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Month: December, 2007

A Cocorama Christmas with friends

30 December, 2007 (06:47) | Uncategorized | By: Arpee

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Nothing is better than spending the holidays with old friends. Old, as in our friendships have withstood the test of time. Old, as in we’ve known each other since our early 20s and now we are in our late 30s (some pushing 40 but I won’t tell who, hehehe). With the our eagerness to swap stories of how the past year had been exciting, inspiring, frustrating and tumultuous, we decided to go a restaurant that had less noise than the food court, but with the price that doesn’t stray too far from our stringy budgets. Yes, we are all employed but we prefer to dine sensibly. And Cocorama, at the Shangrila Mall, was the place to do it.

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Sorry for the bad picture. However, their menu is as fun as the atmosphere. Festive, festive, festive!

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Seen here are my college buddies Mercy (learning consultant with KOV) and Simon (English teacher at the Phil Science High School). Mercy with her usual rants and Simon always finds humor in her stories. Here she is telling us about the hassles of her latest project with the KOV (Korean Overseas Volunteers). Lagi!

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Seen here is my friend Josephine (English teacher at Lagro High School), who only looks bored but is actually hungry. It’s 7pm and way past her dinner time. Lucky for us, the Cocorama staff were on their toes making sure food was served promptly.

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Vegetable chowder came first, Simon’s fave.

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Followed by Grilled Salmon on a bed of rice. The pineapple was a good complement to the fish.

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Mercy had Pan-seared Dory with rice. I liked the nori strips on top.

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Josephine had Teriyaki Spareribs. I love pork and this dish is my new favorite at Cocorama. The meat almost falls off the bone. Truly delightful.

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And because I hardly paid attention to the what I ordered, I just asked for Pork Chops with Crazy Rice. The rice was very good. The chops weren’t as tender as I had hoped but it made up for it in flavor and size. It was mostly lean and had very little fat. The total bill for our culinary experience was P1,400.00 (US$34.00) only! Happiness and memories at half the price!

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The whole conversation was continued at the nearest Starbucks (Simon got his planner, yahoo!) where we all gave Simon the double stickers, ha ha ha.

I’d like to give special mention to Mercy for the gifts that she gave us (so thoughtful of you!) and from the bottom of my heart, I would like to mention that you look good with your braces. All the best to you and Raul! To Simon and Jeh, it was really great to see you again. Balik tayo sa Cocorama ulit ha!

Cool cool Avenue Q!

22 December, 2007 (14:08) | Uncategorized | By: Arpee

My apologies for the unannounced blogging hiatus. December is the indeed the month of deadlines, overspending, rushes and impossible tasks. Now that we are a few days before Christmas day, I decided to give myself and Noreen a gift; a break from all the holiday spending and chaos we had to subject ourselves to. Yes, we saw Avenue Q.

A pair of ticket I bought through my friend, Khursten (thanks pala ha!) as far back as October, when the P500 seats (US$12.00) were still available. I had a good view of the musical from the balcony area. Kinda far, but wasn’t much different from the view of those from the Loge, where each seat was worth P1,000 (US$24.00).

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Makati City Hall’s neighborhood panciteria

14 December, 2007 (16:00) | restaurants | By: Arpee

Every Christmas, the City Government of Makati gives away a bag of goodies to their citizens and employees. Since Noreen works for Makati City government, she gets a bag containing 20 cans of sardines, luncheon meat and corned beef and three t-shirts. Not bad, I say. So to get her fair share, I accompanied her to city hall, mostly to help carry all that food. After all that queuing, we got hungry and decided to dine at Noytsi’s Panciteria.

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Siomai vs. Kuchay Dumplings

10 December, 2007 (14:03) | restaurants | By: Arpee

I love dumplings. I can never say no to a plump piece of kuchay dumpling. I’m not sure how the Chinese really call it, but, for conversations’ sake, let’s call one group siomai and the other we will refer to as the kuchay dumplings. Siopao or filled buns are a different variety so let’s not talk about that just yet.

Friends, there is a distinct difference between the siomai and the kuchay dumpling. Though in general, both are steamed using bamboo steamers and serve as great appetizers. In the Philippines, the siomai is the most common dimsum treat, aside from the siopao. The siomai, or shao mai as it is really called, is a small ball of meat and vegetables contained inside a wanton wrapper but is open at one end. No need for a picture here I hope. The siomai is usually served steaming hot in three or four pieces per order in most Chinese restaurants. They contain shark’s fin, ground pork, shrimp and vegetables depending on the kind of siomai you order. Though inherently Chinese, the siomai has been adapted well into the local cuisine.

The kuchay is green stem vegetable. That’s all I really know about it aside from tasting so good inside a dumpling. No, I don’t know where and how they grow it. Do not confuse this with the wanton that we see in soups. The kuchay dumpling is a cousin of the hakaw (shrimp dumpling.) While the hakaw uses a thin, translucent wheat-starch wrapper, the kuchay dumpling is wrapped in a rice-flour wrapper, giving it a chewy consistency, kinda like pot stickers. Again, similar with the hakaw and the wanton, the kuchay dumpling is totally enclosed with the excess wrapper pinched at one end to seal the flavor.

Had my car not needed repairs, I wouldn’t have braved Banawe St and looked for Tasty Dumplings. Thanks to my busted starter, I was reunited with an old favorite who’s taste I was beginning to forget.

The booboos:

  1. The staff needs more training to improve their customer service skills. I went on a lunch hour and everyone was in a frenzy to serve and be served. Perhaps it’s easier when the lunch crowd is gone.
  2. Parking is once again a problem for those who bring their cars. If you come on a lunch hour, be patient or come early.
  3. Bathroom is on the second floor and is quite a climb for geriatric customers and impossible for those on a wheel chair.
The yahoos:
  1. The portions are large enough for anyone with a mammoth appetite. They just add a dash of what looks like soy sauce to the buckwheat noodles and all is right with the world.
  2. They did get my order wrong the first time. So when Noreen complained, they acted on the complaint right away and set things right without any fuss. This is a yahoo as far as I’m concerned. Great save.
  3. The price. Only P100.00 (US$2.85) for the tossed noodles with 8 pieces kuchay dumplings. How can it get any better than that?

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Happy Birthday Boss Mel!

7 December, 2007 (12:59) | Uncategorized | By: Arpee

Our boss, Ana Melissa Martirez celebrates her birthday with Lawson PSSC for the first time and her team is more than happy to blow the candle alongside her. Boss Mel, as I fondly call her, is from Lexmark, the printer company, based in Cebu. Armed with a degree in Mass Communication from the University of St. La Salle, Melissa brings her years of writing expertise to Lawson PSSC, and how happy are we that she is our boss!

To show our undying love and support, we surprised her with cake and some pancit palabok to which she retaliated with pizza from Yellow Cab, he he.

No reviews here just happy memories from a good day at the office. Our bosses from the US were also treated to some good old-fashioned Lawson merienda. We had Red Ribbon’s pancit palabok, coffee crumble cake and Yellow Cab Pizzas.

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