Kanzhu Hand Pulled Noodles and Samarikine

Nov 30, 2014. Chea, my mom, Thirdy, and myself were heading to Antipolo to drop Thirdy off for the week. We left home around noon, so we decided to have lunch somewhere after buying some stuff for Thirdy at Hi-Top supermarket.

It was a pretty slow sunday, driving around the Scout area. I decided I'd like some noodles that day, so we stopped by the first ramen shop we saw: Kanzhu hand pulled noodles along Timog Avenue.

The menu

We were able to park in front of the place, as I said, it felt like a pretty slow day. The guard, who wore a barong, was very helpful in getting as parked, as well as getting down from the car.

Inside, the place was pretty long despite being narrow, with the main entrance shared with their bar. Beyond that were tables, couches and chairs on the left, and tables and chairs on the right, with the middle serving as walkway to the far end of the restaurant which housed the kitchen behind clear glass windows. You can see one of their kitchen staff making the noodles by hand as advertised.

Thirdy getting his chopsticks-fu on

There were a pair of couples going through their food when we settled in. We were unaware of the price, but I was dreading the fact that most ramen shops sold their ramen upwards of 200 pesos. However, I was pleasantly surprised that theirs were priced cheaper than the others. All of the dry noodles cost less than 200 pesos, while the noodles with soup only had one variant that cost more than 200 (220 to be exact). The beef orders, chicken, pork, and seafood ranged from 180 pesos to 650 pesos. But these were large servings with most of the items costing around 240-280 pesos, which is really inexpensive.

I saw the 5-in-1 platter (240 pesos), and told Chea and my mom that we could share that. And since they had Kanzhu plain noodle soup (only 90 pesos), I thought the platter would fit nicely with the plain noodle soup.

5-in-1 platter.

Chea ordered Crispy Butter Fried chicken (280 pesos) since Thirdy likes eating chicken. We also got 2 orders of fragrant rice (40 pesos each), a Cherry Blossom Fruit Tea (75 pesos) and a house blend iced tea (150 pesos) which was for sharing.

The platter arrived first. Chea didn't like the platter and wanted the dumpling instead, but she relented since I wanted to match it with my noodles. She didn't want to add dumplings anymore since it'll be too much for the four of us. The plate looked small, but I think the servings are adequate given the price. And honestly, my mom and I wasn't able to finish all of it.

I don't know what the other dishes were, but there was beef cold cuts, some tendons, century egg, some mushrooms I think (which tasted bitter), and I'm not sure about the dish in the center (jelly fish perhaps?). It was spicy though.

This can probably serve 5 glasses. So that's around 30 pesos per glass. 

Cherry blossom tea which I did not get a taste of.

The drinks came next with the iced tea in a tall glass pitcher, with sliced lemons and mint leaves. Thirdy actually enjoyed the iced tea. There was enough for my mom and I including glass refills.

This is the kind of bowl you fill rice with for a family of five.

The noodles came next. It was in a big bowl, about 10-12 inches across. We were given small cups and that was good since I don't think I could finish all of that. We gave some to Thirdy and he liked it. The noodle was thick and firm, and the soup had flavor but it wasn't salty.

The rice came after, and then the crispy buttered chicken. It looked a bit brown, so it might be a little bit overcooked. I think it had about 7 pieces so it was decently priced, but could be cheaper.

I started eating my noodle soup along with the items from the platter. I liked eating the noodle soup with the center dish because it was spicy. It gave the noodle soup a little flavor and spice. The beef slice was good, so it gave my noodle soup a little meat to munch on.

I think if you just want some honest to goodness noodles, the plain version for 90 pesos is a steal. Just add some soy sauce and pepper and it's worth the 90pesos price tag because of the large serving.

Yes, it tastes exactly as it looks: disappointing. Lol.

The crispy buttered chicken was a bit disappointing. The staff told us afterwards that it was a new menu and asked us to write down our comments. Chea and I both disliked the fact that it wasn't deboned. Some of the bones were soft, that you didn't notice it when you cut parts of the chicken. But you'd bite on them once you put it on your mouth and start chewing. It didn't help that the chicken came in odd shapes, that you won't notice if it was a drumstick or a chunk of filleted meat.

The batter also didn't taste like butter. It was crispy though. Also, the piece that I picked had more bones than meat. I'd probably stay away from this dish the next time we go here.

Cheap plastic drinking cup. I didn't think this was a fast food joint.

Our total bill came to around 925 pesos, and with a senior citizen discount of 88 pesos, we ended up with a final bill of 837 pesos.

So our first experience with Kanzhu is pretty much positive. The staff are courteous from the guard to to the waiters. The place was clean and cozy. And the price is pretty cheap compared to other noodle houses. I'd likely come back here whenever I get that noodle craving again.

Afterwards, we headed off to Antipolo but we stopped by Samarikine first. It's an RTW store along Marcos Highway (their main branch is in marikina). They sell export overruns, and they have branded clothes starting at 150 pesos. I haven't bought anything yet for Gerry so I thought that we could find one here.

I was able to get an H&M shorts and a GAP shirt for him, while my mom got a Cotton On shirt for my sister. I also bought a couple of t-shirts for myself as well. They're not known brands but I thought they looked nice, and should increase my wardrobe that I won't need to wear the same shirt twice a month. Lol.

After that, we dropped off Thirdy at my in-laws, went to Puregold to buy some groceries, and headed home to call it a day.

Read More

Pink Ribbon Sale at The Bench Tower

Last October 25, 2014, a Saturday, Chea, Tita Fe and Thirdy went to the annual Halloween party of Rockwell. I begged off since I was tired from the previous week and wanted to sleep in. That night, Chea told me that they passed by Bench Tower at Bonifacio Global City for a sale. She mentioned that there were some good bargains there especially Charles and Keith bags that were being sold for only 1000 pesos.

When I checked a retail shop, they usually sell the bags at 5,000 pesos so I thought that was a pretty good bargain, and it was a good christmas gift option for the females in our family.

So the next day, Chea and I dropped by the Bench Tower again, after bringing Thirdy to Antipolo to stay at his grandparents til after All Souls' Day.

Sign outside the building

We arrived a little before 3pm and went straight to the sale.

Near the entrance you have the local brands sale. We skipped that and went straight to the other side, which had the foreign brands. The middle part, in front of the cashiers, had the premium brands so they're expensive, so we didn't bother to look at them.

Premium brands. Pass!

Mothercare! Chea had already bought something for Thirdy the other day.

As soon as we got in, Chea and I already separated while I was taking some pictures. There were a lot of people so it took a while for me to find Chea. I went to look at the American Eagle Outfitters section first, since that's the men's brand I'm a bit familiar with, owning a single t-shirt. Lol.

There's a good selection of t-shirts, short pants and jeans

There were some shorts for sale at American Eagle Outfitters. Unfortunately, the tags indicated full price. The shorts cost around 2,500 pesos. Ouch. I tried to look for some discount tags so I just gave up. The jeans didn't have price tags, while the t-shirts cost about 499 pesos and above. There were only a few designs available, for the shorts, jeans and t-shirts. I didn't feel like coughing up 500 pesos for a t-shirt that day, so I walked away dejected.

Shoes!

Beside the American Eagle Outfitters section was Aldo. I wasn't planning on buying shoes so I skipped that part and went to the Celio display. I also have one long sleeved polo shirt from Celio, so I took a quick look. It was mostly t-shirts and long-sleeved shirts. Most of the long sleeved shirts were sold at 999 pesos, so I was a bit turned off by the price. They're actually a bargain especially with some of the designs, but I decided to take a look around first before deciding to getting anything.

Cotton On on one end, Celio on the other.

I then looked for Chea and later I found her near the Charles and Keith displays. I asked her to get a bag as a gift for my mom and my sister, so we spent quite some time there.

Pretty good bargains at Charles and Keith.

We ended up getting a black leather bag and a beige bag. Both were sold at 999 pesos, so they're a steal somewhat. They don't come with boxes, but they have dust bags. Now, I only need to buy a gift for my dad and Gerry for Christmas.

Chea couldn't find a bag that she likes. So she concentrated on shoes.

I continued looking around the place.

No shoes for me for now.

I'm not familiar with F & X, but the guy in the picture is a former co-worker of mine. Lol.

Some delicates. Teehee!

I went back to the Celio display after giving it some thought. I have two long sleeved shirts at the moment ( since I'm more of a t-shirt and polo-shirt kind of guy), which I barely wear since I wear barongs to work. I sometimes use them on Fridays and a few occasions, so having another one or two wouldn't hurt. And to be honest, long sleeved shirts are usually in the thousand peso range nowadays, so the 999 peso price tag isn't too unreasonable.

I looked for a couple that I like, and found that the design is pretty nice and the quality is good as well. I picked out four shirts, but decided to just get two.

One's 599, the other's 999 pesos. Those are pretty good prices.

Chea bought about five shoes (I think), and they're Charles and Keith to boot (pun intended), at discounted prices and it was just 4pm. I actually felt that we were there for hours already. We queued to pay at the counter. There were about four cashiers so the wait wasn't terribly long.

Time to pay the piper, i mean, cashier

At the cashier, we had an option to pay using a BDO credit card which allowed us to pay it in installments. For around 3,000 pesos, you have an option of 3 month installment, and for 10,000 and above, 6 months. And another good news was that payment would start next year. Yey for BDO!

When we got outside, there were freebies for those using BDO Bench credit card. Too bad we didn't have that. One could never have too many umbrellas.

Also, they gave out free drinks for the customers. Kinda like the Sterling sale in Bulacan.

I usually buy the orange variety during grocery trips

It was past four when we left, so we decided to have an early dinner. We ended up at El Chupacabra in Makati, very near Chea's office. But that's a blog entry for another day.

Read More

Buffalo Wings n' Things Banawe

October 18, 2014, Thirdy had a checkup at Chinese General Hospital. I slept in, so Chea and I decided to meet up later at S&R Munoz.

We met up at 1pm, and did some shopping. It was a week after their end-of-the-year sale, so there were still some discounted items.

After that, we went to the Garden of the Divine Word columbarium to visit my brother. It was almost 3 pm already and we haven't had lunch yet. We decided to drive towards Banawe to find something to eat there.

We ended up at Buffalo Wings N' Things since we haven't been there before, and there was a free parking space. But I was mostly attracted by a signage outside boasting of a 99 peso chicken fillet meal and a 129 peso chicken wings meal.

The menu. Couldn't find the picture of the other side. Too bad, it had the list of dips.

The establishment has an outdoor area made up of several tables and chairs. They serve alcohol so the area is good for boisterous fun, and probably for a lot of smoking too. But since it was mid afternoon, there weren't any people occupying the outdoor tables.

Inside, there's four tables. One was already occupied by a couple. So we took the one in between them and the order counter. The place has a high ceiling so it's dimly lit.

It comes in Large too.

There were about 2 waitresses and another one manning the kitchen at the time.

The kitchen. Buffalo style. Don't know what that means.

We didn't bother looking too much at the rest of the menu, although I remember most of it's affordable. We just went ahead and ordered 2 of the 99 peso meal for Chea and Tita Fe, while I went with the 129 wings meal. I also ordered a large Down Town Iced Tea (additional of 20 pesos on the base price). Chea also ordered a Blueberry ice cream dessert.

Uh, the area beside the kitchen. 

We waited a while for the order to come through, and another two groups of people filled the remaining 2 two tables. Before we left, a family arrived and sat outside, since those are the only tables that could fit more than 4 persons.

Thirdy messing around with his mom.

The drink arrived first. And after a few minutes, the food came all at the same time.

Chea ordered the butter dip for her meal. I think she ordered a different dip for Tita Fe but I wasn't able to taste hers. They asked to separate the dip from the meal, so they came in small plastic dip cups. I ordered the Basil and Garlic dip on mine, and I didn't bother having it separated.

The chicken tenders with the dirty rice and butter something dip. I think there's about 4 pieces of them chicken strips.

We were given plastic disposable gloves, so you can eat with your hands, especially since you were handling chicken wings. Thirdy played around with his, since it was too big (also, they didn't have kid chairs or booster chairs). Chea just fed Thirdy with a spoon.

Even without the dip, the chicken was pretty good. Thirdy ate big chunks of chicken and he really got into it.

The meal came with rice, Dirty Rice they call it. It was yellowish, but it didn't taste the similar looking java rice from other establishments (my favorite is Kipp's). It kind of reminded me of jambalaya. I like cajun dishes, whatever little I've tasted of it in cajun-themed restaurants in the country. After a brief googling, it seemed that I was correct. Dirty rice is a cajun dish.

Original buffalo wings with Basil and garlic dip. 2 and a half pieces of chicken wings. 

On top of the dirty rice were some relish (looks like pickles and some tomatoes), which gave the rice additional flavor. It was really good.

As for the dips, I didn't like the butter dip. It was too buttery. However, I liked the Basil and garlic. I'm biased of course since I love basil. Still, it was pretty good. It was sweet with a little bit of tang.

It's ice cream. What more do you need to know?

The blueberry cake was ok. It was hard vanilla ice cream topped with whip cream and some blueberry sauce. Third loves ice cream so he had no complaints, except when Chea tried to stop him from eating more.

Our bill was about 520 or so pesos, but with a senior citizen discount, came to about 485 pesos. That's pretty affordable.

Overall, I really liked the place. It's pretty inexpensive. You can order a half pound of chicken wings for only 149 pesos, while 1 pound costs 409 pesos. They have other american fast food menu items like hotdogs, burgers, nachos, fries, etc if you want to skip the rice which are all under 200 pesos.

The place was clean, and the music was light R&B. The staff were courteous and was open to conversation as one waitress was chatting with one of the customers about the dips and some funny anecdotes of other customers trying out the really spicy ones.

Also, the place was a bit further from the very busy areas in Banawe, so it was quiet and you could really enjoy your meal. The only drawback is you'd have a hard time getting there if you had a car, and if you did, parking would be a problem on busy hours.

Read More

A day for babies

Mar 29, 2014. Chea wanted to go to to a kids' bazaar at Bonifacio Global City along with Thirdy. I also wanted to bring my parents along since my dad's been cooped up at home for the entire week. And the only way to get him out of the house was if he wasn't driving.

I also didn't want to tire my dad so the plan was to go out after lunch. So a little before 2pm, Chea, Thirdy, my mom, my dad and myself got into my dad's car and went out.

We first dropped by at the columbary to visit my brother, and then we went to Ateneo de Manila University as there was a babypalooza again. Thirdy's carrier ripped when we were at Tiendesitas a couple of weeks back. And since he's around 12kgs now, it's tiring to carry him around in our arms. So we need a sturdier carrier.

We got to Ateneo at around 3pm and proceeded to the area. There were a lot of people going around in togas, so I guess they were having graduations that day. We waited a while but we were able to park the car near the event building. As we were walking towards the building, there was a bit of a commotion with the attendants. One of them approached and told us that we hit one of the cars when we were backing up and maneuvering into the parking area.

I was a bit surprised since I didn't hear or feel anything. My parents and chea also couldn't believe what the attendant was saying. But he was adamant that another attendant actually saw our car hitting a parked black Toyota Vios. We looked at the right corner of the rear bumper and there was some scrapes. But again, we couldn't believe it since we didn't feel anything. When we asked the attendant who saw the entire thing, he was positive that we hit the car.

We checked our car, and there were no new scratches on our rear bumper. We asked the attendant to fetch the driver so we could talk to them and settle things. I let my parents do the talking because my temper flares easily at times.

A little bit later, the owner came over and looked at the damage. I was trying to cool off at a distance when the owner left. It seems that the damage was actually an old one. If there were new scratches, it wouldn't matter since it'll be fixed by the insurance anyway. Still, the attendant continued insisting that we hit the car. My mother had to berate the attendant, since it was no longer an issue as the owner insisted that there was no harm done. My mom reasoned that the height of the scratches on either car did not match up, so it doesn't make sense. Way I see it, the attendant who supposedly saw the accident was a bit far from us at the time, and was in an angle that made him think there was contact between the two cars, came on over after the fact, and concluded that we hit the car because there was some damage.

I actually would understand their position. They are, after all, trying to do their job. Still, it kinda ruined my day.

A few minutes later we left and headed to Taguig to the Bench Tower for the Cirque du Bebe Baby and Kids Fair.

Since we're not familiar with the place, we again turned to the trusty Google Maps app for direction. Unfortunately, Bench Tower wasn't showing up in the search, so I had to put in the street names instead. As soon as we got near to 30th street, I just zoomed in the map, and found Bench Tower.

We parked across the building, and walked towards it. We took the elevator down to level B and found the event.

There was a registration booth at the entrance. Behind that were some seats and a small stage with videos being projected against the backdrop.

Try to find my dad and my mom.

There were some booths off to right and left of the stage, selling all sorts of baby stuff. Gymboree was there, and they occupied a large area off to the right. Little Tikes, Philips Avent, Halo Sleepsacks and other retailers were also present.

There were picture cardboard cut outs which Thirdy really enjoyed.

Since the theme was a Circus, there were some mascots and some clowns on stilts. Thirdy felt uncomfortable next to the clowns so after a quick picture, we left. The next kid who took pictures with the clowns started to bawl immediately.

Most of the kids didn't like the clowns on stilts. A few of them actually cried.

We found a baby carrier, but it was too expensive at 5,000 pesos. I was hoping to find one at less than 1,000 pesos (if there ever was one).

Nicole Hernandez, the commercial model, was there. She was with her husband and their baby in a stroller. Aside from that, it was pretty uneventful.

So after less than an hour, we left and went out of the building. At the stop light, diagonal to Bench Tower, was an area that looked like a park. I was curious so I walked towards there carrying Thirdy. Chea and my parents had no choice but to follow as I was already way ahead of them.

When I got near, I saw what looked like a playground through the thick plants. So we went around along the pathway, trying to find the main entrance. After a brisk walk, it turns out that it's the Science-in-the-Park of the Mind Museum building. Looks like Thirdy's gonna get some play time.

Food!

Thirdy's Mr. Pogi pose

Bend it like Thirdy!

There was a Jollibee so we headed there for dinner first as it was almost 6pm. Unfortunately, there was a kids party going on at the second floor, so there were no available fried chicken being sold. Most of the stocks were still being thawed out. We had to settle for spaghetti and palabok. Looks like it's going to be a light dinner.

After eating, i then took Thirdy to the Science-in-the-Park. It was free so that's a big plus for the place. There's actually not that many enjoyable things a kid could do here except beat on some drums, and slide down the mobius strip-like slide. While Thirdy wasn't able to go to the slide, as there were a lot of kids there, he did, however, enjoy his time with the drums.

Seesaw

Mobius slide off to the left

Chea couldn't make the big bubble work.

Nope. still can't do it.

My dad taking pics.

Thirdy hammering away

After about 10 or so minutes, we left, went back to the parking lot and got into the car and headed to Marikina. Thirdy's birthday is on April 17th, and on his 2nd birthday, we wanted to have a pool party with just the family and probably a few friends. Third loves the water, and since his birthday's on Maundy Thursday, it'll be like a family summer outing.

We initially had our eye on City Hideaway along Sumulong Hiway in Antipolo, since it's very much near our house in Maia Alta. The idea is to have the party during the day, and then have the clan stay overnight at Maia Alta. That way, they don't need to drive home to rest after a tiring day.

Unfortunately, after checking the place out last weekend, when we called to confirm our reservation, we were told that they made a mistake and that the date was already booked.

We still wanted to have that pool party, so we did some online search, and found some private pools in Marikina. The one were we're checking that day was Costa Marquina. And since weren't familiar with the address, we had to check Google Maps again for directions. It was dark, but somehow, we were able to find it after getting initially lost.

The place was ok for its price. For 6,000 pesos, you get a pool, a children's pool, some area around the pool so you could set up tables and chairs. And there's a 2 floor house that you could occupy, with a bedroom with two big beds and A/C.

As it turns out, the owners also had another private pool a few meters away. It was basically the same thing, although the house was a bit bigger as it was segregated into an area for use with the pool, while the other part was being lived in by the house administrators.

The price was the same. As luck would have it, both places were free on April 17th. So it's just an issue of who reserves first. Still, we just made a pencil booking, as there's another place that's a lot bigger, although a lot farther (Morong actually), that we wanted to check out as well.

We then started on our way home, but I got hungry along the way, so I asked if we could stop by somewhere. That somewhere turned out to be Robert Flavors of Asia, which I'll write about on another entry.

After the brief stop, we headed home and called it a day.

Read More