Ikabud Pagkaing Pinoy
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On February 15, 2010
Ikabud
G/F Marquee Mall, North Luzon Expressway, Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines
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After such a tiring but enjoyable day at the 15th Philippine Hot Air Balloon Fiesta, we proceeded to Marquee Mall to have oru lunch. Can I just say, “Wow!”. Marquee Mall was such a nice place! It looked like they recently just opened. So I researched and found out that they opened just last October 2009 and one of popular restaurants in the mall is Ikabud.
I’ve been told that if you go to Pampanga, you really have to try Ikabud. So we did 🙂 Boy, the food was delicious! I wonder why they haven’t brought this restaurant to Manila. I’m sure it will be a hit! There are many Filipino restaurants all over the metro but Ikabud is definitely different.
Here are what we ordered:
- Bulalo (Php 180)
There was only one item that I look for whenever I order bulalo, bone marrow. Without it, the dish, IMHO is just a failure! Ikabud’s bulalo? Definitely didn’t disappoint. Apart from having the bone marrow, the meat itself was just tender. The taste of the soup was yummy. I couldn’t ask for more.
- Nilasing Crablets (Php 75)
The nilasing crablets was a hit! Truthfully, we all wanted to eat the dish especially with vinegar! This is a must-order when you go to Ikabud. We just loved it! As in super, super!!
- Family Garlic Rice (Php 150)
If your party is at least 3 people, I suggest you order the family sized rice. They’re more affordable. I found it quite surprising that even with just a simple dish, it made me feel like it was better than most offered by restaurants. Maybe it was the oil or the garlic. Maybe it was the rice.
- Salpicao (Php 190)
When we ordered this, we really thought that it was beef salpicao. The server explained after we said, “salpicao,” but I didn’t pay much attention. When the order came, I understood what the server was trying to explain. Apparently salpicao is sizzling seafood! It doesn’t matter that we misunderstood what it was because it was definitely worth eating! This was delicious! Sizzling shrimps, tahong, fish, mushrooms, hotdogs, squid and young corn… hmmm yummy!
- Crispy Pata (Php 320)
The crunchy rectangular pieces garnished with crispy pata was not chicharon but kropeck. I was almost fooled by that hahaha! Anyway, we ordered way too much for 4 people. That’s fine though. The food was delicious and we don’t have ikabud here in Manila.
- Tutti Fruiti Shake (Php 65)
Combination of Mango & Cherry shake. My colleagues said it was super yummy & better than the Guyabano shake we ordered. We also noticed that all their fruit shakes have this “Stick-O” (the chocolate snack). IMHO, that gave the drink more umpph! hehehe
- Guyabano Shake (Php 55)
It is rare that we see fresh Guyabano shakes being offered in a restaurant. When I saw this in the menu, I immediately ordered it! It was super rich. I was very impressed! Most of the fruit shakes we ordered in the restaurant had too much water in it. This one, it was very fresh! You can feel that we do get what we paid for.
What a great morning this was! We had a great balloon ride, great sites and great food! We went home very satisfied and happy! 😀
More pictures here.
15th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On February 14, 2010
Yesterday, several colleagues and myself travelled very early in the morning so we could go to Clark, Pampanga to see the 15th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. This Fiesta has been around since 1991 and it was my first time to attend.
It was sssooooooo cool!!! Glad I was able to wake up early to catch this. We arrived a bit late so we weren’t able to catch the start of the hot air balloon flights but still on time to see them in the sky.
There were about 20 or so balloons that flew up in the sky, each balloon were designed so beautifully! Each balloon had their own logo of the corresponding sponsor.
Ticket entrance was Php150. When we arrived at the site, the line was very long. No joke. Most of my colleagues decided not to enter anymore and just watch the balloons outside.
If you want to see how long the line really was, here go see the picture below:
Aside from the astounding exhibition of balloons and of course the sponsors’ booth, there were a lot of food booths, and there were kite flying, paragliding, airplane models, army cars, human status and even ibun festival! There were just too many things to do that some people even stayed in Clark overnight to see all the activities at the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. 🙂
The highlight for us though was the balloon ride!! Balloon ride cost at least $150 and is on a first come, first serve basis. There were some promos available at both Marquee Mall & Caltex sites. I only checked out Marquee Mall’s booth. There you just have to present Php1,000 worth of receipts from the mall and you get a free balloon ride.
It was total coolness that I can ride a hot air balloon myself!
So what does this hot air balloon made of? It uses material that is similar to a parachute and is between 60,000 to 140,000 cubic feet. Four people can fit in the basket. It is important to note that for safety reasons, balloonists prefer that the winds to be less than 10 miles per hour, and clouds at least 2,000 feet about the ground. Don’t understand what I’m talking about? Well just go and take a look at the video! 🙂
What an experience! This is definitely unforgettable!!! We enjoyed our stay at 15th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta! Next up, Marquee mall to have our lunch after such an enjoyable morning.
More pictures can be found here at the Flickr album in my account.
Our Office Chinese New Year Celebration
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On February 12, 2010
This year, February 14, 2010 will not be just about Valentine’s Day but we will also be welcoming Chinese New Year! Earlier, we celebrated Chinese New Year at our office. The Filipino-Chinese employees at the 23rd floor organized this simple party for our colleagues.
We prepared Chinese food like Tikoy, Radish Cake, Dumplings & Hopia. We allotted 1 hour as everyone was busy with work. I hope we were able to bring some joy to our colleagues & hope we were able to impart some Chinese tradition as well. It was a nice way to welcome the Year of the Tiger! I can say that the event was definitely a success! 🙂
Apart from the yummy food, we also prepared games for our non-chinese colleagues. Of course, the games had something to do with chinese tradition 😛 Here are the games:
- Tikoy Eating Contest
We asked 4 of our colleagues to eat a big piece of tikoy. Whoever finished their Tikoy first would win the game! It was real fun seeing them eat tikoy, which is sticky and not to mention, there was time pressure. Ted Chua won the game and finished his piece of tikoy in 2 minutes! Here’s a video of the fun, fun game 🙂
- Chopstick Game
The challenge for this game was for players to be able to transfer marbles from one bowl to another using only chopsticks.
This game is perfectly hard especially for people who are not used to chopsticks.
So we grouped our colleagues into two teams. They needed to completely transfer all five marbles. If a marble dropped, they will have to start from the beginning. Naturally, the first group to finish, wins!
It was really fun seeing my colleagues be so ready to play in this contest. Apparently, the group with a Korean member won! hahahaha! Well, we forgot to take note that Koreans use chopsticks to eat too.
- Over the Generation
I love this game! hahaha! One group even ended up pronouncing it in cantonese LOLz! Of course, the group who pronounced it in Mandarin won!
Fun, fun, fun! 🙂 I hope everyone enjoyed the party & the games! Thanks as well to my fellow Filipino-Chinese colleagues for a successful chinese new year celebration. Here’s a picture of us, the organizers, not complete though as the others are camera-shy or already stepped out for meeting/work.
The rest of the pictures can be found here.
Mister Kabab
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On February 11, 2010
Mister Kabab
2nd Level, U.P. Ayala Land Technohub, Commonwealth Ave., Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila
(02) 332-3935
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If you have been following my blog for awhile now, you would know that I love Persian food. I don’t know why but kebab is definitely something I always crave for. So when we visited Avilon Zoo & since I parked near UP, we decided to drop by UP Technohub.
When we were asked which restaurant to try out, I immediately said, “Mister Kabab!” I’ve tried Mister Kabab but not at UP Technohub branch. Wow!!! The ambiance was just waaayyy better than their other branches! It was very clean and it looked very classy. The view was superb!
On the other hand, Mister Kabab’s West Avenue branch didn’t have aircon and you had to sit in an uncomfortable chair. Not only that, you couldn’t stay too long because there is usually line outside of people waiting to get in to be seated. So after eating, you really got to leave.
We ordered the ff.:
- Shrimp & Mushroom (Php 95)
This was good! I always order their Chelo kabab. I’m glad that I was able to try the other dishes at Mister Kabab. This one was shrimps fried with mushrooms with some sauce, garnished with tomato and cucumber.
- Beef Chelo Kabab (Php 135)
They really call this Special Chelo Kebab! This is tenderloin kebab and beef kebab. I’m not really fond of tenderloin so I requested if I can just have two beef kebabs. They gave it to me for the same price. So it is possible. They called it beef chelo kebab. Can I tell you that this is my favorite when coupled with rice and butter? Perfect!
- Fresh Fruit Shake (Php 40)
You know before their fruit shakes were just priced at php25. But their cups were a bit small. I can say that they’ve improved! They now put their shakes in a bigger cup. The price got raised a little to Php40 but still affordable. 🙂 🙂
- Rice (Php 25) & Butter (Php 10)
Rice with butter just puuurrfeecctt! We should do this at home too!
- Shawarma in Plate (Php 85)
Shawarma is usually wrapped in bread but Mister Kabab offered this Shawarma in Plate. You’d see shawarma then the sidings (onions, tomatoes) put in a plate. So you can either just order a bread or rice to go with it. According to my friend, it was just okay. She preferred this dish to be crispy.
- Bread (Php 15)
- Keema (Php 60)
This is actually not our order but this is minced beef served with calamansi. I tried this and it was actually good too! My favorite though is still the beef kebab! 🙂
Hahaha! So I just finished writing this and to be honest, I just wanna drive and go to Mister Kabab and eat again! You can find the rest of the pictures from our lunch here.
Show your love via Island Rose this Valentines Day
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On February 8, 2010
Valentines Day is Coming! It’s already this week! Have you thought of what to give to your loved ones? Fret not! Wherever you are, you can always send your love via gifts c/o Island Rose!
I remember feeling a bit down the other week. One of my friends knew this and thought of sending me flowers to cheer me up. Hey! It worked like a charm! The roses really made my day! Guess where it was ordered from? Yep, Island Rose!
The packaging was impressive. The roses were wrapped with non-woven wrappers with matching ribbons. We can choose between six different colors to match with the roses: burgundy red, olive green, royal blue, rustic orange, luscious pink and mustard yellow. My friend chose Burgundy Red for me as red is my favorite color (well you already know this). Aside from that, Island Rose has their own shipping box where they put the rose bouquet. It was truly elegant and classy.
Now that Valentines Day is just around the corner, why not send your loved ones something to show your love and care? Island Rose delivers flowers to the Philippines but you can also send other gifts like chocolates, teddy bears, accessories and fragrances. Believe me that small gesture can really make a lot of difference. 🙂 Ordering will just take you a short time as you just need to visit Island Rose’s website. Wherever you are in the world, you can send gifts to the Philippines with Island Rose.
So have you decided yet? Anyway, you have until February 12 to order flowers at Island Rose for Valentine’s Day! They also have this ongoing promo until February 20 wherein you can use this code: VDAY022010 to avail of a 10% discount.
Hope this helps! Advance Happy Valentines Day to all! 🙂