This Business Called Philippine Showbiz Posted on Saturday, August 31, 2013 | 0 comments

The Philippine showbusiness is one where some issues matter and some don't.  Here are some of the entertainment headlines this last week of August that caught  my attention.  

Billy Crawford on gay rumors and other malicious speculations: “Wala naman akong masabi and I just keep my mouth shut.”

-----> Yah.... I think Billy is not gay.  I think he or Nikki just thought their relationship is not working anymore and its not going anywhere.  When Billy talked about the break-up on The Buzz, his answers were quite vague but not pointing to him as gay.  

Ai-Ai delas Alas on being more cautious in her relationships: “May trust issue na ‘ko ngayon.”

-----> Experience is the best teacher.  She's been through so much.  I hope someone will come and make her trust once more.  

 

Enchong Dee hopes for a better lovelife towards end of 2013; plans vacation after Muling Buksan Ang Puso. 

----->  I am excited.  Ako kaya yun? Hahaha!!!! Mag Tokyo na ikaw Enchong!!!! FTW!!!!

Apl.de.Ap denies dating a beauty queen

 

-----> Pwede naman ako Apl. Hahaha!!!! Kayo? Ayaw nyo ba? 

Ruffa Gutierrez on running for public office: "With everything that’s happening now, forget it! No way! "

-----> I love Ruffa.  A very wise decision indeed. 

Victor Basa willing to accept more gay roles after My Husband’s Lover

-----> We will be waiting for your projects V! 

Feel free to comment, I'd like to hear from you. 

NB: All the above information are from pep.ph . While the photos above are courtesy of the stars and their fans' Instagram account. No copyright infringement intended. 

Thai .... Oh! Thai.... Oh Simply Thai! Posted on Friday, August 30, 2013 | 0 comments

Patty and I wanted something new for our Friday nights.  So while walking to Greenbelt because no taxi would take us as passengers, we already have so many restaurants in mind.  I suggested Mom and Tina's and Patty agreed that she has been very curious about this restaurant for quite a long time.  

But the moment we arrived at Greenbelt, it just came to our minds that we wanted a place where there's people walking around. People watching!!! 

We passed by Tapella, our old hang out and went straight to Simply Thai.  

Their menu is very Lacoste! 

I ordered Cinnamon Pork Ribs with Thai Jasmine Rice.  Its a very generous serving for one so I shared it with Patty.  It was really good and tasted like my favorite "humba" minus the oily sauce. 

Patty ordered Chicken Curry but forgot its Thai name but thought that its Thai name sounded better than just plain curry.  Just a word of warning, this dish is very spicy and hot.  Look at the blue flame below the serving pan.  That's how hot it is.  Aside from its notable hotness, it also is very ambrosial. 

We finished everything in seconds considering that I thought of not ordering rice.  We wanted to order another serving of the Thai Jasmine Rice but we were watching our diet.  We are trying to master the art of discipline and control in our own little ways.  

Their food goes well with a bottle of San Miguel Beer Light but yah, it goes well with almost every Asian food.  

It was our second time to eat here and we love it still.  For everything Thai? Go Simply Thai! 

Villa Del Conte: A Taste of Italian Sweetness Posted on | 0 comments

I was so excited to taste the chocolate that our visitor from Taiwan gave us.  Jin, that's her name, is here to teach us how to use this new machine we purchased from Siemens.  

The packaging was exceptionally posh.  It looked very expensive.  We were impressed with the taste of this foreigner.  

Inside the box is the drawing of this building.  I thought there might be a short history of where the chocolate is from but there's none.  So I went to the internet and found one from Anton Borromeo.  I was very surprised with what I found.  Its a Filipino brand. 

My personal favorite is the praline ball in milk chocolate with hazelnut cream filling with cereals.  That's the one wrapped in silver tin foil.  

So yummy, I forgot to take a picture of the chocolate of note.

Thanks Jin for the sweet treat! 

For more info on the chocolates, please go to http://www.ourawesomeplanet.com/awesome/2012/07/villa-del-conte-filipino-branded-italian-artisan-chocolates.html

Back In The Arms Of NamNam Greenbelt Posted on Wednesday, August 28, 2013 | 0 comments

After my trip to Nagoya and Tokyo where I has a gastronomic euphoria for almost 8 days, I am home and back in the arms of Manila.  I thought for a while that I might have a difficult time adjusting because Tokyo was so clean and Manila is not as good as the city I visited.  

Don't get me wrong because I love Manila. I super duper love this place because it has the ingredients of a happy life - good friends ans good food! 

The first friend I get to meet up after my trip is Trisha.  She asked me to buy her a Shu Uemura Face Architect Foundation 754 (Very specific indeed!)  and a pack of Kit Kat Green Tea.  As promised, I brought it with me because I am sure she's as excited.  

We met up at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf which happens to be our usual meet-up place in Greenbelt 3.  When it was time for us to decide where we're having dinner, I googled and all fingers point to NamNam.  I was surprised to know that it is counted as one of the best restaurants in Greenbelt.  Well, it is one of the best for me.  I'm there like every single Friday night that the Lord has made.  Its just that I want to try another restaurant for a change.  On the other hand, I thought that NamNam might be a good way to welcome my palette to everything Filipino.  

So we went to NamNam and found ourselves drowned in all these: 

a.) Caramelized Patis Wings 

b.) House Crispy Sisig 

c.) Vegetable Ubod and Sotanghon Lumpia 

I chose not to eat rice because I was drinking beer.  Not that it is a good substitute but thought of doing myself a favor from not eating a lot.  I had to remind myself that I was no longer on vacation and I had to get back on track on mu diet.  

I was proud of myself for doing such a thing and for not having the urge to finish everything (Partly because I was full and had two chicken legs for lunch!) 

So I am going happy with some food we didn't get to finish.  

Trisha came with a very young 23-year old Singaporean guy who was really funny, cute and witty and yummy too!!! 

I wish them happiness even if they're not a couple yet.  I'd like to wish happiness for myself too.  

I really hope he'll come soon.  I've had so much heartbreak already.  

For now, I'll deal with the food inside this paper bag I am holding. 

Fresh - The Solaire Buffet Posted on Saturday, August 10, 2013 | 0 comments

Solaire is one of the newest players in the gaming industry in Manila and the others are on its way here.  I've heard of some Hong Kong-based business tycoon is bringing in his money to build something that is as good as this.  I've also heard that these casinos are investing at least $1 Billion around the vicinity.  

This is not my first time here though because a friend showed me around here months ago right after its opening.  All I said was that the place was very lavish but I don't mind because  I believe that some of Filipinos deserve to see something as beautiful as this without having to leave the country.  

Let's shift focus on Fresh which is the buffet that's supposed to give Sofitel's Spirals and Shangri-la's Heat a run for its money.  

We brought our two-month old Baby Mayumi for dinner and her Mommy gamely posed for the camera.  Mayumi did not mind though because she was fast asleep.  The stairs with the red carpet on the photo below leads you to the VIP gaming area.  Just a random thought though, I don't think the VIP's will ever use the lavish stairs

I love the wavy jelly-fish inspired ceiling at Fresh and how spacious it is.  It feels like you're under the golden sea. 

The chefs in action.  I am so sure they're loving their own working space.  

First stop at the buffet - Lobsters and Oysters Section!  My friend Patty gave me a tip that I should start in this area because they ran out of lobsters at around eight in the evening.

I wanted my lobster with butter and garlic! I was so excited to eat it and it did not disappoint me.  No plating needed because this was gone in 30 seconds. 

Next stop was Lechon even if I had lechon for lunch at the Salcedo Market.  I just thought I had to give it a try too. 

I only got this much Lechon because I was being kind to myself.  Hahaha! 

Patty was so full and regretted the fact that she ate so much lobsters because she was not able to make room for all the other food.  

I had some break times because I had to make sure that I get to taste every single food on the buffet.  Of course I know it was impossible.  I tried the Cous-Cous.  The only carbohydrate-rich food I ate.  When in a buffet dinner, I always avoid rice and other carb-rich foods because it gives me that feeling of unsatisfied-fullness.  

Some more meat, please. 

Patty wants it bigger... Rawr! 

Going Japanese on these.

I got some good pesto which I did not get to finish even after sharing it with Patty.  

I am so happy that this one has a label.  I also shared this with Patty for food-tasting purposes.  

Risotto. The Italian version of our "lugaw". LOL! 

I forced myself to finish this mango-coconut dessert because it was too bland.  I am into mangoes and coconut meat but this one reminds me of  not so good experiences.  Maybe I was expecting that it would just taste something like a mango ice box cake but it had an after taste of uncooked egg yolk.  Eew! The one beside the mango was an "ok" dessert though but not a hands up. 

Good thing, the buko pandan ice cream which I topped with blueberries saved the dessert family.  It was really good.  I wanted to get more but stopped myself after regaining my sanity. Hahaha! 

Please say "Hello!" to our happy and satisfied faces! 

I am not a big fan of buffets though because I think its a lose-lose situation.  If you don't eat as much, you lose because you paid so much. If you eat more than what you're supposed to, you are adding some more numbers on your waistline which increases your risk of a cardiac arrest.  I'm just being morbid about it.  

I'd say it was a good buffet dinner because I get to speak a little German and I have convinced Tita Liza to download DuoLingo on her phone so she can brush up on her French. 

On a more serious note, I'd give Fresh a rating of 7 in a scale of 0 to 10 with 10 being the highest.  Not bad right? Its still value for your money. 

Dinner Buffet on Saturdays and Sundays cost Php 2,600  and Php 2,400 from Monday to Thursday. 

You have got to try it and tell me about your experience too! 

Xoxo ViVi oxoX

I Heart NUVALI!!! - Part 3 Posted on Wednesday, August 7, 2013 | 0 comments

After feeding the fishes, we fed ourselves with Meiji almonds coated with chocolate. I snapped a photo of the wedding and engagement ring of Orchids.  Hope I'd get one soon. 

That's me and Patty doing a tandem jump-shot. This is just one of the many attempts we did.  We were gasping for breath as soon as the jumping stopped except for Patty who has been religiously doing Insanity for three straight weeks so far.  

I don't want to marry someone with a wooden heart but this photo looks cute.  

I so love my outfit that Saturday.  My shirt is from H&M and my shoes are Yohji Yamamoto's. I love Y-3 but its too expensive.  

On the other hand, I can't let Patty do the modeling on her own.  Look at me supermodeling the furnitures with a humungous pout! 

I love Nuvali.  Hope you get to experience  it too for yourself.  You will love it there. 

I Heart NUVALI!!! - Part 2 Posted on | 0 comments

They have a building in Nuvali that looks a little less than The Louvre in Paris.  It looks really nice on pictures and very posh. 

I had to do a jump-shot because it was so nice to have glass and greens for photo backdrop.  

This fish food costs 15 pesos and the kois love it so much.  

Here's Patty modeling or should I say supermodeling the fish food with Kuya who gave us a heads up that the Zobel de Ayala's were coming to unveil the art instillations that did not happen.   

That's me feeding the kois. 

These kois were so hungry  as if they'd kill for the food but the fishes look really healthy. 

The ducks can be very competitive too.  I was wondering why they were not eating the kois. 

To be continued... 

I Heart NUVALI!!! - Part 1 Posted on | 0 comments

For the past three Saturdays, all I did was work because of the exchange duties I did with my colleagues.  It was payback time for the other Saturdays I was not on-duty. 

I had a very spontaneous weekend actually.  I did not know what was in store for me that day except that I was getting my passport from Reli Tours Dusit Hotel Branch since I had them process my application for the Japanese Visa.  

I remembered that The Campbells are here from Dubai and they'll be staying at Patty's place.  I thought I'd see them because I was busy the last time they were here for their baby shower at Bizu. 

I went straight to the Salcedo Saturday Market to meet up with them for lunch.  Then we went to Nuvali to see the outdoor art instillations but even after we left the place the art instillations were not even unveiled yet. 

Look at their own version of the Stonehenge at the entrance.  

That's Baby Mayumi Campbell inside a "front" pack. 

Orchids gave birth two months ago and she looks stunning.  Her husband Scott has that Aussie humor.  I had to think and listen very carefully to understand what he was saying.  So yah, they are The Campbells. 

To be continued...