OUR AWESOME PLANET

My First Blook (Blogs-turned-Book)! Thanks to Blurb!

Wow! I finally got my invite for the new innovative beta Blurb service that converts a blog into a bookstore-quality book!! They are currently running the beta blog-to-book service for 600+ typepad blog users and I got one of the invites :) I've been dreaming already of converting my blog (just the Awesome Pilipinas category) to a book in its raw blog form. I intend to use it as an ultimate back-up for our 20 months family adventures with my son Aidan. This serves as an autobiography for my son, so that he can read it someday. This is the main reason I started my blog and if you look at my first month's posts, it is about the birth of my son, Aidan :) Secondly, I'm thinking of selling it to people who would want to travel to the Philippines and who would need an offline version of my blog. This would be good for that long trip from the US to the Philippines :) Also, this would discipline me to be careful with my grammar and for dotting my "i" and crossing my "t".

Also, I'm hoping that this would be one of the first Blooks (blog turned into a book) in the Philippines!! We'll share with you the picture once I get the Our Awesome Planet Blook! Also, all your comments on the restaurant posts will be included! You guys will be part of this blook, so keep the comments coming!! The only catch right now is that each book could cost from $30 to $80 (ouch!). BTW, I can share another invite to another pinoy typepad user who would have the passion and energy to convert their blogs into a book. The only one I know that also uses typepad is Bryan Boy. Check out the Blurb Invite email below.

Related Posts:
From Blogger to Published Author, for $30 and Up
Blurb.com Gets Book Smart

Manila, Philippines

GREENs With Envy

Strolling along Greens' small homey garden into its alcove, one's senses is pleasantly enveloped by the colorful atmosphere. We immediately felt at home! Greens has been operational for more than 5 years now but they just moved the restaurant to the Duran's residence about a year or so (not sure about this). Some carnivores won't even put this vegetarian resto into their dining consideration set. But not for this struggling vegetarian, who have been recently seduced again to the dark side of meat+carbo diet (the worse combination), Greens was a taste of heaven and a taste of live food.

We decided to eat here for a family birthday celebration of my wife's birthday and brother-in-law. At first, we were not sure if the other members of my wife's family would like it here but images of Latasia fusion vegetarian food or 85/15 cuisine at The Farm @ San Benito, convinced me that we should take the risk and eat healthy food for a change even for just one Sunday afternoon. Also, some of my readers have constantly suggested this vegetarian place after my feature on Latasia Fusion.

It was a hit! Greens vegetarian food cleverly imitates its dead/ unhealthy meat versions, which makes it palatable to ordinary filipinos even those who are not used to 100% vegetarian meal. The homey ambiance is conducive for family lunch and dinners and we were able to get our privacy for a group as big as 12+. I like it for its vegetarian innovations. They were able to cook glutten (substitute for meat) to have a texture and appearance of meat. It is usually accompanied by an overpowering sweet sauce which I think is too sweet for my taste. We were able to order a wide variety of vegetarian food items and the entire family was satisfied with the experience.

Binondo, Philippines, Restaurants

Skin Discovery Weekend :)

Read this first: Olay Beauty Imaging System - Finally in the Philippines!!

Some of you have emailed me where you can have your skin check using the patented Beauty Imaging System. Finally, the beauty imaging system is now available to the public. Our brand guys in cooperation with SM are running a Skin Discovery Weekend in SM Makati Department Store. You might want to check it out. Alternatively, the Olay flagship store which would have the Beauty Imaging System is permanently located in Watsons, SM Makati. So if you have free time or you happen to be in the Makati area, you can drop by and have your skin check. It is for FREE but of course, you need to listen to a sell-in on Olay :)

Dulcelin's Mango Torte

Finally, we were able to taste the best Mango Torte in Manila. I got oriented on what a Torte should look and taste like. Frankly, I don't know what a Torte is and how is it different from a cake. Apparently, when you say Torte it would have the following characteristics: it is used to describe a round cake, it has large amounts of nuts to replace flour, and it has several layers of cream and fruit.

Everybody would agree that the best part of Dulcelin's cakes are the cashew-based nougatine that is crunchy despite its thin weave composition. The generous scoops of Mango balls are frozen. I would prefer to eat mango not in its frozen state so we got mixed reactions on this depends on your preference. We should try the strawberry shortcake next time which also have the same addicting cashew-based nougatine. I heard that their Strawberry shortcake was the best seller instead of the Mango Torte.

BTW, when we visited Dulcelin in Times. St. in West Triangle, we were looking for a dessert cafe but we were surprised that it was just a house.

Newsbreak: Pinoy Blogs in Dining and Living

Pinoy Blogs in Dining and Living (Newsbreak, October. 9, 2006) by Jet Damazo
"Slice of Manila’s Hidden Places. Travel Secrets through Word-of-Mouth. Shared through our Awesome Family Adventures. The best kept secret sale in town, the first indoor kart racing in the Philippines, the most interesting restaurants to dine in, and places to visit in and out of Manila. IT manager by day and blogger by night, Anton Diaz, has been sharing all these to thousands of readers for a year-and-a half now to, he says, “showcase the Philippines as a tropical paradise and hopefully inspire people to appreciate our country a little bit more.”

Thanks to Jet Damazo of Newsbreak for the feature!! I'm also amazed myself on our different takes on the same restaurant. If you missed the Myron's controversy, check these posts out.
- Want steak? Go to Myron’s by lori (May 31, 2006)
- Myron’s at Rockwell by Marketman (June 16, 2006)
- Myron's Blogging Buzz by anton (June 19, 2006)

Other Features Index:
ClickTheCity.com: Bah Bah Blog Feature, October 6, 2006
Pinoy Big Blogger: Online Food Critics, July 21, 2006
Anton's Awesome Planet -- BLOG-O-RAMAed :), October 17, 2005

Philippines, Restaurants

Mall of Asia Index

Here is the Mall of Asia Mini-Index, specially for those just tuning in to Our Awesome Planet:

Recommended Places
Highland's Steakhouse finally in Mall of Asia!
Taste Asia @ MOA- Best Kept Secret in Mall of Asia
Chocolat Cakes -- Best Chocolate Dessert Place in Mall of Asia!
Best Halo Halo in Town -- Razon's of Guagua, Pampanga!
Sebastian's Ice Cream @ Shepherd's Staff, Mall of Asia

Other Restos I've tried in MOA
KKK -- OK!
Gumbo's Seafood Jambalaya -- From Ahh to Ayy
My Rice Table @ Mall of Asia
Tokyo Cafe in Manila?
Ted's Old Timer La Paz Batchoy since 1945
Tandoor King - Indian-inspired Fast Food in Mall of Asia

Mall of Asia Posts
The Rising of the Mall of Asia!
A Virtual Tour of the Grand Opening of the Mall of Asia -- circulated in email.
The First IMAX in the Philippines!!
Superman IMAX Experience!
Everest -- The IMAX Film!

I'll try to scan the map of Mall of Asia and highlight where these restos are. Thanks wysgal for the suggestion!

Philippines, Restaurants

Tokyo Cafe in Manila?

We love Mall of Asia. You need to get use to it before really appreciating the genius of its design. We live near the area so we like to hang out here during the weekdays. Usually, Weekends are a no-no for us, but the Typhoon Milenyo weekend was an exception. With most establishments in the Makati area still having no power, Mall of Asia is back to business as usual. This is the kind of reliability that you need from a mall specially during times of crisis :) Aside from this, we love MOA because of its family oriented design where you can find play/ game houses for the kids in every corner and very good shopping places for my wife. This is the first time when we fell in love with a mall.

However, I felt I had exhausted all the new cool resto places in MOA when we suddenly can't figure out where to eat. We haven't tried Bed Scenes, but the food i hear is not that good (please let me know if you hear otherwise). There are the celebrity-owned restos facing the bay like the Yaku Japanese resto owned by jason webb and family and Lamesa Grill with Sen. Kiko Pangilinan as one of the owners I heard. But I cannot seem to drag my feet into those restos-- can't seem to find a reason to do so. Pink Peppers-- we are not sure too. We don't usually repeat any restaurants when it is just me, my wife and Aidan.

Out of nowhere, we came across Tokyo Cafe with its cool white interiors and seductive menu line up. It reminded me of Teriyaki Boy kind of food but without the Chicken grill in the menu. We saw the actor, Michael de mesa and family eating there so we decided to check it out too. I'm sure there is no Tokyo cafe in Tokyo and this would be a Manila version of what a Tokyo cafe would look and taste like. I'm not sure who the owner is and I was not able to get more info about its existence and ownership. Let us know if you know the story of tokyo cafe.

The Verdict? It is very good as expected for a fast food type of resto. We don't mind going back here to check out the Pizza and Pasta items.

Mall of Asia, Restaurants

A Balesin Escape

***UPDATE  9/22/11: The Balesin island cannot be visited anymore and membership will by invitation only. The island is now owned by Alphaland Corporation. ***

I want to share with you my excitement. I wrote an article on Balesin and hopefully it will be published soon in a new Travel/ Lifestyle Magazine. It will be a Nov/Dec issue and will be released by the end of October. I can't wait to see the final printed article. Thanks to the managing editor for fulfilling one of my dreams of being published :) Can you guess what's the name of this new magazine?

Beach, Quezon