Rai Rai Ken

The first time I experienced going to Rai Rai Ken (a Japanese restaurant) was in SM Megamall with who else, but my Questor friends (Questor was an anime magazine of which I was a contributor). I can still remember Igor ordering a huge bowl of sukiyaki and hearteningly consuming the whole lot. And me... whenever I do not know what to order, I would simply get pork tonkatsu.

Rai Rai Ken was also witness to us friends sticking together, and our stay there when we had this Final Fantasy Day also at Megamall was very memorable.


These photos were taken from their Pasong Tamo branch. Harry and I left the office rather late in the night and we were looking for a place to have dinner. Rai Rai Ken was still open and so we went right in and had our favorites. I think we were planning to go someplace though. I think it was Pancake House, but it was already closed for the night.


Those late night dinners with friends were really something... at one point it became a mission to get something different every night because they knew I was maintaining a food blog and they were very supportive of it! Of course, having dinner that way is a bit cost prohibitive but we were all too tired to go home with empty stomachs and we really do not cook at home anyways... and my leaving the country was hovering on our heads... but I had a blast. Hope to see you all soon, my friends.

Technorati tags: food trip

Supermarketing in Wellington

We were doing our groceries one time when Jo-Lo borrowed my iPhone and started taking photos. It was a good blog idea so I decided to place some of the photos here.

From a general point of view, the supermarket here isn't really that different from those that we have in Manila and Baguio, except that we pay in NZ dollars here. There are, however, noteworthy things we have observed here.

I was delighted the first time I saw produce from the Philippines in the shelves. We export bananas here! That, and Dole canned pineapples.


While I have yet to see a huge variety of fish like what we have, there is always salmon available. This is quite expensive in our urban areas but it's quite affordable here.

Ummm... have I mentioned that salmon is in abundance here?

Weekend barbie

The simple fun of living in New Zealand is exemplified by the Kiwi's love for grilled food served amongst friends in a relaxing weekend. The barbecue grill - or more commonly called here as the barbie - is a staple cookware in a Kiwi home, with many models available especially during summer.

Such simple joys is very adaptable to the Filipino lifestyle, as we also enjoy the company of friends and share even the most meger of meals.

This weekend we were invited over at Glen and Cory's home for dinner with friends. I helped out with the grill and I immensely enjoyed savouring the smell of cooking food and easy conversation.


We had sausages, chicken tenders, and patties on the grill, with sweet onion rings. This feast was accompanied by a unique coleslaw recipe with nuts and dry noodles, fruits, homemade pizza, and of course, rice.

I was stuffed full! Thanks Glen and Cory for another wonderful weekend!

Technorati tags: food trip

Mr. Poon in Makati City, Philippines

These photos are a blast from the past. When we are in a restaurant, blogger instincts kick in and I take photos of the food and immediate surroundings. My friends have become so accustomed to it that when their food would arrive, they would automatically keep their hands off so I can tinker with my camera phone.

Mr. Poon, a Chinese restaurant in Makati City, Philippines was one of our favorite haunts, simply because it is right across our office in Makati. So when we would like to have something out of the ordinary, we'd treat ourselves something special at Mr. Poon.

We love their rice toppings! Each plateful of goodness is just right for a hungry man's apetite, and the ladies would sometimes share a plate when they're not ravenously famished.

Dreaming of Amici

I couldn't help but smile inspite of myself. I first blogged about Amici di Don Bosco a couple of years ago, and during that time all I knew was that it was a great Italian pizza and pasta place. A couple of years hence, it still is a great place and now it is simply called Amici. I laughed at my old post because I wrote there that they had an ice cream station. Good thing I did not stir an uproar... it's called gelato! I loved the mint flavored gelato.

Food Experiment: Tina's crunchy sticks

You might recognize the recipe as very similar to lumpiang shanghai (which I loooove so much!). And it is actually a take on the lumpiang shanghai. However, we cannot find lumpia wrappers at the Asian store and so we settled on using wanton wrappers instead.

A maki career

I totally enjoyed making maki at Glen's and Cory's place that we decided to make some for the New Year. And to make it into a more engaging experience, we bought a sushi mat and a tube of wasabi as well.

What is it?

When I think eggplant, I think torta! However, the eggplants here in New Zealand are a different breed. While there are elongated versions like the ones we have in the Philippines, the ones here are more green than dark violet, and the round ones are more common.


My wife would usually just slice these thinly and fry, or boil it up and mash so it can be mixed with egg for torta. Boiling it, she says, is easier than grilling and removing the skin.

Technorati tags: food trip