Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Hashin!
The toy launch for the Transformers movie is this saturday! W00t! Things will start as soon as Megamall opens, at the ground floor atrium area.
Now, there's something everyone should know before they watch the TF movie: It's going to be really different from the old TV series. No shrinking robots: No soundwave, no casseticons. Megatron is a jet! Starscream looks like a baboon! Prime takes off his faceplate, shows his lips! No grimlock, no devastator, no insecticons. Who the hell are Bonecrusher, Barricade and Blackout? The transformations are less blocky, more organic. The robots are a lot less human, a lot more insectlike. They are all very strange and alien, not the reassuring protectors from the 80s.
Get over all of this before you watch the movie. Just from the CG I've seen in trailers, this will be one of the best movies evar that contains cars that turn into giant robots. Sure, it forgets its roots. It's not the transformers you remember. Maybe it shouldn't have been called the transformers at all.
Get over it now. Don't let that stop you from enjoying a really well made movie about transforming robot aliens.
I'd hate to think anyone is unable to appreciate what they get, because of what they wanted.
Stromcrow
Now, there's something everyone should know before they watch the TF movie: It's going to be really different from the old TV series. No shrinking robots: No soundwave, no casseticons. Megatron is a jet! Starscream looks like a baboon! Prime takes off his faceplate, shows his lips! No grimlock, no devastator, no insecticons. Who the hell are Bonecrusher, Barricade and Blackout? The transformations are less blocky, more organic. The robots are a lot less human, a lot more insectlike. They are all very strange and alien, not the reassuring protectors from the 80s.Get over all of this before you watch the movie. Just from the CG I've seen in trailers, this will be one of the best movies evar that contains cars that turn into giant robots. Sure, it forgets its roots. It's not the transformers you remember. Maybe it shouldn't have been called the transformers at all.
Get over it now. Don't let that stop you from enjoying a really well made movie about transforming robot aliens.
I'd hate to think anyone is unable to appreciate what they get, because of what they wanted.
Stromcrow
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Happy 1st Birthday Tesla!
It was Tesla's first birthday this weekend, and we held a double-blast celebration. Saturday we had a lunch out at Luk Foo Commonwealth with our high school and college friends. The food was great, but there was some service error which resulted in some people getting full way before the arrival of our 3-way peking duck. O.o
On Sunday it was family time. We hosted another simple lunch out, this time at Kenny Rogers Quezon Ave. We tried their fried chicken sandwich, along with salad and spaghetti. Tesla had a blast, running around playing with balloons and a second cousin around her age. For a moment there we were afraid she would fight her cousin over a balloon!
Raven
On Sunday it was family time. We hosted another simple lunch out, this time at Kenny Rogers Quezon Ave. We tried their fried chicken sandwich, along with salad and spaghetti. Tesla had a blast, running around playing with balloons and a second cousin around her age. For a moment there we were afraid she would fight her cousin over a balloon!
Teaching Tesla to blow candles...
...and to open gifts!
Raven
Labels: food, gimmik, photos, tesla
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Picnic
Last weekend my college girl buddies and I went out for a picnic at La Mesa Dam Eco Park. I had originally thought it'd be somewhere out in Bulacan or something, but to my surprise, it is right in the middle of Fairview area.
To my further surprise, it looks remarkably like the Botanical Garden in UPLB Forestry area. There are trees and flowers everywhere, large picnic areas complete with big stone tables for family groups. There was even a boat ride!
My friends and I camped in several likely places, trying to stay away from the sun. ^_^ Who would've thought there's something like this in the middle of the city?
Raven
To my further surprise, it looks remarkably like the Botanical Garden in UPLB Forestry area. There are trees and flowers everywhere, large picnic areas complete with big stone tables for family groups. There was even a boat ride! My friends and I camped in several likely places, trying to stay away from the sun. ^_^ Who would've thought there's something like this in the middle of the city? RavenMonday, January 22, 2007
Pre Release
Last Saturday, I went to the Planar Chaos prerelease. It works like this: You get a 75-card Time Spiral starter deck and three 15-card Planar Chaos boosters. You then use these cards to play in a sealed deck tournament where each win gets you yet another Planar Chaos booster.
So anyway, I arrived at Galleria at around 10:15 AM. I got in line for registration at Neutral grounds. Met Jem, who had preregistered. Got in line again, because apparently I was in the wrong line. Finally got to pay my 1k, received a ticket for flight "J", which I was informed would start at 4:30 PM. ... What!?!
I spent the next few hours drifting in and out of the tournament area, killing time by watching other people play. Unexpectedy, I found Ruben in a Starbucks, sketching on his laptop. We watched an episode of Dethklok, an animated band which is reminiscent of Gorillaz. Or perhaps Beavis and Butthead. After a while, Hiyas came and I decided to get back to the tournament area.
Wandering the tournament zone, I also managed to find Manchester Sy, a friend who I haven't seen since high school. I chatted with him a little, found out that he had just returned to the Philippines less than a week ago (apparently for good). I got his number; it's always good to have another friend, particularly one that plays magic.
Eventually, the call for flight J players got sent out. While the organization of the registration was kind of poor, things went smoothly once we actually sat down and got our cards. I was pleasantly surprised that there were enough copies of the special prerelease card to go around.
Looking at my sealed pool, there were a couple of great bomb rares in red and white, but the colors were otherwise shallow. Blue and Black, on the other hand, had a surplus of solid commons. There was also a Red-White-Blue dragon. I could have gone for such a three color build, but I chose to make a rareless Blue-Black deck instead, valuing consistency and removal over splashy bombs.
This isn't a tourney report, so I'll cut to the chase. At around 10:15 PM, it was the middle of the fourth round. My record was two wins and a loss. Right before the deciding game, the janitors start turning off the lights, and my opponent offers to just split the last pack by color instead of playing for it. We agree that I would get Green, Black and Artifact/Land. So we go over to the judges and I claim my two prize packs of Planar Chaos, plus a third one to split. We open it, and my share is... three green commons. What!?!
Jem watches as I open my two remaining packs... to reveal the chase card of the set.
Stormcrow
So anyway, I arrived at Galleria at around 10:15 AM. I got in line for registration at Neutral grounds. Met Jem, who had preregistered. Got in line again, because apparently I was in the wrong line. Finally got to pay my 1k, received a ticket for flight "J", which I was informed would start at 4:30 PM. ... What!?!
I spent the next few hours drifting in and out of the tournament area, killing time by watching other people play. Unexpectedy, I found Ruben in a Starbucks, sketching on his laptop. We watched an episode of Dethklok, an animated band which is reminiscent of Gorillaz. Or perhaps Beavis and Butthead. After a while, Hiyas came and I decided to get back to the tournament area.
Wandering the tournament zone, I also managed to find Manchester Sy, a friend who I haven't seen since high school. I chatted with him a little, found out that he had just returned to the Philippines less than a week ago (apparently for good). I got his number; it's always good to have another friend, particularly one that plays magic.
Eventually, the call for flight J players got sent out. While the organization of the registration was kind of poor, things went smoothly once we actually sat down and got our cards. I was pleasantly surprised that there were enough copies of the special prerelease card to go around.
Looking at my sealed pool, there were a couple of great bomb rares in red and white, but the colors were otherwise shallow. Blue and Black, on the other hand, had a surplus of solid commons. There was also a Red-White-Blue dragon. I could have gone for such a three color build, but I chose to make a rareless Blue-Black deck instead, valuing consistency and removal over splashy bombs.
This isn't a tourney report, so I'll cut to the chase. At around 10:15 PM, it was the middle of the fourth round. My record was two wins and a loss. Right before the deciding game, the janitors start turning off the lights, and my opponent offers to just split the last pack by color instead of playing for it. We agree that I would get Green, Black and Artifact/Land. So we go over to the judges and I claim my two prize packs of Planar Chaos, plus a third one to split. We open it, and my share is... three green commons. What!?!
Jem watches as I open my two remaining packs... to reveal the chase card of the set.
Stormcrow
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Toycon '06
We went to Toycon '06 last saturday, at Megamall. Raven and her brother wanted to get some Gold for their Ran Online accounts, and they heard a good way was to sign up for the cosplay in a Ran costume.
Here's Raven in her Mystic Peak Shaman costume.
Raven with a booth babe for the Mir II launch.
Raven with a crossplayer from some anime or the other.
Here's Raven in her Mystic Peak Shaman costume.
Raven with a booth babe for the Mir II launch.
Raven with a crossplayer from some anime or the other. Labels: cosplay, gimmik, photos
Monday, May 22, 2006
S.N.A.F.U.
It looks like the Splash Island outing won't push through this year. There were too many people unable to go, who had to cancel, and who can't reschedule.
My deepest and sincerest apologies to those who were inconvenienced by this, and whose schedules were undoubtedly thrown into a spin. It saddens me that our get together did not push through.
Next time, party boys
My deepest and sincerest apologies to those who were inconvenienced by this, and whose schedules were undoubtedly thrown into a spin. It saddens me that our get together did not push through.
Next time, party boys
Labels: gimmik
Monday, May 15, 2006
Welcome To A Christian World
It's always a good time for cake
(God)parents
The old school gang
Refugees from a Physics camp
Four Generations
The Celebrant
Monday, August 01, 2005
A negative experience
Raven and I arrived at two in the afternoon, ready to explore "the new Greenhills". Ten minutes in, and I end up spending 900 (all the money in my wallet) on a Bandai Eva girls gashapon set. Actually, I haven't looked at gashapons in half a year but this was on my old "must buy" list. So I got it. I'm a sucker!
Spent the next hour looking for a working ATM. Raven got Atelier Iris for the PS2, and I bought 102 pieces of 9th Edition basic lands... for drafting, of course. And sat down (in shoppesville) for a 35php hotdog... and a 35 php bottle of C2. What the hell?!
Eventually we meet the rest of the gang for dinner at the new Promenade building. Very reminiscent of Eastwood (insert foreshadowing) but with more airconditioning.
Ruben, Alekos, and I decide on Mexicali. Po vetoes it on the grounds that he hates mexicans. We walk around deciding where NOT to eat. When threatened with Cibo, Po decides to settle for the burritos.
Pat and I order our usual, Cheese Enchilada with Steak Burrito. Okay, this is usually where we take a picture of the food and tell you how good it is. But let me be Frank. IT SUCKED BIG TIME. The food was late. We got chicken instead of cheese. It tasted as if it were boiled and unseasoned. It felt as if it was cooked two hours before and hurriedly nuked in the microwave.
And to cap it off, our parking bill was 130php. On a Saturday. 130 for parking?!?
For me, the entire point of going to greenhills is that it's the bargain bin mall. Kinda like a Quiapo Lite. Where you can get your fill of cds, dvds, sirX and whatnot. But if this trend of upscale development continues, those days are numbered. And really, with all the more accessible alternatives, what's the point of an expensive greenhills?
Stormcrow
Spent the next hour looking for a working ATM. Raven got Atelier Iris for the PS2, and I bought 102 pieces of 9th Edition basic lands... for drafting, of course. And sat down (in shoppesville) for a 35php hotdog... and a 35 php bottle of C2. What the hell?!
Eventually we meet the rest of the gang for dinner at the new Promenade building. Very reminiscent of Eastwood (insert foreshadowing) but with more airconditioning.
Ruben, Alekos, and I decide on Mexicali. Po vetoes it on the grounds that he hates mexicans. We walk around deciding where NOT to eat. When threatened with Cibo, Po decides to settle for the burritos.
Pat and I order our usual, Cheese Enchilada with Steak Burrito. Okay, this is usually where we take a picture of the food and tell you how good it is. But let me be Frank. IT SUCKED BIG TIME. The food was late. We got chicken instead of cheese. It tasted as if it were boiled and unseasoned. It felt as if it was cooked two hours before and hurriedly nuked in the microwave.
And to cap it off, our parking bill was 130php. On a Saturday. 130 for parking?!?
For me, the entire point of going to greenhills is that it's the bargain bin mall. Kinda like a Quiapo Lite. Where you can get your fill of cds, dvds, sirX and whatnot. But if this trend of upscale development continues, those days are numbered. And really, with all the more accessible alternatives, what's the point of an expensive greenhills?
Stormcrow
Labels: food, gimmik, review, toys
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Fully booked!
Since we had played dota the previous night, it was sort of inevitable that Stormcrow and I both woke up late. As a consequence, we arrived at Rockwell 10:20am, 20 minutes past the projected arrival time. We went straight to Fully Booked, the bookstore which organized the event to start with. There was a huge table heaped with Gaiman books and graphic novels right in front, along with an equally huge crowd of people browsing them.
After much consideration, Stormcrow bought two: Smoke and Mirrors, and a new copy of The Kindly Ones (since his old copy is in bad condition). We got a couple of tickets, which would allow us to have a +1/ticket to the number of books you can have signed. We then went outside to the tent, where the event will be held. On hindsight we should have gone there before we bought books. We got numbered stubs, "421" and "423", which we learned was out of the 700 quota for that day (June 9).
Since the programme and signing will start at 3pm, we decided to head back to the mall (which was definitely colder than the tent) and decided to have some lunch. We went back to the front of Fully Booked where we saw Sam Marcelo hanging out by the fountain. After accompanying her to lunch, Jo, a friend of Sam, joined our party a few minutes later by the same fountain. Alekos joined us somewhat later, but unfortunately the numbered stubs and the priority stubs for the following day were already out.
At around 4pm we all trooped back to the tent, and Neil Gaiman arrived around then. The programme started, which included raffle, awarding of the art contenst, Neil's reading of parts in his new book Anansi Boys, and a short Q&A portion. Neil was a surprisingly good speaker, which is not really something that comes with being a good writer. The signing started shortly after that, and we were promised one personal dedication out of a max of 4 signatures per person (depending on the number of stubs).
Since we all had high numbers (Jo had "299" and Sam had "669"), we decided to have a snack to kill time. After snack, we hung around the fountain area reading the books that we had. Stormcrow was very happy with the Kindly Ones that he went ahead and bought Dream Country as well. Joyce joined us at around 8pm, and at that point we heard that the number being served was still at "200"! We had dinner, and went back to the tent to await our turn. At that point the inside of the tent was finally cooling.
You have to hand it to Neil and his resilience. He stuck it out till the end, and it didn't seem as if he even ate anything in the nearly 8 hours of continuous signing! We finally had our turn at around 12mn, Sam had hers at around 1:20am. The even more astounding thing was that it didn't seem as if Neil was beginning to lose his temper.
Raven with Neil Gaiman
Stormcrow with Neil Gaiman
Stormcrow's fanboy moment, after his encounter with Neil
Endurance! Sam, Stormcrow, Joyce, and Alekos
I would also take this opportunity to extend our profuse thanks to both Alekos and Joyce for waiting with us until past 1am. They have just as much resilience as Neil, and deserve just as much credit.
Raven
After much consideration, Stormcrow bought two: Smoke and Mirrors, and a new copy of The Kindly Ones (since his old copy is in bad condition). We got a couple of tickets, which would allow us to have a +1/ticket to the number of books you can have signed. We then went outside to the tent, where the event will be held. On hindsight we should have gone there before we bought books. We got numbered stubs, "421" and "423", which we learned was out of the 700 quota for that day (June 9).
Since the programme and signing will start at 3pm, we decided to head back to the mall (which was definitely colder than the tent) and decided to have some lunch. We went back to the front of Fully Booked where we saw Sam Marcelo hanging out by the fountain. After accompanying her to lunch, Jo, a friend of Sam, joined our party a few minutes later by the same fountain. Alekos joined us somewhat later, but unfortunately the numbered stubs and the priority stubs for the following day were already out.
At around 4pm we all trooped back to the tent, and Neil Gaiman arrived around then. The programme started, which included raffle, awarding of the art contenst, Neil's reading of parts in his new book Anansi Boys, and a short Q&A portion. Neil was a surprisingly good speaker, which is not really something that comes with being a good writer. The signing started shortly after that, and we were promised one personal dedication out of a max of 4 signatures per person (depending on the number of stubs).
Since we all had high numbers (Jo had "299" and Sam had "669"), we decided to have a snack to kill time. After snack, we hung around the fountain area reading the books that we had. Stormcrow was very happy with the Kindly Ones that he went ahead and bought Dream Country as well. Joyce joined us at around 8pm, and at that point we heard that the number being served was still at "200"! We had dinner, and went back to the tent to await our turn. At that point the inside of the tent was finally cooling.
You have to hand it to Neil and his resilience. He stuck it out till the end, and it didn't seem as if he even ate anything in the nearly 8 hours of continuous signing! We finally had our turn at around 12mn, Sam had hers at around 1:20am. The even more astounding thing was that it didn't seem as if Neil was beginning to lose his temper.
Raven with Neil Gaiman
Stormcrow with Neil Gaiman
Stormcrow's fanboy moment, after his encounter with Neil
Endurance! Sam, Stormcrow, Joyce, and Alekos
I would also take this opportunity to extend our profuse thanks to both Alekos and Joyce for waiting with us until past 1am. They have just as much resilience as Neil, and deserve just as much credit.
Raven
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Splash-ING good time
Splash was ultra fun! We had, however, the misfortune to be in the venue with some company outing, making the place very crowded. Going there on a weekday would probably make the place less crowded.
Jam wrote a good summary of the day. There was, however, a "Saturday Part 3" for some of us - we trooped back to QC to play DotA at skies. It was a series of very enjoyable 5on5 games, with me, Stormcrow, Ruben, Victor, and Oli going against Nikki, Po, Alekos, Jonas, and Aidz.
Jae has some pics from the dinner at Rico's.
Raven
Jam wrote a good summary of the day. There was, however, a "Saturday Part 3" for some of us - we trooped back to QC to play DotA at skies. It was a series of very enjoyable 5on5 games, with me, Stormcrow, Ruben, Victor, and Oli going against Nikki, Po, Alekos, Jonas, and Aidz.
Jae has some pics from the dinner at Rico's.
Raven
Sunday, April 10, 2005
A pleasant surprise
Stormcrow and I went to Robinson's Galleria last Thursday to shop for a swimsuit for the Splash outing (and succeeding swimming outings). After a while we decided to have lunch. We had originally planned to eat at Cravings for their unlimited salad, but a closer inspection proved it to be not so sulit. It is usually hard to find a good place to eat at in Gale, so we decided to look around for a new food experience.
The set meal (for four people – daw) at Mediterranean looked good, but the price is slightly prohibitive. Burger King looks okay, but I wasn't in the mood for burgers (we just ate at Wham! last week). We were on our way to inspect Popeye's next when we happened to glance at its neighbor's menu. This neighbor happened to be Chef d'Angelo, which specializes in chicken, pasta and pizza. Stormcrow had already expressed an interest in a chicken lunch, and the size of the servings we saw of the nearby customers was enough to interest us.
I got one of the “Chef’s Samplers”, their version of value meals, I guess. It had a nice large piece of fried chicken with mushroomy gravy, a good serving of spaghetti with tomato sauce, and a slice of pizza (with pork bits, I think) – all for only Php99! Stormcrow of course got a chicken meal – a two-piece buffalo wing affair with rice and Caesar salad for around Php160. Not bad at all, since we weren’t expecting that much from an Italian place (Stormcrow doesn’t like pasta). The only drawback to Chef D'Angelo is that it can only be found at a couple of Robinson's.
Here’s a pic of our plates, partially eaten. ^_^
Raven's meal
Stormcrow's meal
Raven
PS: Happy Birthday, Stormcrow!!!
The set meal (for four people – daw) at Mediterranean looked good, but the price is slightly prohibitive. Burger King looks okay, but I wasn't in the mood for burgers (we just ate at Wham! last week). We were on our way to inspect Popeye's next when we happened to glance at its neighbor's menu. This neighbor happened to be Chef d'Angelo, which specializes in chicken, pasta and pizza. Stormcrow had already expressed an interest in a chicken lunch, and the size of the servings we saw of the nearby customers was enough to interest us.
I got one of the “Chef’s Samplers”, their version of value meals, I guess. It had a nice large piece of fried chicken with mushroomy gravy, a good serving of spaghetti with tomato sauce, and a slice of pizza (with pork bits, I think) – all for only Php99! Stormcrow of course got a chicken meal – a two-piece buffalo wing affair with rice and Caesar salad for around Php160. Not bad at all, since we weren’t expecting that much from an Italian place (Stormcrow doesn’t like pasta). The only drawback to Chef D'Angelo is that it can only be found at a couple of Robinson's.
Here’s a pic of our plates, partially eaten. ^_^
Raven's meal
Stormcrow's meal
Raven
PS: Happy Birthday, Stormcrow!!!
Monday, February 28, 2005
Restful weekend
Friday the 25th
Stormcrow and I arrived late at Eastwood – Ruben and Glenn were already there. We all grabbed a quick lunch of grilled stuff at OJ, then proceeded directly to the cinemas. We missed the Constantine showing time, so we opted instead to watch Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events – a decision I didn't regret, as the movie was very satisfying and fun to watch. After that, we all headed to Blue Skies for another dota session. Jem shortly arrived, followed by Victor. We played a series of 3 on 3 games, took a dinner break at Wham, then went back for some last few games (in which I regressed to a tantrummy person).
Saturday the 26th
One of my college girlfriends, who lives and works in Mindoro, went over to Manila for a visit. It was a chance to complete our batch once again. Four of us met up at NIP, and discovered that the fifth was currently at a parlor having her hair straightened apparently because she was depressed at the moment. WTF?! So after a side trip to the Office of Admissions to peek at the UPCAT results, we decided to all go to the said parlor and confirm this allegation. She was indeed there, and have been there for four hours running! The reason for her depression was still unresolved, however. After a few chats and picture taking, we headed for Cello's for a snack and some very overdue exchange of news. Eventually I had to leave early, because another date was coming up.
This second date for the day was a double date with Ruben and Hiyas. We all met at Haven (where Stormcrow was trading cards), and decided to head right away for a dimsum dinner at Causeway Libis. We got a nice couch booth, and there we tried several varieties of our favourite dimsum and had some very interesting conversation.
Ruben's fortune in tea leaves!
Robinsons Metro East was our next stop, and there we found some interesting PS2 cds and the software cd that Hiyas was looking for. Afterwards we headed to Figaro at the Brick Road for some coffee and more conversation. Stormcrow and I ordered this funny sans rival derivative that was named "My Little Oscar", which was fortunately delicious.
Despite the annoying mosquitoes towards the end of the day, the double date was quite fun and I'm looking forward for more.
Currently listening to: L'arc en Ciel
Just finished reading: His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman
About to start reading: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (The Wide Window)
Raven
Stormcrow and I arrived late at Eastwood – Ruben and Glenn were already there. We all grabbed a quick lunch of grilled stuff at OJ, then proceeded directly to the cinemas. We missed the Constantine showing time, so we opted instead to watch Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events – a decision I didn't regret, as the movie was very satisfying and fun to watch. After that, we all headed to Blue Skies for another dota session. Jem shortly arrived, followed by Victor. We played a series of 3 on 3 games, took a dinner break at Wham, then went back for some last few games (in which I regressed to a tantrummy person).
Saturday the 26th
One of my college girlfriends, who lives and works in Mindoro, went over to Manila for a visit. It was a chance to complete our batch once again. Four of us met up at NIP, and discovered that the fifth was currently at a parlor having her hair straightened apparently because she was depressed at the moment. WTF?! So after a side trip to the Office of Admissions to peek at the UPCAT results, we decided to all go to the said parlor and confirm this allegation. She was indeed there, and have been there for four hours running! The reason for her depression was still unresolved, however. After a few chats and picture taking, we headed for Cello's for a snack and some very overdue exchange of news. Eventually I had to leave early, because another date was coming up.
This second date for the day was a double date with Ruben and Hiyas. We all met at Haven (where Stormcrow was trading cards), and decided to head right away for a dimsum dinner at Causeway Libis. We got a nice couch booth, and there we tried several varieties of our favourite dimsum and had some very interesting conversation.
Ruben's fortune in tea leaves!
Robinsons Metro East was our next stop, and there we found some interesting PS2 cds and the software cd that Hiyas was looking for. Afterwards we headed to Figaro at the Brick Road for some coffee and more conversation. Stormcrow and I ordered this funny sans rival derivative that was named "My Little Oscar", which was fortunately delicious.
Despite the annoying mosquitoes towards the end of the day, the double date was quite fun and I'm looking forward for more.
Currently listening to: L'arc en Ciel
Just finished reading: His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman
About to start reading: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (The Wide Window)
Raven
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Raven and Stormcrow go to Gonuts
Stormcrow and I have been craving Gonuts Donuts for quite some time now but none of its existing branches are in our area of travel. This year's Valentines date, we thought, would be the perfect time to go on quest for those donuts.
The day started well and soon we were on our way to Greenbelt. Not surprisingly, we encountered hairy traffic in the Makati area since it's the Valentines season. Eventually we were able to park relatively near the place where we remembered Gonuts to be. After walking around the entire place twice, we realized that Gonuts wasn't anywhere in the building. Apparently the food court was under renovation at that particular time.
"No use standing around here any longer," I said. After a brief txt consultation with Stormcrow's mom for directions, we set off for the next nearest Gonuts branch - Fort. I haven't personally driven to Fort so I wasn't very at ease. Sure enough, we made several wrong turns, a fact made worse by nearly nonexistent street lights and unclear directions. Eventually, we found ourselves in the vicinity of the NBC tent, which we knew to be near Gonuts.
Finally! At that point the length of the line was trivial, and shortly we each had our donut boxes. We even got a box of their promo valentine donuts and ate a pair on the spot.
The rest of the date went smoothly. We had dinner, then played dota with Po, Ruben, and Glenn. A round of coffee and some chat, then we headed home.
And left my donuts at Stormcrow's place. Damn.
Raven
The day started well and soon we were on our way to Greenbelt. Not surprisingly, we encountered hairy traffic in the Makati area since it's the Valentines season. Eventually we were able to park relatively near the place where we remembered Gonuts to be. After walking around the entire place twice, we realized that Gonuts wasn't anywhere in the building. Apparently the food court was under renovation at that particular time.
"No use standing around here any longer," I said. After a brief txt consultation with Stormcrow's mom for directions, we set off for the next nearest Gonuts branch - Fort. I haven't personally driven to Fort so I wasn't very at ease. Sure enough, we made several wrong turns, a fact made worse by nearly nonexistent street lights and unclear directions. Eventually, we found ourselves in the vicinity of the NBC tent, which we knew to be near Gonuts.
Finally! At that point the length of the line was trivial, and shortly we each had our donut boxes. We even got a box of their promo valentine donuts and ate a pair on the spot.
The rest of the date went smoothly. We had dinner, then played dota with Po, Ruben, and Glenn. A round of coffee and some chat, then we headed home.
And left my donuts at Stormcrow's place. Damn.
Raven
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Not just your ordinary Chinese dinner
After an unexpected lengthy absence, we're back! The past two weeks had been kind of hectic, what with conferences, work, and acads. (In point of fact, the past two weeks were sem break! ^^) On to the blog!
-----
Chinese food is one of our favorite kinds of food. If we get a craving for it we usually go to such places like Causeway, which offers a wide variety of choices and has the traditional dimsum cart.
Stormcrow and I went to Greenhills one weekend. We saw this very intriguing Chinese place situated in the newly-opened multilevel covered parking lot. It was aptly named "Hua Lan" and the poster invited us to partake of an eat-all-you-can meal for only Php200. The restaurant had conveniently placed floor-to-ceiling glass windows that allowed us to peak at their buffet table. It looked interesting enough that we set a dinner date to try out the place.
This poster caught our attention 2 weeks ago..
In we went one night, and it must have been during the peak of dinner as we almost couldn't get a table. The place was modest in size, and could probably seat around 25-30 people max. We got a very small table for two, and ordered two glasses of bottomless iced tea (which might be a bad idea, as it will war with the food over stomach space ^^ ).
The buffet table was long, and was divided into sections: appetizer, viands/meal proper, dimsum, soup, and dessert. To my delight Hua Lan had radish cakes in cute triangular slices. (To the uninitiated, radish cakes are basically thicker hash browns made of..well, radish. ^^ You can put a kind of a thick red paste that tastes like hot sauce.) I gleefully put on several slices on my first plate.
The buffet table
The viands were varied. From what I remember, there was a dish of beef in oyster sauce (we liked that a lot), fried chicken parts, pork spareribs, pancit, and other chinese dishes that had, strangely enough, more than a touch of Filipino influence. The dimsum were your usual siomai (in pork and shrimp), siopao, and shrimp dumplings (which I didn't eat, lest I die XD ). There were also two kinds of soup, a hot and sour concoction and a reddish hued soup with pork bits.
Stormcrow with his first dinner plate. ^_^
Since it was eat-all-you-can, it was a no holds barred kind of meal. I helped myself to more of the radish cake and that excellent beef in oyster sauce dish. I think I got around 2 or 2 and a half plates worth of the main course, a couple of servings of the allowable dimsum, and maybe two cups of soup. Stormcrow ate maybe just a bit more than I did. (I think I was very hungry then! XD )
Sometime in the middle of the meal, Stormcrow got some samples of dessert. The choices included buchi, a mango-and-sago cold soup, and coffee jelly. We tried the coffee jelly, and it turned out to be pleasantly nice. It was a bit weird (all new things are a bit weird) but it had its charms. At that point I was getting full and wasn't able to take more than a couple of spoons of it.
The sweet conclusion
All in all, it was a very satisfying meal, even though their viands weren't very chinese. In fact there was a distinct lack of seafood in their buffet menu. The price of the meal isn't that far from any other eat-all-you-can places, and you have the option of a bottomless drink as well. The ambiance is quiet and the place is airconditioned. Is it worth going back? You bet!
Raven
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