The Real Cost of Owning a Car

Every time we are in the mall, we never fail to notice the various vehicles on display with signages on how very little the down payment is. There was even one car that caught my attention in particular – a Hyundia Getz with a down payment of only P18,000!


Imagine that, with just P18,000 you can already be driving a brand new car (assuming all other factors are favorable, which they always seem to be when you are buying a car)!

My husband and I wondered how much the monthly amortization for that car be, considering that we already paid P126,000 down payment and still our monthly on our 2008 Kia Picanto is still P12,528.00 – and that is not even the end of it.

Things That Make Me Go Hmmm...

I don't know if it's endorphins, Feng shui or just plain excitement brought about by my new "project" but I have been feeling rather good lately. I must say there have really been things that made me go "hmmm, hmmm, yeah" -- the thing is, I don't know which one is it.

Instant Thin-Crust Pizza and Leche Flan

I had an enormous craving for pizza this afternoon. It was a pizza craving that was really hard to ignore (I think I might have been an Italian in a past life) that I immediately opened my netbook to search for the delivery numbers of pizza places.

Wow, P600 for a family-sized, stuffed crust meatlovers pizza???

I went on to look at the menus of other pizza places. I was willing to go for a thin crust pizza as long as it had all the toppings I wanted on it... and as long as it is paired with meatballs spaghetti and a glass of Sola rootbeer. OMG... P700++???

Back when I was working, P600 or P700 would not be an amount I would back off on -- in the name of pasta and pizza.

But I have set a new goal for myself -- I want to beef up our savings account. Since I don't have regular income (because sometimes my writing projects are far and in between) I need to think of creative ways to cut back on our expenses, hence have more money for savings.

Besides, if you know how little it costs to buy ingredients from the grocery and cook at home, you will definitely feel guilty throwing "that much" money on food delivery. Why, P700 could well be my budget for two days worth of meals -- brunch, dinner and my husband's "baon".

Still I wanted my pizza... All of the sudden I got a lightbulb moment -- I have bacon, tortillas and quickmelt cheese in my fridge! Things that would not cost me even half of P700.

In my pseudo-pantry (because it is really more of a spare cabinet than a kitchen pantry) I had button mushrooms, tomato sauce and dried oregano. VOILA, instant thin crust pizza!

The tortillas were actually intended for beef-tapa Shawarma and the bacon was supposed to be for my son's favorite carbonara. I'm never without tomato sauce, cheese and button mushrooms because I could either use it for a simple pasta dish or a quick omelette. So there.

I was so pleased with my instant thin-crust pizza that I was inspired to look for something I can make out of the other things I have in either my fridge or pantry. I thought of making leche flan!

I just bought a tray of eggs and again I am never without condensed and evaporated milk. Naturally, I had brown sugar for the caramel, so I am really all set to make leche flan.

My "instant" flan must have really tasted so good that my son ate half a llanera in a hearbeat. Hala sugar rush!Hehehe.

Note to self... buy spaghetti noodles for my pasta craving next time.

Actually, I could have settled for elbow macaroni or penne because I do have those in stock, but I got so full eating my homemade thin crust pizza that I forgot about the pasta that was supposed to go well with that pizza. :-)

When All You Feel is Indifference

I once read, “When the romance ends, real love begins”, but for me and my married life it is more, “When the romance ends, life-long suffering begins.”

There was a time when I found my husband’s snoring an endearing quirk, or how he is always the first one to dig in and get the meatiest part of the fish all for himself. Fast forward to five years and I am no longer finding his loud snoring endearing, and the one about the fish isn’t even gentlemanly of him.

I used to just want to do everything to “please” him – and I would wear a pout all day long if he did not complement me on my cooking or on how I arranged the living room.

Again, five years have passed and all I feel now is indifference – maybe even hatred.

I hate being treated as if I’m a paid house-help. I hate having to do everything in the house while he gets a chance to play basketball when he wants (or when his aging knees allow him to) or that he gets to cradle his PSP all of his waking hours as I tidy up and wash the dishes after we have eaten.

I hate that I have to be responsible for even the littlest things because even after five years he still does not know where any important document is kept and filed. I hate that I have to keep track of everything simply because he is either too preoccupied with something else or is too lazy to even care when bills are due or if they are getting paid at all.

The truth is I have more than once prayed to God that I no longer wake up once I go to sleep -- but knowing how “irresponsible” my husband is I am actually scared to die and leave our son to be raised by him -- or heaven forbid, by his family.

I no longer care what he thinks about my cooking or if he likes the way I have once again re-arranged all the living room furniture. Actually, he should be thankful if I even cooked at all... then washed the pots and pans, bowls, knives, chopping board and all other utensils that I used to cook him a meal.

I no longer see him the way I saw him before, and most likely he would say he feels the same way about me. Well, I couldn’t care less! I used to think my whole life will change for the better once we became a family, and boy, was I wrong.

He did not turn out to be the person I thought he was and I’m pretty sure he would say the same about me. Tough luck!

What he throws at me I will just throw back at him, so to speak. He is not the most caring and sensitive husband in the world, so he does not deserve a caring and sensitive wife as well. If only I could do a Kris Aquino, I would have declared “it’s over” years ago.

“Missing the Forest for the Trees” in Terms of Earning Online

I have been out of work since April 2009. Since then I have tried my hand at doing online work, mostly through writing assignments given by my “mentor”, a fellow work-at-home mom who quit her regular work long before I did.

Aside from the writing assignments passed on to me by Charm, I also tried sourcing for my own writing jobs through oDesk where I did get quite a lot of work. There was even a time I managed to earn P17,000 in a month, but it really took a lot out of me.

Would You Rent-A-Friend?

One of the first odd things I heard that was available for rent was a pet… “Rent-a-Pet”, which I think is very popular these days in Japan (or is it in China?) now the latest craze to hit the world by storm is “Rent-a-Friend”! How unorthodox is that?

In the Philippines I know people rent a lot of things… there is rent-a-car, rent-a-color (television), rent-a-cooler (air-conditioner) and even rent-a-tool (power tools). But, rent-a-friend is somewhat unheard of.

Maybe that will be a good business to put up… for people who have lost all sense of community and camaraderie and lack even the basest relationship skill to have and keep a “friend” probably because of the enormous amount of time spent alone in front of a computer surfing, playing online games or …taking care of a “virtual” friend (or pet).

Android Phone: The End to an Era of Bad Luck

Why do I deserve an Android Phone?

I deserve to win that Android phone because it will signify the end of an era of bad luck in my life. I have never won anything substantial in any raffle or contest, so winning that android phone will renew my confidence and faith in the goodness of the universe and life in general.

Meeting you and being guided and inspired by your success is already a blessing in itself, but getting that Android Phone will definitely convince me that my life is indeed now going to change for the better.

Jehzlau, I owe you a lot more than you will ever know but please, please give me that phone. :-)

Doing My Own Home Makeover

Here's one of the more successful makeovers I have done with the help of my mother. The interiors of our house are still "evolving" (read: undergoing one re-arrangment after another) so let's start with the garden.

BEFORE:

AFTER:
See what a couple of bags of cement, sand and gravel can do? I wanted paving blocks but it's just not something we can afford right now even if we install it ourselves.

These garden chairs I bought second-hand for almost a song. They're cast-iron and held together by screws. Definitely classier than the "usual" garden chairs being sold nowadays.
I trimmed some of the plants, re-arranged the potted ones and made use of the pieces of "tinibag na semento" from a previous project to give a few of the pots some height and cover the exposed soil as well. White or colored pebbles would have been the desirable option, but again our budget cannot accommodate it.

Tadaaaahhh!!! Our garden looks so much nicer now than in the "before" pic, doesn't it?

Out with the Old, In with the New... President, that is.

Today we welcome with open arms a new President, Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III.

I really hope the next six years will not be another six years (or more in the case of GMA who was in power for longer than the regular 6-year term) of hardships, scandals, corruption and sheer moral decay... like what we saw in the regime of the outgoing president who seemed to have completely forgotten the meaning of "DELICADEZA".

Of Second Chances and Not Taking Any Chances

Victim # 1

Victim # 2

VICTIM # 3

THE CULPRIT... THAT DUMPTRUCK ON THE UPPER LEFT SIDE OF THE PICTURE

Just by looking at the pictures alone, are you able to picture the level of uncertainty there is to life on this earth?

One Sunday you could be on your way home after going on a simple errand... you decide to ride a taxicab and sit beside the driver... on the way home you start to pleasantly converse with the driver about how rude other "professional" drivers can be... then you came to the foot of a narrow street where your driver decided to wait for a dumptruck to pass so that your cab can make the turn and you would be on your way home... then WHAM!!!

You suddenly realize the cab you were riding was hit by the wayward dumptruck... then WHAM again!!! The same dumptruck hits a bus that in turn hit a motorcycle and sent its rider flying into the air.

Chaos and a massive traffic jam then ensues as slivers of broken glass and other car parts pepper the busy Quirino Highway.

Fortunately for you, you escaped unscathed.

But what if something did happen and it was the passenger side of the cab that got hit? Surely, none of the three victims were expecting to be part of that big accident that caused quite a commotion. Just the same they became unwilling participants.

How confident are you that your family will be well taken care of if something does happen to you?

Stop leaving everything to chance... If you still don’t have any insurance, do yourself a favor and get one, or even two like I did… visit

http://prospectzone.com

Be a blessing to your loved ones, not a burden. No loose ends should be left untied.

By the way, my husband was the one sitting on the passenger side of that cab.

Moneybookers: an alternative to Paypal

Still sad,sad,sad about oDesk and Paypal. Last email I got from somebody at oDesk named Michelle is that the Paypal transactions will be resumed by June 10... which is technically yesterday, Philippine time. But as of this writing when I tried to withdraw my earnings at oDesk I was still greeted by the same error message indicating that transactions are still suspended.

Reading the forum posts about the matter gave me the unfortunate news that the reactivation was moved to June 11 PST (Saturday in the Philippines). So it is still an impasse as far as Paypal withdrawals are concerned.

Now, when this problem first broke out, Tuesday I think, I had immediately signed up for a Moneybookers account which was to be "use-able" on June 10. True enough my newly created account has now been linked to my oDesk account and I can already withdraw! Woohoo!!! Three cheers for Moneybookers!

However, much as I wanted to withdraw every single dollar I have with oDesk right away I thought it will be more prudent to withdraw just "some" of my earnings. I wanted to see first how the whole thing works and if it will work well with my BPIFB account.

The money I withdrew from oDesk was "immediately" credited to my Moneybookers account and was available for transfer to my local bank account, so with bated breath I pressed on the "Withdraw" button. There were three steps to the process of fund transfer and the second step necessitated that I verify my account. Moneybookers presented options with corresponding time frames. I chose to verify my account via credit card since it was marked "Instant" unlike the verification by sending mail to our residence address which we all know can take forever given how slow our postal service is.

Verification via credit card took just a minute or two, all I needed to do was input my credit card info, and I was off to the third step of the withdrawal process which was to confirm that I wanted to push through with the withdrawal. Naturally, I did.

The "History" tab immediately reflected what transpired in the last few minutes... from Moneybookers receiving the money from oDesk to the credit card verification up to the transfer to my local bank. First the transfer was marked "Pending", but when i checked again after about an hour it has been marked "Processed". Hmmm... I am beginning to like Moneybookers more than Paypal.

Anyway, I am still waiting for the money to be credited to my account by BPIFB. Hopefully, it gets credited tomorrow because it seems Moneybookers pride itself with a fast turnaround. At the latest, my money should be in my account by next week... by Tuesday I hope.

If you would like your own Moneybookers account as an alternative payment method for oDesk, please do sign up using

https://www.moneybookers.com/app/?rid=17024565

or click on this...

My Very Own "Bucket List"

Have you seen the movie “Bucket List” starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman? If you haven’t I will suggest that you find a copy ASAP. I saw it on HBO… several times… because I always manage to catch it when it’s halfway through.

While my chances of meeting someone like Jack Nicholson’s character in the movie… obscenely-moneyed-happy go-lucky… is probably 1/1,000,000 I have decided to write out my very own "Bucket List" just in case I do get to meet someone who might not be as obscenely moneyed and happy-go-lucky but is more than willing to “sponsor” my dreams just the same. Hehehe…

Kidding aside, I’m writing this list after reading Jack Canfield’s “What Do You Want in Life” article.

According to Jack Canfield, “One of the main reasons why most people don't get what they want is that they haven't decided what they want. They haven't defined their desires in clear and compelling detail. They don't know what they want …”

Naturally, this got me all fired up because I certainly want to get what I want. I know my desires are well defined in clear and compelling detail… or so I thought.

As I opened up a new document to begin listing down the things Jack Canfield suggested, I hit a dead end. Per Canfield, I was supposed to write the following:

30 Things I want to Have
30 Things I want to Do
30 Things I want to be before I die
20 things I love to do (that I could earn from)

I wanted to start with, “The 30 Things I want to Have” because I thought it was fairly easy since I believe I know what I want to have, but again I don’t know where to start.

For one I don’t want my list to be “trivial”… I don’t want it to contain just the latest gadgets or the newest craze. After all I am almost 40 (well, in 3 more years) I am supposed to have more “substance” than a teenager.

But, so far here is what I have… a random listing of “wants” yet as detailed as I could picture it as Jack Canfield adviced:

A high-end, fully-loaded SUV with an automatic transmission (think Montero, Pajero, Fortuner, X-Trail, Navara, CRV, etc) – I really want to be driving again but I don’t think I can do that with a stick shift anymore considering how uncoordinated my extremities and my brain are. Why an SUV? Because I think an elephant driving a mini cooper is not a pretty sight. :-)

A successful, passive/residual income-earning business of my own – I’ve been a stay-at-home (okay, work-at-home) mom for more than a year now and apart from the usual financial concerns that all freelance workers have I can say it is more “me” than being a “corporate slave”. However, the only way I can continue with this lifestyle “choice” is if I have a business that earns passive/residual income on its own.

Actually, my blogs have already started earning passive/residual income but I could use a few more hundreds or thousands of dollars to really live the lifestyle of my choice.

A fat, overflowing to the brim bank account – I have always known about the importance of saving, having an emergency fund, a retirement fund, a nest egg, etc. but somehow after 15 years of salaried employment I don’t have any of these to my name… not anymore. I used to have them, but the “money emergencies” I went through after I retired led to their depletion, so you can say I am back to square one, not really for myself anymore but for my son’s future.

A house I can really call my “dream home” – this would preferably be somewhere “high” and on a land that is made of adobe or something sturdier… definitely not limestone unless I want it to be suddenly swallowed by a big sinkhole. I’m thinking of a flood-free, exclusive subdivision somewhere in Quezon City.



To be continued…

Gratitude and its many blessings

I saw this in a magazine and I felt I just have to take a snapshot of it and share it with you. I don't think I need to expound on it not illustrate it in great detail... we all have stories about gratitude and the many wonderful things reveling in gratitude has done to "improve" our lives... maybe not literally but at least psychologically and emotionally.

We all live and measure the quality of our lives using our own set of standards and those very same standards dictate when we are able to say that we have enough or when we are wanting. This is no truer to anyone than me. I used to view my life as a sorry excuse for living... especially when my resources were reduced to almost nothing.

Well, my resources are still only a tad away from "nothing"... but I have never felt gratitude to be such a strong force in my life than these past few weeks.

The funny thing is since I have started to feel that way about my life, God has been giving me more reasons to feel grateful about. It's like gratitude begets more feelings of gratitude.

I suppose what Rhonda Byrne and Bo Sanchez have been saying is really true, that you attract what you constantly think about. Feel grateful about what you have and life (or the universe) will give you more things to be grateful about. Try it and be amazed.

Well, more than the law of attraction, I believe everything really happens in God's perfect time.

When Not Having Money can be Good for You

Life is a never-ending rat-race and yes, “money does make the world go round”.

If you have bills to pay and dreams you want to fulfill for yourself, your family… your kid/s, then you know exactly what I mean.

While we all strive not to be enslaved by money, but to make money our slaves, believe it or not, not having money can be good for you. I am living it, so I know and I have proven this statement to be true.

I used to have money at my disposal… emphasis on the phrase “used to have”… past tense. But back then I did not give it much of a thought… or appreciation. Whatever money I spent I know I will earn again come next payday… whether I work hard at it or not.

I bought and paid for what I wanted with nary a doubt or tinge of indecision. It was my money after all… I earned the right to spend it… or did I?

Would you believe I never “enjoyed” having money as much as I do now? I have never given any purchase longer than an hour’s worth of indecision… until now.

Not having as much money as I used to have made me really enjoy and look forward to having money every time. And, why not? The money I get every now and then is the product of my blood, sweat and tears… almost literally actually.

Those of you who have opted to forego having anything that even remotely resembles an 8-5 am/pm job “just” to be a fulltime house-“MAID” (I’m using the term with much admiration for the wives who single-handedly run their households), you know what I mean.

It really is no joke to be a fulltime mom… especially when you do not have help whether paid for or voluntarily given (ehem… husbands I hope you get the message)… but to still scramble to work immediately after your kid has gone to bed (be it at an early 9pm or a late 11pm) only to go on working until the early morning so you could earn a little extra to help out with the expenses and the occassional "shopping spree"… man, work-at-home moms really deserve a tight hug, a beautiful bouquet and a huge plaque of appreciation (ehem ulit husbands)!

These days I make sure I get the full value of every peso I spend, and why shouldn't I? I worked so damn hard to string words together into a paragraph and weave those paragraphs into a pay-worthy article.

And, because I work soooo hard to earn whatever amount I could, I find it easier now to resist going to the mall just to tempt myself into buying what I really don’t need. Retail therapy used to be my addiction, but nowadays I find crying or pouring your heart out in a blog or forum to be be more effective and less costly, too.

Indeed, I have come to realize that not having money can be good for me. No, this is not a suicide-averting mechanism nor am I sweet-lemon-ing. Perhaps, you can call it an “awakening”.

I think I have somewhat adapted to my new lifestyle because earning even just half of what I used to earn entails a lot of long hours… a full week even... spending it should take that long as well or a lot longer. That's the irony of money, it is so hard to earn yet so easy to spend wastefully.

Although, I am still very much a work in progress, I have to admit.

Just last Sunday I bought a table runner and a box of wine glasses (4 pieces per box)… for P89.00 and P129.95, respectively. What do I need them for? Wala lang… I just want to have a nice table runner to be readily available when I need it (should I buy on the day that I need it? I think not!), and the wine glasses are for when my husband and I decide to open the wine bottles given to him (again, should I buy wine glasses on the day that we want to have wine? It’s called foresight, people!).

Oh, was I tickled pink with my purchases! Part of the reason is I know I got nice items without having to spend much. That P218.95 was enough to give me the feeling that I can still buy what I want despite not having a regular income.

It seems not having money is like dieting, the key is to not feel deprived because you’ll surely go crazy and do something drastic.

Dieters and reforming spendthrifts, show of hands please…

Starstruck with Robin at Behrouz Timog

Boy, what a day to be sans any hint of makeup and looking every inch like a "labandera" (laundrywoman)! Darn it!



Heck, if I knew I would be bumping into Robin Padilla at Behrouz... yes, THE Robin Padilla... I would have spent at least a full hour making myself more presentable. Not that I was entertaining any thoughts that he would hit on me or something (yeah, I wish!), but at least I would not look like a "maid" or a "labandera" (complete with unruly hair that was hastily clamped at the back of my head) in our picture!

Oh well, I was not expecting to see anyone starstruck-worthy last night. It was just a late night run for something to eat before we picked up our son at lola's... I didn't even have my camera with me, so pardon the picture quality. I had to make do with the two cellphones we had handy, and my Samsung Corby (I just found out) does not even have a zoom feature (or should I read the manual again?)

Just the same, my husband and I were all smiles... I guess he was as starstruck as I was. Believe me he does not smile as much in most of his pictures, and most of the time he would not even look straight at the camera. I, on the other hand, don't even like getting my picture taken unless I had time to primp myself (which is not often given I have a 2-year old to take care of first. Besides, most of the time I was the photographer, so I almost always do not appear in the picture).

It's just that it was Robin himself who approached us... yes, he is that nice!!! He was sitting with a group at a corner a few tables in front of us and when he caught me staring at him, he immediately waved and smiled at me. I found it so endearing for him to have done so and though it might sound OA... but I felt like melting. I was so starstruck I even forgot how hungry I was. Hahaha!

He caught me trying to snap a picture and he still posed...


Also, I think he noticed I was trying my darndest best to get a picture of him with just a cellphone. I was already being prodded by my husband and Behrouz, the owner himself, to approach Robin to get a better picture but I decided not to... nahiya pa daw ako. Hehe... So when he was about to leave, he approached us.


Some guy at the table behind us was already trying to corner him and was asking if his group could have their picture taken with him but he said, "Sila po muna"... referring to me and my husband. Take note, I did not even have to ask to him to have his picture taken with us... well, maybe my ear-to-ear smile gave me away. But, he really is that nice... so grounded and humble.

Now, I have seen "stars"... Dolphy, Ara Mina, Pia Guanio, Roderick Paulate, Marvin Agustin, Dominic Ochoa, PBA players and imports and many others... but none were as affable and friendly as Robin Padilla.

As a matter of fact Robin was sooo nice that he even crossed the street and went to the establishment across Behrouz to give in to the requests of people eating there who wanted to have their picture taken with him, too.

I think it took him another 30-45 minutes after he stood up to leave Behrouz to actually board his CRV and drive off. He just kept posing for pictures with people who wanted to have their picture taken with him. Sooo bait and down to earth I tell you.

Here are some more pictures I took of him... again pardon the poor quality.



With Behrouz, the owner...




Oh, before I forget here's what we ordered...

Humus...

Kabab...

Beef, Tomato and Onion (or BTO)

and of course, Pita bread...

We also had 2 cans of soda and our bill rang up to P300. Considerably cheap considering a meal at Jollibee or Mcdonald's would have cost us more before we had our fill.

The food took longer to arrive than it usually does, but our server already warned us about it saying beforehand that it might take some time for our food to arrive because Robin's group (he had his posse at the open area occupying five tables, I think) placed a long list of orders. Well, we didn't mind the wait, despite our hunger, because we were preoccupied sight-seeing, so to speak. Hehe...

Behrouz at Timog had considerably "improved" in terms of aesthetics. They used to have just a few plastic chairs and tables that gave diners the "carinderia" feel. They now have an air-conditioned area, an open area on the ground floor with some "kubo" and bamboo chairs and tables and another open area on the second floor but with metal (probably aluminum) chairs and tables this time.

The food is as authentic as Persian food can get... you can probably tell by just looking at the owner. Hahaha.

If you don't find the pictures convincing enough, you might want to head on to Behrouz Metrowalk (in Ortigas), or in Timog and try it for yourself. I think there's another branch in San Juan or Greenhills, but I'm not really sure where.

Anyway, for less than what you will be paying eating at Jollibee, Mcdonald's or Chowking you get to eat a filling Persian meal and probably run into Robin Padilla if you're lucky. That's well worth P300, if you ask me... really a nice man. :-)

Rockin' Technorati

I've just started to market this blog and people say signing up for a Technorati account is one of the best ways of going about it... so here I go... 89GWG6HB5JE2

If you know of other ingenious ways to herd traffic to this blog, do let me know. I'd appreciate any and all the help I can get. :-)

Jay J's -- the Crispy Pata massacre

BEFORE:



AFTER:

If the "after" picture does not say how much we enjoyed Jay J's Crispy Pata then I don't know what will.

Aside from the crispy pata, our barkada package included the following:

Rice and extra Sinigang soup

Pancit Canton

Bonoan Boneless Bangus Sinigang

Kare-kare

Turon

We opted to add P100 to the P1,100 package price so we could get a 1.5 liter bottle of soda.

The Jay J's we went to was in SM Fairview but the barkada package we ordered is also available at all their branches.

While we immensely enjoyed the food, I did not fancy the slow service.

Getting someone to "welcome" us and find a table for us was a disappointment -- nobody paid attention to our group as we entered so I just pointed to the first available table I saw.

Nobody even bothered to hand us the menu -- I got one on our way in.

After we have settled in and finally got somebody to take our order, nobody bothered to set the table up and give us plates and utensils. I had to point this out because the table behind us had plates and utensils even before it was even occupied. And, the people who occupied that table (who came in minutes after us) were served water in glasses as soon as they were seated. So, what gives? Are they getting better service because they were a bigger group and our group only had 3 adults and a 2-year old kid?

For an establishment that does not charge a service fee, you would expect the crew/servers to work doubly hard to get some tips -- and a bigger group does not necessarily mean they would give a bigger tip. I give tips based on the service I get and yes, I did not bother to leave them even a measly 20 bucks. It's just that every server seem to disappear into the kitchen and nobody was around to respond to a customer waving to get somebody's attention except for a server who was either attending to another group or bringing food out of the kitchen.

Fortunately, their food, especially the Crispy Pata, more than made up for their lousy service. I would give their food and the package price 4 stars -- but their service not even a fraction more than 2 stars.

I couldn't say much about the place's cleanliness or ambiance... it was rather dark inside and I was too hungry to nit-pick about anything else than the service, but it was definitely hot in there despite having 2 split-type air-conditioners, if I'm not mistaken.

I was about to ask to be moved to a cooler spot but my husband said the warm temperature might have something to do with keeping the food warm and the soup smoking. Hmmm... made sense and again, I was too hungry to want to move so we stayed put. You can probably tell how hungry we were by how fast the Cristy Pata was devoured... the time on the pictures record a difference of 35 minutes but it was really faster than that -- 15-20 minutes maybe. I just forget to take pictures soon enough so that accounts for the longer time lapse.

Over-all, Jay J's gets 3 stars. I would have given them a higher rating if not for their crummy service.

And, as they say (or did I coin this saying myself?), "Bad service comes in 3s" ... we got another round of bad service at Sakae Sushi -- more on them in my next blog entry.

So should I except one more round of crummy service to break the jinx? I'll find out this weekend.

Sushi Ko To -- Regalado's Hidden Japanese Treasure

Part 3 of our food binge...

Date: April 20, 2010
Establishment: Sushi Ko To
Location: Regalado Avenue, West Fairview
Verdict: 4.5 stars

What can I say, we have our Chinese-food craving days and our Japanese-food craving days. Most of the time I think we really just love to eat. Hehehe.

We discovered this sort of "hole in the wall" Japanese food joint along Regalado when we were on our way to SM Fairview. Actually, it is not really a hole-in-the-wall, it is more like a "resto in a garage".

Take it from the pictures and the signages on their gate...

But don't judge this Japanese eatery by the signages on the gate, so to speak, their makis, ramens and misos are as authentic as you can get them... and I have tried Japanese food at Saisaki, Tong Yang, Bubble Tea, Cabalen, Tokyo-Tokyo, Teriyaki Boy, Kitaro, Karate Kid and practically every where else they serve Japanese food. I even had Maki on a styrofoam, as it is sold in Banchetto and Landmark food court. So yes, I know my Japanese (food).

Again, I'll let the pictures do the talking...

The Kani Salad Maki which is my favorite... P90

The California Maki... P80.

The Kani Sampler... P90

We also had Miso Ramen (P100) but in my eagerness to devour everything I forgot to take a picture of it. Nonetheless, just take my word for it that it's really yummy.

Here is what else they have on the menu...

After all that Japanese, why not have a truly Filipino dessert... a bag of Kutsinta for P30! Yes, they sell puto and kutsinta, too. :-)

All I can say is it is "Authentic Japanese at friendly budget!"

Tong Yang -- where P600 goes a looooong way

This is still a part of our weekend food binge. Although, I think it was a Monday when we ate at Tong Yang in SM Fairview which is why we were able to avail of their P299 per person eat-all-you-can buffet available only during lunch time from Monday - Saturday.

On Sundays and during dinner time, the buffet is priced at P499 per person but it does include an even wider selection of seafood which includes crabs, if I'm not mistaken.

By the way, the price per person is inclusive of 12% VAT and they don't have a service charge. So tipping is in order. After all the great service will make you want to give a generous tip nonetheless.

Here's what we had... get ready to salivate.


For the grill and the shabu-shabu I got the "expensive" stuff. I got fillets of lapu-lapu, blue marlin, cream dory, salmon, mahi-mahi, etc. I even got meat and squid balls, clams, mussels, scallops, fish lips, some squid and 2 - 3 varieties of mushroom.

My husband got pork belly and beef sirloin slices.

Yes, we got cocktail hotdogs, too (more for our son than for us).

While waiting for our shabu-shabu to cook, we had appetizers of assorted dumplings and some fried tofu and spareribs.

Oh and some maki, too.

Prawns for the soup or for grilling.

And of course, we got dessert.

Yes, all these for P600. Actually, the receipt says it's P598. I did leave a tip, so that sets us back by P600++

My rating: 4.5 stars over all. The price, taste, ambiance and service deserve nothing less than 4.5 stars. Definitely a restaurant worth going back to.

CAVEAT:

We didn't order drinks -- we didn't want to take any stomach space away from the food. :-)

The Great British Take Out - 3.5 stars

My husband and I have been on some sort of an eating binge the past few days so don't be surprised if you read a food review post one after the other.

Let's start with The Great British Take Out. I give them 3.5 stars overall.




Here's the breakdown:



Price: 4 stars

I gave them 4 stars for price because compared to Fish & Co., boy they are cheap! As a matter of fact they take pride in announcing that their food all cost less than P100 per order. And, in this day and age, we all know that it is close to impossible to find a filling meal for less than P100.


Taste: 3 stars

We both had fish and chips. I had mine with potato wedges and tartar sauce. My husband had his with fries and honey mustard sauce.





Of the two, I liked the potato wedges and the honey mustard sauce better. I probably would have given them a higher rating if they were able to replicate Fish & Co.'s tartar sauce. Sadly, their version fails in comparison to the "real" thing.

Their fish tastes okay, pretty much like the original. But it could use a little "paper towel dance" to remove more of the excess oil. The wax paper it is served on really doesn't absorb much of the oil.

What saved the meal for me was their Austin's nachos.


As you can see, they didn't scrimp on the sauces, the nachos and the beef. This always scores points for me. Yummmm!!!

Ambiance / Cleanliness: 3 stars

The branch we ate in was at the Skygarden of SM City North. Naturally, they have tables and chairs for al fresco dining, which is fine if you eat there at night.

It's a different story during daytime when all you want to do is be inside an air-conditioned room. Although their store is air-conditioned, the exhaust failed miserably to rid the place of the smell of deep-fried food. Try staying in for a few minutes and you are sure to smell "oily" when you get out.

The place is fairly clean though, with ample signages for the staff to make sure to clean up every so often. Other than the exhaust system and the resulting smell, I don't have anything to complain about.

Service: 4 stars

The logo says it all, it's supposed to be a take-out place... thus, service service is customary. Actually, they also have a sign that says just that. But the crew nonetheless serves your food, goes back to give you ketchup or whatever it is you ask from them.

All three that were there that night were pleasant and would occassionally exchange banter with us when we asked them something about the food or the establishment in general.



All in all, our meal cost us P355, which included 2 cans of Mug rootbeer. If we were at Fish & Co, our P355 would have bought us just one order of fish and chips, give or take a glass of soda or iced tea.

:-)