Author: Rochelle Sy Chua

Tamsui Morning Market

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On December 8, 2009

Tamsui Morning Market
Zhongzheng Road, Taipei, Taiwan
open sunrise to noontime

——————–
Last September 19, we decided to go around Tamsui. It had sooooooo many tourist spots in the area that it took us the whole day just to visit most of it.

So we started the day by going to the well known Tamsui Morning Market. They open from sunrise until noontime only. Hence, the name. Anyway, the market is located along Zhongzheng road. When we visited, there were a lot of people checking out the place. They were buying a lot of stuff. And yes, we also bought some for ourselves.

Of course, we didn’t buy food since we couldn’t really cook, right? Because we were just staying in a hotel and we eat out a lot anyway..

Tamsui Morning Market is basically a wet market, with lots of stalls selling fish, vegetables, meats & fruits. Aside from that, there were street food & cheap clothes for sale!

taiwan2

taiwan3

taiwan4

Here we are, very ready for the day’s adventure. As you can see, we took a lot of pictures. If you want to see them, they’re all right here.

What a way to start a day right? We had a loooooong way to go. Watch out for more Tamsui travel posts!

PicPanda.com

Classic Savory

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On December 6, 2009

Classic Savory
G/F, The Link (Anson’s Building), Makati Avenue, Ayala Center, Makati City

——————–
Maus, Jo & I had our christmas lunch at Classic Savory. This is located at the Link building in Makati City. We actually just found out that the building is now called “The Link”. This was the building formerly named, “Anson’s” building so that’s how we know it.

Anyway, Savory Restaurant has always been a favorite especially among filipino-chinese community. When I was still studying, my mom would always take me to Savory restaurant located at Binondo. I’ve always loved their chicken especially the sauce. Though (ofcourse), my favorite is still KFC 😛

The 3 of us were sooooo hungry! We ordered a lot but still it was okay since we almost finished everything! We didn’t forget to order their specialty ofcourse and ordered some other dishes so we could try.

There were a lot of people dining at Classic Savory. I guess it just proves that the decision made by the 3rd generation of Savory owners to revive and expand the franchise was the right one.

Here are what we ordered:

Wawi’s Crab Foo Yong (Php 195)

This is a different twist to the usual omelette. This is layered omelette w/ shrimps, mushrooms & crabmeat with gravy poured all over it. It was delicious! I love it! I wonder how they were able to form that shape though.

Nido Soup with Quail Eggs (Php 195)

I wonder why they call it Nido soup. This is chicken broth with mocked bird’s nest and quail eggs. There’s also “chicharon” there btw that really overpowered the taste of the soup. We kind of didn’t notice the bird’s nest anymore coz of the “chicharon”. Still it was a great soup. I never thought it was that tasty. Glad Jo ordered this.

Savory Fried Rice (Php 195)

This is classic Savory’s fried rice specialty. It’s Fried rice w/ green peas, sausage & savory chicken. Honestly, I didn’t even tasted the savory chicken though it’s there. It just tasted like Yang Chow Fried rice.

Half Savory Chicken (Php 195)

This is the best of the best! Their chicken is sooo good with their gravy. Though I love KFC chicken more, Savory’s gravy is the best out there! I wonder how they made it but that sole reason is why we still keep coming back to Savory. It’s just savoring!!! 😀

Savory Tropical Cooler (Php 45)

Okay, this is normal 4 season’s drink. I don’t think it was fresh though, but it tasted good. So can’t complain

One other thing I noticed is this sign hanging on the restaurant’s wall:

4155682104_2aef00a43b

I really hope all other restaurants do have this. Customer service is extremely important. Even if the food is good but service is bad, You’ll still lose your customers. That said, I was impressed with Savory’s customer service. I’ll definitely go back to dine again soon.

See the happy faces? Yes, it was a great meal! 🙂

4155678656_02084158c9

More pictures here.

PicPanda.com

Teriyaki Boy

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On December 5, 2009

Teriyaki Boy
Petron Bel-Air Square, Gil Puyat cor. Makati Ave., Makati City, Metro Manila
(02) 750-3689

——————–
The day we were supposed to attend the Sexy Chef event at the office, we unfortunately ran out of food so we ended up eating outside. We chose Teriyaki Boy mainly because it has good ambiance and they have some new offerings.

I love how Teriyaki Boy always try to come up with something new. Ofcourse this makes their customers want to come back to the restaurant. First it was their crazy rolls, now the new offering is karaage feast.

Here are what we ordered:

Tori Karaage (Php 290)

This was part of the karaage feast. It was boneless chicken that was deep-fried & served with your choice of sauce (Teriyaki, Ranch, Sesami or Chili). I admit, this is not my favorite but it’s like fried chicken 😛 We ordered their to-share version. You can order their go-solo version at Php 165.

Tofu Steak (Php 155)

This dish has always been my favorite in Teriyaki Boy. It is breaded tofu w/ ground pork, onions, chives, shitake & steak sauce. No matter how many times I go to Teriyaki Boy, this has always been the dish to order there.

Asupara Bacon Maki (Php 165)

This is another favorite dish of mine. I think I was the one who ate most of this order 😛 Anyway, this is asparagus wrapped in bacon. 2 of my most favorite ingredients rolled into one. Perfect combination, don’t you think? Just yummy!

Crazy California Roll (Php 175)

This was a different twist to California maki. We didn’t order rice as this crazy maki already had rice. We were all on a diet! 😛 anyway, crazy California maki consists of crabstick, mango, watermelon & lettuce wrapped in rice.

More pictures here.

One thing though that we disliked about the Petron Bel-Air branch was their service. It was just unsatisfactory. First, you have to wait for a waiter to notice you. Then it’s like they are always in a hurry and they just give you what you want without smiling or anything. Another was the longgg wait just to get the bill completed. This has always been the feedback of many who has offices nearby. I hope they fix this because I still go there frequently.

PicPanda.com

The Sexy Chef

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On December 5, 2009

The Culinary Arts Wellness Circle of our office organized this event for us. They invited Sexy Chefs Rachel & Barni Alejandro to talk about eating healthy. At the same time, they let us sample their food. Our company ordered 100 delivery meals from Sexy Chef at a discounted price.

I wasn’t able to attend the event but I was able to see a glimpse of the Alejandro sisters. My friend Jo also set aside one meal for me so I was able to try out their original dish. Let me get to that later.

My 1st impression when I saw Rachel Alejandro was “Wow”! She is indeed sexy thus the name sexy chef really suits her. This also applies to her sister, Barni Alejandro.

4159218107_a24d6aed4b

The Sexy Chef is a fresh food delivery service that caters to people who are interested in weight management or improved health. The company is following the South Beach diet formula developed by Doctor Arthur Agatston.

The Sexy Chef caters to the South Beach diet in the 1st two phases:

Phase One – ample servings of lean protein, beneficial fats & a healthy amount of vegetables.
Phase Two – introduces healthy carbohydrates in the form of whole grains & fruits.

Sexy Chef’s 2-week premiere package consist of breakfast, lunch, dinner, 2 snacks & dessert. This will cost you Php875/day for the South Beach Diet Premiere Package. You can order by calling 911-SEXY or 0917-SXYCHEF.

Here’s a sample menu:

	Phase 1	Phase 2
Breakfast	Vegetable Omelette	Cereal w/ Low Fat Milk
Lunch	Shrimp Gambas Salad w/ Balsamic Dressing	Shrimp Fried Rice
Dinner	Stuffed Chayote w/ Ground Beef Onion Soup	Stuffed Chayote w/ Ground Beef Onion Soup
Snack 1	Vegetable Crudite	Apple
Snack 2	Chicken Salad	Chicken Salad

If you’re not into South Beach Diet, Sexy Chef also offers fit meals for Php 140. The one I tried was their Fish Salpicao w/ Garlic Mushroom.

4159976050_119eeb56b2

This tasted like Risotto all the way. I believe they used brown rice & canola oil to cook this. However, I felt that the mushroom in the dish was just too many that it overpowered the whole dish. Well, it’s still a healthy meal. You will not feel guilty when eating this 🙂

More pictures here.

I wish I attended the session. I heard it was a great interactive event. The Alejandro sisters even taught the group how to do salad making.

PicPanda.com

P&G Christmas Basket 2009

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On December 5, 2009

December 4 was a great day to be a P&G employee! Not just because it was a friday & we can wear casual clothes like jeans & rubber shoes. It was also the day we received our christmas bonus and the ever-famous christmas basket! 😀

4157635425_e7d881e314

It is just so nice to work for a company that reward their employees 🙂 I can divide the Christmas Basket into 3 sections: Grocery Items, P&G products & ham!

Where do I begin? I was really ssssssooooo excited yesterday that I took a lot of pictures!
Let me show them to you:

Ham – we received 2 different brands – CDO & Purefoods.

P&G Products – consist of assorted P&G products which I personally, only use. I wouldn’t work for the company if I didn’t believe in their products right?

Groceries – this one is my ultimate favorite! I just love groceries especially the ones given for free hehehe 😛

A lot of people have been asking me how they could apply in P&G. We have created a facebook page just for recruitment. You can check the page out for P&G recruitment activities. We’re currently hiring so go here & check the list of events.

Before I forget, there is a P&G recruitment event on January 23. This is open to all experienced IT professionals. Interested individuals can apply online to our job posting here.

Anyway, as I was saying regarding christmas basket, you can find the rest of the pictures in my flickr album here.