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Cinemalaya 2014 Presents: Sundalong Kanin

It's that time of the year again, and I'm excited to support Filipino films that have nothing to do with some dude with a barbell, Tang Ina Isa Pa, Vic Sotto saying "Nye!", or Kris Aquino's kid.

Cinemalaya celebrates independent Filipino films, and one that you should definitely be on the lookout for is Sundalong Kanin. This is where young actor Enzo Pineda makes his debut into the independent film industry and where you see a dapper Marc Abaya speaking in Japanese.

Gourmet Comfort Food at Bamba Bistro

I am finding more and more reasons to pay BF Homes Parañaque a visit nowadays. The restaurant scene is poppin', and I am very happy to live close enough to experience the lot! I was saddened when I discovered the institution that was Gourmet Burger had closed its doors - that place was such a staple of the Aguirre Avenue scene and a favorite with the students and drinking crowd.

As sad as I was there for a moment, I was equally as happy to discover that the folks who put up Gourmet Burger had just moved to another part of the huge village, with their newest baby, Bamba Bistro, serving up a few of the old burger favorites and a lot of interesting new dishes - the chef's take on comfort food, on soul food, on downright good food!

Ladies Luncheon at Sweet Bella Cakes & Pastries

I had felt like I was adrift at sea after moving back to Las Piñas from Bonifacio Global City. Although I was surrounded by most things familiar in my old hometown, I felt like I was a whole country away from friends, co-workers, and all the good restaurants! Thank goodness for Mama Jane and her pseudo-adopting me whenever we go out as a group!

Jane also introduced me to a lovely group of moms who blog in Alabang, and I was invited by Michelle, who owns the blog Momma N Manila, for a ladies luncheon at Sweet Bella Cakes & Pastries in Molito. I'm a longtime fan of Sweet Bella, and Jericho and I spent a lot of time at their Molito branch when the weather was a lot cooler, taking my dog out to run around the grassy areas and sniff around while I enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and a small cake or one of their cheese rolls. Saying yes to Michelle's invite was a no brainer.

Mesclun Bistro's Cool Salamig Treats

This has been one scorching summer! My electric bill has been through the roof and I for one have been looking for cheaper ways to cool down that don't involve a block of ice and an electric fan. When summer is hottest is also the time when all the innovative Filipino desserts start making their appearances, and Mesclun Bistro is no exception.

Owned by Chef Kat Kuhn-Alcantara, she has partnered up with Arce Dairy - a businesses that her family also owns and operates - to come up with Salamig treats to cool you down and keep you happy.

Pampanga Eats: Bánh Mì Vietnamese Eatery

It had been a long day of eating when my foodie family and I went up on a day trip to Pampanga that we took a respite from all the chomping to enjoy a quick shopping free at Puregold Duty Free before heading back down. I wanted to spend more time perusing the home and living section - I am in dire need of nice looking flatware and dishes, but I doubt I would've found any there I suppose - but got distracted with the shelves upon shelves of chocolate. I ended up going home with a huge tube of Malteasers. Heh, priorities.

Before going back to Manila, we had a quick pit stop for dinner at Bánh Mì Vietnamese Eatery. I had no idea what I was in for, but if my homeboy Spanky says its the shiznit, then it's the shiznit!

Pampanga Eats: 1930s Ensaymadas at Homemade Treasures

I had first met Chona Ayson earlier in the year, during one of JJ Yulo's Pinoy Eats World events at the Podium Mall. There was this very reserved woman selling ensaymada, mamon, all other sorts of pastries that she'd make and bring down from Pampanga daily for that weekend event.I wasn't a fan of the localized brioche bun - one of the big chain bakeshops ruined it for me a long time ago - but Chona gave me a sample to try and - ding! - just like that, I was in love with the pillow-y soft ensaymadas of Homemade Treasures.

Chona has been a long time friend of many of the guys in my little foodie family, and as luck would have it, a trip to her beautiful kitchen in Pampanga was part of the itinerary.

Pampanga Eats: Downtown 1956 Café by Bale Dutung

I'm ashamed to admit, I've never really gave Filipino food its due. A Filipino restaurant will be the last one on my list to try as I find most of the cuisine to be either too salty or sweet (and 90% pork-based) and mostly best enjoyed with a big bowl of rice. Sinigang just isn't the same with a loaf of sourdough bread, no matter how much I try to make it work.

My aversion to Filipino restaurants was more or less the case until I happened to switch the TV channel to TLC, where Anthony Bourdain was in Pampanga, eating his way around the city with his trusty guide as vigilant advocate of the local food and arts, Chef Claude Tayag. I learned more about my country's intricate and various cuisines watching his 15 minute segment than I did eating it at home - which is kind of embarrassing now that I come to think about it.

I had wanted to pay Chef Claude Tayag's Bale Dutung, but we paid Chef Claude's  newest restaurant instead, Downtown 1956 Café by Bale Dutung, an homage to classic Filipino favorites executed with a Claude Tayag twist.

Pampanga Eats: Mila's Tokwa't Baboy & Sisig

I had made plans to hit the beach for a week and just forget about the world this month - but life got in the way. So, I went up to Pampanga for a whole day of eating instead. Haha! Spanky Enriquez, the full fledged Pampanggeno in our foodie fampack, organized a trip up to the culinary capital of the Philippines to sample some of the harder to find and newer spots in the province. Honestly, the only thing I've only really known about Pampanga was the Duty Free shopping place, so I was thrilled to be going there to do something other than shop. My foodie mom, Jane Go, adopted me for the day, and I spent most of the day with her and her super fun teens!

We were all up pretty early and made good time on our way up north, stopping by a Starbucks and Cinnabon for a much needed jolt of caffeine and sugar. The sun was beating down on us, and we were really feeling the intense summer weather the higher up north we climbed.

Our first stop for lunch was Mila's Tokwa't Baboy & Sisig, an institution in Angeles City that even Anthony Bourdain stopped to pay a visit at when he toured some of the Philippines' foodie spots. He's way more adventurous than me, diging into the kambing papaitan like it was a bowl of pho.

Corniche's Arabian Delights at Diamond Hotel

Growing up in the Middle East, Arabic food here can be hard to come by. No one seems to be able to figure out what shawarma really tastes like, I have yet to see a real cup of strong Turkish coffee in my entire 16 years of living here, and a tiny square of baklava costs an arm and a leg. Seriously, what gives? I'm pretty sure I'm not the only kid who grew up in the dessert and enjoyed the cuisine, and with a big chunk of our OFWs living in the KSA, the UAE, Omman, Quatar, and Iran, there doesn't seem to be enough Middle Eastern restaurants here to cater to us who have come back from said country.

Enter the Corniche at Diamond Hotel that embarks on an Arabian Delights culinary adventure every Tuesday, seeking to perfect those much-loved Arabic dishes, trying to achieve the authentic taste of the Middle East. At just P1,980 per person, this was a themed buffet dinner I definitely did not miss out on!

Affordable American Favorites at Wham! Burger

Jericho and I found ourselves wandering around the Mall of Asia a few weeks back, while I tried my luck at furniture shopping. For one of the biggest malls around, it sure had a very small Our Home and even smaller Dimensione, but I still found a few items that were perfect for my tiny apartment, nonetheless.

Walking around a mall got us feeling peckish, so we ducked into Wham! Burger for a bite to eat. Can I just say, I love how accommodating the staff is of bloggers. When I requested them to to wrap up our orders so they wouldn't look all squished and disgusting in the photographs, they did us one better and presented it so beautifully, it made featuring them so easy. Seriously, always serve your burgers like this and the people will come.

Make Me Blush Nail Spa & Beauty Lounge

I am so thankful that Jane of my foodie family has pseudo-adopted me. She is the best! Not only do I finally feel like I'm not alone living in the south, I also like that I suddenly have two sisters that I can get all girly with! Case in point: we schlepped all the way to Quezon City from Alabang to try Make Me Blush Nail Spa & Beauty Lounge! Oh, I also have a super cute brother now, too, but he's too busy with his darling girlfriend to come out with us a lot. You know how it goes.

A Bowlful of Laughts at Ramen Nagi

Whenever I think of Hong Kong, images of duck (the peking kind, not the Disney), pork buns at Tim Ho Wan, dimsum at at Lin Heung Tea House, Temple street night market, and of course, the small but always packed Butao King Restaurant along On Lane Street.

The Black Butao King had always done a great job of warming my tummy on cold, snowy nights in Hong Kong, so I was ecstatic to learn my favorite noodle place had finally come to the Philippines! My happiness, though, was cut short when I learned how long the lines and the wait time was for a bowl of ramen! I gave it a few months, thinking the lines would shorten eventually, but I think they just got longer when people found out the Philippine franchise lived up to it's Chinese counterpart.

Jaz and Eric of EricJaz Foodies had already been there a couple of times, and were raving about how good the ramen was, and I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to go there. I had to get my ramen fix. Good ol' Mama J was also in the mood for a spicy noodle fix, so off we all went to Butao King's Pinoy sister, Ramen Nagi.

Chairman Wang's Prime Beef Noodle House

While on a three-day weekend staycation with my foodie family at Bellevue Manila and B Hotel respectively, the guys who lived up north made the most of their south side trip by trying out some of the newer restaurants in the area. Molito, especially, is slowly turning into the go-to place for good grub down south. The lone Starbucks store over there now has lots and lots of company, with new restaurant concepts and old franchises popping up left and right.

One of the new restaurant concepts is Chairman Wang's Prime Beef Noodle House. Recently opened, we headed over there - Jericho, Justice, a few other friends, and I - curious to see what kind of Chinese food they served (aside from the obvious). In truth, I was expecting it to be some kind of high-end Chowking joint, but was pleasantly proved wrong. And then some.

Sunday Brunch at Caviar Restaurant & Champagne Bar

I had paid Caviar Restaurant & Champagne Bar a visit a month ago, enjoying a marvelous dinner and giving the chef a big hug in sheer joy of finding my new favorite fine dining restaurant in Alabang, I promised myself that I'd be back soon to try their Executive Lunch and Sunday Brunch. The Sunday Brunch was a bit tough, being that it's usually just me and good ol' Jericho going out and the brunch requires at least four people to enjoy the family style meal.

Nevertheless, somebody must've heard my pleas as our Bellevue staycation included a special Sunday brunch with the rest of my foodie fambam at Caviar. So yeah, I was all giddy Saturday night, dreaming of all the good food we'd be in for the next day. Yey!

Getting the Scoop at Carmen's Best

I read somewhere that “... everyone knows that ice cream is worth the trouble of being cold. Like all things virtuous, you have to suffer to gain the reward.” I think the same applies to making it.

I met the Ice Cream Man himself, Paco Magsaysay, during a Carmen's Best event hosted by the fun folks of Nuffnang. He was soft-spoken, friendly, and very proud of the new flavors he was unveiling for us to taste. And why wouldn't he, Carmen's Best Artisanal Ice Cream has been raved about ever since Paco started selling them in pints, at times made to order, as they run out in the shops so fast, out of his home in Alabang.

When I mentioned we'd be having a long bloggers weekend in Alabang, Paco offered to give us a tour of his facilities (before they move it to a bigger location), and we were very honored to have been invited into his lovely home. We went on a Saturday night, with most of my friends bringing their kids along - or in Jane's case, having her kids represent while she stayed entertaining a guest at Bellevue - Paco broke out the soft serve ice cream machine, as well as a few other treats for us to enjoy while we chatted away about ice cream.

Supersized Games & a Poolside BBQ at The Bellevue Manila

My foodie fambam and I spent a luxurious 3-day weekend at the Bellevue Resort and Hotels properties in Alabang a few weeks back, staying at the business-friendly B Hotel while enjoying all the amenities of the family-oriented Bellevue Manila. We have The Queen of the South, Jane Go, and BHR's owner, Ryan Chan, to thank for such a wonderful time!

One of the highlights of our weekend was definitely our time by the pool at Bellevue. Of course, once the kids jumped in, there was no coming out, and while the parents looked on, we entertained ourselves with some of the other activities (and munchies!) around the pool.

You'll see what I mean...

My Pink Wasabi's Kashi Makis

When The Queen of the South, Jane Go of Sugar & Spice, throws a staycation, not only does she make it so epic that everyone has to roll home, she makes sure that everyone goes with a little something more than fond memories!

Take, for instance, Chef Anna Chua's Kashi Makis from My Pink Wasabi! Anna dropped by for lunch with us at Prime Cafe at B Hotel and handed out boxes of her famous Kashi Maki! I had been wanting to try these babies out for so long, but just haven't had the time to head on over to The Collective in Makati for a box. Good news for us Southern folks, she's considering opening up a branch in Alabang, so I'm crossing my fingers I'll be seeing more of her around soon.

Dim Sum All You Can at Bellevue Hotel's Phoenix Court

Ever since I discovered the crazy beauty of dim sum buffets in New York's Chinatown, I have been trying to fill a void in my greedy, greedy soul for something much like my experience in the States. After two years of searching, I think I have finally found it in Phoenix Court in the The Bellevue Manila in Alabang of all places!

This is so much better in so many ways, as you don't have to stand in line for over an hour with a bunch of hungry tourists and irritated locals while waiting for your party to be called, you don't have to share a table with anyone, and although the dim sum does take a while to get to your table, you're pretty much assured that no other has gone through them in the kitchen who may or may not have sneezed on the basket you see before you.

Now that would be unfortunate.

An Epic Alabang Staycation at B Hotel

I love staycations!

Getting away from it all without having to leave the city allows you to enjoy the best of both worlds, and this was definitely the case when I checked in at B Hotel in Alabang, which was just a stones throw away from where I live. This was convenient for the weekend-long staycation, as I could still check up on Mr. Wiggles every night, make sure he has enough water in his bowl and gets fed and walked, before heading back to hotel to get some shuteye.

This was one epic staycation, and I have the Queen of the South, Mama J and her fambam, to thank for for having me over and treating me to some Bellevue hospitality.