Painting and Bonding Time at Sip & Gogh!

Geof & Julia display their masterpieces

If you want to spend two hours of your time with your partner, kids or friends to relieve yourself of stress, then Sip & Gogh at Capitol Hills, QC is the place for you. Last summer 2015, we brought the kids there to experience painting in pastel. You pay the minimum fee and you will be provided with the art materials - canvass and paint and a teacher will guide from sketching to the final painting. While you're busy painting your masterpiece, you will be served with refreshments - wine and cold cuts for the adults, juice, fruits and biscuits for the kids. After the two hour session, you have your own masterpiece which you can display in your home or office.

Refreshments at Sip & Gogh

Muang Thai Revisited: Still the best Thai Resto in QC

Shrimp Tom Yum- not so spicy, the "asim" is just right and shrimps are not small!

2009 was our first time to dine at Muang Thai (MT) and Apple and I had a delightful experience (Read the 2009 blog).  May 31, 2015, we revisited Muang Thai, this time with our two kids for lunch. Actually we were planning to eat in a new Thai resto at Malingap St., QC but the resto was full so we decided to go to Muang Thai instead. And we were not disappointed.  There was one table with a couple and when they left the resto was like reserved for us only.

How was the our dining experience. First, the dining is authentic Thai. The decor shows Thai images and there were green plants which make the envrionment cool. And the food was awesome. Our kids loved the food! So I highly recommend Muang Thai to anybody who wants the taste of Thai. Authentic and still the best! We tried the Thai resto at SM North (Soi Thai) and we were disappointed. Very artificial taste. I wonder if the food at Happy Thai, our original choice can compete with MT?

Chicken Curry

Fish Fillet

Catfish with Mango: Really filled with crispy catfish unlike other Thai restos.

Geof, our food critic enjoyed the food ... pad thai and all!

Muang Thai Restaurant is located at 138 Malakas St.,, Brgy. Central, Quezon City at the back of McDonald's near QC Hall. Tel. 632) 426-4123 , (632) 927-4305. The price ranges between P200-P300 per dish.

Crispy Sun-Dried Tapa! Extraordinary!

 

This is not an ordinary tapa! This tapa which comes from Quezon is made from lean beef, salted and sun-dried. Easy to fry - if you want it to be chewy, use mild heat. If you want it crispy which I like, then fry it longer. I wish the tapsilog restos will use the dried beef tapa. I prefer the salty tasted tapa not the sweet tapa served in popular eateries like Tapa King and Rodic's.

The sun-dried beef tapa is good for "pasalubong."Thanks to Mara for introducing the dried tapa. I wish there are shops that sell the dried tapa. I checked Echo Store at Centris (according to one blog sells the Q brand dried tapa) but they don't have anymore of the Q product. I have to check the Oscar's Malate, Manila Office (see photo for address and tel no.).

Friuli Tratoria - Revisited

On our last visit at Fruili Trattoria along Maginhawa St, Teacher's Village, QC we noticed that it has expanded and occupied the adjacent space. More costumers can now be accommodated. And another good news is that it has a new branch inside Philam Homes, West Ave, QC (See map below).

Revisiting Friuli Trattoria is really worth it. We ordered two pizzas (Funghi and Viva Veneza), two pastas (Carbonara and Tomato), Minestrone soup, appetizer and pitcher of ice tea - Total cost is only PhP 1100 and we have still almost one whole pizza to take home.

The minstrone soup is our favorite

Apple enjoys the food!

The new branch at Philam Homes

Bulalo at Tanay, Rizal

This way to CK!

If you visit Tanay, Rizal make sure you drop by at Cafe Katerina (CK) to try their comfort food - simple and hot beef bulalo and their barbecue pork and chicken. Tanay, Rizal is an unexplored area with a view similar to Tagaytay (except for the volcano). You can see Laguna Lake and the new wind mills.

Bulalo and pork barbecue

CK is a favorite stop-over place of bikers!

Tama-Yaki - Good takoyaki but nerve-racking ambience

I have been searching for the best takoyaki in Metro Manila. One good find is Tama-Yaki at SM North EDSA. Their takoyaki are big and chewy. One order of four pieces will really fill your tummy. Their takoyaki (octopus) is good and I will return to try their other flavors.

The ambience at Tama-Yaki is quite noisy and bright. Whenever I stay there to eat, my head aches because of the bright lights and loud music. I told one of the staff about this - that it's not comfortable eating at their place because of the "noise" and "lights". Probably, they want their costumers to take out their food.

Red Hana - Sushi and Sashimi at Affordable price

Holy Week food trip. No meat. We ended on Maundy Thursday at Red Hana. This a good find at Matalino St., QC, near the city hall.

The kids love sushi and sahimi!

If you crave for affordable Japanese sushi and sasahimi (tuna), I strongly recommend Red Hana.

Seafood tepanyaki - their version has a lot of sauce which is not really "Japanese"

The deep fried tofu is also good with the sauce.

The seafood ramen is a disappointment. There is an artificial taste but the serving is large - good for sharing.

Maki Haus - Home of the Original Maki

Maki Haus along Banawe St., QC is one of our favorite Chinese resto that serves the Maki Soup.

Fish Maki is our favorite. It's a thick soup with chunks of fish meat. Add vinegar or soy sauce for more flavor. They have other flavors - looking forward to try them (beef or pork).

Shrimp Rebosado and Kikiam - they have similar taste because of the sweet and sour sauce but hey have different texture - I like the kikiam more.

Hainanese Chicken is Geof's favorite!

Fish fillet with tofu is nice. The fish is soft. Sauce is good.

Apag Marangle - A Farm Resto at Bacolor, Pampanga

"Apag Marangle" or "Hain sa Bukid" in tagalog is a Kapampangan restaurant at Bacolor, Pampanga along the Olongapo-Gapan Highway.

Posing before tasting the Kapampangan specialties

Chicharon Bulaklak, Nilasing na Hipon, Fried Hito with Buro, Pansit and Sinigang

"Pinggan" is now a "Kalan" at Teacher's Village, QC

All time favorite, Sisig

Pinggan, my favorite carinderia at Mapagkawangga St, Teacher's Village, QC has transformed into "Kalan." There may be new management but the lutong bahay recipes are still there. The old time favorites like the Sisig and Lumpiang Ubod will always be the best sellers. Indeed, at Kalan, you will die for sisig - "dahil sa langit walang sisig" says a flyer.

The lumpiang ubod can be ordered for take-home

Pinggan is known for its cripy lechon kawali. Now Kalan has new recipe - Tofu con Lechon. Looks yummy!

A meal at Kalan comes with free soup - sopas, linaga, sinigang or miswa.

I love my Mac!

I had my first Apple Computer in 1985. When I was in Japan at Nagoya University in 1993, I was introduced to the macintosh computer. It was "new" then and the Japanese were hesitant to use it because of the new system. When I returned to the Philippines in 1994, I brought a Powerbook. Today, Apple computers are every where. My wife who is also named "Apple" is now an Apple user -she has an i-phone, i-pad and mac laptop computer. In coffee shops, you will see people proudly display their mac laptops with the apple logo emblazoned at the cover.

Eric of Eric and Andy Bitstrips is also a mac lover. Read his adventures in this new bitstrips series. Enjoy!

Eric & andy bitstrips-12: "I-love-my-Mac!" from andyoreta

Happy at H-Cuisine

If you want to taste the "most awesome angus beef belly," drop by at the H-Cuisine at Scout Rallos corner Thomas Morato at Quezon City. We have been to this resto twice already and we always go home satisfied with our tummy filled with good food. Their Taco salad is our favorite appetizer. The taco and white sauce goes well with the fresh and crispy veggies.Of course their specialty is the angus beef belly which you can order as single or sharing. The beef is soft and tasty with their gravy. But I hope they have seasoning to add spice to their gravy. The poached fish and pasta were also good. Finally their desserts - the cakes were soft, moist and very appealing.  The "H" refers to the owner-chef, Hannah. But H-Cuisine can be dubbed as "Happy Cuisine" since customers always go home happy.

Apple enjoys the taco salad. Pahingi!

"The most awesome angus beef belly"

The poached fish

Fish pasta

Red velvet cake

Cookie choco chip cake

Fluffy and Me - by Julia

"Fluffy and Me - Our Adventures at Japan" is a slide presentation written by Julia to record her summer vacation trip at Nagoya and Tokyo, Japan. Fluffy is her favorite puppy who joined us in our Japan trip. Enjoy this slide show with Fluffy and Julia as the main characters.

Fluffy and Me from andyoreta

Geof also prepared his own powerpoint presentation about his thoughts and experience of the Japan Trip 2014. Emjoy!

 

Happy Tips 10

After reading "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin, I tried to practice some of her lessons shared in the book. The most important quotation that I remember is "Do good, feel good." Indeed if you feel good, you feel happy. To help me remember the lessons in the book, I internalize them and rewrote them in my own words and interpretation as I practice them in everyday life as "Happy Tips.". I am using the bitstrips as my medium for sharing these happy tips. Eric and Andy, the dynamic duo are the stars of these "Happy Tips" series. Adding humor in the bitstrips, I hope you can easily remember the first TEN happy tips. Practice these ten tips and you will feel happy everyday.

Eric & Andy Bitstrips features Dr. J & Mr. G

Series No. 5: The Diet Expert - Eric is on a diet regimen under Dr. J who is a fanatic diet expert. Can Eric resist not eating?

Eric & andy bitstrips 5 the diet expert from andyoreta

Series No. 6: Workouts - Eric has new fitness trainer, Mr. G. Will Eric finally loose calories?

Eric & andy bitstrips 6 workouts from andyoreta