the japanese forces at the latter time of the war. These are pilots that do suicide attacks toward their enemies (as see above)

Who could forget the very famous anime that made our imagination filled with fantasies: Doraemon.

Iconic, magnificent and glamorous Geisha. Listen, Geishas are not prostitutes. They are considered celebrities / artists at that time, although the maikos (apprentice geisha) perform the mizuage it is abolished during the 50s / 60s

Gong Li as Hatsumomo in Memoirs of a Geisha

Mt. Fuji and Cherry Blossoms

Besides the wonderful and rich culture, Japanese cuisine is something that many people like. Btw, Sushi-Ya is not authentic as the japanese restaurants that sprung up like mushrooms here in Manila but Sushi-Ya is affordable and close to authentic japanese food :)

California Maki (P85) Not bad for it's price (if your looking for affordable maki) but of course if you are able to taste high quality sushi from some fancy restaurant, you will know the difference. I have to commend the rice though, it's sticky and smooth but short in taste.

Tempura Udon (P145) noodles are firm and okay. Tempura is okay. The soup is not that tasty, lacks that umami taste of a ramen soup. But then again, given it's price no complain. 

Ebi Tempura (P148) crispy, medium sized deep fried prawns in japanese flour. It's quite nice actually, the shrimp is not that small and you can taste it's meat but the negative side of this is that the tempura are a little oily. 

Dinner at Yellow Cab

Pizza!! 

Pizza and Pasta are two great dish that Italians introduced to the world. Many of us loves eating pasta and pizza whether meaty or vegan. 

A little bit of history.

Pizza takes us early back during the AD period however it is unclear when and how it is formed. While pasta is documented as early as the Ancient Greeks (BC) in Sicily, Italy.

Pizza and Pasta went trough a lot of changes and re-inventions that made it interesting which makes the people loving it more.

Chicken Alfredo (P250) Creamy, white sauce with chicken fillet. It may not be as fancy pasta dish around the metro but it is definitely one the tastiest. If you really love heavy white creamy pasta, then yellow cab's alfredo will hit the spot. 

Charlie Chan Chicken Pasta (P270) Spicy, nutty, and yummy. I'm not a fan of whole nuts in a dish so I just scrapped off the nuts and concentrated on the spiciness of this dish. I really love the flavor of the pasta especially the mushrooms. it's a little sweet but it's still great.

Dinner at Corazon

¡HOLA! Come estas? 

Me llamo John Contreras. Vivo en la cuidad de Pasig. Tengo veinte y _____ anos. Estudio en la Universidad de santo Tomas.

We often take for granted the things that are so close to us and sometimes we forget these and take no importance of it.

A little bit of history.

Philippines is a former spanish colony in the far east which was Re-Discovered by Ferdinand Magellan (a Portuguese explorer). Magellan carry the flag of Spain because the Queen and King of Portugal at that time didn't believe that the world is round and so Magellan went to the King and Queen of Spain for blessing. He traveled towards west until he is able to cross the pacific and thus arriving to the shores of Cebu.

"Re-Discovered" 

Historians (Including myself) presented evidences that Philippines before Spaniards arrived have a organized government system, clothing, art, trading system, etc. and at that time, Islam is introduced from the south which spread out in many parts of the archipelago.

Food

Food is also a source of history. It's something that historians and archaeologists take into account aside from text, oral traditions, and visual art. Although it is not common, I like this method especially when I made a paper about the Indigenous People of Ibaloi in the North.

So what thus this means? Sadly many Filipinos do not know the origin of our local food, all we know is adobo, sinigang, dinuguan, and many more. 

Fast forward to the present. Filipino-Spanish cuisine is somewhat hard to find here in Manila, it's always Filipino or Spanish rarely on Filipino-Spanish fusion. 

Corazon (Co-ra-thon) 

corazon means heart in spanish.

My Dad is a food lover as I am he's more adventurous in food tasting than I am. One day, he brought me to Corazon and bragging how good their Paella Valenciana. 

(grabbed from their website)

(grabbed from their website)

Picture this, the resto has that filipino-spanish-mediterranean ambiance and funky artistic visual pieces.

Chorizo Filipino (w/o egg) P 310. Normally I don't like oily and fatty dishes but this chorizo dish is an exception. I like how the chorizo is not salty and chewy. This chorizo is very nice and I would say it's not the usual chorizo that you eat at many restaurants and buy at some grocery stores.

Lunch at Cibo

Ever wonder why sometimes you get so excited for a thing and suddenly when it's in front of you all the excitement disappear?

In this case, It's Cibo.

I may not eat at expensive restaurants all the time but I certainly know what good and authentic food is. I grew up dining out all the time (that only proves my weight haha) but I tell you, food is something that is a blessing and a connection. 

You get excited because you feel something great and good will happen just like when harry potter defeated lord valdemort or when anakin skywalker is darth vader or when darth vader in his deathbed confesses to luke skywalker that he is his father yada yada.

Sorry I wasn't able to get the names of the dishes but you'll figure it out when you dine at cibo they have pictures.

Pesto with mushroom. Pasta was hard, it's like chewing a gum in which I didn't able to taste the full flavor although the texture is good, and the pesto sauce is generous, I had a hard time finishing this dish. This one costs around P270.

Pollo Arrosto Limone (P340-360) Looks great and appetizing

Dinner at Amici

My first entry for the year!

My co-employees and former co-employees agreed to have dinner at Amici since it's the best option for our group and it's close to the Ayala-Triangle Christmas lights.

I like Amici. Beside it's yummy food it's budget friendly also.

Spaghetti Al Pomodoro Pasta (P198) The pasta texture is just right, soft and yet firm. The pomodoro flavor is a classic pasta that you can't get sour on. Nice pasta.

Tutta Carne (P364) This pizza compromises of Italian sausage, ham, and pepperoni. Meaty and cheesy. The pizza dough is quite thin and crispy but not totally so that you can taste the full flavors of the ingredients of the pizza. Yummy!

Frutti di Mare (P378) Ingredients are: squid, shrimp, mussels, and clams. If you love seafood and pizza then you should try this. The seafood ingredients complements each other and the cheese wraps up the flavor and nice texture of the pizza. It was overwhelmingly delicious.

Happy New Year!!

Hello World!

Sorry I don't update my blog regularly because I've been busy, lazy and sick lately but rest assured that I'll update this blog in the coming days.

Thanks!

John

ATTN: PLDT

I just hope customer care of PLDT take this seriously.

Christmas Party! Lechon and Dessert Galore!

It's Christmas Season!!

People here in Manila celebrate xmas season like there's no tomorrow! It's everywhere and it's really amazing! Christmas lights, Christmas carol, new clothes, loud Christmas music, xmas decorations! and most of all, FOOOOOOOOOD!!

Our department had a little get together (xmas party) since the whole bank division agreed to donate the xms party budget to the typhoon haiyan victims (including the amount agreed for exchange gift)

Yummy home cooked meals!

Creamy spaghetti, and beef with mushrooms

Embotido (Pork sausage like dish), Salad, Cheese and Sausages

Creamy, Sweet, and Indulgently yummy dulce de leche like cake from The Peninsula Hotel. It was soooo yummy and I specially love the nutty taste.

Cheesecake. Words can't describe how perfect this cheesecake is. Creamy at its finest. The cake just melts in your mouth. Every slice is pure heaven. I even thought of buying this cake every month.

JCo Donuts

Yamato Bakery's Cronuts + PNoy + NAIA T3

All Saints day and All Souls day (Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 respectively) are days that  people fluctuate to different terminals to go back to their respective province and greatly commemorate the dead relatives.

Greatly commemorate. It's because here in PH where relatives sleep overnight at the cemetery, you can hardly cross the other side of the cemetery due to volume of people. It is also the time where relatives have their family reunion and of course prepare food.

My Dad and I agreed to meet at my office around 1:00 pm to go to NAIA T3 to catch a 5pm flight. Traffic in Manila is the worst! We left Makati at around 1:30 and drive along EDSA where we find ourselves stuck in traffic. I was calm at that time because we had a lot of time to spare, I slept at the car all the way trough the traffic. I woke up 3:30pm only to find out that our car is not allowed to enter since parking is full and my dad (diabetic, impatient , and maliglaig) is going hyper, I told him that I'll walk and proceed to check-in our bags and he just wait for a few minutes so he can enter the parking lot.

Thank God he was able to get a parking slot (park n fly). Luckily, increase in parking fee is not yet in effect at that time (Read this: Worlds worst airport strikes again one thousand peso parking tickets at NAIA)

I told  my dad the new rate scheme and both of us agreed to just take the cab going to NAIA on feb 2014 going to Hong Kong. I don't mind since our house is a 20 min. ride going to the airport via C5 and our departure time is at 5am, so no worries.

Amazingly, there's no queue of line (Dec. 31  is our departure date. We didn't want to travel on Nov 1 with the exodus of people) at the check-in counters and check-in of bags is done within 10 min. Thank you web-check in. 

As I passed trough the final security, I realized that it only took me 15 min from baggage check-in to final security. No more manual check-in and terminal fee payment. Check in time is cut by half, saved some time for coffee and plane spotting. 

I was ecstatic to have rows of chair for myself.

Then I saw a commotion. I hurriedly went to Cafe France and left my bag to my dad.

Dept. of Transportation and Communication Sec. Jun Abaya ( I'm not thrilled to see him because I find him too inefficient to become a transportation secretary. A transportation secretary should be firm and work fast, transportation is a big contributor to the economy, and the DOTC took a lot of months just to bid out the renovation of Mactan-Cebu International airport) 

President Noynoy Aquino.

Wide! 50% of the travelling people I saw was foreigners.

Breakfast at Cafe 1771

I always wanted to eat breakfast outside the house or outside the office. I'm not a morning person but I certainly love breakfast food. I love fresh egg, ham and orange juice in the morning. Cafe 1771 is open 7am and gain numerous award for their excellence. 

I love the old-spanish style facade of their building and their very pleasant staff. 

Croque Madame (P370) 

It's a croque monsieur topped with sunny side up egg. The egg was fantastic and fresh,it was perfectly cooked (no bubbles on the side) The bread was soft and crispy which is weird but very very delicious (addicting actually) the cheese and ham were nice as well. A total breakfast meal!

Fruit Parfait. Sweet and yummy. The green apple balances the sweet taste of all the fruits which makes this parfait better than ice cream.

Lunch at Florabel

 

Uneventful day for me. It's 8 am and the cab I was riding bumped to a jeepney and it was shocking terrifying. It's the first time that I experience such accident. After that I was nervous and shaking, it kinda ruined my day.

I heard a loud bang! scary but thankfully nothing serious.

Fast forward to lunch time. I was in podium, ortigas to look for a place to eat when I walk across Florabel and I got curios. I must say their menu is appetizing and very unique.

not a living soul was dining here,only me.

A special dip that I don't like. It's weird, salty and too oily.