kiss the cook

asian braised pork belly by kiss the cook. DAMN this was fucking awesome, it's a man meal, i'd hit this again. super tender, no chewy parts, nice sesame flavor and that orange-y sauce/au jus was so fine with that hot rice.

grilled afghan chicken with creamy corn korma from kiss the cook. it was good, but it was kinda mild for me, like em corn.
tropical chicken and mango salad by kiss the cook. they say it has this thai marinade and passion fruit vinaigrette, uhh, it was good to share, you know, your regular smattering of mixed greens, it was okay.

HOW TO HELP JAPAN

An 8.9 earthquake hit Japan last March 11, Friday, followed by a devastating tsunami. The news shook me so bad, it's like this nightmare. Truly disturbing. This is the worst thing that happened in Japan since WWII. Tsunami warnings and aftershocks still plague Sendai, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures in North Eastern Japan as we speak. My heart goes out to you, Japan. We're sending out all the love and prayers from your brothers and sisters here in the Philippines.

Gayuma ni Maria

twisted pavlova. reminds me of Alba's canonigo and that dulce de leche syrup is delish, I like the weird-colored pink whipped cream, the fruits are refreshing.
beats sex any day. decadent chocolate cake with cream and butterscotch and chocolate syrup. it's good, but they shouldn't have named it beats sex any day, more like, beats Goldilocks any day, wasn't blown away. Xocolat's brownies beats sex any day. Hah.eat up, snow white. apple pie with cream. served piping hot, this is truly awesome, I love the crunchy apples and crispy brown sugar crumble and crust, gooey, crunchy and crispy, the texture on this one is great, will come back just for this. :)

Kanin Club

kanin club: crispy dinuguan(blood soup). why crispy? they used liempo(deep fried pork) instead of the usual innards. it's quite good but I prefer the more soupy, sour kind of dinuguan even if I only eat the soup with hot rice. :p yes, that's a big chili pepper on top.dinner at mom's: sukiyaki, pansit(stir-fried noodles with veggies), bagoong(fermented shrimp paste) rice with burong mangga(pickled mangoes) and some porkchop. this sukiyaki just hits home for me, and I love the burong mangga bits with my bagoong rice.shakey's: "hand-tossed" shakey's special. nice crust on this one, crispy and chewy, it rivals their famous thin crust.

Atsu Atsu Ramen

atsu bun. it's pork with special sauce, with lettuce, mayo and some peanuts in a kuapao bun. the meat just melts--sweet and succulent with a tangy mayo dressing, it's just pure perfection.Miso ramen set for two. Includes, gyoza, salad of shredded cabbage with a sesame/miso dressing, kankuni buns(next photo) and fruit. they say it's for two, I say it's for three. The ramen has two slices of simmered pork, shitaake mushrooms, boiled egg, veggies, seaweed and naruto. The soup was okay, it's not rich, it's straightforward shoyu based soup. I just wish the egg was tamago--the marinated ones with golden gooey yolky goodness and the pork was hard not the-melt-in-your-mouth kind.The egg noodles have great texture, I just want to shove everything in my mouth. It was still great for its price, which I think is quite a steal. The gyoza was wonderful, it didn't have too much leeks.katsudon with miso soup. perfectly done, the rice used was the sticky kind, the meat was properly coated and fried, it didn't have that yucky eggy aftertaste, like something is rotten. not so greasy, and no, the miso soup served with this dish isn't the same with our ramen.agedashi tofu. the lightest version I've ever tasted, fresh and not too cloying, with extra grated ginger.

Royce' Chocolates

homemade smores: you know, get them m.y. san graham crackers, the mallows should be the imported kind (yung tipong pang roast daw pag may campfire) and use only toblerone triangles. then nuke 'em in the microwave for 6 seconds. yep, my smores are awesome :9
Royce': Petit truffle and Nama Chocolate in some peach/flowery milk chocolate. Ah yes. Orange dark chocolate truffles and totally exquisite ganache bars. This makes me a happy lady.Royce': Orange dark chocolate truffles. Tasted like there's some liquor, truly decadent.

Pakibalot Panciteria

lunch at home: kung pao chickenshangri-la hotel: fried scallop dumplings, crabcake with some mango sauce, cold duck salad, thai chicken mango salad, veggie samosa. pretty, delicious amuse bouches.corona chicken salsa pizza, best yellow cab pizza flavor. sprinkle this with lime juice.Pakibalot Panciteria's lumpiang shanghai is the best I've ever tasted--doesn't taste like regular siomai filling but more like meaty lechon, then eat with pinagulong pansit with lechon. Truly awesome comfort food.

Conti's

Conti's: strawberry shortcake. dry as hell. that chiffon tasted like the mamon from the bakery across the street. pound cake would be better than chiffon.bonbons! the silver ones are garden-biscuit, white chocolate with coconut and the dark brown ones are rondnoir-darck chocolate. YUMMEHcross-section of ferrero rondnoir dark - smooth center with dark chocolate sprinklesclose-up of ferrero garden-biscuit, creamy white chocolate center, coconut bits and almond. not a fan of anything white chocolate,but this was exquisite, the coconut, almond and biscuit went great together.shangri-la: macaron, opera cake, brownie with ganache and a fruit tart. i live for shit like these.

Kitaro and Mei Hua Pot and Noodle House

Kitaro Sushi: tofu with shitaake and peppers. tofu is silky inside and crispy out. the sauce is a tad too sweet for me, best eaten with hot rice.lunch at home: fucking awesome barbecue. equal parts moist, succulent, charred, spicy, sweet and tender.Mei Hua Pot and Noodle House: Satay beef with kangkong. best eaten piping hot, really yummy but didn't taste of peanuts.Mei Hua Pot and Noodle House: hot and sour noodles. they made everything on the menu at P99. they boast of their famous hand-pulled noodles but the noodles tasted normal. i'd pay the original price to make this chewy, fresh, and snappy again. sigh.

Baja Mexican Cantina and Greens

Baja Mexican Cantina: carne asada nachos. heaps of sour cream, too sparse on the meat and salsa. Without the sour cream, this would totally suck.I don't like the cheap containers.Baja Mexican Cantina: mexican burrito. Hmmm. It doesn't taste fresh. It seems re-heated? An episode of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares suddenly comes to mind. Maybe Mexicali would be a better option. Sigh.Greens Vegetarian Restaurant and Cafe: barbecue with brown rice. good LORD. this dish is a total mindfuck. the barbecue tastes good but I know it's gluten, but really you almost can't tell. And the rice. This is different from the other brown rice I've tried. Its texture is of oatmeal, bran, roughage fuck, the stuff that horses eat. After eating this meal, it totally weirded me out cos it's like I ate air and dandelion roots. Like nothing ever hit the bottom of my tummy. Man, so surreal.Sicilian Express: lasagna. it was okayy. something you'd eat when your neighbor sends you over their leftovers from their party you weren't invited in. the focaccia was awesome though.

holidaze detox

bicol express: bicol is a province where they like their food deliciously hot, this dish is made up of coconut milk, chopped up chilies(LOADS of it), shrimp paste and ground meat. I can eat this everyday.roasted chilies: plain, charred one should eat this with--chopped up tomatoes with red onion and bagoong (fermented fish paste) which is totally different with alamang, also a kind of bagoong(fermented shrimp paste)

Gelatone and Orange Swits

Orange Swits: had these when I was a kid and yep, the ones the yosi boys sell during traffic. They also sell boxes of these at your nearest grocery. Such joy. And nostalgia.Ritter Sport: my latest candy bar obsession. Mini versions of yogurt, fine chocolate (35% cacao), praline, dark chocolate in marzipan, butter biscuit, chopped hazelnuts and my all-time favorite, cornflakes. always preferred german over belgian chocs.Gelatone: I think this is the best tasting gelato in metro manila. Tasted the watermelon and the bitter chocolate ones, really ultra creamy and it's doesn't melt away fast like the other "gelato" I've tasted.

Robyn - Dancing On My Own

heartachingly beautiful :'(

Holidaze

These are just a few photos I took of everything I've eaten during the holidays. Trolololololo.
"light" post christmas dinner: majestic ham + lettuce, tomato, onion in honey mustard dressing + garlic butter and Vigan longganisa(native garlic sausage) pasta in olive oil. My mom wanted to take a break from all the rich food but nope, this ain't light at all.Anthon Berg chocolate liqueurs with original spirits: bottle-shaped chocs with alcohol in 'em-Jack Daniel's, Cutty Sark, etc. yeah, it's good. I suggest you swallow 'em whole rather than bite it or else the liqueur will ooze out.Rowena's strawberry cheesecake tarts from Tagaytay: really, really good. rich, creamy cheese and gooey strawberry.Rowena's chocolate mousse tarts from Tagaytay: looks like shit but really decadent, it's proper chocolate mousse. Ube(purple yam) and buko(coconut) tarts below.new year's eve dinner: pasta salad/horiatiki with pasta, sourdough, Dinelli's pastrami, some swiss/chili cheese, embutido(meatloaf with hardboiled egg, peas, raisins and chorizo) and hot chocolate!!