Balkan Express

Last Sunday, we celebrated Anita's birthday with lunch at a unique restaurant that serves Eastern European home cooking.  Located on the corner of Jose Abad Santos St. and Mons St. in Little Baguio, San Juan, this restaurant has been around for almost a year now, and, I understand is operated by Marco Batricevic, a Serb national that once played on the La Salle collegiate basketball team (UAAP champions either in 2006 or 2007).  The kids started off with some french fries, and then goulash (soupy beef stew) which was thick but wasn't too spicy.  The food came in big plates--Balkanski chicken kebab (skewers), mousaka (ground beef topped with mashed potatoes), the super tasty pljeskavica (beef patties filled with gooey cheddar cheese), chicken batak (chicken topped with more mozarella cheese) and the piece de resistance, the slow-cooked pork leg, which was very tasty, tender, and juicy.  Being a big family, we occupied half the restaurant, and probably created a ruckus while dining.  We left the restaurant quite full--per head average came to about P400 for a super treat!

Sauceria

We had Saturday night dinner with the Callar kids at the Sauceria, a 6-month old restaurant along Santolan Road in Quezon City, near the junction of Horseshoe Road.  Because their logo had Japanese lettering, we initially thought that the place served Japanese food.  However, the staff explained that the management philosophy of the restaurant was motivated by the Japanese management style, but the menu was actually international.  As such, we had nachos for starters, and we ordered three kinds of curry--yellow, green and red.  In addition, we had chili con carne, a tapa ricelette (rice omelet), pasta Alfredo,crispy breaded dory, and tenderloin steak, which we all shared, family-style.  The brick decor of the restaurant gave a homey feel, while the modern ceiling design gave an impression of being hip and avant garde.  The staff further explained that their food was prepared without artificial seasoning, and that preservatives are not used in their restaurant.  Note that the food came with various kinds of sauces--we tasted tomato salsa, garlic sour cream, melty cheese and a very flavorful artichoke-cheese dressing for the tenderloin steak!  The kids were buzzing with excitement on their new find--which was a good thing, as the bill came to a very reasonable P300 per head!  My only comment to the staff was that they should already make arrangements to accept credit cards, which in today's age is absolutely necessary.

Guy Lian

My golly gee.... Went to Hi-Top grocery with Gwammy and Kong, and to our delight, the smash hit item of the on-the-spot mid-day sale was Guy Lian seashell chocolates at 50% off!  As a natural consequence, thereof, I just had to get several boxes for my stash!  The chocolates pralines are a mixture of white, dark and milk varieties, and tinged with a little bit of hazelnut.  The company started in 1960, and the name is a contraction of the first names of the husband and wife team of Guy and Liliane Foubert.  The seashell shapes are a trademark of the company but the most popular shape is the seahorse.  Absolutely a delightful melt-in-your mouth experience!  Interestingly enough, after deriving such fame due to the seahorse design, the company has decided to sponsor a program to save the seahorse from extinction--Project Seahorse, which has funded the establishment of 30 no-fishing zones in the Philippines, all managed by subsistence communities.  Kudos to this world-leader in chocolate pralines; they reaped some benefits and they have learned to give back!

Mien San

Had a working lunch last Saturday with Gwammy's extended clan to brainstorm regarding sales strategies for our family properties.  Lunch was held in Mien San Noodle Shop along Gilmore Avenue, right after some of us paid a prayer visit to Mount Carmel Church where both Tita Sol and Tita Meng are interred.  To my surprise and delight, fifth generation clan members were there, and the time passed away so fast during the "brass-tacks" portion of the discussion, that we didn't have enough time for family chit-chat.  The meal was a feast!  We ordered siao long pao (which was newly steamed and quite juicy) and cold tofu with century eggs for appetizers; then we had thick wintermelon soup and lomi for hot starters.  Next came a variety of viands--white chicken, beef with tendon in hot pot, steamed dory, three cups chicken, steamed kaylan in garlic, tofu stuffed with shrimps, which we paired up with 2 kinds of fried rice (one with salted fish and a unique fried rice with minced mustasa).  Interestingly, they also served the Taiwan-made Apple Sidra, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  We were bloated--and even had 2 plastic bags of take home stuff to boot.  Tab came to around P500 per head, quite neat if you ask!

Zartz

We passed by the toy store at the Eastwood Mall, and saw an interesting foam dart called Zartz that can be thrown both indoors and outdoors.  This little toy has a special suction foam padding that sticks practically on almost all kinds of surfaces!  I got one as a stress-reliever; Monique just smiles whenever she sees me play with this toy--it's my inexpensive nifty fun plaything!

Dr. Kaufmann's Sulfur Soap

The most common comment about using this soap is that it stinks to high heavens!  Yes, the active ingredients sulfur and zinc oxide are the culprits, and the smell comes across like rotten hard-boiled eggs.  Whew!  Gwammy taught us to use this soap when we were kids, and while we initially found the smell strange, we are now able to tolerate the smell.  The secret of the soap is that the active ingredients are known disinfectants, and bacteria, fungus and mild parasitic infections are efficiently washed off.  For teen-agers in the seventies, this was a common anti-acne soap, and I understand that even up to this day, a lot of teens turn to this soap to combat the zit plague!  During my younger days when I would travel using public transportation, I'd used the soap as a staple germicide whenever I'd wade through flooded streets.  Nowadays, I use it on a regular basis for my daily bath.  One of the secrets to using the soap is to let the soap suds stay on one's skin for about 5-10 minutes in order to completely kill surface germs.  The usual comment, however, is that the length of time makes the skin dry, so I guess some balance is needed dependent on one's skin type.

Waterthins

Fast recovering from my bout with severe indigestion, I had to take a soft diet to slowly get my tummy accustomed to the regular diet.  Luckily, Vicky had bought some Waterthin gourmet cheese sticks and crackers from Wine Depot, and I had a enjoyable dinner.  The cheese twists would have been perfect with some liver pate, or tomato salsa or cheese dip... but well, I can't have them all... hehehe....