My Stopover at Orchard Road SM Megamall

Orchard Road is well-known as Singapore's retail and entertainment hub.   But, it is familiar to us here in the Philippines as a Singaporean inspired restaurant located in SM MegaMall. The place might look a little threatening but don't be fooled because the restaurant is actually quite pocket friendly.

Every restaurant has a theme.  What better way to represent Singapore than to let customers experience food street vendor style.   Each street vendor stall displays its own specialty dish.  It is customary for them to prepare the food in front of you.

Ambience

Stalls showing their specialty on top

Chefs at work

Child eagerly waits for his dessert

Among their food choices, I loved the the Hainanese Chicken and the Satay Chicken the most.  Yes, the Hainanese Chicken does come with rice which is a good thing.

I also ordered the Char Kway Teow which I had to take home since I was already too full.   Stacy said it was rick with ingredients and tastes great as well.

Char Kway Teow

Finally, the end of the meal was signified by a coffee drink.  They added a bonus entertainment by showing us their preparation for their Kopi Tarik.  According to the staff, it needs to be tossed around to make it more bubbly.

Making Kopi Tarik

The Bubbly Kopi Tarik

Orchard Road is definitely a must try, The price is not much different from the fast food stores we usually eat at.  So why not try it for yourself?

Orchard Road
2nd Level, Bridgeway, SM Megamall
EDSA corner Julia Vargas Ave.
Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines

Happy Moon Cake Festival

Today is one of my favorite holiday.   After a year-long wait, it's the moon cake festival again.  It is usually celebrated by eating moon cake, hopia and playing a dice game.  This year, our family may not be playing our annual dice game because my cousin is studying abroad.  The whole dice game can be bought at Chinese bakeries.  The set includes the hopia prizes available in various size, the dice set and the instructions.  

We usually receive moon cakes from relatives and friends.  We also buy just moon cakes to give to our relatives, friends and neighbors.  The situation becomes like Christmas except that you only get moon cakes in various brands and assortment.  

Moon Cake from Hong Kong

Golden Lisa Moon Cake

Local Home-made Moon Cake

Here in the Philippines, there are many flavors available like Mixed Nuts, Black Monggo, Lotus Cream and more.  They may contain egg or salted duck egg.  I prefer them without eggs because I want to eat more moon cake.

The Mixed Nuts has a lot of Almonds, Walnuts, Sesame Seeds, Candied Mandarin Orange and more.  Although this is the most expensive, I don't like it.  It's too sweet for my taste.

Mixed Nuts

The Black Monggo is similar to a hopia.   I'm not found of eating hopia because it feels so dry.  I love the smooth texture of the moon cake pastry and the smooth feel of the Black Monggo fillings.

Black Monggo

My favorite variety is the Lotus Cream.  It is made from Lotus Seed Paste.  I love the taste and the texture.  So what's your favorite?

Lotus Cream

We also don't forget to give to our employees, garbage men and the like.  A box of hopia to spread the celebration to everyone.

Box of Hopia

Hopia 

Angus Beef Breakfast with Highlands Corned Beef

The average person eats around 6 times per day (3 Big meals and 3 snacks).  But which is the most important? Is it breakfast, lunch, dinner or the 3 snacks?  According to research and I'm pretty sure most of us already know this, breakfast is still the most important meal of the day.  Since, it doesn't only ease hunger but also improve memory retention and performance. Studies show that people who eat breakfast regularly consume fewer calories from fat throughout the day.

Hosted by Magic 89.9's Angelicopter

Last August 25, 2011, Foodsphere Inc. introduced a food which I love eating for breakfast - Highlands corned beef.  But this is no ordinary corned beef as Assistant Vice President for Marketing Mr. Jonathan Bendicion excitingly explained that Angus Steak was the inspiration behind this new development.  He also shared his love for corned beef.

Mr. Jonathan Bendicion

Endorsed by some of the country's most sought after bachelors names like Jake Cuenca, James Younghusband, Paul Soriano, Luke Landrigan and Angelo Cacciatore. They represented the Highlands corned beef "New Breed" concept in their own respective fields of specialty.  This premium breed of corned beef is made with pure Angus beef.  It has rich beef taste and no artificial flavor.  They also shared their love for corned beef and how Highlands corned beef made their corned beef experience a whole lot better.  I'm sure we all love corned beef don't we?

So why should we settle for something less when we can now have Angus Beef for a premium breakfast?  Highlands corned beef is affordable so check them out at the nearest grocery stores.  

Beksul Instant Sesame Glutinous Bread Mix

My little sister has always been a K-Pop fan since we were young.  One day, we saw a Korean Brand "Beksul" bread mix at the grocery so we purchased it.  It's an Instant Sesame Glutinous Bread Mix.

The instructions were pretty simple.  First, add water and then mix.  Soon, you'll notice that it will look like dough already.

Next, turn it into a ball and dip it in flour.  Place the rolled balls in a flat bread pan and bake it.

Let it cool until you are able to touch it. Its best to be eaten while warm .  Its crunchy on the outside, soft in the inside with the glutinous rice in the middle.

It's lightly salted and delicious!  We loved it!  We will surely purchase Beksul Instant Sesame Glutinous Bread Mix again.

Fruiteamix in Connecticut Greenhills

We noticed a new tea place called Fruiteamix at Connecticut Street so we decided to drop by and try out there drinks.  It is a small humble place at a Japanese Store.  The ambiance is colorful and cozy.

Checking out there product images, I was enticed by the tea with fruit toppings.  I asked the staff which type of their beverage has those. She told me they don't really have fresh fruits.  I thought that was their unique selling point but it seems that it was just for food photography purpose.  So I ordered an Uji Matcha Milk Tea with Honey Aloe (95 php medium) while Kurt wanted to taste the unique Mango Milk Tea with Egg Pudding (95 php medium).  You have the option of choosing the sweetness levels: 0%, 50% and 100% (standard).  We didn't adjust the sweetness of our orders.

Uji Matcha Milk Tea with Honey Aloe

Upon first sip of my Uji Matcha Milk Tea with Honey Aloe, I loved it!  Despite being at a sweetness level of 100%, it was not to sweet.  I could taste the strong essence of green tea.  It goes well with the Honey Aloe bits too.  (at least for me because Kurt thinks otherwise)  This is by far the best Green Tea I've ever tried yet.

Mango Milk Tea with Egg Pudding

Kurt ordered Mango Milk Tea with Egg Pudding because we've never encounter a mango flavored milk tea before.  Now, we know why.  It tasted weird.  It was sour and tangy taste similar to Yakult plus the milk tea taste.  Kurt said it tasted better when you drink more but I'm not convinced.=p

Overall, it was pretty good.  But the goodness depends on what you order.  We'll probably come back and try other Fruiteamix varieties next time.

Fruiteamix

57 Connecticut St., Northeast Greenhills

San Juan, Metro Manila

Philippines

Our Failed Attempt on Sagada Mountain Tea

We bought and brought home Sagada Mountain Tea leaves so that my mom and my sibling could taste them.  My little sister boiled them and it the color looked the same as the one we had in Sagada.  Upon tasting it tasted weird like sap.  We couldn't drink it.=(

So we asked our other friends who bought the leaves too.  They told us that we overcooked our tea leaves.  It was only supposed to be placed for 10 minutes once the water is already boiled.  Do you agree?  What's your method in making tea from actual leaves?

Koka Stir-Fry Instant Noodles Mi Goreng

I have to admit, I'm not really a good cook and I'm a bit sloppy with the kitchen so I sometimes resort to instant noodles.  My favorite stir-fry noodles is the Koka Stir Fry Instant Noodles Mi Goreng.

The procedure for preparation is quite simple.  So whenever I'm hungry I just boil the noodles for 2 minutes and mix everything inside the package with the noodles.  It tastes like garlic and onions with something else.  If you don't mix it well though it could get a bit salty.  This is the only stir-fry noodles that I eat because I'm really a soup type of person so I prefer noodle soups.

SM Master Chef 2011 Program at SM Hypermarket Adriatico

Last August 16, 2011, I was able to attend the SM Marter Chef 2011 Program at SM Hypermarket Adriatico.  In case you don't know, the SM Hypermarket Adriatico is located just beside Harisson Plaza.  It used to be the old Jai-Alai Building.

Courtesy of the SM hypermarket, 19 Master Brands and SM master Chefs

Chef Tamayo

CDO Foodsphere 

I was surprised to see a lot of audience during the cook out.  Judging from their attire, they are culinary students from various schools. 


Chef Paulo Tamayo of C3 Events place demonstrated his culinary skills by creating two of his specialties using key product ingredients from CDO Foodsphere.


If you missed it, here are the recipes:


Tocino Chao Fan (good for 2 servings)

30ml. peanut oil
50g. leeks (white part), chopped
30g. garlic, minced
200g. Young pork Tocino, blanched and stir fried
100g. frozen mixed vegetables
2 cups cooked rice
20g. chicken powder
50ml. oyster sauce
2 pcs. eggs
50g. leeks (green part), chopped
Procedure:
1. Heat peanut oil in a wok. Saute leeks and garlic. Add in tocino and mixed vegetables and stir fry for about 2 minutes. Add in rice. Mix until thoroughly combined. Season with chicken powder and oyster sauce.
2. Meanwhile, beat eggs and pour in the rice mixture and the leeks. Heat through and serve hot.


Ulam Burger Fajitas (good for 2 servings)

2 pcs. tortilla wrap
1 pc. Ulam Burger, pan fried and cut into strips
100g. cheddar cheese, grated
100g. tomato salsa
50g. Iceberg lettuce, shredded
50ml. garlic mayonnaise
Procedure:
1. In a large Teflon pan, heat up tortilla wrap until soft. Assemble the rest of the ingredients in the center of tortilla wrap. Fold tortilla wrap like a lumpia and heat again until tortilla wrap turns a bit brown.
2. Cut into half and serve with nachos on the side.

After the tasting, there was also a trivia portion where students eagerly participated.  The winners were awarded prizes.  

SM Hypermarket's Customer Assistance

Also checkout SM Hypermarket's SM Master Chef 2011 Kitchen Makeover Contest.