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Month: September, 2007

Lawson lunch at Bonifacio High Street

28 September, 2007 (14:17) | Uncategorized | By: Arpee

Brother’s Burgers has a nice little branch at the Bonifacio High Street, where the entire Support and Delivery group of Lawson PSSC decided to have lunch. Inside you can see the menu, so conspicuously pasted on the wall, where you can decide what to buy while waiting in line. They also have those little flyers but I had more fun choosing from the great wall of menu.


Happy smiles all around! See guy inset in blue, that Jun Chua, my officemate. Pretty lady on the bottom left is Dindin. The lady who’s back is turned is my boss, Melissa. See? Everyone happy.


This is what my fish sandwich had for company. Brother’s burgers has really good food, though the prices are not exactly for the everyday Filipino. The place is popular among those with a more Westernized palate, since their burgers are kinda bland by Pinoy standards. Slightly more pricey than most Manila burger places, Brother Burgers has large patties and a pleasant fire-grilled aroma, which more than makes up for the higher prices.


Lo and behold, the half-eaten Brother’s Burgers! I took this picture to show you how big their burgers are. These are the regular cheeseburger varieties, each one containing a half-pound lean meat patty. They have a special burger that contains one pound of beef, for those with death-row appetites and healthier hearts. I urge all burger-lovers to come here for a taste of the real American cheeseburger.

Some of my officemates opted to have their dessert at Sonia’s cupcakes. Seen here is a tray of Sonia’s centerpiece (for me at at least), the Flourless Valrhona chocolate cupcake. I believe that anyone who has a sweet tooth must visit this place.

The exterior of Mary Grace. Inside, the place has a nice homey feel to it. Though it’s kinda small and it’s not the place to linger unless you intend to order a meal. After the buying my cheese rolls I immediately left the place. I wouldn’t give the place an “A” for service. The lady at the cashier was busy doing other things and it took her seven minutes before she took my order of three cheese rolls for take out. I was staring in her face for seven full minutes (I timed her just to prove a friend blogger wrong about the service at Mary Grace. I guess she was right.) The Mary Grace kiosks at RCBC was a whole lot more cheerful and congenial, which is probably why I bought a dozen from her the last time I was there. Good food alone does not make a great restaurant. Quality of service is equally important, sometimes more important than the food itself. I remember going to this food joint every time I was in the Ortigas. The food is ordinary at best, the prices not cheap. But the service made me feel so pampered, I came back more often than I should have. Mary Grace at Serendra needs to learn that, I guess. But the cheese rolls will forever be the best, I’ve got to give them that.
The Mary Grace Cheese Roll is the best cheese roll there is, bar none. I got some of these for dessert. Cheaper than Sonia’s flourless valrhona cupcake and can be eaten with less guilt. I wish someone would give me a box of 12 for Christmas. I wish, I wish and wish some more (am I being subtle or what?)

Comments: 2

Manosa on my mind…

26 September, 2007 (13:42) | Uncategorized | By: Arpee

This is the exterior of Manosa’s Paciteria. I am not ashamed to admit that this quaint Chinese noodle shop is my favorite of favorites in the Makati CBD area. This particular branch is located at the ground floor of the parking building along Dela Rosa St., behind the SGV, Enterprise, Allied Bank buildings, which face Ayala Ave. Now that our office has moved to One World Square inside the McKinley Hills Town Center, I can’t help but bask in the memory of this noodle shop, which is now less than accessible to most of us. If I want to eat there, I have to brave the traffic at McKinley and Ayala Ave. just for a taste of my own personal heaven. The yellow and orange chairs have become the perpetual Pavlovian stimulus for me that immediately elicits the salivating response. Ah well. For those on a tight budget, come to this place. Try the birthday misua or the makimi. You won’t regret it.

My apologies for the low quality photo. I was only using a my K608i’s camera and the quality is not really as good as most food bloggers’ pictures. But believe me, this is the stuff of dreams, for noodle fanatics. Low salt, little or no MSG ( I can tell because I’m allergic to it) and all flavor, this Chami is one of Manosa’s best sellers and tops my list each time I go there. I love big noodles that are stir-fried in peanut oil with lots of kikiam (the real thing, not the little shriveled up wanna-be, flour-based, artificially-flavored pseudo-kikiam they sell at King of Balls), tripe and veggies as accompaniment. The downside is that they I never got to taste their siopao. I’ve been there five times already and each time I had to go to corner 7-11 for siopao. They should really take it out of their menu if they don’t have it. Going back to the Chami, this big bowl can satisfy two people with big appetites or three people with normal appetites. The cost? A mere P120.00 for a taste of heaven. Not a bad deal at all.

This is what Jun, my officemate, had. I almost forgot to take a picture of his plate because he was going through his Pata Tim like a laserjet printer on new cartridges. Food at Manosa is really good and it is certainly value for your money. The Pata Tim ensemble costs P100.00 only.

Comments: 3

Amici it est!

23 September, 2007 (12:28) | Uncategorized | By: Arpee

Amici is a nice Italian restaurant tucked between Don Bosco Makati and WalterMart. I have heard so many things about this restaurant but never had the time to really confirm the rumors first-hand. So, one rainy Sunday afternoon, I decided to go in and find out for myself. Boy, was I in for a treat!

I’m going to cut through the chase and tell you all good people out there what I think of this restaurant. Starting with the boo-boos:

  1. The picture says it all. For a restaurant that serves good food, the decor needs improvement.
  2. Entrance to the place is quite a chore. Unless there is another way in that I don’t know about, maybe from the church side, they need to do something about that entrance, which is so inconvenient especially on a rainy day.
  3. The toilets are clean and well-provisioned, but it can be quite a walk from the restaurant. After eating a lot and you feel the need to run to the toilet to unload, you’d be sweating terribly and could be breaking in a panic before getting there.
And the yahoos:

  1. I think the food is comparable to Gourdo’s, with the prices as the main difference. For those who want great pizza, pasta and pastries, Amici is more than friendly on your pocket. For the food I ate, I spent P470.00 total, VAT inclusive. See the pictures below.
  2. Free parking! Yes, all customers who buy P300.00 worth or more get free parking for two hours at WalterMart. Not bad no?
  3. Service is lighting fast. Not sure if it’s that way most of the time. I will have to eat there again with the lunch crowd to find out (nice excuse).
One of the nice things about Amici, the prices. Have a look-see and tell me how good it is to know an authentic Italian restaurant that’s affordable to the working class. Water is purified and readily available from the corner chest freezers around the restaurant. The customer pays at the counter and waits for the food to be served. There is a few minutes waiting time for the pizza because only then do they cook it, after it is ordered. Take your family there and enjoy a great Italian meal.

This is Amici’s Pasta Montanara. It’s got home-made spinach fusilli, with Italian sausage, pepperoni, salami, and generous amounts of cheese sauce. The bread is your usual baguette, rubbery and tough but delicious when masticated. Yes, I hate spinach pasta. But because the menu indicated that it was one of their bestsellers, I gave it a try. Not salty at all. I really hate salty food. The sausages provide the salty flavor, but in ample amounts. Their cheese sauce is good. No, it was great. I don’t wonder why it is a bestseller. It outflavors Sbarro and Pizza Hut by leaps and bounds.


Amici’s Calzone shown here. Served hot, it contains ham, mozzarella cheese, artichokes and mushrooms. The tomato sauce is what you see on top. The calzone is big enough for two people and is surprisingly not salty. While most pizzas available locally are usually too salty (for my taste), Amici’s isn’t, while the taste of the ham is very distinct. All flavor and goodness, nothing else.

Ah, the Amici Tiramisu. It literally melts in your mouth. I admit I was slightly skeptical about this dessert. First, because I don’t like Tiramisu. Second, my past experiences with Tiramisu were never pleasant. Tiramisu only leaves me craving for Krispy Kreme and would usually burn a hole in my pocket. But Amici paved the way for a drastic change of heart. Because I’m not a coffee drinker, I am usually slightly aversive to the taste of espresso (no Starbucks gift certificates for me guys). However, this quaint little cheese cake was a real eye-popper: I hate it but I loved it. Makes sense?

Comments: 5

T6 at The Enterprise Center

18 September, 2007 (16:11) | Uncategorized | By: Arpee

Theopnustos 6 (T6) is the exhibit of artist Arnel Borja, showcasing his kinetic sculptures. Borja’s background is in aerospace engineering, aside from his art. His creativity betrays his technical know-how. One look and the viewer can glean that it took more than mere creativity to produce his brand of art. I’m art dyslexic, but I can surely dig this.

One of the first pieces that can be viewed from the Tower 2 side of the Enterprise Center’s atrium. The simplicity of this piece exudes plain genius. A bigger version of this would add drama to the lobby of an office building or outside a gray building. To me it seems like a giant version could work wonders for the exterior of an IT company.

This is one of my personal favorites. It seems like the longer arm is just screwed to the body but is actually in perfect balance. I did actually try to pry the center but it seems stuck. But it was obvious that the artist took pains in ensuring the piece was balanced because it actually teeters a bit when you touch down on one side.

It’s amazing how the artist managed to balance objects that not even supposed to be on balance, with the curved wire where it’s even impossible to determine the fulcrum, at least for me. The skill and craftsmanship will leave you in awe.


For those interested to see the exhibit, you have until the 28th of September, 2007.

This is the pricelist of Mr. Borja’s artworks. If you want a piece of living physics in your home, then be ready to shell out a significant amount. If I could afford it, I wouldn’t even think twice.

Comments: -

Lars, your guide to Lawson

15 September, 2007 (02:16) | Uncategorized | By: Arpee

Yes sir/ma’am, we are moving to our new home at the One World Square building inside the McKinley Hills Town Center. Incidentally, the good people in the St. Paul MN main office came up with a short little video on how Lawson deals with the problems of their clients. I really enjoyed watching the cartoon, it wasn’t cheesy like the other company videos I’ve seen (that QC-based employer I once worked for had the chessiest AVP ever.)

Lawson PSSC is moving to a new and secure facility. I will finally have my own cubicle with a great view of mushrooming air condition compressors. I guess I’ll be the first one to know if one of the air-conditioners is on fire. Terrorists, make no mistake, we have the Philippine Marines for a next-door neighbor, with battle-hardened soldiers from Basilan taking residence. I wonder where they grab their grub?

I hope you guys enjoy this video as much as I did. Note the guy in red and the German guy, they’re Lawson’s competitors. See if you can identify who they are.

Comments: 4

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