FOOD: New Year Weekend

So it's the first weekend of the year, and the family decided to go to the mall for a quick stroll. As usual, food trip's just around the corner! And therefore, please enjoy at least a quick sight of what we indulged ourselves into.

SATURDAY: Festival Mall, Alabang

Thai Beef Noodles

Creation of: (forgot the name of the resto)

See the Menu: located in Festival Mall, Alabang

Okay, I don't really know what made this particular

dish "Thai," as for me the beef tasted like the local beef noodles in the country. Maybe the noodles itself; it was white, probably made from rice or something. But it had a bit of a spicy taste to it, not to mention I added some chili powder to the soup. The meatball wasn't part of the meal actually. I just asked some from my girlfriend. Mouth watering.

Mini Donuts

Creation of: Lil' Orbits (PH)

See the Menu: Lil' Orbits Global

Other than enjoying the doughnuts from Dunkin' Donuts, Gonuts Donuts or Krispy Kreme, you might wanna try the Lil' Orbits mini donuts. It's cooked in a humble stall, and ready in a few minutes. It's fun just watching how the mini donuts swim in hot deep oil and tumble as they are scooped up to the tray. And that's not all. You even get to choose between a number of flavors - I always choose the cinnamon flavor, my personal favorite - and they add the sugary flavoring into the paperbag and mix it along with the mini donuts. You could even enjoy it with the instant 3-in-1 coffee.

Coke Zero vs. Regular Coke

Not much to say about this, really. Just wanted to try other things in photography. A mix of three depths. Yeah, include the bowl of noodles in the background.

SUNDAY: SM Sta. Rosa

Mini Pizza/ Pizza Bread

Creation of: Antz - The Bread Factory

See the Menu: Antz Bread Factory

It's a simple bread shop with a lot of surprises in its menu. This pizza bread, for instance, took me and my girlfriend's breath away. Some local pizza tastes ordinary, but this one's special. It's not toasted in any way. The bread's soft and spongy, and one thing I liked about this is that it has meaty chunks inside the bread, so with every bite of the cheezy goodness off the top section of the bread, you also get to experience the fun in chewing the meat. Talk about meaty pizzas.

Chocolate Cupcake

Creation of: Antz - The Bread Factory

See the Menu: Antz Bread Factory

Now there's something weird about this cupcake. True, it looks fantastic and chocolatey on the outside, but honestly I didn't like the bread. I expected a fudgy chocolate texture once I sunk my teeth in it, but the bread speaks otherwise, but then again the chocolate coating of the cupcake tastes alright. A little downside of The Bread factory, I guess.

Takoyaki

Creation of: Kuya Chito's Takuyaki

My girlfriend loves takoyaki so much! So I might as well take a picture of her cravings. As you can see, I insisted on using the word "takoyaki" instead of "takuyaki" because of the meaning of the word. In japan it is actually "takoyaki," with the importance of the word "tako" meaning "octopus." Hence, the takoyaki served should include octopus in it, or at least some processed seafood. I'm not really sure whether or not the now-famous Kuya Chito's Takuyaki contains any seafood at all, but it definitely contains about 80% vegetables. Well at least it's healthy. Another thing that adds to the flavor is the sauce - you can choose between sweet, spice, or a mixture of both, and usually choose between three flakes: chicken, beef, or fish. Not bad for a food stall.