DIY for DUMMIES

Furniture Fair Station at Sulit.com.ph: New Name, New Victims

2011-03-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

I came across a comment in my blog about the horrors I encountered with JRS Contractors which says that Jackie Salas renamed her company as Furniture Fair Station. They have a new sulit.com.ph account set up two days ago (as of this writing).

I know there is an ongoing complaint case filed at the DTI against the people behind JRS Contractors, particularly Jackie Salas and her co-horts Nikka and Owen. Naturally, she eventually got rid of the tainted name of "JRS Contractors" and re-emerge as Furniture Fair Station. I wouldn't be surprised if I won't see the name "Jackie Salas" in the DTI registry for Furniture Fair Station but definitely the "new" company is still operated by the same people who duped a lot of customers.

I hope potential customers who are interested in the products of Furniture Fair Station will see this blog and that of JRS Contractors. This is a warning for possible victims that FURNITURE FAIR STATION AND JRS CONTRACTORS ARE RUN BY THE SAME PEOPLE!

This is their contact details as stated in their sulit.com.ph page. Just click one for their ads and you'd see the contact details at the bottom part of the ad. Nikka was mentioned in one of the complaints on JRS in my previous blog entry.

The above address is the same used by JRS Contractors. I got this from their suspended account from sulit.com.ph.

Worst Service from JRS Contractors/ Jackie Salas

2010-04-10T00:17:00.000-07:00

*Note: JRS Contractor has a new name and sulit.com.ph site: FurnitureFairStation

Let me share this unfortunate scenario involving us and a company who sells furnitures over Multiply and Sulit.com.ph:

We ordered a bed frame, nightstand and 2 seater dining set from JRS Contractors. We chose from the designs they posted in their multiply site: particularly the Gumila bed, Bexhill dining set and 1 nightstand which came with the Gumila bed. We went to their Mandaluyong office to pay 50% deposit for our order.

Upon ordering, we were assisted by one of their staff and we selected our orders in their office computer. We were advised by Jackie Salas of JRS Contractors (same as JRS Furnitures) that an order will take around a week to finish. She also told us that the furnitures we ordered were "ready made" contrary to what we thought as "made to order." Thus, it is just safe to assume that our orders will be delivered faster than expected of a "made to order" or custom made furniture.

We paid and placed our orders on March 24, 2010. Since we were not really in a hurry back then, we did not call Jackie to follow up our order. We even waited until after Holy Week before we called up Jackie again.

April 5, 2010:

I called Jackie to check the status of our delivery and reminded her that it's been more than a week since we ordered. Nobody from JRS Contractors contacted us to advise us the status of our order. Jackie told us that she will check the status of the order and will advise us by Thursday.

Thursday seems to be a long time for an order which supposed to be delivered more than a week ago (if we follow the one week delivery after ordering). Also, the unit where the furnitures will be delivered will be occupied this week. I told Jackie if she can have the furnitures delivered on Thursday since it's been too long already.

April 6, 2010:

I called Jackie again and this time she said she will have our orders delivered on Thursday although it will be around 7pm - 9pm. Since we really need the furnitures and have the unit settled before occupancy, I agreed on the late delivery.

April 7, 2010:

I confirmed Jackie of the delivery for next day. She said it is confirmed and even advised me that only cash is accepted upon delivery---which is just OK with us.

April 8, 2010, morning:

Once again, I confirmed of the delivery for that night. Jackie confirmed that the items will be delivered that night.

Just to give a background for readers to understand our plight: The unit will be delivered to my sister-in-law's unit in Mandaluyong. We were just asked to have the unit ready in time for their arrival from the US. We do not live in the same unit but we live all the way in Marikina. I just went to Mandaluyong just to wait for the delivery, as Jackie Salas promised.

April 8, 2010, around 5pm in the afternoon:

Here's when the series of problems with JRS Contractor began: I received a SMS from Jackie that they won't be able to deliver our order since "gagabihin na yung mga magdedeliver"

Imagine my dismay that I went all the way there just for nothing! And to think that this Jackie Salas just confirmed the delivery earlier that morning!

I replied to her message saying that I am willing to wait no matter how late it would take for her men to deliver my order. As if the "7pm to 9pm" delivery time she gave me was not late enough.

She replied that "kahit anong pilit ko po hindi po talaga ayaw po pumayag magdeliver."

No doubt we were disappointed but since we cannot really do anything and we were in Mandaluyong anyway, we told her that she better deliver the next day, by 10AM or else we will ask for a refund. She said they will deliver at 10am, even saying na "kami ang uunahing delivery."

April 9, 2010: around 9am

I called Jackie to check if they will deliver. She said to wait since "nagpapalit lang ng gulong yung delivery truck."

10am till 11am passed and still no delivery---not even a text to explain or apologize for the late delivery once again.

11am:

I called Jackie and demanded why the delivery isn't there yet. She replied, "malapit na po."

To make the already long story short, the delivery was made around 3pm. But the problem did not end with the late delivery.

Imagine our horror to see the furnitures delivered were completely different from the ones we ordered! They delivered a coffee table instead of a dining set and a completely different model of bedframe and nightstand!

Just to show you how inefficient JRS Contractor is, here is the photo of the bedframe model we ordered from their site:

Upon delivery, we got this instead:

We did not accept the coffee table since it was not what we wanted. We decided to accept the nightstand and bed frame to cover the cost of the 50% deposit we gave. We'd rather have a totally different bed frame than have nothing at all. Besides, we don't want to go through the hassle of dealing with Jackie Salas again.

So for those interested with getting or dealing with JRS Contractors, particularly with Jackie Salas, let me share this important things. I'm sure you would want to deal with other companies.

Jackie Salas does not keep track of her customers' orders. I called her up and she sounds as if she had no idea what our orders were. True enough, this kind for work attitude reflected in the delivery of wrong items.
Jackie Salas does not reply or even advise her customers of the status of delivery/orders. Imagine how much cellphone credits I used on her since she does not text or call. There were times when she would not answer our text and calls. How's that for work ethics?
Jackie Salas & JRS Contractors are not the direct supplier of the furnitures shown in their website. Furthermore, most of the pictures in their site are not really existing models, at least non-existent in their supplier's stocks. (This explains why the delivery men were puzzled when we showed them the picture of our actual order & told us that they never had that design in their store.)
Jackie Salas & JRS Contractors deceive their possible customers by posting products not available in their supplier's stocks yet they accept orders for it. Of course, you have the option of returning the wrong delivery and opt for a refund. But check the feedbacks of past JRS Contractor clients here and you would see that getting a refund from Jackie Salas/ JRS Contractors is another pain in the ass.

NEVER DEAL WITH JACKIE SALAS or JRS CONTRACTORS! If they ever change company name (after all the negative feedbacks), take note of the name JACKIE SALAS and beware!

Stay away from these sites if you don't want any hassles and problems with your transactions:
http://www.jrscontractors.tk/
http://jrsfurnitures.sulit.com.ph/
http://jrscontractors.sulit.com.ph/
http://jrscontractor.multiply.com/

Xtremely Xpresso: surely for the xtremely hungry!

2010-03-06T22:04:00.000-08:00

We spent one long weekend at the Subic Yacht Club with friends and our children in tow. And with kids who yell "FOOD!" and "HUNGRY!" every once in a while, one great place to satisfy everyone's appetite in Subic would be Xtremely Xpresso.

Xtremely Xpresso is a coffee shop but they are known for their gigantic pizza. Their small being 14 inches in diameter---yep, you read it right, it's their smallest size, while their largest is a whopping 22 inches!!!

The tarp says it all

When we went to the restaurant, we were informed that there are no available seats to accomodate our large group inside the airconditioned area. Good thing they have covered dining areas outside the restaurant, although I would give anything for an airconditioned place during that hot, hot lunchtime. A few minutes later, a waiter told us that they opened another airconditioned section of their restaurant, it used to house another resto (the former Tabby's) before but now it's closed and I guess the cafe is using it as an extension.

Getting the large Big Ben pizza is a no-brainer. It's their version of the "everything on it" pizza, well, almost. Meat consists mainly of pepperoni and ham, veggies such as olives, bell pepper (thank heavens, no large chunks of onions!) and button mushrooms, plus loads of cheese!

22" Big Ben pizza (PHP 699)

The large pizza is as big as their round tables. I wasn't able to take a picture of the pizza as a whole since I was using my 50mm 1.8 lens that time---the entire pizza would not fit in the frame.

While the pizza is loaded in terms of size, I could not say the same in taste. It's not really that mind-boggling good but not bad either. I've tasted better pizzas here in Manila, but for the size and prize, I have to say it's a winner! It's not as bad as the other gigantic pizza I tried (Jugno's Monster Pizza).

We also ordered a couple of pasta dishes and other accompaniments to our biggie pizza:

For starters, we had their Tex-Mex style nachos and chicken tenders. Their nachos are really crispy and even with the sauce, they didn't get soggy at all. Either that or I immediately munch on the nachos, leaving the soggy ones to our other companions hehehe.

Tex-Mex Style Nachos(PHP 200)

I love their Chicken Tenders. It's not as hard to bite on, compared to the other chicken tenders/ chicken fingers I tried from other restaurants. I also loved the honey mustard dipped which came along with it, with just the right blend of sweet and sour, mustardy flavor.

Chicken Tenders (PHP 160)

The pizza is not the only gigantic dish in their menu. Their burger is as big as a regular size pizza, hence it is served sliced like a pizza. Reminds me of Bite Club's giant burgers (Katipunan, Blue Ridge area) but with a juicer patty.

Ben's Delight Burger (PHP 180)

We also tried 2 of their pasta dishes. The Meatball Spaghetti was initially intended for our kids who were very fond of fast-food spaghetti. However, they didn't seem to like this particular version. I tried a bit from my daughter's plate and I knew why: the sauce is similar to Italian spaghettis---it was too sour for the kids' taste.

Meatball Spaghetti (PHP180)

Their Chicken Cutlet Parmigiana is really good. I wonder if the eggplant version is as good as this one. The other food joint which serves cheap but yummy eggplant parmigiana that I tried was Don Henrico's.

Chicken Cutlet Parmigiana (PHP 200)

Xtremely Xpresso

#1 Dewey corner Sta. Rita

Subic Bay Freeport Zone

(047) 252-3681, (047) 252-7642

Johnny Rockets: the mother of all monay burgers.

2010-02-09T01:25:00.000-08:00

Johnny Rockets Eastwood Mall

Johnny Rockets in Anaheim marked the venue of my first time to drink a malt shake. During my brief stint in California, I made a mental list of food I'd like to try out, usual U.S. fares that I only get to see in the movies and in Archie comics---stuffs like chinese takeout, Ben and Jerry's ice cream and malt shake.

Archie comics introduced me to diners and malt shakes

Archie comics introduced to the world of diners, jukebox and malt shakes. I remember wondering how it feels like to be in an actual diner, sipping malt shake at the counter and what's the difference as to dining in...Jollibee perhaps? I finally hit two birds in one stone when I saw a Johnny Rockets while on our way to the mall---got inside the diner and ordered myself a malt shake! Yes, fantasy turned into a reality!

Unfortunately, that was about 10 years ago and I can't remember how an actual malt shake tastes like. Even when diners like Gram's Diner and Butter Diner sprouted here in Manila, they don't have malt shakes in their menu. That's why I got excited when I saw the sign at Eastwood Mall that the first Philippine Johnny Rockets' branch will open there.

The buzz about having a Johnny Rockets branch here received mixed reviews. Most were wishing that the franchise owner got In-N-Out instead. But I was totally positive about finally getting to taste malt shake again.

One free Saturday, we decided to have brunch in Johnny Rockets. Upon scanning the menu, we noticed the high prices of the items in the menu. I saw my husband eyeing the Stacker Burger joint across as if wondering whether the burgers there cost just the same.

We ordered the #12 which is one of their all-time favorites, as noted in the menu. We assumed that at PHP 335, the burger will be good enough to share. Hmmmm....I will save my comment on this later. Their burgers are served with American fries or side salad, but the waitress told us that we can get a half serving of the salad and half of the fries/onion rings to go with our order. We also had a Cherry Coke and a strawberry malt milkshake to go with our burger.

While waiting, we were entertained by the dancing crew of the restaurants. I find it entertaining, but cheesy. I wondered how much percentage did dancing skills get in Johnny Rocket's criteria for hiring.

In keeping with the diner theme, old-fashioned Coke posters adorn the restaurant walls.

Old-fashioned Coke posters

I'm not sure if all the dining booths have this mini jukebox selector installed. You can choose among the song selections and play it after inserting a PHP 1 coin in the designated slot.

#12 and its accompaniments

Finally, our order arrived. We were instantly disappointed with the size of the burger in front of us. If you're paying for a burger at price almost the same as the country's set minimum wage, it is but understandable to have high expectations.

The burger did not wow us in the taste factor either. "Forgettable" is one way to describe it. Suddenly, the Stackers Burger poster across appeared more enticing. The bun they use is something we can purchase from our neighborhood bakery. I christened it the "mother of all monay burgers."

Cherry Coke

My husband said that the Cherry Coke tastes like Coke laced with cough syrup. I would've laughed at his comment if I was not too disappointed in our meal.

Strawberry Malt Shake

Alas, the creaminess of the strawberry malt shake was not enough to make us forget the Johnny Rockets' burger shortcomings. Not that the milkshake was not good, in fact it was the best milkshake we've ever tasted in the Metro so far. But it can't just shake the disappointment out of our heads.

Sorry, can't have the same smile after eating your burger :(

I wish that the franchise owner thought long and hard before bringing Johnny Rockets here in Manila. It doesn't follow that the success of famous U.S. dining joints like Starbucks, Mc Donalds and Burger King in the Philippines, Pinoys would patronize every Western franchise you bring here. I wouldn't be surprised if Johnny Rockets would follow the paths of Jack in the Box and Carl's Jr. here who became our "once-upon-a-time" hangouts.

JOHNNY ROCKETS
Ground Floor Eastwood Mall
Eastwood City, Libis, Q.C.
Menu: page 1 page 2 page 3

Bangkok taxi fare

2010-02-08T19:41:00.000-08:00

To add to some useful information you might need to do your own DIY Bangkok trip, here are some tourist tips when going around Bangkok via taxi.

When planning your trip, have an estimate of your fare in case there's no BTS near your planned destination.

I did this with the help of googlemaps and a fare table of Bangkok's taxis. Here's how I went about it:

For example, you want to go from Suan Lum Night Market to Silom Soi 22.

1. Locate your origin in googlemaps.

2. Click "From here" and type your destination in the space provided to get driving directions. You can type the address or street or just the name of the establishment you want to go to. In the example below, I wanted to get driving directions to Silom Soi 22. Click on the "Go" button to get driving directions and the distance from the 2 areas.

3. You can now see how far a car (or cab) may go from Point A to Point B. Take note of the distance.

4. To compute for the possible cab fare, you can use the table below. Since it's around 4.0 km from Suan Lum Night Market to Silom Soi 22 (or vice versa), it might cost you around 43 to 45 baht for the cab fare. Take note that in case of traffic jam or the cab is stalled for some reason, there's an additional charge of 1.25 baht per minute.

Actual fare table inside the taxi

Now, depending on the location, there may be more than one driving directions results. In that case, I compute for the option with the farther distance.

Of course, the above method is just a guide. The actual fare may vary from the one you computed.

Other tips on taking a cab in Bangkok.

Insist on using the meter.

If you've been lurking in forums on Bangkok, I'm sure you've heard of this advice a number of times. Some fellow tourists say that it may take several taxis before you get a driver that would agree on using the meter since most really prefer quoting a fixed price. In our case, we just lined up the airport taxi queue and when we were assigned a cab, we immediately asked the driver to use the meter---and she agreed! (Yes, our cab driver is a "she.") Same thing happened when we hailed a cab from Suan Lum Night Market to our hotel. The driver gave no qualms when we asked him to use the meter.

English speaking cab drivers

This means the driver can speak English :)

There are cabs with stickers like the one in the picture above which gives you an idea that the driver knows how to speak in English. I'd like to emphasize that when I said that the driver knows how to speak in English, I don't mean that they are proficient in English. Our cab back to the airport has this sticker on and the driver and I were able to understand each other. Of course, he still speaks in broken English and has an accent but it's far better than our first driver who doesn't speak English at all.

Thuk Thai: hidden thai food gem

2010-02-08T18:41:00.000-08:00

Mr. Lee's phad thai (left) & another phad thai in one of Suan Lum market food stalls (right). Both are from our Bangkok trip last year.

Absence makes the tongue grow fonder.

Nope, the above statement is not a typo error.

After tasting authentic phad thai in Bangkok last year, I've been craving to taste another one here in Manila. I've tried several Thai restaurants in the metro, like Som's---all boasting to serve authentic phad thais. But alas, all failed to meet this phad thai hunter's expectations.

But then I remember this one humble Thai eatery in Ortigas called Thuk Thai. They serve great and affordable thai fare that would keep you coming back for more.

I can say that my fondness for phad thai began with Thuk Thai. It was when I still work in Ortigas area and those were the days when lunch venue decisions are based on where my nose (and feet) would lead me.

I was walking towards Rufo's Tapa (my back up plan in case my beagle nose fails me) when my nose caught this fragrant smell of food cooking, a mixture of something sweet plus spice, but I couldn't place my finger on.

alley leading to Thuk Thai

The scent led me to this small eatery where a guy cooks something in this wok which seems to be a mixture of noodles, seafoods and veggies. I told the girl taking the orders that I'm getting whatever that guy's cooking.

Thuk Thai phad thai

As it turned out, he was preparing phad thai. My order came and my, they're generous with their servings. The single order (PHP 130) seems like a one and a half serving to me. And the taste...it was sooo good! I was not able to contain my delight as I constantly complimented the girl who took my order on how good their phad thai is. She pointed out that there are other "must try" items in their menu aside from the phad thai. It was after 5 orders of phad thai (on separate occasions of course) when I finally tried another dish at Thuk Thai---the phad thai was THAT good, you won't get tired of eating it. I was able to get the Mixed Fried Rice (PHP 95 for single order), which is a complete meal on its own. Again, the serving is big that I was able to share it with my lunch mate.

I haven't been to Thuk Thai ever since I resigned from the Ortigas office. I heard they're going to open in Rockwell Ortigas, right next to The Medical City, which is good news since I could go there whenever I have to bring my daughter for her check-ups. For now, I have to hold off eating phad thai until Thuk Thai Rockwell opens or I go back to Bangkok---whichever comes first.

THUK THAI
~~George Park, San Miguel Ave.~~
~~Ortigas Center, Pasig City~~
~~0917-800 THUK~~
menu page 1
menu page 2

Thuk Thai moved to Rockwell Ortigas. Their previous branch's customer need not to worry since they do deliver.

THUK THAI NEW ADDRESS:

N-03 G/F Rockwell Business Center, Ortigas Avenue

Pasig, Philippines, 1600

Delivery Number: 470.THUK (8485)

Open Mon - Sun: 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

Steamed Fish Fillet with Garlic (taken from CTS' blog)

2010-02-08T03:43:00.000-08:00

My version of Steamed Fish Fillet with Garlic

Dory is one of my favorite purchases in the supermarket. It’s one of those ingredients where you have endless possibilities of dishes to use it with, be it steamed, fried, etc.

My usual dory dish would be Beer Battered Fsh Fillet, Fish Fillet with Ginger and Garlic or Sweet and Sour Fish Fillet. However, I decided to whip up a steamed fish dish for a change.

With the help of trusty ol’ Google, I came up with this recipe called “Fish Fillet with Garlic" from CTL's blog.

What I like about this dish is it uses ingredients that are readily available in my kitchen. It’s one recipe I’d like to keep handy in case I find my fridge empty of veggies. I just have to browse over my kitchen cabinet and everything’s I need is there.

My husband liked this dish very much and he kept on raving about it in between bites. I’m not exaggerating but he can be brutally frank when it comes to the food I prepare. And when he raves about food on and on while his mouth is full, that must be a VERY good sign.

While it is good indeed, I’d like to make revisions for my own liking. Just minor stuff like adding hoisin or oyster sauce perhaps so the sauce would be thicker and sweeter. What I suggest is to follow the recipe to the dot first, then tweak it according to your preference next time.

Crave Burger Katipunan: are their burgers something to crave for?

2010-02-08T03:28:00.000-08:00

For those who frequent the White Plains area, you might have noticed this relatively new burger joint called Crave Burger fronting the plant stores along Katipunan Ave. This burger joint kept us intrigued for several trips going home (since we always pass by this area) until sudden hunger pangs prompted us to finally try it out.

Crave Burger Katipunan Ave. Branch

The inside of the restaurant is pretty small. Based on my good ol’ counting skills, the place can sit around 17 people inside, not counting the seating area outside just in front of the parking area. If you’re a big group, I suggest you call ahead and get the area with the couch and just combine 2 or 3 tables together to form a happy burger-eating bunch.

Crave Burger dining area

The menu’s pretty simple since it’s all about burgers. Aside from chicken wings and the usual accompaniments like onion rings and fries, they serve only burgers. No salad or pastas so tell your burger-hater friend to convert or find another place to dine.

Just like other burger joints, a burger here costs PHP 100 up. They do have the Crave Combo with a choice of either Crave Burger or Crave Double Burger to go with fries and red/blue lemonade.

Red or Blue?

We ordered the Crave Burger combo with Skinny Fries and Blue Lemonade (PHP 165), Crave Cheese Burger (PHP 130) and Strawberry milkshake (PHP 90). Since the burger patties are grilled when you order it, they advise you of the 15 minute waiting time.

Good thing our orders arrived before the 15 minute mark. I don’t know if we’re hungry or what but the first thing we noticed is how small the burger is. The burger has a circumference of around 4 inches but boy, the patty is THICK, almost half an inch. Now before I bore you with all that Math stuff, let’s go down to burger business.

Crave Burger cheese burger

My husband is pretty finicky with burger buns and when the price tag hits the hundred peso mark, he expects no less than either a whole wheat or oat bun and not just something you can see in the usual fastfood burger joint. Too bad, Crave Burger’s bun is similar to that of Jollibee’s or McDonald’s. He described it as “parang monay lang.” At least they toasted the inside and used the ones with sesame seeds instead of getting the plain one just like that of Johnny Rockets (which I will publish as another burger-bashing story).

Bun's toasted inside

As I said earlier, the burger patty is thick. We reminded ourselves that the quantity of the patty does not equate with the quality in terms of taste. After one bite, we both agree that this burger did not disappoint us. Husband has a more animated description of the taste after the initial bite: “It’s like the patty explodes into bits inside your mouth. Very tasty and not bland at all.” So I guess the bun boo-boo is now forgiven and forgotten.

I just wished they use fresh lettuce (as they said in their burger description) instead of a limp leaf I tasted in my burger. Should they not change this, they should provide customers something to cover their faces with when they end up with this limp, green thing dangling from their mouths.

CC1 Combo: Crave Burger with Skinny Fries & Lemonade

They serve their burger combo with “Skinny fries,” but skinny these fries are not! Calling Crave Burger’s fries “skinny” would make Jollibee’s fries anorexic. The taste reminds me of “restaurant fries” as oppose to fastfood and canteen fries, if you know what I mean. I’d swear it’s much better than Wendy’s fries which I’d like to describe as the “lord of all fastfood fries.”

Crave Burger blue lemonade

The Blue Lemonade, which goes with the combo meal, is around 12 oz. If this is how they also serve the solo order of lemonade, I’d say that at PHP 60, the price is steep just a 12 oz drink.

Crave Burger strawberry milkshake

We were not happy with their strawberry milkshake, at PHP 90---I’d declare it’s a major rip off. Even if they use FIC (Fruits-In-Ice Cream) as their milkshake base, you can’t recognize it because it’s thin and you'd barely taste the strawberry in there. Either they make the price cheaper or make a thicker milkshake. McDonald’s should teach Crave Burger how to make a decent milkshake at a much lower price.

As final judgment, I’d say that Crave Burger now tops my list among the burger joints in the Katipunan area. The quality (and quantity) of the burger patty takes your mind off the joint’s minor flaws. The answer to my header question's a definite YES! Just pray that McDonald’s would bring back their milkshake in their menu so you can have your milkshake fix there.

CRAVE BURGER

112-A Katipunan Ave. White Plains, Quezon City

Crave Burger Menu

Lumpiang Bangus

2010-01-27T05:03:00.000-08:00

I love lumpiang shanghai --it's the Filipino version of egg rolls or spring rolls. When I didn't know how to cook yet, I favor the lumpia of Meal Stop (Telephone No. 523-1558) in Manila and Luyong's (featured in one of Connie Veneracion's Pinoycook blog entry). When we moved in to our own place, I vowed that I wouldn't buy something that I can prepare in my own kitchen. Among the recipes in my kitchen line-up is that of lumpiang shanghai.

The typical lumpia consists mainly of pork, plus chopped veggies as extenders like carrots, onions---some even put singkamas (turnip). Since my husband had to watch his cholesterol levels, I see to it that we avoid pork as much as possible. I've revised most of my recipes where pork can be substituted by chicken or fish and lumpia is no exception.

This recipe is the fish version, which I cook when I feel that I've had enough of chicken dishes. I used bangus (milkfish) back fillets which you can purchase in most supermarkets. For a different kick, I added raisins to this dish.

Ingredients:

1 pack bangus back fillet (I buy the Seaking brand, around 76 pesos in the grocery)
1 medium onion chopped
2 tbsp minced garlic (or about 3 cloves)
2 small carrots, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
a dash or two of seasoning liquid
about 1/2 cup of raisins
lumpia (spring roll) wrapper

Procedure:

Scrape off the meat of the fish from the skin.
Flake the meat until it almost resembles the consistency of ground meat.
Fry the bangus skin and flake it as well.
Mix all (except the lumpia wrapper) the ingredients together with the bangus meat and skin.
Depending on the size of your wrapper, place a tablespoon of the meat mixture at the middle of the wrapper.
Roll the wrapper, wrapping the mixture inside. You can fold the sides to tuck inside the roll, sealing the ends of your lumpia roll.
Fry the rolls until golden brown. You can fry the roll as a whole or cut it into smaller pieces.
Serve with sweet & sour/ sweet chili sauce or ketchup.

*I prefer using the wrapper bought from the wet market. Unlike the ones in the supermarket, this one is definitely cheaper---10 pesos worth (one bundle) goes a long way. Plus it's softer and it's not hard to peel off the wrappers to separate them from one another.

*For me, lumpia is best served with Thai sweet chili sauce. Got mine for around 60 pesos from SM Supermarket

The Best Chicken Adobo Recipe Indeed!

2010-01-27T03:21:00.000-08:00

Adobo. Every non-Pinoy with a Pinoy friend has probably tasted this dish. It's a process of cooking meat, usually pork or chicken or both, stewing the meat in vinegar and soy sauce. It's one of those dishes you'd want to prepared in one big batch since it does not spoil easily plus it does taste better when you reheat it.

During the first months of my married life, I've tried (in vain) to cook a decent adobo dish. With absolutely no background in cooking (I couldn't even fry egg decently), I thought it was a relatively simple dish to start cooking with since it contains few and no elaborate ingredients. But boy, I was wrong. My adobo turned out to be too salty, too runny or worse, it turned out to be an asado (braised dish of pork or chicken in sweet, salty sauce)!

Just when I almost gave up on cooking adobo, I came upon this recipe which claimed to be the best adobo recipe ever. Unfortunately, I can't remember where I got this recipe to give the author due credit. Whoever it is, thank you and it is the best adobo recipe indeed!

1 medium garlic, peeled and chopped
3 lbs. whole chicken
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup Silver Swan soy sauce
2 tsp. Pepper corn1 tsp.
Ground black pepper
2 cups water
1/3 cup Canola oil
bay leaves

Sautee garlic in oil until medium brown. Add the chicken and cook until it’s light brown then simmer.
On a separate sauce pan, combine vinegar, soy sauce, ground black pepper and water. Cook in medium until it boils.
Let it boil for about 2 minutes then pour it on the simmering chicken.
Add pepper corn and bay leaves and let it simmer, stirring occasionally until only half of the sauce is left. Serve over hot plain Jasmine rice.

*For best results, I fry the chicken after cooking. Tried making the pork variant and it was good as well.

Adobo Chicken

Bangkok DIY Temple Tour

2010-01-24T16:35:00.000-08:00

The golden chedi: one of the many attractions at the Grand Palace

This is a continuation of my DIY Bangkok itinerary posts. The first post, Bangkok DIY: The Search for the best Phad Thai included our prepared itineray for 3 days. The second one, Behind the scenes of the DIY Bangkok Trip, discussed useful sites you can use in preparing your DIY trip to Bangkok.

For this post, I will discuss, in detail (as much as I can remember), our second day in Bangkok where we toured the Wat Pho, Grand Palace and Wat Arun. We capped the day with mall hopping at Siam Center and MBK.

For the temple tour, it is best to start early morning especially if you're not near the temple area. For those coming from Silom, I suggest that you have a 45 minute head start alloted for travel time before the temple opens, less time if you take the cab. In our case, our 45 minutes were spent this way:

Walked from Silom to Surasak BTS Station (10 minutes)

Took the BTS from Surasak to Saphan Taksin station (another 10 minutes)

Short walk to the Central Pier (aka Saphan Taksin boat station) and wait for the boat to Tha Tien pier (5 minutes)

Boat ride from Central pier to Tha Tien pier aboard the orange flag (express) boat. (20 minutes) *If you took the non-express boat, expect a longer boat ride.

For the temple tours, we concentrated only on 3 temples/attractions: the Wat Pho, Grand Palace and Wat Arun. These three are relatively near to each other and they are among the most famous tourist spots in Bangkok. Those who are staying for more than 3 days may add other attractions like the Vimanmek mansion, Chinatown, etc.

Looking back to our itinerary, I wished we got off at Tha Chang pier instead and went on the temple tour in this order: Grand Palace-Wat Pho-Wat Arun. Why?

I find it more strategic to do so, even if the Wat Pho opens earlier at 8AM. People tend to flock the Grand Palace even before it opens at 8:30 AM so expect a thick crowd it you come much later. I just decided to put the Grand Palace first because I thought we can catch the 10AM free English guided tour—we didn’t. Ergo, we had a hard time taking pictures without other tourists ruining our view.

Since you’d be spending more time outdoors while touring the Grand Palace complex, it is but logical to start there early, unless you want an instant tan as bonus from your tour. Start at 8:30AM when the sun isn’t that hot yet and when you finish around 10 to 11AM and go to Wat Pho, you won’t mind the noontime sun since you’d spend most of the time indoors in the wat.

Since we made a mistake of going to Wat Pho first, we had to endure that looong walk along the side of the Grand Palace again to go to Tha Tien pier. I was deceived by the googlemaps view of the area, thinking that it’s just a short walk from the Wat Pho exit to the Grand Palace entrance. Then we had to go back to that route again to go to Tha Tien pier. Great exercise but bad for aching feet.

Snapshot of the looong walk from Wat Pho to Grand Palace (edited from googlemaps)

The Grand Palace public entrance is along Na Phra Lan Road, almost across Silpakorn University. It’s just a short walk past the market if you're coming from Tha Chang pier. The entrance fee of 350 baht each may seem steep but it's worth it because of the many attractions inside plus the entrance ticket already includes entrance to the Vimanmek mansion. The mansion is not within the area of the 3 temples but it’s a short cab ride from the Grand Palace (less than 10 minutes). We opted to skip the mansion since we have other plans after touring the temples.

The Grand Palace grounds

Map of the Grand Palace complex

Make sure you have proper attire when touring the Grand Palace: no shorty shorts, etc.

Huge notice at the Grand Palace entrance

I was wearing long pants then but there were areas withing the palace grounds (i.e. Royal Pantheon) where a strict dress code is implemented: only men in pants and women in long skirts were allowed inside.

Dress code at the Royal Pantheon

I was surprised to see tourists wearing flip-flops while inside the palace grounds as I was previously informed that they’re not allowed. I wouldn’t take risk wearing flip flops just in case they suddenly become strict with the footwear. What I did is to wear my crocs prima then I have a small bag containing my flip flops in case my feet needs a break. In case you are already famished after the Grand Palace tour, there's a market at the left side outside the palace (walk towards Tha Chang pier) or you can cross the road from the palace entrance to Au Bon Pain cafe.

Entrance to the Wat Pho is along Thai Wang road, just at the back of the palace.

Wat Pho entrance

For non-Thais,you need to pay 50 baht each. The Wat Pho houses the grand reclining buddha. Don't be too mesmerized with the buddha to miss its feet made with mother of pearl inlay.

Peek-a-boo shot of the reclining buddha

From the Wat Pho, you walk straight past the market to Tha Tien pier to take the Wat Arun cross river ferry (fare: 8 baht). Once you get across, you'd see the Wat Arun grounds enclosed in a gate, just walk around it towards the back to get to the entrance (fee: 50 baht each).

Outside the Wat Arun grounds

The highlight of the Wat Arun is the main prang (Khmer-style tower) which can be seen from across the river. You can go up the main prang (up the the 2^nd level only) but you have to be very careful since the steps are quite steep.

Steep stairs up the main prang

While the main prang looks magnificent during the day, it looks way better at night. For those who want to take pictures of the Wat Arun at night, The Deck at Arun Residences provides the best vantage point. Snag a seat along the balcony overlooking the river and enjoy the view while sipping Beer Chang or Singha beer.

Night time shot of the Wat Arun taken from The Deck bar

CHICKEN EMBUTIDO

2010-01-22T23:30:00.001-08:00

In my father's hometown in Laguna, there's this particular lady known to make great embutido (steamed meat roll). My paternal grandmother would make sure that she orders from this lady several rolls of embutido enough for us to feast on and there's even more for us to take home. We just store them in the freezer and fry or steam it whenever we want our embutido dose.

Embutido is similar to meatloaf; it is a mixture of ground meat, spices, egg and extenders which is usually day old bread. You can bet that there's always embutido on the table during birthdays, fiestas (town feasts) and other occasions.

Meat used is usually pork but since we were conscious not to use pork as much as possible, I use ground chicken instead.

Ingredients:

½ kilo ground chicken

1 piece chorizo, finely chopped

2 tablespoon pickle relish

½ cup raisins

1 medium-sized carrot, finely chopped

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 onion, finely chopped

1 egg

½ cup bread shredded

1 red bell pepper, chopped

salt to taste

6 regular sized hotdogs, casings removed (1 hotdog per embutido roll)

_1/3 block cheddar cheese, sliced into vertical strips

Procedure:

Combine all ingredients except the hotdog and cheese in a bowl. Usually this would make around 6 rolls.
Divide the mixture into 6 portions on pre-cut aluminum foil pieces. If you don't like hotdog and cheese in you embutido, you can proceed with step 4.
Lay one hotdog and the cheese strip beside it on each portion of the mixture. As for my roll, I usually place 2 cheese strips beside 1 hotdog. Cover the hotdog and cheese with the meat mixture in such a way that the hotdog/cheese combo is sandwiched within the meat mixture.
Roll the aluminum foil, enveloping the meat mixture inside and twist each end to seal.
Steam for 30-40 minutes.

Experienced cooks say that embutido becomes tastier when the meat has absorbed the flavor of the other ingredients, that's why it's best to serve it a day or two after cooking. I prefer to cook my embutido this way: cut the refrigerated rolls into pieces and dip it in egg then fried. Some prefer eating it cold and serve with thousand island sauce or plain ketchup.

How about you, how do you like your embutido?

Sinigang Na Lechon

2010-01-22T23:21:00.000-08:00

Our neighbor gave us a generous amount of lechon (roasted pork) left from their New Year celebration. Like any other person, one dish came to my mind when I had to decide the left-over lechon’s fate—you’re right: Paksiw na Lechon.

However, hubby’s not much of a fan of Paksiw na Lechon, thus I have to look for other options. Refrying the lechon ala Lechong Kawali (deep fried pork) would be great, although not recommended after those high calorie junk we ate from the past holiday season. Then I remembered this dish raved about from KKK restaurant (Kainan sa Kalye Kanluran) called Sinigang na Lechon (Pork in Sour Broth). I think it’s a better options since we get to have soup plus the lechon and the fact that my daughter is a fan of anything sinigang. Hmmm…enough with thinking of revamping left-overs with experimental dishes just to make our home kitchen customers forget that the main ingredient for today’s lunch was last night’s dinner (Think “daing ala pobre”—left over daing na bangus/ milkfish with sauce). Sometimes, sticking to the basics is much better.

Your Sinigang na Lechon would be much better when the left over parts contain bones to make the soup tastier. Fortunately, ours contain a big chunk of the pig’s leg bone, yippee!

Ingredients:

Left-over lechon (what we have is almost a half kilo of lechon. I separated the meat, skin from the bony part)

3 tomatoes, halved and seeded

2 onions, sliced into half

1 pack or tali of kangkong

3 green chili peppers (siling haba)

2 small pouches of sinigang mix (I used Knorr Sinigang mix with Gabi 25grams)

Fish sauce (patis) to taste

*You can add string beans (sitaw), gabi or labanos if you want.

Procedure:

If your left-over lechon has bones in it, scrape the meat off the bone and set the meaty portions aside.

Place the bony parts in a pot, cover it with water—I used 4 mugful’s of water to cover the bone. Let it simmer.

Remember that the longer you keep the broth boiling, the more flavorful the soup would be. But of course, if it’s already a quarter before 12noon and you have hungry people hovering around the dining table, I don’t think you have the luxury of boiling your broth the whole day.

Add the tomatoes, onions and green chili peppers.

Keep the soup boiling for another 10-15 minutes.

Add the rest of the lechon (I didn’t include the skin—I have other plans for that later J) to the mix.

At this point, you can add salt or fish sauce according to your preferred taste.

I want my sinigang really sour and a bit spicy so I used 2 pouches of the sinigang mix. Since I used the mix with gabi variant, the broth was a bit thicker (not so much resembling a sauce) than the usual sinigang. Oh and in case you’re wondering what happened to the lechon skin? I deep-fried it so it became a lechon skin chicharon style side dish.

Macau Map and Bus Route

2010-01-22T04:35:00.000-08:00

I'm currently preparing our itinerary for our Hong Kong - Macau trip this year. Everything seems to go smoothly until I got to the day where we are supposed to have a day tour around Macau.

Unlike Hong Kong, there's not MTR or anything like our good ol' MRT in Macau. I had the impression that getting around the area won't be as convenient since we have to rely on taking the bus or the cab. Of course, Macau has its advantages over Hong Kong in terms of savings on transport expenses with the presence of numerous free shuttle buses from major hotels and casinos in the peninsula.

The Venetian Macau Shuttle Bus (from http://www.3peeps.com/mj/macau-trip-2008-day-2/)

While taking the free shuttle buses may save money on fares, it can cost you your precious time especially if you just have one day alloted for you Macau trip. That means you would still get to take a cab or public bus.

I have this eerie feeling about commuting while on a foreign land. I dread the idea of being on a bus then missing my stop or getting lost. Or worst, taking the wrong bus. I have a similar thing with commuting to an unfamiliar place here in the Philippines. For me, I'd rather walk and find my way into a particular place than get lost while aboard a jeep or bus. If I'm that scared of getting lost in my own city, what more in a land where not everyone understands English!

Helpful members in various Macau forums I've joined were very encouraging that it's not that hard to commute around Macau, as long as you know which bus to take. They say there are signs indicating bus routes on the stops to help you but I need to familiarize myself on getting from one place to another in order to finish my itinerary.

Searching for Macau bus routes in Google brought me to this very helpful map. I'm sharing this to those who plan to visit Macau in the future and plans to have a DIY trip as well.

Enjoy making your Macau itinerary!

Macau Map and Bus Routes (click image to enlarge)

Behind the scenes of the DIY Bangkok Trip

2010-01-21T03:37:00.000-08:00

Making your own travel itinerary may seem tasking, but several members in travel forums I've joined say it's easy. Just how easy is it?

When I made our itinerary for Bangkok, it's as if I faced a major road block--- I didn't know where to begin.

For this particular trip, I don't have to worry about accommodation since it's already free. We just had to call Club Astoria to inform them of our preferred dates and they're the ones who would take care of the reservation process. (For those who read my first post on my DIY Bangkok itinerary, you now have a clue on how we got our free hotel stay.)

Next would be the flight. In this case, it's deciding whether to fly Philippine Airlines (PAL) or Cebu Pacific. In the end, we chose to fly via PAL even if it's more expensive since they provided the convenient flight schedule for us.

PAL Manila to Bangkok flights
Cebu Pacific Manila to Bangkok flights (click the picture to enlarge)

Cebu Pacific's flight schedule to Bangkok (as of January 20, 2010)

After deciding on the flight and flight schedule, I was able to start drafting the details of my itinerary. I started by familiarizing myself and orienting on landmarks in the area where we are staying.

Googlemaps was a very helpful tool in preparing for this trip. In fact, I still refer to this site for my upcoming Hong Kong - Macau trip this year. For future Bangkok visitors, you are lucky since Bangkok map is supported by most features of Googlemaps such as estimate distance from one point to another (very important when estimating cab fares) and public transportation details. I wish Macau is supported by Googlemaps the same way Bangkok was.

For a more detailed map of Silom, I recommend the map from Travelfish. It has legends of useful landmarks (banks, moneychangers, shopping areas, etc.) which gives you an overview of your hotel surroundings. What I did is to print a copy and add labels in case there are important points not included in the map.

For example, in this area of the map, I marked where our hotel's supposed to be. Since we only had 40 USD exchanged to Baht in the airport, we had to have our remaining US dollars exchanged into Baht in a money changer. Bangkok experts in forums repeatedly reminded prospective travellers not to have all their money changed in the airport for the exchange rate is far more favorable for you when you have your money changed outside. Since number one thing after settling in the hotel is to have our money changed to baht, I labelled the map for the nearest money changer which is in Silom Village. Of course, on our actual arrival in the area, there were lots of other money changers near Silom Village so we scouted for one with the most favorable rate that day.

map doodles :)

For those staying in other areas than Silom/Bangrak area, Travelfish do have maps for Khao San, Sukhumvit and Chinatown in case you are staying in these areas.

Possible dining options, useful places like convenience stores and pharmacies were added to my map with the help of BKK pages. This site provides a way for you to scout for certain places near the area you're staying, as long as it's in downtown Bangkok. You can customize your point of origin at the "My Neighborhood" page. Click on the said tab, and you have the option of typing your hotel address or choose from the names of hotels or hostels from the drop down list.

snapshot of bkkpages' My Neighborhood page

After taking note of useful areas around your hotel or hostel, you can make an outline of places you want to visit and what you want to do. My outline went like this:

temples (Wat Arun, Wat Phra Kaew in the Grand Palace and Wat Pho)
buy cheap Wacoal undies (Tokyu Department Store in MBK)
phad thai hunting
take pictures of Wat Arun at sunset
Suan Lum Night Market

For the temple tour, I narrowed down the choices to the 3 most famous Bangkok sights. I had a back-up addition to the temple tour, which is the Vimanmek Mansion, in case we finish early or if our feet can still tolerate more torture hehe. Entrance to the Vimanmek Mansion is included when you pay for the Grand Palace fee so it wouldn't cost us more if we make this side trip, except for the cab fare of course.

Not to be excluded in the essential sites for a DIY Bangkok itinerary would be the websites of the BTS (Bangkok Mass Transit System) and Chao Phraya Express Boat. Both are very useful in calculating fares (for budget estimates) and grouping your places to visit according to BTS or boat station.

For the above-mentioned temples, we had to walk towards Surasak BTS station, take the BTS up to Saphan Taksin for the the Central Boat Station. Then we'll take the orange flag boat to Tha Tien/N8 (if you start with Wat Pho or Wat Arun first) or Tha Chang/N9 (if starting with Grand Palace) to begin our temple tour. It is also possible to take the local line (white flag) but this boats takes more stops than the orange line.

More on our DIY Bangkok temple tour next post!

Bangkok DIY: The Search for the best Phad Thai

2010-01-20T15:10:00.000-08:00

Anyone set for Bangkok?

Before you contact your travel agent or get on a set tour, allow me to share our DIY (do-it-yourself) Bangkok trip for our fourth year anniversary.

It was my first time to plan (in detail, as you would see later) an out of the country trip for me and my husband. I did plan our past out-of-town trips within the Philippines, but I initially doubted that planning a trip abroad would be just as easy---well, to be honest, it's not! Heehee...

Okay, I'm supposed to entice you to do a DIY Bangkok trip, right? I won't say it's as easy as planning a local trip. It can be intimidating at first, with all that worry about currency conversion, language barrier, etc.---but trust me, I was able to do everything without a glitch! (Wink!)

actual itinerary in pdf form converted to JPG using convertpdftoimage

Now you can go ahead and follow the above itinerary if you:

Plan to stay in Silom area while in Bangkok
Would like to have temple tours as the highlight of your trip (and not shopping)

Silom is like Quezon Ave. or Ayala Ave. here in Manila.

Somewhere in Silom

It is not a much popular choice for temporary abode for budget travelers compared to Khao San Road. It just so happened that we had free accommodation to a hotel in Silom area so we had to stay there. However, if we're going to pay for accommodations ourselves, I would have chosen one of those hostels in Khao San or these relatively affordable accomodations:

As I've said earlier, we had free accomodations in Bangkok--in Silom City Hotel. How we got it for free? I'll reveal that in another post.

Silom City Hotel

Silom City Hotel is not exactly along Silom Road but on one of its side streets, Soi Prachum (Soi Silom 22). "Soi" means an side-street branching off a major street (called Thanon). It took us a long time to find the hotel's address since we were looking for a street sign labeled "Soi Prachum" as it was the one stated in the hotel's card. We learned that it would have been easier if we look for "Silom 22" instead. Just a tip on looking for streets in Bangkok: When walking on the major street towards increasing soi numbers, all the even-numbered sois are on the right side and the odd-numbered ones on the left side of the street.

When you look up the above hotel in Tripadvisor, you'd see numerous reviews about it, mostly negative. I'd say: Ignore them!

Silom City Hotel is a nice, small hotel---not as big and as busy as a major hotel chain but I won't consider it as one of the seedy ones either. If you'd ask me to compare it to a hotel here in Manila, it's similar to City Garden Hotel or Executive Plaza.

What's Hot & ; Not with Silom Area?

Silom is "tourist-safe." It's not too busy and not too laid-back either. Also there were no hawkers and touts on the lookout for foreigners to, ugh, victimize.
Lots of establishments to suit your needs: malls, pharmacies, eateries, souvenirs---name it, it's there!
The downside is Silom is quite far from the famous BTS (Bangkok Mass Transit System or Bangkok's MRT). In our case, the nearest BTS station which is Surasak is a 10 minute walk from the hotel. Definitely "walkable," but after all the tour around Bangkok area, temples and malls, you'd definitely wish that the BTS station was just a few steps away from your doorstep. If I were to plan a Bangkok trip again, I would choose a hotel or hostel within a BTS station or location a few blocks away. I will talk more about this future Bangkok game plan in a later post.
It's near Soi Patpong---Bangkok's red light district. I don't know if it's considered "hot" or "not" --- depends on the person I guess, hehe.

Random tips on Silom area:

Have medicines ready. My husband complained of stomach upset in the morning of our second day in Bangkok and we found out that most pharmacies in Silom area don't open until 10AM. Unlike here in the Philippines, they don't sell over-the-counter meds in convenient stores. (How inconvenient! Hmffft!)

For first-hand experience on Thai's fresh produce, we found this market around Soi Silom 20.

Market at Soi Silom 22

Fresh fruits. It's like in our neighborhood market, except for the price signs in baht

"Inihaw na saging, anyone?" (Roasted bananas)

Let me recommend this restaurant along Central Silom (same area as Tops Supermarket). It's Lee Cafe.

Meet Mr. Lee (Ground Floor, Central Silom Complex)

part of Lee Cafe's menu

My first of many phad thai (130 baht)

Lee Cafe marked my first stop for our "search for the best, yet cheap phad thai" themed trip. Dishes usually range from 100 baht up.

My take on Lee Cafe's phad thai? It was good--definitely better than what they serve here in Manila (Jatujak, Oody's). After the first taste, I almost wanted to say, "Now I know how an authentic phad thai should taste like!" But I have to remind myself that it is too early to say that. We're set to eat different phad thai versions as much as our stomach can tolerate hehe.

More phad thais and behind the scenes on our Bangkok DIY itinerary next time!