Life, Day by Day

photo taken from the Facebook page Celebrate the Chinese New Year at Vikings and enjoy their promo for those born in the Year of the Monkey. I am a Fire Monkey and this is my year!

A few months ago while waiting for my new tires to be mounted, I decided to bring my 81 year old mother to one of the newer restaurants in town, KUYA J, and surprise, surprise...she liked it!  This was great news because as she is getting on in years, my mom's taste buds have changed, and more often than not, eating has become like a chore for her. She was also very picky when it comes to eating out. And so it was a joy to see her enjoying the food and eating with gusto the dishes set before her.  I was so tempted to shout, Hurray for Kuya J !  This family oriented restaurant that serves authentic Filipino dishes, began in Cebu and is now one of the fastest growing chain of restaurants in the country.

In this day and age, malls are the to go to places of the young and old alike. I guess for many, one simple way of experiencing "the good life" is by going to the malls. While most people like the big malls, I on the other hand, love the ambiance and accessibility of small malls. In Metro Manila, my most liked places to go to are Greenbelt, Rockwell, Podium and Shangri-La Plaza.  I dislike big crowds and try to avoid it as much as I could, maybe because I got lost in it twice when I was a kid.

On my son's (aka Big Brother) 25th birthday... He ate like a Viking! A few days before that, I was lucky to be invited together with some blogger friends on the second opening day of Vikings SM City Bacolod and simply put...it did not disappoint. The buffet spread is a gastronomic delight, worth every penny and more!   I thought to myself, my son would love it here!  There was something for everybody, young and old and so, I immediately made reservations for our family to celebrate his 25th birthday here.

My relatives in Metro Manila are regulars and would rave about it, posting their enviable pictures on social media. And so, when we probinsyano s first saw this Vikings logo in SM City Bacolod, there was a lot of excitement and anticipation among us. It was something that everyone I knew was looking forward to and our conversations would often touch on the question of when it will open. Well, finally people of Bacolod and Negros, PREPARE TO FEAST! Our long wait is over. This October 2015, VIKINGS SM City Bacolod will officially open!

Finally after years of hoping and waiting, my favorite doughnut brand Krispy Kreme is coming to town just in time for Christmas!  Now I don't have to ask friends or family coming back to Bacolod from Manila to bring me my favorite glazed doughnut. The Bacolod shop will be their 60th store in the country and will open on December 6 at SM City Bacolod North Wing Expansion. The shop will be a hotlight store which means that once you see the hotlight sign come on, you’re sure that you will get that melt in your mouth doughnut freshness that Krispy Kreme is known for! 

Quan Delicacies has been my source of Ilonggo and other native Filipino food for the last twenty years or so. I can still remember the excitement I felt when they opened their first self-service restaurant besides the Bacolod Doctor's Hospital.  When I was taking my graduate studies in La Salle, I would take lunch there and later, they opened another restaurant in La Salle Avenue which was even more convenient because of the bigger parking space. And so when the Negrense Blogging Society, Inc was invited for food tasting of their newer products, I was happy to go.  

Finally, after months of waiting, the SM City Northwing expansion and SMX Convention Center are now open and with them, comes a new and improved SM Foodcourt .  As expected, the north wing expansion is huge, making the mall the biggest and largest of all SM Malls in the Visayas and Mindanao and the first SMX outside Metro Manila. Last Friday, October 17, just before Masskara weekend, members of the Negrense Blogging Society, Inc and Skyscraper City Bacolod were invited to view, taste and experience what the new foodcourt has to offer the people of Negros.

Last March 18, 2014, Victorias Food Corporation (VFC) went beyond ordinary, launching their signature recipes created by Bacolod Academy of Culinary Arts (BACA) chefs, led by Chef Guenther Sanin from Austria and Chef Marcel Haessner from Germany.  These are easy to make mouthwatering dishes that can be used not only for fine dining but for dinner tables at home as well.  

I am not a fan girl but when Greenwich invited the Negros Bloggers to a meet and greet with John Lloyd Cruz last October 18,  I decided to go.  The invitation was for 7 PM, but I was there early because I had everybody's VIP passes with me and so that we can get good seats, but to my chagrin the cordoned off fountain area was almost full.  It's a good thing that Ms. Charo, Marketing Head for Greenwich Vis-Min area was there and she brought me to our reserved seats.

If you are looking for a different kind of dining experience, then Blackbeard's Seafood Island is the place for you. The restaurant which recently opened at The District, Ayala North Point in Talisay City is known for it's "boodle style" of serving food.  For those unfamiliar with this style of eating, Boodle originated from the military (Boodle Fight) where "long tables are prepared and food are on top of the banana leaves. Viands and rice ready to eat using your bare hands, jugs of water are prepared on the side to wash hands before the “eating combat”. With the signal to start the boodle fight, everyone aims for his/her position".  Of course, at Blackbeard's Seafood Island, the boodle which was the brainchild of Chef Chang Magdaluyo , part-owner and resident chef is done with a lot more finesse and style.  Take a look at the different boodle feasts in their menu list:

I love Japanese food and so, I was looking forward with great anticipation to the grand opening of the first ever SumoSam restaurant in Negros Occidental.  This is their 28th store in the country and is located at the The District North Point in Talisay City.  "This is clearly another milestone for us", Marvin Agustin , actor turned entrepreneur and chef said, referring to the fast pace of the chain's growth in recent years.  SumoSam was started 8 years ago by Marvin together with two friends, Raymund Magdaluyo and Ricky Laudico.   According to him there is always something new in their menu every 6 months and that they have roving Chefs from their head office to ensure the consistency and quality of their food in all their stores. All their kitchen have stations manned by “specialists”, such as as the sushi, teppan and the ramen stations.  It was also mentioned that they would source locally whatever fresh produce they need, as long as it is available in the provin

Who likes Mexican food?  I do!  And so when the chance to check out Spice Kitchen, a restaurant in Bacolod specializing in Mediterranean/Mexican food, I immediately said yes.  I was familiar with the name since they have a food booth at the University of St. La Salle covered court and I have tried their rice meals there.  I would usually get their chorizo or sausage rice.  And so, it is good that they have decided to open a regular restaurant where people can sit, be comfortable and enjoy delicious food and great company.

I finally got to experience what many of my blogger friends are talking about...the good food of Saigon Cafe, albeit an abbreviated one.  Together with two co-workers, I decided to go for the Pho Bo Friday Special last April 26.   As I wrote in my previous post , the location of the place and the time were mainly the reasons why I did not go with my blogger friends when they checked out the place.  Surprisingly, although out of my usual way, the place was not hard to find.  From Pepsi, all I did was to go straight ahead, then turned left into the Marapara road (you can see the sign: Bacolod Golf and Country Club), then again going straight and turned left in the first corner I saw (thank you Glady of Experience Negros for pointing out that it was in the street right after Marapara Golf).  But it was in this narrow street that I got a little lost since I was looking for a big sign.  Asking around, I was pointed in the direction of a house with a bamboo fence.  As we approached the open

My cousin works in Saigon and Hanoi, and he has entertained us with stories about his great food experience there.  Well, I have always been curious about Vietnam and was very surprised to learn that there is a relatively new Vietnamese restaurant in town that my blogger and non-blogger friends are raving about.  Three weeks ago, I was invited to join some of them for food tasting in the Saigon Cafe-Garden Resto , unfortunately because of myriad reasons (foremost of which was the time and distance), I have been unable to go.  However, my blogger friends Rick Gotera of Adventures of Hijo A de Pongol  who made the first two invitations, Sigrid Lo of Mama Cooks  and Glady Reyes of Experience Negros  wrote great reviews of the place and they must have love it because in a span of two weeks, they all went back a few more times bringing with them their families.  I feel bad not coming along and so, to atone for this, I am posting some pictures taken from their facebook site, as well as that

Who would have thought that what began as an over-the-counter pizza store in Greenhills Commercial Center in 1971 would become this big?  As a student  at the University of Santo Tomas in the mid-70's,  I was very happy to see that there was a Greenwich branch in España right near the overpass!  If I remember correctly, it was  besides the St. Paul's Bookstore. I would go there at least once a week to give myself a pizza or taco treat (yes, they used to sell tacos).  This love affair ended in 1980 when I came home to the province and it was not till the '90's when they opened a small branch in Bacolod that I got to eat my favorite pizza regularly again.  As different malls started to sprout in the city, the store also established branches there.  In 1994, Greenwich was bought by Jollibee Food Corporation and from then on, it continued to grow bigger and better.  Aside from the varied pizza offerings, their menu began to include pasta, rice and chicken meals, among othe

When I was single, it was the struggle that I always dealt with – should I buy premade food at the grocery store, or should I buy the supplies and make it myself. Since I was young, was just eating for myself, I typically opted to buy the premade items (or just skip the grocery store in general and stay with fast food), but now I’ve changed some of my ways. Here are some thoughts on whether you should buy premade food or just make it yourself.  

Last July 27, Mark Magallanes of RepublicaNegrense came home to Bacolod for business and pleasure. On his itinerary was doing food reviews of famous and not-so famous food establishments in Bacolod and so, he invited some local bloggers to join him. I chose to go to Felicia's Cafe and Steak Room in 6th Street. Remember my post , about how happy I was to see that Felicia's opened a branch at Robinson's Central Citywalk and why I have never been to their main store yet? Well, now was my chance to go with a group and at the same time get to meet other bloggers.

The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Negros Occidental (HRANO) presents “SABOR BISAYA 2012 - A Culinary Competition and Food Expo” on July 27-28, 2012 at the Convention Hall of the Bacolod Pavilion Hotel. This annual event is dedicated to upgrade the level of standards of the Foodservice Industry Professionals and future practitioners in the Visayas Region. The following exciting and interesting activities are scheduled for the 2-day event:

Last Sunday my son was invited to a good friend's birthday party, but as he was to start his on-the-job training (OJT) the next day, he planned only to stay for a short while. So, I agreed to drive him after we heard mass and my brother and niece decided to tag along. When we got to Bacolod, it was raining so hard that we decided to just wait for him. We went to Robinson's Place for a quick pizza and pasta dinner at Greenwich but the service took longer than expected, so that we had to rush buying the things that my mom needed before the mall closed.