Author: Rochelle Sy Chua

Mesa Filipino Moderne

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On March 7, 2011

Mesa Filipino Moderne

We were driving around Tomas Morato looking for a nice place to hang out and eat dinner. We were choosing between Mesa & 2 other restaurants which were on the same area. We stopped for a moment as we were all undecided which one to choose. We ended up dining at Mesa and we were so glad we did!

Mesa just opened their branch at Tomas Morato. They had other branches in the metro but I still haven’t tried their dishes. I was curious to find out if they are good. It was nice to see more choices for Filipino food. I wondered what would make them different from the rest.

I was in awe when we entered the restaurant seeing those big light decorations on the ceiling. I also liked that most of their seats are couches which people prefer all the time.

mesa ambiance

I was just a bit uncomfortable walking around the place as the walkway is only good for one person. Other than that, the experience was great. I really, really noticed the awesome service from the staff. If I’m gonna rate their service, it would be a 5/5 score. Very impressive!

The food is another thing worth raving for. See the list of food we ordered from our dinner last saturday:

Fresh Buko Juice (Php 60)

fresh buko mesa

Fresh fruit juices has always been my favorite. Since Mesa is a Filipino restaurant, I ordered for a fresh buko juice. It was very refreshing. You can ask them to open it up after you finished up all the juice inside. It was nice to eat those tender buko meat after a heavy meal.

Chicken Binakol (Php 235)

chicken binakol mesa

We ordered the ones with “must-try” label as it was our 1st visit to Mesa. For the soup, it was chicken binakol. It’s basically chicken soup simmered with young coconut and green papaya. That explains why the excess soup was placed in a coconut shell. As an FYI, the one in the picture was the extra soup. Our order was put in a big white bowl and was poured already into our individual bowls.

By the way, do ask for “patis”. You’ll enjoy the chicken better if you dip it to patis 🙂

Duck Basil Fried Rice (Php 250)

duck basil fried rice mesa

We initially didn’t plan to order any meat dishes, that was why we ended up getting the duck basil fried rice. It was basically fried rice with duck flakes & basil. It has chili too but we asked if they could separate it. The rice was alright, it was tasty but I wouldn’t go back ordering it again.

Boneless Tilapia (Php 290)

boneless tilapia

We were definitely in heaven with Mesa’s boneless tilapia!!! Mesa’s tilapia was definitely satisfying to our taste buds. Not much effort also in taking off the meat as they already did it for us! Mind you, it was boneless too! There were 4 sauces to choose from: sweet chili sauce, honey bagoong sauce, mesa’s special sauce & vinegar sauce. Definitely, a great twist to a Filipino dish right there.

Sigarillas (Php 180)

sigarillas mesa

Wing beans with coconut milk & shrimps. I noticed Mesa loves to put coconut milk into their dishes. Well, it worked. This dish was good too but not exceptional.

1/6 CrispChon 2-ways (Php 999)

crispchon mesa

Now, this is what Mesa is known for: Crispchon! We ordered 1/6 which was perfect for the 4 of us. They told us we’d be served with Crispchon in 2 ways.

First, they wrapped the meat & skin in pandan wrap. They did it right in front of us. Boy, it was definitely yummy! There were 3 sauces given but I enjoyed the sweet sauce the most.

crispchon wrap mesa

Lastly, they cooked the rest of the lechon in chili & garlic. The dish looked so sinful! If you care for your body, you wouldn’t eat too much! But hey, it’s okay to let go once in a while and enjoy good food.

crispchon chili garlic mesa

As a side note, we ordered stuffed squid but changed it to crispchon at the last minute. When we saw them serve crispchon at the adjacent table, we decided that it would be such a waste if we didn’t order that hehe 😛

We initially planned to have desserts but we were too full to eat more haha! Our dining experience at Mesa was definitely a pig-out! Not complaining because it was great to discover new food places. Glad we discovered Mesa.

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Mesa Filipino Moderne
291 Tomas Morato Avenue corner Scout Fernandez, Bgry. Sacred Heart, Quezon City, Philippines
(02) 441-5197

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Dimsum at King Chef

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On March 6, 2011

Dimsum at King Chef

After just a few days, we went back to King Chef again hahaha! This time around, to try their famous dimsum. At 9PM onwards, King Chef cuts down the prices of their dimsum to almost half. That is why a lot of people go there for late night snacks.

As usual, we still get the same warm welcome from the servers. I love good service and King Chef definitely have it.

They were ready to serve dimsum as the carts were all out. They were roaming around the restaurant offering dimsum to guests. At Php48 each, who could resist?

king chef dimsum server

My friend and I had crabs and spareribs while we await for the 9PM dimsum discount. This made us so full already. I only had a few space for more food. Anyhow, still didn’t stop us from ordering. Since I love siomai so much, we ordered several variants of it.

Radish Cake (Php 60)

radish cake king chef

I wonder why they didn’t include Radish cake in the discounted items but I guess it’s because it’s new? Maybe after a month or so, they’ll priced it at Php48 after 9PM together with other dimsum offerings. Radish Cake has always been my favorite dimsum so this will always be part of my order 😀

Siomai (Php 48)

siomai king chef

I love King Chef’s siomai! They have so much stuff inside (meat & shrimps). We really get our money’s worth. One of the best I’ve tasted. You should try it out! 🙂

Quail Egg Siomai (Php 48)

quail egg siomai

Restaurants are becoming more innovative. See, King Chef has created their own version of siomai. It’s called Quail Egg Siomai. It’s basically the same as the normal siomai but this time around, it has one whole quail egg inside. Pretty unique and it worked out. It was good! During discount time, Php48 for that is definitely a steal!

Japanese Siomai (Php 48)

japanese siomai king chef

Another variant of siomai. This time, they presented it Japanese style. As much as I loved the presentation, I didn’t like the taste. I don’t know what ingredient made me dislike this dimsum. Maybe the sushi wrap? I’m sure there’s more to it. A lot of people liked this variant though so to each his own 🙂

Sharksfin Dumplings (Php 48)

sharks fin siomai

Another favorite! Sharksfin dumplings! I was too full already that I only ate 1 piece. Just like the siomai, this one was definitely meaty! I really love that they didn’t think of saving ingredients when doing this. King Chef was going for quality. I truly appreciate that.

I also liked that they weren’t that strict with dress attire. I was just wearing shorts and t-shirt when we were there. It was just a few blocks away from my house. See me? hahaha! Ready to go home & sleep!

roch at king chef

I’m glad I found out about King Chef & their dimsum. I now know where to go when I’m craving for something to eat late at night.

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King Chef
989 Banawe St., Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 410-4919

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Black Swan Movie Review

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On March 3, 2011

The Academy awards had just finished and I’m in the mood to watch movies which have won on that prestigious night. Black Swan was one of them. The movie’s female lead won the Academy award for best actress. I was curious if she indeed deserved to win. It was funny that Oscars awards host Anne Hathaway joked during the awards night that when you shed some skin, you would get a nomination. So Natalie Portman did some nudity?

Well, not really but almost. I believe she portrayed the role perfectly well. Natalie Portman showed various emotions in all of her scenes. She truly deserved the award. Apart from the Oscars, she also won best actress in Golden Globes, Screen Actor’s Guild and some other award-giving bodies. Wow!

The movie was about a production called Swan Lake. The director had to cast a new ballet dancer to replace the retiring lead of the show. The lead character would need to portray both white swan who’s innocent & fragile and black swan who’s sensual & evil.

Nina (Portman’s character) along with some other dancers were shortlisted for the role. Nina was perfect for the white swan role but doesn’t quite fit with the black swan role while Lily (Mila Kunis’ character) was perfect for the black swan role. The director wasn’t really going to choose Nina until she visited his office to request for the role. He forced a kiss on Nina. Nina, being so sheltered by her mom, bit the director & stormed away.

Nina apparently got the role. She still didn’t dance that great as black swan and had been criticized much for it during rehearsals. The director had been pushing her to start letting go of herself while dancing as black swan.

Nina also had hallucinations & delusions which also affected her and her upcoming show.

You have to see the movie in order to see how her psychotic symptoms affected Nina and her performance in the Swan Lake. How one big ambition can affect a young girl and her future.

I did feel a bit uncomfortable watching the movie coz there were scenes not suited for children. I was with my mom when I watched the movie, my gosh! hahaha! Anyway, the acting were really great among the cast. Natalie Portman did an excellent job as Nina as well as Mila Kunis for her role as Lily.

You’ll definitely see a different Natalie Portman in Black Swan. Don’t miss it!

My Rating for Black Swan: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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La Mesa Ecopark

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On March 2, 2011

La Mesa Ecopark

Last sunday, my friends and I went to La Mesa Ecopark for a picnic together. It was my first time to go to Ecopark but I’ve been hearing a lot about the place for quite some time. All I knew was Ecopark is owned by the ABS-CBN Foundation and a lot of couples take their pre-nup pictures there.

We arrived a bit after lunch. We needed to fall in line to pay and enter the picnic grounds. Entrance fee is at Php 40 for Quezon City residents as long as you show your I.D., Php 50 for non-Quezon City residents, free for senior citizens who lives in Quezon City, students & other senior citizens have discounts too! It’s pretty affordable. Aside from being able to enjoy the facilities of the place, we are able to help rehabilitate & preserve La Mesa Watershed as proceeds go to that project 🙂

There were a lot of people that time. All the cottages & tables were already taken so we decided to just find a spot in the grass for our picnic. It was amazing to see a lot of people very ready. They have tents, grill & even aprons with them hahaha!

ecopark tent

We, on the other hand, had 2 blankets laid on the ground. Bea prepared spaghetti and egg sandwich for us while Jepoy brought his lola’s specialty, fried meatballs. We also had drinks courtesy of siofao 😛 We enjoyed our food for an hour and had some chit-chat before we started roaming around the park.

ecopark picnic

We only had a few hours left to enjoy the place as when it gets dark, you won’t be able to see anything anymore. La Mesa Ecopark is a big forest after all!

During our visit to La Mesa Ecopark, we saw several flowers.
It’s definitely a good place for photographers to practice their macro skills 🙂

ecopark orchid

ecopark flowers

We can choose to experience horse back riding for Php50. Kids will love it for sure!

ecopark horse

I was truly ecstatic when I saw the Nikon Club banner hanging on one section of the La Mesa ecopark. I immediately inquired and signed up! Good thing they had an event that day.

ecopark nikon club

A lot more great views as we strolled along the park.

ecopark stairs

We then entered a trail and followed it. All we’ve seen are trees, trees and trees. We even stopped in the middle and sat for awhile as we got tired walking hahaha!

ecopark forest

We saw several couples having their prenup pictures taken. Oh, love, love, love is always in the air at La Mesa Ecopark.

ecopark prenup

Guess what? There were cosplayers too! We asked if we could take some photos of them and they graciously agreed. They were sooooo cute!

ecopark cosplayers

While we were sitting at the bench & admiring the environment, we saw a bee flying and it eventually landed on one of our bags. I was trying so hard to get a good shot but this was the best that I got of it. I guess I needed to buy a macro lens for shots like that 😛

ecopark insects

The sky looked soooo astounding at around 6-7pm. I wish I had a tripod so I could take the picture clearer. See the shake in the picture? It wasn’t clear obviously. I was trying so hard not to move while taking the picture. Anyhow, you got my point. The sky is definitely a nice thing to look at while the sun is setting down.

ecopark sky

There are a lot more things to do at Ecopark like the saltwater swimming pool, boating, fishing, museum & butterfly hatchery but due to time constraint, we were only able to visit the picnic grounds and the forest trail. It was still well-worth it. We had tons of fun!

Who wouldn’t enjoy such an outing when you were with a group of awesome friends?

ecopark stalkerbugs

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La Mesa Ecopark
La Mesa Dam Compound, Greater Lagro, Quezon City, Philippines
(02) 430-4351

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B*witchy Girls & Friends Give Back at My Father’s House

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On March 1, 2011

Whenever I go to an outreach that involves helping people especially kids, it makes my heart melt. The last time I went to such activity was at Sitio Maislap. We were there to help several families but it was the kids who really caught my attention.

Last saturday, I joined several colleagues to visit the kids at My Father’s House.

My Father’s House is a non-profit child-caring organization created by Benny Hinn Ministries. They are there to serve abandoned, neglected & orphaned children providing them an environment where they learn to love and be loved. They also teach the kids Godly values.

Here are their objectives based on the pamphlet I got:

Introduce each child to Jesus Christ with the hope that they come to know Him as Lord & Savior of their lives through the promotion of discipline & obedience under God’s love and principle.
Provide programs and services to develop self-sufficiency & independency.
Place children in loving, stable Christian homes for their protection and security.
Implement holistic programs that will empower children & youth.

I really feel sad that parents would abandon their kids. I mean if they cannot support a child then they shouldn’t make one! Makes me really angry just thinking about that. I know how it feels to be abandoned so meeting the kids really is something and I empathize with them.

My colleagues organized this very well. We had activities all planned out for that day.

First up was registration. The kids get their name tags so everyone of us would recognize them by name & face. Their age was also written there.

name plates mfh

The program then started. The kids were so enthusiastic! They love to sing and dance! They’re soooooooooo cute!

kids dancing mfh

We then divided the kids by their age group.

They are truly talented. See the cute artwork they’ve done?

kids art work mfh

They had skits too. They created the costumes themselves!

kids skit mfh

Coloring session for the ‘lil ones. Some of them even put feathers on the wings part, sooo awesome!

kids coloring mfh

The ates and kuyas acted out a story for the kids.

story telling mfh

I’m thankful that Julie tagged me along. Kudos to the B*witchy Girls for organizing such activity and inviting us colleagues to be a part of a wonderful cause. Keep doing what you’re doing girls 🙂

b*witchy girls with mfh

The kids were so loving and affectionate to all of us. I’m not really the type who knows how to act around kids but they welcomed us with open arms. I can feel that they definitely grew in a good environment. This was definitely one of the memorable moments in my life.

Roch with the MFH kids

There are lots of ways to help the kids at My Father’s House. You can be a life coach, a volunteer and a partner. You can also make a donation or visit the kids like we did last weekend. Just inquire at My Father’s house (their contact details are wirtten below).

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My Father’s House
#135 Ramona Tirona Street corner T. Sison., BF East Phase VI, Las Pinas, 1751 Philippines
(02) 772-4844
mfhmanila@hotmail.com

P.S. There’s a concert coming up for the benefit of the kids at My Father’s House. It’s called Unity in Rhythm and it features Christian Bautista and Karylle. It will be held at Insular Life Corporate Centre Auditorium, Filinvest City on March 29, 7:00 PM. For tickets & inquiries, contact Kate at (0915) 804-8042.

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