Burger-loving at Heroes Burger in ABS-CBN

If there's one thing that I've learned throughout my 17 years of dating Paul, I realized that a romantic date doesn't always have to be expensive. After all the fireworks and sparks have died down, the real test of one's relationship is how you can truly be there for one another. It's how you can still manage to hold on to one another despite all the heartaches, the hardships and sacrifices that love entails. It's when you're just simply contented with his/her company even with the absence of a nice candlelit centerpiece, instrumental music playing in the background or food served on fine chinaware.

In fact, Paul and I have never been huge fans of degustation meals, tasting menus or fancy restaurants. Going on casual dinner dates brings back so much nice memories of when we started dating. You see, Paul was my boyfriend since we were both in college and this means he has been paying our meals out of his school allowance. That said, our dates normally consists of going to Teriyaki Boy or Taco Bell our two favorite places and then paired with either catching a movie, going to the arcade or just strolling around the mall. Nothing over the top expensive but one that we will always remember for the rest of our lives.

This then leads me to dating tip #2 : the true foundation of a relationship is all about enjoying each other's company and being able to carry on a good conversation for as long as you can. This tip was also inspired by what I think is the best love story in Hollywood history -- Before Sunrise.

Apart from dating Paul, I also like dating my sister and my mom. I love being able to catch up with them as our daily, crazy schedules just make it so impossible for us to carry on a proper conversation on the phone. So a few months ago before we went to have our hair colored, I had an impromptu lunch date with my sister Pan and we went and tried out Heroes Burger. Been hearing raves about this restaurant which is located at the ground floor of ABS-CBN. The theme is after all the local superheroes like Darna, Lastikman, and Captain Barbell. We got there quite early so we decided to grab brunch. The menu is very straightforward and simple. What made it more attractive was the price points -- there's nothing on the menu that's above Php. 200!

Eat-All-You-Can-Korean Barbecue at MeatSumo Premium in Panay Avenue

February is the shortest month of the year (despite this year being a leap year) and yet I always feel like my schedule is extra jam-packed this month as compared to the past months. Just this weekend alone, I became a ninang to an adorable baby boy and the next day we had a family gathering to celebrate the birthday of two of my nieces. They're tweens now and in my mind, I've always thought they're still little toddlers. Time is surely flying by so fast.

We're also a few days away from Valentine's Day and regardless whoever you will be dating -- your special someone, your boyfriend/girlfriend, your crush, your best friend, your parents or even yourself (hey, remember -- #selflove), I thought of sharing some of my recent and not-so-recent food finds which I think are totally date place worthy.

Let's start with MeatSumo in Panay Avenue. This just opened two weeks ago and I can expect this place to be packed most especially for dinner and during the weekend with groups of friends or family. For only Php. 549, you get to enjoy a wide (and I really mean w-i-d-e) variety of meat flavors and side dishes. MeatSumo is a Japanese-Korean barbecue fusion so you can have your hand-rolled makis together with some kimchi or with a plate of kimbap.

There are 11 meat flavors to choose from -- Pork Galbi, Pepper Beef, Beef Yakiniku, Beef Bulgogi, Pork Gochujiang and more. I personally love the pepper and gochujiang flavored meats so we ordered more of those. As for the sides, you can choose from 22 different side dishes. There's the usual kimchi, spicy dilis, cheese dip, steamed egg, lettuce, miso soup and kimchi rice. In addition to this, you can enjoy their hand-rolled makis like the California maki, beef yakiniku maki, california temaki and even the Korean kimbap. With the sides alone, you'll feel so full already so make sure to take it easy. The buffet is also inclusive of drinks -- iced water and red iced tea. Also, they're probably the only Korean/Japanese barbecue restaurant that I know as of the moment that also serves dessert together with the choices. This has always been my plea with other Korean eat-all-you-can restaurant as dessert is known to cut the cloying (umay) feeling and it's just so unfortunate if they don't have anything to offer. Finally, MeatSumo has answered my prayers.

Nonna's Pasta and Pizzeria in Robinsons Galleria

This week started at a very sad note. As I opened my cellphone yesterday morning, I was greeted with posts after posts of the passing of NBA Star Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna. While I'm no basketball fan, my heart sank as I thought about his wife, his 2 other kids and that final moment when Kobe knew that was the end of him and his daughter. As a parent, I'm pretty sure he would have wanted to do anything to save Gigi. Well, I definitely would. If I have to push my kids out of the crashing helicopter with hopefully a safety parachute, I would. Anything just to keep them alive.

Apart from that, there's the growing concern on the rapidly spreading Coronavirus. Really, a number of sad, scary moments as we welcome the Year of the Rat. I do hope things will get better in the coming weeks. 

When faced with stress or disappointing situations, I turn to food to cheer me up. *sigh* #thisiswhyImfat Seriously though, I have my set of comfort food that never fails to turn my gloomy day into a bearable one. Some of my comfort food includes pasta, pizza and chips. Over lunch today, I invited two mommy friends to join me for lunch at Nonna's Pasta and Pizzeria in Robinsons Galleria. I've dined here a number of times already and it has never failed to make me happy. I wasn't able to take much photos of our lunch today as I opted to just focus on the food and talking to my companions. That said, let me share with you some of my favorite dishes at Nonna's that I've throughout my several visits there: 

First is definitely the Nonna's Special Pizza (Php. 495), it's your premium version of the classic Margherita -- pomodoro sauce, pesto, mozzarella cheese and it's crowning glory, one huge burrata right in the middle. I love having this with their spicy honey which is super good! It's truly love love love ♥

For their pasta, I have several favorites. One is the Nonna's Truffle Pasta (Php. 385 / Php. 715) which I always order because I can't get enough of the homemade radiatori pasta in assorted colors that's coated in the yummiest, rich creamy truffle sauce. If there's one thing that I've learned, you can always safely put your bet on a dish that has the restaurant's name in it as this means it's one of theri specialties. Indeed, this dish was truly like heaven on earth.

Panasonic Innovates with New Company, PAC-PH

I got to admit that if there's anything that I can't live without.. then it would have to be my air condition. I can't really have a restful sleep if I'm not in a cool, well-ventilated room and somehow the low humming sound of the air con easily lulls me to sleep. I remembered when I was much younger, my family took a trip to Tagaytay, which, as we all know, is known for having a cooler climate as compared to Metro Manila. It was around the -ber months so the temparature would really drop especially at night. Given that, my parents decided not to open the AC in our hotel room and instead "enjoy the cool breeze of the place." Oh my! I couldn't sleep well that night and I just had to ask my parents if we can open the aircon or I'd end up looking like a zombie the next day.

It's amazing to see how technology and even our basic home appliances have evolved through time. Back then, aircon units tends to be really noisy and they would have this manual dial where you have to adjust the setting and the thermostat. Later on, remote controlled aircons came into the picture then we have split type ones and today, we have smart aircons that not only keep our room cool but it deodorizes, removes bacteria and viruses and it helps keep our electricity bill at a minimum too.

In this age of innovation, change is inevitable.

In this age of innovation, change is inevitable.

Panasonic reiterates its commitment to create “A Better Life, A Better World” as it aims to contribute to the progress and development of society and to the happiness of people around the globe, highlighting its expertise in the Air Conditioning business in over 120 countries globally.

As we enter a new decade, Panasonic launches a new company that is dedicated to provide professional services for your air-conditioning needs, the Panasonic Air Conditioning Philippines (PACPH). 

With this development, PACPH promises to provide the best comfortable and #CompleteAirSolutions with innovative professional technologies and services to suffice every Filipino’s need from home to business.

Air-conditioning nowadays does not only settle on cooling alone. As the name implies, air conditioners’ main purpose is to condition your indoor air, thus, Panasonic developed nanoe™ Technology that deodorizes, inhibits the growth of bacteria and viruses, and is effective in dust removal to create a fresher and cleaner living environment.

Mo-Mo Paradise Taipei : Japanese Hot Pot Buffet

For our first night in Taipei, Paul and I set a meet up with our friends Floyd and Nicey and their cutie son Matteo who coincidentally were also having a vacation in Taiwan. They're one of our closest friends in Singapore and M is actually just a few months older than the twins. Such an amazing long distance friendship these little toddlers have! I hope that we'll get to see them more often as they grow up.

Anyway, it was super sweet of the de Santoses to travel all the way to Luzhou to meet up with us. If I'm not mistaken, they're staying somewhere in the city so we truly appreciated that they went totally out of their way to have dinner with us. By the way, my friend Floyd is an amazing vlogger so do check out his YouTube site and please subscribe and follow him too. He vlogs about his extensive rubber shoes collection, tech and their family trips too. Sadly, he wasn't vlogging yet when we had our Taipei meet up so no surprise appearance from the twins in his vlog yet. Floyd, this just means we have to meet up again soon!


Since we're not all sure where to eat in the area, we decided to just check out St Ignatius Plaza which is the name of the mall within the same building as our hotel. We found Mo-Mo Paradise and got so curious to try their Japanese Hotpot Buffet. The price was pretty reasonable regardless if you convert this to Peso (for us) or SGD (for them) haha! Also, we're all feeling hungry already so unlimited fill of soup, drinks and sides sounds really good.

There are two rates for their buffet : 1 kind of stock (NT$ 529) or 2 kinds of stock (NT$ 579). We all agreed to get two kinds of stock in order to have more variety and since our little toddlers will be eating too. We went for the famous Sukiyaki and the class Pork Stock soup broths.

Taiwan 7-11 Food Finds : Must-Buy and Must-Try

Yesterday, I shared about our hotel during our trip to Taiwan back in 2018. It was at Park City Hotel in the Luzhou district which was strategically located on top of the St. Ignatius MRT station and has a 7-11 shop right at the ground floor.

I have this habit of stocking up with snacks on the first day of my trip. It's this habit that I've had since I was a kid. You see, my parents would always make it a point to look for the nearest grocery to our hotel whenever we travel and they would buy bottles of mineral water, bread and banana. Aside from that, they will allow Pan and I to choose a bag of snack each. I would always go for the most unique looking bag that's only locally available that way I get to try something really new. Thus, Paul knows that I just have to make a trip to the grocery to at least to the convenience store to by my snacks.

Here's what I found on my first visit to the 7-11 store in Taiwan. I found bottles of these famous milk tea that my friends in Singapore just love to bring back. Apparently, they have close to a dozen of flavors! Earl Grey was the most popular but there's also Extra Ceylon, Rose Honey, Coffee Latte and more. I love seeing all these colorful bottles all lined up in the chiller.

Hotel Review : Park City Hotel, Luzhou Taipei 成旅晶贊飯店

Before anything else, I'd like to wish all of you HAPPY 2020!!!

My New Year's resolutions include -- BETTER HEALTH (losing the weight and keeping it off forever, good blood tests and avoiding the flu and other illnesses this year), GOING BACK TO MY PASSION (keeping this blog alive and kicking, writing more often), SPENDING MORE TIME WITH FAMILY (time is flying so fast that I don't want to miss out on any moment with my twins, Paul, my parents/his parents and our siblings). It's all about keeping things simple and going back to the basic. I got to admit that with everyday's busy schedule, we have the tendency to complicate things, to lose sight on the main reason why we're doing it in the first place. I want to pull myself a step back and to see the bigger picture, to take more deep breathes and to just take each day at a time. My kids are at this stage where they're becoming their own individual selves. They're funnier, more talkative, more playful and definitely more expressive. I want to be there for them as much as I can. How about you? What's in your New Year's wish list?

Anyway, here's a major throwback. Two years ago, we took the twins on their first-ever trip abroad. It was right after their 1st birthday party that the entire family flew to Taipei, Taiwan. Boy, was I so excited and at the same time so nervous as we all went without our dependable yayas. For the first time, I just let my sister took care of crafting our trip itinerary with the help of our friend Winner who's an expert tour guide in Taipei. My last Taiwan trip was in 2011 with Paul and my sister and seeing the Instagram photos and Facebook posts of our friends, it seems like a lot has changed since then. In any case, if you wanna see our trip itinerary during that 2011 trip, please click here.

The first step was to book a hotel. Thankfully, my brother-in-law E recommended Park City Hotel in Luzhou, Taipei. It's not located right at the central but given Taipei's very modern train system, you can get to the shopping and eating districts in record time. This was the first time for Paul and I to travel as parents and it really changes your perspective and priorities when making decisions like where to eat, where to stay and so on. We have our twins and my niece A with us so my BIL E made sure that the hotel was truly family-friendly. Indeed, the hotel did not disappoint and it has totally exceeded all our expectations.

Let me tell you why: