FamilyMart opens in the Philippines

 FamilyMart’s first store already opened in the Glorietta 3, Ayala Center, Makati, and with good reason. Ayala Corp has partnered with Rustan’s to own 60% of the FamilyMart shares in the Philippines, with 40% owned by the Itochu Corporation of Japan. It has not been confirmed if FamilyMart will franchise their stores to interested parties. As of now, they are saying that the first 22 FamilyMarts in the Philippines will be company-owned. Well, that is something we should watch out for. From a consumer perspective, FamilyMart is a welcome addition to our...

Dining at Solaire Resort and Casino

For our usual weekend lunch, my sister invited me to dine with her at the Solaire Resort and Casino. I was there at the launch of Solaire before it was even finished and I was excited to see what the fuss was all about. For starters, I’m not a gambler and the casino has no appeal to me. However, the restaurants were something I wanted to try out and it was quite the trip. We dined at the Lucky Noodle restaurant, a dimsum place. The prices are not too exorbitant. It was just slightly more expensive but given the quality of the dimsum and service, it was well worth...

The New Amazing Dishes of Bangus Republi...

Amazing is really the word I like to use here. Bangus Republic is the reincarnation of the old Bangus Specialty Restaurant of the 1980s and 1990s. A trailblazer in the world of food innovation. A little-known fact, it was Bangus Specialty Restaurant that actually invented Green Mango Shake. The story goes that one time a customer ordered Mango shake, but the bartender said they were all out of ripe mangoes. As a result, the customer minced no words in expressing his disappointment that the drink he wanted was not available. Just to appease the ranting customer, the...

Philippine National Fireworks Festival 2...

I saw the ad last week for the 2013 Philippine National Fireworks Festival at the Marikina Riverbanks Mall. I love going to the Riverbanks Mall, this time I loved it even more. I can’t help but compare this with the pyrotechnics thingamajig at the Mall of Asia. Yeah, their firework shows were longer than those at the Marikina river, but it is much more organized and is easier to visit. I go to the Marikina Riverbanks Mall because of one reason; the price. It is always a sale down there. I have already bought two pairs of leather shoes there and I am happy with their...

Cooling down on a Hot Summer Day

So it’s 35 degrees Celsius outside and you want to do some cooling down.  The obvious answer is to drink something cold. However, there are people who drink hot coffee or tea on a hot summer day. I often wonder about the logic behind this and so I asked someone who likes to drink coffee on a hot day, my neighbor Dan. He’s Taiwanese and he likes to drink hot coffee or tea on a hot summer day. I asked him why and he explained it to me this way. If it is warm then the best way is for you to sweat so that your body will cool off.  Hot coffee, tea or soup will...