THE SOLUTION TO THE HUNGER GAMES? BEST FOOD FORWARD 2012: PART 1

           By now I really shouldn't get excited at the thought of food fairs anymore but I got up early last Saturday morning in anticipation of the annual food fair, Best Food Forward. 


          I had such a great time there, I ended up getting early on Sunday too!


          Yep, I spent practically two whole days at a food fair. And yep, I need to get a life, I know.  
          

J. CO DONUTS & COFFEE AT SM MEGAMALL

             A few months ago, as I was strolling along Greenbelt 3, I saw a sign about this Donut place that would be opening called "J. CO Donuts and Coffee".  It's supposedly really big in Indonesia and Malaysia, and they've started opening stores in China and Singapore. 


            Last March 15, Rina and I dropped by the opening of J. Co Donuts and Coffee's first Philippine Branch at Megamall to grab us some donuts, just to see what everyone seemed so excited about. Unfortunately, the line that had formed for the opening was ridiculous, and we were told that if we wanted to buy a donut, we might have to wait around two hours. 


           Yes, you read that right. Two Hours. For a DONUT. 


            So to call J. Co's arrival here in the Philippines "a success" would be a massive understatement. 

XIAN LIM & MCDONALD'S MCFLOAT SUMMER MEDLEY

For the record, Youtube chose the thumbnail, not me. 

                 I actually don't know who this Xian Lim guy is except from my friend that talks about him a lot on Twitter (Hehe you know who you are). But apparently he's popular enough to get a contract from McDonald's as the endorser for the "McFloat Summer Medley" Line up. (Funny,no? I knew who Dino Ferrari was straight away, and this guy who's on Philippine TV everyday, I had no clue who he is) But it's clear that he's extremely popular, and the ladies love him. 

       The McFloats come in Four different flavors to choose from.. Blueberry Sprite McFloat, Four Seasons Sprite McFloat, Green Apple Sprite McFloat and Honey Banana Sprite McFloat. 

                 I normally refrain from writing about food items that I haven't tried, and truth be told, I haven't tried any of the McFloats yet, (although the people I work with have tried the Blueberry and Four Seasons and enjoyed it, while i'm intrigued by the Honey Banana) I decided to write about this, not because of the items, but because of the commercial, in which the post production was done by the company I work for.

YOU JIE XIAO CHAO: A CHINESE HIDDEN TREASURE NEAR ROCKWELL

             If you ever find yourselves in the outskirts of the Rockwell area in Makati, and you pass this gate on Camia Street, do yourself a favor.. 

            Stop, go down, knock on the door and walk in.

          Because inside, you'll find some of the most amazing Chinese food you'll ever try in Metro Manila.  

                     Friends, let me tell you all about You Jie Xiao Chao...

          

MAN UP AT MAD MARKS!

            I've been curious about what exactly it is about the Kapitolyo area that just made it suddenly boom with some very interesting "Hole In The Wall" restaurants. Ever since Charlie's Grind and Grill exploded unto the burger scene, an eclectic selection of food choices have popped up in the area, making it somewhat of a food lover's Mecca. 


        Though Kapitolyo is actually quite near my place, I've never gotten a chance to go to any of their restaurants just yet.. Something I knew I had to rectify right away. I actually made a list of the restaurants in that area that I wanted to try, and ranking high on the list was Mad Mark's.  

THE MERCATO CENTRALE CHRONICLES: MY PINK WASABI

         After the cooking demo of Asia Food Channel's Next Celebrity Chef Winner, Chef Dino Ferrari was over, Rina and I were absolutely famished. It's a good thing that the place we were in, Mercato Centrale, has a cure for such afflictions. Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed the food that Chef Dino cooked, however since it was a free tasting session, we were relegated to a small portion size in order to accommodate everyone watching the demo. But if Chef Dino had a stall in Mercato Centrale selling his roasted chicken, I'd be trooping on over there for a quarter leg meal with rice. 


      I had two goals during my trip to Mercato Centrale that weekend, the first was to watch Chef Dino's demo,and the second was to try a dessert stall that I had seen only on Facebook that immediately caught the attention of my taste buds. A dessert stall that broke through the traditional trends of cakes and pastries, and decided to create its own.. 
       
       You MUST try My Pink Wasabi. 

AFC'S "NEXT CELEBRITY CHEF" WINNER DINO FERRARI AT MERCATO CENTRALE!

              Because of my line of work, I rarely get starstruck. My boss is a prominent figure in the entertainment business so it's not anything out of the ordinary for me to walk into his wife, and find him talking in an intimate meeting with a celebrity. I've met a lot of celebrities over the years.. movie actors, professional athletes, both local and international (Wait.. does Keith Martin still count as "international"?), but no one ever truly fazed me. 

        Becoming a blogger, however, has turned me into a fan boy of celebrities from the culinary world. So when I found out that Chef Dino Ferrari, the winner of Asian Food Channel's "Next Celebrity Chef" was going to be doing a cooking demo at Mercato Centrale, I knew that I couldn't miss the opportunity to meet him in person.

      My greatest moment in my Twitter career was when I got a tweet from these two men.. I think you might know the first one..

CHICKEN OVERLOAD: THE CHICKEN RICE SHOP!

         What's your stand on Hainanese Chicken? With its subdued flavors and bland appearance, a few of my friends see it as nothing more than a glorified piece of boiled chicken. Me? Surprisingly, I actually really like it. Perhaps it's because the chicken, when you get the right part seems fatty enough for my standards. Maybe it's the ginger sauce that I love mixing it with. Or it could be the chicken rice itself.. because when it's done right, one cup is never enough. 

            One Sunday morning, I was pondering on where to eat for "Brunch" before we headed off to my parent's place for the actual "Lunch". Since my mom does the cooking and no one has the guts to complain, we usually eat around 1pm or even later, so I thought having a light brunch at around 11am would be a wise move. 


       I remembered passing by the recently opened restaurant, "The Chicken Rice Shop" during our trip to Sandwicheese the week earlier, so I thought of giving that a try. 


       And just like that, any thoughts of a "light brunch" was thrown out the window. 

BREAKING THE FAST: THE BREAKFAST MAGAZINE LAUNCH

Oh sure, when SHE does it, everyone thinks its sexy,
 but when I do it, everyone thinks i'm creepy.

            I've been blogging for a little over a year and a half, and I've been invited to quite a few Blogger Events. I normal don't go to them because I'm actually quite shy in real life (Yes I am, believe it or not.. At first.. hehe..). In fact the first "Blogger Event" I actually went to was the Philippine Blog Awards held early December of last year (I was a finalist, but I didn't win. But I'm not bitter.. Those death threat letters the members of the judging committee received weren't from me, I swear!). However, I did make it my New Years Resolution to try to be more active with these events if I want to take my blogs to the "next level".  


     A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get an invitation to the launch of Breakfast Magazine, to be held at Enderun College near McKinley Hill. Since I had the New Years Resolution-Resolution in full effect, I wrote back accepting their gracious invite, provided I could bring my official photographer (and security blanket) with me. 

        Alexis Cuison, Editor in Chief of Breakfast Magazine, wrote me back saying she was more than happy to have us BOTH attend the launch. 

     With my numerous open declarations of love for Bacon, I think I've made it pretty clear that I'm definitely a breakfast guy. I enjoy a breakfast buffet even more than a lunch or dinner one (Yeah, I said it). I eat breakfast food at any time of the day. 

     So yes, I believe the people behind Breakfast Magazine invite the right guy to their event. 

AND THE WINNER IS...

       So the winners have finally be drawn! Congratulations to all Five people that won, including the four people who won the four Gift Certificates from Box O' Rice, and the Grand Prize winner that snagged the Gift Certificates  worth P5,000 from Cathy Valencia Skin and Body Center.



 

Watch this Video to see the draw for yourself!