Reyes Barbecue: A Classic Taste Goes to the Mall

 

Practically every balikbayan I’ve ever known in my life has hankered for the sweet-but-savory taste of the barbecued chicken at The Aristocrat, that bastion of Pinoy cuisine that has satisfied the voracious appetites of several generations. It’s practically the first thing – well, save for sinigang na baboy, I guess – they demand to eat almost as soon as they get off the plane. Fortunately, one need not trek off all the way to Malate to get a taste of this divine bit of roasted fowl.

Ooh, Lychees!

 

Recently seen in many fruit stalls and supermarket produce sections within the metro: this year’s crop of fresh lychees!  Yep, these beautiful spheres can be seen again and are worth getting for the soft, pearly white flesh within the rough crimson shells.  This particular batch was bought at the Alabang Public Market and were so lusciously sweet (perfectly ripe!) that we’ll probably get more this week.

 

It’s such a short season for these babies that we enjoy them as long as we can. 😀

Bitter/Sweet: Okashi to Ongaku Monogatari

Hi, everyone!  After vacillating over my newest writing project, I am pleased to announce that I’m finally putting it online for everyone to read.

The title of the new project is  Bitter/Sweet – お菓子 と 音楽 物語 (Okashi to Ongaku Monogatari – A Story with Sweets and Music).  This was inspired in part by a conversation I had with my sister some time ago about what happened to some famous musicians or actors who suddenly withdrew from show-business to open shops or join some other profession.

The heroine in this particular tale is Hecate-Hestia Maravilla, a successful confectioner/patissier who runs a cafe-patisserie in one of the better parts of Manila.  Once the bassist of Asia’s hottest musical export to the world, she has left the sound and the fury for a number of serious reasons.  As to what they are and why she thought it wise to leave will be the main idea of this particular story.

The story can be found at Vanilla Marmalade, my story/J-rock fangirling blog.  The Prologue and Chapter One are already up.

Any comments you may have are sincerely appreciated.  Putting Bitter/Sweet online is actually something of an experiment as I want to know how people will react to my writing before I send anything off to the professionals for review.

Best regards to everyone and I hope to hear from you.

Kozui: A New Green Tea Experience

It all started with a phone call from Toru-chan (regular SybDive readers will remember him as my darling Vigan empanada-crunching / Xocolat Azteca junkie friend) who was in the country recently and was raving about this “totemo subarashii kissaten” [way-cool teashop] not too far from my office.  Then, about a month or so ago, the amazing Lori of Dessert Comes First wrote this particular entry.  After vacillating for a few weeks, I decided to trot myself out of the office and actually sample what everyone was raving about at Kozui.

A Cool Tumbler of Something Nice

Recently seen at Co-op Japanese Grocery: ready-to-drink chilled Cafe Latte by Mt. Ranier and Hawaiian Host Chocolate Macadamia Milk.

If you love those chocolate-covered macadamias from Hawaiian Host or are just plain coffee-crazy, you’ll love these treats.  Plus, at P 65.00 apiece, much cheaper than your friendly neighborhood java flogger, ne?