Savory's Big Chicken Chop

Ever since my Taiwan trip in April of 2007, I've been on a quest for something similar to the chicken chop (ji pai) being sold in stalls at the night market (Shilin). I can still remember the atmosphere at Shilin, the people lining up at the chicken chop stalls, and the vendor calling out the orders. I wish to be in Taiwan again, if only to have a taste of the chicken chop again - fresh off the fryer, hot and slightly spicy (just as I ordered it).

To tell the truth, my quest is not so much a quest as me waiting to chance upon a place that offers this. The closest thing I could find so far is Ersao's chicken steak but sadly, it doesn't really come close.

Then came my recent visit to Savory Escolta. Posters of the "Big Chicken Chop", Savory's latest offering, were all over the place. The words chicken chop and Taiwan excited me. Could it be that my long wait is finally over?

When the order of chicken chop came, I quickly take a bite. Salty... tender... but no hint of spicyness. Disappointed yet again, I continued eating. It's actually not bad, better in fact than Ersao's chicken steak which I've been settling for. Savory's version is just a tad too salty, and could use some spicyness. For now, it will have to do. Next time, I'll try adding Ersao's chili powder to Savory's chicken chop and see how that works out ;-)

Flash Your Age at Shangri-la Heat - a Birthday Promo

Are you celebrating your birthday this August or September? You're in for a treat. Dine at Edsa Shangri-la's Heat on the exact date of your birthday and enjoy a discount equivalent to your age. And if you're dining with a group, the rest of your party gets to ride on your discount. Before you start inviting all your friends, know that there's a limit. Discount applies to a maximum of 8 people only.

We heard about this Flash Your Age promo through a family friend whose birthday falls on August. Being a family with a huge appetite, we decided to try it out. On my dad's birthday last August 21, we had lunch at Heat. Dinner was our first choice but we settled for lunch as Heat was already fully booked for dinner when we called to reserve a day before. The place was filled with people celebrating their birthdays. From 12nn until about 2pm, we stuffed ourselves with the assortment of dishes available at the buffet. Between Sofitel's Spiral and Heat, Spiral wins hands down in terms of variety. But for a 57% discount (did I just divulge my dad's age? =P), our Heat visit was worth every penny (that is, every penny my dad paid haha). The celebrant was even gifted with a birthday cake, a 3 x 3in. chocolate cake, with a sheet of semi-sweet chocolate on top and another on the bottom, which I enjoyed eating at home ;-) The one thing that spoiled the experience was the waiter accidentally spilling hot coffee on the yaya, an incident we believe an establishment like Shangri-la should have handled better. Poor yaya, all she had to show for it was a chocolate bar from the hotel's pastry shop.

But don't get turned off by that incident. Food's still good. Just don't ask for coffee =P Don't forget to make reservations beforehand. And bring a valid ID bearing your birthdate or risk paying full amount. Promo period is from August 1 until September 30, 2009 only.

Happy eating! (And keep away from waiters bearing trays with coffee).

Pho Hoa Tomas Morato

Last Sunday, when we heard that Pho Hoa at Tomas Morato already reopened after major renovation, we eagerly trooped to have an early dinner after hearing mass. Pho Hoa is one of my family's favorite restos in the area, well majority of us anyway.

As our vehicle approached the place, we noticed that at the corner stood Congo Grill, in the place where Don Henrico's used to be. Beside it is Pho Hoa, in its old location.

The newly renovated Pho Hoa seemed well-lit and clean from outside. It even looked a bit sosyal, my sister said. I immediately regretted not bringing a jacket, predicting that it would be quite cold inside. It was, after all, just renovated.

When we entered the resto, we weren't greeted by the cold air I was expecting. It might even be warm for some people. But we didn't really mind. In fact, we've experienced warmer temps in the old Pho Hoa where the airconditioning was oftentimes not enough. After being directed to a table, we sat down and surveyed the place.

There was a definite improvement. The counter was bigger and more visible. The tables were spaced further apart. The downside is that the seating capacity seemed less than before, which could be bad news for Pho Hoa patrons. Prior to renovation, we've had to wait for seats on occasion. And on one instance, just left after waiting by the door, unable to get any waiter's attention. But that was more because of the poor service than the lack of seats.

As we looked around, we spotted flies going about but paid no mind. We noticed the lack of air curtain, which might have prevented flies entering everytime the door opened. However, this became an issue when our food was served. It's hard to enjoy the food when you have to be on the lookout for flies while eating. The proverbial straw really was the fly in my glass of water, which came to my attention after just taking a drink. In the waiter's defense, we knew the fly wasn't there when the water was served. It probably just fell into my glass. So we didn't make a fuss and just told him about our issue with the flies and our suggestion for the owner. But I felt queasy, not knowing if the fly fell into my glass before or after I took one last sip. My sister voiced out my exact thoughts. "We are so not coming back here."

The old Pho Hoa had its share of problems, poor service at times, airconditioner not functioning properly. Despite the problems, we always went back because we loved the food. You could say that we were loyal patrons. But loyalty has a limit, and until the fly problem of the new Pho Hoa is solved, we would just have to be loyal patrons someplace else.

One...two...let's stop at two

When I created my blog a year ago, the question was whether I would be able to maintain it. The smattering of posts between then and now clearly shows that I couldn’t. I felt the desire to write again a week ago. Ironically, it's a time when typing is the last thing I would want to do, as I don't have the full function of my right hand. They say that you won’t know what you’re missing until it’s gone. Right now, I’m really missing the use of my right hand.

Which brings me to my topic, what happened to my right hand? I never thought I’d say this, but I had another basketball-related injury. Yes, another. Not counting minor injuries like sprains, fingers getting hit by the ball (natinidor or nakorbo in Filipino sports jargon), this is my second major injury. That's a lot for someone who isn't a real player.

So what was my first? About a decade ago, basketball games with family and friends were regular Sunday events. One unfortunate Sunday, I got elbowed in my left eyebrow by a teammate coming off a rebound. It took 4 stitches to fix me up. And to this day, I still have the scar and half an eyebrow to remind me of that incident.

Fast forward to April 3, 2009, to a regular Friday night’s basketball game with fellow alumni …

The 3rd set had barely begun. The ball was tapped from a jump ball. I saw it going towards an area near me. I reached for it, then bam! The ball hit my right pinky. I felt something odd and looked down. My pinky had gotten dislocated at the 2nd segment and instead of a straight line, it now formed the shape of a greater than symbol “>”. The top part seemed to be at a weird angle as well. Without thinking, using my left hand I quickly attempted to pop the dislocated pinky back in place. It seemed to work. However, the pain penetrated whatever numbness I must have felt. My pinky was also starting to swell. I sat down while people around me scrambled to fashion a splint from a piece of wood they found lying around. Others chastised me for not leaving the pinky alone. They feared I might have caused further injury to my finger. At this point, I started to see black spots and felt woozy and nauseated, and also thought I felt my stomach grumble. Whether it was due to the pain or hunger or both, I don’t know. But if it was hunger, it certainly was a weird time to be feeling it!

My sister, who was with me at the time, drove me to St. Luke’s ER. It was a good 30-40 mins. away by car but I chose it because of its proximity to our house. Plus, it was my preferred hospital. It turned out to be an unwise choice. In the more than 2.5 hours we spent in the ER, almost 2 hours were spent waiting to be given the reading of my x-ray results and for an ortho who never came. I was offered painkillers 2 hours after I arrived, only when my mom complained about it. The only saving grace for St. Lukes’ ER was in the person of Dr. Reynante Mirano, who after hearing my mom’s complaints, came to assist and after checking my film, finally discharged me. I can rant some more about the customer care, or rather the lack of it but that’s another story.

We consulted an ortho on our own the next day for an official diagnosis, as the trip to St. Luke's ER had been so productive. The ortho confirmed the initial diagnosis at the ER, that my pinky and my ring finger both had hairline cracks. I don’t know if my ring finger got hit by the ball at the same time as my pinky or if it’s an old injury. After all, it’s been hit by the ball several times in the past. All I know is that it doesn’t hurt. One less painful digit works for me. Thankfully, a cast was unnecessary. With a “popsicle” stick and some Mueller tape, I was all set and ready to go.

The first injury alone was enough to last me a lifetime. And now I've had two. There's a Chinese saying that goes "It's incomplete if it doesn't make three." (Note: This is just my own loose translation.) The only thing I can do is cross my fingers and hope it's not true. Cross the fingers on my left hand that is. ;-)

First Blush Part 2

A month after my Ultimate encounter (see First Blush Part 1), I still had not tried my next target sport, Rock Climbing. Scheduling with a partner proved difficult. But the opportunity finally came last May 29, just 2 days before the end of Nike's First Dates promo.

The sight that greeted us at Power Up Silver City was not what I envisioned. The place was like a makeshift venue for AXN's Amazing Race Mall Tour. There was no door, no partitions, just the hall of Silver City, a lone desk, some fixtures, and the floor to ceiling wall that went up 38 ft. My sister remarked that it's much higher than the one she tried before. The wall was quite intimidating. But as brave but unprepared soldiers getting ready for battle, we approached the reception, ie. the lone desk.

We presented our Nike printout, signed up, paid for the harness and belay card. Only the session was sponsored by Nike, so gear rentals would have to come out of our own pockets. To our relief, our shoes were approved so we didn't have to rent footwear, which we wanted to avoid for sanitary reasons.

For our belaying lesson, our trainer ran us through the terms commonly used:
Climbing - the word used by a climber to inform his partner/belayer he/she is ready to climb
Climb on - go signal to the climber
Tension - when a climber is asking for more tension in the rope
Slack - when a climber is asking for less tension
Down - when a climber is ready to go down
Let go - go signal to the climber to let go and "sit back" on the harness

After learning the vocabulary, it was on to the real thing. I volunteered my sister to climb first. She didn't mind. After all, she's done it before. :-P The trainer guided me in belaying. It was a high climb but it did not take long for her to reach the top and come back down. And then it was my turn. The 38-foot wall seemed even more intimidating than when I first saw it that I forgot to say "Climbing", which the trainer was quick to remind me. As I climbed higher and higher, there were moments when I feared I would lose my grip or my footing but thankfully, I didn't. I felt like the top wasn't getting nearer, but the way down was getting longer and I doubted that I could make it all the way up. But I pressed on and before I knew it, the "rock" at the center of a red square marking the end was staring me in the face.

My sense of triumph was shortlived for I still faced the challenge of going down, which I must admit unnerved me a little. Reminding myself that I've gone on rides that plummeted from greater heights, I shouted "Down!" and let go at the signal. Clutching the rope, I waited for my belayer to lower me down to safety. At the first gradual movement of the rope, I relaxed my grip, for there was no stomach dropping sensation, just a feeling of being pulled down, really slowly. We collapsed on a bench after my descent, both climber and belayer exhausted.

Climbing is hard, but so is belaying. To some extent, the safety of the climber rests on the belayer. The belayer must 1. constantly pull in excess rope during the climb,
2. pull the rope taut before descent,
3. gradually feed rope during descent, supporting the climber's full weight in the process.

Belaying solo during my sister's second climb (i.e. without the trainer to guide me), I made the mistake of not doing #2 properly and proceeding immediately to #3, such that there was too much slack in the rope, causing her to drop faster than intended. Upon trading places, she made the same mistake, and I hit my knee on the wall at the sudden jerk of the rope when she recovered.

We called it a night after the second try, knowing fully well that the next day would be torture on our muscles. The belaying strained our muscles and drained our strengths more than the climbing itself. We only climbed the beginner's wall twice and did not bother trying the intermediate level. And we were probably not employing the proper belaying technique. Maybe on our next visit, we'll tackle the intermediate wall and also learn that technique.

Conclusion

Between Ultimate Frisbee and Rock/Wall Climbing, there's a better chance of me climbing again than playing Ultimate. Not that I enjoyed one more than the other, because I enjoyed both. But in terms of logistics, scheduling, and manpower, rock/wall climbing is easier to arrange ;-)

First Blush Part 1

I have always considered myself to be somewhat athletic. Although as I mentioned in my previous entry that my favorite hobbies are eating and sleeping, I do like to have some physical activity every now and then. And so Nike Women's First Dates promo piqued my interest. You get to choose from 8 sports (and quasi sports) and have 1 trial session for FREE! For details, check out http://www.nikewomen.com.ph/thisislove/redbook.html.

Being the thrifty (or stingy as my family would say) person that I am, I was excited at the prospect of sponsored trial sessions. I browsed through the sports' schedules and signed up for my first date with Ultimate Frisbee.

Arriving at the Meralco compound, I marveled at the facilities - tennis, basketball and volleyball courts, a fitness center, and a baseball/soccer field. There could be more but I didn't tour the rest of the compound as I was already running late. Meralco employees are lucky, if only for the facilities ;-) Yet I haven't met or heard of anyone who works at Meralco. But I digress...

The frisbee session was held at the baseball/soccer field. Relieved to discover that we were not the only first-timers, my companion and I joined the others after jogging 2 rounds and stretching. Our designated coach taught us the basics of catching and throwing the frisbee (also called disc) while the rest did some drills. We found the game’s similarity with other sports somewhat amusing and easier to relate to. For instance, upon catching the disc, you can not just run away with it. You must throw it to a teammate, and you are only allowed to move or “pivot” on one foot in the process, much like basketball. Also when defending, you can not touch your opponent. But unlike basketball, you can not snatch the disc from his/her hand. The disc changes sides when it is intercepted or a turnover is committed. A point is earned when a team member catches the disc in the team’s endzone, like football.

This is a simplistic description of the game. The game may seem simple, just throwing and catching the disc, but my first encounter showed me it's not. There's technique involved, along with muscle aches and bruises. Throw the disc without power and it wobbles. Throw it too hard and it sails out of reach of your teammate. Throw it at a wrong angle and it goes in a direction you didn't intend. Hold the disc the wrong way and you just can't throw it properly. And here is where I got my sore muscles, doing forehand and backhand throws.

Catching the disc, whether pancake style, overhead and down below was fun, but in no way easy. And I have the bruises to show for it - one each on my left and right palms just below the middle and ring fingers and another forming a U shape between my right thumb and index finger, which made writing by hand a chore. Good thing though, in this digital age, I use my computer keyboard more than my pen ;-)

(Note: Except for the pancake catch, "overhead" and "down below" are not the official terms but words I cooked up since I don't know how to refer to those catching styles.)

It being our first time, we didn't expect to join the scrimmage. Luckily though, everybody got a chance to play. It turned out to be a complete experience of Ultimate Frisbee. At times I felt like we were running around like headless chickens, first in one direction, then another as the disc changed hands. Then I managed to catch the disc and completed a pass to a teammate. Suddenly, I no longer felt like a headless chicken.

All in all, frisbee is a fun way to work up a sweat. Something you can do with friends, as long as you have a disc and a field to play in. But there's also something in store for those with a competitive side, frisbee tourneys can attest to that. As for me, I will defer my verdict until I've tried the other sports ü

Sweet Escape

I love nothing more than eating and sleeping. This weekend I got to enjoy my favorite pastimes in Tagaytay, spent at a lovely resthouse at the heart of Tagaytay. Despite its proximity to the main road, the surroundings were serene, and featured a spectacular view of Taal.

Looking out to the view of Taal from the veranda, one can almost forget that less than 1km away were vehicles passing by nonstop. It was a perfect getaway.

In my book, a trip to Tagaytay would be incomplete if it didn't involve good food. That night, upon arriving at Tagaytay, our hosts took us to Dinner at Antonio's (pun intended). I had Grilled Gindara, Prawns, and Scallops with Chorizo Rice. The gindara, prawns and scallops were grilled to perfection. The gindara and scallops were so tender they seemed to melt in my mouth. I would have preferred my rice not to have chorizo or to have less of it but it didn't really matter. I also had a taste of my sister's Chilean Sea Bass with Truffle Mashed Potato. And like my gindara, the sea bass was cooked perfectly. And the richness of the mashed potato was just right. For drinks, we had the House Juice Dalandan, which was refreshing and provided a good contrast to the richness of our food.






















For dessert, we had the Dark Chocolate Souffle,
Panna Cotta and Tartufo Nero. Not being a dessert person,
I don't have much to say about them
except they were quite good.
(Pardon the over/underexposed photos).


















It might have been the sumptuous dinner, or the airconditioned room, or the inviting bed, or the drive to Tagaytay, or all combined, I was ready to call it a day before midnight. I had an uninterrupted, restful sleep. People who know me would say that I don't need an excuse to sleep soundly. No argument here. I do have the "talent" to be able to sleep whenever, wherever ü

The following morning, we enjoyed a hearty brunch at Tootsie's Home-cooked Specialties. I had the Tapa del Pilar and hot chocolate. I was not disappointed.














The tapa was savory and the hot
chocolate, made the way I like it. The turon (banana fritter) (not in photo)
was unlike any other turon I've had in my life and my companions
liked it immensely. I found it too soft for my taste though.



Noon was spent buying more food to take home. Bangus from LZM and pies from Bag of Beans. By mid-afternoon, we headed for the Cliffhouse Tagaytay and settled on Buon Giorno for a late lunch. I decided that I was not done stuffing myself and ordered the Rib-eye, together with Mushroom Soup and Dalandan Shake. The "muscular arm" of the mug amused me, but the shake didn't, which was a bit on the bland and watery side. The soup was great though, and my steak, juicy and flavorful. I had some salad too, but nothing extraordinary there.























Back at the resthouse, I managed to grab a little shut-eye, a nap once again induced by good food and cool room temp and of course, my talent. But as the sayings go, "All good things must come to an end" and "Time flies when you're having fun". And soon, it was time to leave. I was transported back to reality, to the hot and humid weather of Manila, longing for a trip back.