Japanese Food Fun...

Last week, I attended a seminar for creative thought processes. As the sessions would start at 2, and I was already there at 1:30, I decided to grab a bite to eat. I haven't had lunch at this time, but there really wasn't enough time to go around and find decent grub, so I went and roughed it a bit.

I stopped by a nearby Mini Stop to try and find something to eat, lo and behold the only thing that I relatively found edible was the fried dumplings, and a new item that I found.

ONIGIRI!




These "onigiri" (Japanese Rice Balls) were a little costly, but its been a while since I last had these. Also the last "onigiri" I had at Mini Stop (adobo flavor... iew) wasn't really good. So I tried out the new ones they had. In fact these look suspiciously like the ones I've had before on a stop over at Japan.

Anyway, I decided to take the sukiyaki and salmon stuffed ones. Sitting myself at an empty counter I set up my meal. I would take a dumpling and munch on the rice balls after.

The fried dumplings were sub par... However the sukiyaki onigiri was GREAT! The salmon was okay with me, a lot more authentic than that crappy adobo flavored one. But the sukiyaki flavored one was excellent!

It didn't hurt that they used really well made rice... Japanese rice I gather mixed with the rice wine adding sweetness and a mild, subtle flavor all around.

Sadly (maybe because of the rice shortage) these things are a little on the expensive side. 35 bucks a pop! A little too rich for my blood, but the taste was well justified... Im just cheap. LOLX

Here is another iconic Japanese dish, Gyoza... the fun part comes with how they spelled "dumpling" hehehe, in fairness, there were "Damplings" before in an online game called R.O.S.E. hehe!

Here is another one! Anyone want "carry"?

Japanese foods are fun, although curry isn't really a Japanese original, just look at some animes and you will see that curry has been integrated into their menu, just as we are now integrating onigiri into ours!

Yum!

Peace O_o x

Me Grimlock!

Guess what? I was able to pick up a classic deluxe Grimlock for 500 bucks! That's cool considering that before his price was jacked up ridiculously to 1200 Pesos! So, when I saw him I immediately grabbed him and headed straight to the cashier!




Here he is in package, and all he really comes with is his electro sword / gun / missile launcher. I didn't care however, I wanted him since I saw him 2 years ago!




After opening the packaging, you are greeted by every TF owners worst nightmare. The dreaded twist ties!

These are sheer lunacy! I mean there were 6 of them on this deluxe figure alone, when I brought Galaxy Force Primus 2 years back he had like a million of these things, I was afraid I would never get to play with him...

Grimlock on the other hand only came with 6, so I managed.

Sheer madness!

Here he is freed from his plastic and carton confines. He actually looks really good. No robot kibble to speak of, cept maybe you can see his chest from one side, and that's only if you look in between his leg and body.

He holds up pretty well, joints are sturdy and can hold a standing position. So I'm happy with that, however the joints were a little loose when I rotated them from left to right... So he can't cha cha cha, still a good buy!




So, next up is his robot form, I have heard rumors that his robot form is flimsy and doesn't hold well together, no better way of finding out than to see for myself. So here he is beginning his transformation.

First up, we separate the neck and gullet area from the main body.




Then we pull down the flaps on the side and pull down the tail section as well, this reveals his head.




After rotating his legs and upper body, we get a seemingly tangled mess. This is where Grimlock becomes unique, to facilitate his alternate form, they were a little creative with how you turn the rex legs into the arms. It involves rotating one leg until its oriented towards the other side of the body as seen above. Then you swivel the arms / shoulders into place to complete the transformation.

There are tabs located at the side of his collar that supposedly lock the swiveling shoulder mechanisms in place, however the collar piece is reversed on my Grimlock (a result of shoddy QA or a mold defect) this prevents the tabs from doing any actual locking, this is what every Grimlock owner complains about apparently.

However, I don't think it's a big deal. Mine is stable even without the locks, and is not flimsy at all. Maybe after a couple dozen transformations the swiveling mechanisms will loosen up, but for now it's ok.

Here he is in robot mode! A handsome fella even if I do say so myself...

Here is a closeup of his head, there is red piping making his visor glow with the light, cool. I just love the detail of his head!




Here is another shot of his body in robot mode, the rex head as feet are not too bad also, you can pose him, but it may take a while. Aggravating that might be that the ball joints for hip connectors are loose, but a little transparent nail polish should tighten those joints up nicely.

With his electro sword thingy.

A back side view. Notice the tail making his back detail a little more dinosaur like.

He can also equip his tail as some sort of whip weapon or maybe as an homage to Beast Wars Megatron!

Grimlock waving buh - bye!

Grimlock is a FANTASTIC buy for 500 bucks, I can see that someone paying 1200 Pesos would probably complain, but hey, I'm perfectly fine with my 500 Peso buy!

This should tie me over until I get my hands on the animated voyager version of Grimlock!

Peace O_o x

Tempura!

Yesterday after a catastrophic swimming outing that resulted in all of us waiting at Asian Hospital, my sister was said to be well enough for a little dinner before we all headed home. To console our tired and weary bodies after a long day of well... almost nothing, we all decided to eat something yummy. They were voting for North Park, however I've had some bad run ins with them and well... I kinda wanted to eat at a Japanese restaurant again... So off we sped to TEMPURA!




I've been having a craving for Japanese foods lately, mainly maki and sushi. I remembered from past experiences that theirs were kinda good as compared to others so I decided to order a mixed selection of makis. First up was the california maki!

The california maki as pictured above scored VERY VERY well on its own. As we already established from my last Japanese excursion what makes a good maki, I will elaborate on a detail that Teriyaki Boy didn't exaggerate. Notice the nice dollop of Japanese mayo on top. It made a lOT of difference to the flavor as a whole! I sort of forgot that making california maki even better was a generous portion of mayo on top gluing all the pieces together! It also didn't hurt that their mangoes were just right and didn't overpower the maki as a whole! Great...

The california maki however good on it's own will not pair very well with other dishes as I have discovered. I tried pairing it with tempura and some teriyaki chicken and it just didn't go well together. The mayo altered the harmony of the combination, thus alone it is great, with company not so much.

Next up...




FUTO MAKI! Now futo maki happens to be one of my favorite makis ever, and though I was mildly happy with the futo maki from Tboys, TEMPURA'S FUTO MAKI ROCKS! Ahem, let me elaborate, IT'S DAMN GOOD!

I don't remember it being this well made, maybe their ingredients were better, or it's been a while since I've had a good quality futo maki, but hell... This was one well made maki.

If you notice, there is no cucumber to speak off, just the pink stuff the bamboo shoot, the lemon wedge looking thing and some crab stick and tamago. However their combination and proportions were absolutely perfect! YUM, I can't wait until I get to eat these again!




Next up on the agenda (hey I was hungry) is something that a good friend of mine introduced to me. Behold the wonderful tori chizu maki! This ones a doozy, it's made from Philadelphia cream cheese, peas, crabstick, seaweed all wrapped in a roll of tender juicy chicken! The whole concoction is fried until the chicken achieves a golden brown color and the cream cheese melts to a creamy point that holds the whole thing together.

This was a treat! I have to admit that when it was introduced to me, it was more than 5 hours cold, yet even then it was good, when I tasted a freshly cooked batch, it was like biting into a piece of heaven. The yellow mustardy mix dip thingy compliments the fried maki extremely well!

Try this one out folks! It will not disappoint!




However, things can't all be perfect. Marring our stay at Tempura was this thing. To the trained eye it looks like sukiyaki, a yummy Japanese soup base mixed with fresh vegetables, tender meat, eggs, and a wonderfully saki based soup that hints at a deep sweetness within the mixture of flavor.

We thought so as well, unfortunately instead of a mild sweet hint, we were greeted by a very strong sour taste... Wrong!

Well, it cant all be perfect...




Tempura of course serves EXCELLENT quality tempura. However their price is moi excellente as well...





Washing this all down was their citrus green tea, although nowhere near Don Hens masterpiece, it'll do. It's a refreshing drink that's bound to have you coming back for more. Just make sure when they refill your glass, they refill the ice as well, if you run out of ice and only have the tea, it'll be too sweet.

So there you have it, all in all it was a good meal, and Tempura truly left me wanting more because their makis were just fabulous! Their price may be a little on the high end, but still within reason.

Their portions were a little better for their price, at 60 plus bucks you get 4 pcs of california maki, at about 100 - 120 (I forget) you get 5 pieces of futo maki, and for the same price (or near it) 6 pieces of tori chizu maki! WOW!

Their tempura is excellent, however they are also expensive, their iced tea also good went for about 52 bucks and lastly don't even think about the sukiyaki...

Tempura, try it out some time, make sure you get a few rounds in with those makis!

Peace O_o x

Trouble In Paradise!

Today I went with my family to Palaya Calatagan, situated near Punta Baluarte Batangas(correct my spelling if I'm wrong) it is a new development project by LANDCO Pacific. It's still pretty much under development, however the first clubhouse and pool area has already been fleshed out.




Here we are at the arrival point, as you can see it still is pretty bare. The weather was sunny this day, and the wind just right. A perfect day for swimming even if I do say so myself.




This is the entry path into the reception area, really just a modest walkway, and as I was entering this Calatagan I was already thinking whether I would be swimming or not, seeing my fair share of really cool pools this side of Batangas, I would really only swim if the water's tempting, or if I'm with friends.




This is the primary reception / business dinning area. Here there are rows of seating and tables for whatever non fun things that may occur at the resort.




Here I found nice cushy chairs, I brought with me a book and a few things to keep me occupied should the pool fail to meet expectations. I was already considering parking my keester here for the duration of the trip... Glad I did not.




Also at the reception area was a mini diorama of the planned overlay of the entire project, here staring me in the face was a squiggly but somewhat large pool area (as indicated by the light blue areas). Things seem to be looking up, time to go pool hunting!




After the reception pavilion, I was beginning to wonder where the pool was, the beach was already in plain sight as seen in photo, but the smell of chlorine still eluded me. I would later find out that the main pool area was a bit of a walk from the reception area. This is the seaside walkway you cross to get to the pool area.




Then as you cross over this bridge the undeniable smell of chlorinated water will definitely get you excited for what may be a very nice pool area!




After the bridge, you are greeted by raked sand (seriously crazy! who would go to the trouble of raking sand of all things...) where a row of cozy sun chairs are laid out. Some are partially shaded by some trees, while for others who enjoy the super solar sun beams will enjoy those that are not.

Here is the view from one of the shaded chairs (I do not like super sun beams), nice eh?

After my affair with a very tempting chair, the pursuit of cool pool water was once again at the top of my list. Immediately behind the row of chairs is another pavilion which undoubtedly houses the pool area. So off I went into the sunny yet well landscaped property where I am greeted by...




Viola! the pool area! You just cant miss the wide infinity pool that graces the immediate facade of the pool pavilion. At first glance the water seems to be shallow, but it is a bowl shaped pool which eventually evens out at about 4 feet of water. Not too deep, but deep enough for a good dip!




Here is the rest of the pavilion, the pool pavilion is actually a lattice of pathways and bridges that span the winding pool area of the pavilion, the pool itself is a squiggly shape that terminates in the bowled out infinity pool seen above.




On the way to our assigned cabana, I spot one of MANY MANY pool access points, I will explain in detail later why there are so many access points. But point of interest however are the barely visible small dots that are located at the bottom of this particular access point. Yes folks, they seem to be water jets!




Here is the view from the lower end of the pool pavilion, if you wade all the way to the end of this winding pool you will emerge in the infinity pool area. Notice also all the lush greens that surround the area, this helps keep the air quite fresh all throughout the resort.




Here we have the cabana we used. As you can see, it has its own private pool access area! This is the reason that there are TONS of access ramps to the pool, each cabana comes with its own private pool stairway, and yes, those little jets are also here. It seems that each stairwell is also its own private water jacuzzi!

Here we have the cabana platform, boards on the cabana can be raised for comfy seating, cool!

Here is the view from said comfy seating!

For those not wanting their cabanas too close to the water, there are these. The raised cabana comes with its own lower area for wet people, and the upper area has nice wide seats where one can just lay back and forget about life...

Here are the shower areas, see the handles? They're the starfish! lolx!

The place is a beaut! Nice wide pool, shallow but deep enough for you to swim in. Cool cabanas, and windy thanks to the sea side winds.

The beach however left a little to be desired... It was a little dirty (with nature) hehe, the landscaping, rather seascaping has yet to finish, so its a bit rocky and mossy.

That aside, this little under developed gem is a prime spot for swimming, then why is the entry titled so you ask?

Well, because in the midst of our swimming hoorah, my sister started to feel horribly ill, so after about an hour of swimming (thats small compared to the 2 hours it took to get there alone!) we had to pack up and rush off.

Luckily, my sister is fine, I'm grateful for the little taste of paradise, but am left wanting for more.

Peace O_o x

Twilight...

This just seems to flow forever into darkness,

Life as a work of art in any scale,

Echoes into the night, and into infinity.

Teriyaki Boy!

So after our trip to Tiendesitas, we decided to eat out for dinner. They suggested Chow King, and as we just handled our Chow Chows that day, and me having eaten at Chow King twice previously, I suggested we go Japanese instead.

So we drove down to Market Market and hit the local Teriyaki Boy!

Teriyaki Boy has been around for a while now, unfortunately I wasn't blogging yet at the time. Last night wasn't really crowded and we were immediately seated despite there being 8 of us and the time being 8 PM.

I decided to order some maki, so I got the Futo Maki and their California Maki. In addition I shared some Teriyaki Chicken with my cousin. To wash things down, I ordered a bottomless iced tea.

The iced tea arrived first, and was uninspired. That's all I'm going to say about it...

Then after a while the food arrived, the maki first.




Unfortunately, Teriyaki Boy isn't the best place for quantity. At their prices, these are relatively few portions. That would be understandable when it comes to Japanese food as usually sushi/maki/sashimi costs are dictated by quality.

I however am a quality - quantity lover... good food right amount.

I will first discuss their California Maki...




Their California Maki, comes in batches of 6 per order. It is really just mango, crabstick with mayo, wrapped in seaweed with Japanese rice and sprinkled with an outer layer of crab eggs.

Their CMaki was okay, unfortunately it was a little too warm for a maki of this make, It was exposed to the hot chicken teriyaki and thus had a higher temperature than ideal.

Making matters a little worse was that their mango was a little over ripe...

CMaki is a very yummy dish normally, unfortunately if the mango used is over or under ripe the entire experience is less than stellar.

Next up is the Futo Maki...




Futo Maki is a combination of elements, celery, bamboo shoot, crabstick, and tamago with Japanese rice wrapped in seaweed. 3 key elements that determine their flavor for me are the amounts of the bamboo shoot (the brown thing), the dried something (the yellow looking wedge) and lastly the pink sugary sweet thing.

These elements combined in proper amounts make a perfect Futo Maki roll, I wouldn't even consider the dish a proper Futo Maki unless all three are present.

Teriyaki Boy delivered with the said three ingredients, a little adjustment with the bamboo shoot and the pink sweet thing (namely a little more of it) would make this even better than it was. Unfortunately they loose points in quantity...

Only 4 slices per order.

They could have reduced the thickness by about 1/3rd and added around 2 to three more slices. Incidentally, the Japanese really never serve anything in 4's! It's supposedly bad luck.

Last up is their Teriyaki Chicken...





Their Chicken was exemplary as always. Rarely do I get a taste of bad Teriyaki Chicken from them. It is one of their, if not THE signature dish so you would expect good quality and quantity. The tender juicy chicken generously slathered in teriyaki sauce adds a little extra zing to the maki and made a perfect compliment to the meal as a whole.

Teriyaki Boy has good quality for their prices, and may be as authentic as you can get with that price range. You may ache for a little more quantity in some areas, but their other dishes will surely satisfy!

Peace! O_o x