Brasilipinas Rio de Manila 2011

It was Trency’s idea for us to go party at this event. It was an idea she got from her sister, who attended a yoga retreat in La Union. They had invited the students from this samba school to play, and while they played, you just lose yourself to the music. It was that feeling that Trency wanted to feel for herself that night.


So after a cool Spanish dinner over at the Power Plant Mall, we headed on over to the Rockwell Tent for the Rio de Manila 2011. That night we danced to the lively beat of the drums, it was not your ordinary club scene. It was like Makati was transformed into Rio de Janeiro.

Right smack in the middle of the hall, was this samba group of Brazilians. They were singing and the Filipinos and Brazilians alike were dancing and going wild. The beat was totally infectious! And it was just sooo amazing that Filipinos KNEW Brazilian music. They were singing along to the music like it was a regular OPM being played on the radio station.








Turns out the lively group of Filipinos were capoeiristas, or people doing Capoeira. I’ve had the chance to interview Professor Fantasma (the guy with the tattoo sleeve in a yellow and green hoodie) before our health magazine, giving me a bit of background on the martial art.


There were also guest performances, like this guy, who sang like 3 songs. Since it was in Brazilian, I couldn’t understand it.

They also invited a chef who specialized in Brazilian cuisine. We didn’t have the chance to taste Brazilian food, since we were still stuffed. And Trency was just delighted to have a swig of flavored beer, Super Bock. It’s the only beer she could handle.



But the performance we were waiting for was from the Escola de Samba, the group Trency’s sister was talking about. I was surprised at how young they were! And they just brought the house down! Everybody was dancing to the beat, it was amazing!




I’d love to attend another event such as this. It’s amazing to discover other cultures without having to leave the Motherland! I swore we all became Brazilians that night! It was just so fun and no one cares if you have two left feet, just DANCE!

Rio de Manila was a free event sponsored by the Embassy of Brasil, Havaianas, and the Power Plant Mall.

If you guys are interested on Capoeira, here's the link to the first Capoeira school in the Philippines where Professor Fantasma teaches, Escola Brasileira de Capoeira Philippines.

For those interested in learning Samba here's the link to Escola de Samba.

The Feel of Espanya

The BFFs are at it once again! We are back on an eating extravaganza! And for our TGIF gimmick, we opted to be a bit more sosyal with our restaurant of choice.

We all met up at Barcino at their Rockwell branch. Thank God for reservations! Had I not reserved, we’d be noshing at another restaurant. We dined al fresco to complete the “sosyal” feel.

I asked my good friend Elaine about Barcino, and she says it one of the best Spanish restaurants in town. I was a bit iffy with this because there’s this one restaurant that proclaims to serve authentic Spanish fare, but really hasn’t hit the right target. My lola has impeccable Spanish culinary skills, and will know right away if you’re just a trying hard bitch.

Anyway, we had so much carbs for our appetizers. This was our freebie appetizer, bread with this dip that had olive oil. I don’t know what it’s called, but it was an instant hit we had to order another round and actually paid for it!

We also had another carbo-loaded appetizer, the Sobrassada de Mallorca. Nothing special. It was just like homemade pizza.

Amanda and Trency both ordered the Costilla de Adan, also known as pork ribs braised in BBQ sauce.

The meat was soooo tender, cutting it up (both with the knife and your incisors) was a breeze! Although we all complained it was too salty, not sure, maybe they bathed it in their barbecue sauce. For sure, this really went well with their garlic rice.

Although NOT a Spanish cuisine, I ordered Espagueti A La Carbonara with bacon, cream, egg, and parmesan.


I love pasta! I will almost, always order a pasta dish the moment my eyes see them on a menu. This did not disappoint. It wasn’t too heavy on the cream hence no umay factor and no heavy feeling in the tummy. It was good, except that it was lacking in bacon bits. Went totally well with our wine, too.

Mike ordered Callos A La Madrilena, or tripe stewed Barcino way.

I liked this one, the tripe was all over the place, and this is what callos is all about. So unlike the callos in Lorenzo’s Way and Dulcinea. This was yummy!

But the kicker for the night was the wine we ordered, Castillo de Maluenda Tinto.

Now, I’m no wine connoisseur but I liked this, however it was a bit acidic. I’d also like my wine to be a bit aged, 2008 is still a baby. It was a cheap wine (P650) but it had a strong kick to it. Had several glasses, and it made me a bit tipsy. Major check!

We spent a good portion of our Friday night here, just wining and dining, waiting out the time before we go to an event at the Rockwell Tent. It was drizzling, and we had to cramp ourselves in that tiny umbrella. We could also hear the other tables’ conversations, so if you want to talk about something personal, well don’t do it here.

It also feels good to eat inside the restaurant, amidst the wine bottles and kegs. There’s this room I saw at the Rockwell branch that’s perfect for a romantic dinner date!

All-in all Barcino makes one perfect place for a happy group, just like ours, to wine, dine, and have a little chitchat!

Barcino
143, R1 Level
Power Plant Mall
Makati City
Tel. No. 846-9423
Website: http://www.barcino.com.ph

Going Gaga Over Chinese!

Oh yes I love Chinese food. From your next-door Chowking to a North Park, I would definitely eat there! I've had my fair share of authentic Chinese food when Mom and I traveled to Hong Kong and Macau oh-so-long-ago..and sometimes your palate just looks for that same authentic taste! Going to Binondo can be quite a hassle, but luckily there are restaurants here in the Metro that offer quality Chinese food, besides North Park and that small restaurant in Shopwise Libis that I raved about!

So we stumbled upon really good Chinese haunts namely: Mongkok and Eat Well Delicious Kitchen. Both restaurants really deserve a blog of their own, but Chinese will be Chinese right?

First stop is Mongkok. This little restaurant is found in Rockwell in Makati. Mom and I have passed by this without really giving it much thought, until Mom started craving for Pata Tim. We were so surprised at how cheap it was, we decided we would definitely come back here!

Then when my BFFs and I were looking for something cheap, I saw myself sitting in a table in Mongkok in Rockwell ordering (YET AGAIN!) my favorite Soya Chicken Noodle Soup.

Here are the other dishes ordered by our over-ordering friend Amanda.
Yang Chow Fried Rice (a Chinese resto must-have)

Braised Beef Brisket Pot

My friend who was on a stringent diet only had Stuffed Tofu

Salt and Pepper Spare Ribs

This dimsum was really good. Sad thing is I've forgotten the name!

And last but not the least, the first time I met and fell in love with Shao Long Pao! I was sooo amazed by the soup inside the dimsum! Love at first sight!

Overall, Mongkok may just be this unnoticeable little restaurant in Rockwell. But their tasty and CHEAP dishes can sure attract hungry yuppies. It's a great food find and right now while writing this, I am missing Mongkok with all my heart!

Next stop after reading a blog entry from one of my favorite food bloggers, TripOrTreats, I decided to treat Mom to a little and belated birthday dinner at Eat Well Delicious Kitchen. There are 2 branches, one in The Fort, and the other where were we ate in was at Greenhills.

The baby of Law Kwok Keung, chef extraordinaire of Shangri-La, this Chinese restaurant boasts of authenticity. It must have been really good, because even if the restaurant was located at the liblib part of the huge Greenhills arcade, families kept coming in even at 9.30pm! And when Mom and I were here it was right smack in the middle of the Undas long weekend and Greenhills was almost deserted! They must be doing really good Chinese food!

Learning from past mistakes, Mom and I decided to just order dishes we could share. So here's what we ordered! First is my love, Xiao Long Pao. Boy was this dimsum the bomb! You can just have this with Yang Chow and it's over! :) By the way, for the Xiao Long Pao addicts out there, you could order the 8-pieces!

Mom wanted to try this because it sounded cool. Three Cup Chicken Hot Pot. It did not disappoint! I loved the spiciness to this dish!

Of course, Yang Chow Fried Rice! I don't eat rice, so Mom had this all to herself!

We ordered a soup dish through the recommendation of ToT in her Eat Well blog, Wonton Noodle Soup. Dear Lord, it was better than I expected. I couldn't get over the wanton floating around! And the soup was really tasty! YUMMY! It was so good I forgot to take a picture of it! But it's something I'll come back to Eat Well for, plus the Xiao Long Pao!

So if craving for something Chinese, I totally recommend these 2 restaurants! You won't be sorry! They're really good and really cheap! You'd spend less than a thousand, and you'd be full to the brim!

Mongkok
Concourse Lvl., Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Drive cor. Estrella St.
Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Tel. No. 756-5112


Eat Well! Delicious Kitchen
Unit RP2-A Connecticut Carpark cor. Missouri St.
Greenhills Shopping Center, Greenhills, San Juan
Tel. No. 722-8518

The other Eat Well! branch is at
Unit C Ground Floor, Net Quad Building
4th Ave cor. 30th St.
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Tel. No. 856-9408

Diner Style ala Grams

Diner-style establishments amaze me because they're not a Filipino concept. It's not an everyday thing for us, so when an opportunity comes to get to eat in one, you just go grab it. Given it's price and it's inaccessibility to some, diner-style establishments only cater to a specific crowd, which is a bit saddening. There are so much stuff in their menu that's not available in a McDonald's, and they have different twists to their meals that make it such a fun place to go to.

I remember falling in love with "diners" when we ate at Mr. Jones. A bit pricey, sure, but dear God it was really good. And I'm glad I was able to experience it all over again, this time at Grams.

Located at Rockwell, this place is a bit hidden. It's clumped along with Starbucks and Pancake House. It's quite popular with the young ones, since it's very near Ateneo Professional Schools.

It was a stormy Thursday night, when I accompanied two very hungry Ateneans (yikes! :p) Trency and Kenn. Since I was still full, I only had coffee which was unbelievably REFILLABLE (yes, I was thrilled to the bones!). But the two hungry ones had this.
My refillable coffee! I ended up having 2 cups that night!

This was Trency's Chicken and Pork Adobo. Really good and very tasty! Tender meaty goodness. I also loved how they cooked their scrambled egg. Highly recommended! :D

This would be a very hungry Kenn. He had 2-pcs. fried chicken with mashed potatoes and buttered vegetables. Sorry we weren't close so I didn't have the guts to ask for some dibs! :D

Looking around, I saw people eating merrily. It was kind of weird because it was close to 12mn but there were still a lot of people milling around. In fact, the place was as noisy as hell!


I'm sorry, about this, but this was just too cute. This was their bathroom sign. Since it was the bagno for both male and female, they came up with a totally creative sign!

I'd definitely want to come back to Grams and EAT. I just hate that I was too full that night. But I will be back just so I could taste something that came from here. And yes, compared to Mr. Jones, Grams is definitely more affordable! :D

Now I think, it's also time to taste Johnny Rockets at Eastwood. :D


Grams
The Rockwell Club
23 Amorsolo Drive, Rockwell Center
Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines
Tel. No. 756-1535

Happy Birthday Bez!! :)

Last Sunday night I get a late-night call from Trency telling me to sleepover at her house on Monday night. She wanted us to make salubong her birthday which was today (August 10) at their Rockwell condo. Excitedly, I said yes.

Despite having menstrual cramps, a very painful wrist (no thanks to carpal tunnel syndrome), and back pains (again, no thanks to my foam-less bed), I happily drove to Rockwell after work. The happy birthday salubong plan was beer, sosyal (posh) pulutan (beer chow), and movies.

It was so weird, because of all the times I've gone on a drinking session, the usual suspects were greasy peanuts, greasy barbecue, sisig, and anything with oil and grease that is known to man! But last night, this drinking session called for beer chow that even the Zobel de Ayala's might partake of.

Here's the lowdown: 3 kinds of fromage (cheese), assorted nuts (almonds, pecans, and the like), cold cuts, and assorted crackers. All of those partnered with Gilbey's Premium Strength (DEFINITELY NOT for men only!) and Tanduay Ice.


We also watched Aladdin, just so we could feel like kids again! :D

At the stroke of midnight, we went up to their condo's terrace to officially welcome in the 10th of August and Trency's 24th birthday. Wishing her all the happiness in the world, we let her blow her ESPERMA candle. Sorry, we all forgot to bring a real birthday candle! :p


As for Trency's cakes, we had sugarless, flour-less chocolate cake and Heaven on Earth. All from Starbucks. The Heaven on Earth was so good, we ate it before I had the chance to take a photo of it.

It was a great night, a great way to celebrate yet another year of endless possibilities, another year to grow! But we all had to retire early (at 2.30am) because we all have certain responsibilities today. We didn't even finish the 2nd movie (The Boat That Rocked).

So Trency, my one and only bez, happy, happy, happy birthday! We love you so much! Always remember we're here for you. And I know we were talking about this while you were washing the dishes, how hard life is now that we're adults, but I know you can get through anything. I wish you luck in your interior design endeavors, I know you can do it. I wish for you to have more theater stints, so we can all watch you act in your plays with pride only true friends could do. Amanda may not have been there last night, but I'm pretty sure, she'll wish you well. We may not have a love life right now, but I'm sure you'll find that right guy someday.

Love you bez! Happy birthday! *hugs* :)