Lenovo P700

I was looking for a mid-priced Android phone and all I've seen the past few weeks were the cheaper China versions running Fro-Yo or Gingerbread.  While I use a Blackberry for everyday talk, text and email, I was thinking of an Android phone mainly for games and browsing.  Getting a dual SIM phone seemed like a value-for-money proposition, but I wasn't too excited about the P17,000 price tag of the HTC Desire V.  Luckily I bumped into the Lenovo P700, which at P11,000 seemed like a good proposition.  The phone has got a 4" inch capacitive touchscreen which allowed me to type easily (3.2" screens simply have a cramped display); moreover, the screen resolution is pretty sharp.  It's got dual SIM capability and this allows calling flexibility in weak signal areas--the slight drawback is that SIM slot 2 runs only on 2G.  O/S is Ice Cream Sandwich, which isn't bad at all, no hang-ups of the earlier Fro-Yo.  Camera has 5MP, and takes reasonably clear pictures (no flash, however).  Processor is decent at 1ghz, not really fast but pretty responsive for day to day use.  Battery has 2500 mAh, which takes me around 2 days before I need to recharge; charging time, however, takes much longer at around 3 hours.  The phone seems quite sturdily built, although I can't say much about shock resistance (no way I'm going to drop the phone just to get you feedback on that issue).  The package comes with a external battery pack from Belkin, and a free Smart Bro SIM.  My only complaint with Lenovo is that the phone is only available in a few retail outlets--most stores don't even carry the brand.  Considering that Lenovo has the IBM heritage, I think the phone is slightly under-marketed.  This seemed like a good step upwards from the Samsung Galaxy Y Duos, which Monique has (running Gingerbread off 800 mhz, at a cheaper SRP though of P8,000), and it wasn't going to cost me the arm-and-leg price of the Samsung Galazy S-III (around P34,000).     I am hoping that this phone will be my play-buddy for a long time to come!

Jessica Gomes

Apparently Maxim readers have piled up the votes for Jessica Gomes as the best looking bikini lady.  This 26 year old swimsuit model from Perth has a Singaporean-Chinese mother and a Portuguese father, which probably accounts for her beautiful Eurasian looks!  Absolutely stunning, I agree!

AKG

Vicky and Monique have been searching for a good pair of headphones, and they have a long list of musts:  lightweight, comfortable press on or hug around the ear, handles a wide range of frequencies (deep resounding bass to tweeter clarity), lengthy cord (1.5 m) and affordable price.  I've been canvassing for the past few months, and I was convinced enough to get an AKG headphone for Monique.  Not bad at all, their starter headsets come in at P2,000 and these babies can outperform some of the more expensive versions of other brands (bracket of P4,000 to P10,000 a pair).  I understand that the company is a subsidiary of the same group that makes Harman Kardon amps which is pretty much a known name in the audio business.

Karate Kid

The Karate Kid movie series with Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio was an inspiring trilogy about the coming of age of a young karate student (in recent years, the remake has Jacky Chan and Jaden Smith).  I guess the Karate Kid restaurant was conceived to be a direct tribute to the movies.  Monique and I chanced upon the outlet at the Robinson's Ermita and we had an afternoon snack of noodles, gyoza, crunchy maki and burger-topped-spaghetti:

We spent something like P500 for the both of us, and it was good that we were able to sit down despite the long queue at the counter.  Pricing is pretty affordable, so it was understandable why the place was full with students around the Ermita area.  I would say that the gyoza, the maki and the ramen soup were acceptable in taste, although I felt that the gyoza was a bit under-filled.  There was definitely no excitement about the burger-topped-spaghetti, and I felt like berating myself for ordering Italian in a Japanese fast food outlet.  Also, serving portions are calibrated for snacks.

DZFE

DZFE on 98.7 mhz has been the sole classical FM music station in Metro Manila for  many years now.  Run by the Far East Broadcasting Company, this station is also a Christian gospel station--its monicker "The Master's Touch" is in reference to both the Divine and the master composers whose music the station plays.  I was driving along EDSA the other day, and tired of the long traffic lines, I tuned in for some soothing quartet music.  At the end of the piece, I was especially impressed with the announcer's clear description of what it was all about--the song title, the composer's name, the music at the time the piece was written, how the composer drew inspiration for the music, and some comparison with the music of the era.  I don't remember exactly what the piece was, but I remember that the station had put a lot of thought into describing the music and explaining the background of how the music came to be.  This approach definitely paves the way for a clear appreciation of classical music; I just wish that the DJs of pop stations would take the same painstaking care in dishing out their brand of music to the public.

Let's Toast

It's a pretty different combination--french toast with ham and sweet jelly, served with coleslaw on the side.  I thought that this Korean-style concoction by Let's Toast would be primarily salty with a tinge of sweetness from the jelly, but it turns out, only the coleslaw is salty, and the toast is definitely sweet (the saltiness of the ham is totally drowned out).  P65 for the combo; the store has a few stalls in Alabang and the Ortigas Center.

Peking Garden

Kong's 90th birthday celebration was a smashing success at the Peking Garden restaurant, at level 4 of Greenbelt 5.  One of the best Chinese restaurants in town, I understand that this is a franchise of a Hong Kong based chain (they have one at the Pacific Place in Admiralty).  Menus can go anywhere from P7,000 to P25,000 for a table of 12; I must say that the food is excellent and staff are very well prepared to handle your needs.  Aside from the typical Cantonese dishes, this restaurant has several northern Chinese specialties--after all, it is named Peking Garden!

LPL Suites

It's Kong's 90th birthday, and we found the perfect place to book some relatives coming in from the provinces for the festivities.  Since we were holding the party at the Greenbelt Mall, it was quite logical to look nearby--the LPL suites along Legaspi St., which was just right across from the Zara outlet.  Rooms were pretty neat and spacious, and since we booked in advance, we were able to get good room rates, something like P2,800 per room night.  The building was built in the late seventies or early eighties, and the lower floors are occupied as residential apartments.  The hotel starts on the 7th floor and goes all the way up to the 9th floor, where the lobby is located.  I understand that the Leviste family operates the hotel and a tie-up was forged with Dulcinea for the built-in brekky for guests.

Kuya's at the Fort

Kuya's at the Fort is one good example of word-of-mouth advertising.  We never even heard of the restaurant until some of Vicky's friends scheduled a party there and the wonders of their home-style Filipino cuisine was a very much talked about topic.  Located along Bayani Road (on the road from Lawton to C5), this restaurant has no frills and has simple decor, but people visit the place for the food.

Interestingly, the place is also home to Jed & Jillian's Burger House--they serve burgers, pizzas and pasta--but we elected to try the Filipino food this trip.  At night, the bar is open; also, the second floor serves a function room that can accommodate some 30 people with a Karaoke set-up.

It was Lola Dee's birthday, and we chose to sit in the air-conditioned  side of the restaurant.  For a Sunday lunch, we were lucky that there were only 3 other tables that were taken, and we were able to find a big table even without making reservations.

They make their own potato chips, which retails for something like P50 per bag.  We tasted both the regular version and the cheese version, and while the kids liked the cheese, I would stick to the regular salted one.

We started off with birthday Bam-i noodles, which came in steaming hot!  That was a good first dish, as we got to the restaurant past 1pm and were quite hungry.  The specialty of the restaurant was Kare-Kare (with real sauce from ground rice and peanuts), and twice-cooked adobo (this is a rare treat--most adobo dishes are just boiled, and only a few do the boil-fry-boil technique as this is time-consuming).  The crispy pata (pork leg) came in with a lot of garlic, and  the steamed pampano was very fresh.  The chicken dish was a hit with the kids, and the lengua (ox tongue) was mostly taken by the adults.

We finished the meal with dessert--the bobo chacha was also liked by the kids (it's something like halo-halo, but without the crushed ice), and the leche flan was ordered by the adults.  Very reasonable pricing--we spent something like P450 per head for a very fine and filling meal.

Mogu

Vicky arrived with a box of Mogu siopitos (small asado siopao, or hot pork buns), which I found to be quite interesting, because I had thought that Mogu was a Japanese restaurant located at the Serendra (it is), and that siopao was a Chinese snack.  Oh well, divergence--talk about pan-Asian cuisine!  The siopitos are just about bite-size (2 to 3 bites for others, but maybe I can do that in one bite, haha...), taste pretty good, with just the right mix of salty-sweet stewed pork.  This comes to P180 per dozen, quite reasonable.

The Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe

It's an entrance that you will probably miss if you are not attentive.  For those looking for a spiritual oasis in the middle of the concrete jungle that is the Makati CBD, the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe is located at a very convenient spot--at the Bance De Oro Tower 2, at the corner of Makati Avenue and H. V. Dela Costa St.  I understand that regular service is held there, and one can see a lot of office workers entering the chapel for brief prayer.  I happened to pass by today, and I really like the serene ambiance of the prayer area, coupled with the colorful stained glass panels.

Lipa

It seems to me that the buko juice craze is everywhere... Or is it just because I look for buko juice that I have that impression?  I was in Makati earlier today, and I came across an old favorite, Lipa brand of buko juice.  This is one of the first bottled brands that I came across, and I like it because it has no preservatives, and the taste of the juice is very natural, with no added sweeteners.  Shelf life, however, is limited to 3-4 days, and I understand that Lipa is constantly chilled to 4 degrees centigrade (lots of ice and refrigerated delivery trucks involved, I would suppose) in order to keep the juice fresh.  Retails at P45 for a bottle of 500 ml.  Very refreshing on a warm day!

Art's Cream Gallery

At the ground floor lobby of the Pedro Gil (Herran) Wing of the Robinson's Place Manila, you can find an ice cream nook called Art's Cream Gallery.  This is a relatively new ice cream shop (I just noticed it a couple of weeks ago, but the food server says that they have been around for some time now) which serves home-style ice cream.  Monique and I bought a couple of cones out of curiosity, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that the choices of flavors were varied and that the ice cream had the right sweetness.  I thought, however, that the flavors were not as sharp and I would have liked them to be, but we enjoyed them just the same.  Scoops are reasonably priced, and one can have a good sized serving for just around P100.

Mey Lin

The tradition of hand-pulled noodles has been a long standing concept in local Chinese restaurants, but most of these were specialized noodle shops operating out of the Binondo or Banawe area.  This concept was first commercialized into the mall fast food scene by Mey Lin (circa mid-eighties), and their outlets proudly displayed the chef's talent in twirling, slamming and pulling dough into noodles.

Vicky and I visited their outlet at SM Megamall, and we tried both their noodle soup and their congee.  The verdict?  The noodle soups are truly their specialty--noodles are even and long (to signify long life), chewy, cooked just right, and the soup (we had beef broth) was very delicious--this is highly recommended.  The congee was more like rice soup, and we had expected the thicker consistency of porridge or gruel.  It was okay, but not as good as those of other shops that specialize in congee.

We had a bill under P400 so that means an average spend of P200 per person.  The restaurant also has a wide variety of Chinese dishes, and their group menus are priced pretty reasonably at around P400 per head.  Good place for group lunches--family, officemates or barkada.

La Natural

Buko (young coconut) juice is one drink that I am absolutely crazy about.  Every chance I get, I don't hesitate to buy some for immediate consumption.  Aside from the wonderful taste, the supposed health benefits are plenty--the lauric acid in the juice is supposed to invigorate body cells, and the kidney-cleansing properties of the juice have been thoroughly researched.  I walked into a convenience store last night and found that a local company has started marketing a canned version of the product under the brand name La Natural, which is under the umbrella of the AgriNurture group.  Up till now, buko juice has been sold retail in plastic bottles requiring a constant temperature of 3-4 degrees centigrade (otherwise the juice turns into coconut vinegar).  The canning technology sure has some upsides, as the juice stays fresh for a longer shelf life.  At P31 per can, this to me represents a good alternative to sodas, soft drinks and other artificial juices. The taste isn't exactly the same as that coming straight from the coconut, and I would assume that the some preservatives have been added to maintain freshness.  Nevertheless, it's the availability I'm after--this does wonders, and for me is a better alternative to sports drinks and energy concoctions (taurine drinks).

Va Bene

The gasoline station today is pretty much no longer the gasoline station of years past.  The Petron gasoline station at the corner of EDSA and Pasay Road is a case in point--shops, restaurants, dental clinics and laundromats have made the gasoline station a mini-mall.  Not a bad place for Chef Massimo of Manila Pen's Old Manila to put up his own pasta restaurant--Va Bene, meaning Quite Good!  Vicky and I had the opportunity to eat there with a couple of old office mates on a weeknight, and we were happy to get a table immediately--I heard that on Friday and Saturday nights, the waiting line is quite long.

I liked the interiors of the restaurant immediately.  Quite informal, cozy yet elegant, the use of bright colors and cookbooks made me feel that the restaurant was a statement of Chef Massimo's personality (it probably is).  I was told that uncooked pasta was available for sale, and I was already trying to figure out how to make my own version of their pasta sauces.

The tomato dip was a welcome treat--I sat down a hungry man and started to munch on the toasted bread even before the rest came in (I arrived first).  As our orders came in, I was delighted with the aromas that came to greet me--the tagliolini was made with portobello mushrooms and had a white wine cream sauce, and the light hint of truffle oil made my mouth want more.  The potato gnocchi had a gorgonzola based sauce, it was not bad at all (as a rule though, I prefer long pasta over gnocchi and ravioli).  The tomato-based seafood linguini was another exquisite surprise (I understand that they make their own pasta, which accounts for the sensational bite).  Last on our order list was some pizza slices; these however were ordinary and I would much rather take the pasta, which is the specialty of the restaurant.  As the dinner was the treat of our friend, I didn't get to see the total bill, but my guess would be an average spend of P600 for a pasta meal, and maybe P1,200 for a full course event.