Cravings: Sbarro's Salmon Steak

This is a staple in my every Sbarro visit except not all Sbarro carry these. My first encounter with the salmon steak was at their Megamall branch. It was love at first bite. One bite was never enough. It left me wanting more (more of that yummy gleaming sauce please). The butter and lemon sauce was simply divine. Very light in flavor. I swear I can lick my plate clean that's how good it was. And that's coming from a sucker for anything butter. But if you hate butter (I pity you!) then stay away.

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Baguio - Last Part

I never thought that a weekend in Baguio could make a total of 4 blog posts. Just image if we spent an entire week, baka umabot ng 10 posts itech heheheh. Anyway, as promise here's the continuation of my Baguio getaway.

As what I said on my previous post, Lyza and Jay were both first timers in Baguio. Since we only have limited time to explore we just went to the nearest tourist attractions. From SM we went to the Burnham Park.

Since it was a Sunday (oh we missed our cat, Sunday), the park was crowded. Baguio has now become a city that ban smoking. Jay and Tapioca had difficulty finding smoking areas. Then we had an idea. We all agreed to chill and relax on these rented boats at the same time a chance for the guys to puff and huff.

. . . please ignore the bulging tummy (teehee!)

When they got tired from all the rowing and puffing (and huffing), we called it a day.

We were suppose to go back to the transient house but the thought of one of my favorite parks crossed my mind. I suddenly felt bad that Jay and Lyza will miss it. So with my perseverance and my camera's dying battery off we went to . . .

The Mansion . . .

. . . The Wright Park - my favorite

And here's more picture of us in the park . . .

Christmas is in the air?

I wanted to do horse back riding but I was scared and tired so nagpa-picture na lang me with the horsey.

So there you go folks. The final installment of the Baguio series. It was a short vacation hence it was stressful as we were making habol the time. Baguio has change a lot from my last visit. The rise of new buildings and condos that was never there before. The smell of the pine trees are gone. Not to mention the heavy traffic at Burnham. Things do change. Could be for the better or for worse. Still I would love to go back for the food and wonderful weather. Goodbye Baguio. Til next time.

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Sizzling Plate Baguio

From Good Shepherd Convent we took a cab and went straight to Session Road for the steakhouse that Tapioca misses so much.


When I saw the signage, the first thing that came to mind was the Sizzling Plate in the foodcourts of SM malls. I was kinda hesitant as I felt that we went to the wrong place. Knowing Tapioca he can be so picky with meat. He even disses all those 99 pesos steak places mushrooming in Metro Manila but on this one I have to trust his judgement.


The place was old and the interior was of a log cabin.

We thought it's just gonna be the two of us but my teammates Lyza and Jay gamely joined us on our food trip. Jay was suppose to order the 5 pieces/sticks of barbeque meal but Tapioca insisted that we all order steak since it's the house specialty. And we obliged. He also demanded that we pair our steaks with beer. Not in the mood to drink beer, Lyza suggested these instead . . .

. . . bottled cali shandy (in fairness, meron pa pala nito)

Every meal on the menu comes with soup and java rice.

. . . cream of mushroom soup

This was served before the meal.

. . . java rice

Our food arrived in no time and when I saw the big slices of meat, I finally let go of my bad feelings earlier and concluded that Tapioca was right about this place. For a 230 grams of meat we paid less than 300 pesos. So cheap yet so good. This was definitely not the Sizzling Plate from the SM foodcourts.

Australian T-Bone (medium rare)

This was Tapioca, Lyza and Jay's order. They wanted some fat on their steaks so they chose this cut. Tapioca had it medium rare as he likes it a little bloody. Our server was very knowledgeable with the different types of steak cuts and he answered all our questions happily. Plus points for the service.

Australian rib-eye (medium)

Jellybean's choice. The steak comes with whole cup of gravy to pour onto your plate. And one cup is a lot so you just pour little by little and your plate will all go sizzle. And when the gravy dries off you can just add some more. See how my plate sizzles? Loved it. I wish we can make the same gravy at home.

The fries (which was made from real potatoes) and veggies were perfect with the steak. I wasn't able to finish my java rice as I was satisfied with the fries which was plenty.

For dessert we had ice cream at SM Baguio. Oopps, sorry but no picture here. Ask why SM Baguio? Well, it's Jay and Lyza's first time to visit Baguio and since we're already in Session Road which was a few blocks away from SM, why not go there for dessert. We didn't have any pictures in SM so I'm gonna have to cut my blog post here. I promise to end my Baguio entry on the next post.

I know it's just Thursday but anyway, happy weekend everyone!

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Day Tour In Baguio

Yesterday was Valentines day but we had work so it was treated like a normal day. Except it wasn't a normal day for the rest of the world. Went to work early as we expected the heavy traffic in Eastwood. And boy, we sure did the right thing. We saw lots of couples with big bouquet of flowers roaming around Eastwood. Despite the crowded malls and horrible traffic, these people still managed to celebrate the hearts day with loved one. Good for them. But me, I would rather skip the date and avoid the crowd. It's not my idea of a romantic night. Buti na lang Tapioca celebrates his day in the month of February which gives us reason to celebrate Valentines on his birthday.

Anyway, Tapioca and I already had our celebration and that's when we went to Baguio last week. It was a team outing but we had it as his post birthday/pre-valentine celebration. So here's the continuation of my Baguio post.

Baguio is such a small city that you can tour and cover most of the must-see places in just one day. That is if you don't 1) walk so slow and stop every minute or second on something that amuses you 2) spend a lot of time taking pictures of everything you see. Well, we didn't qualify on all of the above therefore one day is not enough for us to see all of Baguio.

Some of my teammates were first timers in Baguio so we took them to one of Baguio's must see place. At Mines View Park


Just a few of the many pics we took at Mines View Park

Jellybean and Lyza at the observation deck

We went to Mines View early in the morning. It was windy and very chilly therefore the bonnet in my head. It wasn't that foggy so we had the full panoramic view of Benguet's gold and copper mine and the mountains surrounding the area.



Our next stop . . .

. . . Good Shepherd Convent

Good Shepherd is the place to be to buy pasalubong. Their famous special ube jam was the main reason we went here. While walking towards Good Shepherd we saw a taho vendor and bought this . . .

. . . taho in strawberry syrup with real strawberry bits and pieces

Only in Baguio you can have taho with strawberries in it. You shouldn't miss this.

Good Shepherd has a bakery as well selling these yummy goodies.


I was eyeing the pesto herb bread and the strawberry cinnamon loaf but we had a limited budget so next time na lang.



When in Baguio, expect anything and everything strawberry. Just like this fresh calamansi and lemon juice with strawberry syrup for only twenty pesos. Very citrus-y and it was balance by the sweetness of the strawberry syrup. Liked it.

Lunchtime has arrived and Tapioca insisted that we try the steakhouse he often visit in Baguio. Not everyone wanted to have steak so we decided to separate ways with the group. On the next post, I'll share more of the Baguio pics and the food we had for lunch so stick around, okay?

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Weekend In Baguio

Our first adventure for the year 2012. First timers no more but it's our first time together in the summer capital. Tapioca used to live (and work) in Baguio a long time ago while I, on the other hand had been there several times with friends. The last time I've been there was back in 2008. And I went there twice on that same year (a side trip from Sagada and Ilocos Sur for Anjee's wedding). Gosh, those were horrible times to go to Baguio. So glad on this trip we had a hassle-free boarding since we bought tickets days before the scheduled trip.

. . . picture taking on the bus, bye bye metro manila

The Victory liner bus had WIFI on board powered by Sun Broadband. Social! Too bad I did not bring my netbook. My phone does have wifi but I'm scared of having my phone battery die on me especially when travelling. I have to save those precious remaining battery power until we get to our destination .



Manila to Baguio route usually takes 6 hours but due to some on going road construction it took us more time on the road.

hello Baguio . . .

. . . with flash on

Finally, we have arrived. This is the best (and the only good) part of our transient house. A backyard that has a lovely backdrop of the city. Time to make some memories. It was almost night time (twilight, anyone?) so I had to use my camera's flash. But I hate flash photography. I tried turning off the flash, set my camera to night mode and look at the photos we've got.

without the flash . . .

Twilight turned into a broad daylight. Brazil, brazil, is that you?

. . . Rio de Janero, Brazil

Yeah that's how I'd like to think where we were on this pic.



And here we are enjoying this Brazil-like background in Baguio.



The picture taking moments in the backyard continued until morning. This time the sun has fully risen. No more camera trick (duh, what trick am I talking about) but still the view was impressive.

More picture loaded post coming right up.

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Healthy Meal Prepared By Moi

Some backlog post.

In the mood to cook, I decided to surprise Tapioca with a healthy dinner. I was thinking of fish and vegetable combo. Off I went to the wet market and bought vegetables but I couldn't find any tilapia. Well, I went there late and most of the stalls are already closed. Stupid me didn't think of going to the supermarket and instead bought a fish that's already cooked.

I needed to prepare a quick and easy dinner. The least of my worry are the fish (it wasn't a stupid decision after all). They're already cooked. So I sauteed the carrots, string beans, baby corn and cauliflower. Then I thought of adding some of the soup I made earlier (the Knorr instant cream of mushroom). The veggies turned out great. The soup added flavor to vegetable which has no sahog at all.

healthy living

This is what you called a guilt free indulgence.

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Tapioca's Day

Photo from www.clker.com

Tomorrow is Tapioca's birthday. Our supposed out of the country trip has been postponed until further notice. My passport is about to expire soon. I'm hoping I'll be able to renew it the soonest possible.

As usual, we didn't have any plans for his birthday. If circumstances would allow, I'd love to make up a plan. Well, we do have a plan. It's a plan for some vacation only it will be within the country. The last time I had a vacation I went to Bicol. And that was October of last year, almost 4 months ago. Gee, that felt like ages ago. Ask Tapioca when was his last vacation. Let see, hmmm . . . *back reading my blog* . . . . Tagaytay trip? Yikes, even ages ago than mine. We definitely needed a vacation (especially him).

This weekend, we 're going up north, up the highlands. Though I'm not so sure if it's my kind of vacation. You know, I noticed when you get older you see things differently. You know exactly what you want. But right now I couldn't care less about this so called vacay. As long as I will be able to leave my life in Manila for a day or two I know I will be fine. We'll be fine.

This is supposed to be a birthday post and there should be a cake (a real one) but not now. Sorry guys. I guess I will make bawi when we get back.

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Vacuum Bottles

Here's an addition to my drinking vessels. No, it's not another hydration vessel from Kor. This one has another purpose. I got this as a gift from last year's Kris Kringle.

omega vacuum bottles in 500ml and 1L

I know, they looked like leather but it's just a PVC carrying case.


And it has zippers. Coolness!



High quality stainless steel. Both of these babies for more or less Php500. Tapioca and I saw these vacuum bottles at SM and I wanted to get one. Good thing my Secret Santa knows where to get them.

These vacuum bottles can keep your beverages cold or hot for hours. I tested it out by bringing hot soup at the office. My soup stayed warm for my entire shift. Loved it.

This is also great for traveling.

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Brand New Year and A Brand New Layout

Finally, a new lay out for my blog. I've been dreaming about this for a long time. It never happen until today. I couldn't really decide how I want my blog to look like. One thing's for sure I wanted something different from other blogs that I've seen before. But then I'm no HTML web page designer genius. I only know how to copy and paste pre-made themes from Blogger. So I gave up the idea of a unique page layout.

In my almost 4 years of blogging (and blog hopping), I realized that the websites I enjoyed the most have stunning photos, neat looking, less crowded with less ads (or no ads at all), and most importantly . . . text that are simple and easy to read.

And with these criteria in mind, I was able to select a theme that would work out for me. And you're now looking at my brand spanking new blog. I love it to bits. Clean and minimalist (i like this word) look. My fave part of this theme is the header which I can customize. If I feel the need to change the look of my blog I can just change the header picture and viola! I'm really liking this na but still I wanted to add more. But for now, I will take one step at a time to improve the look of my blog. So please bear with me.

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Christmas Par-tays!!!

Here are some snapshots of the parties we went to this Christmas.

Venue #1: Yakimix. Eat-all-you-can yakiniku style.

Marinated meat ready for grilling.

A wide range of options to choose from but everything tasted the same.

. . . smokeless grill

Team Keith . . .

. . . our meat choices

cooking master boy gian . . .

He did all the grilling for us.

Venue #2: Off The Grill. Live band and booze.

. . . music brought to you by K24/7

They're actually pretty good. They played some good old r&b's and a whole bunch of party music like Teach Me How To Dougie, Party Rock Anthem, Moves Like Jagger and more.

. . . lyza and the frozen margarita

The margarita tasted like some fruit juice sans the alcohol. I still prefer Agave's version.




Venue #3: Chicago KTV. Videoke sesh and more booze.



And nope, we're not party animals. We're more of the party poopers. Kidding!

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