Pursuing our Best Life - one word and one stitch at a time
Food Trip
We bond over food. We love checking out new restaurants, just for the fun of it.
Like many of our generation, we click before we eat. Sometimes though, we’re too hungry to bother.
We are not prolific food critiques, we’re just normal people who know good food. :)
Between the two of us, it’s the husband who cooks at home. Maybe someday I will too. But until then, I wouldn’t likely be sharing recipes on the blog. :)
Something as simple as deciding where to eat used to ignite senseless fights like this one. When it came to Zensho though, it’s always a unanimous decision 🙂
We go there for either lunch or dinner, once every month. The serving staff are already quite familiar with us. On last month’s visit, it was a particularly busy night. Friends were going to meet us there so we asked for a table for four. To our surprise, when we were ushered to the next available spot, it was only for two. Apparently, the lady assumed we only needed a small table because she got so used to seeing just us two regulars.
For sure they don’t serve the best in Japanese cuisine in Metro Manila. But they serve decent food, at a really good price point. And most important of all – they have an eat-all-you-can promo for food that you order ala-carte.
I am thankful for Zensho, for all the comfort its food has brought us on every single visit; and for the all-too-familiar setting we love going back to specially when we need to do some stress eating!
Our Elba, the oven I happily featured in this post from 2009, has served us really well. Recently, it’s always grimy, and all pots and pans you use while cooking would end up with soooo much soot I hated washing because soot just ended up on everything else that’s on the sink.
One knob was broken and has gone missing. The burners weren’t working 100%.
We haven’t used the oven in a long time.
Now, thanks to these young men, Louie and JC, we have a clean and fully functioning oven!
They checked everything and cleaned it inside and out. They say it was in pretty good condition, and just needed a good cleaning to get back to tip-top shape. It did take about 5 or 6 hours for them to complete the job though on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
The service is husband-approved! He’s the primary cook and kitchen manager in this household and is very happy that he can now use multiple burners again. He is also looking forward to using the rotisserie function!
For your oven cleaning and repairs
These guys came all the way from Binangonan, Rizal, and had braved through Metro Manila traffic on their way to our place. That evening, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much time they spend on a single job that day – 6 hours on the job and maybe 4 hours on the commute?
So I would really love to help drive more business to these hardworking, small business folk. For your oven repair and Service needs, here’s how to reach them:
Where do broken hearts go? The husband is convinced he knows where.
Gillian Gail Dessert Buffet – VERABEAR
On the last weekend of May, while I was recovering from a brief bout with the flu, the husband and I went searching for Gillian Gail’s Dessert Buffet. I’d seen the ads on Facebook but haven’t heard from anyone who has actually been there. Here’s the address:
3/F Oracle Hotel & Residences, Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City
It is not hard to find, but parking seems to be limited. We parked out front, but there may be basement parking available. We also took the stairs to the 3rd floor, which wasn’t too high. There is an elevator somewhere.
The dessert buffet costs PhP 299.00 for three hours. That comes with unlimited drinks. I hear they also serve some rice meals, and to get that you just up the price to PhP 399.00. I say, 3 hours is more than enough to stuff your face full of dessert! Too bad this wasn’t around (or I wasn’t aware of it) when I was planning my wedding. It is a good place to gather your bridesmaids around, hehe. Oh in fact, the big table when we were there, was occupied by a bride and her entourage.
There’s a lot of dessert to choose from, even non-dessert actually – like siomai, and fish balls. There’s a selection of small cakes, cupcakes, cookies, chocolates, bon-bons (or truffles). There’s creme brulee too! They have ice cream, candies, and some Pinoy desserts too (if I remember correctly).
So the husband is sure that Gillian Gail Dessert Buffet is where broken hearts should go. A sugar coma can help numb the pain. Or, sweets heaven can make you forget the pain. Sugar, after all, takes you to a kind of high, right?
We have new vending machines at work. The old ones required you to pay first before you get the product, while the new setup lets you grab your food item before you even pay.
Some employees have already taken to calling it an “honesty store.” You could, after all, just grab your snack and leave without paying for it first. But a warning has been posted in the premises: CCTV cameras are activated. But I think it's too public, who would even dare steal from it?
Apart from the novelty of a cashier-less store, what I like about the new vendos are the healthier snack options. There are sandwiches (none today because those apparently sold out already), fresh apples, pears and bananas, and creamy yoghurt.
Pricing is comparable to convenience store prices.
There are two ways to pay. One can register for a card that comes with free PhP 35.00, and you can top it up anytime. I think that's a good way to budget your snack money. If you runout, then you can't get anymore junk food, juice or soft drinks until your next scheduled top up. No need to go far to top up either, you can do it on the same machine. I think free snack card top ups could be a new incentive idea for our agents.
But one can also use paper money and coins with the machine. It works like the classic vendo where you just feed it bills or drop in coins and you're given the appropriate change too.
I was going to try out the machine today, but when I went back to it, the scanner/cashbox wasn't working. I guess there are still bugs. Hope they fix it before tonight's shift (and restock too).
Have you seen or used a Grab-Scan-Go system? What are your thoughts about it?
July has given way to August without me posting this hello for July. I didn't finish the post properly but since the draft sat on my Blogsy app for over a month, I figured it deserved to be published as is. No, I didn't have anything more to eat after the tacos. 🙂
It's official, June has left and in comes my birthday month. In 22 days, I turn 32. Yay!
I wish I had some grand news and say that I'll be hosting a massive giveaway. Sadly, I have no such news. Just that I haven't decided how I'll be celebrating my birthday this year. With all the blessings I've received, I feel that I should really have a thanksgiving. Maybe a party like the one I had for my 30th.
But first, I must properly close out June. I have been back at work for a full four weeks. Oh how I looked forward to that first paycheck, and how quickly it went too. Sadly, there was no day that I was in on time. Not proud of that. No one else to blame but myself. Let's hope July is different in that regard.
I am in Army Navy, Jupiter Street, Makati. I just downed three small soft tacos with steak and cheese. Only 1/5 of my large Libertea iced tea remains and I don't know how long the boyfriend intends to make me wait. He's just across the street, in his office, catching up on some work he didn't finish yesterday. Since he left me here an hour and a half ago I have finished two chapters of the book I brought with me, and I've done some stitches on my yet to be completed blankie. So no I am not bored, and not annoyed that he's not done yet. I am getting cold thoughts. The A/C in this place is too strong! I moved to another table thinking I was just cold because I was directly inf front of the unit, but moving to the side didn't improve things. It even feels like there's an electric fan blasting right in front of me.
The tacos were just fine. The salsa and special dressing is served on the side. My only complain is that by the time I took a bite, the tacos were sooooo cold. There was no warmth at all. Good thing there was a bit of a kick in the dressing. I wonder if the A/C's to blame?
I'm still hungry and I might still order a burrito when the boyfriend finally joins me. He hasn't had dinner so he will be eating when he comes out.
For sure they don’t serve the best in Japanese cuisine in Metro Manila. But they serve decent food, at a really good price point. And most important of all – they have an eat-all-you-can promo for food that you order ala-carte.
