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Zhu.CC (Chinese Cuisine)

Zhu is the latest addition to the chinese cuisine options in the Fort. You can't help but think that this is a Gloria-Maris affiliated restaurant because of the distinct similarity of the menu options. Its bright pink and bright yellow motif was enough to entice us to spend our Father's Day celebration in Zhu. It was on its first week of operation so expect faulty aircons/ exhaust systems, and inefficient crew. Despite that, I knew that it was a winner after I tasted the soup of the Xiao Long Pao dimsum and the secret house sauce of Zhu's Hot Pot. Our Hong Kong style meals ended with the taho similar to the ones we order in Gloria Maris. For me, I like Zhu because it is away from the crowded friday night scene in Serenda and the usual Mall establishments. It is conveniently located beside Secret Recipe's so you can end your meal with its award winning Cheese Cakes!

Thai Pad, Hole-in-the-Wall Reincarnation of SukhoThai

Check out Thai Pad Menu (Bigger Version)

Most of us regarded SukhoThai as the standard of Thai food in the Philippines. When it closed down in the malls due to high overhead costs, we felt some sadness in our hearts. For a few months now, SukhoThai was reincarnated as Thai Pad in Marvin Plaza (where Canon Service center is located) along Pasong Tamo. At first, I was skeptical every time I see Thai Pad when I send my Canon 20d for repairs. I thought, oh no, not another one of those Thai restaurant wannabes. If they are really SukhoThai, why change the name?

Here are some stories that I heard about Thai Pad. The SukhoThai chef got sick and had to leave SukhoThai. Eventually, he setup his Som's hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Rockwell and eventually along N. Garcia. While Thai Pad, reinvented their concept to be more hole-in-the-wall setup which means, basic ambiance and affordable prices (around P100 only). It is owned by the same owner and uses the SukhoThai recipe except that their chefs are the "sous" chefs of the original SukhoThai chef. So expect same SukhoThai quality (I felt it was diluted) at 50% serving size and 50% the price.

Even if we felt the food is not as rich as before and the ingredients are kinda diluted, I would still recommend Thai Pad if you are craving for Thai comfort food. Although, Som's is the clear winner between the two in every Thai food aspect except for the Pad Thai. For some reason, Som's Pad Thai does not taste as good as Thai Pad's Pad Thai (I wanted to say that :).

Related Posts:
Som's Noodle House - cheap authentic version of SukhoThai
Som's Noodle House

Lovin Nike Plus and Pinoy Bloggers Marathon-For-A-Cause!

I'm loving Nike Plus and it truly motivates me to run. I'm motivated to do a new sport if I have the right gadgets and "costume". Nike Plus is a pedometer that you put in the sole of your sole and sends time, and distance data to an Ipod Nano. After the workout, it sends it to the Nike Plus site so that you can track your progress and see your pace on each kilometer. It tracks your run so that you can also consult a coach regarding your practice and actual runs. I love the concept of the power song and how it was easy to share the power song of all the other runners worldwide. I now have the collection of all the power songs via the iTunes store. I always look forward to the day that I will run.

I love the entire concept of having a social community among runners worldwide. There is a worldwide challenge in July in the Nike Plus community for the person/country team who can run the most number of kilometers. I signed up to represent the Philippines because I know that I'll be running a marathon in July. Also, you can challenge another person like I challenged my brother to see who runs the fastest 10k among us. I'm glad that they incorporated how to share your nike plus profile, your runs, your challenges and even your goal in your website/ blog. I love it! Any other nike plus bloggers out there?

I encouraged my brother to buy a Nike Plus setup when he decided to join me in my practice run. Total initial investment would be P16,000+ for the nike plus setup and you can amortize it over 6 -12 months. All of the Nike plus gadgets are available in the Philippines either in Nike stores, Power Mac or even in Electroworld. Thanks to Nike for launching it here in the Philippines!

Nike + Running Shoes -- P5,000+ (shoe designs are limited here in PH) This is the shoe where it has a hole in the middle of the left sole, to put the pedometer.
Nike + Ipod -- P1,600+ (look for 10% discount deals using your credit card) This is the shoe pedometer/ transmitter and ipod receiver.
Ipod 2GB Nano -- P9,000+ (charge this on a 0% deferred basis) This also comes in 4GB and 8GB versions.

Call for Pinoy Bloggers Marathon-For-A-Cause!

Socky suggested in my previous post, why not create a Bloggers Marathon-For-A-Cause? We would solicit donations from friends, family and blog readers an amount for every kilometer that we run. People can pledge donations either based on individual bloggers or based on the total kilometers ran by all the bloggers. It could be P100 for each KM run and you don't have to finish 42km -- even a 5k would do. We will do this during the Milo Marathon on July 22. Donations would be deposited directly to the charitable institution we will support or via Paypal for those who are not in the Philippines. Anybody interested? Only requirement is that you can run at least 5k and you have a blog site in Blogger or Multiply or Friendster, etc.

I'm looking for all avenues of motivation because I don't know if I will finish 42km. As I mentioned in my previous post, I will be running at my heaviest weight (around 220 lbs :) ) but I'm determined to finish the 42km. I know bloggers out there who are fit than I am and regularly goes to the gym. So, if I can do it, you can do it too! Everything starts with an attitude and commitment to do it.

Lastly, any Nike Plus Bloggers out there? I want to see if there is a community of Nike Plus Runners/ Bloggers out there so that we can motivate each other. I can't seem to find pinoy runners who have nike plus and at the same time blogging about it.

P.S. Let me know if somebody would want to sponsor our Pinoy Bloggers Marathon-for-a-cause...

Lemuria's First Anniversary

Congratulations Lemuria on your First Anniversary!!

(Left to Right: Margaux Salcedo, Sunday Inquirer; Kitt Schroeder – Lemuria and Brumms Quality Wines, Inc. owner; Chef Golda – Lemuria’s resident chef and Golda May Ranada; Bel Castro - Feature Writer, Lifestyle and Leisure, Manila Bulletin; Michi Calica - Lemuria PR and Fashion Designer; Anton and Rache :))

Kitt Shroeder hosted an intimate cocktail party celebration of Lemuria's First Year Anniversary last June 14, 2007. I wrote a review of Lemuria last August 8, 2006 when we celebrated my Father's birthday entitled: Lemuria's Mystic - a Romantic Restaurant in the Metro. Kitt invited me to show her gratitude for that post which spread the word on Lemuria in the blogosphere. We didn't really expect anything in return for that blog post (not even a discount) so I was really surprised by the invitation. A simple thank you would have been enough but it was thoughtful of her to include us in this private cocktail of loyal customers and the media.

We were so glad to meet other foodies: Margaux from Inquirer and Bel from Manila Bulletin who also teaches at Enderun. It was a cocktail event so Chef Golda created these bite size pieces of burgers, bbqs, etc. One thing we particularly liked was the chocolate with ice cream inside called Mille Fuille. Don't miss it when you eat in Lemuria!

Lastly, I attached the press kit materials as is if you want to read them. You can expect to see write-ups of Lemuria in the next few weeks in Inquirer, Manila Bulletin, What's on, etc. At least you know which of the content is part of the well developed press release kit.

Congratulations Lemuria on your First Anniversary!!

Read Press Kit below...

Nadia Comaneci - The Perfect Ten

Do you still remember Nadia Comaneci?

Personally, I don't know who Nadia was, until lately when I started researching about her life and achievements. I'm now a fan. What was she thinking when she scored a perfect 10 at the age of 14. I'm not sure how big the gymnastics scene was in Manila and how many people still remembers her. My younger brother, Rommel was just born when Nadia scored the perfect 10 in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Let me know if you are a fan and any more interesting stories about her glory days are very much welcome...

Nadia Comanici @ 1976 Montreal Olympics
(source: Wikipedia)

"At the age of 14, Comaneci became one of the stars of the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. During the team portion of the competition, her routine on the uneven bars was scored at a 10.0. It was the first time in Olympic gymnastics history that the score, which signified a perfect routine without any deductions, had ever been awarded. The scoreboards were not even equipped to display scores of 10.0--so Nadia's perfect marks were reported on the boards as 1.00 instead. [2] Over the course of the Olympics, Comaneci would earn six additional 10s, en route to capturing the all-around, beam and bars titles and a bronze medal on the floor exercise...

"Comaneci was the first Romanian gymnast to win the all-around title at the Olympics. She also holds the record as the youngest Olympic gymnastics all-around champion ever; with the revised age-eligibility requirements in the sport (gymnasts must now turn 16 instead of 15 in the calendar year to compete in the Olympics), this record will stand indefinitely.

"Comaneci's achievements at the Olympics generated a significant amount of media attention. The theme song from the American soap opera The Young and the Restless became associated with her after the television program ABC Wide World Of Sports used it as background music for montages of her routines. The song became the best seller of the year 1976, and the song writer renamed it to "Nadia's Theme" after her. "

Breakfast at Portico's

I love Serendra when it was slowly coming to life last August 2006. Now it is too crowded and it loses that prestige and privacy at night. But I've discovered something.... The best time to go to Serendra is during Breakfast! Thanks to Portico for opening for breakfast as early as 7am and for inviting us to critique their breakfast offering. Coincidentally, this is among the few restaurants that I have not blogged about in Serendra :)

The Best of Serendra by Our Awesome Planet
Piazza Serendra slowly coming to life...
Bonifacio High Street and Serendra Piazza (a Photo Essay)

Top 10 Restaurants In Serendra by OAP
1. Chelsea, Chelsea by the Market Market!
2. Abe means good filipino food!
3. Duo of Serendra: Chef Mao and Larry Cortez
4. Breakfast at Portico's
5. Cafe Mary Grace, Serendra
6. Mezzaluna-First Night High!
7. Cupcakes+Sonja: Opening Nights and Creating the Cupcake Craze in the Philippines?
8. Balducci Birthday Bash
9. Aloha Polu Kai!
10. Thai at Silk @ Piazza Serendra

I finished my 21k around 9.30am and we headed straight for breakfast at Portico's in Serendra. It was a cool relaxing scene. There are young families with kids having breakfast. On weekends, you won't see the power breakfast crowd and it is more the spend-time-to-read-the-newspaper crowd. Breakfast is 7am until 10am and then they close to prepare for their 11am lunch. This is not your typical sunday brunch menu. The breakfast tries to be distinctly unique and captures the Filipino breakfast spirit. We loved it and our only question was, Where is the Tapsilog? Check out the Portico's Breakfast Menu.

Chef Maurizio's

Q. What do Chef Maurizio, Gelatone and Pagliacci have in common?
A. Chef Maurizio owns them and he just opened a new restaurant in Salcedo Village, Makati.

It was sad to see Cafe Maestro closed and I can still remember our excitement when it first opened in Makati. At the same time, Chef Maurizio's Ristorante, opened in Salcedo Village with the same excitement along De La Costa near Ateneo. Famous for his gelato, Chef Maurizio provides a complete Italian culinary experience more than the Gelatone teaser located in 2nd floor of Greenbelt. He is also known for the Pagliacci restaurant located in the Podium and credited for opening Pazzo.

The restaurant has an intimidating fine dining presence along De La Costa. We hesitated for a moment to eat dinner because we were in our casual selves with a toddler who has a gourmet appetite and acts like a speedy gonzales in the flesh. Some people just don't like and appreciate kids. We are guilty of that when we were single but now we are more patient and love to see them. We were conscious to get that casual look of disgust not because we are using a big camera but because of a naughty Aidan. We survived the night and Chef Maurizio granted us the pleasure to take the photo above to be part of Aidan's Chef photo collection.

You must have seen Gelatone in Greenbelt that sells the now famous silky soft gelato. We loved it!

Galileo Enoteca, Makati

Related Posts (Read First):
A Lesson in Timing @ Galileo Enotica (November 28, 2005)
Finally, the Galileo Enoteca Experience I was looking for! (December 24, 2005)

I was skeptical in visiting the Makati branch of Galileo Enoteca which opened 6 months ago in Pasong Tamo. I love the original branch and I did not know if the Makati branch will live up to expectations. It was a two storey establishment and it has the same cramped cozy cellar type of ambiance that we love. It is still owned by the Vittrano(?) family and you should meet the lovely Vanessa.

It lives up to its name Enoteca which is italian for a wine bar, a serious place for great wine and food with the company of friends and family. Usually you eat here as a group and you preorder a family style serving of the food for P500/head. We tried eating ala carte this time, and we got single servings of the pasta, and dishes. It ended up at P500/head also. We love Galileo despite the fact that the food could be inconsistent at times...