Sa Maisen

Hindi ako super fan ng Japanese food.... pero alam ko masaraaaaap siya at kakaiba. Kaya if may magyayaya na kumain, go lang! Kahit di naman talaga ako familiar sa food.

It so happen it was my teammate's birthday and we decided to eat at Maisen at Shangri La the Fort.

Food price ranges from 300 to 700 with unli: rice, cabbage, small slices of fruit, miso soup. Choosy ka pa ba?

I ordered Tenderloin Katsudon.  Tenderloin. Japanese rice, egg and ewan ko me cheese ba yun. Sabi ko naman di ako familiar eh. 

Pag sinabing Japanese rice, mabigat sa tiyan. So, from walang kain mula bfast, lunch - busog ako sa isang serving. Sulit.  Mga kasama ko naman umorder ng Mixed Seafood Katsu set. Iba ibang seafood - fishes - cream dory and salmon at tempura, Japanese Rice, cabbage, miso soup, fruit. Busog lusog din sila.  To think di naman kami balingkinitan, lahat kami may katabaan at mahilig lumamon.

In any case, akala ng iba dahil nasa Shangri La, mahal ang pagkain. Di naman pala. Sa halagang 400, sulit na ang food mo.  Baka di mo pa maubos.  Wag ka nga lang mag order ng beverage. Tubig tubig ka lang ok na.  Better yet magbaon ka ng mineral water.  Sobrang nakakatuwa ang food, price - isama na rin natin ang overall vibe ng lugar. Looks and feels sosyal.

Maybe this is a good splurge for the ordinary citizen like me.  Hindi naman masama ang i-reward ang sarili ng masarap na pagkain sa lugar na hindi mo naman madalas kainan.
This is not the 1st time naman na kumain dito - 3rd time siguro, and I will keep on returning when I feel like eating Japanese food - and if may konting extra budget.

Taste Bid Tickler: Sinigang - Watermelon?!

I was shookt (hahaha) when I went to the grocery this afternoon.  Nagbabalak kasi ako magsinigang bukas, pero nagulat ako nung nasa estante na ako ng mga sinigang mix, may kakaibang flavor na bago sa panlasa ko ang naka grab ng aking attention.

I have tried the Mango and Pineapple sinigang mix. I liked the former, but I never thought of Watermelon to become commercially available as a sinigang mix.  Salute to Maggie for making ways to tikle our taste buds. Here's how it looks.

Pagdating sa bahay, nagpalambot agad ako ng pork, then nag slice ng radish, prep ng kang kong and sitaw, siling mahaba na bigay ng friend ko from Pampanga (thank you Joms). Dko na nilagyan ng okra. Ayoko ng madulas.

My sinigang recipe is just simple.  After lumambot ang pork, binuhos ko na ang 2 packs ng Maggie Watermelon Sinigang Mix.  Sa unang buhos pa lang...mmmmm.. smells like watermelon!  I poured the 2nd pack and mas watermelon pa more!  I was thinking if ano ang lasa...

Sinigang?

Matamis ang watermelon, di ba?

After ihalo ang mga gulay, time na husgahan ang sinigang sa watermelon.

Maasim.  Yeah. Maasim.  I wondered san galing ang asim kasi ang alam ko matamis ang watermelon eh.  Pero ang aroma ay aroma ng watermelon talaga.

It was a bit salty for me, maybe kasi dko nilagyan ng madami tubig pang sabaw. It tasted good though.  Weird lang talaga ang amoy kasi amoy watermelon nga - but still, successful naman  siya na sinigang.  Hindi naman siya mapagkunyaring sinigang.  Distinctly watermelon naman siya na taste, hindi mo mapagkakamalan na tamarind.  A very good alternative to perhaps the usual boring taste of the usual tamarind sinigang.

It was a risk pero ok naman pala.  It turned out good.  I still prefer the mango variant though.

UPDATE:
2 of my friends made a comment sa FB ko... na they tried thr watermelon sinigang sa mga sikat na mamahaling resto.  This is even good news. Dahil sa mix na ito, matitikman na ang kakaibang lasa sa bahay mismo.

This is not a paid ad.  Sinishare ko lang kung anong bago sa paningin at panlasa ko na maaaring gusto rin subukan ng iba.

Talk About the Big One

Our company organized a talk by a geologist from PHIVOLCS  on the dangers of the infamous "The Big One" referring to an earthquake in Metro Manila that everyone dreads to happen within this lifetime.  It was both entertaining and informative.

The Speaker.

My bad, I was not paying attention to the name of the speaker - pero alam ko lang Geologist siya - and she was really good and kept us engaged throughout the talk.  I attended the 3rd and last session of the day, which was from 10PM until 11PM.  She must have been really tired and hungry but I never noticed that. Di naman siya super outstanding na speaker - in fact, very conversational ang approach niya.  She used very common English words - that everyone understand, and nagtatagalog din.  Parang personalized ang talk - which was really good.  She made good references of historical disasters - and she was really good in memorizing dates of those events.  Maybe, matagal na niya ginagawa ang mga talks na ganito kaya memorize niya pati dates ng mga pangyayari - pero keber ko na dun - ang mahalaga, maayos niya na napagtahi-tahi ang mga examples ng mga lindol sa talk niya.

She cracks jokes in Tagalog - matatawa ka naman din, like the comparison of whistles that you can buy from a bookstore vs the ones you can buy in Divisoria - at least daw sa Divisoris natesting na ng nagbebenta ang whistle.

The Presentation.

The powerpoint presentation was superb.  She had a good mix of photo and video examples of the the effects of the past disasters.  Nakakatakot tingnan ang mga pictures.  Very graphic, you know that they were real, and that ang maganda pa, local setting ang mga examples - like effects to that of the Baguio, Bohol, and the recent Leyte earthquakes. Maganda ang mga explanation ng mga hazards ng lindol - at mas napapadali ang pagintindi mo sa mga hazards na ito sa pamamagitan ng mga actual na pictures.  Very convincing, very informative talaga - madami ka talaga matututunan.  Ma re-reinforce din kung anuman ang alam mo na.  Super nice. 

Learnings.

On the scientific side, madami ang hazards ng lindol, like liquefaction, the up and down and sideways movement of the earth, ang mga pagbitak ng lupa, tsunami.  Ang mga hazard na ito ay maaaring maiwasan o mabawasan kung aalamin natin kung malapit or nasa fault line man tayo. May android app pala ang PHIVOLCS para jan - ang Fault Finder.  We need to check this para patibayin ang ating mga bahay, or bago pa bumili ng property.  Pwede rin maiwasan ang ilang hazard if may mga tests ang mga Geoengineers sa klase ng lupa na titirikan ng ating bahay, at kumuha ng mga civil engineers na gagawa ng disenyo na naaayon sa lugar.

One can never be ready to answer the question of preparedness for the Big One.  Preparedness is something that we should do day in and day out, where ever we are, whatever we may be doing.   

Each individual should make it a mindset to be always prepared.

We should use our imagination. Kahit morbid man isipin, pero ang paggamit ng ating imagination ay makakatulong kung paano tayo magiging handa.  Ang napakaganda niyang example ay ang pagpikitng ating mata, imagine kung nasaan tayo kung sakaling mangyari ang lindol, ano ang mga possible scenario na mangyayari - lalo na if bilang nanay or tatay, nasa trabaho ka at ang mga anak ko nasa school, or nasa bahay ka lang at ang mga mahal mo sa buhay nasa work, school, or gumagala. Using such imagery may trigger our families to discuss what each individual would do in case the Big One does happen - this includes prepping and orienting each family member of a common meeting point in case everyone is out and communication lines are gone, prepping emergency kits, and other disaster preparedness procedures that one can engage kung nasaan man sila at that instance.

Wala dapat ako pasok today pero ang 2 oras ko sa pag attend sa talk na ito ay hindi nasayang. Sana madami umattend.  Aattend ka ba sa susunod na session kung sakali meron pa?