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.

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Globe Telecoms: #ProjectAweful

I've posted an entry a few months back about my experience with BayanDSL. Despite being a loyal subscriber for more than a decade, I decided to look for a better ISP.

I've been toying with the idea of shifting to PLDT, but since I didn't want to let go of our decade old Bayantel landline number, and I didn't want to pay for an extra landline, I decided to go for an unlimited data plan with Globe. I've been using the same number for years, and I've always needed to be online all the time, so I can check emails and my team at work, despite being elsewhere so getting a mobile data plan seems like the best option for me.

With the unlimited data plan of Globe, I was thinking I'd use it to be online anywhere, and when I'm home, I can use it to download stuff over the internet.

So last year, I did just that. And for the first few months, I was extremely happy. I was able to check emails, browse the web, watch a streaming video or two during the day. And when I was at home at night, I could download stuff during off-peak hours. And the connection was fast enough during night time (not so during the day), that i felt I never needed a dedicated DSL line anymore. I was so happy, that I decided to get three more lines for my wife, and my parents.

Finally, I thought, we were now getting great internet services only the more affluent countries are getting. Tolerable speeds at tolerable rates.

Imagine my disappointment when I woke up this morning. My internet connection is now down to barely twice the fastest internet residential speed back in 1995 (56kbps). My connection is around 80kbps or just 10kB/s.

After getting new subscribers, they're now screwing them over using FUP. Well, #FUPYouGlobe

Just last January 23, 2014, Globe implemented a Fair Usage Policy (FUP), that capped their 'unlimited' data plan to 1gb per day or 3gb per month (whichever came first). This means that if you reach a total download of 1gigabit per day or 3gigabit per month, your connection speed will be throttled to 2g speeds (which is slower than internet speeds back in 1995).

I will admit that I am a heavy downloader on some days (but who isn't nowadays? with streaming music and video, which is what Globe marketing is using to entice new subs), but I feel that I'm paying too much to be limited to 3gb per month. Heck, I'm paying way too much to be limited to downloading 1gb per day.

When I was with BayanDSL, I've downloaded 10gb a day, at least once. At the minimum, I download 2gb per day. And that's paying 999 pesos for the internet service per month.

But instead of Globe improving their infrastructure to handle more bandwidth per customer, they're packing in more customer to their already congested network. And they have the audacity to still call it a Fair Usage Policy. How is it fair that you charge a premium to your subscribers, when you're not giving them premium services? And instead of improving your speeds, you're still enticing customers to sign up despite your lack of capacity?

The bad part is, Globe is handing out 2 year plans to subscribers, with promises of unlimited surfing, without explaining their FUP. Now these customers are tied up for 2 years on terrible plans.

The only good news on my part, is that I only subscribed to SIM-only plans, so I'm not locked in for 2 years. I could get the lines cut any time I want.

As consumers, we have rights. And when it comes to situations like these, we should let our wallets do the talking.

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Goodbye BayanDSL

I mentioned here before that I've been with Bayantel Broadband Internet since the early 2000s. I'm not sure of the exact date, but I think it's been 10 years or so since we've subscribed with them.

Through the years, it was mostly a positive experience for us. We've had problems with the connections, but the technical support has mostly been stellar. It was rare that we had a downtime that lasted for more than 2 days. Whenever we called, a technician would drop by within the day (if you called early) or the next day.

In the last two years or so, other Internet Service providers, stepped up their game, and offered faster internet packages at roughly the same price.

Despite that, I've decided to stick with Bayantel for my DSL. I was at the 1mbps plan, and i consistently got 80-100% of the speed during the day, and after 10pm, I get speed boosts up to 1.5mbps.

But since a few months back, it became hard to resist the other competitors' packages. PLDT really stepped up with their new plan, especially the 1699 plan (phone was 700, dsl was 999 i think) which had connections up to 3mbps. The tech forum I frequented, had members who got upgraded already by PLDT and they consistently hit 3mbps on their downloads.

And here I was paying 1399 for 1mbps. Just 300 pesos more and I could be getting thrice the speed of what I'm getting with Bayantel. But then, the only way I could get in on that, was by subscribing with PLDT and that would mean I would be getting another landline phone which I don't have use for. I was determined to keep my Bayantel landline number since it's been with us for more than a decade.

So I decided to stick it out with Bayantel. I'm thinking Bayantel would try to stay relevant by trying to match PLDT's packages.

And matched they did. About a couple months back, Bayantel came out with a new set of packages, which included a plan 1799 (400 for the phone + 1399 for the dsl) with speeds up to 3mbps.

New packages, baby!

By then, I was seriously considering upgrading to the plan. PLDT was still cheaper by 100 pesos, but they're notorious for having inept CSRs and their technicians usually take a week or more to get around to your place once you report a problem. So I thought that 100 pesos was a small price to pay for having a faster turnaround on problems.

But I was also paying for the internet plans of my wife's iphone, and for my mother and father's tablets as well. And I was planning to finally get a data plan for my own phone. Here I am, a very senior software developer and I don't have access to email and skype when I'm mobile. Paying a total amount upwards of 3000 pesos (including my wife and parents' plans) for online access seemed impractical for me. The sense of practicality I got from my dad put up a psychological barrier that I couldn't seem to cross.

So I held back a bit on applying for the 1799 plan. It wasn't really a priority.

And then, about a couple of weeks back I got wind of Bayantel's newer packages designed to entice new subscribers to sign up (it was most likely that they were hemorrhaging clients with PLDT's aggressive push with better packages and PLDT Fibr). The 3mbps plan was now only 1499. Just 100 pesos more than my current plan and 300 pesos cheaper than rival PLDT.

1,499! What are you waiting for?!

A lot of the forum members I've been conversing with who were also Bayantel subscribers jumped on the plans. It was the perfect time. So i plunged in as well.

Bayantel upgraded my plan on October 10, 2013 while I was at work. So I was excited to get home that day.

As soon as I got home, I whipped out the trusty internet browser and checked my speed at speedtest. It hit 2.6mbps on my first try. Pretty good, since that was more than 80% of my subscribed speed.

I then proceeded to start my downloads with my favorite bit torrent client. It was then that my enthusiasm got tempered. My speeds maxed out at 40kB/s (or roughly 0.4mbps). So i tried downloading several files at the same time.

The logic is quite simple: Downloading several files should aggregate to your maximum download speed. So if your files are downloading at, say, 1mbps, and your subscribed burstible speed is 3mbps, then by adding more downloads, it will add to the current 1mbps download rate, until you hit your maximum rate.

Unfortunately, it never did. No matter how much more files I tried downloading, the download rate hovered from 0.4 to 1mbps.

So i did what I usually do: call 411-2000. I got a CSR on the other end, explained my problems and he gave me a problem ticket. He asked me to do some screen captures and send them to their email. Which I did the next day when I arrived at work.

On the same day, a technician arrived. They tried fixing it, but nothing came out of it. Technicians came again a couple more times the next week, but nothing worked.

I had a feeling that Bayantel was throttling my downloads, since when it's past 1am, the download speed shoots up to about 2mbps or so, and then plunges when it's about 10am.

Some people would say that it's likely the files that I was downloading, didn't have enough seeders. So I then decided to use a different ISP connection to download the files.

I tethered my PC to my wife's Iphone 5, and the torrents started downloading at speeds of 5mbps and above. When I connected to Bayantel again, the rate plummeted to anywhere from 0.4 to 1mbps. So that was it, the straw that broke the camel's back.

Almost everyday since I got upgraded, i emailed them with screenshots of my download speeds. But in all honesty, I wasn't expecting it to improve anytime soon. It wasn't from some misguided belief that bombarding them with emails would speed up the resolution. This was for me. This was my way out. Proof that they never gave me the speed I subscribed to.

To be fair to Bayantel, some of the subscribers I've spoken to, don't have the same problems that I have. So I guess it depends on the area. I live in the part of QC that's basically a Bayantel franchise area (back when they subdivided the country into service zones to remove PLDT's monopoly and help the other startup competitors get on their feet). So it's safe to assume that the area's already congested.

So it was over for me.

Two more technicians came yesterday (10/19/13). One in the morning (who changed wire connections from the post to the terminal on our house's exterior) and another in the afternoon (who changed connections on the posts along the road to our house). It didn't improve the speed at all. I actually felt bad for the technicians who had to brave the heat, and had to carry and climb ladders around.

So that night, around 8pm, I arrived at Bayantel's branch at SM North Edsa Annex building. In less than 10 minutes, I took a number, went to a representative, signed a small piece of paper, and had my Bayantel DSL subscription of 10 or so years cut.

 I felt nostalgic about it, truthfully. So i walked out after and lamented on it over a quarter pound burger and fries.

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Onwards and Upwards

I do love tinkering with things since I was a kid. Sometimes I even made my own toys from parts of old ones, sticks, or whatever I could lay my hands on.

Eventually, my love for tinkering, especially with electronics, made me take up BS Electronics and Communications Engineering at UST. Granted, I never got a career related to being an ECE, still, it was an experience well worth it.

Anyway, one of the best electronics I've ever bought is my Linksys WRT610N router. It's a simultaneous band router, meaning it serves up wifi simultaneously on the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz frequency. I got it around 2009 i think, for 5,000php, as barely used (less than a month i think), which was a steal, since it was going around for 7-8k at that time.

So it's been loyally serving me for more than 4 years, and it's been chugging along quite nicely at 300Mbps wifi, and 1Gigabit on wired. I've flashed the firmware from stock linksys ROM to dd-wrt which really opened up possibilities for this router.

But my complaint was I wanted a longer range for it, but since it didn't have removeable external antennas, I had to rely on using UTP cables to really maximize the range for my network. Unfortunately, this doesnt work for devices which didn't have Ethernet ports (the tablets and the mobile phones).

Fortunately for me, I came across info about being able to add external antennas. All I needed were U.FL to RP-SMA pigtails. So i logged onto ebay, ordered a number of them from Hongkong, and 1 month later, I get to mod my trusty router.

So there you have it. From a poor 0 to 1 bar wifi signal from my bathroom, to a steady 2 bar wifi signal.

Now I can surf to my heart's content while doing a number 1.

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