Mani & Pedi by Ate Victoria @ Pangasinan

Pangasinan is our province and it's a family tradition to spend holidays here at our hometown. Being here is not all about vacation, rest and the like. If you only knew how stressful and busy our week can be every time we are here. We visit relatives, do errands, prepare for parties and get-togethers and a lot more. Given these situations, there's no more time for pampering ourselves. Good thing, Ate Victoria gave us a visit just in time.

Ate Victoria is our manicurists here. She's been servicing us ever since that's why we are one of her "suki". She is trusted by the family. In fact, my mom consider her as the best manicurist because my mom had experience a lot of bad nail care services. She also likes how Ate Victoria can be a great person to talk to. And I also experience it by how interesting our conversation can get. She knew us even before that's why she knows what nail polish color will be suitable for our preferences. 

Ate Victoria also offers different services like hair coloring and eyebrow shaping, aside from manicure and pedicure. I have observed that she's also ready for anything. For example, in her bag, there are materials for hair coloring -- the hair dye, comb, plastic gloves and plastic cap. 

My mom and I got our nails done. I also asked her to shape my eyebrows. It was a great experience after a long week of stress and preparation for holidays.

Keep wandering, wonderers!!

Snack Shack @ Sikatuna Village

Snack Shack is a burger place located at Sikatuna Village. Our friend recommended it and he said it is the best burger in town. And so, we and my gang drove and went there to try the "Best Burger". When we arrived, we were a bit shocked because the joint was smaller than what we have expected. And there's no alotted parking space for customers. But even if there were like a few expectations that were not met, we entered and had our burgers.

Inside the store was a cashier, a little kitchen, and a place for dine in customers. The cashier was just composed of a cash register and a staff. The kitchen is where the other staffs are working. It is where they prepare and cook the burgers. There was a long table attached to the wall and around five high chairs for the customers. If there is one lacking element in the store is that there is no air conditioners, so it was hot and the fact that the joint is near a main road, the heat from cars also contribute to the temperature. The brighter side of having a small joint is that customers can see how their orders are being made. It can be an advantage because customers want to make sure that what they buy is properly and cleanly prepared. Another thing is that, it excited the customers when they show how they do such burgers.

   

As for the staffs, there were four of them working. I can say that the distribution of task was great. They were able to maximize their man power. One serves as a cashier person, she asks for your order, accept your payment and give you change if needed. The next one prepares the patty for the burgers, yes, they don't use patties that are ready to cook that we see in supermarkets. The other one cooks that patties and the last one finishes the preparation of burgers and he also calls out orders. I also observed that they follow the food handling procedures. All of them wore hairnets and aprons. No one of them have long nails and untidy uniform. This just shows that they want to serve not just the burger but also a well-prepared one. 

They only offer quarter-pound (70php) and half-pound burgers. (100php) But the catch is the add-ons and this includes cream cheese, blue cheese, jalapeno, onions and more. They also sell drinks like soda, bottled water and fruit drink. And to tell you, the prices are affordable. In one order, the total price would range between 100-200php only. Students can surely afford these burgers and it can surely make a hungry student full. That's based on our experience. Hahaha

The wait took about 15-20 minutes. When the staff called out our orders, we tried our burgers right away. It was indeed the best burger i ever tried. The meat tastes fresh and authentic, the bun also tastes fresh. We had some add-ons and those add-ons surely added more flavor and great taste to the burger. It's worth the wait and worth the price!

Keep wandering, wonderers!!

Canto @ Ketchup Food Community

I heard so much about Ketchup Food Community-- from my relatives to random people I encountered somewhere I can't even remember. Basically, it's been the talk of the town for me until I asked my mom to go to Baguio and check what's so special about Ketchup Food Community. 

There are 5 restaurants located at Ketchup Food Community; 

1.) Rancho Norte (Filipino cuisine)

2.) Happy Tummy (Thai cuisine)

3.) Canto (Pork ribs, pizza, burger)

4.) Rumah Sate (Indo-Malay cuisine)

5.) Green Pepper (Gourmet, pasta. salad, steak)

It was pretty hard for us to choose where to eat but then ended up choosing Canto. From the moment we stepped in, the crew welcomed us with warm greetings. After browsing the menu we ordered half slab of Pork Ribs, Beef Kalbi and Fishy Pizza. It took 10 minutes for our order to be served.

The food was good, especially the Beef Kalbi. The beef was fresh and what's special about it is that it was served with rice, vinaigrette, egg and veggies that neutralized the saltiness of the beef.  My expectation of the slab's size came out to be different from the actual. It was so big! With salad and mashed potato, it was indeed a great meal. And for the pizza, the taste was a bit weird but I liked it. Topped with fresh veggies and tuna, it's worth the try.

And by the way, I observed the place and saw plastic bags around the corner and a sign saying "Donations for Visayas". It was plastic bags of clothes, pillows and blankets. It's nice to know that even those people who are not earning as much as those big food chains still care and help even in small ways. And also, to think that Baguio is far away from Visayas, it takes a big heart to come up with the idea of collecting donations and transport it. Hands down to those people!!

It was a great experience to finally visit Ketchup Food Community. Now I know why people talk about it that much. Not just how delicious the food they offer but also the good heart that flows and reflects in their service.

P.S. Our total bill was around 500-600php!! Sulit as what they say. :D

Keep wandering, wonderers!!

Iscreamist @ Maginhawa

Eating something that will cause smoke to come out from your mouth? Isn't that amazing? Yes you heard me right. This particular place along Maginhawa known as The Iscreamist offers a different kind of experience and a unique kind of ice cream. 

It's just a small place, approximately 15 square meters with small tables and chairs. It's amazing how they've arranged the interior. The ambiance makes you feel like you're in a chemistry lab in a different generation, it's so futuristic. With the blue lights, the tanks and the menu, the chemistry lab vibe was definitely achieved. The menu was arranged in a periodic table and the tank I mentioned is where the amazing ingredient is stored.

Liquid nitrogen! Yes that's the ingredient that makes it so amazing when you eat the ice cream. The flavors that are available for the flash-freezed (term for  ice cream are Tiramisu and Smores but they also offer lots of different flavored ice cream. I tried both Tiramisu and Smores and all I can say is, it's pretty awesome and fun to make smoke come out from your mouth while eating. What makes it more fun is that you can see everyone enjoying the smoke.

Iscreamist is the only store that offers this kind of product and basically this type of service. There's gonna be a long waiting line but I assure you, it's worth the wait. It won't take time ordering it's just that there's a lot of people who are interested with this new ice cream. Regarding the price, it's very affordable. The prices range between 50php to 100php per order. This just means that they're market is dense -from simple students to adventurous professionals. Overall, it was an amazing try and surely it's an Instavid-worthy experience.

Keep wandering, wonderers!!