Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Salcedo Market Weekend

Time:              06:29:00


Every Saturday a parking area in the neighbourhood of Salcedo, Makati is converted into a market space. Selling unique items as their merchandise, many people are attracted to visit the place. Plants, wooden kitchen utensils, soaps and other household items are some of the things that can be bought in there. But what most people rave for is the variety of food sold such as bread spreads, native food, international cuisine, pastries, desserts and drinks, each one possessing a distinctive taste. 



Paella



Turkish Baklava with Pistacio
Baklava with Wallnut



Sugarcane Juice Concentrate


It surely is a great place to satisfy your palate and to hang-out during weekends.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Toccare Spa

Time:   03:08:00


Today's demanding career forces one to keep up with the fast pace life and an extremely competitive environment. Needing to meet targets and deadlines, one can’t help but to get stressed out. After a very busy week, how pleasant it will be if one can just relax and be relieved from all the tensions and muscle pains. Thus there came the demand for spa salons which offers services to people who wanted to feel revitalize.


Tocarre spa is a newly opened spa found at 4th floor Antel Suites, Makati Avenue, Makati. It offers wide array of services for the whole body. Treatments include Body Massage, Body Scrubs, Body Wraps, Body Sculpt, Hand & Foot Treatments and a lot more.


The reception area was cosy and one will feel relax almost instantly. The staffs were friendly and were eager to assist their guests. For added services they let the client choose the music and essential oils that will be use during the treatment.



Amenities include a lounge, hot & cold shower, a Jacuzzi, sauna and steam bath. The treatment itself was very relaxing. Spa cuisine were also served and bundled with some of the packages. One can expect appetizing and healthy dishes which were prepared by their chefs. We tried the following:

Dory steak and vegetable salad with balsamic vinegar



Spaghetti Carbonara and chicken vegetable salad with lime



Linguine Pomorado with Foccacia Bread


The over-all experience was indeed invigorating and I’m looking forward to my next visit.





Thursday, November 25, 2010

La Piadina

Time:       19:30:00


Flavour: Italian Regional Cuisine
Location: Glorieta 4, Ayala Center, Makati

Food Ordered:



I Cappellaci
    - raviolli pasta with ricotta cheese and pumpkin filling


Calzone de Carne
    - wrapped pizza with meat and tomato sause  


Dining Experience

-    Taste: 4 
    (wide variety of Italian cuisine which are fresh and authentic) 
-    Service: 3
-    Ambiance & Cleanliness: 4



*scale of 1 to 5 (5 - highest)

Grazie!


Monday, November 22, 2010

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Time:       20:09:00


Framed at the wall in our living room, I took it for granted, not knowing what it is or where it was...
  

Until an opportune time came, we travelled and had the chance visit and see the Angkor Wat, City of Temples, located at Siem Reap, Cambodia.




The entrance at the South Gate to the temples was grand. Giant statues line both sides of the causeway leading to an arch gate where carved bodhisattva’s faces were found on top.



The Temples

The sight of Bayon Temple was astounding. It has fifty-four towers with enormous faces carved into huge blocks of stone, shaped as a pyramid. Figures of meditating ascetics and dancing devatas were sculpted on the doorways and walls of the sanctuary.


  
The Terrace of Elephants is a long strech of wall with carved figures of an elephant parade.


I was most excited about seeing the Ta Prohm temple because a scene from the movie Tomb Raider (starred by Angelina Jolie) was shot from there. The temple was at the midst of a forest and massive roots of banyan trees crawled over its roofs and walls.



The Angkor Wat was indeed magnificent. The pathway to the main temple was rather long with stone-carved snakes in every meter. The temple was converted to Buddhist from Hindu and was now a sacred place of worship. Buddha images and monks were seen all over the place. It has five towers and one can go inside and explore the place. The inside walls were intricately sculpted with scenes from the epics of Mahabharata and the history of the Angkor empire. It has  remnants of a bathing pool previously used for cleansing before worship. Hot-air balloons are also available for tourists who wants to see the top view of the temple. The over-all scenery was just breath-taking.








Part of our itinerary was to try some Cambodian dishes. We found Star Rise Restaurant, a local diner serving both Khmer and Western food.


The Local Dishes

Lukluk - fish, pork, chicken or beef dish cooked in coconut milk and spices

Amok - fish, pork, chicken or beef dish cooked in curry

Most Cambodian dishes are served with vegetables and rice.



How to get there: via Mekong Express Bus from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Accommodation: Mom’s Guesthouse at Wat Bo, Siem Reap
Angkor Wat Tour: hire Van, via Tuktuk or via Elephant Ride










Sunday, November 21, 2010

Mister Kabab

Time:       19:18:00


Flavour: Middle Eastern and Mediteranean
Location: West Avenue, Quezon City



Food Ordered:

Pita Bread and Hommus



Special Beef Chelo Kabab
-    Small pieces of beef and tomatoes grilled in skewers
-    Rice with butter toppings



Lamb Beryani
-    Lamb cooked in curry and flavourful spices
-    Java Rice



Youghurt Shake



Dining Experience:


      - Taste: 3
         (dishes were flavourful; beef and lamb meat was tender)
      - Service: 2
      - Ambiance & Cleanliness: 4


*scale of 1 to 5 (5 - highest)


Moteshakeram!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Jogging @ Ayala Triangle

Time:               12:26:00


Nowadays, people are becoming more health conscious in terms of food, fitness and wellness. Good thing the then “No trespassing, Private property” vacant lot at the Ayala Triangle was converted into a jogging area. Now there’s an alternative place to go other than the gym for residences and business persons alike who wanted to stay physically fit.





The area was filled with trees, art structures, lightings making it an appealing place to work-out. Besides jogging, others also do pilates, badminton and biking. It’s open to the public from 6:00AM to 10:00PM.





Recently added was a commercial area housing restaurants of international cuisine. To name a few, there’s Amici (Italian), Pho 24 (Vietnamese), Wee Nam Kee (Singaporean), Omakase (Japanese), Bon Chon Chicken (Korean), CBD (American), Kanin Club (Filipino), Momo Cafe, Bfast, Banapple and a lot more.



Tired and hungry after the morning jog and while the above mentioned resto were still close, we decided to have our breakfast at McDonald’s in Paseo Center just across Ayala Triangle. We had the Sausage McMuffin meal (with hash brown & coffee) and pancakes (taking back all the calories we sweat off) while reading the newspaper.