FoodTrip: Charlie's Grind & Grill

Last Friday, my wife and I decided have our Friday lunch together at Charlie's Grind & Grill. She went first to order in advance while I am still on my way from work. I was really excited to taste my favorite Black Angus Burger. What really got me more excited was when I received her text message to inform me that our food was ready while I'm still struck in traffic. Rush hour at lunch time? Talking about delayed gratification.

When I arrived, no time was wasted and I pulled out "DASH" to take pictures. I thought we were just going to share with one Black Angus Burger like we always do but we got two plus 6-piece "Hot" buffalo Chicken Wings. Two cans of Coke completed our meal.

Black Angus Burger

Buffalo Chicken Wings

If you crave for a burger experience that will satisfy your big time hunger, Charlie's Grind & Grill is the one you should look for. Located at the heart of Kapitolyo, Pasig, Charlie's offers burgers, buffalo chicken wings, fish and chips and cheese steaks among other best sellers.

A word of advice to all of those who wants to try this awesome treat, please come early to find yourself a seat as the place is always packed. Parking is also limited, but you can opt to have your car cleaned since a car wash service is being offered beside Charlie's.

Thanks for spending your time with us.

Ciao.


For contact details, see info below:

Charlie's Grind & Grill

or checkout their facebook page:

Charlie's Grind & Grill Facebook Page

LOCATION West Capitol Drive, Kapitolyo, Pasig City
CONTACT (632) 635-4857

Merry Christmas to our OFWs...

This made me and my wife cry, as well as for many other people.

Cravings Unlimited Experience

(This article is long overdue. So much work lately at the office.)

After a tiresome day walking around the mall (we attended Shangri-La Plaza's Trick or Treat), it was finally time to reward ourselves - dinner at Cravings. They were celebrating their anniversary entitled "1st Unlimited Cravings Festival" where you could indulge yourself with unlimited premium dish, soup and salad, bottomless drinks and (our favorite), unlimited cake of your choice. For just Php 450, you get to enjoy all of this unlimited offers.

When we went inside, there are already a number of customers enjoying the food. After placing our orders, we immediately went to salad bar. I also took the chance to shoot inside the restaurant.

I think I had taken two trips to the salad bar. I still wanted to have more, but my wife reminded me to leave some space for the main dish and cake.

Their main entree for that day was Roast Beef with Mushroom and Gravy (plus Mashed potato on the side. It was good but it would be better with more gravy.

While we were having our dinner, My Little Red Riding hood was busy getting to know our new ipad2 aka Blair.

Unfortunately I was not able to take any pictures of the cake that we ordered but we enjoyed their Chocolate Caramel Cake and Devil's Food Cake.

We have decided to go home early so no more 2nd round of Roast Beef as we really wanted to rest. After paying our bills, we bid Cravings goodbye. Thinking to myself, "I'll be back".

Thanks for dropping by. Hope you could also share your experiences and recommend other resto for us to try for our next Food Trip experience.

Ciao.

Trick or Treat 2011

Im not a big fan of cosplay (costume play) and I rarely go to cosplay events. But I admire cosplayers for being creative as they portray their favorite anime, movie or video game characters. Alodia Gosiengfiao considered as the Cosplay Queen of the Philippines really brought it up to another level because of her remarkable achievements in the cosplay community. Also, well-known photographer Jay Tablante produced amazing cosplay shots as he brings characters to life.

So when my wife ask if my daughter would join trick or treat event last October 23 at Shangri-La Mall, I just could not say no. It is like bringing my child to a cosplay of kids.

Last year, we attended a trick or treat event at fun ranch and our daughter enjoyed her lady bug costume.

This year, we found a cute little red riding hood costume via ebay for only 200+ pesos and just looked for the black shoes to match the outfit.

The event started at 1:30PM but we arrived around 12 noon so we had time to take photos on decors around the activity area.

When I was at the fourth floor for some top view shots, I noticed the event personnel started the registration so I hurriedly went back to them as I might have a hard time finding them in the crowd.

After registration, organizers gave us a kit that we would use during the event (the kit has a paper bag, a list of 30 establishments/shops for the Trick or Treat, food stubs and an ID).

They let the participants roam around the mall when Trick or Treat officially started. We headed first to the 6th floor, thinking that others would start from the basement. Since 300 kids joined the event (plus their parents, yayas and relatives) there were still a lot of people at the 6th floor. There are about 3 to 6 shops per floor that we visited and they happily gave my daughter candies/giveaways. On our way to different shops, we still find the time to take some snaps.

Around 2:15PM, as we were still trying to look for the shops, fun games were started at the main area. We did not bother to join as we aimed to complete all shops in our list. We finished around 3:15PM and were really tired of walking and roaming around the mall. After we came back at the activity center, I finished redeeming our free snacks (hotdog, nuggets, popcorn, fries, ice cream and snow cones). The waiting line for free bagtag was quite long so we decided not to claim it.

The area near the stage was already filled with kids for the magic show. we just stayed at the back and moved near stage from time to time for some snap shots.

The program was finished around 4PM. Although not enough seats were provided to us, it was a success and we had a great time.Our daughter had fun with all the activities and goodies she got.

After taking some shots at the stage, we headed out to 5th floor to have our rewarding "eat-all-you-can" dinner at Cravings (details will be on my next entry).

Thanks for reading. Till next Time.

Ciao.

Chase Your Passion

You already met Blair, our new iPad2. (if in case you missed it, please read it here... Along Came Blair)

And now, we would like you to meet Chase.

So why Chase??? First let us define Chase.

chase (Definition)
- To follow rapidly in order to catch or overtake; pursue;
(Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/chase)

Chase, as my wife suggested, would certainly fit the description of this iPod touch 4th gen that we waited for several months before we could actually hold on to. Chase is a free gift from EastWest Bank's Balance Transfer promo for first time credit card holder. But it took almost three (3) months for us to receive the voucher. Hence the name Chase. We were able to redeem our voucher from iStudio Shangri-La branch.

Chase is also one of the doctors in US tv series "House" that we love to watch.

But seriously speaking, Chase is the name that we reserved if ever we will be given a Baby Boy in the future. Such a handsome name for our new toy.

Until next time.

Ciao.


For contact details, see info below:
iStudio

Store Locations
iStudio BHS

B3, Bonifacio High St., Bonifacio Global City,
Taguig, Metro Manila Philippines 1634
info@istudio.ph
Tel: (632) 8562395
Telefax( 632) 8562396

Store Hours:
Monday - Sunday : 11:00 am to 10:00 pm

iStudio - Vmall

3rd Floor Unit 330 V-Mall Greenhills Shopping Center
Ortigas Ave., San Juan ,Metro Manila Philippines 1502
info@istudio.ph
Tel: (632) 7258641
Telefax : (632) 7268932

Store Hours:
Sunday - Thursday : 10:00 am to 8:00 pm
Friday - Saturday : 10:00 am to 9:00 pm

iStudio Shangri-La

Unit 368, Level 3, Shangri-la Plaza Mall
Edsa corner Shaw Boulevard
Mandaluyong City Philippines 1550
info@istudio.ph
Tel: (632) 6343103
Telefax : (632) 6343104

Store Hours:
Monday - Thursday : 11:00 am to 9:00 pm
Friday: 11:00 am to 10:00 pm
Saturday: 10:00am to 10:00pm
Sunday: 10:00am - 9:00 pm

iStudio Gateway Mall

Level 4 Cinema Level, Space # 04005K
Gateway Mall, Araneta Center
Quezon City Philippines 1109
info@istudio.ph
Tel: (632) 9125948
Telefax( 632) 9125949

Store Hours:
Sunday - Thursday : 10:00 am to 9:00 pm
Friday - Saturday: 10:00 am to 10:00 pm

iStudio - SM Manila

LGF, Cyberzone Unit # 039A
SM City Manila, Concepcion cor Arroceros & San Marcelino Sts.,
Ermita Manila, Philippines 1000
info@istudio.ph
Telefax : (632) 527-9667

Store Hours: Monday - Sunday: 10:00 am to 9:00 pm

Along Came Blair

It's been a week since I first told my wife about the promo of HSBC and SW!TCH, one of the authorize re-seller of Apple products here in the Philippines. They are offering iPad2 for 24 months at 0% for HSBC cardholders in all their stores until end of October.

It's been a week since the time that I felt I really wanted to have the iPad2.

It's been a week... And now I am currently downloading IOS5 for 'Blair', our new toy.

I already spent many hours playing Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots HD and also purchased several applications. Most of them are for my little angel.

And I think this is the start of many sleepless night.

Ciao.


For contact details, see info below:

SW!TCH

STORE NAME sw!tch@alabang town center
LOCATION alabang town center, muntinlupa city
MANAGER jeffrey beltran
POSITION store manager / senior engineer
CONTACT 842-0794 / 217-0691

STORE NAME sw!tch@college of saint benilde
LOCATION RM1102, 11th floor, school of design and arts
MANAGER ian canlas
POSITION store manager
CONTACT 536-6752, loc 129

STORE NAME sw!tch@up ayaland technohub
LOCATION up ayalaland technoHUB, commonwealth avenue, diliman qc
MANAGER jojo pante
POSITION store manager / senior engineer
CONTACT 794-9632 / 794-9628 / 217-0690

STORE NAME sw!tch@park square one
LOCATION ayala makati, g/f park square 1
MANAGER arnel velasco
POSITION officer in charge (OIC) / technical engineer
CONTACT 752-7365 / 217-0689

STORE NAME sw!tch@ marquee mall
LOCATION g/f, 1055-1056, ayala marquee mall,
angeles city, pampanga
MANAGER mario trinidad
POSITION officer in charge (OIC) / technical engineer
CONTACT (045) 304-0797 / 217-0692

Time to Relax at Shui Hilot Healing Spa

Last Friday, we were able to use our much awaited hilot-spa courtesy of discount voucher that we bought earlier this year.

After coming off from work at 4PM, I hurriedly left the office to fetch my wife and drove to Libis. I really wanted to leave the car at home because I'm not familiar with the place but my wife insisted that we can make it on time. We had scheduled hilot-spa at 5PM by the way. I prayed that we could get on time because the traffic was really bad from my office to St. Paul Pasig. I was really tempted to get off the jeepney and just run towards Shaw Blvd, thankfully I did not. I arrived at my wife's office around 4:30PM. Still enough travel time left, or so I thought.

After we left, we encountered another traffic near Shaw Blvd going to C5. MY wife was still very relaxed while I was starting to get frustrated because of all the traffic that I already encountered in the span of one hour.

After we passed a stop light it was a breeze all the way to Libis. We arrived at Shui Hilot Healing Spa (pronounced as Shway) around 5PM barely making it to our schedule.

After we checked our reservation, we were led inside a small room, (small as compared to other big named spa that we already tried). The staffs then cleaned first our feet (some sort of foot wash) before we proceeded to a "spa bed" then ask us to stripped down to our undergarments. We were not given a bath robe, maybe another difference between a regular spa and a spa with a traditional hilot.

After a few minutes of waiting, therapists went inside our room and started with the session. At the beginning, they have placed glasses at our back aka ventusa therapy which was new experience to us. This is an alternative medicine therapy that relaxes your muscles and removes certain toxins from your body. I wanted to take a moment off first and take a snap shot of how it was done, but I was already enjoying the comfort of the spa. Maybe next time.

When they were massaging our feet, it seems they were using some piece of bamboo stick and poked us at different points in our feet. The hilot-spa session lasted for about an hour and a half.

After several months of physical and emotional ups and downs, It was nice to have this kind of quality time for relaxation.

Hope you enjoyed this relaxing session with us.

Ciao.


For contact details, see info below:

Shui Hilot Healing Spa

Makati branch: G/F Tropical
Palms, Dela Rosa Street, cor.
Perea Street, Legaspi Village,
Makati City

Operating Hours:
Everyday (including Holidays):
11:00am to 1:00am (Last call 12:00 midnight)
Contact Number:
(02) 393-2314
(02) 707-7453
(02) 664-9369

Libis branch: 2nd floor, 186
Magnitude Place, E. Rodriguez Jr.
Ave., Libis, Quezon City

Operating Hours:
Everyday (including Holidays):
11:00am to 1:00am (Last call 12:00 midnight)

Contact Number:
(02) 409-1183

Fun Day

Discounts and vouchers are all over the web nowadays. Many thanks to these websites, we are able to purchase products and services with a huge discount.

After browsing some groupon sites, we got good deal for unlimited fun-time inside Active Fun. Last August 29, we used one of the tickets (we bought two vouchers) to spend fun time with our daughter. When we were about to leave, I found out that one of Junas' (name of our car) tire was flat. We needed to replace it with our spare tire. Good thing I made it a habit of checking the pressure of the spare tire. After a few minutes of delays, we were able to go to Trinoma where we parked the car, then we just walked towards SM North EDSA where Active fun is located.

Upon arrival, my daughter got excited and wanted to play already. After my wife registered (we paid an additional fee for me to accompany my daughter inside), we were given snacks which we needed to finish first before we could get inside the play area. Stickers/stamps were needed before you can go inside.

There were a lots of kids running around so my wife decided to stay outside. My daughter started collecting balls being thrown outside by other kids. The playground looked like a huge boat designed for kids. There were colored balls, slides and stairs that will help kids and young ones developed different skills aside from the fun that they are to experience. As for me, I was busy taking pictures and chasing my daughter. After about two hours, I am really exhausted and tired but my daughter seemed to just about to begin playing. Age has its toll on me.

After several trials of convincing my daughter that we will come back the next day, she finally agreed to go out. We had our lunch at Pizza Hut Bistro in SM North EDSA, Main building before we headed home.

Til next entry. Ciao.