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.

:-)

President’s Tea House – 3.5 stars

Are you a Chinese food-junkie like me and my husband? If you are then welcome to the club!

Have you tried any new Chinese restos lately? We have tried everything from Chowking to Mr. Choi's Kitchen in Robinson’s Pioneer and Waltermart, Munoz to Charlie’s in San Juan and yes, I almost forgot, Mann Hann and Gloria Maris.

Let me see, did I miss out any other Chinese resto we’ve been to? Hmmm… I hope not.

Anyway, we are just so happy that President’s Tea House has opened a branch in SM North – Annex. We used to go all the way to Binondo (from our house in the boondocks of Novaliches) just to get our fill of their eight—treasures noodles, Yang Chow, dumplings and buchi after their branch on the 5th floor of Megamall closed down years ago.

Actually, it was in Megamall where we discovered President’s Tea House way back in 2005. Well, it wasn’t really a discovery because they were highly recommended by a friend who also loves to indulge his gustatory cravings. We didn’t know it was going to be our first and last eat out at that branch.

From then on we would head out to Binondo every time we get our craving for dimsum or anything they serve at President’s Tea House.

So it was really serendipitous to find them at SM North – Annex where we usually are every week.

These are what we had the last time we were there:

You have to try their Roasting Combination... and don't forget to ask for ginger sauce for the chicken. Yum!

Yang Chow rice (of course!), Hakao and shark's fin dumpling, roasting combination and bottomless drinks... oh and buchi for dessert. I just have to have buchi at any Chinese resto we eat in.

You can say that there’s really nothing unique or unusual about their food because you can order a platter of Yang Chow almost anywhere they serve Chinese food, but what I love about President’s Tea House is their authenticity. Their place in SM North looked very much like the Chinese restos in Hong Kong… minus the need for an interpreter, of course.

As a matter of fact their branch that used to be in Megamall had what I call the Chinese “carinderia” (a small eatery) ambiance. It's hard to describe, but when you're in a "typical" Chinese restaurant you would know.

And, you will know that the food is good because a lot of Chinese or Chinese-looking people frequent the place. I mean, who would know better how Chinese food is supposed to taste if not Chinese themselves, right?

Another thing I like about them, in particular at their branch in SM North – Annex, is the customer service. We almost always have our 2-year old in tow (so that would mean a stroller and baby bag, among other things) so I really appreciate being offered a high chair without having to ask for one, or just being friendly and attentive to my son’s antics scores plus points for me.

My policy is I would keep coming back to an establishment if they treat us well, even if their food may not be exceptionally praise-worthy.

Gumbo is another place that’s like our second home (not that their food is not praise-worthy because some of selections are) … but that’s for another entry.

Going back to President’s Tea House… aside from efficient customer service, the other thing I like about them is that their prices are reasonable. Although I think it’s much cheaper at their Binondo branch. Well maybe the rent at SM North would account for the difference.

Just the same I would give them 3.5 stars for customer service, taste and reasonableness of price.

Cleanliness also merits them plus points. There is certainly none of the old Chinese “carinderia” ambiance here… if you know what I mean. :-)

Jed's Island Resort -- 2.5 Stars (out of 5)

My family and I went on our yearly summer outing yesterday... actually, this is just the second year we're having a summer outing but I'd like to make it a yearly family "tradition" of some sort. For one, it's summertime, the perfect time to go out of town, and second, it's my birthday, the perfectly acceptable excuse to spend. :-)

Like last year, we went swimming on the day of my birthday. Last year it was at Club Manila East (CME) in Taytay, Rizal and this year it was Jed's Island Resort in Calumpit, Bulacan.

We have been seeing posters of Jed's Island Resort all over Novaliches, Quezon City so we were kinda intrigued if the place is really as nice as their posters say it is. I even tried searching for reviews online because I would like to make sure I'll like the place enough to spend good money on it, but there wasn't any review, at least not the kind I was looking for.

What I found is more of a comment to a forum post of someone asking for directions to go to the place and all the commenter said was that the water at Jed's is highly chlorinated and that the forum poster might want to try looking somewhere else to swim in. That's it.

Well, here's the more detailed review with pictures to boot, in case somebody else is looking to read up on Jed's Island Resort before lugging along their whole family for their summer outing.

Customer Service: 3.5 stars

I first called to inquire about their rates because I wanted to reserve a room (air-conditioned, if possible, and with its own restroom). Besides, I had to make sure the snippets of information I got about them from various sites are still accurate because they don't have their own website (actually, they are supposed to have their own site but their domain name registration has expired and most likely their hosting services as well).

I got to talk to Janina, who to her credit, seemed friendly and eager to be of assistance. After confirming the info that I have gathered (i.e., being able to bring our own food and drinks in, having free and ample parking, etc.), I booked a room for a 12-hour daytime stay. It will have a bed good for 2 persons, an air-conditioner and its own private restroom. The cost: P1,500. and I should make at least a 20% deposit to confirm the reservation.

I also asked if we could enter the premises immediately upon our arrival or if we will be made to stand in line with the rest of the resort visitors regardless of our prior reservation and payment. To Jed's Island Resort's credit, Janina said we will not have to queue or stand in any line and will have immediate access to the facilities the moment we arrive.

Entrance to the place, (or to any place I have made prior reservations and payment to) is an issue with me because at Club Manila East we were made to get a number and wait outside along with the great multitude who just thought they would go to CME on the same day we did and who did not pay 2-3 weeks in advance like I did. I mean, what value did I get out of making prior reservations and paying way in advance of our scheduled outing? Nothing!

When we got to Jed's, true enough a throng of people who did not have prior reservations were waiting outside, and it got my husband worried (because he did not know I already inquired about the "privilege" our reservation should entitle us). I immediately asked where the reservations office was and presented my deposit slip (which they asked me to fax at least a day before our schedule). True enough, a room was waiting for us and a staff was instructed to see us through the thick crowd waiting to gain entrance.

Even the sweepers and everyone I got to speak with whether to ask directions or to ask that they empty the trash bin near out room are very polite and helpful.

For that they really deserve 3.5 stars

The Accomodations: 3 stars

This is the room we got:


It did have a bed good for 2 persons, with 2 pillows and a blanket. It also had a small TV, but you can hardly see anything regardless of whatever channel you tune in to, although it had a cable wire going through it. We didn't bother to complain about it because we didn't really go there to watch TV anyway.

The air-conditioning is "pre-programmed" because you can't change any setting as the knobs were taken out. Good thing it served its purpose well, otherwise I really would have complained. According to the news, the temperature that day was a sizzling 36.6 degrees celsius but we didn't really feel it inside the room. :-)

The restroom:


It did provide the "privacy" I wanted even if the door knob was barely holding on to the slot where it is supposed to be. Also, both the drain and the sink was clogged. Maybe that is why there were 2 plungers in there. Arrrggghhh!

Pools: 2 stars

The water of the pool closest to where we were staying was "cloudy" (I wanted to say "murky" but it's really not that dirty-looking, otherwise I would not have allowed my son to swim in it. It's just that I've seen "cleaner" waters at Club Manila East) even if it was just around 9am when my son started swimming.





The pools also didn't have showers stalls (This is another thing CME has that Jed's doesn't) where swimmers could rinse off before jumping into the water... maybe this is why the water seemed "cloudy".

The fishing and boating area:


If I were a fish, I'd have to be dead before you can get me to swim in those waters! :-)

"Resort Feel": 2 stars

To its credit, Jed's Island Resort managed to capture a kid's idea of how a water park should look like. It has larger-than-life statues of super heroes, cartoon characters, even dinosaurs and some zoo animals. It even has a hanging bridge (which adults would hate to fall off of unless they don't mind falling into greenish, stagnant water... eeewwww!), quite a number of water slides, and a "leisure park" where kids can pose for pics or just hang out after swimming.

But if you, the paying adult, are looking for the genuine "resort feel" to the place, I don't think you'll find it here. It is so accessible to the general public that the place becomes the go-to "resort" of the C-D and even E crowd. There was even a slippers-snatcher for crying out loud! What's worse, my mother even saw someone spitting into the pool! Who knows what other excrements have been expelled by the general "public".

And because the place allows (and even sells)beer and liquor, you can expect a few rowdy customers as the day draws to a close.

There were ample signages reminding the customers to maintain cleanliness at all times, but the crowd in general didn't seem to care.

Food is one thing you don't have to worry about,though. There were stalls selling everything from hotdogs to fries to siomai and Zagu. Plus, Jed's has its own souvenir shop cum convenience store where you can get swim wear, floaters, ice cream, soda, chips and even tube ice... and yes, beer and other alcoholic drinks.

If you didn't get an air-conditioned room, you can get a hut like this depending on the number of people in your group:


The giant slide:


The larger-than-life super hero statues:


The Leisure Park:


The Wave Pool:


One of the bigger pools:


The Souvenir Shop cum Convenience Store:


The common shower/comfort room:


Over-all, I'd give Jed's Island Resort 2.5 Stars

If you want a "classier" resort, I'd go for Club Manila East or better yet, Fontana Leisure Park (which is where we're headed to next year, hopefully).

What Do You Need to Write Good Content?

“Content is King”… almost every freelance writer knows that by heart. Search Engine Optimizers (SEO) know that to get people to visit their blogs (or websites) and keep them coming back, the site or blog has to provide good, high quality, SEO-friendly content. This is why good article writers continue to be in high demand.

Senseless articles with nothing but gazillion keywords in every paragraph do not make the cut anymore. Search engine spiders will not even give you the time of day if your articles contain nothing but words stringed together to incorporate keywords. This is why no matter how hard developers try article writing or spinning software can never take the place of human writers.

So, if you want to carve your own niche as an excellent article writer you will need to brush up on a few things.

1. Your English. The number one requirement of clients is for the writer to have excellent English grammar. Some even want their writers to be Native American English speakers; meaning English should be their first language, not their second or third, even.

Personally, unless the client requires the writer to be living in the United States I would still apply for a job posting that says, “native American English writer preferred”.

2. Your knowledge of current events. Articles should be meaty. At best, they should be relevant. You must be able to relate what you are writing to what you know for sure.

Contrary to popular belief, “current events” is not confined to what’s on the front page of a newspaper. An event can be about anything or anyone. While doing specific research for your topic can serve you in good stead, having the natural inclination to keep abreast with what’s happening around the world will save you the time and effort you would have otherwise spent researching and piecing together what you have found.

A client once asked me to write an article about men cheating on their Hollywood Star-looking wives. Quite a few names were mentioned… Tiger and Elin Woods, Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, Jude Law and Sienna Miller, etc. Now if I have not been keeping tabs on Hollywood news I would have had to spend a long time researching on the stories of these people and then piece them together to make the article. Fortunately, I didn’t have to.

I knew their stories because I have been reading about them, watching documentaries about them, watching ETC for the latest update on them… I know therefore I can write.

3. Your knowledge of American culture. This is on the assumption that your assignments will be from American clients or about the American lifestyle.

You have to be familiar with jargon or idiomatic expressions so you can use them well in your articles and make yourself sound like an American writer. A few examples would be, “heads up” or “in the zone”.

How will you improve your knowledge of American culture? Well, aside from working in a call center, you can watch American shows or sitcoms and pay attention to how they speak, not to catch their accent but to know how they use idiomatic expressions and jargons, and also to understand American humor.

Unless you are writing a purely technical treatise, you should try to inject some humor into your article to make it a light and enjoyable read. That is what would keep your readers coming back.

Being a Work-at-Home Mom: Do you have what it takes?

I have been a work-at-home mom for almost year now. I resigned from my last job on April 15, 2009… it was my birthday gift to myself, so to speak.

My birthday wish last year was “freedom” from the bondage and inequities of the corporate world, and I made the decision to grant it… a decision filled with fear and trepidation for what lies ahead after my last paycheck.

While I did try to come up with a back-up plan to my not receiving a salary every fifteen days, the next months were indeed a struggle… both financially and emotionally.

Actually, it is still a struggle almost a year later, but it is now more a financial than an emotional one. You could say I am slowly starting to come to grips with my “new reality”.

So, for all you mothers who are still caught in the labyrinth of indecision, this one is for you.

How will you know if you, too, can be a work-at-home (or even a stay-at-home) mom?

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Why do I want to leave my job?

Do you hate the job itself or just your boss? It could be that you are just in the wrong job, doing something that you do not really enjoy. For example, you hate math but you are working in the Accounting Dept.

Maybe you just don’t like your boss or your co-workers. Let’s face it, team dynamics is crucial to wanting to stay with a company. If you don’t enjoy being with the people you are working with, it could be THE deal-breaker for you. Unless you enjoy dragging yourself everyday just to go to work.

Whatever your answer to the question is, you should first try to find a “solution” to whatever it is you dislike about working before deciding to be a WAHM or SAHM.

This word of caution is meant especially for those over 35 and not yet in a supervisory or managerial position. You might find it doubly hard to get hired after you have decided that being a WAHM or SAHM is not for you.

The hiring age in the Philippines is still pegged at below 35 and the “equal opportunity” employers are limited to a few industries only (e.g., callcenters).

2. Where will I get the money to support myself or my family?

It might be easier to decide to just jump ship if you have only yourself to feed and spend money on. The difficulty increases when you have a family depending on you or kids that you have to send to school.

If you are married, see to it that your husband’s salary can cover for the income that you are no longer going to receive bi-monthly. Make a list of your expenses and see if your family can afford to live on a single income (your husband’s).

Ask yourself also how you would feel as a “dependent” of your husband. Bear in mind that you will no longer be earning your own money to spend on whatever you fancy. If you are the independent type, this arrangement might not work for you unless you have enough savings to tide you over for the next few years or if you can find another source of income as soon as you quit your job.

3. Will I be happy to be “just” at home?

Whether you are a WAHM or SAHM the reality is you are expected to be at home 95% of the time. If you are not home almost all the time, then you are either employed or running your own business outside of your home.

Unless you married a very wealthy man who can afford to pay for at least one house help or if you live with your parents or in-laws who don’t mind having you to just bum around all day, expect yourself to be doing all the housework from cooking to doing the laundry. Will you be okay doing all that?

Also, will you be happy not “going somewhere” (read: to the office) everyday? If you are the type who loves dressing up for work and hoarding makeup or office bags and shoes, this stay-at-home arrangement might not work for you.


These are just some of the initial points you should consider before deciding to sever your ties with your employer to be a stay-at-home. I’ll leave it to you to figure out the other factors for consideration because the decision really depends on one person: YOU.

Only you can figure out where your ultimate happiness is… not your husband… not your kids. Of course you must add them to the equation, too, but in the end only your happiness can tip the balance of the stay-at-home scale.

Still undecided? Pray to God for guidance. Everything falls into place in His perfect time.

Mommy Matters: I Love FREEBIES (don't you?)

Aside from trying to earn more to keep our families afloat during hard times, mothers should also make sure that if and when they do spend they should at least get their money's worth. After all it is hard-earned cash, so it not only makes perfect sense to try to get its full value but it should be made a prerequisite before spending.

Ever since I became a stay-at-home mom with limited income coming in from the few freelance writing work that I still get to take on despite my limited time (yes, motherhood is a full-time job in itself), I have become extra cautious with how I spend my money. Unlike when I was gainfully employed, these days see almost no buying sprees at all.

Part of the cautious and conscious effort I have imbibed given my limited resources is to try to get as much value as I could from whatever purchases I make.

Take this restaurant for example... Buckaroo's.



My family and I ate there last Black Saturday (my son was aching to get out of the house so we decided to give in and take him to a nearby mall). It was actually a toss-up between Yellow Cab Pizza and Buckaroos, but what broke the tie is the FREEBIES we saw on the flyer handed to us.

The flyer said, "Kids eat for FREE everyday and FREE pasta for every order of a 16" pizza for as low as P455". I even had my husband check out the prices at Yellow Cab just to make sure we are getting a good deal.

These are what we got...

The 16" pizza (that actually cost P655 because it had all the toppings in it)


The FREE pasta (that would have cost P205 had it not been free)


The FREE kiddie meal (we got the rice and viand but pasta was also an option)


and the FREE 2 scoops of ice cream on a sugar cone (we each got one)


We also ordered refillable drinks, by the way.

I had every intention of ordering their dessert (the FREE ice cream was not on the flyer) but it turned out I didn't have to.

At the end our meal, we got to take home more than half of the pizza and half of the kiddie meal. Oh and we paid a little over P800 because of the 12% VAT.

Pasta and a 14" pizza alone plus 2 bottles of Sola at Yellow Cab would have cost us almost P900.00

What excites me about this restaurant aside from the FREEBIES is that their food is comparable to other pizza and pasta joints we've tried. Fact is this is not our first time eating at Buckaroos, it was our second, but the first time we ate there they didn't have any freebies at all.

Lastly, let me just say that this is not a paid blog for them or against Yellow Cab. I'm just happy that my P800++ went a long way considering we even brought home leftovers for our dinner.

Content is King... I'm the Queen (Woot!)

(click on the photo then magnify to get a clearer resolution)

I just realized it's been a year since I started accepting writing assignments at oDesk. There was actually a time when I was struggling with the decision whether to continue being a stay-at-home mom (and be freelancer on the side) or go back to being gainfully employed with a guaranteed paycheck every fifteen days, so I stopped writing for a few months (six months in total, I think).

I got back to my writing groove only this mid-February and I have been accepting assignments left and right since then. You could say I have ended my struggle and finally made the decision to embrace "my annointing" (as Bo Sanchez puts it). I'm sticking it out as a work-at-home mom with oDesk being my main source of writing assignments... and yes, livelihood.

I wish I could show you the feedback comments that I got from my clients (they are known as buyers in the oDesk world), they are a source of inspiration, but I still have to figure out how to piece it all together into one picture so I could paste it here. Anyway, I did provide a ratings summary just for you to see.

:-)

Finally... Woohoo!

Yes, finally... a website I can call my very own... woohoo!!! http://www.contentandbeyond.com is mine!

I choose it (the process was so long and tedious, I almost gave up on it entirely), registered it and paid for it... so it's all mine!

Why did I buy a domain name? Well, I have great plans for this blog. I have finally embraced and accepted the fact that writing is what I am meant to do... because it allows me to have the best of both worlds... be a stay-at-home mom and earn on the side.

So, what can you expect from this blog? I will definitely try to stay away from the musings type of posts, although it might not be helped during times of melancholy (which could happen anytime between 3 days before and 3 days after my period. hahaha!), but this blog will have more of tips on how to earn online, how to go about each one especially if it has something to do with writing, how to save, how to raise a kid while striving to keep a career... that sort of stuff.

Just be assured that this blog will have a lot of things you would want to keep on reading... enough to make you want to subscribe or put it in your blog list.

:-)