Ang Chicken ni Manang ay Hindi Check

So today I decided to check out what the fuzz is about Manang's Chicken. Somebody told me that it's the closest thing to Bon Chon Chicken so I gave it a try at their Glorietta Food Choices kiosk.

My verdict, well I'm not exactly solved about it.  The soy garlic sauce coating the fried chicken tastes like teriyaki sauce to me.  Plus the portion of the chicken is too lean that I hardly got any meat out of it.  The touted crispiness that made this chicken a hit on midnight markets was not there.  There is an option to replace the rice with a side dish which is good for those who like me are on a (ehem) diet.  I replaced my rice with macaroni salad and was a bit disappointed with the quality of the salad as well.  It's too sweet with a taste of pineapple which I don't see.  I am not sure if it was intended to be a chicken macaroni salad but I didn't even catch a glimpse of chicken in it.

I should probably try another branch to compare but for me this meal is 2 out 5.  Kudos for price and for having the option to replace rice but for food quality, taste and over all satisfaction it fell short of expectations.

We didn't start the Fire... Amazon did.

So the battle has now shifted to the tablets. A couple of tablets already came out running on their respective operating systems since Apple came up with the Ipad in 2010.  But the latest one which is met with much anticipation is the Kindle Fire which would be available by November 15th.

The Kindle Fire runs on a forked (customized) android OS running on a 1 GHz OMAP 4 dual core processor by Texas instrument.  It has 8GB of internal storage good enough to store 6,000 books.  It has Wi-Fi and micro USB 2 connectivity.  While it is still primarily an e-book reader it can play movies, TV shows, songs and of course games like the very popular and addicting Angry Birds!  The price point comes at a low $199 which makes it one of the most affordable tablet around. Wow, imagine checking out an online cookbook or watching cooking videos right at your kitchen.

And since Executive Lunch is now an Amazon Associate you can pre-order the Kindle Fire or the new Amazon Kindle (at $79 dollars! That is a great deal!) just by clicking the banner at the top of this page.

Ciao! 

The Champ is Here!

One of the most scrumptious of Pinoy comfort food is the Champorado.  It is glutinous rice cooked in cocoa.  It is sweet and served with a swirl of evaporated milk.  It goes well with tuyo, dilis or even salted egg (itlog na maalat.)  For some reason this food reminds me of rainy days as champorado never fails to keep my tummy warm when I was a kid on cold rainy days.

I usually get my champorado fix from Tapa King and Max's restaurant where they serve this as part of their All day breakfast line up. You got to try the Max's variety as it is called the Triple Chocolate Champorado and boy does it live up to its name!  It tastes like a bar of milk chocolate was melted into each bowl :)

For my mom's recipe here is how we make this in the good old days.

You need:

8 Tablespoons of Ricoa Breakfast Cocoa

1 cup of glutinous rice or malagkit

4 Tablespoons of white sugar

3 cups of water for cooking the rice

1 cup of hot water for the cocoa

evaporated milk

To cook:

Bring the 3 cups of water to a boil and add the glutinous rice  Cook until the water boils again.  While waiting for this, mix the cocoa with one cup hot water and let the powder to be completely dissolved.  Add this mixture to the boiling rice and stir constantly for another 15 minutes.  Add the sugar and cook for another five minutes but t don't let the water dry up.  Serve with a swirl of evaporated milk and enjoy!

For the Love of Cheesecake 2: House of Silvanas Takes the (mini) Cake

September has come and gone (here in the Philippines at least but it is still September in the US as of this posting.)  First of all, there are a few things to be thankful for the month of September.  As I have mentioned a couple of days ago I just reached the big 4.0 and September also marks the first year of my blog.  Time does fly so fast.

Some of my favorite posts where my take on the best blueberry cheesecake I have ever tasted.  (See For the Love of....Cheesecake!  and "Unboxing" a Becky's Kitchen Blueberry Cheesecake.)  Since then I have been on a look out for places that offered blueberry cheesecake as well as revisited some old favorites.

This one is from Yakimix.  Like every buffet the serving of the cakes are bite sized so this one is just a teaser. The cheesecake is more on the sweet side and the graham crust is too thin.

This came from my favorite Italian restaurant Italianni's.  As you can see I tasted it first before I can even take a picture :)  Well even though this is one my favorite places the cheesecake was a little bit of a let down.  This is the same cheesecake base as their sister resto FlapJacks but as you can see there is no real blueberries in it but just syrup.  The serving size is a bit big and it would take two to three persons to finish it.

This hefty piece is from Bob's a famous cafe in Bacolod.   This cheesecake is screaming CHEEEEESE!  And is a bit on the salty side. Also the crust is not made of graham crackers and a bit nutty . Bob's now has a branch in Makati along Dela Rosa St.

This one is from Market on the 5th at St Luke's Medical Center.  It is on the sweet side but it was quite OK. A bit expensive though for the serving size.  I think I was paying part of the hospital with it :) And I didn't come there for a check up either.

But if you are looking for value for money as well as being yummy then try out these mini blueberry cheesecakes from House of Silvanas

I was very careful with it because I thought that the cheesecake base might be too soft but lo and behold the base is more cake than mouse.

There is even an ample graham crust.  But the only one let down on this version is that there are no whole blueberries on the topping.

And since it is my birthday month what would be more fitting than to have one whole box of Becky's Kitchen Blueberry Cheesecake for my birthday.

This is truly a little piece of heaven here on earth :-D

Happy Birthday Executive Lunch!

Jollibee acquires major stake in Burger King

Jollibee acquires major stake in Burger King | ABS-CBN News



Wow! This bit of news is amazing but a little bit misleading.  It should be noted that they only bought 54% of the stake of the Burger King local franchisee not BK US.  Do we expect The Champ to be exported to Burger King then?  Let us wait and see.

Life is Like an Elevator

Life is like an elevator, it has its ups and downs.

It's been 40 years to this day that I have existed in this world.  And if someone would ask me what I have done all my life then I would say "I have loved."

You see, it was my love for my parents that I have allowed them to track the course of where my life would lead me and influence one of the most crucial decisions I have ever made in my life, which is a choice to take up Accountancy.  The year was 1987, I have already passed the UP entrance exam and I would have had the opportunity to take Organizational Communication, which was the non-quota course that I have ticked in the application form.  Honestly, I really had no idea what that course was.  And a funny twist of fate as it would seem that later on I would marry somebody who graduated with that course.

I was already losing options at that point but my friends from Manila Science High School told me that they are enrolling at Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, so I gave it a try.  It was the last exam which was held in the month of April.  From what I have learned there was a low passing rate from the previous batches that is why the university opted to hold a special batch to accommodate late enrollees.  I consider myself lucky to have passed that exam.  Not only was I able to enroll in Business Administration as what my parents wanted me to take but on top of that I have also had the chance to meet the people who are now my closest friends and still get to see some of my old friends from Masci.  After 4 years of hard work, pains and often times fun and laughter I was able to graduate from PLM but not "With Honors" as I have wanted it to be with just a few points away from the 1.75 mark.  (The reason for that is a different story all together but I would rather not delve into it much deeper.)  But that incident made me work so much harder during the review and when I took up the CPA Board on October 1991, I passed - not bad for a reluctant accountant.

I have never really dreamed of being an Accountant.  I would have wanted to be a Systems Analyst, a Chef or even a Singer/Songwriter.  But since my mother have always wanted at least one of her offspring to become a CPA (since most of my cousins are CPAs), I gladly obliged.  That is why up to this day of all the hundreds and so staff that I have interviewed I always ask the same question "Was Accounting (or whatever course they graduated from) your first choice for a course?" And it makes me smile inside to know that somehow I am not alone.

But I believe that all of these things are interconnected like a web or neurons in the nervous system.  If I didn't take up Accounting I wouldn't have met all the wonderful people from PLM and all the nine (yes, nine!) companies that I have worked for in the past 19 (almost 20) years of my career.  But most importantly, I wouldn't have met that young lady working in the Advertising and Sales Promotion Department of Ayala Plans Inc.  She would later turn out to be the missing part of my heart.

Our love story is not without the tele-novela twists too.  A year after we became a couple I have decided to propose to her on her 26th birthday.  I have made a webpage that I showed to her after dinner and of all places the marriage proposal came in an internet cafe :)  With me explaining how I made the page as I pull out the ring and proposed.  It was one of the happiest moment of my life.  But things turned out not quite as planned a few weeks after.  We have not told her parents yet that we are getting married but decided to tell it first to a group of our closest friends.  It was announced to our friends on that fateful Fathers Day of 2001.  Fateful because on our way to a restaurant near the bay area we received a call from her house.  My mother in law met a traffic accident a few  meters from where we are going.  When we reached the hospital, she already passed away.  After a few months, we did tell her father about our plan to get married but it would be after the first death anniversary of my mother in law.

That union brought about the third reason my life has been guided by love and that is in the form of my daughter, the bringer of joy.  She is the reason why I persevere to work hard every day. To give her our wholehearted love and undivided attention.  Yes, I am on the other side of the track now and I understand why my parents have always wanted me to follow what they believe is good for me.  But I have also learned through that experience that I shouldn't control my child's destiny.  She has the capability to shape it on her own.  And while we always keep her under the mantle of our protective love I know that someday she would grow her wings.  And I wanted her to experience a life without resentment.

So in my 40 years there are still a lot of questions in my mind if I decided to get off a different floor in this elevator ride.  But as I try to look back those were really the reason why I am what I am right now.  Everything happens for a reason, and no matter how I try to think how my life would have been different if I decided to take a different direction, it wouldn't matter anymore because those things already happened and is now part of the past. And much like we wake up every day, it also gives us a new day to shape our destiny.

So on this day, after forty years of my existence, like any other day, MY LIFE BEGINS, TO BE ABLE TO LOVE AGAIN AND AGAIN.

Here's to the next forty years and beyond...

Pancake House buys Yellow Cab pizza chain | ABS-CBN News | Latest Philippine Headlines, Breaking News, Video, Analysis, Features

Pancake House buys Yellow Cab pizza chain

It is with great pleasure receiving the announcement of the union between Pancake House and Yellow Cab. Pancake House which sells uhhh...pancakes buys Yellow Cab Pizza for P800 million pesos. That places Yellow Cab on better footing to compete toe to toe with Pizza Hut of the Araneta's (owners of the Dairy Queen and Taco Bell franchise in the Philippines) and Greenwich of the Jollibee group. Wait is Shakey's part of any group? Cowboy Grill? OK, forget that.

What I mean here is that you should have a big brother to back you up financially especially during these times of economic uncertainty.  Take the case of Domino's Pizza, they are a global brand but this was not used to their advantage.  Domino's is still stuck with limited branches and a minimal fan base.  Although in terms of flavor and price, Domino's can still compete and grab a share of this Pizza (Picha-pie according to some old folks) loving nation.

Yellow Cab is one of my favorite pizzas, with the Four Seasons flavor on top of the list.  It's generous amount of garlic and the use of dried chili as condiments is such a hit that I would prefer it over Pizza Hut, Shakey's or  Greenwich anytime.

One thing that I am also looking forward to is the inclusion of Yellow Cab to the Orange Card (which I really hope the Lorenzo Group does.)  That is one good reason to get an Orange Card now.