October 27, 2013

All-malt

San Miguel Premium All-malt Beer San Miguel Beer is probably the best known beer produced in the Philippines. It is also the most popular locally, cornering a whopping 95% share of the market. San Miguel comes in eight varieties. Cerveza Negra is still my favorite, but the Premium All-Malt is a close second.

Can anyone explain to me why so many beers are named after Saints?

October 26, 2013

Triple distilled

Tanduay Ice The label of Tanduay Ice simply describes it as an alcomix and a triple distilled spirit. It comes in five flavors (three of which do not give you any idea what flavors they are based on their names): Red Mirage, Blue Illusion, Yellow Paradise, Pink Pomelo and Citrus. It has the same alcohol content as beer but is infinitely sweeter.

October 25, 2013

Banig

banig A banig is a handwoven mat made of palm or grass leaves used for sitting and sleeping. The best ones are made of fine, narrow strips which are dyed and woven in intricate patterns—used in Manila mostly as area rugs or tapestries because of their scarcity and cost. Plain, simple ones like this are good for everyday use (or for trips to the beach). The ideal way to store them is to roll them up so you don't put undue stress on the fibers (but that's not quite practical for packing them in suitcases).

October 24, 2013

Mud-scraper

rubber mat made of flipflop scraps I've seen and used outdoor rubber mats like this one my whole life, yet it was only recently that I realized that they're made of the scraps left over from manufacturing rubber flip-flops.

October 22, 2013

Sold

framed photos for sale at Old Oven Art Cafe One wall of the Old Oven Art Cafe (see yesterday's post) displays framed photographs for sale.

October 21, 2013

The food's good, too

Old Oven Art Cafe The quirky Old Oven Art Cafe is filled with paintings, photographs, and unusual knick-knacks. Alone? Grab a magazine. With family and friends? Grab a board game. It's actually a pretty cool place to hang out—if only it were more convenient to me.

October 20, 2013

A special visitor from Portugal

International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima On 14 October 2013, the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima visited the St. Stanislaus Kostka Chapel of the Ateneo de Manila High School for half a day. Sculpted by José Thedim and blessed by the Bishop of Leiria-Fátima in 1947, the statue was sent out to bring the Message of Fatima to the world.

October 19, 2013

Adobe

wall made of volcanic rock What Filipinos call adobe is a naturally-occurring volcanic rock which shouldn't be confused with the Spanish/Mexican/American adobe of sun-dried earth.

October 16, 2013

Yellow santan

yellow santan When we were children, we would carefully pull out the fine filament in the middle of each floret to suck the santan's sweet nectar.

October 15, 2013

Weed

plant with bright pink flowers Yet another flower which I have no name for has just bloomed in our garden. This time, I'm quite sure that it's not from the seeds which I planted several years ago.

October 14, 2013

Heart

Colocasia leaf One of the common names of Colocasia plants is "elephant ears" because of the shape of their leaves. Some species look more like hearts to me.

October 10, 2013

Sammy

Pi restaurant's Eggs Sammy You met Benny in the previous post; now I'd like you to meet Sammy. Eggs Sammy, to be precise. Another of π restaurant's variant of the traditional Eggs Benedict, this one has salmon rather than bacon and is topped with a mustard sauce.

October 7, 2013

Benny

Pi restaurant's Eggs Benny Traditional Eggs Benedict consist of two halves of an English muffin topped with ham or bacon, poached eggs, and Hollandaise sauce. π restaurant's version, which they call Eggs Benny, is traditional only up to the bacon. Whole 3-minute eggs, asparagus, and alfalfa sprouts make up the rest of the toppings.

October 4, 2013

Industrial

wire cage lamps in Pi restaurant Yet another addition to my collection of lamp and chandelier photos: π restaurant's unique and creative chandelier using wire cage lamps.

October 1, 2013

Sparkling

lamp in Cafe Juanita CITY DAILY PHOTO THEME DAY: DETAILS One can spend an entire day at Cafe Juanita examining all the knickknacks which make it one of the most crazily decorated restaurants in Metro Manila. Whoever thought of draping a sequin shawl over a milk glass chandelier (and dumping some blue LED lights in the middle, too) is either a genius or a madman. Probably both.