Burgoo American Bar & Restaurant Robinsons Galleria, EDSA cor. Ortigas Ave., Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines (02) 633-6259
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My best friend from grade school and I make it a point to have a bonding session every now and then. Whether it’s going shopping, pigging out or just talking about anything under the sun, as long as we spend time together at least once a quarter. Earlier, we attended the All About Money Seminar. It finished around 1PM, and by then we were starving. As we were walking around to find a restaurant, we saw Burgoo American Bar and Restaurant. The girl gave us a coupon for a free grilled porkchop (amounts to Php295) as long we order any entree on their menu. We quickly decided to just dine in at Burgoo.
Then I remembered, my BPI credit card might have a promo with Burgoo. I asked the server and indeed they currently do have a promo. Apparently, the promo is a buy one take one (we just need to pay the entree that is of higher value). They do have a list of entrees that we can choose from though.
Here are what we ordered:
Spinach Grilled Salmon (Php 495)
Grilled Norwegian salmon with spinach cream sauce. It was steaming hot when it was served. And it was noticeably appetizing to look at even at first look. It was obvious that it was going to be a good dish. My friend confirmed just how good it was! I watched her finish the dish hahaha!
It looked like it was perfectly grilled and that it kept its moistness which is important when you eat salmon. If you cook salmon too long, it becomes dry and flaky and loses its flavor. Judging by the way my friend ate it, it most certainly was cooked good. The compliment of mashed potato was just enough for this dish in my opinion. A healthy yet very sustainable dish.
Shrimps & Ribs Platter (Php 595)
Served with french fries and corn on the cob (without the cob), the cajun shrimps & baby back ribs combination was just sooo tempting. You know I really was planning to order another menu item. But seeing the picture on the menu, it was just too delicious to pass up. I ended up ordering anyway. The baby back ribs was tender which is really important for ribs to be. The dish was okay, nothing to scream about, but was just the ordinary ribs that you could get anywhere. Although, I’ve had bad ribs before, so I always do appreciate it when it’s at least tender. The shrimps were good too, and all in all not a bad meal to get when you’re hungry, but nothing out of the ordinary either.
Lemonade (Php 69)
This was a pretty weird lemonade drink. A bottomless one by the way. I usually drink a lot but there was a weird taste that I didn’t like. I asked for it to be replaced and when they did, it still tasted the same. I concluded that it might be the water that is causing it. Anyway, I drank it still 😛
Hot Tea (Php 45)
One thing that I noticed was that their servers were very attentive. When we arrived, they immediately offered to give us the couch seat as there was one table who was already billing out. They gave the menu for us to choose what we wanted to order and they also offered to assist us with anything. I was pretty impressed. It was pretty consistent all throughout. Although, a service charge is already ncluded in the bill, we still opted to give an extra tip 🙂
This is us having our picture taken while waiting for the bill. The rest of the pictures can be found on my Flickr account.
The meeting with 4 Liberal Party (LP) Senatorial candidates definitely turned out to be one of the nicest interview sessions we had up to that point. Mainly because our 4 LP senatorial guests were very much warm & accommodating. Doctor Martin Bautista was so funny that it made the whole event very light & enjoyable.
We were not allowed to ask individual questions to each of the 4 LP senatoriables due to time constraints, so we were left with 1 generic question to ask Neric Acosta, Doctor Martin Bautista, TG Guingona III & Ruffy Biazon.
I already have a partial list of senatoriables to support for this upcoming May 2010 elections and most of them are from the Liberal Party. So I asked them the following question:
I support most Liberal Party senatoriables but I’m not convinced with your presidentiable. Can you tell us why you are running under Liberal Party & why you believe in Noynoy Aquino?
When I asked the question, I noticed their faces had lightened up. And it looked as if they were eager to answer the question that I had just asked of them. I could really feel the passion & their support for their Presidential standard bearer Noynoy Aquino when they answered (especially Neric Acosta).
Ruffy Biazon
# 7 in the ballot. Congressman Ruffy Biazon has served the lone disctrict of Muntinlupa City for the last three terms. His hands has touched many of the bills that has passed through Congress during his three terms. Not only has he been able to touch on these bills, but he has authored and co-authored many of these bills as well.
He has been part of many committees in congress, and has been at the forefront of such legislations as the Tobacco Regulation Act, The Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act, The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, The Cheaper Medicines Act, just to name a few.
Indeed with the many legislation that he has been a part or a main proponent of, he has even been cited by the Free Press Magazine as an Outstanding Congressman of the Philippines and the Philippine Graphic Magazine as one of the Top 100 Young Leaders of the country.
He continues to live up to his motto, “Do the right things and do things rightâ€, in his everyday life.
Why am I running with the LP?
When I first ran for office in 2001, I was with the LDP. When the LDP broke up prior to the 2004 elections, I went to the only party that I saw that had a genuine ideology and was composed of people of good stature and integrity so I went to the LP. I’ve been with the LP ever since.
Why am I supporting Noynoy Aquino?
Well, he’s the only one who has been through the test of power. Among all the presidential candidates, not one of them has been tested on how they would handle power when it is in their hands. I’m referring to the presidential power, and we all know how a presidential son can abuse the power of his parent as a president. Noynoy has been through that and he has shown humility & integrity in spite of being in access to such power within this country. He has already passed it, I don’t want to take a gamble with the others. I want to support the guy who passed that crucial test.
People are questioning his competence. Well, it’s just unfortunate that people are relying on impressions. If you’ve been given a chance to work with Noynoy, you will know that he is competent. If you’ll browse through the records of congress, the transcripts of debates, plenary sessions, committee hearings, you will see his intelligent participation in congress. He acts as the fiscalizer. They challenge him with the number of bills that he has filed but why do we look up at Joker Arroyo with high respects? If we look at his track record in filing bills and passing laws, it’s also comparable to Noynoy’s. But Joker Arroyo is performing a role that was also within his responsibility as a legislator and so with Noynoy Aquino.
The difference of Noynoy with many other politicians is that when he speaks, he does not look at the camera to speak to. It is because he speaks to the record. He does not want fanfare. He does not want publicity because he just wants to work. I’ve seen it first-hand.
In this presidential election, we’ve been through 9 years of an el nino of integrity. We’re now looking for a spring of hope, a spring of character because competence is what will get you up there but it will be character which will make you stay there. A lot of competent people have gone up. They fell down badly because of character. As far as Noynoy is concerned, I’ve seen that he has character which would let him handle power worthy of our trust and competence. That’s why I support Noynoy.
TG Guingona III
#19 in the ballot. TG Guingona, despite being the son of the prominent Teofisto Guingona, Jr., the 13th vice president of the Philippines, has himself been able to make an impact in public service. He has had a great focus on economic development, and is pushing for the passage of HB No. 5255 establishing the Mindanao Economic Development Authority (MEDA).
Aside from his great focus on Mindanao, his legislative focus continues to also center on a variety of issues such as budget reform, education, health services, food and energy security too.
He has been a champion for good governance, and has been at the forefront as well in terms of Disaster Risk Reduction Management.
The question is why are you with Noynoy? it’s a shared experience. it’s personal for me. We grew up together.
Looking around the room. I see that most of you were not around when martial law was declared in 1972. Those times were terrible. People were being picked up, tortured and at that time, we had no recourse. Noynoy and I grew up together. His dad and my dad were picked up by the martial law authorities. In high school, I do remember distinctly when Fridays come, our classmates would go to parties. Noynoy and I would prepare to go somewhere else to visit our father. He would go to Fort Bonifacio to visit Ninoy Aquino while I would go to Camp Crame to visit my dad.
Sometime in 1978, we did challenge the dictatorship. They called an election, Batasang Pambansang Election. That’s where Ninoy Aquino formed the Lakas ng Bayan (LABAN) to go against the dictatorship. In fact, that’s why we have the L sign. Hey guys, That’s not Liberal ah. It’s Lakas ng Bayan — LABAN. It goes all the way back to 1978 against the original fight against oppression. We see that now in the past 10 years that Gloria has been in power. She already tried to declare martial law in 2005. They did ask permission from the United states but the United States government told them “don’t do that, otherwise we wont support youâ€. They did not continue with martial law but we see it going there, we see oppression.
I grew up with Noynoy and I’ve seen him. We’ve been together in the fight against the oppression of martial law. It was a shared experience and it continued now as congressmen. In the impeachment, during the 2004, 2005, 2006 impeachment and in the battle against charter change.
So really, why will we vote for Noynoy? Kase ng tinatanong nila, anong nagawa mo? Ang tanong talaga , anong ipinaglaban mo? Nung panahon na kailangan tumayo, sino yung tumayo? Nung kailangan magsalita, sino nagsalita? Who paid the price? Noynoy Aquino was there. He was there in 1978 with his father. He was there during the congress of 2004 all the way to 2007. There was no blind ambition on the part of Noynoy to become president. As you’ve said, he did not want to become president originally so there is no hidden agenda, no blind ambition to become the most powerful of this land. I think this person is a person who has his heart in the right place. Ako mismo, si TG Guingona. I can vouch for him. I grew up with the person. We fought against the oppression of martial law and we fought against the oppression of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Siya nanindigan, siya ay lumaban. Kaya ako para kay Noynoy Aquino, all the way.
Tempura Japanese Grill 1 Juno St. cor. Makati Ave., Makati City, Metro Manila (02) 899-1365
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It was a get together that was planned for weeks. Funny though that some of us were late (including me hehehe!). Tempura Japanese Grill is located at Makati avenue and is near our office. It took us quite a time to order. We ended up ordering when everyone was already present. It did seem as though like we had the menu memorized hahaha!
One thing that I really appreciate is that Tempura Japanese Grill has ample parking space plus the restaurant is big enough to cater to a lot of dining guests. The place has such a wonderful ambiance that you could probably sit there for hours without feeling any pressure. The food is delicious too! I also love their new menu items especially Wasabi Tempura (yum!).
We ordered the ff.:
Ebi Bacon Maki (Php 230)
Shrimp, winter mushroom & asparagus wrapped in bacon with Tempura’s special sauce. Hayy, this is truly heaven! I used to order the asupara maki w/c is asparagus wrapped in bacon but this innovation is just wow! Shrimps, asparagus & bacon in 1 menu item. My 3 favorite foods served as appetizer! I enjoyed this dish a lot!
Mixed Maki (Php 180)
California maki, tamago maki, kani maki & tekka maki. If you wanna have a taste of everything, then you should order this. California maki still is my favorite among the rest though.
Karufuru Salad (Php 155)
A fruity salad indeed! Mandarin oranges, apple, grapes with lettuce & fruit infused vinaigrette. Good for people who are on a diet (I think I should be telling myself that hahaha!). I wasn’t able to taste this though, but maybe I should next time 🙂
Gohan (Php 35)/ Chahan (Php 48)
Gomoku Chahan (Php 60)
the difference between this rice and chahan is that this includes mixed seafoods, but there’s not much difference in taste though.
Tofu Steak (Php 150)
This has always been my favorite item to order from the menu. Tofu, shitake mushrooms & ground pork with steak sauce. Very tasty & healthy too!
Ebi Wasabi Tempura (Php 399)
I’ve been raving about this dish. But do take note, you don’t need to add the wasabi into your sauce coz the tempura has wasabi all over it! Prawns deep fried in crispy batter with wasabi, it’s such a great innovation! Kudos to the one who created the recipe.
Spareribs Sansho Yaki (Php 245)
This is another menu item that is very unique. Spareribs Teriyaki – it’s spareribs cooked Japanese style! It was delicious! We all loved it! I believe from all the japanese restaurants out there, only Tempura serves this.
Tori Teriyaki (Php 195)
We didn’t order this at first but my friend Hai ended up ordering it. It’s the ever famous chicken teriyaki… If you’re curious, it’s basically chicken (leg portion) that has been marinated and grilled. But it’s moist, cooked well, and the teriyaki sauce tops it off quite nicely. Delicious!
Brewed Lemon Iced Tea (Php 60)
Once in a while, we need to go out for lunches like these, because of not only the food but because of the very meaningful conversations.. I loved conversations like what we had here at Tempura Japanese Grill coz it brings out whatever is in our hearts. Though how deep the topics are, if my friends are with me, then taking pictures will always be part of it
Waterfront Airport Hotel & Casino Mactan 1 Airport Road, Lapu-Lapu City, 6015 Cebu, Philippines (02) 340-4888
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We weren’t supposed to stay at Waterfront but due to unforeseen circumstances, we ended up staying at Waterfront Mactan for our last day in Cebu. We arrived exactly at 2PM just in time for check-in. The first thing I asked was if there was wifi in the room. The lady said there was, but we had to pay extra (Php 600 for 24-hours but they do have 12-hour and hourly rates as well). By the way, you can’t share the connection, the internet is good for only 1 computer.
Waterfront Mactan has a nice location since it’s just 10 minutes away from Cebu’s international & domestic airport. Very accessible & no need to worry about the traffic as the airport is just right in front of the hotel. Actually, the next day we arrived at the airport exactly 45 minutes before our flight hahaha! Talk about last minute..
The lobby of Waterfront Mactan hotel reminds me of some hotels here in Manila. It looked very traditional but still okay… It felt cozy though. Best for guests who are on the go, mostly businessmen.
We chose the superior room ($135). The room rate is already inclusive of buffet breakfast (I did mention that this was the most memorable breakfast buffet that we had in Cebu right?). The room was just okay. A bed, table, television with cable, safety deposit box, mini bar, refrigerator, bathtub & nice view of Cebu when you look out the window.
What I love most about Waterfront Mactan hotel is their food. Their breakfast buffet is just great and can I say that their room service is the best too? It was 3AM in the morning and I was really really hungry. We ended up calling room service to order Arroz Caldo (Php 200), which is a chicken-flavored rice porridge served with eggs, calamansi, onion leeks & patis. I got the shock of my life when I saw just how big it was! I thought it was just good for one, but would have easily served 4 people. I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted it, geez it was really good & yummy! I didn’t think that they would be able to make it that good! Well, I know I was really hungry but I really believe they cooked it right and the ingredients blended right too!
The hallway is nice too and UNO restaurant has to take credit for that coz of its wonderful design. Made it photography worthy 🙂
Waterfront Hotel is famous for its casinos. I was a bit disappointed though with their Mactan branch as the casino was small. I’m also a bit pissed with the security officer at the casino reception, would you believe that the girl really checked every bit of my bag? Like even the candies in my bag she had to check. I felt a bit disrespected with the act but I just didn’t let it affect me. And oh, there’s a Lapu-lapu statue outside the casino too.
Lastly, what is a hotel without a swimming pool?
See the rest of the pictures in my Flickr album. If you just wanna relax and stay in the hotel room, then I don’t think this is the place for you. I can say that Waterfront Mactan hotel is best for people who are planning to tour around Cebu, have early flights the next day, or for business people on the go. The room rate is cheap and the location is good too as it’s very accessible.
Last January 2010, I attended a bloggers meet w/ Presidential Candidate Brother Eddie Villanueva. To be honest, I’ve always wondered how a religious leader would plan to lead the Philippines considering the dirty politics that we continue to witness. Before the meeting started, Brother Eddie’s staff apologized. We were informed that Brother Eddie Villanueva was sick & was still not feeling well. Brother Eddie in spite of showing signs of being sick, was more than willing to meet with us.
A few minutes later, Brother Eddie Villanueva arrived. He was very warm in welcoming us. He joined us for lunch & we had a great casual conversation. After lunch, we started the interview. Let me share with you a very detailed account of our interview with Brother Eddie Villanueva to give you a feel of the discussion that took place. I suggest you also read the article written by co-blogwatch writer, Sonnie. His article was titled “The Strong Conviction to Rescue the Philippines.”
I also suggest you to go to this link if you want to watch the full interview of Blogwatch team with Presidentiable Brother Eddie Villanueva of Bangon Pilipinas Party. The following are the questions given to Brother Eddie, and the answers that were provided by him. This is your 2nd time to run for the presidency. Did you change the platform you created last 2004? And can you share quickly your platform?
We improved, updated & upgraded the platform. We realized during 2004, 10 points were given. Based on our studies since last year with volunteers practicing economics, we decided to simplify our platform.
The platform is known as the blueprint for the new Philippines with emphasis on the 7 E’s.
1st e – empower the people,
2nd e – emancipate the people
3rd e – educate the people.
4th e – elevate the living standards of people.
5th e – energize the economy.
6th e – eradicate bad governance including corruption.
7th e – establish peace in the land.
Some people asked why the emphasize on the 7 e’s, is it because your name is Eddie? It is just because we are emphasizing the word “excellence” in this platform of government of the Bangon Pilipinas party.
If ever you win, will you appoint people from JIL (Jesus is Lord) into your government?
I believe in meritocracy. I have been fighting for good government & righteous leadership, therefore all kinds of appointments must be based on merits. I’m determined that the Filipino people will cooperate with the aspiration of many people to have many changes and reforms. I will surely appoint only people that are qualified in the position they are aspiring for irregardless of position or religious connections.
I emphasize the importance of 4 c’s for a leader:
good character – integrity & honesty.
competence- without competence, still “inutil”
courage – backbone to implement what is right or what is best for the country,
compassion – a leader who doesn’t have a compassionate heart can just be a leader in the Eiffel tower. A leader cannot be insensitive to the feelings and sufferings of millions of our people.
Irregardless of political & religious persuasion, as long as they pass the standard which I believe should be the basis for right qualifications, then no problem with me. I hate “palakasan” system. I believe this is the major reason why the Philippines has deteriorated to such a miserable condition today.
If ever you win the presidency, who will take over JIL?
JIL movement is different from other churches. JIL movement is not personality-centered, it is Christ- centered, bible-based centered & not partisan-based centered. Last Feb 7, in a leadership conference at the Astrodome, I was surprised by the council of leaders nationwide & worldwide. Suddenly, they called me up on the stage and they enlisted me to the nation. They understand fully my passion for the country. I then finally officially accepted the proposal of multisectoral groups that approached me 3 years ago headed by national chairman of south Christian businessmen of the Philippines to again consider the decision to continue the fight for genuine change in the country. There will be no problem with ministry leadership. We have 10,000 churches all over the world and we have pastors & an executive management board. The leadership structure of JIL movement is not predicated on personality, so with or without brother Eddie Villanueva, it will continue to grow everyday because it’s Christ-centered & it’s a bible-centered ministry.
Thoughts on separation of church & state.
There is a perception that religious leaders should be prohibited to run for public office. As a matter of fact, Joaquin Bernas, a highly-skilled constitutionalist said there is no provision in the constitution that prohibits righteous Godly religious people to run for public office. No religious test should be made in testing the so-called social and political rights of the citizens. Moreover, I would like to explain that separation of church and state is not designed to prevent Godly people from offering their public service to the people.
Thomas Jefferson being a unitarian wrote a letter to the congregation of the baptist assuring them that the state will never interfere in the ecclesiastical duty of the church. He emphasized that religious freedom & freedom of workshop will be observed and protected. In our Philippine constitution, the state is prohibited to establish a state religion. The state is absolutely prohibited to spend public funds in promoting a particular religion. The state should observe and protect religious freedom and freedom of worship. That is very clear in our constitution. No religious test is required in the exercise of political rights of the Filipino people as always quoted by Joaquin Bernas, a respected constitutionalist.
If our political system has been allowing any person whether a lawyer, engineer, housewife, basketball player, actor/actress or even smuggling lords [to run for] public office, why prohibit Godly people to run for public office and fulfill God’s mandate? God’s mandate is very clear. In Proverbs 25:5, remove the wicked away from the king’s throne so the government will be based on righteousness.
In Proverbs 29:2 – when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice — when the wicked rule, the people mourn. In other words, I believe in my heart that Godly Filipinos must be encouraged as long as they are competent, as long as they are qualified to run for any public office so that we can have a righteous government which is a key for the genuine development and progress and prosperity of our beloved country.
