Mama Chit's @ Marikina

Mama Chit's is an old restaurant in Marikina. It's been featured on KrisTV and it's really interesting and the place looked good in TV. They are known for their family burger which size is 6-8 inches big. That's what made us curious about it until today, me and my boyfriend decided to have our Valentine's lunch there. The place is easy to find because the landmark is the church which no one can really miss if they pass by. 

The ambiance is like you're in 1960s and all the decors are vintage or retro-themed. Old car plates, vintage telephone, plaques, old soda bottles and a lot more that made it so fun to look at. I admire how they've kept al those old stuff which I think are even older than me. There's a side of the restaurant which is full of old black and white pictures. The shots are really great like it's been taken just recently. Everything's in tact and the picture quality is great. It's very creative how they designed the interior of the restaurant. There was no air conditioner, just fans but the temperature was just normal. It was not humid or hot. 

From what I have observed, there were just two of the crew who's visibly there and working. The others were inside the kitchen preparing and cooking the food. The one in the cashier is the daughter of Mama Chit. She's responsible for order-taking and payment transactions. They don't have a real cash register. All I saw was paper, pen, calculator and box. In the paper, she wrote our orders with corresponding prices then she added everything up on the calculator then wrote the total back into the paper. When I was looking at the list of meals, I had some questions about which one's better or how big's the serving. She responded immediately and smiled. The next personnel was the server and it's nice how she can manage about 3 groups of customers without confusion or whatever. She's approachable and we even asked her to take a photo of us. She said yes without hesitations.

The prices are affordable. They don't have individual menus but they have this white board where the meal choices and prices are handwritten. We ordered cheeseburger, carbonara , mojos and A&W. Their prices were 100, 150, 80 and 40 consecutively. A total of just P370! The food was great and there's a distinct taste which I guess is the secret ingredient. You can really say that what they serve are freshly made. What they offer will surely suffice the hunger and craving. 

Their services are fine. They're 9/10 for me. They didn't kept us waiting and they served us with pleasing approach. They also have self-service station for service water. It's a nice resto with good food, good service and great ambiance.

Keep wandering, wonderers! 

Taxi Lane @ Trinoma

Trinoma is one of the common places I go with either my friends or my family. One of the services they offer is that they provide taxi lanes. As we all know almost every mall have that but as I compare it to my other experiences, the one in Trinoma is better. First, the line is not that long. Second, every time I go there, they're consistently a lot of cabs waiting for passenger. Lastly, there is a guard who assists you in riding the cab and they also issue a piece of paper stating the taxi name and plate number. There are also telephone numbers  stated in the paper that can be called in case of problem.

There's a good system or facilitation of this service because it's obvious with the length of the line, waiting time and convenience of taking a cab through these taxi lanes. I also like how they're very consistent with having cabs waiting in line because in few other malls, you still have to wait for the cabs to arrive. In what I've observed only few malls do it with guards who make sure that you took a clean, in good condition and air-conditioned cabs. The paper that they issue also contributes to your security as a customer. This can serve as an evidence of you taking the cab with such name and such plate number. It is also important for customers to know the hotlines so that in any instance of a problem, they can easily call and ask for help.

I suggest that all establishments offering the service of taxi lanes must issue a receipt or paper that will prove the transaction happened or the service was availed. In this way, they can ensure the safety of their customers. In any case of accident or what, they can trace what happened and it will be easier to investigate. Security must always be the priority of big  companies or malls to avoid conflicts and hassle as well. Also, convenience should always be considered because it makes customers appreciate your services and when they do, it will result to repeat purchase or repeat visit for malls.

Keep wandering, wonderers!

Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 2 @ Philippines

LRT's services is something I don't usually avail like other students who go to school with this means of transportation but I've tried and witnessed their services many times. All of those experiences were basically the same. The only differences were the waiting time, because sometimes the trains' arrival is delayed, and the environment inside the train, because sometimes you'll sit beside a person with disturbing loud music in their earphones or beside a group who are too loud. 

As for the security, I like the consistency of the guards like when they call your attention when you're going beyond the yellow line. I also observed that guards are roaming inside the train to check and maintain the security. It also makes me more comfortable for the oldies and pregnant women because they have this certain part of the train were only the senior citizens, pregnant women and people with disabilities can sit and stay exclusively.

They made it a lot easier for commuters given the fact that travel time is shorter than when you choose other means of public transportation. Also, the stored value card adds convenience for frequent users of the services because it removes the hassle of lining up to buy tickets. This card also gives a free trip which is a means of saving up. Information is also everywhere like in the card itself, it shows the stations. They also add entertainment because recently they put TV screens showing commercials and advertisements to lessen the boredom while waiting for the train. As for the temperature inside the trains, it's cold enough especially when there are just a few people inside the train. MLRTS surely made it easy and comfortable for their customers to travel fast and conveniently.

(Photos grabbed from Wikipedia)

Keep wandering, wonderers!!

Francis' Portraits @ Pangasinan

When I was a kid, my lola always bring me to the photo studio. It was almost every week back then and I can still remember how fun it was for me to pose in front of the camera. I think that's the reason why even if I'm all grown up, I still love taking pictures and be the subject of the photo. Same photo studio I went few weeks ago -- Francis' Portraits. My mom wanted us to have new family picture that's why we went to Dagupan.

The studio is located at the ground floor of the building. The waiting area is wide enough to cater many walk-in customers. Unfortunately, when I was about to take a photo of the place, one of the crew told me that it's not allowed to take photos. As we approached the counter to ask for the rates, another personnel greeted us and asked how they can help us. She gave me a price list and to my surprise, it's very affordable unlike in other photo studios. We paid half of the total amount and agreed to pay the other half on the day of claiming the photos. They told us that we can claim the photos after 2-3 weeks. For digital photo studio nowadays, that's too long for the pictures to be printed but we said yes anyway.

After few minutes, they called us and told us it was our turn. We entered the main studio and I was hyped with what I saw. There were cute set ups and props for different themes. There were also around 2-4 personnel helping us. It felt great and exciting to do what I love with my family. The whole experience was fun and the photographers were great in telling us what to do to make the photo better. They were kind and friendly as well. They are detail-oriented and it shows that they really know what they were doing. 

Here are some of our pictures in low resolution.

Keep wandering, wonderers!!