Going Cosmopolitan at John and Yoko

I usually avoid going to Ayala, unless someone volunteers to drive for me (and search for a much coveted parking slot) or unless I'm meeting my girl friends from UP, who are all well worth braving the Ayala traffic for. Last Saturday was one of those moments when friendship beckons amongst the Makati weekend crowd, and I was too much of a weakling (and a good friend, I hope) to resist. 

Our Saturday affair was thankfully not one of those times where the indecision about where to eat forces us to walk aimlessly and waste twenty minutes of our time ping pong-ing the words, "where do we eat?" and "up to you" amongst ourselves. I guess I have my good friend Emy to thank,  as she sent me rather insistent text messages to get my fat ass to John and Yoko the soonest possible time or risk her wrath. 

John and Yoko is an upscale Filipino owned restaurant serving modern Japanese cuisine.  It boasts of bringing to life the slightly overused concept of East meets West, by serving Japanese food tinged with Western influence. Allow me to post this well written excerpt from their menu:

"John is from the West while Yoko comes from the East. As John is bold, modern, and fresh, Yoko is guarded, conservative and traditional. He is sunset while she is sunrise or the dawn of a new day! In essence, johnandyoko is a successful union of the two worlds. It is union where the new embraces the old and the innovative features the authentic."

The restaurant was dimly lit, with bare black ceilings and  patterned walls. It looked very modern and industrial, without losing the casual vibe. 

For starters, we had New York Fried Maki, which was rice rolled in tempura-batter-coated-Nori and stuffed with mango, cucumber and unagi. You have to put the whole thing in your mouth to experience the burst of flavor and amazing mixture of textures of this maki variant. The crispiness of tempura batter, the sticky familiarity of rice, the firmness of unagi, the pleasant sweetness of fresh mangoes and the crunchiness of cucumber all blended perfectly well to make one bombshell of a maki. 

My Weekend in Photos

I wish I had more weekends like this. 

Saturday

Met with workmates at Greenbelt to plan for our upcoming Singaporean holiday. Speaking of which, can somebody please be a sweetheart and recommend a decent bed and breakfast/guest house in SG? No fancy hotels, please. We are just humble backpackers on a shoestring budget.

Starbucks and Fuzion at Greenbelt.

Engaged in retail therapy by scouring Landmark for bargain finds. Don't you just love Landmark's collection of quaint and quirky stuff?

The simplest things make me happy.

Random buys: 1) silver lace and pearl accessory, 2) Max Factor Pan Stick, 3) In2It powder foundation, 4) key chain with a Cinderella shoe that doubles as a bag hook 5) white ear bones for my earphones, and 6) a red voodoo doll. I also bought some gift items for Christmas, but I cannot post the photos here for obvious reasons.

Also, home improvement stuff for my rented room in Makati. My need to declutter is increasing in geometric proportions.

Only Php 150 each (approximately $ 3)! 

Did some catching up with some of my awesome friends from college. Had dinner at John and Yoko and desserts at Mr. Jones. 

This is my definition of a good time.

Sunday

My mom's 54th birthday! I treated her and my sibs to lunch and gave her some Royce chocolates for the occasion.  Unfortunately, my dad was not around for work reasons, but my mom had a Berry Banapple Birthday this year nevertheless.  

I super love you, Mama! May you be blessed always!

They really rock my world, these little blessings I get (like having the weekends off)!  Hope your weekend was as awesome as mine. Please stay tuned for food reviews! 

Spicing Up the Day at Legend of India

I have been told not only once that I am pretty good at making people hungry. I'm terrible at describing food, but because I talk about food with passion, people can't help but get hungry when they are around me. The boyfriend, I guess, is the most heavily influenced by my eating habits. When we met, he wouldn't go beyond the usual Filipino or Chinese dish. You should see him now though! Who would have thought that he would willingly pay for spicy Indian food on a regular day some seven years ago?

We had a date (oh yes, a date, finally!) a couple of Saturdays ago (I know, procrastination!). We bought new kicks for his beloved DSLR, Iroh (he looks more handsome with his new Sigma 28-200mm f3.5-5.6 lens on) and had  late lunch at Legend of India.

To start with, I must say I had a difficult time choosing what to order. The place was far from shabby (it was marketed as a fine dining restaurant, after all), but their menu needs a major, major overhaul (no descriptions, no photos and with handwritten changes, seriously) The waiters and waitresses were not particularly helpful either, as they had a hard time describing most of the dishes when asked. After a sweeping look at the menu, I just decided to order their version of some familiar Indian dishes.

While waiting for our appetizer, a complimentary bowl of Mixed Chevro was served. From the looks and tastes of it, Mixed Chevro is a combination of Indian nuts, crackers and dried fruits. The burst of flavor when you put a handful of this in your mouth is delightful, but I didn't eat too much because I didn't want to feel full halfway through the meal. 

Mixed Chevro. Feel free to munch as you wait.

For starters, we ordered Chicken Samosa, which is a triangular shaped pastry stuffed with chicken, potatoes and spices. It was kind of dry and plain tasting when eaten alone, but it reaches a whole new level of goodness when dipped in the complimentary mint and tamarind sauce.

Chicken Samosa at 160Php

The boyfriend is a mutton man. Whenever we eat Mediterranean or Indian cuisine, he almost always chooses mutton as the main dish. We wanted to share a viand, as all servings were good for 2-3 people and there were just the two of us. We agreed on Mutton Masala, which is mutton mixed with egg and mild spices. The meat was tender and flavorful, and the sauce was mildly spicy and thick, but not unpleasantly so.

Mutton Masala at 450 Php

The boyfriend wanted basmati rice and I wanted bread, so in the end we ordered both and shared. I chose plain Naan, which is leavened, oven-baked flatbread. I would have to say that I really prefer naan over rice when eating saucy Indian dishes, especially when it's warm and freshly baked.

Plain Naan at Php 100

For dessert, we had Kulfi, which is Indian ice cream sprinkled with nuts and spices. The kulfi was dense, sweet and creamy, but not unpleasantly overpowering. It's actually quite difficult to describe, kind of like a combination of ice drops, pastillas and our local sorbetes.

Kulfi at Php 120

Expect to spend approximately Php 500 ($13) per person when you dine here. Legend of India is located at 114-B Jupiter St., Bel-Air II, Makati City. They have some parking space in front, which you can use for free. If you have tried their food, do share your experience with me! 

Hong Kong Series: Ocean Park, Shopping and Our Flight Back Home!

It has been three months since my trip to Hong Kong, but I have yet to finish my series of Hong Kong posts. I procrastinate like there are a million tomorrows  (a little something I mastered while at school), but I digress.


Ocean Park is a marine themed attraction dubbed as one of Hong Kong's most popular tourist destinations. It was incredulously hot and humid the day we visited Ocean Park so we deliberately avoided the outdoor rides (except the Ocean Tower) and enjoyed the air conditioned indoor attractions instead. I don't think we missed out on a lot though, as the rides were not at all that unique if you have gone to say, Enchanted Kingdom or some other theme park in the US.

Ocean Park Hong Kong is literally HUGE (I think they have seven themed lands) and getting from one part of the Park to another can be quite taxing. They have long elevators that go on forever, scaring the shit out of acrophobics like the boyfriend. Haha.

We started out at the Tai Shue Wan entrance, as this was the drop off point for the public buses. There was not much to see there but the Flamingo Pond, which was quite a disappointment. The flamingos were not as vibrantly colored as the ones I saw in Sea World, San Diego. You can see a photo of that here.

From Tai Shue Wan, we walked a ridiculous distance to get to Marine Land, which houses some of my favorite attractions. There are one too many Dolphin shows in this planet, but these adorable creatures never fail to get my attention no matter how repetitive all the tricks are. I'm a terrible swimmer, but I wish to swim with the dolphins some day like these two lucky fellas.

Going High School at Johnny Rockets!

My high school days were not spent in local diners, celebrating victories of the school's football team (because duh, we did not have a football team in Masci!), but for some reason, I have come to associate diners with high school.

I love diners not only because I love the burger + fries + milkshake combo, but also because I can never get enough of the laid back ambiance, the 50's feel and the iconic juke box that you can only find in a number of diners these days. It's not surprising therefore, that out of the many food establishments in Eastwood, I would pick Johnny Rockets for a relaxing, rainy Friday night dinner date.

Those who know me will definitely guess what caught my fancy first and foremost though: UNLIMITED FRIES! Yes, you heard (read) me right! For fellow fries lovers out there, this place is carbs and cholesterol wonderland!

There were other items available in the menu, but a burger + fries + milkshake combo girl like myself wouldn't settle for something other than a juicy burger + fries + milkshake combo . I'm being redundant and all, but you get the drift! Look at the juicy something I had! (Sorry for the bad photo, though. I didn't bring my trusty canon as this was a totally unplanned rendezvous.)

The burger was perfectly crispy around the edges, big, juicy and beefy, but after tasting Charlie's Angus Beef Burger, this kind of paled in comparison. The malt milkshake, however, was the bomb! It was thick, creamy and sweet, the kind you want to slurp like a seven year old before you go to bed. 

They boyfriend had a burger too, but with some salad, because he likes to pretend that he is a healthy eater for my sake even though we both know that he is not! Haha. 

Expect to spend around 600Php (approximately $13) per person for a good meal and some dancing waiters. Yep, the waiters at Johnny Rockets goof around and dance to oldies music as you eat.

Johnny Rockets is located at the Ground floor Veranda, Eastwood Mall, Eastwood City.

Another Impulse Buy

For someone without a pretty penny to her name, I can be such a ridiculous impulse buyer.

Serious impulse shopper.

My recent Hong Kong - Macau trip did put a huge dent on my wallet, and yet three months later, I find myself booking a totally unplanned trip to Singapore. I blame it on Cebu Pacific's 10-10-10 promo. Php 1010 (less than $30) for an international flight sounds pretty awesome, but we mustn't forget about accommodations, food, tickets for attractions and of course, shopping money!  I'm too old to ask for money from my good, old folks (hello, financial independence!) and I'm really terrible at managing my finances. What a lethal combination these two! The fact that my job does not pay well at all doesn't help my case either.

Singapore (just like Hong Kong) is not a place for travelers on a shoestring budget (really,couldn't we have booked a flight to somewhere else, like Thailand for instance?), but for some reason, I find joy in the challenge of planning trips on a budget. Back during the days when my parentals did the spending and money was not much of an issue, finding a good deal was not as rewarding as it is now. Of course, the saving for the trip part isn't that awesome(must not make impulse buys!), but hey, as the good, old and gasgas saying goes, "pag walang tiyaga, walang nilaga!"

Credits here.

Oh joy, another trip to plan! Nothing else gives me such a high as the prospect of traveling. Merlion, see you soonest!