Krazy Garlik and looking for a shoe at Greenhills

Jan 17, 2015. I've been wanting a new pair of shoes I can wear on weekends, since it's mostly a coin flip to wear either a crocs slippers or a GBX slip on. So yeah, I'm not particularly fashionable.

The slip on's more than 3 years already, so I do think I owe myself a new pair of kicks. I did some searching online for something comfortable, and something I can wear with pants or a pair of shorts. I'm not big on shoes with laces, but that kind of limits my options. But since running's the fad nowadays, I've seen a lot of  pretty looking running shoes.

I do remember the Nike Prestos being the fad in the day, and within the last few years, there was the Nike Frees. So since December, I've been scouring the net for the one that I think would fit my preference. Eventually, I settled with the Nike Roshe Run. It's running a shoe, but wouldn't be out of place with a pair of pants either.

For the past weeks, I've been visiting some shoe stores especially Nike outlets looking for a pair, but couldn't find any. From what I've read, it's currently the number 1 shoe in sales for Nike, so it's sold out almost everywhere. I did find some stocks at a Nike store in Bonifacio High Street for about 4,500 pesos. Ouch. It's not that I can't afford it, but I'm not big on spending that much on a shoe that'll be out of style this time next year. Chea even volunteered buying me a pair as a gift, but i declined.

I did some checking online and found some knockoffs. I did some footwork to at some tiangges. They're being sold at around 1,600 pesos in a mall in Cubao. Online, some guys were advertising them at facebook for about 1,900 pesos.

While browsing online, I found other Nike models that I like, such as the Nike Flyknit Airmax 2014, Nike Free 5.0+, and even the Kobe Low 9 Elite. The online guys were selling them for around 2,300 pesos. It's very tempting considering the authentic ones are very expensive. The air max costs around 13,000 pesos, while another shoe I kinda like, the Nike Free v3.0 flyknit costs 7,000 pesos. Unfortunately, that one doesn't have a knock off, along with this other good looking shoe I saw, the Nike Lunar Flyknit.

I've been giving it some thought, and decided with finality to buy a knock off Nike Roshe Run because I'm cheap like that. So Chea, Thirdy, Precy and myself went to Shoppesville in Greenhills to get a pair.

We first dropped by Chea's co-worker Weny's house to drop off her Apple tart pie she left in the car the other day. Then, we visited my brother at the columbary before finally heading off to Greenhills.

We arrived a few minutes before 12 noon, got a quick look around, and saw the Nike Roshe Run being sold as low as 1,300 pesos.

Fancy and heavy menu

View from the outside

By then, we decided to have lunch, saw the Krazy Garlik signage outside the Promenade building, so we headed to look for it. It's at the second floor of the Promenade building which we've never been inside before, since it mostly houses the cinemas.

Second leaf of the heavy menu

The place looks pretty nice, very clean, with attentive and well dressed staff. But as soon as I saw the menu, I was a bit surprised. Most of the dishes were priced at around 400 pesos. But hey, let's try it out.

Thirdy given a coloring page to keep him busy

We ordered the four cheese pizza (475 pesos), the lunch version of Garlicky Crispy Pata (465 pesos), Garlik Rice (195 pesos) which was supposed to be good for about three people, a Krazy Half & Half unlimited drink (iced tea plus lemonade, 105 pesos) , and a Crema Catalana (150 pesos) dessert. There was a promo on weekends where kids get a free Alice's chicken meal (275 pesos) for a minimum order of 750 pesos, so we got that as well.

Big enough for three.

The crispy pata was ok. The meat was dry, but the skin was crispy with a couple of areas that tasted burnt. The soy sauce was a bit sour. I think there was some vinegar in there. We were told that the lunch version was good for 2 persons, while the regular (695 pesos) was good for about 5 persons. Still, the serving was big enough for Chea, Precy and myself, with a little bit left over.  

Garlic fried rice. Looked fancy, but tasted the opposite.

The garlic rice wasn't particularly good. The ones touching the bottom of the bowl was crusty ("tutong"), but not in a good way. I'm not sure what they put in here, but a regular garlic rice tastes better.

Worth the price? Probably a hundred peso too expensive.

The four cheese pizza was great. It's not doughy, a little thin but not crunchy, with enough cheese flavor that stays with every chew. The thing I dislike with thick pizzas is that most of the time, you're still chewing on the pizza when all the flavor on top's already gone, just because there's too much dough.

Would've been nice if the parts were visually separated

The iced tea plus lemon is kinda ok, but i barely taste the lemonade. What I do like about it, is that it's not too "iced tea". Do you get those iced teas that taste like it should have more water? I hate those. The flavor's too intense. With the Krazy Half and Half, at least it never tastes that it has too much tea in it.

Best of the lot.

The Alice Chicken Meal is great. I didn't get to taste the spaghetti, but Chea said it was good. I did get to taste the chicken since there were several filleted pieces and it was great. The breading tasted great and made the chicken taste different than the regular fair. The gravy was good too.

Again, probably a few ten pesos more than I'd like.

As for the dessert? It was ok. Chea commented that it tasted like leche flan with caramelized garlic cloves on top.

The total damage? 1500 pesos. Ouch. Still, we had some left over to take home. Would we come back? Let me think about it. Food's good but I'm not too keen on the price.

The box.

Looks nice.

After the meal, we went back to Shoppesville for the shoes. I ended up getting an olive green Roshe Run for 1,800 pesos. That's almost the same as the ones sold online, and I did find one other stall selling same quality knock off for about 1,500 pesos, so I kinda felt ripped off. That's what I get for being cheap.

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Kuya's 3rd Death Anniversary, Little Kitchen Noodle Place and Taking pictures at Powerplant Mall

12/21/2014. It's my brother's 3rd death anniversary, so the family's at the Divine World Columbary by 10 am.

My parents were there, along with myself, Chea, Thirdy and Marlyn (Thirdy's other yaya). Chea's parents also arrived. My sister came too with Gerry, Figi, and Citti. Gerry's mom, Gerry's brother Jonjon and his wife Jenny were also there.

Then there was my brother's closest friends: Gino, Charlie and Gerard, as well as a couple of my mom's friends.

After the mass, we headed off to the Little Kitchen Noodle Place along Tomas Morato close to the corner of E. Rodriguez Avenue for lunch. My mom originally planned to have lunch at Max's main restaurant at Scout Tuazon and reserve a function room. But my sis and I felt that we should be a bit thrifty this year as there were some expenses planned for early next year.

We asked her to just settle on a restaurant very near the columbarium so we could walk in case there were guests who don't have a ride. We looked at a few places the past few weekends but couldn't settle on anything until my mom found Little Kitchen all by herself. We pass by it every single time we visit my brother, but it wasn't appealing from the outside, as the signage looks a bit tacky, and well, the place looks a bit dingy. It looks like a very old chinese restaurant.

There was only enough space to park about three cars, but good thing that it was noontime on a Sunday so our entourage managed to park nearby.

Inside, well it looks drab and gloomy. I'm not sure if they turned on all the lights, but it was a bit dark. Since it was noon and it was sunny outside, it's most likely that they purposely had most of the lights off.

It didn't help that the area directly on the far opposite side of the entrance, was a bit of a mess with their dishes and other equipment laid out. It almost felt like we just walked into the restaurant an hour before they should have opened, despite there being customers in tables already, and my mom having made a reservation the previous week.

The tables were bare, and the chairs were the ones you'd expect from really old establishments.

Thirdy ready for some soup

My mom reserved a table for 12 people only, as we weren't expecting more than that to attend the mass, but we're happy that other people came. There were only a few tables occupied, so it wasn't difficult to get another table.

My mom and my brother's friends

Since they were only expecting a party of 12, the other bigger table was filled with kitchen ware and had to be cleared out. Also, they had to cook another batch of dishes for the other table, so only our table was served with food within 10 minutes of us getting there, as they basically started cooking our meals when we arrived.

I wasn't aware of the menu that my mom had previously selected, but it's supposed to be more than enough for a table of 12. It's a chinese restaurant, so they usually come in large serving plates.

Pancit.Very saucy.

The dishes arrived one after the other with the pancit first. There was soup, although I didn't get to ask what it was.

Meat platter. We gave the pancit to the other table since the kitchen had to prepare another batch of dishes for them.

There was yang chow fried rice, crispy chicken with crackers, beef with broccolli, a meat platter with century eggs, fish fillet with mango sauce, and sweet and sour pork ( I think).

The complete spread.

Now, here's where the age old adage, "Don't judge a book by it's cover" applies. Despite the place looking a bit unimpressive, and may even turn off people as soon as they walk in the door, well, their food is completely the opposite.

The food is pretty good (although a few of us would comment that they probably use a lot of vetsin/MSG in their dishes which is why the taste is very "umami"), especially the seafood in mango sauce. The beef brocolli wasn't bad either as the beef was soft and flavorful and the brocolli was firm and tasty. The rest weren't pretty decent too.

A buchi for everybody!

Not to mention that a table of 12 only cost 3,500 pesos or about 291 pesos per person. Arguably, that price is enough for some eat-all-you-can restaurants nowadays (and there are quite a few along Tomas Morato Avenue), but the servings are plentiful with enough left over that you can take home as well.

Powerplant mall went all out. Best Christmas decorations I've seen this year.

After lunch, my dad wanted to go home and rest, my sister had some things she needed done, while Chea wanted to take Thirdy to Powerplant mall in Rockwell to see the Christmas displays. We brought Marlyn with us of course, along with Citti, and Chea's parents.

Cousins with polar bears

So after exchanging goodbyes, we piled  into the car and drove there. For the next few hours, we went around Rockwell taking pictures of Thirdy and the family among the many displays.

Little angels for your manger.

Thirdy fooling around with a bear. 

Thirdy riding a camel.

Granma and Granpa!

Like a Boss, Claus!

Nanay Chea and Thirdy

By the tree

Then we had Thirdy take some rides at the arcade.

Vroom! vroom!

We also spent some time at the retail shops especially Payless Shoesource store and bought Citti a pair of Minnie mouse boots.

Pretty tiring day. I miss you kuya.

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Christmas Lights at the Ayala Triangle and Chef Lau's Pugon Roasters

12/20/2014. As with every year, we try to visit the Christmas lights installation at the Ayala Triangle Park. This year isn't any different. So Chea, Precy (Thirdy's yaya), Thirdy and myself piled into the car and drove off to Makati.

We wanted to drop by for the first show around 6 pm, but traffic was heavier than usual, so we arrived 10 minutes past that, and the light show was already halfway through. Plus there was a Mass right after, so we had to wait for the next show at 7 pm. We just looked around for dinner first while the Mass was going on.

Almost every establishment was full, but we lucked into an empty table at Chef Lau's Pugon Roasters.

fast food price restaurant quality meals

As the name implies, most of everything is cooked inside firebrick ovens. The good part is that everything is affordable. There where meals for less than 100 pesos!

Thirdy looking around for his nanay

I ordered the Pork Liempo Roast, while Chea ordered the pancit with chicken (this was a new combo meal) for Thirdy, Precy and herself, as she wasn't too hungry. She also ordered a leche flan for dessert.

still waiting

There were a lot of people, so there was a bit of a wait for the food.

Later, when the meals arrived, I got right into it as I was hungry. The liempo, as advertised, was as flavorful as lechon. But there was a lot of fat, so heart lovers be wary. Also, since it's cooked inside a pugon, there are parts that taste burnt.

tastes burnt and a lot of fat. 

As for the chicken, it's ok. The chicken that came with the pancit is the breaded kind. It looks fried rather than roasted, but it's good enough. The pancit is kinda ok.

chicken, rice, and a little bit of pancit

The leche flan is, well, a typical leche flan, although this one has some chocolate syrup with it.

leche flan

Overall, food's pretty good considering the price.

With the long wait, we were barely finished when the second show of the night started, so we had to get up quickly, and move back to the light display area.

A light drizzle was starting so we had to go back to the nearest establishment with some roofing to shield us from the rain.

find thirdy and nanay chea if you can

This year's light show is a bit of a let down from last year. We've been here for three years straight and I feel like that the quality kind of gone down year after year. Maybe it'll be better next year.

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