about the talking fish

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Writer. Wheelman. Occasional DIY mechanic. Walking collection of hang-ups. Hopeless romantic. Old-school. Analog soul in a digital world. I am all of these things and more.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Face-off: Heaven & Eggs vs. Conti's

In the green and yellow corner, we have Conti's. This is the pastry shop and restaurant famous for its long lines and cakes. It almost needs no introduction.

In the yellow and blue corner, we have Heaven & Eggs. Relatively soft-spoken compared to Conti's, its only recent claim to fame is its Michael Jackson-themed menu offerings - apart from that, they offer a menu festooned with pancakes, omelettes and various other viands.

How do these two very different establishments fare as restaurants? Mav and I decided to find out.

First we went to Conti's in Serendra. I decided to order their Fish and Chips with Honey Mustard Sauce, while Mav went for Grilled Pork Chops.

Fish and Chips with Honey Mustard Sauce

Grilled Pork Chops

Surprisingly we were very disappointed with both. The honey mustard was the definition of the slang term "weak sauce" - French's makes more flavorful stuff - while the fish used wasn't really suited for such a dish. The only saving graces were the expertly done fries. Mav didn't find the pork chops all that special either. They certainly weren't the kind of viands you'd come specifically to a restaurant for.

Next we went to Heaven & Eggs in Eastwood City. I wanted to try something different, so I got Thai Chicken and Vegetable Omelette, while Mav tried the best-selling Manila Spareribs.

Thai Chicken and Vegetable Omelette
(served with potato saute and a side order of pancakes)


Manila Spareribs

The omelette was wonderful. It had a rich taste, but all the herbs and flavors worked well together as one dish and complemented each other. Mav and I loved the side-order pancakes - they were milky sweet and smooth, good to go even without maple syrup. The spareribs were just as great. Succulent and cooked to near-perfection, the only way H&E could top these was to make the meat so tender that it falls off the bone. We walked out of the restaurant pleasantly surprised at how satisfied we were with their food.

Heaven & eggs doesn't seem to be an oxymoron after all. We have no idea who Conti is, but perhaps he or she should stick to making pastries and cakes and give the restaurant bit a rest.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Before it's too late

Control is an illusion, you infantile egomaniac. Nobody knows what's gonna happen next: not on a freeway, not in an airplane, not inside our own bodies and certainly not on a racetrack with 40 other infantile egomaniacs.

- Dr. Claire Lewicki, "Days of Thunder" (1990)

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Where skewers and chopsticks meet

For this month Mav and I decided to try something different. I've always been curious about Nanbantei of Tokyo in Greenbelt 3. As might be obvious, this is a Japanese restaurant, but its fare isn't exactly your run-of-the-mill tempura and sushi fare. Instead, Nanbantei is a yakitori joint, the Japanese equivalent of the grillery.

Skewers of meat and vegetables are grilled by the cooks and served to you as they come, hot off the grill. We tried the "Bestsellers" variety platter and found the chicken negima especially appetizing. Most of them had asparagus skewered on them and that vegetable was a natural fit with yakitori. Everything was served with miso paste.

This is also where Mav and I finally tasted our very first yaki-onigiri, the grilled version of the famous Japanese rice ball wrapped in nori seaweed like a burger. It was as filling as it was delicious.

It was here that Mav also learned how to use chopsticks! She learned pretty quickly. All she needs is more practice handling the harder foods...such as rice.




All in all, a great date. Nanbantei's cuisine is a little salty but very delicious.

Six years later

I'm tired of:
- Bruised egos.
- Posers.
- People who can't follow rules.
- People who post nonsense.
- Bullies.
- People who have no taste whatsoever.
- Moneyed folk with more purchasing power than ability.
- Having to apologize for doing the right thing.

The long and short of it is this: I'm tired of car clubs.

I survived Ondoy and Pepeng

By now you've probably been inundated with the news of these two typhoons bringing a couple month's worth of rain in the span of six days. As a result so many places are flooded, in some cases without any hope of subsiding until Christmas at the earliest.

We were one of the lucky ones. Just down my block, people had their houses at least knee-deep in flood.

I won't add any more to this as most of its information is already available with a simple click of the mouse or a jab at the remote. If you got lucky, kindly help out in whichever way you can. There are lots of people that need it.
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