Author: Rochelle Sy Chua

Banchetto Overnight Street Food Fiesta

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On May 11, 2011

Banchetto

I’ve been hearing a lot about Banchetto. So I was ecstatic when I knew that my friends and I would all be going that friday night. I was ready to be awake all night long just to be able to experience what Banchetto Overnight Street Food Fiesta was like.

Even if we knew that Banchetto starts at 12 midnight, we still went as early as 10PM. As expected, there weren’t any stalls yet. Around 11PM, vendors were starting to setup one by one. We walked around still just to get a feel of it.

I was so excited that I started taking pictures even if 90% of the stalls weren’t ready yet. I was watching out for the barbeque/grilled dishes. Look at the smile on my face below.

Just as I thought that we would be relaxed during the visit, I got the shock of my life when it turned midnight. There were TOO MANY people!!!! I can’t hardly move while walking around the stalls. I felt that I was just being dragged along the crowd just to be able to proceed further. They were that many.

Anywhere I look (left, right, front & back), there were people! It was truly a street party of food AND people!

The front stairs of office buildings nearby Banchetto were jampacked too. That was just 5-10% of the crowd of Banchetto.

Banchetto offers a wide selection of food items. It was overwhelming actually. I was watching over my weight so I was only able to sample a few but if I didn’t, I would have eaten so much.

See this mouthwatering barbeque? They were Angus Beef skewers. Who wouldn’t want one? They were pretty affordable too!

My favorite would be the different barbeque dishes. They have like so many of them but I decided to stick with Isaw & hotdogs. Street food galore!! You can be assured that the food are clean. Prices are a bit higher than normal but still affordable and cheaper than in the malls. The food are cooked fresh so you have to wait for a few minutes before it gets done. I believe it’s all worth it. Newly cooked food are the yummiest to eat 🙂

Banchetto also has stalls that sells rice dishes. Very cheap at Php50-60! If you are trying to have late dinner or heavy midnight snack, then this is for you!

This was one unique item, the mini tacos! I said to myself that I’d go back to buy one set but due to the vast amount of food, I forgot! I actually only remembered when I was reviewing the pics I took at Banchetto. Oh well, there’s always next time.

There were pizza, pasta, lasagna too! I wouldn’t wanna eat those as it can make your stomach full right away. As it was my 1st visit in Banchetto, I wanted to eat light so I can eat MORE! 😀

You can buy cakes for take-out. Just in case, you have family members who can’t get awake that late. It would be such a nice surprise when they see you brought pasalubong for them.

I was really shocked when I saw lechon & sushi in one of the stalls hahaha! The things businessmen can think of selling. Since it’s in Banchetto, then it should be successful. I have heard of stalls closing down because of poor sales. Based on my observation during my visit, seems like they got the right formula already.

I’ll definitely be back as there were so much to try out! I will make sure I try some more sinful dishes hehehe 😛

I know a lot of people have been going to Banchetto to eat Monster Burger. Honestly, I wasn’t able to notice it while we were roaming around. My friends told me that it’ll take at least an hour to get your own order. I guess I have to make sure that when I go to Banchetto next time, I would order the monster burger first before anything else. I took a picture of a man cooking burgers, not sure if this was the popular monster burger they were talking about though.

Another popular stall was the Hot Siz stall wherein 2 beautiful Korean ladies were selling barbeque dishes. They were smiling all throughout and were striking poses when they saw cameras flashing at them. They were soooo cute! No wonder they never ran out of customers.

While everyone was going gaga on Korean stalls and monster burgers, my eyes were fixed on isaw. Yes, isaw! I was eating isaw all throughout and I just kept ordering and ordering till I can’t eat anymore. They were pretty cheap at Php20-30 per piece. There were large ones and small ones. I prefer the bigger one but gee, just by blogging about it, I wanna drive to Banchetto and eat some more. Unfortunately, it’s not friday today.

Banchetto

Banchetto is only open during friday midnight till saturday 11AM. I’m so glad I finally visited the place. Banchetto will definitely be one of my favorite places to go to during weekends. I cannot wait to go back. I cannot wait!

P.S. Banchetto is currently closed but I’m positive it’ll be back soon. If you’re like me and you wanna support Banchetto, then go over this link and show your love.

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Banchetto Overnight Street Food Fiesta
Along Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Center, Metro Manila, Philippines
Friday Midnight till 11:00AM Saturday

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Stanley Chi’s Book: Suplado Tips

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On May 6, 2011

Suplada Tips Stanley Chi

I’m not updated anymore with any new published books. I realized I don’t have much time to go to bookstores and check on what’s new & notable. I just visit bookstores to quickly buy books that are being recommended by friends and colleagues.

Early this week, I got a message from one of my friends, Stanley Chi. He told me that he got a new book called Suplado Tips. He was asking for my mailing address as he wanted to give me a copy of his first ever humor book. I was excited and it took me just two days to wait for the Suplado Tips book to arrive.

I immediately browsed through the pages of the book. I was laughing as I read Suplado Tips! I actually asked my male colleagues to read it too! They enjoyed reading as well. Why wouldn’t you want to get some cool, witty suplado tips to use right? Or maybe, if you really can’t find the courage to apply what Stanley Chi shared in Suplado Tips then you can act it out in your imagination.

Who is Stanley Chi?

I know Stanley Chi is already well-known. He’s the cartoonist behind the comic strip Chopsticks that is being published in Manila Bulletin every sunday since 8 years ago. He then went on to become a stand-up comedian (I actually first met him during one of his shows before). He also entered television through a comedy show, Front Act with Mike Unson.

Stanley Chi has been busy and continued on a new venture by publishing his first ever comic book, Suplado Tips. Do you know that this venture started with a simple impromptu post in Facebook? He posted a suplado tip like “Kung may nagtampo sa iyo dahil na-sampolan mo ng supladong hirit, hiritan mo ng, ‘Hindi ko na problema yan!‘ (If someone resents you for your snide retort, just say, ‘That’s no longer my problem!’)”. He then posted several more in his Facebook Page and they spread like wildfire.

The overwhelming popularity of Stanley Chi’s suplado tips in Facebook prompted PSICOM Publishing Inc.’s Tom Aquitana to ask Stanley to compile all his tips into a book.

Stanley Chi even got Ramon Bautista to write the foreword in the book! Even just the foreword, I was already laughing! Stanley Chi’s Suplado Tips is definitely a fun read!

The book is trying to send a message that Suplado is the new SEXY. Do you agree? Well, if you do then I’m sure you’re already planning to go to either National Bookstore or Fully Booked to get your own copy of Suplado Tips (Php 95). In case you cannot wait any longer, you can go to www.psicompublishing.com and purchase online (they are currently on sale!).

For my non-pinoy friends, I’m truly sorry but the book was written in Filipino. I guess the book was made with the Pinoy in mind. Maybe, we can pitch this idea to Stanley to make an English version of it. Stanley, if you’re reading this, you might wanna consider 😉

I’ll leave you with my top 3 favorite Suplado Tips from Stanley Chi:

Suplado Tip # 6: Kung panay ang tanong sayo ng kakilala mo, hiritan mo ng “Don’t ask me, ask Mr Webster!”
Suplado Tip # 30: Kung ayaw mong mabasted ng babae, huwag kang manligaw!
Suplado Tip # 93: Kung may nagtanong sayo kung sino ka at ano ang trabaho mo, hiritan mo ng “GOOGLE ME!”

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Fast Five Movie Review

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On May 5, 2011

Fast Five Movie

Good movies just kept coming! Come to think of it, good is even an understatement. Excellent should be the word to describe the 2 movies I’ve recently seen. Both Thor and Fast Five were outstanding! I cannot believe that we would have 2 great movies showing back to back.

I was invited to attend the advanced screening of Fast Five last tuesday by PLDT myDSL. I was excited as 2 of my favorite actors are there. I actually never imagined Vin Diesel & Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson to be in the same movie!!!

I got the biggest surprise as it went way beyond my expectations! You see, Fast Five is already the 5th installment of the Fast & the Furious franchise. I never expected that they could actually make it better. In my opinion, Fast Five is the best among all the Fast & the Furious movies.

I seriously think that everyone should not get any spoilers because what made the movie amazing is the surprise factor. You really never know what’s coming next. Though some scenes were really not realistic, it wouldn’t matter. The non-stop action will really take all your attention. I never had a dull moment. NEVER (not even a single minute)!

Fast Five were able to reunite all your favorite Fast & the Furious stars namely Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Gal Gadot, Matt Schulze, Tego Calderon, Don Omar & some surprise stars 😛 As of this writing, it was concluded that Fast Five was the most successful in the franchise having broken box office records with highest grossing opening weekend in April in the U.S.

The movie follows Dom Toretto (played by Vin Diesel) & Brian O’Conner (played by Paul Walker) as they plan a heist to rob $100 million from a corrupt businessman Hernan Reyes (played by Joaquim de Almeida). At the same time, both are also being pursued by top DSS agent Luke Hobbs (played by Dwayne Johnson). You have to watch Fast Five to know how the story goes. I assure you, you will be so happy that you decided to watch Fast Five. It’s THAT good.

Before I forget, do wait for the scene after the credits. You’ll LOVE the surprise!

My Rating for Fast Five: 5 out of 5 stars.

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Thor Movie Review

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On May 4, 2011

Thor Movie

You might think I’m crazy for watching this movie in 2 consecutive days. I just cannot get enough of Thor, I was so impressed that I couldn’t resist to watch it again.

Thor is a superhero film based on a comic book character created by Marvel Comics. It stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo, Tom Hiddleston and some other great artists.

I appreciate that the movie was beautifully made in 3D. Take note, that the movie was created 100% in 3D and not just bits and pieces. I watched the movie both times in 3D! Even after my 2nd time, I was still raving about how awesome and how epic the movie was!

Who is Thor anyway?

Thor is a hammer-wielding God of thunder. Son of Odin (King of Asgard) and brother to Loki. He was about to get the throne from his father but was interrupted by the Frost Giants’ attempt to get their source of power (Casket of Ancient Winters) from Asgard’s possession.

Thor’s reaction to this showed how arrogant, impulsive, arrogant he was. It even went to the point that he disrespected the king. This resulted to Thor being stripped of his godly powers and being exiled in earth.

I love that even if we haven’t read the Thor comicbooks, we can still understand the whole story. It was made with everyone in mind. There are several stories that each of us can relate:

Father and son relationship
Sibling Rivalry
Romantic Love
Loyal Friendships
Honor

Each aspect definitely has some lessons for us to take home and reflect.

But yeah, Chris Hemsworth’s abs is definitely worth looking at. Yes, we girls were drooling like crazy! I must admit that I searched for the actor through Google and found out that he’s already married. Bummer.

Guys, on the other hand, will like seeing Natalie Portman there. The action scenes and special effects were awesome too!

What more can you ask from a superhero film? Great story, nice effects, good action scenes, perfect acting and I can go on and on. For me, this movie was made of epic. Don’t miss it!

My Rating for Thor: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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P.S. Don’t forget to finish the credits as there were scenes worth watching for 😉

GUESS New Eyewear Optical & Sun Collection

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On May 4, 2011

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I buy at least one pair of optical eyewear each year. Why? Somehow, I want to have my own eyewear collection as I tend to be very conscious of my fashion sense hahaha! I want my eyewear to look great with my outfit for the day.

In relation to this, I got really excited when I received an email informing me of this new eyewear collection from GUESS. I was really in awe when I browsed through the photos of GUESS Eyewear Optical and Sun Collection. I wanted to have each and every one of those but I know my budget is limited 😛

The GUESS Eyewear collection offers styles that reflect today’s top fashion trends. There are three distinct design trends in GUESS new eyewear collection. These are:

Vintage Dream

Vintage Dream is inspired by romantic moods. What more can you show romance by having crystal hues, soft jewel tones and delicate feminine prints. It definitely has a vintage feel to each and every eyewear in this collection.

On a personal note, this is definitely a fave!

I wanted for myself the GU7056 model. Its combination of metal & plastic blend so well that it created a very unique look. I never wanted something common and that particular eyewear really caught my attention.

GUESS has also something in store for men. The above image which has GU1692 and GU1691 as model numbers have an edgy masculine appeal. The black one does look really nice. The acetate frames were actually handmade!

Royal Underground

Royal Underground is all about living on the edge. The eyewear in this collection has metals and chains mixed with splatter & grunge effects. Wow! Wearing the glasses definitely symbolizes the person is living on the edge.

Guys that will wear this will get his much needed attention as it makes a strong statement. The glasses have this distinct “Shield” logo and it sets the mood for the style.

I also personally love this set of eyewear. I bet wearing one of them will give a sexy, glamorous look. The two-tone coloring adds excitement and dimension to the enamel-filled GUESS “Elite Script” logo.

I had a similar front-shape style sunglass but this particular design by GUESS does look much better. The metal chain details mixed with the frame created a nice street chic appeal.

Creative Journey

Inspired by art decorations, Creative Journey provides richly textured wovens & decorative fabrics. It has lots of colors, prints & leathers. Some eyewear also has lace, patchwork and skins. For those creative people out there, this collection might be a perfect fit for you 🙂

Very stylish eyewear for the sporty men. I particularly like the metal cut logo, so unique!

guess creative journey sun 2

Designed to by worn any time of the day. The glasses give a fun appeal with the metal lock and key charms style on the frame. Cute!

So you’re the type of girl who loves animal skins then this design is for you. Unique snake skin patterns pressed into the metal temples create a unique and very bold look.

I really like this new collection by GUESS. I hope I could get hold of the Vintage Dream sunglasses that I wanted. Let’s see.

If you live in Manila and would want to own one or more of this very fashion-forward eyewear then head on over to Powerplant Mall in Rockwell by May 6, 2011. GUESS has a promo until May 6 at LS Pascual wherein you’ll get a limited edition tote bag for every purchase of GUESS eyewear!

Sorry for the late broadcast but I also found out just now about the promo. Fret not, we still have 2 days to go there and buy our very own GUESS eyewear.

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