Sommelier 100 wines 2012

I would like to attend this. Yet, I feel I won’t feel the entrance fee’s worth with my lack of wine knowledge. I will attend with no comprehension of what the event is all about than be drunk… and I don’t believe that is the case. I believe wines connote more than various liquid cultural personas “with alcohol content”. I’m not sure I am expressing my thoughts correctly, but I want to make it known I hold high respect for good wines and wine makers. Moreso, for wine experts, who take the time to study and experience the whole essence of wine drinking… its history, etiquette and influence to humanity.

I’m still thinking if I should attend if only for the experience. Ehe.

For my wine-loving friends, maybe you’d like to try this out.

A showcase of excellence, a demonstration of diversity,
and a spectacular evening of genuine wine appreciation.

A little backgrounder, I am currently 110lbs. I am fairly slim but I have a slight belly issue because I KNOW I eat too much… sometimes. I have a few months to go before I marry my fiancè. As with any bride to be will think, “I have to look my best at my wedding!” My fiancè is motivating me to slim down a bit, back to last year’s physique, when I did a short, friendly modeling stint with friends and I didn’t have a belly issue. Ehe.

So I tried to remember what I did to slim down so fast in a matter of few months. Then I remembered. It was from a heartbreak.

March 2010, my ex cheated on me. It was an immense decline of appetite for me, contrary to most heart-break solution of indulging with ice cream and chocolates. It wasn’t that I went into a crash diet. Rather, my rice intake declined to smaller proportions. My dessert intake consisted of only yoghurt and fruit tidbits. I drank gallons of water too.

Plus I vented my anger every night, 3 times a week, on hoola-hoops. Minimum of 10 minutes to maximum of half an hour.

It was on pictures did I realize I shrank… and looked better than ever.

I felt more confident.

Then I fell in love with my guy best friend of almost 6 years. Darn it, my appetite came back and I’m eating a lot again.

So now, I am in this dilemma of trying to get back to that size (points to picture above). If I was able to achieve such physique with no gym costs and without compromising health, then I will do it again!

I’m listing down ways to help slim down. I’m giving myself a month to see changes, since I’ll be going to a beach resort with friends soon. Must try to show some figure.

Hope these steps helps other people too.

Step 1. Eat foods that help loose weight, and avoid those that makes you gain.

Check list of common food list to avoid and otherwise.

Foods that’ll help you lose weight fast

All whole grain or unprocessed foods
Any fruits or vegetables – How fruits & veggies burn fat
Oatmeal
Plain popcorn – lightly salted
Brown rice
Wild rice
Wheat Germ
Potatoes
Wheat breads (Avoid White breads)
Pitta bread
Wholegrain cereals
Porridge
Oats
Shredded wheat
Cassava
Corn
Oatcakes
Pastas made with wheat like Macaroni or Spaghetti
Whole Barley

For a complete list of foods to help lose weight, follow this link.

Here are common foods TO AVOID in order to lose weight

Fried foods
Hamburgers & French fries
Chocolate Fudge
Candy
Soft drinks
Tinned fruits
Chutney
Pickle
Bacon
Sausage
Cured meats
Ham
fatty cuts of steak like T-bone & rib-eye
Puddings
Bread made with white flour
Soda pop, such as Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, etc.
All baked goods made with white flour
Coffee
Biscuits
Fast foods
Alcohol
Potato chips
Popcorn

For a complete list of foods to avoid to aid in losing weight, follow this link.

Step 2. Eat UP To 4 times a day by eating every 3-to-5 hours.

According to an online nutritionist, our body finishes digesting our food after 3 hours. Not eating after that will allow body reserves to run your body. Hormone levels will adjust into fat-burning mode. This increases anti-aging hormone production and tissue repair.

But what about the “hungry” feeling we get?

There is no need to panic. We are so used to being fed on time we think we deprive ourselves of nutrition when we feel hungry. On the contrary, simply wait 10 minutes, have a cup of tea or a glass of water and you’ll be fine.

This is not advising to starve yourself. That is utterly ridiculous. The statement is merely saying going a few more hours without eating is not unhealthy, unless you have a strict regimen to follow provided by a medical professional.

Step 3. Before each meal – Eat at least 1 whole raw fruit or vegetable with 8 ounces of water

This I personally recommend because I’ve tried and tested it fully. It sure beats eating some steak or fatty porkchop. It reduces food cost too.

Step 4. Stop eating at each meal when you feel 100% satisfied

This has to be followed to a tee. We live in a society wherein more is perceived better even when we had enough. I once made the mistake of eating too much than I could take just because it was in my favorite restaurant, I ended up in bed for days because of “empacho” (extreme indigestion).

Step 5. If you do get hungry in between meals…

Snack lightly on weight loss foods as indicated within the complete list of foods to help lose weight.

Step 6. Take any these recommended weightloss drinks.

Ice Cold Water
Green Tea
Fat Free Milk
Vegetable Juice
Whey Protein
Yogurt Based Smoothies
Coconut Water

Now, I’m off to my regimen! Will update everyone on this after a month.

So what do you think of these steps?

Last Sunday, I was tasked to find a restaurant for a lunch meeting with my wedding coordinator, future mother-in-law, and my fiance in Canada, via skype. Lugging a heavy laptop bag to which I added my usual mall stuff, I jumped from one restaurant to another, starting from Glorietta 4 all the way to Greenbelt 5. I huffed my way through heat and people and easily got frustrated because the restaurants I opted for their wifi were either full, still closed, or didn’t have enough sockets to plug my laptop to.

My last resort was to go to the topmost floor of Greenbelt 5, where I knew population was quite scarce. Finally, there was one restaurant with a good meeting ambiance, good wifi and sockets under each table. Perfect.

We ended up having our meeting in Bulgogi Brothers. Mahogany looking wood (I apologize for my lack of wood knowledge), display of wine racks, soft, dark colored couches make up the modern and family-oriented atmosphere. I am not knowledgeable in Korean cuisines, but their menu is very well crafted with delectable descriptions and is quite appetizing.

While my coordinator, future mom, and fiance were talking via Skype, I called on a server to help me decide which to order. I had three factors to consider upon ordering:

1. Nothing too spicy. We’re not used to the usual Korean “kimchi” kind of spice. Ehe.
2. Nothing to cook anymore. We’re busy with the meeting to consider cooking anything.
3. Despite the Korean names, I wanted something easy to remember by, even if only for it’s ingredients.

I was surprised they placed these small plates a few minutes after I ordered. They were FREE appetizers, consisting of Sweet Corn, Sweet Potato and Quail Eggs. These were awesome!

They also provided unlimited servings of fresh vegetable dishes. I notice this is a common thing offered in Korean Restaurants. Oh, this was also for FREE! This vegetable plate consisted of Spinach Salad (my favorite), Kimchi and Kangkong.

Another FREE stuff offered is Tea of the Day. For that day, we had Bori Cha (Barley Tea). Good item to serve to prepare the stomach.

With all this free stuff, the notion of not ordering anymore did come to mind. Haha!

For our drinks, we had Fresh Mango juice, Rasberry Tea Mint, and refillable iced tea. Yes, the drinks are very tall, and sweet!

Now for our meals…

Dubu Steak Fried crispy dubu (tofu) with teriyaki sauce and bean sprout. Best ordered with Bokbunja Bohae

It was a unanimous favorite. The tofu had a light crispiness on its outside, but has a very soft and mouth-watery inside. A must try!

Dwaeji Galbi Gui Spareribs marinated in soy sauce. Best ordered with Songiju
This one had a strong, sweet flavor. The meat was very soft and juicy, I loved sucking at all the juices.

Haemul Gungjung Mandu Fried dumpling with seafood (mussels, shrimp and squid) served with spicy sauce. Best ordered with Maechousun

Ordering seafood soup in any restaurant is an experience for me. You will taste the sea with this dish and it was such a delight seeing it still boil when placed on our table. Yum!

After acquiring my receipt, I found this brochure within their card / receipt holder. It features a “bento-like” variant of their dishes. From the look of it, despite its high cost, the portions could be shared among 3 to 4 people. Can anybody clarify this for us please?

Bulgogi has very a efficient and friendly staff, one of the best I’ve seen. Better is they knew how to explain random dish I asked in the menu. That’s a big plus from me.

Although a bit pricey on the side, it was all worth it. They give great food and top family-friend service. What more can you ask for?

I’m not a big fan of Korean dishes but I believe I’ve found a favorite Korean restaurant.

These could hardly feed your hunger but they make cute, adorable, collections.

It was through a friend’s suggestion to avail of an eat-all-you-can buffet in Hotel Celeste. With the promise of Angus Beef Servings and unlimited Iced Tea, we purchased this voucher worth ₱699 (valued at P1398). After an awesome two-and-a-half hour of action and laughter filled Avenger’s movie, fine dining was the best option to end the day.

The interior of Hotel Celeste equates quiet sophistication I often observe from high-end luxury hotels. Even if the atmosphere calls for utmost etiquette, which can associate to most a memorandum of stiffness and intimidation, Celi’s restaurant damask tablecloths, exquisite china, tastefully integrated heavy fabrics, high end chairs and crystals… all of these call for a comfortable play of senses to relax, enjoy and prepare oneself for a fine, culinary experience.

But alas, I have to be honest in saying, Celi could have done more with their buffet. I might be expecting too much from a hotel buffet since it is not as if I’m often in one, but I felt there was a lack of variety. Or, the fact there were few options, I had been expecting a uniqueness for each served dish. They were delicious indeed, but I expected more.

Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Amazing Seafood Medley

Pasta Carbonara with fresh basil and pesto oil

Although I would state dishes were generous in essence. Carbonara was very creamy and didn’t skimp on the bacon. Their seafood medley had large, plump shrimps to chew your teeth in. A hoard of colorful, fresh cut fruits were available in the dessert area, ready for the taking,

Angus Beef, well done

The Angus beef you could avail in your preferred “doneness” (Rare, Medium, or Well Done) and will be served on your table. I am no steak expert but I think there are better tasting Angus beef elsewhere. It’s still enjoyable though.

Desserts

One dish disappointed me and that was Tiramisu, which didn’t have any taste of coffee in it and had a strong flavor of alcohol. It didn’t taste like Tiramisu. Even if it will stated to be a different kind of Tiramisu, I won’t buy it. It lacked the essence of a Tiramisu dessert.

I would think, for a high-end luxury hotel and eat-all-you can buffet despite the lack of variety, this ₱699 voucher for Celi’s was worth it. I would think twice for it’s original price though. Maybe I’d visit again if for more dish variety.

What do you think of Celi’s restaurant?

It was scorching hot but I wanted to eat elsewhere, away from my worktable. For many weeks I’ve seen BoTan Bubble Tea and Cafe replace the Chinese restaurant/canteen, situated below West of Ayala Building in Makati. Its staircase is quite secluded and wouldn’t be noticed if not for the gigantic signage and menu board found on top of its steps.

Except for the exceptional less portion on large size tea drinks for to-go orders, I heard everything else was delicious. I got intrigued. So finally, I gave into the interest of trying BoTan for the first time.

Oh before I forget… I’m currently into the phase of Instragram retro looking images going viral on the web. So I’m inserting the same style on my photos here. I like how they came out.

Entering its premises, I was drawn to their shelves of knick-knacks, which I was later informed were items on sale. These added personality to the restaurant, which for me could be cross-overs among different asian cultures. Namely Taiwanese, Korean and Hongkong. Some items are too adorable to ignore. I did wish I had more money to spare.

There is also a bookshelf with various publications and some cooking books to go over while waiting for your orders. Personally, bookshelves add plus points to my restaurant visits since I’m a book lover. Yes, call me biased. I don’t care.

From it’s name, I thought it would serve mostly tea options, sandwiches and sweets. I was wrong.

For our drinks, my companion and I ordered Milk Tea and Pearl Milk Tea. In this intense summer heat, who’s not craving for everything cold right?

With our orders of rice cups topped with black sesame kids, we ordered Adobo Platter and Fried String Beans.

The Adobo Platter consisted of boiled eggs, tofu submerged in adobo sauce, fried pork blood rice cake, and very thin sashimi-style chicken pieces. All were drizzled with adobo sauce.

I’m an adobo fanatic so I might be biased in saying this platter was delicious. Each viand harmonized beautifully with the adobo flavor. With salty, though bit crunchy, fried string beans to complement the platter, I had a memory of mother’s tasty Sunday lunch adobo running in my head.

I observed from other tables orders or large bowls of soup, which could have been for sharing proportions. I wanted to take pictures but that would be impolite. I also noticed BoTan is very generous with their large-size drinks. Except for to-go orders.

After paying for our bill, I just had to take more pictures of items on sale. Aren’t they adorable?

So what do you think of BoTan?

So for three consecutive days, I’ve been on a regular leche flan diet (you call this phase a diet?) from Shelby’s foodcourt, Ground floor of Burgundy Tower, in Makati. It’s a small dessert but packs a mean and balanced flavor of sweetness, you could eat gazillions of mini cups and not tire from its silky texture and taste.

Leche flan from Shelby's Foodcourt. Taken with Instagram.

This leche flan has garnered good testimonials from Shelby’s regular clientele, it became a regular item sold and easily runs out during lunch rush.

I just finished my leche flan and yes, I’m happy. And bloated. I had taken coffee, tea, 2 refills of a 1 liter bottle of water, and three plastic cups amounts of soda. My pork sinigang and cup rice lunch had been consumed so yes… I am extremely bloated and sleepy.

According to an officemate, these eating habits happen to a lot of women during their period.

So for the girls, when you are having your period, does your food intake suffer or change?

The towering display of miniscule characters caught my attention. At first, I thought they were cute figurines for sale but my sister and I, being utterly girlish and easily swayed by anything cute, upon close inspection realized they were actually decorations for mini cupcakes. Immediately, we were served testers of small butter polvorons.

How my tongue tingled with childhood memories! Elementary Home Economic classes would often include these cooking sessions of polvoron making. Even when those times resorted to majority of flour being scattered everywhere, the end product was always something to be remembered by sharing with classmates and bringing some home to the family.

I once had an officemate whose wife made a part-time living in selling chocolate covered polvorons. Each box would cost 40 pesos, consisting of four large pieces covered in various swirly variations of white and dark chocolate. They were very pretty. I remembered buying more than a dozen to give as Christmas gifts.

Double Delights offers wonderful decorated versions of mini-polvoron cupcakes. See some shots, with permission, I took yesterday.

They also cater to other polvoron blends such as Cashew, Crisp, Cookies and Cream, etc.

For me and sis to test the product ourselves, we both each took a fave character. My sis took Patrick Starr while I got Isabela from Phineas and Ferb.

These small polvoron cupcakes do not demean the flavor. These were absolutely delicious. They provide a mean pack for dessert without being overly sweet but with additional crunch of a delectable icing and moistness of polvoron. A must try.

For more information and cupcakes photos, visit Double Delight’s Facebook page here.