Thursday, November 25, 2010

Marriott Hotel Partners with Habitat For Humanity to Open up the Season of Giving

      Marriott Hotel waves the magic wand over homeless Filipinos and behold Christmas is warm and more beautiful.   Yes the people behind Marriott Hotel plays "fairy-godparents" in support to Habitat for Humanities Philippines' cause of assissting families in need of a decent shelter.



       As the qoute goes, "Christmas is a season for kindling the fire for hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart,"  by Washington Irving, echoes on the lobby of the hotel, with all the Christmas adornments, Christmas trees on every hallway, gracious staffs and  Christmas songs from the night's performers, really felt Christmasie when I walked in!   But what was even more appropriate to that qoute was how charity had been the main point of the event.
      A certain Christmas tree was left plain and unlit, and here is were it will all come together.
      After a few hours it will be adorned by Christmas balls, lighted by the alluring Ruffa Guttierez, Pasay City Mayor Calixto and Marriot Hotel's Gen. Manager Richard Saul.   The balls for decorating the tree will cost 200 pesos each, and guests can sponsor the worth of the balls, and the cost of all the balls will be donated to Habitat for Humanity Philippines.
     To tell you the truth I was a bit flaky with my situation there, as a novice at this field, I don't know where to start, should I speak to the managers myself or act like just a spectator.  Well what the heck, might as well enjoy the moment, ambience- the finest, the people= interesting and the food-scrumptious.  Of course, 
hors d'oeuvre were served and while we await for the spectacular program and Christmas tree lighting, I had to know who the man is behind the banquet.








      Some big shots were there, GMA station's VP,  Rodrigo Cornejo and wife, Cory Quirino, Pasay City Mayor Antonio Calixto, Singapore Airlines Executives, Habitat Managing Director & CEO Ricardo Jacinto, celebs, Phoemela Baranda, Richard Gutierrez, Ruffa Guttierrez and Tim Yap who emceed the program.   Similarly aside from the Christmas sweet feast, attractions like, Chinese Acrobat dancers and Laarni Lozada wowed us.    And the final attraction, the Christmas tree lighting and ornating.










       Hats off to the organizers of the event,  wishing both Marriott and Habitat for Humanity more charity and lives to change.   Need not forget Chef Felino Afable, Executive Pastry Chef of Marriott for a spectacular display of desserts!   What a party to  kick off the Holiday Season.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

At Paris Delice: Enjoying the Night Before my Hubby's Birthday

     November 21, 2010, a few hours before my husband, Bhogs turns 39.
    At the wee hour of that day, I have been still thinking what to give Bhogs for his birthday, we would usually stay late till midnight to await the turning of each day for that special day and greet the celebrant a smoochy  Happy Birthday, so it was part of the plan to bring him to a coffee shop and get us cups of coffee for that caffeine effect.
   And what a perfect idea to bring him or have him bring me to a bazaar  (ahahah).   Good enough my best friend Tricia invited me to visit her booth at Esprit de Noel, at A-Venue Events Hall in Makati Ave.
  Part of my life's joy is going to bazaars and "tiangge," and of course trying out foodie concoctions from exhibitors.    Due to our very unorganized life, we went there at about 8 in the evening and these are just about the attractions we found....


     The event is coming to an end and I still haven't found anything of his interest, an idea is to go a restaurant, or better yet go back to the first one, coffee shop... and more chit-chat...till caffeine kicks in.
    We left the vehicle parked there and strolled along Makati Avenue, seeing the Aberdeen court brought up a lot of topics for our reminisence.  Honestly, I was looking for Starbucks or Gloria Jeans, but we didn't find any so we reached Neptune St.  There was an intriguing Indian or Arabic cuisine at the second floor of a certain buliding that we were debating if we'd try it or not.
   No, we want coffee!            We are really coffee-holics!
Fascinatingly, there was a dandyish coffee bar tucked in at the corner of Juno St. and Makati Ave.
     It is a fast food retaurant alright but in a modern French touch.   So we got coffee, cappuccino for two, and had a hard time picking a sandwich.   I was gonna have Napolean, dying to taste Rosette de Lyon, though I am not sure if it's salami or sausage.  Also, they have French Pastries, which I missed from Le Couer de France, I will definitely try next time.      They recommended Hot Crousti.   Sounds new to us, so we got one and shared it.


                                Hot Crousti, sausage on French Baguette topped with Emmental Cheese


     According to Mr. Carlos Barrica, they've just opened early November.   The chef is not at all French, but a Filipino who have stayed some time in France, I guess for immersion into French recipes and dining customs of that sort.   As pastry and dessert maker myself and a coffee lover, I'd give a very good first impression! As they say, "first impressions last." Need to mention, the people behind the business are very welcoming and gracious, I'd say the budding business will go a long, long way and cupful of coffees served!  Sante'!
    To sum up, the experience was well, worth it, we did buy something for our kids, but none for the celebrant.   We had our coffee and a bit of French indulgence but the night didn't end there...now looking forward to a day of fun and excitement at Star City!

Paris Délice
1 Juno Street, corner Makati Avenue
1209 Makati City - Metro Manila
PHILIPPINES

Phone  +(632) 798 0740
Fax  +(632) 421 0162
website:   http://www.parisdelice.com.ph/

Esprit de Noel
presented by  TRES B-ZAARISTAS

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Wanting Takoyaki

To tell you the truth i'm not a Japanese food lover, not till my husband and I tried eating sashimi at home.
This was how we prepared our home-made sashimi:
1.  We bought frozen pink salmon cutlet or yellow fin tuna at the supermarket, we did have in our spice rack Kikkoman, sushi and sashimi soy sauce and of course, wasabi.
2.  After defrosting the fish, we cleaned it, removed the skin and we had it sliced thinly.
3.  Then the sauce, we just had the soy sauce, calamansi juice and wasabi mixed in a bowl.

Well, the blog is not about preparing Japanese dishes, I just hope it would be a good resource for those who'd want to start eating raw...hehehe.   I want to write something about Takoyaki and my dining experiences with it.  With these I might stumble upon where I could try the best Takoyaki in town,  if not in Japan.
My first try with that invitingly smelly ball was when i was in college.   I was so naive then when it comes to eating Japanese.  I remembered in La Salle, in the College Canteen, there was this odd stall at one of the canteen's side, where a Japanese costumed lady was cooking these Takoyaki, can't remember the name of the booth though.   Didn't try until a friend bought me a few, of course I couldn't say no, well since I'm an adventurous one why not try it.   And what do you know, it taste good, had to say "Oishi" ( delicious in Japanese).
"Takoyaki," literally means octopus ball, a popular street food in Japan, is made of batter with baby octopus  scraps.
I had only tried a few different variations of it from different stalls, one is Samurai foods, another is from the eatery outside Market Market's Grocery Store.  But the one that really suits my buds was at Karate Kid.


Now I'm on a hunt for the best one , if there is something better than Karate Kid's Restaurant!

I also included pictures of my somewhat dining adventure with Japanese Restos.
SAKAE Sushi, MOA


Enjoying Eat-all-you-can for P800

At Sushi King, Market Market


Monday, November 1, 2010

Treats Instead of Tricks, Precious Moments Experience


What a way to end October!
Initially, my two kids and I planned  to go trick or treating yesterday, and after a week of gruelling preparation for my youngest daughter's costume for their school's celebration of United Nations Month, we definitely needed breaks.   Though we put a lot of effort in making Danica's costume which is Turkey inspired, she didn't win, and to really ruin the event, I accidentally deleted all the pictures we had saved in our Sony Cybershot 12.1 Mpixels Digi-cam.  My husband and I were so down not to be able to boast our effort and my daughters big song participation, and yes,  she was the greatest performer among the other nursery student.
So to set aside all disappointments, we decided to go to SM Mall of Asia, but another problem arised.  Saturday morning, we woke up, finding out the wheels of our pedicab, which we use for our water refilling business had been flattened, and what was worse was the accused neighbor included two rear tires of our car.   But we were able to rise from the situation, to cut the story short we had everything fixed, except we don't have time to go to the mall and have our daughters loot over sweets, just like what they did on last year's Trick or Treat at MOA.
Sunday, the day is almost over, my two daughters and my other two older kids have been asking if we were to go somewhere, I don't know how to tell them, that trick-or-treating is over and we still have to visit my parents friends who arrived from Milan, Italy.
Then, a very bright and interesting idea befell.
For months, I've been eyeing on this particular showroom, which we would pass by every Sunday, right after we attend  our Sunday church service at Lord Jesus Bible Church in Palanan, Makati.
I also read  a blog about this particular place, having found out that they don't only sell dolls or trinkets, they also serve real foods and drinks.
Precious Moments Showroom, Giftshop and Teahouse.
When I was years younger, I have been familiarized with  Sam Butcher's Precious Moments Creations, through Cross stitch patterns, qoutes and  Bible versions for kids and Teen-agers.   We also saw figurines and give-aways of this sort at Landmark.
I even had my sister hooked on this, or was she that made me hooked on Precious Moments, well whatever it is, Mr. Butchers drawings with biblical verses are inspirational, cute with whimsical features yet humbling.
Those are some words I can also say about Precious Moments, in Makati.
When I was there the first thing that came to my mind was, when my sisters comes to visit us from Milan, I will definitely treat her to an amazing dining experience here.
The best thing was that I was able to share the experience with my three lovely daughters.  It was so funny, they couldn't figure out why we parked outside a house, just a stone-throw away from our church, having the idea that we are eating dinner.   When we came in, the staffs greeted us very welcomely, with a very homey recieving area, displayed on the right side are awesome wedding themes of Precious Moments.   And as we enter, an assortment of Precious Moments dolls flooded our sight. "Wow so cute, so lovely...," the words my girls utterred so repeatedly.  Even my Dana, who was hypo-glycimic at that time, were amazed, ever wondering why she lacks strength to enjoy to sight around her.

Time to order the dinner, the four of us girls, was already "busog" with all the dolls around us, we were so busy checking out the details of each dolls, Danica, even noticed, P-noy doll, a Pres. Ninoy Aquino inspired doll, the same one they have given out during the his proclamation.


For dinner, we had the house best Pata Tim, Hot To Tay, and Fried Chicken.

Whilst eating, we even had a game, Look For...,  I had them find figuines that are sleeping, a certian animal figure, etc. They said it was fun!   It was like eating our Noche Buena, with all the Christmas trimmings and Christmas trees around us!  I got inspired decorating early for Christmas, the eagerness I lost last Christmas due to traumatic events in our family.

The experience was memorable, even the chat with Mr. Jojo was a blessing, finding out that part of their sales goes to charitable organizations supported by the Aquino sisters for Pre-schoolers in urban areas, and that they the people behind it even supports street childrens in Iloilo and supports different Christian Ministries.

My family will definitely have more precious moments to spend time here, and a one stop shop to buy gifts for Christmas, hoping my friends and relatives also come here to enjoy the atmosphere and savor their menus, oh a must-try in their menu, Samburger package snack for four.

Their address, 4227 Laredo St., Palanan, Makati City
Contcact Person: Warren P. Silva, Operations Manager
Phone : 8566615 or 3871092
Cp: 09296969836