Bagoong Club

At my brother's recommendation, we decided to try Bagoong Club for Sunday lunch. The restaurant is located at Sct. Dr. Lazcano, one of the side streets from Tomas Morato, and looked like a house converted into a restaurant. We were led upstairs to our table. I was surprised to see the place full. It seems that this small place has quite a following. Bagoong Club, according to our server, is going on its 2nd year in January.

Our companions who arrived ahead of us were already munching on the complimentary singkamas slices with 2 kinds of bagoong. Our server was also quick to advice us to order enough because additional orders might take a while. Service was pretty good, which was a pleasant surprise given the number of customers with only 2 servers on the 2nd floor.

Our orders arrived after an acceptable wait time. We ordered 2 kinds of soup - La Paz Bulalo and Seafood Binacol. My half of the group had the bulalo, which was decent bulalo. Compared to Gerry's Grill's, I find that the beef shank was more adequately cooked here, and cutting the tendon from the bone was practically effortless. The other half of our group seemed to enjoy the binacol, but it wasn't polished off like our bulalo. Perhaps my side of the table just had a bigger appetite :P

For our veggie dish, we had Pinakbet at Liempo Barbecue, which was good and even had big pieces of shrimp. They certainly did not scrimp on the ingredients on this one. The Bagoong Rice was okay, I still prefer plain steamed rice though.

What's worth mentioning was the serving size of the bagoong rice. The menu indicated that it serves 3 persons, which our server corroborated. We decided to order just one for the entire group, consisting of 7 people. It turned out to be a wise decision, because 2 orders would have been too much. I added a cup of steamed rice for myself after having a taste of the bagoong rice.

Our other dishes were Sizzling Bangus, Menudong Bagnet, and Club Binagoongan Special. I found the sizzling bangus weird, because it tasted like it was marinated in black vinegar, a type of vinegar I really dislike. The menudong bagnet was forgettable. The club binagoongan special was described by my sister as binagoongang baboy with a twist. It's slightly spicy, which did not help any, as some people in our group didn't like spicy food. I did not get second helpings of this dish, one was more than enough. It could be because I'm not really a fan of binagoongang baboy.

Overall, the dining experience was okay and the service was good. But I'm not so certain that I would go back. For Filipino food, I'd still rather be at Gerry's. Haha.

Dezato Mochi

I first read about Dezato Mochi at Dessert Comes First http://dessertcomesfirst.com/archives/360. I remember my first taste of mochi, albeit not the traditional mochi, but Dreyers' ice cream mochi. One bite and I was hooked. Unfortunately, the price was quite prohibitive. So 2 years ago, I was excited to hear that Magnolia released its own version. But turns out it only came in 2 flavors, ube and sesame. I was sorely disappointed.

Last week, we were given a box of Dezato Mochi. The box contained 12 mochi balls in 4 assorted flavors - milk chocolate, white chocolate with walnuts, white chocolate with green tea, and dark chocolate. I swear there were 12 mochi balls but hands were quicker than the camera :-P

I'm instantly reminded of DEC's tikoy strips. And I remember comments I read which likened the taste to tikoy. I thought they meant the round tikoy that's sliced, dipped in beaten egg then fried. But I guess they meant the ready-to-eat tikoy. I tried the dark chocolate mochi first then the milk chocolate variant. The mochi was just so-so for me. But my brother seemed to enjoy it a lot. And I wonder if I've read too many rave reviews that the taste did not meet my expectations. The next day, after being refrigerated to keep its freshness, the mochi still looked just as appetizing, but unfortunately, it did not taste nearly as okay as it did fresh.

Checking out other blog posts about mochi, I discovered that Dezato now offers ice cream mochi as well. Now that's definitely something worth trying.

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 ;-)