Mr. Rockefeller
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On January 8, 2012
I’m not sure why I haven’t tried Mr. Rockefeller considering I used to go to Greenbelt every single day a few years back. Mr. Rockefeller has always been at Greenbelt 3 and in spite of passing by there lots of times, I couldn’t seem to want to go inside and try it out.
Good thing my childhood best friend suggested we celebrate her birthday at Mr. Rockefeller. The restaurant is one cozy place. Perfect for couples who are planning to date. I guess almost all all steak places has this kind of ambiance. I wonder why. I asked a friend and he said that it was because steaks are generally associated with fine dining. Therefore, the dining environment should be appropriate.
It was pretty obvious that Mr. Rockefeller specializes in oysters as it was named after it. In fact, we were browsing through the oyster menu and saw the many varieties of oyster dishes. We ended up ordering Oysters Rockefeller, well we should right? The restaurant was named Mr. Rockefeller for a reason.
We also ordered ribs. I wish we tried out their steaks as well but our stomachs could only take so much 😛 Maybe next time! I heard some great feedback about their steak so I’m keeping that in mind.
- Oysters Rockefeller (Php 330)
A definite star at Mr. Rockefeller was the Oysters Rockefeller. As I knew that it’d be that good, I opted for 8 pieces even if my friend was worried that we couldn’t finish it. I assured her that if she couldn’t, I surely would! :)) 4 pieces of Oyster Rockefeller is at Php 195. I do suggest you order the 8 pieces though, coz the oyster were that good.
Why do I think that Mr. Rockefeller’s oysters were that good? Well, it’s because in spite of the 18 ingredients on each and every oysters, I can still taste the freshness of the oysters.
- 5-layer Nacho Dip (Php 285)
Oh yeah! Mr. Rockefeller’s best selling appetizer according to them is the 5-layer nacho dip. I super agree coz you know why? The original nacho dip was just too good that I can’t even describe it! No words, man! This is a must order! The dip was superb, or should I say perfect!
- Gambas and Risotto (Php 375)
I’m a huge fan of risotto. Only a few restaurants serve it so when I saw risotto in the menu, I immediately told my friend we should order one. Our choice was gambas and risotto. It was tiger prawns cooked gambas style served on mushroom risotto with cream and parmesan cheese. In all honesty, while I loved the prawns, I didn’t like the risotto 🙁 I guess it was too dry and sticky for my taste. Maybe they put too much cream in our dish.
- Boneless Bourbon Ribs (Php 495)
We have an option to order the boneless bourbon ribs as half-rack (Php 495) or full-rack (Php 920).
Mr. Rockefeller’s famous bourbon ribs was simmered for 8 hours, until the meat is falling-of-the-bones tender then coated with BBQ sauce and grilled on volcanic rocks. We were so happy that we ordered it as the ribs were rich, sweet and zesty!
The ribs come with 2 side dishes. We can choose from baked beans, creamed-style corn, sauteed vegetables, garden salad, coleslaw, grilled zucchini & carrots garlic noodles, mashed potatoes, french fries, pesto potatoes, garlic rice, vegetable fried rice, plain rice and brazilian bean rice. Our choice that night were french fries and pesto potatoes.
We had a great dinner. We actually were able to talk about a lot of things, I guess the ambiance was nice for long conversations 🙂 If ever I’ll go back to Mr. Rockefeller, I’ll try out their steaks. Even though the delicious nacho chips and oyster rockefellers won’t be forgotten hehehe 😛
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Mr. Rockefeller
2nd level, Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati City, Philippines
63 (2) 757-4802
The Original Pares Mami House
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On January 8, 2012
I LOVE pares! It might come as a surprise to people considering the ambiance of Pares house but it has always been one of my favorite food! However, there’s one particular Pares Mami House that I frequent to and that’s the one located at Retiro Street, Quezon City. To be completely specific, the name of the restaurant is The Original Pares Mami House.
The Original Pares Mami House is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So just in case any of us crave for pares, we can always go there. And you don’t have to worry even if you go at wee hours of the day, because the place is jam-packed anytime of the day, any day of the week. I’ve been there evenings, midnights and even early mornings, and every single time, there was always lots of people.
You’ll see people from all walks of life. Whether from class A, B, C or D, they are all there to enjoy the yummy, affordable food in the Original Pares Mami House at Retiro. If only we can see that kind of unity in our government, anyhow, that’s a different topic altogether.
Considering how the turnover of the restaurant is, it seemed they have perfected their restaurant process. The establishment was pretty efficient in their service. They get orders fast, they serve food pretty fast too and the billing process was slick! They have numbers allotted for each guests. Even how they clean plates and utensils was impressive too!
As for food, I always order the same thing at The Original Pares Mami House. Pares will always be part of it and when I get hungry again, I’ll order additional food items like stuffed shrimp, campto and chicken. Yes, they are all good and I’m happy that they are not so expensive. Though I think their prices are getting higher and higher, I guess they get that they have tons of loyal customers. I hope they don’t raise prices that often coz I might change my mind in frequenting them. Though I must admit, their pares is just too irresistible! 😀
- Pares Beef (Php 75)
Pares in english is “pair”, a dish that is composed of braised beef, soup and fried rice. It’s a dish that, as far as i know, originated in the Philippines, a dish we can truly call our own:)
Pares’ braised beef is sweet and I love how soft the beef is. The soup is made with beef stock mixed with the braised beef sauce, locally known as loto. This is oh so yummy and I’m sure it’ll always be something I crave for often.
Oh my, I’m craving for Pares again! Now to drive to Retiro street. This is it!
- Coke (Php 15)
The Original Pares Mami House has soft drinks, buko juice and water for ordering. I, however, always choose to order Coke! Sarap eh! I can drink coke for one whole day and still feel thirsty for it! Maybe Coke has a love potion in its drink that most of us consumers can’t seem to stop drinking it!
- Campto Soup with Rice (Php 88)
Campto is a stew of pork strips flavored with garlic and spring onions. It is comfort food at its best. If ever I still get hungry after finishing an order of pares, this will be my second choice.
Campto with rice is at Php 88. If you wanna order ala carte, it costs about Php 70.
- Buttered Chicken (Php 140)
I ordered The Original Pares Mami House’s Buttered Chicken as I was curious to find out if they cook chicken as deliciously. Well, I wasn’t disappointed at all! I love how they cut the chicken into small pieces and put the right amount of breading. There was ketchup available but I ended up just eating it as is. I super liked the taste considering it was newly cooked. If I estimate it correctly, one order of this is equivalent to half the chicken.
- Chopsuey (Php 80)
My friend ordered this when we had breakfast at Pares. I somehow felt that Php 80 is a bit high for a small bowl of chopsuey. But since this has been ordered, I tried it anyhow. It’s a normal combination of vegetables. A good option to have variety in your meal.
- Stuffed Shrimp (Php 48)
When I first tried out stuffed squid at the Original Pares Mami House, I was completely shocked. I actually thought it looked like tempura. However, I didn’t even notice the shrimp at all hahaha! It looked more of an embutido than a stuffed shrimp. But still, it’s a good side dish for our favorite pares!
If you go to the restaurant, you’ll see almost everyone ordering the stuffed shrimp 😛
My plates will always be empty whenever I go to Original Pares Mami House. Yes, I’m always hungry whenever I visit the place. Empty bowls and plates FTW after every pares meal. Satisfying!!
See how happy our faces where after we had our breakfast at Pares yesterday. After burning calories while jogging, we ended up filling up so much food in our tummies hahaha!
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The Original Pares Mami House
PARES-RETIRO (NS Amoranto (Formerly Retiro St.) cor. Dr. Alejos), Barangay La Loma, Quezon City, Metro Manila 1114
Mango Tree Bistro
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On January 8, 2012
The newest restaurant in Trinoma Mall that caught my eye is Mango Tree Bistro. While I was walking down the mall, I saw this elegant looking restaurant and it definitely piqued my curiosity. It’s such a good coincidence that my friend wanted us to have dinner there. You see, I’ve always been the one deciding where to eat. I think friends think I know so much about food that they always let me decide. Still, there are times when I’d prefer that they pick where we get to eat. After all, I get tired of my own food choices too hahaha! Now, see how lucky I was because I was shy enough to let my friend know that I wanted to try out Mango Tree Bistro. Apparently, we’d end up there! Coolness! Another restaurant to review in HeaRty’s Haven for me! 😀
Mango Tree Bistro serves Thai food. It has branches in Bangkok, Pattaya, Dubai, Tokyo and of course, here in Manila.
The Trinoma branch is huge! I love the color combination of purple and yellow and even though, it has a bit of a dark ambiance, it worked really well. Mango Tree Bistro looked to be a high-class place that serves expensive food. But in all honesty, it wasn’t that expensive.
After almost three weeks of not eating anything decent (due to my sickness), I’m so glad that I finally had the energy and the appetite to eat food, real food! So to celebrate my recovery and being out of the hospital, I didn’t hesitate eating all these food that we ordered at Mango Tree Bistro.
- Pla Meuk Thod (Php 280)
If you haven’t noticed, my favorite appetizer to order is always calamares. Thai’s version of calamares is served with sweet chili dipping sauce. What I like about Mango Tree Bistro’s deep fried squid rings is that its breading is fine. As my mouth is still a bit sensitive with solid food, this was a welcome surprise. I wouldn’t recommend you eat this without the sauce though.
- Tom Yum Goong (Php 280)
My ultimate favorite Thai soup is Tom Yum Goong. I just love the spiciness of this soup and the combination of shrimps, lemongrass, lime, mushrooms and chilies. It has a bit of sour taste that lingers in my mouth making me wanting to get some more.
- Khao Klook Kapi (Php 230)
Like how other Thai restaurants serve rice, it was served like a platter with stir fried rice with shrimp paste in the middle. Surrounding the flavorful rice was bagoong meat, shredded green mango, chopped spring onions, green mango strips, scrambled eggs, tomatoes/cucumber and lemon. Of course, the point is to mix all the ingredients altogether before eating.
- Gai Gratiem (Php 280)
My friend ordered Gai Gratiem. It was basically stir fried chicken with garlic and pepper sauce served in a bed of crispy rice vermicelli. I usually like deep-fried as opposed to stir-fried chicken but this one, I surprisingly liked! I love how the meat was sliced into bite-sized pieces and how the sauce was spread all over the dish. Recommendable!
- Thai Iced Tea (Php 80)
Thailand’s milk tea is definitely the best! It’s brewed tea with condensed milk. And the drink is just perfect for any Thai-themed meal. Do not miss ordering this drink when you visit Mango Tree Bistro. A perfect beverage for a sumptuous meal! 🙂
- Kow Niew Ma Muang (Php 150)
For dessert, we ordered ripe fresh mango served with sweetened sticky rice. I loved how the dish was presented and I especially love the choice of plate that they used. As shallow as this description may be, I felt that the dish blended with the whole restaurant ambiance altogether haha! This dessert is perfect for sharing.
There wasn’t any uniqueness in any of the dishes we ordered. It seemed that it was just as expected of Thai-inspired dishes. I couldn’t say that Mango Tree Bistro is the best Thai restaurant out there but I can say that I had quite a good complete experience with them.
Mango Tree Bistro has great ambiance, excellent service and quite decent Thai food. I was a happy camper and I was just so glad it was the first restaurant I tried out after quite some time.
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Mango Tree Bistro
3/F Trinoma Mall, EDSA cor. North Ave., Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 585-5460
HeaRty’s Project 365
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On January 8, 2012
As the year 2012 came in, I started a project that I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time. It’s called HeaRty’s Project 365. A lot of people have been doing their own Project 365. In the past, I’ve been browsing through those and was hoping I could do one of my own. However, most of Project 365s are photography-themed. I don’t consider myself a good photographer yet. I felt that I might be disappointing viewers (myself included) if I push through with a half-baked project.
At first, my plan was to take pictures of my daily outfit. I had friends recommending me to do it. I thought this must be a great time for me to start it plus I can also use that as a reference to what clothes I have in my closet.
But then, as January 1 came, I decided to change my 2012 theme for HeaRty’s Project 365. I realized I have been doing my own Project 365 already and it is far more important than any of my other goals for year 2012. Why not just share it to the world?
I was keeping that Project 365 to myself and some close friends. It just came to me that instead of having two Project 365 simultaneously, why not just stick to one? I can do the daily outfit project next year.
It all came to me when I was hospitalized last December. Even though I have been attending Bible Study sessions, I wasn’t making too much effort in getting to know Him. When I was sick, I felt God. I felt ashamed that I have been taking Him for granted. In spite of that, God forgave me and was there when I needed Him.
So I said to myself that this time around, I’ll read the Bible and I will definitely finish it in year 2012. I don’t wanna falter so I found myself a guide to follow.
You’ll see my daily Bible read throughout 2012 in my Tumblr site.
List of themes:
- Year 2012 – Chronological Bibly Study
- Year 2013 – Daily Outfit (tentative)
The website address is http://rochellesychua.tumblr.com.
Hope you could visit daily 🙂
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HeaRty’s Project 365
starting year 2012
http://rochellesychua.tumblr.com
My One Week Stay at St. Luke’s Medical Center Global City
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On January 8, 2012
Toward the end of 2011, I started getting really sickly. I was trying to fight it off by taking lots of rest and self-medication. However, they weren’t enough, because I got even sicker while working in the office or even on vacation. I decided to visit the doctor finally, so I went to St. Luke’s Medical Center in Global City. In just 2 minutes upon seeing me, the kind doctor immediately suggested that I get admitted.
I wanted to get well so I decided to follow doctor’s orders and immediately started preparing myself for the hospital admission. I called friends to see if they could take me to the hospital. I was just so lucky that I have friends who are willing to help whenever they can.
So one early saturday morning of December, my friends brought me to St. Luke’s Medical Center Global City. In all honesty, despite dreading the thought of staying in the hospital for several days, I was a bit excited as I knew St. Luke’s Global City has the best hospital facilities in the country. As what most people say, it doesn’t even look like a hospital but a hotel. How cool is that?
Admission
The process of admission went so smoothly. We were shown a brochure of available rooms in St. Luke’s the Fort. There in the brochure were pictures and prices of the rooms. I was hoping to get the deluxe room private (Php 4,000/day) but it was just too expensive for me. I requested for a semi-regular private room (Php 2,500/day). There were only about 20+ rooms for that in the whole St. Luke’s Global City so I had my fingers crossed while waiting for them to check if there’s an available room.
Luckily, I got the semi-regular private room (Php 2,500/day) as it saved me Php 1,000 compared to the regular private room (Php 3,500/day). I was given an admission kit that includes a small towel, toothbrush kit, a measuring cup and set of dining utensils.
We were escorted by a good-looking man to our hospital room. He graciously explained the facilities inside the room and wished us well as he wandered off.
Semi-Regular Private Room
The room was superb! In my life, I think I was hospitalized about 4-5 times. Each time was just dreadful for me. This time around, though I felt sad that I need to stay in one room without any freedom to do things that I want outside of the hospital, it felt good that I have chosen St. Luke’s Medical Center Global City at the Fort.
You know why? Because as I’ve experienced it, the hospital is really world-class. The facilities are all so modern, very technology driven and since it was just a 2-year old hospital, it felt so new!
In my room, there was a huge cabinet to put my things plus there was a lockbox to put our precious stuff in. There were also a refrigerator, a telephone, a flat-screen TV, a DVD player (we can even borrow DVDs!), digital blood pressure checker and some other medical gadgets, a bed, a fire extinguisher and couch (can also be a bed).
I also appreciate that we can see a good view of Global Bonifacio City through the window.
It definitely was a welcome happy surprise that St. Luke’s Global City is Wi-Fi-enabled hospital-wide!!! That was the biggest driver why I wanted to stay in St. Luke’s the Fort in spite of the far distance from my house. It was worth it, definitely worth it.
Room Rates as of year 2011
I’m not sure what St. Luke’s Medical City at the Fort offers for the year of 2012. For 2011 though, when I was hospitalized, St. Luke’s offered 16% discount for all their room rates.
In my almost 1 week stay at the hospital, my bill was at Php40,000+.
Here’s a rundown of the room rates as of December 2011 (Rate/16% discounted rate):
- Ward – Php 1,786/ Php 1,500
- Semi-Private – Php 2,500/ Php 2,100
- Semi-Regular Private – Php 3,000/ Php 2,500
- Regular Private – Php 4,137/ Php 3,500
- De Luxe Private – Php 4,762/ Php 4,000
- De Luxe Private with PC – Php 5,119/ Php 4,300
- Executive – Php 5,952/ Php 5,000
- Executive with PC – Php 6,310/ Php 5,300
- Regular Suite – Php 11,905/ Php 10,000
- De Luxe Suite – Php 14,286/ Php 12,000
- Executive Suite – Php 17,857/ Php 15,000
- Ambassador Suite – Php 47,619/ Php 40,000
- Presidential Suite – Php 59.524/ Php 50,000
Food
Do you even think that I won’t be including a food review in my hospital experience? Oh, no, no! I’m a food lover and everywhere I go, food always makes me giddy.
Unfortunately, my sickness that time prevented me from eating anything solid. So I ate only soup, soup and soup.
I had my friends try out the yummy food food served in my room. Boy, it was gourmet! Whoever thought that hospital food can look and taste so good? Well, St. Luke’s definitely gave a new meaning to a full hospital experience. I love it!
There were two types of meals we can choose from: full diet or soft diet. At first, they didn’t give me that option and went ahead and served me full diet meals. While it looked good, I couldn’t eat it due to my sickness. The server noticed and suggested to serve me soft-diet meals next time.
So the next meal I was served with were congee, lychee, soup and mouth-watering shrimps!
I can’t imagine hospital food can look and taste so good! It was like dining in a restaurant. I was pretty impressed with the presentation and the quality of the food being served!
Service
Overall, I think my experience with St. Luke’s Medical Center Global City was good. However, it wasn’t perfect. The facilities were more than satisfying but service was inconsistent.
Here’s my rating (5-highest, 1-lowest) for service:
- Admission Department: 5/5
- Hospital Escorts: 5/5
- Nurses: 4/5
- Food Servers: 5/5
- Cleaning Staff: 4/5
- Nurses Station/Room Floor Reception: 3/5
- Endoscopy Section Staff: 5/5
- Accounting Department: 5/5
Personal Experience
My hospital stay made me reflect on a lot of things. This has got to do with the outpouring support from friends. Honestly, I never thought that a lot of people do care for me. I was deeply touched and humbled.
Most of all, I felt God as I see my brothers and sisters in Christ showing so much love and care. I somehow felt I didn’t deserve it but God is so good!
You know, as soon as I got home, I immediately went to my bookshelf and got my Bible. I started reading it like really reading and understanding it. I want to get to know Him better and I was sorry for taking Him for granted. When I got sick and when I thought I’d be spending miserable days in the hospital, God was there. He made me feel that I’m not alone after all!
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St. Luke’s Medical Center Global City
32nd Street corner 5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, 1634 Philippines
+63 (02) 789-7700
http://www.stluke.com.ph