Late Night Dinner at Penpen's

Last Wednesday, Kim and I had late night dinner in Cubao Expo. I wanted to introduce him to Penpen's, a place Brian and I frequented from a couple of years back. Derek and I ate here sometime last year also.

The restaurant is located inside Cubao Expo, and it being a weeknight, parking was quite easy.

Penpen's Filipino Kitchen serves Filipino-fusion cuisine. The current restaurant is half the size, making way for a bakery that will be opening soon.

I ordered the Tortang Giniling which was a value meal at PhP 120.00.

Kim on the other hand ordered Tortang Alimasag. His order was better than mine.

We also ordered one of my favorites in the restaurant, the Gabi Chips:

Their Pandan Iced Tea was such a hit with Kim!

Penpen's Filipino Kitchen

Cubao Expo, Gen. Romulo Ave., 

Araneta Center, Cubao, QC

telephone number: 02.330.1934

Old Navy Sale

Hope this isn't late for some. I was able to visit Old Navy in Bonifacio High Street last night and discovered that their denims and woven pants were on sale!

The sale is on for 3 days only, it ends later, December 14, 2014. Old Navy in Bonifacio High Street is open until 11:00PM, so please find time to visit. Pants that were PhP 1,650.00 are now at PhP 1,155.00. That's substantial savings if you ask me. Their denims are priced at PhP 1,650.00 - PhP 1,850.00, and because of the 3-day sale, is still subjected to 30% discount.

I was able to buy myself a pair of broken-in slim khaki pants at PhP 1,155.00. Such a steal! And for the taller people, just like Gap, their pants come in lengths of 30 and 32. If you're on the shorter side, the shop does free alterations.

Old Navy - Bonifacio High Street
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
telephone number: 02.856.6153

Landmark Discoveries: Orlina-inspired Candleholders

It is Signal #2 here in Metro Manila because of Typhoon Hagupit/Ruby, and my mom and I were worried because we weren't prepared to deal with a black-out. We had about 3 candles and no candle holders.

We decided to brave the weather to drive to Trinoma, with my sister, so that we can buy candleholders and candles, just in case the strong winds of the typhoons cause some electric wires and poles to topple over.

As usual, Metro Manila is probably not ready to deal with this, because I'm sure the preparation that this current administration did in order to take action against this storm is to offer eggs in Sta. Clara church - I digress.

We went to Landmark Department Store in Trinoma, where we discovered candleholders that took inspiration from the glass sculptures of Ramon Orlina. And they were quite affordable to boot.

Couldn't decide which picture looked better, the one with the flash or without. 

We found these candleholders in the Home Decor section of Landmark, on the 3rd floor. They were only PhP 89.75 each, so we ended up buying all remaining 6 candleholders there. The stand was included in the candleholder. 

They are very heavy, they weigh more than my Macbook. So it was really such a steal. 

So we're ready just in case there's a black-out tonight, what with our Orlina-esque candleholders. 

The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

I have just recently watched The Maze Runner, while checked in at New World Makati City Hotel. Movie was good, but it just left me with a lot of questions, which I felt would be answered if I had read the book.

First chance I got, I looked into purchasing a box set in Powerbooks Serendra, but since I wasn't familiar with the author, and wasn't sure whether I would like his writing style or not, decided to purchase the first novel instead.

The first novel is The Maze Runner, and at Powerbooks, it costs PhP 359.00. Unfortunately, at the time, I was not able to bring my Powerbooks Card, so I wasn't able to get a discount off of it.

I just finished the first novel a couple of days ago, and I do, in fact like the writing style of James Dashner. It was a good thing I was able to buy the 2nd novel, The Scorch Trials, so there was continuity in my reading.

As expected, there were a lot of details that were not captured in the movie, and things became clearer for me - especially the backstory as to why the Gladers were placed in the maze to begin with.

I'm currently reading through The Scorch Trials, and so far the Gladers are onto another challenge before they can finally discover what their true purpose is. I am quite excited for the movie adaptation to come out by next year, hopefully.

My only regret, though, is that I wasn't really able to follow the true time-sequence in reading the novels. The Maze Runner was published in 2009, The Scorch Trials in 2010, The Death Cure in 2011, and The Kill Order in 2012. The Kill Order, however, is a prequel to The Maze Runner, together with another upcoming novel, The Fever Code, slated for a 2016 release.

Anyway, I'll just end up reading it in the order it was published.

The Scorch Trials I purchased in National Bookstore in Market! Market!, and I got points out of it on my Laking National Card. Glad to report that the novel is cheaper there, it was priced at PhP 349.00.

If you're interested in reading these novels, feel free to check reviews of the series found online. They are quite gripping!

Mason Jars as Christmas Gifts

This idea actually came from my mother. In one of our Dapitan trips a few weekends ago, she purchased several Mason jars from a stall we frequent for gifts for her secretaries and assistants.

When I had started bringing Christmas gifts to the office this week for my co-managers, I noticed my assistants waiting eagerly for presents. Realising that I forgot to buy something for them, I intended to drag Kim to Dapitan to purchase Mason jars and, basically, steal my mother's concept.

A Mason jar is a molded glass jar used for storing preserves for storage or selling. You normally see these used for home-made jams and jellies that are being sold. They were invented and patented by John Landis Mason, a tinsmith from Philadelphia, back in 1858.

The ones being sold in Dapitan come with the tin lid. They, however, lack the rubber seals, which are needed if you intend to use these for sealing preserves. These would suffice, however, if you're to use them for storage. Mason jars are also used, now, in lieu of mugs. Some hip coffee shops use Mason jars, those designed with handles, for their drinks. Some Mason jar lids already come with holes punched in the centre for straws to go through - these types were actually available for sale in Dapitan.

The ones I purchased had handles and an embossed design on the side. A quick search online, and I saw the exact same Mason jar I had.

borrowed from homewetbar.com

Was able to purchase this at a price lower than Landmark's retail price, which is sweet, especially if you're buying 20 pieces,

My source had an option for gold tin lids, though.

Borrowing from my mom's concept, I filled the Mason jars to the brim with candy from the grocery.

I'll be tying gold and silver ribbons, and these are all ready to be given to the assistants, Finance staff, and Housekeeping supervisors of One Serendra.

I really hope that they start using it in lieu of the mugs that they have in the office.

Mason jars are so the rage right now. And several people will be giving these as gifts this holiday season, which would be a fresh alternative to the usual gift staples given as gifts.

Hope my mom and I gave you a cute Christmas gift idea. Try placing something else instead of candy. Toys, shells, pebbles, jawbreakers, loom bands, scented beads - play around with the things you'll put inside, and the receiver will be in for a surprise. There's really no need to wrap it up, because the vintage look of the Mason jar will jazz up the bottom of the tree perfectly.

A lot of people also collect vintage Mason jars, so visiting Dapitan might be a good idea, since they have so many options there.

Omakase Ayala Triangle, Ayala Beats@180

The One Serendra property managers attended the Ayala Beats@180 party in Ayala Triangle yesterday evening, 5 December 2014. It was a conglomerate-wide party, the gardens hosting to the different Ayala companies' employees. Employees from Globe, Honda Cars, Ayala Corporation, and Ayala Land, Inc. were in attendance last night. They gave us debit cards which we were to use for dinner in the restaurants in Ayala Triangle, all of which were exclusive to the attendees to the party. There were also food-booths in tents that sprouted in the gardens, that also accepted cash. It was set up like a fair, which was pretty reminiscent of the Ateneo HS fair that was resurrected during my time, and a little less rowdy compared to the annual UP Fair when I was in college.

The Serendra gang was pretty lucky because I prodded them to eat at around 5:45PM, and we were able to get seats in Omakase. A couple of minutes later, and there was a queue already to get in. I mean, can you imagine so many Ayala employees trying to eat dinner all at the same time. The restaurants were all full to the brim, they even had to set up dining tables in the lawn area in preparation of the number of people that were to be eating. In a way, I suppose, this was to be our Christmas party for the year, because prizes were raffled off from the  stage set up behind the fountain  of Tower One. Later on during the evening, the people were also treated to the lights and sounds show at the Ayala Triangle Gardens.

I'm a regular in Omakase, so I was quite surprised that I haven't posted pictures from it yet. Now, I only took pictures of my own food order, as we were a group of 7 property managers, and we ordered about 2-3 dishes each. Some of the One Serendra property managers enjoyed dinner in Omakase so much, they were thanking me profusely for suggesting to eat there. 

I ordered their Gyudon, which was quite hefty. 

I've grown quite fond of salads, lately, and tend to always order these whenever I dine out. I ordered the Omakase Salad, which is the restaurant's version of a Kani salad. Only difference is they use their own dressing on the salad.

It was an interesting evening. After dinner, I stayed on a bit with my co-managers to watch the lights and sounds show. Afterwards, walked on over to One Roxas Triangle, where I parked my car. 

Omakase has several branches already, and I've already tried eating in their branch in Il Terrazzo, along Tomas Morato, which is quite near my house. If you're interested in eating lunch or dinner in Omakase in Ayala Triangle Gardens,  the details are below:

Omakase - Ayala Triangle Gardens

Makati Ave, Bel-Air, Makati

contact number: 02.467.3150

Las Flores in One McKinley Place, BGC

Lunch today with one of my favourite Serendra residents was quite interesting because we didn't know the names of the dishes that we ordered!

This lunch has been long overdue, more so because I took a 5-day vacation leave to celebrate my birthday last week.

My resident had in fact eaten in Las Flores before, and she took photos of the dishes that she liked on her iPhone. So when we were seated, instead of perusing through the menu trying to figure out what she had ordered before, she just showed pictures of the dishes to the food attendant.

We ordered Mojitos to complement our food, and it was quite strong!

When we were still both working for the Social Events Committee before, we had a Spanish-themed event where we ordered 3 types of paella. Sans the teeth stains however, undoubtedly, both our favourite paella was the negra, so we ordered their Paella Negra to try and compare with Casa Marcos':

This tapas I definitely know as gambas (Gambas al Ajillo, PhP 395.00):

This tapas, I liked so much because of the assortment of chorizos, each offering a different taste, a different type of bite (Trio de Chorizos, chorizos sautéed in white wine and olive oil, PhP 625.00):

The last tapas that we ordered, had marbled potatoes, and meat that I couldn't place to be either pork or beef. So if you realise what I'm doing here, I'm comparing the dishes that we ordered to the menu of the restaurant available online. I can surmise that due to the presence of the potatoes, this is the Botifarra Catalana (PhP 495.00):

For dessert we had Churros con Chocolate (PhP 195.00), but we both agreed that we liked the churros of Dulcinea better:

The place was nice and quiet, and had a nice rustic charm to it. I loved the ceiling fans that they placed in the al fresco dining area outside the restaurant which gave it an azotea feel. The bar had an old-world feel to it. The seats had pillows and upholstery done in burlap, made to look like flour sacks, which I saw quite a lot in H&M Home in Robinson's Place Magnolia. Add the downpour that we experienced, giving the air a nice chilly clime, and the lunch experience was just superb!

Feel free to try out their other tapas and offerings:

Las Flores
G/F, One McKinley Place,
25th Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
telephone number: 02.552.2815