Highlands Corned Beef

Angus Beef in a can?! 

      For the past days, I've been puzzled by the commercial of five guys running on top of a mountain range.  Puzzled because the commercial looks like it was shot in a very cold and damp mountain range which you would normally find in Scotland (try to picture Mel Gibson in the movie "Braveheart" ^_^), I have always loved eating corned beef, especially for breakfast.  Having lots of garlic bits in it, onions, and also diced potatoes.

     I was given an invite to come to the Blue leaf at the McKinley Hill on August 25, to attend an event regarding that commercial I saw.  I was surprised to see that the commercial was all about a corned beef product.  Why 5 men running a top a mountain range though?  That was the thought that kept circling my mind that afternoon.  So as the event went on, we were told that Highlands was the first ever corned beef that would be launched using Angus beef.  I was skeptic at first to why they even had considered using Angus for a corned beef.  I really love eating meat, and Angus was like heaven to me in terms of the tenderness you would feel when you chew in to it.  Mesmerizing was the perfect description I have regarding such tender meat.  So I was really amazed to know that my favorite meat would be available easily thru corned beef!  They gave us a sampler, Angus corned beef rolled in pita bread with lettuce.  I quickly took a bite, and felt like I was in heaven.  It was so juicy but was so tender at the same time, each strand had the taste of having a bite of a portion of that Angus slab I always liked.

Jake Cuenca, James Younghusband, Paul Soriano, Luke Landrigan, and Angelo Cacciatore

     After giving us a short intro regarding the Highland corned beef, we were introduced to the 5 bachelors who were the new breed of men endorsing the said product.  They were there to represent why they were chosen as the new breed.  The following are the quotes I have read from the forms given to us:

"If you love steak like I do, you'll surely love Highlands Corned Beef." - James

"It's exciting to know that it's the first corned beef out there that's made with Angus beef, it really pays to be a breed apart." - Jake

"I like how Highlands Corned Beef has no artificial flavors, you can tell it's all natural Angus beef with the richness of the beef's taste." - Luke

"Good beef starts with the breed, and Highlands Corned Beef is definitely a premium breed." - Angelo

"Highlands Corned Beef is a breed apart from my old corned beef since it's made with the high-quality Angus beef." - Paul

     With these thoughts in mind, and the taste in my mouth, I already knew for a fact what I choose to buy for a corned beef during my grocery days.  Highlands Corned Beef, the one corned beef which gave me the satisfaction I had been longing for in a corned beef, truly an exceptional breed of corned beef.

Angel's new iPhone 4, she won from the Highlands raffle ^_^

The Red Whistle

Blow harder

     The Red Whistle is a campaign led by Niccolo Cosme to let Filipinos know better on what HIV is, how it is spreading fast nowadays, and also ways of preventing it from spreading further.  So last August 17, I went to a place in Makati named "Blackbird".  It's a small bar in San Antonio, Makati where you can enjoy listening to good music while also enjoying a delicious dishes that you would mistake them to be from a famous restaurant.  Nice, cozy, almost like a home away from home but having the extra comfort of their very courteous staff.  We were served with some of their famous pizza, spaghetti and chicken meals.

 

     After having our stomachs stuffed, we were given a brief discussion by Niccolo and his friends.  One of our speaker was a survivor of HIV for the past 7 years.  I was surprised because even though he had the virus for the past 7 years, he never gave up and even is a living example to all of us listening that night that it is a good thing to know about the HIV, but it is a lot better to spread the knowledge on how to stop it.  We were all given our red whistles which we could wear around our neck as a symbol of Niccolo's campaign to spread the news.  To "Spread the word, not the virus"; and as a person who's working in a call center world, it really helped a lot also in voicing out to my peers something about it.  I was even more shock when I found out that Philippines was actually one of the top 5 countries where HIV was spreading fast.  There are actually 6-7 persons recorded everyday in our country with HIV.  Can you believe how many persons that would be in a year?  About 2,190 to 2,555 persons!  So can you imagine the number of people we could actually save if we raised the awareness?  By making people aware that it is actually a good thing to practice safe sex and let people know that HIV is not something to joke about.

Angel and Niccolo

       As I went to work that night, I wore the red whistle around my neck to check how many people would actually ask me about it.  And to my surprise there were some who actually did, curious to why I had a whistle.  I gave told them about the what I learned from hearing Niccolo's teachings.  And I even gave them the pack that was provided to me which had 2 more whistles.  Hopefully they would also spread the word about HIV as I was able to do to them.  Spread the word not the virus!  Blow hard, blow harder!  ^_^

Thanks Sai for our makeup ^_^

Eats Asia 3

Let's Eat!!!

     Me and my dad love to watch the AFC channel, and most of the time always had a short discussion to why the Philippines only had one show in it.  Good thing we were able to attend Eats Asia 3: Thrice as delish, it was held at the Avenue Hall in Makati Avenue last August 13.  The event was partnered by no other than SKY cable.  I thought that was actually a very nice way of them helping out our country get more attention, not only in our many, many, many... delicious dishes, but also of our great country which had so much to offer in terms of vacation spots.

     The idea was really great, gather some of the renowned schools around the country and have them cook a special dish by the country they represent.  We all had a great time roaming around taking samples from each schools and sponsors as well.  My dad who's was a first timer in such event also enjoyed having his stub signed as he went from one booth to another to taste the great dishes prepared.  Some of the schools which participated were GCIC, CSB, MOST Institute, Enderun, and CCA.  The one I loved the most was the ones served by the Adobo republic.  Second one would be the Japanese meal, they had both presentation and great taste.

     So after having our stubs signed, we ended up in the VIP areas and ate once again from the free buffets behind us.  We enjoyed watching the presentations as well by the highly renowned Chefs demonstrating their skills in front the audiences who were just amazed with what they were doing, loving to cook.  Angel even had the opportunity to have a picture with Chef Jackie Laudico, she was simply amazed with what Chef Laudico specializes on... CHOCOLATE ^_^

    
     While Angel was busy taking pictures around the place, I was told that I would participate on a contest.  Unfortunately I didn't won the contest due to the fact that the meal we were eating was newly cooked, it really was hard to eat up while the rice and beef strips were so hot to gulp all at once.

     
     Anyway, it was surely a nice experience that we had.  We felt we were able to go around the world in just a few eating.  Hoping that we would have more programs in the future being shown on AFC ^_^

 

No goodbyes... Just see you soon...

Pamana

     One of my closest friends from my company suddenly resigned from our office and didn't want to tell us why until we were all together enjoying some good food and laughter.  So Angel and I scheduled a dinner at the famous resto of the Ongpauco's, the Pamana; or inheritance in english translation.  We met up last August 12, I picked up Aica and Eka from their homes and drove to MoA where we would pick up Angel and Fiona.  Unfortunately Pia won't be able to make it since she had to wake up early the next day and she was dead tired from finishing her Bar exam necessities.  Around past 7pm, we went along our way to Tagaytay via the new Cavitex (Highway extending from Coastal going to Kawit and Island Cove).

     It took us about 1 1/2 hr to get to the place where we met up with Rich (Eka's boyfriend).  Pamana is very close to the rotonda in Tagaytay and can't be missed since it's along Aguinaldo highway and is a real eyecatcher.  The place was actually the Ongpauco's ancestral home which they changed into a resto, hence the name Pamana.  Unfortunately, the list of menu was sooo appetizing that all of us had a hard time picking up which food to eat.  Good thing I had my trusty Angel to give us some pointers about the food choices there.

     These were the winning choices ^_^

The ever famous Bagnet!  Sooo delicious, but best to control your temptation if you don't want to be rushed to the hospital ^_^

Kangkong with crispy liempo - I love eating kangkong, and this is one of the best way of having it served.

Kare kare, some of my friends like the way it was cooked, really tasty and yummy.  You can even just have the soup of it on rice and you'll be stuffed in no time.

Sinigang na Salmon belly, really nice dish, had to admit this was my favorite among all the meals since I ate it until the bowl was dry :P

Shrimp!!!

Pinoy Fondue for dessert ^_^

A small chest containing our bill ^_^

 

 

 

     Stuffed!  The word best describing how we felt after the delicious meal we had.  Since we had a lot of time to kill, we just lazed around the area and had some photo ops.  The people there were very friendly,  friendly enough to even light up the dark places of the resto where we were having our pictures taken.  Afterwards, Rich had to say goodbye because he had to pick up his sister.  So we then went to Starbucks to have more laughter.  Unfortunately I was so dead tired from being awake for more than 24hrs that after having a few talks I slept for an hour.  Good thing I did so I wouldn't feel too stressed from driving home.

My Boracay Birthday getaway

          Last July 28, I celebrated my birthday at Boracay with Angel and her sis.  It was Angel's first time to be there so we were praying hard that hopefully the weather would be fine.  Our flight was scheduled for the Caticlan terminal so it was a good thing since we won't have too pay too much for transport fees unlike if we came from Kalibo.  But of course you have to have a strong heart since we would be riding a small plane.

     We arrived early and had so much time to kill, and since we got nothing to do but wait til her sister comes, we just lounged at the Grand Boracay Resort and surf the net.  I was smiling all morning since I was trying to reminisce all the memories I had with the people who greeted me on my Facebook wall.  After her sister arrived, we had our lunch at "D*Mall" and ate at Andok's.  Afterwards, we just strolled around the beach area since it was raining a bit.  Good thing I was able to borrow a waterproof camera from my officemate, it really came handy as we enjoyed the beach.  At night ate at Shakey's, didn't want to splurge too much on the buffets around the area since it was just our first day.

     The next day, we had our lunch at Astoria then headed off to the other side of Boracay because  we heard it wasn't wavy there.  We enjoyed strolling the beach and then rode the banana boat and paraw as well.  

      After wards went to station 1 and had merienda at Jonah's where we enjoyed ourselves to some pancit, onion rings, and their famous shakes.

     Then headed back to the beach while the sun is up to enjoy some swimming, we also visited the famous Willy's Rock.  We met up with Alex, Fara, and Ariel (Angel's friends) at Station 1 so we could plan our evening dinner later.  We strolled down from Station 2 to Station 3 looking for a good place to eat at.  After a long walk, we ended up eating at La Carmela de Boracay's buffet but unfortunately wasn't able to finish it because a strong rain came half way thru our meals.  So we had to go inside their place and stayed until the rain finally subsided.

     Last day, we spent it together with Alex and headed to the Puca beach.  We really enjoyed the soft sand and nice weather, the sun was up high during our last stay at Bora, wish it was that way since we first arived.  Angel really enjoyed our lazy time and helped me collected some seashells.  Afterwards, we just lazed a bit more as we enjoy taking photos while playing around the beach area.

For lunch, we headed back to D*Mall to meet up with Fara and Ariel.  There we ate at "I love BBQ".  Good thing we were already having lunch when the hard rain fell, and it actually stopped after we finished eating.  We then decided to stroll around and buy our pasalubongs.  After packing, me and Angel went home early so we wouldn't have a hard time riding the boat home to the airport.  At the airport we had a qiuck bite courtesy of Hen Lin.  We arrived 15mins earlier than our estimated time at Manila and was picked up by my dad.  Stayed a bit to rest at Sam's place then I dropped Angel and her sis at their home.

     I really enjoyed our stay at Boracay, it was that hectic since there wasn't too much people around plus the foods and places were cheap since it wasn't peak season.  Over all, if I'd go back to Boracay, I'd still go during off peak season.  More relaxing and you have no trouble strolling around ^_^

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 movie premiere

 

     I've always been a big fan of J.K. Rowling since she released the first book of the Harry Potter series.  And I was even more hyped up when I found out that they would be making a movie out of it.  I've read the books so many times already, and have never tired of reading them because of how easy it is to follow the stories in it, on how much I enjoy reading it.  And since I first saw the movie, I always had fun reading the books as I picture the characters doing the things that I was reading from the great books I have.

     As most movies from a book, not all always follows what's inside the book, because of length and in some cases because of audience appeal.  Not all Harry Potter movies was very great that I'd be going back to watch it the 2nd or 3rd time.  But in most of them, I did watched again and again in movie houses and in DVDs because I really enjoyed seeing the characters that I have read about.

     On July 12, 2011 at IMAX Mall of Asia, me and Angel had the opportunity to watch the premiere of Harry Potter.  I can't help but smile all day when I found out from Angel that we were invited to it.  I even had trouble sleeping the days that followed.  Good thing she told me about it a week prior the premiere so I didn't had too many sleepless nights.  The show starts at 8pm, but I was there as early as 5:30pm and found that the lobby of the theater had some costumes from the set.

Bella's and Harry's costumes

     There were cosplayers who came dressed to some of the characters in the movie, characters like Bella, Harry, Fleur, Umbridge and my favorite Dumbledore!

"I didn't stole your candies!"

      8pm came... All people were busy chatting until the lights went out and the film started rolling...  That's when I knew that I would enjoy the movie so much because I'm with a good crowd (people who would attentively watch the movie instead of showoff by being loud).  The beginning was really heavy laden... You can see right from the start that they intend to make every second of the movie count... And for sure you would because every scenes had so much emotion in it that you would be moved with what the characters are experiencing...

     Everything was perfect, the shots, lights, emotions, actions, I can only say so little about what I experienced because at this moment I am still reliving what I experienced earlier...  It was by far the best movie I have seen in the Harry Potter series and I am so glad they did it that way.  All the drama you would experience in reading the book would be nothing compared with what you would see and feel while watching the movie.  Doby's grave... Harry's return to Hogwarts...  And the final battle at Hogwarts...  

     Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 is the only movie that was shown in full 3d from the Harry Potter series.  They didn't wasted using the 2hrs of the movie to show you why it would be the movie of the year.  And as the curtain closes, as the Harry Potter series comes to an end, I'll leave you with a quote lose to what Neville's last words were (watch the movie if you want to find out). ^_^

"Harry Potter might have come to an end, 

but his stories would always live in our hearts..."

 

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

 "The Autobots learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft hidden on the Moon, and race against the Decepticons to reach it and to learn its secrets" - from IMDB

     Last Saturday (July 2, 2011) me and Angel watched Transformers: Dark of the Moon at the IMAX theater in MoA (Mall of Asia).  I was so much excited to see the movie since I was a big fan of Transformers since I was a kid.  Good thing we were able to reserve tickets online so we didn't need to cram up like the others who had to wait long hours in line just to get one.  We arrived about 2-3 minutes since the movie started.

     Angel was lucky to have watch the premiere, but then again she still wanted to see the movie since it would be in IMAX.  Everybody was awestruck with the visuals presented in the movie.  The conspiracy the government had with the knowledge regarding the Autobots and how they kept it a secret for a long time.  Sam had a new girl by the name of Carly.  A very sexy girl (her first appearance was mind blowing) whom he met after receiving a medal from the president.  A perfect girl who had everything while Sam was a bum who is struggling on finding a job while not minding the constant nagging of his parents and without the help of his trusty car, Bumblebee (he was driving a rusty Daihatsu which still had Bumblebee's colors).

     As the story goes, the Autobots found about the government's secret about knowing the whereabouts of a ship which escaped Cybertron and carried Optimus Prime's mentor, Sentinel Prime.  They were able to bring him back to earth and revive him not knowing that it was all part of the Decepticons plan to take over earth.  The next scenes were work of arts as per visuals are concerned.  I think it would be best that you watch it instead of reading the whole story from the web.  As a fan, I didn't mind the story, all I came for was to be entertained.  And I was entertained so much that I was close to tears for two parts in the film and had smiles reaching the tips of my ears as I watched the CGI scenes.

     Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a movie worth your money to watch in IMAX.  If not, try to watch in 3D.  You wouldn't mind the money you lost with the marvel you will get after watching the movie!

p.s. Angel kept on mentioning that Carly, for the entire length of the film, never had some dirt on her body.  I didn't noticed it since I was awestruck with the whole movie that I didn't pay any attention to those minor flaws :P