Best in Late Ever: Wee Nam Kee x Citibank

I am back to blogging! Our IT decided it was pointless to block a blog site, thank God for that! So anyway, I'm back in the blogosphere and I spent like 3-4 days reading backlogs of my favorite bloggers (the ones who use Blogspot). I missed you all! :)

So since, I was derailed from my blogging groove, I am going to be best in late! Like this one, I remember Mom sending me an email about Citibank's promo last September. Wee Nam Kee is opening another branch at Serendra at the Bonifacio Global City. Since I've been trying to convince Mom to eat there with me, she instantly emailed me this and told me to get a reservation at once!

Ain't it cool! When you're a Citibank cardholder you instantly get 50% off on any of Wee Nam Kee's dishes! And since we Filipinos love promos, getting a reservation was a bitch! I mean you wanna have lunch or dinner, but then you get a reservation at weird hours like 3.30PM or 5.50PM! But since we really wanted to avail of the promo we decided to just get on with the show even if it meant for us to eat lunch at 3.30PM on a Sunday! :)

So here's what was on our table. If I remember correctly this was either beef or pork with tofu. It was really good, not too salty! And they served us generous portions of both tofu and beef/pork.

Mom got intrigued by this dish when she saw it on the menu: Honey Crispy Squid. First bite, and it was crispy, like you were eating the skin of a lechon...only healthier! We had fun picking on this! Hearing the crunching sound as you chew on the squid made it exciting to eat! Totally recommended! :)

And of course, the star of Wee Nam Kee: THE Steamed Hainanese Chicken. Damn it was good! And all I could do was sit there and say to myself, how in the Lord's name did I wait THIS LONG to try this out! But as they say, better late than never, right?!

The meals would not be fully enjoyed without rice and we ordered the Wee Nam Kee Fried Rice, it's your usual Yang Chow...Wee Nam Kee style! :)

Thank you so much to Citibank, have you not emailed my Mother about the 50% off I would still be walking along the Ayala Triangle Gardens, wondering why there's always a huge crowd outside Wee Nam Kee waiting to be seated!

And Wee Nam Kee, you did not disappoint. Thank you for satisfying my curiosity and even going beyond my expectations. The food was hands-down good! Can't wait to try other dishes! :)

Wee Nam Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice
Serendra, McKinley Parkway, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
Tel. No. 822-7095

If Not Now, When World Tour 2011 + Buffalo Wings at Wing Kings

As media partners of Ovation Production, our channels here at Solar Entertainment aired non-stop the plugs for the Incubus concert. The big day was on July 28, 2011. We already perished the thought of getting tickets to this one-night only show, so we just stuck to listening to Incubus songs on our iTunes/iPods to temper our lusting over free tickets.

But around 2.30PM on the day of the concert itself, God answered our prayers and the best instant message I have ever received came through. WE HAD TICKETS!! YEAH MEN!!!!! But just like an insider's scoop, I can't name our source! :D What's fun is that we would have been happy with Upper Box A or B tickets, but since we're a lucky bunch, we got LOWER BOX tickets! HOOOZZZAAAHHHH!

Since it was Thursday, I first had to attend my class over at La Salle because I had a report that night. But right after my report, I asked my dear professor to let me go because we had an "EVENT". Luckily, he said yes so I ran to the LRT as fast as my two feet could carry me. Just a side note: Haven't ridden the LRT-MRT in a long time, it reminded me of our college days when we'd troop down to the Araneta Coliseum, that same way, to watch La Salle games! FUN! :)

I got to Araneta in the nick of time, the front act FRANCO, just finished playing their set and everyone was just waiting for Incubus to come out. Good thing I had enough time to breathe! Was seated with Lainey and her boyfriend Anton.

Photos from MAGIC LIWANAG. Taken from Saab Magalona's blog: SPELL SAAB


Here are photos from my Blackberry. They suck yes! But I just wanna use them just because I took them hahahaha proof that I was there talaga! :p




We were absolutely POOPED after that concert! But it was great to hear them sing their songs LIVE like I Miss You, Promises, Promises, Wish You Were Here, Drive, Pardon Me, and so many others. They're a great band! And I really wish they come back SOON! Thank you to our source whom I cannot name, without you, we wouldn't have been there! THANK YOU!!

Oh and our friends, David and Marvin got their production passes signed. But for David, he wasn't contented with having his pass signed, he even had his FOREARM SIGNED! Weird mo talaga David! But hey, I turned green with envy! Hahahaha


And even though we were tired, Josh, Leah, and I still managed to haul ourselves to The Fort Stopover to have a post-Incubus dinner at Wing Kings. Had this killer, super good, spicy buffalo wings meal for only Php95 and it came pa with a iced tea. Really good midnight snack! I have to say this was super good because I already have a strong tolerance for spicy stuff, but still this meal got my sinuses worked up! GOOD JOB WING KINGS!!


Wing Kings
The Fort Stopover
32nd St. cor. Rizal Drive, Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Mobile No. 0917-5594649
Tel. No. 775-8229

Midnight Mercato: The Highs and The Lows

Two entries in one day is unusual for me, but hey, there's always a first time for everything right? :D

So last Saturday, after officially becoming a godparent to this unknowing child, Mariko, Hazel and I drove from Paseo de Magallanes to The Fort in Taguig. Our agenda: to hit Midnight Mercato, the brainchild of foodie Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet.

We had a bitch of a time looking for it, I didn't know they transferred spots. So now, they're located behind the Starbucks with the drive-thru right beside MC Home Depot. Cars were lined up just to get to the parking lot. It was THAT BUSY! Plus some people cut the line, so it took us more than 15 minutes to actually get in!

But when we finally got in, we thought we were all going to go crazy! THE FOOD WAS ABUNDANT!! There were so much food choices, we had to go around the place 5 times before we got decide.





Since we came from Racks that afternoon, we were still sort of stuffed. So we only got to eat Nachos with Cheese and Beef from Mexicanto and the Hungarian Sausage. Both were really good! Nice and light..perfect for a close-to-midnight snack.


Mariko also decided to buy cakes from one of the stalls. They were a disappointment. This first one was a Chocolate-caramel cake. Although not too sweet, it's not your typical moist chocolate cake. It was dry and had a rough texture to it.

The really sad attempt at a Red Velvet Cake. Again, it was dry and the cream cheese was HARD.

This was much better, cake with walnuts on top. I liked it because it wasn't too sweet, plus there were nuts all over the cake.

Lastly, this was a strawberry cake. Again, not too sweet, but it was better than the chocolate and the red velvet cakes.

You really have to look around first before buying your food. There's so many stalls, but only a handful of them really serve good food. It's best to get the food that gets cooked right in front of you, at least you're assured of the quality once it's served! :)

Anton, if you get to read this, as a fan of yours, please:
1. FIX THE BATHROOM SITUATON! 2 portalets is not enough. Plus make sure nobody drops a bomb in there. It sucks that there are only 2 cubicles (one for the men and the other for the female) and one of them can't be used because of some inconsiderate dumbie! It's a bit of a hassle to go all the way to Starbucks or to MC Home Depot just to take a leak.
2. PARKING. Maybe you could just organize one entry point for the entrance and exit. It took us 15 minutes to get inside the parking lot because some moronic drivers cut the line.
3. FOOD SITUATION. As a foodie, maybe you should also get to screen the quality of the food being sold. We bought Sago't Gulaman that tasted like water, cakes that were dry and tasteless. And also the hygiene of the sellers were a bit questionable. We saw this stall with a "chef" preparing food with his bare hands. Come on, it's supposed to cater to the conyo crowd, how do you expect people to buy food when they see someone using their hands while preparing their food.
4. SITTING SITUATION. Hope you guys can get to add more seats, a lot of people had been scouring the entire area for seats. Plus most of the people there go by barkadas or one entire family. So most of them take up an entire table.
5. Getting to draw in hoards of people is really key, but as a foodie, you also know what gets you to come back to a certain restaurant. Most of the time it's quality and the cleanliness. Seriously Anton, cleanliness is a bit of an issue here. The food is not really exceptional, so maybe you can make the place spic and span, starting with the RESTROOMS. That part was really frustrating.

These are just some friendly suggestions to help improve the place. I think some aspects of the food market was neglected because it already had a NAME. In all fairness to the weekend markets at Salcedo and Legaspi Villages, they've been really successful because they took note of the minute things that people who come to them really need.

But don't get me wrong, before you throw and hurl boulders of hate at me, we really loved the place ok! Mariko, Hazel, and I had to make like 5 rounds just to decide on what to eat hahaha it really is a foodie heaven. But all things need improvement, and I guess Midnight Mercato isn't exempted from it! :)

Midnight Mercato
34th Street and 8th Avenue (across MC Home Depot), The Fort, Taguig
Operating Hours: Friday and Saturday, 10PM to 3AM
Website: http://www.midnightmercato.com

Good Burgers and then Some at Stackers Burger Cafe

Burgers are the ultimate go-to food when you're just hungry and can't really find a specific thing to eat. There's something about burgers that you just can't resist aand get tired of. From the simple burgers in our schools to the Jollibee Yum burger and to the sosy Brother's Burger, it's just really irresistible.

While waiting for Trency to finish up with her midterms on the day we were to hit Candaba, Mike, Amanda, and I trooped on over to The Venice Piazza at McKinley Hill. We wanted fast food because we weren't sure what time Trency would call. The final decision: STACKERS BURGER CAFE.

It was my first time to eat at Stackers, so I was grateful to see this "breakdown" of a Stackers buger. I think it's a great way to entice people to order their burgers and to give first timers a good idea of what's in it for them.

Their menu was pretty rockin' too. The layout was clean, and the photos can make you hungry. And it was all about BURGERS (uhmm...duh!).


So anyway, on to our orders. I was being weird, I have this knack for ordering something a particular restaurant isn't exactly known for. They were a burger joint, but I ordered Chicken Nuggets with Fries. Talk about being a non-conformist! :p

It was actually pretty good. The nuggets were freshly made, not soggy, and the outside was crispy. They also have a generous serving of fries. It's a good meal for those who aren't too hungry. It's filling but not to the point of hacking it all up.

Mike ordered THE MASSIVE. Although they could've done a much better job at making it MASSIVE.

Mike let me taste it, and it was good. It's like a McDonald's double cheeseburger, only Stackers made the beef juicier and fatter...not too mention twice the price! Mike had to to add like Php60 to get fries and a drink.

Amanda on the other hand got Buffalo Chicken Ranch.

This was a flop! The chicken was dry and a bit tough, obviously it was reheated or something. The precious few amounts of sauce in the burger did very little to wet the chicken and give it a little bit of taste. And like Mike, she had to add Php60 for her fries and drink. For something this blah, it was expensive!

Just to be safe, maybe you should just go for the Stackers Classics. I think those are the burgers they have perfected and can whip up during sleep. It can be pretty steep, so you just have to know what to order, cos you can end up really disappointed with it. They have really small drinks and a puny container for their fries, so for me, it's quite expensive.

I've got my eyes set on the Stack Cheese Burger, looed really good on their menu. I'll have that on my next trip to Stackers.

Stackers Burger Cafe
Ground Level, The Venice Piazza
McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio
Taguig, Metro Manila
Tel. Nos.: 403-6572 and 409-6843

10th Christmas Together and a Welcome Back Celebration

It's a very special Christmas for us this year. It's our 10th year of being a barkada! High school friends are indeed forever, and I am just so happy that we have survived 10 years and I'm sure there will be more 10 years of togetherness. And to those who know our group, you know how CRAZY we are when we're all together! :D

Earlier this year we've gone to the beautiful Bohol (an island in the Southern Philippines) to celebrate the season of the sun. So for this year, we made another special arrangement to have a Christmas celebration. If you've read my blog entries, we are such big spenders when it comes to food. All we do when we have a get together is eat, and EAT A LOT!

So far, our barkada has done American, Thai, and Meditteranean foods and shabu-shabu. And they're not exactly cheap (hahaha!).

We all decided to meet at the new, hip, and happening place Burgos Circle at The Fort in Taguig City. urgos Circle is tucked behind rows of condominiums so the area is quiet and cozy. Nice place for people to meet up and chow down!


Our dinner was supposed to be at Cafe Juanita at 7.30PM. But seems like unfortunate events happened - we were all late, one got lost, another missed her exit, and the restaurant was packed - so we moved to next-door Original Mile Hi Diner. It's just so small, from the main door you can see everything with one sweep.


Same as upstairs, you can get one good look as you go up the flight of stairs. There was one big group who already claimed the 2nd floor, and you could hear their laughter even from outside!


Since Gladys, boyfriend Luke, and I arrived first we got first dibs on the menu and decided to order appetizers:


The nachos were really good, chips were cripsy and the salsa with a little twang. But it lacked ingredients that were written on the menu such as jalapeños and sour cream. This did not make Gladys happy!

When we were finally complete, we all exchanged gifts! Here you see Trency giving in and completely failing her emotional quotient test. She already opened Amanda's gift - a cute clutch bag which screams Trency's name! :D


When the orders started arriving, we didn't even know how to place them on the table. This is a lot, as usual, so just be ready (ha!).

Amanda ordered Clam Chowder and Caesar Salad. The clam chowder was bland, watery even, and it was not hot.


Trency and Luke ordered Porkchops. Trency had it with rice, while Luke had his with mashed potatoes. I tried a small piece and it was really good. The meat was tender and tasty. They must have marinated it for quite some time so the meat was able to mop up the flavors.

Mike ordered Chicken Platter which had Chicken Lollipop, Buffalo Wings, and Chicken Tenders. It also had French fries and quesadillas for side dishes. The quesadillas was SO GOOD! Cheesy and soft! It was a sure fire hit with Gladys.

Gladys had the healthier version of Mike's platter. She had the seafood platter with calamares and fish fingers. Quesadillas and French fries accompanied the platter too!

I had the misfortune of ordering Chicken Cordon Bleu. It was too salty for my taste, and it just looked so blah. Good thing the salad and the mashed potatoes tasted really good or else it would've been a complete disaster!

We had a couple of rounds of beer, and a lot of chit chat about our high school life, and how 2011 would treat us. It was funny because even if did not really talk about DRESSING UP for this occasion, we all ended up looking glam! FABULOUS! :D

We had a swell time reminiscing our high school days, it was the time when we really didn't care about anyone. Admittedly we were the weird ones, we talked about politics and religion when the other girls talked about boys and going out. We had our own fun during those days. It's just that after 10 years, that when we started coming out of own shells and stepping out into the big world.

Afterwards we moved to Rue Bourbon, a small bar and restaurant just a block away from the Mile Hi Diner, to have cocktails. It's a cool place to hang out in, the music wasn't too loud, and their chairs were soft and cozy.

Here's us toasting to more years of friendship (through thick and thin) and to the NEW YEAR!

To my girls: I love you all so much! You are all the sisters I never had! Always know that I am here for each one of you. I LOVE YOU!! BALI FOR OUR TRIP NEXT YEAR!! :D

We ate at:
Original Mile Hi Diner
Forbes Town Center
29th St. (P. Burgos Circle), Bonifacio Global City
Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines
Tel. No. 556-2530

Cocktails and a little partying over at:
Rue Bourbon Bar and Restaurant
Burgos Circle, Bonifacio Global City
Taguig City
Mobile No. 0932-7649478