Yaku Japanese Grill + Sebastian's Chilly Burger

When: November 5, 2010

Friday traffic can really make a person hungry. In our case, that's what happened. While braving the traffic, the carbo monster in me got so famished even though I had already stuffed myself with delectable portions of spaghetti, pancit palabok and pichi-pichi before leaving the office. So, BF and I decided to eat again.  In an instant, I voiced out my craving for something Japanese. After browsing almost all the restos at The Podium, we found ourselves entering this partially lit Japanese resto called Yaku.

 

Free appetizer: dilis!

Their dilis is to die for! It's sweet and crunchy at the same time.

 

Nabeyaki udon (Php 292.32)

We asked the server if they can split the serving and he accomodated our request. Their udon was far more tasty than Kimono Ken's. Their nabeyaki udon contained generous pieces of mushrooms, shrimps and other meaty/chewy bits. More importantly, the broth tastes a-okay.

 Gyuniku (Php 161.28) ~ spring onions wrapped in beef

At first, I had no idea what gyuniku is. I was captivated by the pretty picture in the menu and I pointed it out to the server. We're happy that this Japanese food taught me to appreciate spring onions. Never underestimate this dish because it's so filling.

Presenting our busog faces! 

True enough, Yaku Japanese Grill boasts of an ambiance perfect for those who want to have some peace and quiet and, of course, delicious Japanese food! We consider going back to Yaku when Japanese food craving strikes again.

We capped off our dinner date with chilly burger from Sebastian's Ice Cream Studio and had it split into two halves. It only took me one bite and I was in ice cream nirvana!

 

Chilly burger (Php 120) ~ peanut butter cup burger (peanut butter cup cookies filled with chocolate ice cream and rolled in even more chopped peanut butter cups)

Interesting ice cream variants

I'd love to try that Fro-Ya flavor next time! Now, who doesn't love Friday dates? ♥♥♥

Yaku Japanese Grill

3/F, The Podium

Sebastian's Ice Cream 

4/F, The Podium

Birthday Lunch: Johnny Rockets + California Berry & More!

When: October 13, 2010

I am now 30 and, believe me, this is puzzling. Details of my puzzlement will be somehow revealed in batches as I go along and document my life in this little nook in the web. Deep down inside, I still feel very young and I sincerely hope that it will show. Wishful thinking or not, I don't know. Hahaha! 

Okay, allow me to ramble about adding another year to my earthling life. Big celebrations are not my thing. Several weeks prior, my folks posed these classic questions: Where are we going to celebrate? Shall we order food from CCME, Luk Foo or Savory? How about your cake? Pre-ordered (referring to Estrel's) or over the counter (Red Ribbon, Goldilocks or Conti's)? Blah-blah.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely appreciate my folks' concern over their firstborn's 30th birthday. Ladies and gentlemen, I just defied the family tradition and said no to those. No cooking necessary either. I'm 30, get over it. It's just one day and it will certainly pass. Call it madness or non-conformist behavior but I happened to love my no-frills birthday!

 

At the Johnny Rockets entrance: Me, holding my Johnny Rockets take-out and a pink balloon (huge thanks to BF who dared to ask if he can get a balloon from the grand opening day leftovers) beside a life-size cardboard illustration of a woman in WWII armed services uniform. If this doesn't spell happy, then I don't know what is! 

It will be a normal day, I promised myself. I pretty much evolved from not knowing much about birthday plans to enthusiastically reveling in little surprises. So I had a normal breakfast, normal shower, normal reading pace, normal playlist and then BF showed up. As promised, he appeared normal - meaning, no flowers and gifts mysteriously hidden somewhere. He then asked me where I'd like to have lunch and I instantly told him - Banapple at Il Terrazzo. So we trooped to Banapple but it was packed with yuppies. A few minutes later, we found ourselves entering Johnny Rockets. Whoa! Burger and fries on my special day, why not?

 

The concept is a diner-style resto circa 1950s. Very interesting!

Jukebox station in every table

Making a smiley face with ketchup on the paper plate when served french fries is a Johnny Rockets trademark. (Wikipedia)

The waitstaff assigned to us was very friendly and accommodating. Songs reminiscent of the swinging 1960s or Sunday classics blasted through the speakers. Then, all of a sudden, the staff began gyrating happily to the tune of  Build Me Up Buttercup. What a pleasant dining experience it was!

The diners, BF and I included, were very much entertained with the dance number. Then the food.

# 12 (Php 335) ~ cheddar cheese, fresh lettuce, onion slice, pickle, mayonnaise & our tangy "red sauce." On a scale of one to ten, it's a twelve!

I thought it was too pricey and the only comforting fact I learned was that the burger actually included fries-all-you can. Never mind the fact that I avoid deep-fried stuff nowadays.

The birthday girl's order: sliders (Php 265) ~ mini-sliders with mayonnaise and pickles/ dijonnaise. Perfect for sharing.

I underestimated the capability of these little burgers to fill me up. They were in fact very juicy and heavy on the tummy. I even took the third dwarf burger home with me.

Drinks: bottomless lemonade (Php 110) and Coke in can (Php 85)

Well, dining at Johnny Rockets is definitely not for cheapskates like me. Hahaha! I've learned my lesson, thank you. While on our second plate of fries, the staff performed another dance number to the tune of Y.M.C.A.

Vintage shots

Can we take them home please?

Since I'm all for healthy dessert, then off to California Berry we went. We sampled their newest flavor - green apple - and it was okay, nothing fantastic.

Green apple fro-yo (Php 90, medium cup)

When I went home, I found the whole birthday spread lovingly carried by Lazy Susan. Oh wait, did I just say that I wanted no pre-ordered food? Oh well. Hahaha!

CCME's beef caldereta and lumpiang shanghai, Amber's spaghetti and pichi-pichi and ice-cold Coke

Did I just turn 30? :)

Johnny Rockets

205 Tomas Morato Street

Quezon City

California Berry

Kopiroti Building

186 Tomas Morato

Quezon City

Café Cesario: Pinoy Comfort Food at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport

[N.B.: Due to slightly heavy workload, I had blogging glitches. I'm not very good in updating my travel posts. In a short contemplation, I noticed that this blog has evolved as a foodie blog and I strongly disagree! LOL! I created this blog to ramble off... all and sundry. So there.]

Okay, this is a rather long overdue post about my family's trip (BF was there too) to Cebu early this year. Primarily, we went there to attend my cousin's wedding in Carcar City which coincided with the Sinulog Festival. While killing time at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, BF and I found this charmingly Pinoy café named Café Cesario.

                                               

The leatherette menu

I remember I even asked the Cebuano waiter (using Cebuano dialect of course!) if the cafe has other branches in Cebu. True enough, Cafe Cesario started out as a small resto inside Hotel Cesario located in Lapu-Lapu City. I also remember we were not really famished that time since we took early dawn breakfast in Carcar City. Basically, we just wanted to try the food or, yes, kill time while waiting for our 9:30 a.m. flight. 

 

How about a hot bowl of sinigang early in the morning? Not me.

 

Note the TV commercial-inspired look on his face while eating.

On the other hand, I opted to order a light snack, or so I thought. Their chicken arroz caldo was surprisingly very tasty. For an airport food, I still think it was exceptional. I forgot the price though. 

Who would've thought that they serve very flavorful arroz caldo? If you noticed, there are two spoons in my bowl. Apparently, BF also loved the arroz caldo after I raved about it.

In a hindsight, I never regret eating at Cafe Cesario considering the seemingly pricey menu. Oh well, nothing comes cheap at the airports, right? It was Pinoy comfort food amidst the hustle and bustle often associated in big airports.

Still in Cafe Cesario: wacky shots or the ignore-the-stares-of-other-people-look

 

(Clockwise from top) Obligatory airport pic, BF checking out a pasalubong stall (danggit, bai!), Zubuchon signage and my family

July 14: Nikki's Birthday

Last July 14, my one and only sister turned 18! Although she's no longer a minor, she's still our one and only baby in the family. All eyes are upon her when she comes of age. Days before her special day, she told our folks that it won't be a special day if all her favorites aren't there. So, what are her faves? Pizza, spaghetti and Jollibee Chickenjoy! 

 

The baby is now a lady.

 

Cakes for the girl

I brought Boston Chocolate Cake from BreadTalk, while our sis-in-law Sheryl brought Goldilock's Rocky Road. Since I'm much enamored with food lately, I visited Goldilock's site for a detailed info about the cake. Here it is: Rocky Road is a three layered chocolate sponge cake filled in between with chocolate frosting, marshmallow and chocolate chips. The whole cake is iced with chocolate frosting and finished with a ripple like design on the side. The surface and bottom side is bordered with vanilla butter icing that is drizzled with chocolate frosting.  Now, I'm craving for it. Gosh. I had no high expectations of Boston Chocolate Cake (Php 545) from BreadTalk considering the price. We all know that BreadTalk sells bread at higher prices, so for a chocolate cake worth Php 545, my expectations are low. My other siblings, however, liked it due to its Nutella-ish flavor.

 

The whole spread with the birthday girl's faves

Aside from Nikki's faves, our dear Mama ordered pork siomai (my nephew Dave's fave), fresh lumpia and beef caldereta from CCME Homemade Foodstuff. Due to their hectic work skeds, my folks rarely have time to cook for special occasions. Papa, however, made time to cook spaghetti for the debutante.

 

 Just perfect: Yellow Cab's vegetarian pizza and SML

Ivan & Jobo wanted

Spread the happiness!

Happy, happy birthday, Nikki!

May 24: Pearl Couple's Day

Caveat: This serves as my dedication to the awesome pair who breathed life into me... Mr. & Mrs. B! So pardon my cheesy statements.

The union of Mr. & Mrs. B is a fine example that teamwork and respect are the key ingredients of a succesful marriage. Since May 24 is an important day in my parents' lives, a considerable chunk of blog exposure will be given to them via this post. With this, allow me to share a snippet of my folks:

Typical morning scenario: Mr. B wakes up to the sound of alarm, whips up breakfast for the pack of 7 (5 kids and them) while listening to the early morning radio news. Approximately 15 minutes later, Mrs. B wakes up, checks to see what breakfast is, complains that Mr. B should stop snoring (this has been a classic household complaint) and goes to shower. If Mrs. B disagrees to the breakfast items, she'd voice it out loud. Mr. B simply ignores it. Mrs. B will now shower while Mr. B sits in the rocking chair, obviously resting after cooking breakfast and waiting for his turn to shower. Clad in a towel, Mrs. B prepares Mr. B's plate and morning coffee. Tick-tock.  While Mr. B's inside the bath, Mrs. B will now grumble words like a military sergeant to her pack of 5. After Mr. B showered, Mrs. B will now sit in the dining table and shares breakfast with Mr. B. Classic morning topics I often hear: Philippine politics, office slackers, upcoming bonuses, who among the pack tuition fee payment is due, delicious weekend fare - in no particular order. After breakfast, toothbrush and washing some greasy pans (Mrs. B is a self-confessed OC that she won't delegate the washing of the same to others), they will now prepare and dress up for work. 20 minutes later,  Mrs. B will prepare Mr. B.'s water bottle while Mr. B distributes daily allowance of the members of the pack. And off they go to work together.

I consider myself a credible and competent witness to this morning bonding of my folks. The above scenario depicts Mr. & Mrs. B as a couple who withstood the test of time. True enough, the union of Mr. & Mrs. B is similar to a metaphor associated to a pearl - very rare, fine, admirable and valuable.

Happy Pearl Anniversary to my Mama & Papa!

Shown here with Mr. & Mrs. B are delicious items of their simple anniversary dinner of beef caldereta, vegetable lumpia, chicken pastel, siomai and Estrel's caramel cake as dessert.

Congrats, Mama & Papa! More happy years ahead!

May 13: Mama's Birthday

I've rambled about Ruby a.k.a. bida/kontrabida in this entry. It's almost a mandatory judicial notice that my mother plays a significant role in my life. So, it's just high time to repeat about her awesomeness since it's her birthday anyway. Besides, it's not every day that I get to pay tribute to the woman from whom I inherited half of my genes.

I wasn't able to attend her golden day celebration last year due to my training in C'ville. And, in order to lessen my guilty feelings about it and to show how precious the golden girl is (zzzzz... drools), I bought her a black leather Coach bag ($185 plus tax) at the Prime Outlets in Williamsburg, VA. Well, that's for last year, but this year's different. I bought her a Cookies and Cream cake instead since it's purportedly one of her favorites. Way, way cheaper compared to my last year's tribute, yes!

Happy 51st Birthday, Ma!

These photos would show how happy the birthday celebrant was during her day. Add some bunch of flowers from my BF, two more sweet treats (chocolate mousse & crema de fruta) from office peeps, and smiles from moi and Dave, methinks Ruby is happy! Siblings missing in the picture were still either in school, work or trying to make their lives count.

My heartfelt wishes this time: good health and happiness ... and the building of that dream house in Bohol soon!

Happy Mother's Day!

Meet Ruby, the bida/kontrabida of my life.

Name: Ruby Pineda Borja
Nickname: Baghdad (really)
Status: Happily married with 5 grown-up kids
Date of birth: May 13, 1959
Age when she gave birth to yours truly: 21 years old

Whew! I could never imagine myself being a mother at 21. But Ruby did it. She gave birth to 5 beautiful kids (clears throat) and raised them in her own unique Baghdad way. She may appear to be repetitive in almost eveything (read: nagger) but, in a split second, she will immediately give in to our "counterclaims". She's a toughie and softie combined. She taught me how to be strong and never be ashamed of myself.  She always reminds me that humility and discipline should be part of my system. She delights in my own happiness. She carries half, if not all, of my burden whenever I stumble. She is my staunch supporter, my ego booster, my resident grammarian and more. She is one helluva woman. She's our  family's answer to Gabriela.

Although a cake with the traditional message on top cannot fully express my overwhelming gratitude to her, I cannot also seem to put down in words my appreciation to this remarkable woman. 

A simple greeting which could easily melt a mother's heart would suffice, I guess. After all, she vivifies the word "mother" and lives up to that name even if her eldest (that would be me, guys) is - according to society's standards - old enough to be a mother. LOL!

I owe her my life. She is my one and only Ruby.

I LOVE YOU, MA! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Rafael Dave's 9th Birthday

Who would have thought that the little boy who brought instant joy to our family a few months ago just turned nine? Does this mean I'm already borderline in the birthing of a bundle of joy vis-a-vis mandatory age for prepping up a bun in the human oven? Beats me. All I know is, the little boy sprung from my brother Ivan who is two years younger (whew) than I am. And the little boy is fondly called "batang attorney" by my folks due to his opinionated character.

  

A late call to Estrel's Caramel Cake proved to be a blessing. They were fully booked and I have to find a child-friendly cake under time pressure. Two hours away from the birthday lunch made me decide to enter Red Ribbon. Tiramisu Meltdown didn't disappoint us. It was too good and the kid loved it to the last smudge of icing.

 

Photo courtesy: BF. Gracias!

 

Gracias to Ang Tunay na Pansit Malabon (Timog branch) and CCME Homemade Stuff (Dr. Lazcano corner Tomas Morato Streets). And thanks to our ref in which our favorite fruit salad sought shelter.

 

Happy, happy birthday to our future pilot!

Folks' Pearl

     

The heat is on in Saigon  
The girls are hotter 'n' hell
One of these slits here will be Miss Saigon

God, the tension is high, not to mention the smell
The heat is on in Saigon
Is there a war going on?
Don't ask, I ain't gonna tell 

        

Wife always spoke at ninety miles an hour. Her voice a rhythmic rat-tat-tat.

Husband acceded regularly for the sake of world peace. His silence admirable.

Pearl's fast approachin', dude.

Trip to Cebu

I had my first out-of-the-metro getaway from January 14 to 17. It was a memorable family trip, and I think it's best to list the down the reasons why.

1. It's my first time to attend a novena mass for the celebrated Sinulog Festival;
2. My boyfriend had the chance to bond with my family apart from his usual Sunday visits at home;
3. My first cousin San-san finally tied the knot with the love of her life;
4. I also fulfilled my silent longing to see Moalboal's white beach; and
5. After almost a decade, I got the chance to see some of my relatives, mostly in mint condition.

Hence, my eagerness to blog about this trip.

 January 14, 2010

We took the 8 a.m. flight via Cebu Pacific. Mind you, my family was already at the NAIA-3 terminal two (2) hours before the flight. Yep, I'm blessed with obsessive-compulsive (OC) parents. Hahaha! My boyfriend arrived thirty minutes later since he's from Makati.

My brother Popo is the most scaredy-cat during airplane take-offs. He has been travelling with my parents since he was a kid, and up until now, he still gets ghost-white whenever there's an air turbulence and during take-offs. I think he got this unfounded fear of flying from watching too much action films.

We stayed at Carcar Travellers Inn in Valladolid, Carcar City, a two-hour ride from Cebu City. We opted to stay there as my aunt's house is predictably full of relatives who will be attending my cousin's wedding.

The picture on the right typifies a "nosebleed" moment. My boyfriend hails from Leyte and he can only understand basic Cebuano terms.

After lunch at my aunt's house, my boyfriend and I headed to Cebu City to roam around or "suroy-suroy". We hitched a ride with cousin San-san and his fiance Jerwin to the city. Below are my pics at the Magellan's Cross, a famous landmark of the Queen City of the South.

Inday was here.

My amen pose.

"KANDOL, bai!"

Cebu locals who are peddling candles near the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño (Church of the Holy Child), touted to be the oldest church in the Philippines, usually pronounced their merchandise as "kandol". It's uniquely Cebuano! It feels like home to me.

At this point, rain began to pour. We attended the 2:30 PM mass/novena which was held in the Pilgrim Center. The latter is sort of an extension of the Basilica because hundreds of devotees are expected to attend the week-long celebration of Sinulog. The "Batobalani sa Gugma" (Magnet of Love) song was sung accompanied by swaying of hands by the devotees who were, mind y'all, soaked up.

After the mass, we went to SM City Cebu armed with a big appetite. We ate at Cowrie Grill, a Filipino-themed resto.