Dapitan Arcade

I have been meaning to pay a visit to Dapitan Arcade because I heard that cheap stuff abound, and yep, I am sucker for anything cheap. So last weekend, we made the long journey (long because traffic was horrible on a Saturday ) from Taft to Dapitan.

Going there can be a little bit tricky. Good thing my cousin, who was quite familiar with the place told us to just turn right to Laon Laan from Espana and go straight, that should lead us to Kanlaon which is where Dapitan Arcade is.

There are many parking spots available from the Suki Market, to the side of the multi purpose hall to the one beside the Arcade itself. We got there around 4 and one of the sales ladies said they normally close at 7. There are stalls along the streets and the others are inside a building. I'm not sure why but it sort of reminded me of the Saturday Jatujak Market.

Dapitan Arcade is exclusively houseware though. Here you will see dinnerware, wooden furnitures, living room accents, lamps, chandeliers, storage boxes, etc. They also peddle mostly local products with very good design, craftsmanship and quality.

We read in one of the blogs that your one thousand can go a long a way and...it's true! SKP was able to buy six pieces of plates, dainty tissue holders, big intricate church candle holders for a little under a thousand.

As for me, I feasted on peanuts with chili and twenty pieces of squid and chicken balls all under a hundred bucks! Aylavet!

Some photos I took from the street stalls. I only took a few because SKP was already scowling at me, I was tempting phone snatchers daw :p

The Melt In Your Mouth Cheese Bread

SKP was telling me about Tinapayan, the bakery that sells this supposedly melt-in-your-mouth bread that the other chef from his office brings every morning while we were cruising along Dapitan. Suddenly, I saw this brightly lit store signage that spells the two words that made SKP's day/week/month: TINAPAYAN FESTIVAL :)

So he did what every excited chef does , hit the brakes, pushed the hazard button and hurriedly crossed the street. He bought about a month's worth of Cheese bread.

I must say, this bread is not your average panaderya tinapay that you can find across the street. It almost has a soft, somewhat cloudy bite similar to Bread Talk staples. You can eat it on its own or you can dunk it to piping glass of hot chocolate.

What I don't like about this bread though is that it costs PHP 80, rather outrageous for a kanto panaderya dontchatinks :p

By the way, Tinapayan Festival has a branch in Market Market, so no need to go all the way to Dapitan, hoorah!

What I Had For Lunch

Yamee

Japan Surprise

My officemate came from Japan a couple of weeks ago for vacation. We were teasing her that it seemed she only went to Japan for grocery because all she bought were boxes and boxes of snacks. We were of course delighted because Japanese junk food is the bomb!!! I kid you not :)

But what really kept us laughing and talking was the erm creamy pudding she brought for our male officemates:

Unopened:

SURPRISE :P

Little Rascal

Our office had a Halloween Trick or Treat event and we had a pretty good turn out of kids who donned their scariest/cutest Halloween outfits. One kid though stood out from the rest. He was about 8 or 9, and he was running around, screaming, in other words he was like a tornado of activities all by himself.

Just before Trick or Treat started, he ran like crazy at the pantry area where all the kids were and screamed "I KNOW WHERE THE CANDIES ARE!!! BUT I WILL NOT TELL YOU WHERE THEY ARE!!!" Hahaha

So I was telling this story to my friend and she goes, "Ah yeah, I know him, we're not surprised, his mother is like that." Hahaha

Anyway, she recounted her encounter with the little rascal a few hours ago at the copying area. She was going to print something and the rascal said, "Later, I'm doing something" :P

When my friend saw, the kid was doing 20 copies of this:

Now I'm afraid to have kids hahaha

Meet the Parents

And so I have finally met the mom and the sisters last night. They were all very nice and cordial despite the fact that my visit was totally unplanned. It was one of those nights when all I could muster was a very lame "I'm okay, thanks" for everything (yes every single thing) that they asked me hahaha... I.D.I.O.T reprezent :p

Manila F.A.M.E 2009

SKP's sister gave him a pair of tickets to the Manila F.A.M.E. Manila F.A.M.E or Furnishings and Apparel Market Exchange is a bi-annual event that is being organized by CITEM, the export promotion arm of DTI.

This is my first time to attend this trade show. I actually found it fascinating. The event happened simultaneously in two venues, World Trade Center and SMX and they had shuttles to ferry guests who wish to transfer to the other venue.

World Trade showcased health and wellness, some artworks and fashion items. We also managed to catch the fashion show of Renee Salud, Twinkle Ferraren and other designers.

We moved to SMX to check out what's there and we were awed by the furniture pieces from our local manufacturers. We were surprised though that one of the exhibitors we asked price from quoted in dollars! Anyway, SKP ended up buying two wrought iron chairs made in Cebu for PHP 1,500 each. It was really a bargain considering the kind of craftsmanship and material used.

I wish local manufacturers will make their goods available for local consumption and at local prices too :)

Photos were all from World Trade

Painting by Rubio. He is starting be my favorite

Another interesting painting

Live art

The make out tree :p

Dominatrix heaven. Im kidding! Corset stall

Pinya dolls

Pinya fashion

Fashion show. Honestly, the stage design guys could have done a better job. Just sayin

Mami Mien-San

It is really a challenge to find a nice Oriental restaurant that does not use pork bones in their soup base. Luckily, Mien-san, an unassuming Taiwanese restaurant not only does not use pork bones but also serve the meanest Beef Noodle Soup I have ever tasted. Their soup is a bit on the hot and spicy side and has a comforting effect like having Chicken soup when you're sick :) There's abundant tender beef slices and their hand pulled noodles is really something else with a clean almost chewy feel to it.

Our other favorite on the menu is their tofu. It is one whole big block of cold tofu in a bed of soy sauce with slices of century egg, chopped garlic and chives. This dish is just too delightful to describe.

Beef noodle soup

Tofu with century egg

Dragon dancer on a Sunday afternoon

Snackaroo-ing on a Friday

I had a stage in my life when I got nearly obsessed with steak. For several weeks, all I wanted to eat was steak... not just any other steak but the very cheap kind :p the cheapest cut with the unhealthiest gravy that went with it. The obsession cost me a whopping 20 lbs and took me several months to shed :p

Some of the notable ones I liked going back to were Hot Racks in Libis, Steak MD in Tomas Morato and Snackaroo also in QC.

Last Friday, I had a flashback of my grim steak-eating past when SKP suggested we go to Snackaroo for dinner. Unfortunately, they only have one grill for both pork and beef so no steak for me.

SKP instead got the most wonderful substitute ever, Beef Bacon, beef papaitan and beef bopis for less than a hundred bucks each! I was in heaven!!! I kid you not. I still feel giddy thinking about it. The picture doesn't do justice at all to the yumminess of the beef bacon. It is chewy, salty and smoky, in other words, perfect! The papaitan was very very mapait and the bitterness lingers and the bopis was soft, oily and tasty just the way I like it.

I shall definitely be baaa-aacccck!!! :)

The 400-peso Burger Dinner

Johnny Rockets is the latest addition to the growing eat outs at the new Eastwood Mall. I know this is a bit wrong but the festive atmosphere as you step inside the establishment is actually reminiscent of, are you ready for this, Hooters! hahaha

Perhaps it's the blazing music and the cheerful food attendants, although Johnny Rockets is more "Let's Dance" and Hooters is solid "YMCA" and the attendants at Johnny Rockets are more ermmm covered than Hooters or perhaps it's the all American feel of these two joints that made me relate one to the other.

What I liked about our visit to Johnny Rockets were: service was great, the Manager was very attentive to our requests (no same utensil for items with pork etc), the dance number of the food attendants was fun, they were really into it, not the napipilitan type and you can make modifications in your order without paying extra ie change bun to wheat, change patty to turkey, opt for salad instead of fries, etc

I wasn't too thrilled about two things: the food and the price! Hahaha Maybe because I'm stingy or maybe because I was expecting an In N Out type of grease fest hence the disappointment but seriously, PHP 400 for a burger meal is really just too much for me :)

This is the PHP 140 Onion Rings, ermmm parang kulang?!? :p


We opted for the salad instead of fries because we're health conscious like that..not! :p

I had of course the cheapest, Original burger but I changed the bun to wheat


SKP changed the beef patty to turkey and it was sooo good

The mini jukebox

The giant piso per song jukebox


The hot open kitchen

The Best Bagoong Rize...Promize

I have an office twin. She's much younger but we are of the same height, we came from the same province, we both wear glasses sometimes, we have almost the same length of hair and the more they say it, the more that we actually start to look like each other it's starting to scare me :P

So anyway, today, my office twin mentioned that Zuppa Cafe, one of the very very few long standing establishments at Cyber Mall in Eastwood uses beef in their thai bagoong rice. So off to Zuppa we went.

The food was a feast of the senses, and I'm not being OA. I was wide-eyed when I saw it because the serving was so huge it looked like it had 1 and a half cups of rice or maybe even 2. It had generous strips of mango and more than enough slices of sweet tender beef. The smell of shrimp paste was heavenly and the taste... the taste... okay I'm going back tomorrow :)

Thai bagoong rice is one of those happy type of meal for me because you get all the flavors in one dish and it's sweet, salty, sour and in this case mildly hot even which is really perfect for me. For PHP 95 this dish is perfect! :)

Don't Shoot The Messenger

SKP and I were in MOA walking aimlessly on the eve of Eidl Fitr. He was looking at bags and watches and as usual, I wasn't paying any attention. I always have this feeling that I am getting shortchanged when I shop at malls because I know I can find the item at a cheaper price elsewhere. (All together now, Kuripot Reprezent!)

When we entered the Kenneth Cole shop though, an ecobag caught my attention because I thought it was rather witty. It was a medium-sized messenger bag with "Don't Shoot The Messenger" imprinted on it. SKP asked if I liked the bag and he offered to get it for me. I of course said no, thanks.

So he asked if we can go to my happy place, Surplus Shop! hahaha While we were there, he said he was gonna go to the restroom. I wanted to show him a nice jacket I saw but alas, he was nowhere in sight. Another 15 minutes passed, still no SKP.

I had a bad feeling so I dashed to the Kenneth Cole shop and true enough, the bag wasn't there anymore! And SKP wasnt there anymore too! I couldn't call him because, his phones were with me :p

When I went back to Surplus Shop, SKP was there with a big grin on his face, holding the paper bag, he said, Happy Eidl Fitr :p

SKP and his surprise

Sigh :)

My new bag! Thank you SKP :)

Eidl Fitr 2009

At my bestfriend's Marje's request, we spent Eidl Fitr at the Golden Mosque in Quiapo. As expected, so many brothers and sisters turned up but thankfully, there was enough room for everyone. We stayed outside and Alhamdullilah, we were blessed with good weather.

After prayer, we went to Marje's favorite Maranao restaurant and then walked a bit to hoard DVDs. On top of the list was yep, you guessed it, KimmyDora hahaha :p

SKP felt like cooking so we got some stuff at Shopwise before heading to our place. Eidl Fitr fare was Kalbi Jim c/o Chef SKP, Rice Cake and Kimchi from our friendly Korean grocery downstairs and Marje's new super favorite, Arce Buco Lycheas Sherbet.

Here are some pictures of random people taken before and after prayer at the Golden Mosque. Check out my favorite, the adorable Quaipo Boys. I was just taking pictures of the mosque when they asked me to take photos of them :)

Pretty in fenk :p

Say...chez..uh :p

Smile :)

Ang...shaya...shaya...no :p

Manisan

Looking through...the eyes of love..bleh

Boi Kupya

Donasyon

Blessings... ameeeeen

Golden mosque and the golden girls :p

Quiapo Boys... ateh ateh, picture mo kame!

I asked them to do this pose and they so willingly complied :p

This kid is the most gwapo of them all daw according to them

Whatta cutie, dontchatinks

The boys are out...nag recruit pa ng iba hehehe