Rainy treat? TABLEA DRINK!

So the rain's pouring very very hard today. The sky looks dark when the sun should be burning my skin now. So as not to ruin my day I made this Tablea drink!

It is the Filipino version of hot choco. I once saw a documentary about the Tablea industry. I was fascinated how this cocoa can provide a living to many housewives. The Philippines is such a rich counry and if we can only harness its true potential, we can become better.

However with the fast-paced world we have today, everyone needs everything to be instant. Thus this quality homemade products are at risk. I hope our people's brilliance can come up with something to revive our dying products.

Once in a while, all we need is a break from this world and enjoy a hot tablea drink like this!

What to do with over ripe bananas?

A few days ago, my mom was invited to speak to one of our church outreaches in Amadeo, Cavite. In return, they gave her 3 types of bananas and one of them is the senorita. These are small bananas with very thin skin and it has a bit bitter aftertaste. Nevertheless, they're sweet when they are over ripe already. Since my dad suggested to throw it away beacause it will eventually spoil and I don't want anything to be wasted, I made it into a smoothie!

Here are the ingredients:
> over ripe bananas
> evaporated milk
> sugar (bananas are already sweet so you may not add any sugar)
> ice
> vanilla extract (optional)

NOTE: The tricky part is peeling the banana. The more over ripe it is the more the skin sticks to the banana itself.

Procedure:
> Peel the bananas
> Blend the bananas (I tried to make the smoothies by batch)
> Add enough milk to achieve the right consistency. If you want your smoothie to be thicker, add less milk.
> Add ice, sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract.
> Pour into a nice glass and enjoy!

A Birthday Gift from Super Bowl of China!

Guess what arrived in the mail today?

An advanced birthday card from Super Bowl of China!

Our family loves Super Bowl of China. 

My mom got a lot of discount/promo cards from them but never got to use them. I am not sure if it's just a coincidence but Steamed Fish Fillet with Garlic is MY FAVORITE dish :) 

I will sure have a Super Birthday at Super Bowl.

P.S. My birthday is NOT in April but I appreciate the correct spelling of my name. :)

SB Planner Giveaway

Although this doesn't count as FOOD entry (well, almost), I think having a planner (for the year) when 3 months already passed is just fine. I had Witty World Save the Day planner in 2011 and HOPED they will produce another this year. Unfortunately, they didn't. And I wasn't able to search for other planners or it's too late since most were out of stock already. And also, I wasn't able to collect SB stickers and in short, I don't have a planner this year!

Last week, I went to National Bookstore to buy boards for the upcoming medical mission and saw this planner I wanted. I thought it's weird to sell or restock them in April. Who would buy it right? When I reached the cashier, I saw two girls who bought the planner. One guy with them asked the question in my mind, "Bakit pa kayo bibili ng planner eh April na?" One of the girls answered, "It's not just the planner, it's a collection". And she was right.

Since Starbucks had this planner, my mom was able to get one (or two) almost every year. The first one se got was still the bulky and thick one. And every year I thought it's just a waste since I am not used to using a planner. But I realized, it's still a collection. So, having this planner will complete my mom's "collection" whether or not she considers it as one.

If you STILL want this year's planner you can join Trips and Travel's Starbucks Planner Giveaway!

Checkout their site and follow them! :)

Red Mango: The Best Place on Earth

This post will be more of a story than a review of Red Mango. 

When Filipinos became more health conscious, frozen yogurt suddenly became a hit. With lesser calories and more benefit especially with your digestion, one can easily consider having frozen yogurt than ice cream to beat the heat.

Stackers Burger Cafe

Since we're fond of eating burgers and I accidentally left my wallet when we went to Eastwood as you can read here,we ended up having Stackers Burgers. The place looked nice and cozy. Although there were available tables inside we opted to stay outside where, of course, smokers usually eat.

Bubble Tea - SM North EDSA, The Block

In search for the best milk tea in town, we came across this at SM North EDSA, The Block: Bubble Tea. This place also offers a number of dishes and cakes. What separates them from the other milk tea shops is, as the name implies, their "bubbles" or the pearls. While most milk tea shops use the large sago, Bubble Tea mixed the large with the small (like the ones you get from taho) sago. However, their drink is a bit pricey considering their tough competition in the market. A medium-sized (but really small in actual) drink costs Php 115.00. It's the first milk tea shop I saw that uses a machine to mix the drink and ice. Most shops do this by hand. The milk tea itself is not too special. The milk overpowers the tea and it's not that sweet, or there's just too much water. The pearls were also too chewy. But the place looks nice and perfect for an evening meeting with a friend.

4 Fingers Crispy Chicken - SM North EDSA

4 Fingers is originally from Singapore and offers Korean-style crispy chicken. What's with the name? Well, one because it was started by four food fanatic friends who developed this "secret" recipe for a perfectly cooked crispy-on-the-outside-juicy-in-the-inside chicken. Second, obviously, chickens have four fingers (according to J haha). It's first and ONLY franchise here in the Philippines is located in SM North EDSA, Main Bldg. It's beside National Bookstore and Papa John's (near Yakimix). 

First thing that will make you fall in love with this place will be the interior. It's just superb! I know these photos do not give justice to the place (thus we will come back soon!) and you better see this for yourself. :)

Nestle Fruit Selection Yogurt

I've always been a lover of yogurt and almost any dairy product. Normally when my mood's down, I buy the 125-gram Nestle Fruit Selection Yogurt. Although I'm not fond of eating strawberries (fresh, preserved, jam, anything!), I love the real fruit bits in Nestle's yogurt. Either their fruits are just so fresh and yummy or their yogurt just goes well will anything, even things I dislike :) And now that I have a lot on top of me, I really consider buying (and eating) the 500-gram cup (or tub hehe). Not to mention the savings you'll get when you buy the 500 grams instead of 4 small cups. So here's what made my day and made me hum "may yogurt ako na malaki!" on my way home :)

YUMMY! :)

The Happiest Lemon on Earth :)

Happy Lemon is not just another tea shop. It's a whole new experience in itself! With different drinks to choose from, you can go ga-ga over everything you'll see. It's one of those drinks that will make you crave for more (even if it makes your tummy hurt when you had too much). It's tangy taste is enough to make me go around the metro in search for the best branch of Happy Lemon. Sadly though, I don't have photos from the shops that means "I shall return!" :) Personally, the Eastwood Mall branch is my favorite. It is located on the 4th floor right beside Starbucks, near Red Box (sounds funny hahaha). But this branch is far from me and it's hard to go there without a car. Next choice will be Megamall branch. It recently opened at Megamall Building B. It's across the cinemas and beside Tokyo! Tokyo!. This is (I think) the largest branch so far. Third will be Powerplant branch. It is located near National Bookstore among with the small booths selling clothes and stuff. Lastly, the Trinoma mall. Although this one's the closest to me, I do not find it accommodating so usually I just grab my drink and go somewhere else to stay since most of the time, the tables are full. Plus the noisy environment because it's near a carousel and Power Station.

My point is, no matter how hard it is for me to drink a large cup of Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese (MY PERSONAL ULTIMATE FAVORITE!!!) because I think I am partly lactose-intolerant, I still crave for it and endure the pain afterwards. It is something you will not just want but you will definitely NEED to lighten up everything and make you...oh yeah, HAPPY. This will not be the last time I will write about you, I will never stop craving for you. And I can sacrifice a hundred peso everyday just for you. :)

from Eastwood Mall

Cocoa with RS and C plus Lemon Yakult from Megamall

The Burger Project

THE BURGER PROJECT is one of the best places to have burgers that will fit your palate! Oh well, because you design/personalize your burger. Yes, you can put or remove anything you like from the Buns, the Patty, the cheese, etc. We went here as part of our Maginhawa food walk last November.

 The Burger Project and its next door neighbor Sancho's

Is Kirsten = Kristen?

My name is KIRSTEN N. VILLALOBOS, it's K-I-R-S-T-E-N.

However, people often mispronounce or misspell my name as KRISTEN.

When I was younger, I insist on correcting people whenever they mispronounce my name and won't stop until they say it right. But as I grew older, I learn to accept simple mistakes and realized that these mistakes make my name more special :) Recently, I tried to gather "proofs" of my new name haha.

Visitor's ID I wore at the FOOD BAZAAR in World Trade Center

Receipt for Lab exam during enrollment.

My name plate.

This one I got it corrected but the school year is about to end and I still don't have my corrected name plate. 

LBC Money Transfer receipt. I actually told the consignee that my name's misspelled so she should also write the misspelled name. One time when I was the consignee and they got my name misspelled, I can't claim the money so I called them to change my name in that LBC branch. Hassle.

 This is from my brother's scrapbook project. It says "...my mom took this picture together with my sister KRISTEN." Even my brother got it wrong!

Well, I did some Google-ing and found out that KIRSTEN (which means "anointed, follower of Christ") 

used in Scandinavia is the same as KRISTEN when used in Germany. 

And they both mean the same thing! Also, I found this survey and laughed.

Photo: http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/suitability_of_Kirsten.html

Looks like it's not much of a big deal after all :)

The V Day

With two quizzes, 3 laboratory sessions, and lecture, who can feel Valentine's Day???

Sancho's Churreria Manila: The Best Churros

Searching for the best Churros in town? Well, better try Sancho's Churreria Manila.

The Chocolate Kiss Cafe - UPD

During J's birthday she wanted to have some food walk. 

We searched for places around QC and The Chocolate Kiss came up.

What mommy wants...

To encourage me to use make-up and be kikay, mommy gave me this:

MAC Lipstick Fast Play (Amplified)

Her bribe might work though :)

Dahil mahal ko ang Pilipinas

Midterms = Tonsilitis

Say hello to J's pasalubong for the week :)

 Chips Ahoy!

 Sari-Sari Chocolate!

These are only half of them, the other half caused my irritating throat right now.

And yes, Cadburry! :)

There are only a handful of things J and I both love, one of which is, of course, chocolates. As far as I can remember, we can't let the week pass without buying chocolates, or any sweets. I practically NEED them to give me ATPs for studying (weh?). And since it's the MIDTERM WEEK, which entails a lot of studying (kuno) I needed a lot of chocolates. And it's a bad idea because it's only Monday (and just one exam done) and my tonsils are warning me already. My throat's itchy and dry that I can't concentrate on answering the exam. I might try to drink more water and less sugar (huhu).

Yesterday, I tried getting my fasting blood glucose level. Well, I know I should be more careful since diabetes (and hypertension) runs in the family (both sides). That puts me in high risk of developing such lifestyle diseases. So I used my daddy's kit and got my blood glucose level, which is *drumroll* 5.5 mmol/L. Considering my age, it's quite high. The normal range is between 3-5.8 mmol/L and I'm in borderline already. It's like everything flashed back right before my eyes and I told myself "Okay, at least now you can SHOW your daddy what you're always telling him: DIET and EXERCISE". I'm still not sure. But if I wanted to be an effecting health care provider, I should be healthy first, right? If ever I get close to my goal this year, it'll be such an accomplishment. But before that, I need a lot of motivation and prayers! :) So for motivation...

Sorry I forgot you back in Taguig. I hope to see you soon. :)

J almost got mad that I forgot these hahaha

Back to studying.

California Maki - Tokyo! Tokyo!

Sometimes, I just crave for this: California Maki from Tokyo! Tokyo!

 California Maki (Php45/4pcs; Php 85/8pcs)

With the upcoming Midterm week and everyday exams, I can't afford to go far to have a descent meal. Luckily, there's a Tokyo! Tokyo! branch in Victory Mall which is just about 5-minute walk away from my dorm. This also satisfies my sudden Japanese-food-urge. Maybe I'll try having them delivered next time :)

Gong Cha Milk Tea

Large Milk Tea with Pearl Jelly (Php 95)

With the milk tea craze nowadays, a lot of milk tea shops are opening everywhere. There's one along SM North Sky Dome: Gong Cha. The place is really really small. You can't fit 8 people inside to order all at the same time. Though there are chairs and tables outside, they're full most of the time. So I just took one for take out. I ordered Milk Tea with Pearl Jelly. It comes in two sizes (medium and large). You can also choose the sugar level from 0% (no sugar), 50% (half), 75% (less), to 100% (full). There are also a lot of flavors but I chose the basic.

I wasn't really impressed. Or maybe half sugar level was too low for me. I didn't get the "taste" I'm looking for. But if you wanted to have a sip of some real tea flavor, this drink works well. Also, if you're the kind of drinker who always gets an extra scoop of pearl in your drink, this will be your bet. About 1/4 of the cup's filled with black pearls. Normally I ate all the pearls before finishing my drink but this time, the pearls were present until the last sip. Overall, it's not the best but also not the worst. Moonleaf and Happy Lemon still top Gong Cha. Or maybe, I will try other flavors like my favorite: Caramel. :)

Manang's Chicken - SM North (Annex)

Originally, J and I planned to have a Marina breakfast buffet at SM North EDSA but we failed to wake up early. Luckily, our prof dismissed us early so I decided to have lunch at Manang's Chicken in SM North - Annex. I've been hearing a lot about Manang's Chicken. The first branch I (accidentally) saw was in Ortigas but I was there to check out Subspace. I was very excited to have Manang's branch near my place. As far as I can remember it opened last October 2011. So here...

We went there at around 4:00 pm and the place was empty. There's one staff offering free taste to passers-by and even though we'll dine there anyway, we took some of it. It was actually good (for a fried chicken). The place was very inviting and I love the colors. The servers were very nice too.

                                                                  The empty chairs

                                                    Sign says "This way to tasty chicken"

Since J always gets her orders wrong (or pick the wrong ones) I ordered for both of us. I chose 1pc cut meal with original sauce plus lemonade for her and 1pc cut meal with mild spicy sauce and iced tea for me. You can choose from 3 sauces: original, mild spicy and extra spicy. Also, since their potato chips were very tempting (and I am hungry), I ordered a large one with creamy cheese dip.

                                      1pc cut with original sauce with lemonade (Php 104.00)

                                      1pc cut with mild spicy sauce plus iced tea (Php 104.00)

Honestly, I should have ordered the extra spicy sauce because I can't get a hint of chili in my chicken. But it was really tasty. You don't need gravy to go with it. It also has sesame seeds on it. The chicken may look dry at first but it was juicy inside. I bet they should get Chowking's Chinese-Style Chicken's promise of "crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside" because Manang's Chicken was way better than Chowking's.

The real deal was the All Natural Potato Chips!

                                                         Large Potato Chips (Php 49)
                           + add Php 7 for dip (choose between Creamy Cheese and Garlic Mayo)

You just have to try it! The large one's good for two already. The chips have that homemade crunch and the best part is, the skin's still on! It's not too thin to break easily nor too thick to be soggy. It's the kind of chips you can bite with a crunch and chew. The creamy cheese dip was nothing special, it tastes just like the creamy cheese dip from Stackers Burgers. But for sour cream fans, the garlic mayo dip is to die for! It was addictive. One cup of dip is not enough for our large chips so I got the garlic mayo too. Even J who's not a fan of garlic loved the dip.

Now I know why my friends loves Manang's Chicken. If you crave for a tasty-not-so-ordinary-fried-chicken,   go to Manang's Chicken, UG/F Annex, SM North EDSA (beside Big Better Burgers and Savemore).