going nuts over donut...

... boxes, that is.

wel, im sorry if my 'come back' post is more of a rant but i just can't help it.

why is it such a big deal for dunkin donuts [nccc mall branch]???  why is the friggin box such a big deal??? what am i saying?  they refuse to put the donuts i want to buy in a box if i don't stick to their prescribed combos.  i don't get it.  even if i buy the ones that are more expensive than what they are offering me they insist that they can't give me one measly box.

if my daughter wasn't such a donut freak, i wouldn't waste a second trying to talk sense to these unreasonable dunkin donuts personnel.  i don't know why i need to explain to them why donuts should be sold in boxes not in cellophane bags.  they should know this, for goodness sakes, without the box the donuts will be crushed, mushed-up, soggy and simply yucky looking by the time i arrive home.  who will want to eat them?  who wants to eat a donut that looks like it's been trampled on.

i initially had the same problem with the 24-hour Duterte St. branch but after saying i was gonna order more than the actual value of their original promo, they gave in.

alas, this nccc mall branch staff looked like he was about to throw a tantrum as he was punching on the cash register.  of course he relented, i glared at him and almost threw a tantrum myself.

it was well worth the stress in the end.  my little girl was ecstatic when i arrived home with a box full of fresh donuts, and she had plenty of chocolate varieties to choose from.

i wonder when the dunkin donut gods will get it.  donuts belong in boxes, not in cellophane bags! sheesh!
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postscript:  i finally raised my dilemma to the Supervisor at the SM branch and she graciously assured me that she will communicate with the other branches.  i was so happy albeit perplexed as to why the crew at the SM branch made no fuss at my request.  all they said was, 'ah, free box ma'am?, sure!'  Now that's what i call really good customer service!  hurrah for people behind the counter who know how to listen and understand simple logic!

in search of a favorite noodle dish

i used to work for Malaysia Airlines and yes i had a couple of opportunities to go to Kuala Lumpur [KL] on work assignment.  It was there where i discovered what i consider to be one of the best noodle dishes in the world. Char Kway Teow.  In KL, this fantastic fare is sold in hawker stalls.  i would go out and look for a stall during mealtimes.  the preparation alone is an interesting and entertaining experience, and it makes you hungrier as you wait for your order to be ready.

a friend used to bring me or send me a serving of Char Kway Teow via the flight crew whenever the craving striked.  it was one of the best things about being an employee of MH.

fast forward to more than 10 years later, meaning 2009, i discovered another noodle dish, this time vietnamese, Nam Thit Heo.  it reminded me a lot of my beloved Char Kway Teow that i searched it on the net to try replicating it.  MH has not been in davao for the longest time now and the friend is no longer a friend. =P

i was so craving it that i asked a friend who just came back from singapore if she ever came across this dish over there, and she simply said, but they serve it in Banana Leaf Asian Cafe. HWAT???

i go to Sales St.  atleast once a week and not once did i even think of checking out this Asian fusion restaurant.  How was i to know that they served Char Kway Teow?

The next day, i invited the parents to have an asian fusion lunch with me.


The verdict:  their version looked different from what i remember.  it had too much brown sauce and the noodles were a lot fatter than the ones they served in KL's hawker stalls.  and sadly, it did not taste the same. Our other choices tasted a lot better.

oh well, i guess, i'll never find it here in davao.  anyone, wanna prove me wrong on this one?

*hawker stall picture from here

chinese comfort food

chinese fastfood outlets are a dime a dozen here in davao city.  From dimsum stands to noodle houses to restaurant-style set-ups, you are sure to find one in every street. but only one stands out the most because there is not one time that their branches are not busy and bustling with hungry customers.  Mandarin Tea Garden

whenever i am out on solo flight at meal times, i look for the nearest Mandarin Tea Garden outlet.  i can enumerate a string of their reliably delicious offerings but i almost always end up asking for the same thing: Ravioli Noodle Soup and Fresh Fruit Salad.  the combination doesn't sound so great but i tell you, the first one makes up for the fact that i'm eating out alone and the latter is a very healthy dessert choice, just try not to devour all that yummy cream.

so, the next time you catch yourself out on the street and hungry, head to the nearest Mandarin Tea Garden.  Try out my favorites and experience the satisfaction only comfort food can bring.  Slurp!

happy feet

my feet are smiling again. well, they would if they could. after two weeks of looking like they belong in the dark ages i finally had the time to go to the salon and have them scrubbed, massaged and pedicured to perfection. don't get me wrong, my feet aren't pretty. i would have posted a picture of them if they were. but at least now, they look like they are appreciated and loved.

back when i was still on solo flight, i brought my feet to my favorite manicurista, Ate Celia, at least once every 2 weeks. foot spas are my thing. all that scrubbing, foot and leg masks, yummy smelling creams being massaged into my skin and the icing on the cake, a great pedicure, just simply feels like heaven on earth.

i love foot spas so much i even opened a day spa [along with other spa-lover-family and friends] once upon a time. our foot spa was i think the best in the city. not only did you get well deserved indulgence from your knees to your toes but you were assured of the most hygienic treatments in town. at the start, your feet are washed with soap and running water, not the typical soak-in-the basin washing, but heated water from the tap. all our instruments were sterilized after each use. the scrubs, masks, and creams were slathered on generously, and the nail colors were of good, mostly imported, brands. plus the ambiance was very cozy and restful. too bad we had to close it down last year. the really bad location took a toll on it and after much denial i finally had the heart to let it go.

so now i'm on the hunt for a spa or a salon that could match the kind of service we gave. so far i've visited ELEMENTS salon at the Holiday Gym and Spa twice. Fe, was my manicurista again today. I give her an 8 [rating from 1-10, with 10 being the highest], the salon was clean enough, and the chair i sat on was also comfy. they did not have the same hygiene policy as we did though. and their towels looked like they should already be turned into rags, blecch =P. next time, i'll go back to Ate Celia over at HairStudio in SM. they should have services which might make my feet happy again. i'm hoping that someday i won't miss our beloved Spa anymore.

virtually losing weight

since eating is a major part of my happiness, i have had to try all kinds of diets back when having a great body mattered. from the three day diet, to the cabbage soup diet, to the no rice diet. all these diets had one common thing in particular. they all drove me to such anger, i was ready to kill anybody who crossed me. so i decided to count calories one day and wrote everything i ate in a notebook. i managed to fill up 3 notebooks [i think] but it was the best thing i ever did for my body. i finally achieved a dream: look fit and trim and wear the clothes i wanted to wear.

after my first baby, i did not try to get back to the pre-baby body. nothing motivated me, not even the sight of all those women who so have-it-together. you know, the ones who have toddlers in tow but still look like they came right out of a fashion magazine page. i saw one such 'hot momma' in my little girl's school today, i wanted to rip her head right off. =P

anyway, a few days ago, while i was reading a blog i happened to click on, it was about grungy mommies [ this one got my radar blinking on overdrive], i came accross a link about tracking your calories. and since then i was hooked. it's precisely the reason why i have not been blogging.

fitday.com, i was happy to discover did not only automatically compute my calorie intake but it showed me graphs of my nutrition or the lack of it, activity level and calories burned, and more. call me weird but i finally found something to motivate me to lose all the weight and get moving.

so i'm on my 5th day today, and so far, i am happy with what i've been posting. i'm taking it slow but with direction. and i'm being realistic. there is a downside though, it takes a while for each entry to be uploaded. and not all the food i eat is in its database. but tonight i found redemption. i was able to finish with my inputs faster by opening multiple tabs and working on the different pages one after the other. and checking out calorie equivalents is a breeze if i just google the ones they don't have.

so if you are like me, a person who finds satisfaction and motivation in a planned, methodical, and detailed weight-loss regimen, fitday.com is for you. i'm sure the simple, clean and straightforward interface will excite you. do i hear "obsessive-compulsive" just yet? =P

here's to finally finding my motivation! bottoms-up the diet cola!

breakfast on a budget

i am not a breakfast person but i love hearty breakfasts.  so its two things, either i grab an energy bar if i have to wake up early or sit down to a slow leisurely brunch that has to have sinangag and eggs.

one early morning, having time to sit down and eat but not wanting to cook for only one person, me, i left the house wondering where my grumbling tummy would take me.  there is a short block in Ruby St, Marfori Heights, which i pass on my way to work everyday, which houses, mostly food establishments.  only one of these opens early enough, Gian's D' Breakfast Club.  this is actually their new second branch, the original is in Ponce St.

it is not airconditioned but the way the place was set-up, one would think that a meal here would not be as cheap as it actually is.  you could say that the owner invested a lot on the ambience as it looks and feels homey and cozy.  anyways, it was still early, read: the sun was not yet that hot, so i decided to take my breakfast there.

i ordered: tocino and eggs with garlic rice, and a mug of coffee.  I spent a grand total of:--, err i don't remember how much i spent but i'm sure it was a whole lot less than P50.00.  real value for my money!

the serving was just right.  i asked for extra packets of cream and sugar for my coffee, noting that the service staff did not wince in pain at my request, nor charge me for it.  and they were not stingy with the condiments either.   but the food was good, i didn't need any seasoning to go with it.  it was like having breakfast at home without having to prepare and cook it yourself.  Not bad, not bad at all.

two very crabby places

H [my hubby] and i love crabs. when i was pregnant with the little girl, we ate crab plenty of times because H craved crabs a lot. this was when i discovered that this old chinese restaurant in Villa Abrille served the best crabs in town. we fell in love with their Sate Sauce preparation that we hardly ate crabs anywhere else again.

so when it was a 'must have Sate Crab day', i remembered that a flashy new crab retaurant opened in Torres St. i urged H that we try it out. He refused to eat in any expensive looking restaurant without recommendations so we drove straight to Villa Abrille.

everytime we go to Davao Asia Restaurant, before we start imagining all that aligue, we make sure to ask the waiter up front if they have female crabs. when the answer is no, we back out. nevermind the whetted appetites, we can't have crabs without the aligue.

So when we arrived, my face fell when the waiter said 'no she-crabs anymore'. as i turned to inform the waiting driver, H, the waiter said 'why don't you try out our new branch?' which one? i didn't know they had other branches. He said, 'the new one in Torres'.

I happily told H the good news and off we went to Let's Crab Eat, the newest resto in town. we were not disappointed, the Sate Crabs were the best we had so far, super rich and for sure cholesterol-full, he he.  And i, the hygiene-freak was very happy to see that they had modern interiors and because it was new, it was very clean.  we had our new crab haunt.

a three-hour holiday

when it was still just the two of us, hubby, who was The Boyfriend, back then, and I would spend most of our dates in this manner:
Three hours in Holiday Gym and Spa Massage Area, usually starting at around 5pm,
dinner at a nice restaurant,
and then probably a movie or if there was nothing we wanted to watch, guzzle beer at MTS.

what the heck did we do in the massage room for three hours, you may be asking. this was our routine:
a hot shower,
15-30 minutes in the sauna,
a 1 hour and 15 minute massage,
another 15-30 minutes in the sauna,
and another shower to prepare us for the evening ahead.

we would usually meet up in the lobby still perspiring from the sauna.

fast forward to getting pregnant and becoming a mother, i had not been in Holiday Spa's Massage room for three years as i couldn't muster the thought of leaving Miguela and be selfish for a few hours.

Having a second baby changes your perspective and with the experience with your firstborn up your sleeve, you become less of a martyr and a bit braver to leave them in the care of trusted people.

and so, one day last week, hubby and i, after a lot of failed attempts, drove over to Holiday Spa for this long awaited ritual. first, i was surprised to find out that the rates did not change, still P450.00 for the full body massage, even after 3 years! and as i entered the women's massage area, i was pleased to find the place neat and clean, and well maintained. The reception area staff were new, but also friendly, and i noticed, more professional.

what got me excited was when i learned that they had a current promo - an hour of full body massage and an hour of foot massage for only P600.00. i decided to upgrade as i am a foot spa freak.

the lowdown:

the massage therapists were nice and attentive, they listened to my requests to concentrate on my back, shoulders, and feet more. they were skilled and knew where to put on the pressure and when to lessen it. i'm not one who likes hard massage as it makes me sore all over the next day, as if i spent an hour torturing myself in the gym. so i guess the therapists were happier, they had a pretty easy time with me. i came out of the spa promising myself that i would do this once a month at the very least, i was still in an altered state, i guess. i'd be lucky if i'd find the time again within this year. >o

hubby was already at the lobby and judging from the look on his face, he was must have been waiting for quite a while. i was right, his hair was already dry. i couldn't wipe the smile off my face even as he complained about my taking too long.

little did i know that he was going to get back at me not long after we left Holiday Spa'a driveway. We were having dinner in another thai restaurant just a few meters ahead. blecch!

our life with the Jadali-Sabets

how can i not write about MAJID'S PERSIAN KABABS! First, we fell in love with the food. Then we fell in love with the couple [Majid and Arlene] behind the food. Then we became business partners with them. And now we are practically family. Majid became our ninong sa kasal. Arlene became ninang to our first born, Miguela. And now, hubby and I are ninong and ninang in their eldest daughter, Farzane's marriage.

We first got to know Majid when he chatted with us, his new customers, around 7 years ago. We heard about the place from hubby's brother and being true blue foodies, we tried it out. we couldn't get over the tastiness of the kababs as each type had its distinct flavor and aroma. the goat kabab immediately became our favorite. served with nan [locally called pita bread], grape seed powder, THE secret sauce, and a salad, we were in gastronomic heaven.

the difference of Majid's food from other foreign dishes is that you truly will never get tired of it. unlike pasta or pizza or even burgers, you can eat kababs again, and again, and again. and because we were crazy about it, we had it for lunch and then for dinner, everyday of the week. what's not to love about it? you get carbo from the pita bread, protein from the goat [or beef or chicken], all the nutrients plus fiber from the salad. one complete healthy meal! and its not even diet food!

and then, majid fell in love with us, well more with my hubby actually, as according to him he had not many filipino friends. he then started inviting us over to his house, first to meet his wife and 3 kids, and then to feed us some of the most amazing food we ever encountered. in our visits, we learned about how Majid, an iranian, and Arlene, a filipina met. they told us about their life, how their family started out, their struggles, and how their little food business began. hubby and i were still courting at that time and so all we could do was eat and listen intently. we learned a lot from their stories. we were in their house practically every weekend, that is, until we had Miguela.

as we came into our own as a family, we saw them less and less. hubby started to become busy with the business and i with taking care of miguela. our visits with them became few and far between. but we remain family, and with family, you don't need the constant contact to remain close.

for 3 years now, Majid has been taking care of 2 branches. the original one in Rizal St. has grown from 2 tables to more than 10 tables. and with a lot of convincing and guarantees from hubby and i in the early years, they are now serving many other persian dishes. come to think of it, maybe Majid was making us his guinea pigs for the recipes he wanted to try selling. we made good, i guess, as 2 of our favorite dishes continue to be bestsellers.

Now, hubby and i make it a point to eat at Majid's as much as our schedules permit us. our usual order: 2 chicken biryanis, 2-4 goat kababs [depending on our hunger level], salad, hummus, loobia and whatever drink we fancy for that day.

so, for all of you who strangely still do not know of this place which is already a landmark in davao, visit Majid at J. Rizal Street [in front of Rizal Promenade]. Tell Majid i sent you. So he will love me more than he loves hubby. ha! ha! ha!

a WOK in BANGKOK

i was never a fan of thai food but my husband adores it. he has been in constant pursuit of the genuine thai taste since i can't remember. and up until he set foot in Bangkok, that eatery in boracay, in station 1, wins hands down. well, as i said, that was until he set foot in Bangkok. now, he has yet to find something which will at least come close to the food he sampled in the food stalls of Bangkok.

so for dinner tonight, we went to BANGKOK WOK, the newest thai restaurant in davao city. it was quite far from where we live, situated in Robinson's Cybergate mall. As we waited for our orders to arrive, i noticed how the set-up of the place was well thought out. the air conditioners were out of sight, there were laptop charging stations right under your seat and out of your feet's way. and i was surprised to find bag hooks under the table, which rendered my cutesy bag hanger useless. =D

i can't recall all the names of the dishes we ordered but pad thai stood out because i see that dish in every menu card featuring thai fare. it was my first time to try it and i was quite looking forward to it as i love anything with noodles.

hubby ordered the usual tom yum goong, beef sate and a steamed sea bass dish that he thought would be swimming in soup. we also had their sampler of appetizers.

the verdict:

the appetizer sampler did not whet my appetite, the soup left a sour taste in my mouth [pun intended] and the pad thai sauce was too overwhelming. hubby devoured the beef sate because he was already hungry. though he was not happy about the sea bass not swimming in soup, i loved it as the fish meat was tender and so infused with davao's native lime, which we call dayap.

as i am not a thai food connoisseur, i can't say if BANGKOK WOK serves authentic thai food or not. but judging from my hubby's unfinished plate, it seems a long way from Bangkok, Thailand.

the service was good though, the wait staff were friendly and seemed to know about their food enough to give descriptions and make recommendations.

all in all, i think it's worth trying out the other dishes in the menu list. but i will not go back there with kids again. Guela ended up playing and running around. we had to bring her to jollibee, the sleekest [newest?] branch located in Buhangin for her usual burger steak and choco sundae meal.