Banapple, Katipunan

That's my MUSCULAR sister.

The folks over in the Ateneo have been going loco over Banapple the past few years, and I think the fad has faded a bit. Nevertheless, they still serve some darn decent grub. They've also branched out opening up various satellites over the Metro.*

Cool, sorta greeky tables.

Totally retro interiors with all the
figurines and hippie things gracing the shelves.

Cake selection for the day.

Breads, brownies, and cookies!

There's something about Banapple, maybe it's their charming homy retro interiors, or their over excessive use of smileys, or the perfectly mastered Banoffee pie. It's simple, down to the bare essentials, basic, good grandmomma-kinda home food. Yeah.

Tourne, Fort Strip

I always enjoy dining with my friends Cheska and Brian.* They're cheery pleasant people who are undeniably up for a new foodie experience. Want proof? Here we go, Mercato Centrale, Greenhills area,

Chinatown. So it was a definite must to have a meal with them since I'm in Manila.

I asked them to suggest a restaurant since they're such good food hunters. HAHA. They suggested a newly opened restaurant called Tourne, duh. I googled Tourne but there hardly was any info about the restaurant except the fact that it's owned by a chef that trained in the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu.**

We got there early.
So it was still pretty empty.

A quote by Alice Waters up on the wall.

The ambiance is elegant, all white, clean, and pristine. Despite that, it was cozy too. The staff look prim and proper. And the huge window allowed customers to peer into the kitchen to watch the chefs in action.

Easy Peasy Banana Bread.

Nanas are cool.

You know what ridiculous?

The price of bananas in Australia.

They run for $12/kg.

That's around P550 pesos for a kilo.

I like love bananas and I've been craving them crazy.

Now that I'm in Manila, I've been eating a lot of bananas, yes, like a monkey.

Tootsie's, Tagaytay

I touched down in Manila last last Thursday, really early in the morning. I got home to our lovely new house and spent my time in the shower. It felt like home. YAY! I asked my mum what she was up to for the day and she said she was heading to Tagaytay to do some furniture hunting.

It's no secret that Tagaytay is a common destination for folks in Manila especially during the weekend. But lately, the traffic has been increasingly intolerable, a supposedly 1 1/2 hour trip turns into a long ass journey. Once you get there, there's always the issue of where to eat. And these days, common restaurants in Manila have been setting up shop up there, people just usually pick whatever that seems convenient otherwise their usual or favorite.

It's because of those sorts of things that small restaurants like Tootisie's have a rather small opportunity to shine.* The place is very cozy, sort of a country home setting almost. It's fairly reminiscent of Mom & Tina's too. The items on the menu are obviously personal and dear to the owner. Some were even noted with the respective person that it was associated with.

The Good Stuff.

That's one weird looking gourd.

Do you like the good stuff? 

Cherry Tomatoes

By stuff I mean food, and by good, I mean organic. 

Romulo Cafe, Quezon City

The other night, my family and I were going out for the afternoon and for dinner as well. We've decided where we wanted to spend the afternoon but we had some issues when it came to deciding where to eat for dinner. I, for one, strangely felt like eating Filipino food.* My parents both suggested Cafe Romulo.** Even though I'm quite the foodie, I haven't heard of the place.***

Al fresco dining area!

From the outside, the place is breathtaking, this is considering it's a restaurant. From the looks of it, it was a house before and it's been renovated to accomodate the form and features of a restaurant. There's a spacious outdoor dining area and a couple of divided dining areas indoors.****

Sometimes, Party Like a 5 Year Old.

Sometimes, my friends and I party like rockstars 5 year olds. No, we didn't do extremely stupid stuff. We just celebrated my friend's 21st with 5 year old party food! No drinks drinks, it's pure 5 year old party junk! It was so nice loosening up, and it was sort of a sem-ender.

How could you live without strawberry clouds, 

gummy worms, and marshmallows? 

Oh wait, the more appropriate question is 

how could you live without 

wedges with sour cream and chili?*

What would a party be without fairy bread?

Four Ate Five, Surry Hills

I've had really time-pressed few days this week, plus, hardly any sleep last night. I'm not in the best mood, I was all panicky and all over the place this morning. I feel like all I want is my mother. I sound like a freaking 5 year old now. That is a tad pathetic. But anyway, let's skip to the point- Four Ate Five!

Four Ate Five has been crowned Sydney's Best Cafe by Timeout Magazine. It's a really simple, homy, feel good cafe, nothing showy or pretentious. It's the type of place where I could stay the whole afternoon reading a book, or writing a blog post. I went with my friends, and we just chilled. Which was just fantastic compared to the usual crazy chaotic fast pace that we are in.*

Steak & Sprouts

You see, I've got a couple of posts up my sleeve but like everything else on my plate these days, I'm at a loss for both actions and words.

  Have I not been eating enough brain food? Beats me. 

So I'm trying to compensate by posting these gorgeous step-by-step polaroid pictures. 

Recipe for the Brussels Sprouts is based on Momofuku.

Gotta love Momofuku.

For the Brussels Sprouts

Baby, baby, baby oh, BABY BRUSSELS SPROUTS.

Step 1: Rinse your sprouts.

Step 2: Chop the stem off and halve the sprouts.

Charlie & Co. Burgers, Westfield Sydney

Is change good? I reckon it is. Without change, there wouldn't be any spice in life. Yes, I agree that it's nice to have something stable, but how does life move forward if we just stick to one thing? Change is the only constant.

There's been a change of pace in my life recently. Cause now it's "study period", and I suddenly find myself having time on my hands to do things that I actually like/love. I get to go out and hang with friends, chow down a meal or two, or just have a nice cuppa coffee. I've been getting the ultimate busting gym sessions. Also, the appropriate amount of sleep. It's terrific- relaxing and heck of a good time altogether. But of course, that burden of studying still remains. 6 more days until my official freedom, and 8 until my vacation.

Charlie & Co. in Westfield

On the coldest day that Sydney has experienced so far during this year, my friends and I decided to go out. We didn't have any plans in particular, we just wanted a nice fun maybe lazy afternoon.After meeting at the Apple store and marvelling at the new iPad 2*, we decided to grab lunch at Charlie & Co. I was expecting grand things since the place is owned by Justin North. Justin North is the brilliant mind behind Plan B and their cheapo $10 Wagyu Beef Burger. Love it.

Fairy Bread

Yes, that is actually me at a lovely picnic years ago!

When I was young, and I went to some fantastic preschool, we'd have picnics with vegemite sandwiches, sausage rolls, mini pizzas, jello, marshmallows, and fairy bread.

FAIRY BREAD!

Some people call in freckle bread, but freckle bread? Really? That just doesn't sound sooo nice, agree? Fairy bread sounds a gagillion times better. And it's a name that's obviously suiting for kids. But don't be fooled, fairy bread is not just for kids. It's for everybody. You'd be amazed how much my friends loved it. It wasn't the way it tasted, or the colorful sprinkles, it was more of the memories that came flashing back once I took a bite. I sound a bit dramatic now. Okay.

Chat Thai, Haymarket

Chat Thai on Campbell Street

View from the second floor.
Got to love high ceilings!

Well, if you've read the about Thai Dara, you'd know that I'm really starting to like Thai food. They've got fresh salads mostly hit by sour notes in the form of green mangoes, and on the other hand,  they've also got savoury rich thick curries which I'd love to have on a cold winter day.* There's such a great range of food, and I'm sure you're bound to like something even if it's just dessert. Chat Thai makes awesome ones!

Fresh Spring Rolls $10
Filled with smoked fish sausage, shredded poached chicken,
cucumbers and shallots wrapped in rice paper.
Dressed with a sweet tamarind sauce.

Fresh spring rolls are one of my favorite things. I never skip them whenever I'm in a Vietnamese restaurant. And they had it on the menu, I decided that it was only fitting to give it a try. The Thai version had a flavorful cured fish that imparted great smokiness, there was tofu**, and your usual vermicelli. The rice wrapper had a bite to it! Thank God it wasn't one of those flimsy ones- those are just annoying cause everything just starts popping out after your first bite.

Thai Dara: Bangkok Street Food, Gilmore

That night, there was a lot of fuss that night about where we were eating, I felt like a hearty steak while my sisters argued that they wanted Japanese food, Omakase specifically. We couldn't, in any way, reach a decision, so I told my mum that it's best if she's the one who made the choice. She said she's heard of a small Thai restaurant in Gilmore which is rather pleasant and authentic. I, for one, was never a big fan of Thai food, but since I can't think of any place in particular where I would want to dine, I agreed.*

Dad with the lemongrass iced tea.
HAHA

We all started off with some Lemongrass Iced Tea. It was pleasantly and thoroughly infused with lemongrass leaving just the slightest hum of tea. It was a bit sweet for my taste though.

Pad Thai, Pad Thai, Pad Thai!
Chloe loves Pad Thai.

The Pad Thai had perfectly cooked noodles. It was really nutty and you could obviously taste the hints of tamarind that ultimately gives the dish that depth of flavor.