The Catch-Up Storybook: November Food

It's been two weeks since my last post, and I've been at a loss for words over the amount of life I've been living. This month, I visited an art fair, celebrated Sandwich Day, attended a brunch party, tried new dishes and/or restaurants, styled another product shoot for the holidays, became a godmother for the fifth time, took a tap dance refresher and learned a new routine, hoarded Mario Kart toys, memorised lines for a corporate musical, and spent time at my best friend's going-away garage sale.

In my previous blog, I used post "storybooks," especially when photos could tell the stories   better than words in a short amount of time. Mostly, I made them to recap a trip, to show photos of food, scenery, people, years before the age of Facebook and Instagram. Now, I'll start a storybook series: pic-heavy and as word-sparse as I can manage. Catch up with me :)


November 3 - Sandwich Day at Mr. Graham's Sandwich Shop
#SandwichDay #MrGrahamsSandwichDay

On top of offering some of their sandwiches at Buy 1, Take 1, they had live performances by local singer-songwriters, and a sandwich eating contest. That last one must've been the highlight for me; we were all blown away when a professional competitive eater inhaled the 14" Cebuano (Lechon) Manwich in 1 minute and 13 seconds! 0_0 (Click the link to see his Facebook fan page, but I'm warning you, they videos are not for the queasy!)

It's International #Sandwich Day, and it's Buy 1 Take 1 on the Cebuano (lechon sandwich with pickled mangoes,) Submariner (fish on baguette,) and Sloppy G (beef patty with white sauce!) Free beer from 5:00 pm until supplies last, performances at 4:00 pm (Bullet Dumas 😍 Hello.) #MrGrahamsSandwichDay

A photo posted by Katherine (@kaichypoo) on Nov 2, 2015 at 9:53pm PST

November 4 - A Birthday Brunch

We surprised our Coffee Crew buddy on his 25th birthday, with a beautiful brunch spread by his wife: bagels, bacon, bananas, butter!

Breakfast is served 🍳🍞🍇🍓🍌🍼

A photo posted by Katherine (@kaichypoo) on Nov 3, 2015 at 5:14pm PST

November 5 - Long Overdue Date with my Barkada at Chelsea Kitchen, Eastwood
#LoveChelseaKitchen #RaintreeRestaurants

Chelsea Kitchen marquee

This raspberry-rosemary iced tea was a balm on that hot day

Crispy, light, perfectly seasoned Shiitake make these the healthiest chicharon you'll ever have

I couldn't decide if I liked the Peanut-Plum or the Basil, Cilantro, and Mint dressing more -- so I just enjoyed both with this CK Chicken Salad

My favorite dish from lunch was this Spicy Arrabbiata & Ricotta Cottage Cream Rigatoni. The tomato sauce was velvety smooth, the basil gave a fresh bite, and the ricotta balanced the heat

This hot tapa sandwich came with an Au Jus and Dijonaise, and the most flavourful caramelised onion "French Dip"

Something moist and salty sweet for dessert? Try the artisanal salted caramel cake

Chewy and filled with dulce de leche, these Donut Holes with a warm chocolate dip was perfect with my afternoon coffee

They offer Illy and Yardstick coffee, but I opted for the stronger Americano

November 9 - Artists' Buffet Spread at M Cafe
#LoveMCafe #RaintreeRestaurants

We had a gig for the company that I used to work for, and our holding area was at the Museum Cafe across from the venue. We love gigs that feed well!

Not sure if this semi-naked vegetable lumpia was from the M Cafe menu or Kabila's, but I loved its flavour and ingenuity

Not bacon bits, but bacon slabs on this creamy carbonara!

Steamed juicy Hainanese chicken...

... best paired with this fragrant Hainanese rice, and mixed in with ginger and chili condiments

With the iconic M of M Cafe

Post-show night cap with my favourite M Cafe cocktail, the Sunset Session: berries, lemongrass sake, chambord, dalandan

November 10 - Hors d'oeuvres after our show in Solaire
#Solaire #MomentsAtSolaire

I loved the selection they had from the smoked salmon bites, mini paté bruschetta, to the surf and turf skewers, and super cheesy spinach lasagna.

Grissini wrapped in parma ham, with grana shavings

They didn't scrimp on the imported scallops!

November 11 - Ooma Japanese Rice Bar at the Fashion Hall, Megamall 
#OomaJapaneseRiceBar #Ooma

I was shopping for a shoot, which brought me to Megamall after scouring two other places. Decided it was time to try this out, since we loved Sensei in the South so much. Sadly, the Gyudon and Ebi Tempura Maki were underwhelming; the former was served room temperature instead of warm (which I expected from a freshly steamed rice dish) and the latter didn't have much flavour. While we did like the Corn and Oyster Kakiage and its dipping sauce, it was not photogenic. 

Torched Scallop and Tuna Aburi Maki was the only thing we really liked

November 14 - Trying the New Caffè Pascucci, Robinson's Galleria
#Coffee #Caffe #Pascucci

Good coffee at Pascucci, Robinson's Galleria before a gig

Fil-Mex at Taco Vengo, Kapitolyo

#TacoVengo

Macho Nachos (?) with sous vide egg from Taco Vengo was just alright. Anna has been raving about their fish taco, but it was unavailable that night. Ended up getting the shrimp which was also just alright. Now I'm really curious about that fish taco, so it warrants a revisit.

November 18 - Breakfast Before Rehearsals at Ally's All-Day Breakfast

#Allys #AllDayBreakfast

Milky Strawberry 3-layer pancake stack from Ally's All Day Breakfast on Malingap St. reminded me that they have the best pancakes in the country: fluffy, soft, and melts in your mouth, absorbing everything you put on it. I still prefer their Tiramisu and Chocolate, though. We also tried the 3-cheese waffle, but it had nothing on Pancake House's.

November 19 - Podium Grub

Chicken and Pumpkin Waffle from Borough
#BoroughPodium

It doesn't look great, but this sweet tea infused fried chicken from Borough just made it to my top 5 fried chickens in Manila. The pumpkin waffle was a little bland, but was a good complement to the chicken; it would've been nice if the butter were more flavourful.

Green Mango Sorbet with Nam Prik (Thai Chili Sugar) by Sebastian's Ice Cream

#SebastiansIceCream #Artisanal #IceCream

Deliciously different: Green Mango Sorbet with Nam Prik (Thai Chili sugar.) I prefer this over the bagoong  variant from the ever inventive Sebastian's Ice Cream

What have you been eating lately? Leave me a comment or Tweet me on the sidebar and show me pictures!

Accepting the "Athlete"

When I think of the word "athlete," images of Olympic contenders would come to mind: lean, muscular, strong, and determined. I used to love watching all kinds of sports on TV, especially gymnastics, ice skating, tennis, and the NBA. My parents never pushed us girls toward sports, which had always been odd to me, considering how many basketball and tennis trophies my dad brought home and added to his collections stored in cabinets and displayed on our piano. It's a shame, because I was always full of energy, enjoying physical activities that not many girls in my school could relate to. 

I was the typical 90s kid who biked and rollerbladed around the village with my neighbourhood friends. I even had a street hockey phase, after The Mighty Ducks was released. I loved arm wrestling, and became embarrassingly infamous for the game called, "Mercy!" In grade school, my classmates would set up challenges for me, like pushing rows of lockers across the hall. While many dreaded PE class, I looked forward to playing Filipino games like patintero, and later on basketball, softball, and table tennis. Despite all that, I was a fat kid; and I don't mean chubby, I was obese. 

That was me at 136 lbs, and with a rat?! on my lapel

On my freshman year of high school, I was 5 feet tall and weighed 136 pounds. I used to eat plates full of rice at every meal, and snarled when told to eat less. How I eventually lost all the weight is a different story for another time, but I wanted to give a short background on why I'm so incredulous to be the "Featured Athlete" on my CrossFit gym's website this month. I never thought I'd ever be considered an athlete in this lifetime; but by definition, I guess I could credit myself with this title by the way I've been living the past year. I've been working out by lifting and doing some gymnastics at least 3 times a week, and I have a more conscious effort to eat better every day (but I have to admit, this continues to be the struggle!) I even joined a competition to experience CrossFit as a sport, which I mentioned briefly here. So while it may seem shallow to some, I'm more than tickled by this recognition. I'm proud of how actively I've reversed my health and fitness by the choices I've been making, and plan on continuing to make the right choices as I get older.

Definition from Google: proficient in (...) physical exercise

"Kaye, our morning crew resident, CrossFit choreo pioneer, and a CFGH athlete in the recent Manila Throwdown Team Qualifier scaled edition has come a long way here at CrossFit Greenhills. She’s a Speech-Language Pathologist, a performer with the Ryan Cayabyab Singers, a freelance writer, and an event host by profession. Talking about #NoExcuses with her hectic career and busy life, she’s managed to put in consistent work here at the box for over a year now! She’s definitely much stronger and fitter now than the day she first started."

Read more of my feature here.  

To anyone who is still fighting fat, I encourage you to keep on going. Start with small changes, like eating less carbs and brisk walking for 30 minutes, and you will feel the benefits of a healthier body. I'm positive you will surprise yourself, just as my own capabilities continue to surprise me!


CrossFit Greenhills 

Address: 4th Floor Intrawest Centre,
33 Annapolis, San Juan, 1504,
Metro Manila, Philippines

Landline: (02) 7289730

Mobile: (+63) 9178218848