Family Mart Crystal Charms <3

I've always wanted to get a charm bracelet. They just look so pretty and fancy and I like the idea of each charm having a special meaning. However, good charm bracelets are usually expensive, and I've got bills to pay, so I haven't gotten to getting one, because #priorities. 

Imagine my delight when I saw Family Mart's ad while walking home from work a few days ago! 

The charms caught my attention because they were travel-themed. :) There are ten charms available, and each charm represents a country. Each charm is encrusted with a Swarovski crystal. 

To get a charm, you need to buy Php100.00 (equivalent to 5 stickers) worth of products, and add Php89.00. 

You can get the bracelet with a built-in charm for Php199.00, and yes, you can also use this purchase to get stickers! :) 

The bracelet comes in a clear plastic. 

The charms come in a sealed pack and also comes with a velvet pouch. 

I got 5 charms that represent the countries I've travelled to so far; Philippines, China, Thailand, ISA, and Japan. :) 

I love my new charm bracelet. <3

The lady from Family Mart told me that the charms originally sell for Php900.00 each. She also told me that they're made from hypoallergenic stainless steel. The promo runs until November 30. 

Be happy!

<3 Missy

Tokyo Tokyo Mt. Katsu Bento Meal

I had a meeting in Greenbelt last week, so I decided to have lunch inside the mall. I knew I wanted some kind of fast food, but I didn't want to go to my usual fast food places (i.e, Jollibee, KFC). Saw Tokyo Tokyo and tried it for a change.

Did you ever experience seeing something on display and wanting that exact same thing? That's what happened to me. Their menu on the screen prominently displayed what appeared to be fried chicken with toppings. I asked the cashier, "Ano yung nasa picture?", and she explained that it was chicken karaage with onion rings on top. She said that I can get it in a bento meal with a drink, rice, and  dessert for Php254.00. It was a bit pricey, but I really wanted the food in the picture, so I gave in.

I quickly changed my mind about the meal being pricey when I saw how big the chicken was! I think two people can share this chicken by just ordering some extra rice. Even the rice was plenty. I thought that the meal would come in a bento box but yeah, I don't think all that food would have fit in a bento box.

The chicken was meaty, tender, and juicy. It was covered in a sweet, slightly salty, and tangy sauce, almost like a teriyaki sauce. I liked how the crunchy breading complimented the juicy meat.

The onion rings on top had a light and crispy batter. I like how the onions inside still had some bite in them. Also, unlike some onion rings, you can actually taste the onion here. 

The fried chicken karaage plus the onion rings had an umay factor, but the rice, miso soup, and red iced tea that came with the meal balanced it out. Tokyo Tokyo has probably perfected cooking their Japanese rice, and I like how they sprinkle sesame seeds on it. As for the miso soup, it's as good as any miso soup. and it has lots of silky tofu and seaweed in it. The red iced tea was pretty standard.

The dessert turned out to be mango pudding. It's very very slightly sweet and has a tiny bit of mango flavor. It almost tasted like water. I wouldn't order this as a stand-alone dessert, but as a treat after a deep fried meal, it really worked for me.

I wasn't able to finish everything, and took away two slices of the chicken as well as a few onion rings. I eventually ate them while I was stuck in traffic later that day. They were still good!

For Php254.00, the Mt. Katsu Bento Meal gave me value for my money. It's a complete and delicious meal that can make one hungry person, or even two not so hungry people happy.


Be happy!

<3 Missy

Burger King Chicken Fries

Burger King Chicken fries got me curious a few weeks back when I saw these cute cartoon chicken ads behind buses. I kept wondering what those chicken fries were. Are they chicken-flavoured fries? Chicken in the shape of fries?

It was only last weekend that I was finally able to find out, after I saw a Burger King on my way back from a quick Antipolo trip.

Php149.00 gets you 9 pieces with fries/onion rings and a drink, but it's also available in just 6 pieces. I got it with onion rings, and paid extra to upsize it and my drink.

So chicken fries turned out to be fries-shaped chicken. The fries come in this cute box. The fries served to me however were too oily, although this could have been easily avoided if they just drained the fries first.

9 pieces sounded like a lot, but the fries were not that filling. The meat in it was not packed. However, they were tasty and flavourful, thanks to all the spices packed in the crunchy breading that covered the fries.

I did enjoy eating them, even if I was bitin with the serving. Also, I think they go better with (potato) fries rather than onion rings.

After my BK visit, I googled the product and found this:

Yep, that's pretty much it, although my server forgot to give me my sauce. :(

The fries are good, but for Php149++, I expect my tummy to get full. Will probably try them again though, just so I can eat them with the sauce.


Be happy!


<3 Missy

Kenshin Japanese Izakaya Restaurant

I've been living in Makati for a little more than three years now, and I find that there's still so much that I haven't explored in this place. I would drive or walk by so many interesting-looking places and make a mental note of checking the place out, but the temptation of going tita/tipid mode and staying in, or sticking to my go-to comfort food places gets the better of me often. 

One of the places I always drive by is Kenshin Japanese Izakaya Restaurant. It's new, and just a few blocks away from me, but it's been I think almost a year since it opened and I still haven't tried it. 

It took my birthday and this random FB ad and my favorite tita person (hi, Ley!) to get me to get off my butt and check the place out. :)) 

The place is beautifully decorated, and will make you feel like you're in a tiny shop in a tiny Japanese town. 

I especially liked the wall paintings and the paper lanterns.

There is also a TV showing what I presumed to be Japanese music. 

Their menu offers a wide variety of items, from noodles, to rice bowls, to sushi, to dessert, and yes, they have drinks. Prices are not cheap but also not expensive. 

The star of their menu is their Make Your Own Takoyaki (Php288), so we had to try it. Also, sushi is life so we ordered their Sushi Combo Platter (Php298). Ley also ordered Cold Sake (Php98). 

The sushi was okay. Tasty enough, but could have used more filling. Ley didn't like that they fell apart easily; but still, 12 pieces, 3 kinds, and under 300. Pwede na. 

I wasn't in the mood to drink, but I tried the sake and liked it. It was sweet and mild. It may be too mild for alcohol fans, though. 

Anyway, how do you make Takoyaki you ask??

You start with a stove, a grill, and the ingredients: batter, butter, squid, veggies, and toppings..

Put butter on the grill so the batter wont stick..

Pour in the batter and let it cook a bit..

Sprinkle in the ingredients, and let it cook some more..

And then turn and turn and turn, like your life depended on it, to make it round!

When the half of the ball is hard enough, pour in more batter and turn some more..

Until you end up with little spheres of happiness. ^_^

Drizzle with mayo and soy sauce and put on fish flakes.

It's tiring but a lot of fun! And the Takoyaki is actually yummy! The batter is light enough to let the flavor of the squid and veggies come through. The way we cooked it, it was hot and a bit liquidy in the inside, and chewy in the outside, which is how I like it. :) 

This is definitely a fun place, and I'm looking forward to trying out their other items. However, the place seems a bit under-manned. They only had three servers attending to more than ten tables, and a booth. We weren't surprised that the servers weren't too friendly. They must have been tired. 

We didn't want to bother them so we took these pictures on our own. :))

Kenshin Japanese Izakaya Restaurant is located at GF, The Linear Makati, Yakal cor. Mayapis St., Makati. You can find out more about them at their FB Page: https://mobile.facebook.com/kenshin.ph/

Be happy!

<3 Missy

Happy Valentine's Memories with my BFF and Eats So Good! :)

It's official. I've been single for long enough for me to not *really* mind all the hullabaloo of Valentine's Day. Despite all my #hugot hirits, I honestly view Valentine's Day now as a happy excuse to celebrate whatever kind of love, because yes, love comes in many other forms than just romantic, cheesy, angel-butt-with-wings-and-an-arrow love.

This year, I decided to spend Valentine's day with my BFF, GT. :)

GT and I :D

GT and I go way back. We were carefully manipulated into being friends and ending up in college council together (inside joke, sorry :p), and became close when we ended up going to the same law school. Through the years, we've bonded over our common struggles which include challenges in our career, trying to live a balanced life, and of course, pageebeeg. 

Anyway, it so happened that Team Aldous's Monse generously gave me two passes to Spectrum, a lifestyle fair that was held during Valentine's weekend. She had a booth there for Eats So Good! and invited me to try out her food. I invited GT to go with me. He happily obliged, and also me invited to go with him to a concert afterwards. It was a date!

Spectrum

The fair was held at Whitespace Manila along Pasong Tamo. We didn't have any trouble finding the place. It was packed though, so we had to park elsewhere.

Whitespace Manila.

It was a very colorful fair.

Colorful entrance.

Just before we entered, we saw people munching on some interesting food. We were excited (and hungry).

Happy people enjoying their food.

Registration booth.

The event was so pretty and colorful that I forgot about my hunger and decided to look around a bit before getting food.

We found that a mini-stage was set up inside. Later in our stay, a singer went up the stage and serenaded all the guests. :)

A mini-stage.

We also found many interesting concessionaires that offered clothes, decors, food, and many other items.

After looking around, I looked for Monse so we could finally try out Eats So Good!

There she is! :D

With Monse.

It turns out that she was there with her beau, who was also her partner in her food business. Just awww <3.

Happy couple <3

Per my chat with Monse, Eats So Good! offers salads and pastas. Monse and her beau decided to start the business out os a passion for good food. They make everything from scratch, and they have carefully selected every single ingredient that goes into their food. 

Here's the menu they offered during the fair:

Eats So Good! does bazaars and catering for now. I have high hopes for them. :)

Their food was indeed, very good. In fact, they were sold out of pastas when GT and I got there. Thankfully, though, we still got to try their great salads.

I got to try the Classic Caesar, while GT got to try Eats So Good!'s Signature Salad.

The portions of their salad were big enough to stand alone as a light meal. Both were very flavorful and were obvioulsy made with fresh ingredients.

Classic Caesar.

Eats So Goods!'s Classic Caesar is honestlythe best Ceasar Salad I've had. When Monse's beau told me that I'd forget my name once I've tasted their homemade dressing, I thought he was just hard-selling the product. But he wasn't. It was close-my-eyes-to-savor-the-taste kind of good. The dressing was very rich and creamy. The salad also had garlicky, buttery croutons, and a generous helping of crisp bacon. 

Signature Salad.

I also took a bite out of GT's Signature Salad. Its dressing was more on the light side, and was sweet and sour. The whole salad had a sweet taste, with the mandarin oranges and corn, but was balanced by the earthiness of the almonds. The ingredients of the salad gave it a very interesting texture.

GT and I both enjoyed the salads, but since we were at a fair, we couldn't help but try out the other food booths.

GT enjoying Mr. Graham's Cebuano.

Sushi Nori's Sushi Samba.

Roasted Mallows from Pufft.

GT and I ha a nice time at Spectrum. :)

Later that day, GT and I also got to enjoy a South Border concert for FREE. :D

Luke!

Working our way to get nearer the stage :))

Luke and Jay! <3

All in all, it was a happy Valentine's Day. <3 GT and I totally slayed that day, friendship style!

Be happy!

<3 Missy