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Food Review: Jang Ga Nae Korean Restaurant

We recently tried a little Korean Restaurant hidden away in Ortigas. The name of the place is Jang Ga Nae and its formerly known as Minato. Its located behind UA&P and is on the same street as Astoria Plaza. Its not a new restaurant but it has a solid following of mostly local Koreans. You notice this right away as you walk in as 50% of the customers are Korean. When that many Koreans go to a Korean restaurant, you know it must be authentic.

The place has good seating capacity and the staff are very attentive. Everyone greets you when you walk in and they keep on bowing whenever they need your attention to serve you. All very polite and very good service.

The offer free appetizers and they are good. I especially liked the Kimchi Pancake. It was a fried pancake made of cabbage and bean sprouts and its really good. They serve this free so you can ask if your server didn’t give you. On to the main course, we ordered a few variety of dishes but we did not get to order any barbecues this time as there isn’t that many of us eating. I’ll be posting the English names of the dishes as I cannot remember how its called in Korean.

Korean Seafood Pancake

The seafood pancake is very similar to Japan’s Okonomiyaki Dish. Its about 1/4 inch thick and filled with shrimp, squid, and a variety of seafood and vegetables. Its crunchy on the outer layer and soft on the inside. I believe the price is Php 250-ish (sorry I should write these down next time) and is good for about 4 people.

Korean Beef Stew

Their beef stew is also good. The texture is soft and stewed just about right. Its easy to eat and very flavorful. Its a bit sweet but not too much and its sprinkled with sesame seeds. The dish is about Php 350-ish and should be enough for about 3 people. The sauce is creamy and good when paired with Korean steamed rice.

Shabu-Shabu (Php 750)

My mom wanted some soup so we ordered a Shabu-Shabu. This dish featured several different kinds of mushroom and vegetables along with some sliced beef. You can have your choice of how spicy you want to soup to be. You can cook it yourself or your ever-so-attentive server can do it for you as well. It also comes with 2 kinds of Korean noodles one of them being glass noodle like the ones used in Japchae and the other one is flat egg noodles done Korean style. Both are included and all in all, this is a large dish for sharing for the group at Php 750.

Japchae

Lastly, we had to try the Japchae as its really a traditional Korean dish. Again, it did not dissappoint. We were actually expecting some dishes to be bad as its seldom a place have everything right. We were happy to find that we were wrong. Nothing too special about this dish compared to the others but it was done well. Flavors were just right.

After the meal, we were served free slices of pineapple. The Korean lady owner even came by our table to make sure everything was alright. That is the mark of a good restaurant when the owners themselves check up on customer satisfaction. Overall, this is a place I would recommend if you are in the Ortigas area and have a Korean food craving.

Jang Ga Nae Korean Restaurant
8137 Plaza Escriba
Escriva Drive, San Antonio, Pasig

Tel: +632 633-6960
Cell: +63917 8586369

Posted by  |  July 14, 2011 | Categories: Travel, Food and Lifestyle | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Google+ (Google Plus) Invite and First Look

Google+ is out for a few weeks now and I recently had my chance to get an invite and do a quick review. Google+ is the newest social networking platform launched by Google after a few failed projects with Google Wave and Google Buzz. This new platform seems to hold more water and promise but the question remains if people will be making the switch from Facebook.

The way Google is launching this new platform is like what they did with gmail— via invites from people you know. Once you are invited, you can invite other people too. So whoever wants an invite, just leave a comment with your email and I will send you one.

There are 3 new things that makes Google+ significantly different from Facebook:

  • Circles
  • Hangouts
  • Sparks

I’ll get to each one later with more detail. Here is the welcome screen after your initial account sign-up. (Click on image to enlarge)

Its a great page to start with and it tells you quickly what the 3 new things are.

CIRCLES

It lets you group your social networking contacts. The idea is you may have a group of friends from work, your family, and maybe your gym buddies. Your friends may not be interested in your family photo and your mom may not be interested in the latest protein shake flavors. Circles lets you group people into “circles” and whenever you share something, you can define to share it to only a specific circle, multiple, or all. This way, your shares are relevant to the people you are sharing with. A contact may belong in one or as many circles as you group them in and all your circles are private. People will know that you added them to a circle but they are never told what the label is.

Here is a quick video by Google:

 

Here is the interface of how you can manage your circles.

HANGOUTS

This feature is very interesting. It lets you create an online “hangout” where people and contacts can just drop in. Using webcam and mics, you can just discover who among your friends has a hangout and just drop in to chat. Its very cool as you never know who is around and lets you meet and talk to people who you might not otherwise. Say your high school buddies have all grown up, gotten married, and now lives in different part of the globe. Hangout lets you casually create rooms where you could just chat casually without the frills of setting up a web conference or anything tedious as that. It worked right into your social network. Pretty cool.

Here is the Google video:

 

SPARKS

Sparks is a customized newstream, by choosing topics, browsing posts, Google+ identifies the topics you may be interested in and then searches what other people with the same interest found appealing and showing them to you. Its a fun way to discover. Just like you have your own assistant that knows what you love and care about and lets the content come to you.

Here is the video:

Google+ is similar to facebook in so many ways, here is your user dashboard after you login. It feels very comfortable right off the bat and there is the thing you need to get a good grasp on is circles and how the privacy of sharing is done in context. You choose what circles you want to share to and the privacy is built in right there.

Here’s a screen.

CONCLUSION

There you have it, at first glance, Google+ seems promising. Its fresh, new, and very user friendly. However, for a social platform to take off, there has to be people using it. It remains to be seen if people will be switching from Facebook just like they did from Friendster to Facebook.

Most of my contacts in Google+ are my tech friends who are early adopters and somehow mostly male. If you haven’t tried it yet, now is a good time to try, just leave a comment on this post with your email and I can send an invite your way. Cheers, thanks for reading.

Posted by  |  July 11, 2011 | Categories: Tech | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments »

Food Review: Wee Nam Kee

Wee Nam Kee is a place in Paseo de Roxas,  Ayala Triangle Makati (click for map). They opened not so recently but also not so long ago. Best place to park is below the Makati Stock Exchange Building by going through Ayala Avenue and taking a right at Paseo. There is an underground path that leads to a covered basement parking with more spaces. Their specialty is their Haianese Chicken and Roast Chicken. I must say both dishes are good. They are a franchise from Singapore and compared to what they have over there, ours is already considered a posh place.

This is their store in Singapore:

Wee Nam Kee Singapore

@Singapore (photo c/o sistafood.blogspot.com)

This is their store in the Philippines:

Wee Nam Kee Philippines

@Philippines (photo c/o ilivelovelife.blogspot.com)

It can sometimes be difficult to get a seat when you come late in the evening past 7:30pm but since the place has been around for a few months already, its not as jam packed as it used to be. Usually a 15-20 min max waiting time from my experience.

I love the cereal prawns the most from this place but here is a photo of their famous chicken dishes. They are done very well with the meat tender and juicy oozing with flavor. I believe this dish is said to be priced at Php 888 for the large which is for around 6 people where smaller orders start at Php 168 for solo and Php 248 for small. You can only have combos with the small size order and above.

Wee Nam Kee Chicken

Haianese Chicken and Roast Chicken Plate Combo (photo c/o foodtrippings.com)

This is their Cereal Prawn which I loved and the reason I craved to go back to this place a 2nd time even if it is out of my usual way. I like the texture and taste but I swear to minimize eating this as it filled with calories and cholesterol I’m sure. I like the breadcrumbs (/cereal?) as much as the prawn itself. Its not a cheap dish though with priced at Php 375 for a single order of 4pcs.

Best Cereal Prawn Wee Nam Kee

Cereal Prawn of Wee Nam Kee (photo c/o me)

Their barley drink is also nice they say but I haven’t tried it. Having had barley in Hong Kong and Singapore, its just not really my drink. Though something to try if you have not experienced it yet. Barley is a rice drink that is typically flavored with lemon.

I’m sorry I didn’t take much photos of this place as I didn’t plan to blog about it but later figured what the heck. I enjoyed their cereal prawn enough to tell you about it. So thanks to the other bloggers for their photos and credit is given where credit is due.

So seeing this is just to share my personal experience of the place, its not meant to do an in-depth analysis of the place as dedicated food bloggers do. If you still want to know more, here are some good blogs posts already done by others:

Wee Nam Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice
Restaurants at the Ayala Triangle Gardens
Makati Avenue, Makati City, Philippines
Telephone: +632 846-8924
Operating Hours: Everyday 11am to 10pm
Reservations are accepted on Weekends & Public Holidays only

Posted by  |  July 9, 2011 | Categories: Travel, Food and Lifestyle | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Chatime, the newest milktea place in Greenhills

I just found saw this new milktea place that opened up in Wilson St., Greenhills, San Juan. Its just one block away from Jose Abad Santos St. and is one block away from the famous Diao Eng Chay(DEC). The name is meant to be pronouced “cha-time” I believe as “cha” means tea in Chinese. Chatime is the #1 Milktea brand is Taiwan that started in 2008. Chatime in the Philippines has been brought over to us by Mike Koa, the brother of Johnlu Koa of The French Baker.

I’ve already heard about them before and when I saw the new store near me, I just had to try it. I ordered the Pearl Milk Tea with 30% sugar. I must say the drink is good. Its creamy and smooth in texture and very easy to drink. The pearls are soft and chewy in just the right size. I found my drink a bit bland but I think that’s my fault. I do not like very sweet drinks so I just made it 30% but I think I need to increase that a little more. The price is also fair at Php 90 for the large (16% cheaper than Serenitea’s Php 105 for large drinks).

The ambiance of the store is ok but not too posh. I hear that the Pioneer branch which is their flagship store is nicer.  I forgot to ask if their stores has free wifi and I hope they do. That has been my gripe with Serenitea for awhile now that if only they had WiFi would I be inspired to maybe hang-out more.

Anyhow, Chatime lets you choose your sweetness, toppings, and even the ice. You can go for less ice or more ice. They also have a buy-1, take-1 promo ongoing but not sure if you have to mention it because I went there within the promo hours of 12pm-2pm but didn’t get any since I only found out about the promo after I left and looked them up on the web. Chatime Philippines do not have their own website yet but you can find out more about it through their Taiwan site at www.ichatime.com

Just take a look at that cup of goodness above. Since this venture is backed up by the talents of the people behind French Baker, I am sure this milktea brand will have things going for it. Go have a try and see how it suits you.

Chatime Wilson Street Branch
207b Wilson St., San Juan
655-5797

 

Posted by  |  July 3, 2011 | Categories: Travel, Food and Lifestyle | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

TV Series Review: Game of Thrones

I just finished a recent TV series by HBO called Game of Thrones.  The series is based on author George R.R. Martin’s best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of seven planned fantasy novels, the first of which is called A Game of Thrones. Season 1 just finished and Season 2 will start shooting in July 2011 to be aired in 2012.

Its a short 10-episode series spanning 1 hour per episode. I will say outright that the series is good. Good enough that I enjoyed enough to blog about it. The setpiece is a fantasy world in the medieval era where the balance of power is a delicate thing and you never know who are your real friends.

The series is filled with nudity and violence but they are all essential to deliver the ambiance and feel of the times. Do not watch if you are faint hearted at the sight of blood because there is a good deal of it.

I love how the show has focus on the story telling but yet has just enough of the action to keep it interesting. The show’s writers are well enough to also leave cliff-hangers at the end of each episode to keep you wanting to go to the next one.

Overall, this is a 4 out of 5 for me as there could be room for improvement but is definitely a must-watch for fantasy enthusiasts.

Posted by  |  July 2, 2011 | Categories: Miscellaneous | Tags: , , | 2 Comments »

Red Cross 72-hour Survival Kit

Below is a list of important items to have ready in the event of a disaster. Store these in a location that’s easily accessible but safely out of reach for young children. Remember to get the entire family involved in preparation because disaster preparedness is everybody’s business.

This kit is enough to cover a family of 5.

Original content and post courtesy of Philippine Red Cross. Thank you very much to whoever made the time and effort to provide the information.

WATER
✓ 3 bottles of DRINKING WATER (5 gallons/bottle)

FOOD ITEMS
✓ 10 kilos RICE
✓ 10 cans CANNED GOODS (2 cans meatloaf, 2 cans corned beef, 6 cans sardines)
✓ 7 pouches INSTANT NOODLESs
✓ 1 kilo SUGAR
✓ 1/2 kilo SALT
✓ 1 liter VEGETABLE OIL
✓ 1 pack ASSORTED BISCUITS
✓ 1 pack CANDIES or CHOCOLATES

NON-FOOD ITEMS
✓ 2 pieces FLASHLIGHTS with extra batteries
✓ 1 piece AM/FM RADIO TRANSISTOR with extra batteries
✓ 5 pieces WHISTLE (or 1 whistle/person)
✓ 1 piece POCKET KNIFE/MULTI-PURPOSE TOOL with can opener
✓ 1 piece LIGHTER or 1 BOX OF MATCHES
✓ 1 roll PLASTIC OR GARBAGE BAG WITH TIE (medium)
✓ 1 set EXTRA CLOTHING FOR EACH MEMBER OF THE FAMILY
✓ 5 pieces RAIN GEAR
✓ 1 piece WATERPROOF ENVELOPE (containing copies of personal documents, passports, birth certificates, insurance policies, etc.)
✓ 1 piece DUCT TAPE
✓ 1 pair SCISSORS
✓ 1 set of GAMES AND ACTIVITIES for children
✓ 5 pieces FAMILY EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION CARD

HYGIENE KIT ITEMS
✓ 2 bars SOAP
✓ 5 pieces TOOTHBRUSHES
✓ 1 tube TOOTHPASTE (225 grams)
✓ 2 pieces SANITARY NAPKIN
✓ 5 pieces PERSONAL TOWEL (14″ x 27″)
✓ 5 sets CLEAN CLOTHES (long-sleeved shirt/long pants/underwear)
✓ 2 rolls TOILET PAPER
✓ 1 pack COTTON BUDS (100 pieces)
✓ 1 bar DETERGENT SOAP

FIRST AID KIT
✓ 20 pieces STERILE GAUZE PADS (4×4)
✓ 4 pieces SANITARY NAPKIN
✓ 6 pieces ROLLER GAUZE BANDAGE (4″)
✓ 6 pieces ROLLER ELASTIC BANDAGE (4″)
✓ 4 pieces TRIANGULAR BANDAGE
✓ 3 pieces PLASTER/ADHESIVE TAPE (1″ width)
✓ 30 pieces BAND-AID ADHESIVE STRIPS (assorted sizes)
✓ 1 piece BANDAGE SCISSOR
✓ 1 piece TWEEZER (plastic)
✓ 3 pairs STERILE GLOVES (medium)
✓ 2 pieces PERSONAL FACE MASKS
✓ 5 pieces TONGUE DEPRESSORS
✓ 10 pieces COTTON APPLICATORS
✓ 1 bottle POVIDONE IODINE (100ml)
✓ 1 bottle HAND SANITIZER (100ml)
✓ 1 bottle CALAMINE LOTION (50ml)
✓ 1 tube BURN OINTMENT (25g)
✓ 1 piece PENLIGHT
✓ 1 piece THERMOMETER
✓ 1 piece CPR ONE-WAY VALVE FACE SHIELD
✓ 1 piece INSTANT COLD COMPRESS
✓ 2 bottles DISTILLED WATER (500ml)
✓ 1 piece EMERGENCY CALL CARD
✓ 1 booklet FIRST AID/EMERGENCY GUIDE
✓ 2 pieces EMERGENCY THERMAL BLANKET
✓ 1 piece CLEAR PLASTIC CONTAINER BOX (Water Proof)

COMMON MEDICATION
✓ 15 tablets PARACETAMOL (500mg)
✓ 15 tablets IBUPROFEN (200mg)
✓ 15 tablets LOPERAMIDE HYDROCHLORIDE (2mg)
✓ 15 tablets ANTIHISTAMINE (10mg)
✓ 10 pieces ORESOL PACK

Posted by  |  June 30, 2011 | Categories: Fitness and Health, Miscellaneous | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments »

New Camera Technology: Lytro– Shoot First, Focus Later

A new camera tecnology has been unveiled. Its going to be launched this year and its called “Lytro“. The buzz about this new tech is that it allows you to take pictures first then focus later–promising that you will never again take a bad picture because you can focus it later on. How this works is that it uses a new kind of sensor Lytro invented. It captures directional lighting and this is different from traditional camera technology where light is combined as one source.

In other words, its a lightweight and simple camera to use that is aimed for the masses. When you take pictures,  you just snap away and then afterwards, you and the people you share it to can just change its focus points however they please. See the sample photo above, in one picture, you can now choose after taking it whether you want to focus in front, back, side or on a particular subject.

The technology is still in the works and there are many questions yet unanswered. These should be addressed in due time but for the moment, its interesting.  I don’t feel it will be change the photography landscape that much. Good photographers know how to take good images that tell stories. Its not always about just taking a clear picture.

This however, should prove interesting for the masses especially if cost is not prohibitive. As I cannot embed Flash on this blog, the current samples for Lytro can only be viewed on Flash. Here is their photo gallery.

Posted by  |  June 27, 2011 | Categories: Photography | Tags: , , , , | Leave A Comment »

A Very Creative Marriage Proposal

Ok, I am a person that can appreciate creativity and what this guy did amazed me. Just thought I’d share. WARNING: This can be cheesy but heck, you gotta appreciate the creativity and effort.

Posted by  |  June 17, 2011 | Categories: Online Fun Stuff | Tags: , , , | Leave A Comment »

Dalmatia and Adriatic Riviera Tour, Part 4 of 4

This is the last part of my documentary of my 2011 trip to Europe. We will visit 1 more city in Croatia and finally end with 2 days in Venice.

Part 1: Munich, Salzburg, Bled
Part 2: Lipica, Postojna, Ljubljana, and Plitvice National Park
Part 3: Dubrovnik, Split, and Zagreb

Day 10: Rijeka

Rijeka is our last stop in Croatia. Rijeka has a very fresh open market and there has been concerns that this will go away once Croatia becomes part of the European Union (EU). I believe there are some regulations and standards that need to be followed and one of which is that markets should be in closed spaces. Its a very small city but people in Rijeka are very friendly. It was a rainy day in Rijeka when we were there and people were looking at us because we are the group of wierd Asians with colorful umbrellas that stood out in the plaza.

Day 11 & 12: Venice

Venice is really one of the most beautiful city in Italy. While it is supposedly filled with romance, I really do not get that vibe as its literally crowded with too many tourists.

The photo on the right shows the Basilica San Marco which is the city’s only cathedral and is one of the most famous tourist place in Venice. Its a good place to visit but everything in Venice is expensive. The cheapest meal you can get with sidewalk pizza is roughly 10 euros (Php 630) and an average meal inside a restaurant is 40 euros (Php 2,400). When choosing restaurants, you can ask if there is a ‘cover charge’. Some restaurants charge that because there is a view.

Shopping in Venice can be fun if you are into signature brands. I am not a brand person myself but Louis Vitton, Channel, Gucci and all the Italian brands are well represented here. They are slightly more expensive than in Paris but they are about 30% cheaper in Venice than what you can find in Manila.

Gondola rides are also popular. Its 80 euros (Php 5,040) in the daytime and (Php 7,560) in the evening. Its charged per gondola and you can share with 6 people max.

It would also be a remiss if you missed taking a trip down the Grand Canal to see the Rialto bridge and most of Venice. This is especially true if you have limited time in Venice. A trip back and forth the grand canal would take about 1 to 1.5 hours and its will show you the good architectures of houses along the canal as well as see the busy water traffic.

Overall I enjoyed this 12-day Dalmatia and Adriatic Riviera Tour by Enchanted Tours and Travel. We went to alot of places, saw beautiful cities, experienced their culture, tasted their local flavors, and generally had a good vacation. This is a trip I would recommend for anyone looking for road less traveled.

To enjoy more photos from my trip, please check out my flickr album.

This completes my documentary about this tour. I hope you enjoyed reading. Thanks!

Posted by  |  June 10, 2011 | Categories: Travel, Food and Lifestyle | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

Chocolatier Cafe Review

Last night, we went out for a chocolate dessert experience. We went to a place in Jupiter Street, Makati City called Maitre Chocolatier Boutique Cafe. It was opened by the distributor of Lindt, Ferrero Rocher, Mercy, and Ritter Sport. The owner Chef AJ Javier created a  menu is full of gastronomic wonders made of chocolate. While the main courses seem interesting enough, we went there already after dinner so we just had desserts.

I ordered the ‘Classic Hot Chocolate’. Its a bowl of chocolate made from Lindt and it was so thick that you had to drink it with a soup spoon. They offer variants of dark chocolate and spicy but I personally prefer the classic.

Classic Hot Cholocate (Php 150)

Besides being a cafe, Chocolatier also offers all kinds of chocolates you can ever find and they are probably one of the most complete in variety of the good stuff. They also offer bouquets made of Ferrero instead of flowers and all sorts of gift baskets. I find them to be a bit pricey though but again they are unique.

Overall, its a unique experience that you should probably try at least once. The chocolate drink also is a good value for money at its current price of Php 150. Its a great place to meet up with friends and family but its not something you will be coming back too often because most other menu items are expensive and too much chocolate is not a good thing.

Maitre Chocolatier Boutique Cafe
Unit 2A No. 28 Jupiter St. corner Astra St. Bel-Air
Makati
(+632) 8978559 (+632) 8962529

Posted by  |  June 9, 2011 | Categories: Travel, Food and Lifestyle | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave A Comment »

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