Spicy fingers' roti canai

Pacquiao lost to Mayweather by unanimous decision that day. And our day was left without anything to do so it kinda requested our presence later at Spicy Fingers.

I don't really drink. I just wanted to be somewhere, sip a little alcohol and lace it with funny talks.

Roti canai or roti cane is an Indian-influenced flat bread dominant in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. It is also known as Indian Pancake and is termed as Roti prata in Southern part of Malaysia. The last time I went to Johore Bahru, I noticed that their roti is made differently, hard and bland.

Spicy Fingers' roti is chewy and flavored with ghee. Best way to eat it is using your fingers to dunk it in a complimentary curry. The order comes with a tikka, a Punjabi dish of cutlet chicken made from mixture of aromatic spices and yogurt.

I've been ordering margarita during my few visits here but there was something amiss that time. I felt a thick haze of booze with just a single order and got a little sozzled.

Reckless socializing with all the wrong people (JOKE) haha. It was supposed to be just me and my friend Rosephil but my coolest friends who were asking for my whereabouts since the morning came and joined us.

We decided to go to makati avenue afterwards to have a drink there and contemplate love, life and the unfairness of it all.

Halal Food Adventure at Filipino Night Market

Assalam-alaikum!

I once asked my Persian friend if he eats pork. And I was expecting to hear a 'no' answer, but I was a bit surprised when he guiltily answered, 'yes, it's tasty'.  Oh, aren't Muslims supposed to be strict with their no pork and halal only diet? 

Well, what are they to do when there is no halal food in a city where they live? Besides, they hate Arabs for integrating Islam to their culture.

Anyways, Halal is not about the type of cuisine. In Arabic, the word halal means permitted or lawful. It's about the Islamic dietary guidelines that ingredients should come from religiously lawful sources. No khmr, alcoholic beverages and wine used in the cooking, no running blood, no carcass of animal killed by improper butchering, no haram i.e. forbidden types of meat such as pork. 

Allowed meat or halal meat should be from an animal slaughtered in a lawful manner. The kill is always done in the Islamic halal way, and respect and thanks are shown to the animal which is about to become the next meal.

Moreover, I've also read that the animal must be fed normally and given water just prior to the slaughter. Other animals cannot view the kill. The knife blade must be extremely sharp and should be four times the width of the animal's neck. The animal should also be positioned facing Makkah.

When I went to Sabah with my friend, we made sure we get to experience Halal food in Filipino Night Market. Sabah is small and we stayed in Gaya street which is said to be near the night market scenes of KK. Not all locals are familiar with Filipino market, it seems that the place creates a buzz more to foreigners than to the locals. But surely, hotel people know so they are the right ones to ask for infos. We followed the direction the hostel lady gave us and after a long a tiring walk, we found Filipino night market located at Jalan Tun Fuad Stephen along Waterfront and opposite Le Meridien Hotel.

Terima Kasih!in English means thank you. You'll see the phrase printed on tarpaulins hanging in every spot, featuring pictures of mouthwatering dishes they offer. Most of the vendors and people there speak Filipino but they are Sabahans. And I couldn't quite surmise why the place was named Filipino Night Market I think they should change it to Halal Night Market instead. Well we all know that late President Marcos fought to claim back the region said to be historically ours. However, it has been designated a current “non-issue” in the interest of improving diplomacy and security relations with the government of Malaysia.

It was hot and smoky there. The women wear their niqabs and all were conservatively dressed. While we were both wearing sleeveless top, I felt ashamed for having so. I Just tried to hang loose and let it not bother me.

Every table has this plastic kettle pot and we were clueless of what it's for. We thought it's what Sabahans use as pitcher, luckily a local family joined our table and we've seen them use such to wash their hands.

Mee Goreng

Mie Goreng is a flavorful and spicy fried noodle dish. It is made with thin yellow noodles fried in cooking oil with garlic, onion or shallots, fried prawn, chicken, pork, beef, or sliced bakso (meatballs), chili,Chinese cabbage, egg, and other vegetables

Battered Squid

Our meat of the sea

Nasi Goreng

Just like how I like eating rice paired with pancit, Mee Goreng goes well with Nasi Goreng or fried rice. In 2011 an online poll by 35,000 people held by CNN International chose nasi goreng as the number two of their 'World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods' list after rendang.

Night market that is alive and full of vibe. You can watch the cooks fire away cooking your dish on large woks. Sabahans are very cordial and they smile a lot as well.

Seafoods are one of the highlights of the market. You can choose from variety and see your seafood be cooked in front of you. Though there are flies flying over the rows of food displayed, a lot still buy them for viand.

Prego at City of Dreams

We were curious of the news about the big-time City of Dreams. So off we went there and got slapped with disappointment. It is nothing compared to the famous hotels and casinos in Macau that are divinely overdone, full of crimson and gold and flocked by locals and tourists. The place looked so lonely you can't see the excited milieu of tourists. Oh it doesn't matter, it is not central to my story of food adventure.

Since COD is said to be grand, there must be restaurants of great quality there. But anyways, it has just opened so you can count the number of restos present in one hand. While looking for a place to eat, we saw Bella Padilla a local celebrity come out of Prego, an Italian restaurant located at the second floor of the building.

Since it's Bella's choice, the food there must be good! Besides, she looked like she couldn't talk anymore from fullness. So we asked the host if its possible to avail their 3 o'clock to 6 o'clock promo that requires 3 persons to dine to get 30% off even if we are just two. And they agreed!

Prego does not mean pregnant, it is the Italian for "Don't mention it!, You're welcome!

Complimentary bread that are kinda hard as stone.

I love Margherita. And their Margherita was the best I've ever tasted!. It was light, chewy and tasty like a New York Pizza but full of Italian aroma and tomato goodness. 

My brother from another Arab father

Indulgent pasta carbonara cooked al dente. The combination of olive oil and guanciale made the pancetta thick and full of flavor.

I always order coffee, if not available I opt for warm drink even if its a hot afternoon

The team were obviously newbies. Though they are serious on delivering prompt service they got us a little wired up with mistaken orders and wrong bill. I ordered one latte and they brought to the table another type of coffee, they even forgot we availed the 30% discount.

bucky's, it's not a brownie

After having dinner with my friend, we felt the need for coffee but since we didn't want to go for the usual overcrowded Starbucks we opted for Toby's Estate. Not that it's our second choice, we just really want to taste real coffee and it was actually our first time to try Toby's Estate.

I conjecture this cafe is from Australia. They've got the best latte ever. True that Aussies take coffee seriously. Sb and I will soon have a break up because of Toby.

While waiting for our coffee, the pastries caught our attention and the wall of the kiosk has a sign that says something like 'bucky's, not a brownie'. It got us salivating so we ordered one to try. I think it's a combination of a cake and a brownie, it's in between and the taste was slightly salty, a perfect pair for coffee!

Location

Bonifacio Global City 

Ground Floor Ecotower, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City

Anchor Beer at Khmer Family Restaurant

After our temple hopping adventure and sampling of crispy bugs and spiders at Pub street, I gave in to my friend's request of us trying a local drink. After all, what is the point of being there without having a little feel of Siem Reap's popular night life.

We had to travel early in the morning, and to her disappointment I upbraided that we would be drinking one glass each only. I don't like drinking, I don't find any sensible reason to why people drink alcohol. But Cambodia's naming of its beers quite fascinated me somehow.

Khmer Family Restaurant was one of the many picture-perfect rooms, drenched with Indo-Aryan curtains and outrageous mix of Oriental and Dravidian paintings and displays.

Talking about beer stuffs, I remember the Americano seated beside us in the plane. He was too loquacious and he got us into a travel conversation like we were on a quiz bee competition. He mentioned something about Cambodia's beers, he said most of the country's beers have no effect like you can have unlimited buckets and pales and can still walk straight and not be drunk.

Anchor Beer is brewed by Cambodia Brewery in Kandal. Anchor is not a Cambodian beer as it originated in Singapore, but it was what the waitress offered when we asked for draft beer. It’s pronounced Anne Chore which differentiates it from Angkor beer. Locally, the correct pronunciation would be “aing churr” which approximates the words “barbecued sick” in grammatically nonsensical Khmer.

Cambodians speak understandable english and most shops and restaurants accept US Dollar for payment. We had noodles which costs 5 USD each paired with draft beer for 1.5 USD. I was conceivably surprised when my noodles arrived on our table, the platter was big and full of green veggies. For a moment I thought I would not be able to finish it, but the beer perfectly goes with a meal, like after a sip I had to have a mouthful of noodles so I could not taste the bitterness of the draft.

Hayahay Treehouse Bar and View Deck

After praying so hard for the typhoon not to swerve its way to our place of destination or at least for it to weaken so as not to ruin our trip, half dark about a successful travail we still went on with our planned adventure. And we brought for companion our fears of having the possibility of last minute flight cancellation or being storm trapped in an island. But I thank the heavens for a fine weather all throughout the trip.

We actually didn't prepare any plans or itineraries for our Dumaguete trip, for we'd be meeting our friend who studies there and who luckily was willing to tour us around.

We needed nourishment for we hadn't eaten since the morning and we didn't want our travel be distorted by an accidental fast. So off we went to this almost (2) two decades old place called Hayahay, a treehouse restaurant cum bar of locally snazzy type with an ocean view deck. Hayahay, I reckon is a Cebuano term for relax and calm state, a word that fittingly supports Dumaguete's claim as a city of gentle people.

Eat what the locals eat. The place serves fresh seafoods you wouldn't miss for the world. We had a plate of Dumaguete Express, a medley of squid, chicken, fish in ginataan or coco milk topped with lechon kawali. It was exquisite, good for 3 to 4 persons and shockingly costs Php 140 only. The squid was slow cooked to tender perfection, the exact tenderness and juiciness I'm obsessed about and what I nag about at my dad how he couldn't bring squid meat to tenderness.

Hayahay is one of those places where people do not stare at others, the locals are so carefree and accustomed to foreigners or sorts. We found a table cleaving to the balustrade having a good view of the ocean which according to my friends, to the opposite end is Siquijor island.

The place was half crowded, perfect proportion exactly. The people sauntering around seemed convivial but the look of the ocean was something seemingly between sombre and calm. All that smell of another place and taste of the salty air was rather odd with an afternoon languor. I did spend a great deal of time anatomizing the situation.

Pure fluke without the storm, we had a great late lunch. Thank you to my friends who were almost brothers to me for showing us around! 

Burmese Eats

Owing to the geographic location of then called Burma to what is now Myanmar, Burmese cuisine has been influenced by Chinese cuisine, Indian cuisine and Thai cuisine. And it is not hard to preview and experience Burmese food during trips to Cambodia or Thailand. Burmese foundation of flavor lies on  it’s common mixture of shallot oil, alliums, turmeric, cayenne and fish sauce. If it's your first time to try, it's better to have someone to share with for Burmese food is usually heavy.

That day was scorching hot and me and my friend were experiencing a pricking brain numbing headache. After our siesta time at the hotel, we decided to have our late lunch outside and we found a hotel nearby with a small quaint resto offering Mandalay menu. It was a lazy afternoon and my first thought of order was coffee. If my memory serves me right, I think I ordered Mandalay coffee as shown above. The sugar container looked so artistically old fashioned, and looked slightly the same as my father's wood craft designs.

Whenever I get headache, I drink coffee and become normal again as if cured by the magical shot of caffeine. But this coffee, swirled my aching brain cells all the more, the coffee has got mixture of spices- I don't know what exactly. And the taste was somewhat pungent like rust, I felt like the air was not moving at all.

 Meat and poultry are more commonly used in landlocked cities like Mandalay, though some avoid beef and pork due to Hindu and Buddhist influences. I ordered a bright and fragrant fried rice with chicken and seafood. It looked small on the picture but it actually was platter good for sharing.

 Beside our table was a reclining Buddha

 Picture frames on the wall show an image of Siddharta Gautama with his hands gracefully raised preaching under the tree, another one is Hanuman, the monkey who is worshipped as a god in some parts of India, and a Krishna art where Durga the six armed woman is shown riding a tiger representing her power and invincibility.

Inayana and Mahayana Buddhism are two distinct codes strongest in Asia. Visitors cannot fail to be impressed by sculptures and displays of Buddhist deities.

The other rice we ordered was a yellow rice with meat, green peas and vegetables. The taste was tangy due to the strong taste of turmeric. We also ordered battered pork and battered beef which were a little boring at first but gradually becomes tasty with every bite.

A popular Burmese rhyme sums up the traditional favourites: "A thee ma, thayet; a thar ma, wet; a ywet ma, lahpet" translated as "Of all the fruit, the mango's the best; of all the meat, the pork's the best; and of all the leaves, lahpet's the best".

Wasabi Warriors the Sushi Super Star

Sushi is my favorite food at school every lunchtime. And since there is not a single Japanese restaurant near my school that I know, my only choice is family mart's packed sushi varieties that couldn't satiate my appetite. It's kinda intimidating walking in a Japanese resto to grab and go sushi alone, so sometimes I buy in supermarkets or food stalls. AND IT IS NASTAAAAH!!!

Sushi is about the right place and the right fish. 

Japanese cuisine is very popular in the West and also in Australia, sushi in particular has been described as being "as popular as sandwiches", particularly in large cities like Melbourne, Sydney, or Brisbane. As such, sushi bars are a mainstay in shopping centre food courts, and are extremely common in cities and towns all over the country.

Who would’ve thought that the terms “healthy” and “fast-food” could be used to describe the same restaurant? Today, these two seemingly opposing ideas come together as global sushi chain Wasabi Warriors launches its very first branch in the Philippines, at the heart of Makati City’s central business district.

Tagged as the healthiest sushi fast-food chain in the world, Wasabi Warriors formally launched its first Philippine outlet on May 6, 2015 at The Gramercy Residences in Century City, Kalayaan Avenue.

Established in Sydney in 2007, the sushi chain is known for creating innovatively crafted meals and providing alternatives to the unhealthy fare offered by most fast-food chains and convenience stores. The brand currently has four branches in Australia, and also has outlets in Hong Kong, New Zealand, and soon the United Arab Emirates.

The person behind the sushi fast food chain's coming to Philippines is Kimmi Siu Dewar. Born and raised in Australia to Chinese parents and is currently the Business Development Manager of Swinging Chairs Establishments Inc. here in the Philippines. During the launching of Wasabi Warriors, the guests were entertained with spectacular Chinese Dragon dance that graced the event all the more.

Gyoza are dumplings filled with ground meat and vegetables and wrapped in a thin dough. Also known as pot stickers, gyoza originated in China (where they are called jiaozi), but have become a very popular dish in Japan. The typical gyoza filling consists of ground pork, nira chives, green onion, cabbage, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil.

Wasabi Warriors restaurant serves Age gyoza (deep fried), it is crispy, deep fried gyoza mainly found at Chinese and gyoza specialty restaurants, but rarely encountered elsewhere. I prefer age than yaki gyoza which is pan fried which is soft in texture and juicy that the flavor of ginger standouts.

Ebi Fry

Breaded and deep fried shrimp are called ebi fry in Japan. It can be served with tartar sauce or tonkatsu sauce.

Wasabi Warriors Advocacy

“Wasabi Warriors’ operations revolve around its ‘green heart’ philosophy, which offers diners the chance to live by three intertwined tenets—to eat good, do good, and feel good,” Dewar stresses during her speech at the launch.

According to Dewar, to “eat good” specifically refers to eating fresh, premium food that is nutritionally beneficial for the customers’ well-being. In turn, to “do good” means supporting business practices that help the oceans, the earth, and the animals. “Feel good” refers to knowing that, when they eat at the restaurant, customers also help honor practices that are good for the environment. 

Wasabi Warriors draws Inspiration from the Japanese Bushido, a warrior code which eventually became the basis for ethical training in Japanese society. Bushido literally means “the way of the warrior” and espouses respect, honor, and excellence—virtues that guide Wasabi Warriors’ daily operations.

Helping guide customers to “eat good, do good and feel good” are the five Wasabi Warriors brothers: Ocean, Beefy, Porky, Chicken, and Veggie. Each of the brothers personifies a different facet of Wasabi Warriors’ overall advocacy which is to honor the ocean, the earth, and animals.

“Wasabi Warriors is also driven by its mission to provide excellent products while honoring and showing a deep respect for the environment,” Dewar notes. In fact, items on the restaurant’s menu that are not sold on the day go directly to charity or, in the case of fish leftovers, later made into compost and used as fertilizer. As such, Wasabi Warriors generates almost zero food waste.

Edamame is young soybeans, usually still in the pod. Because the beans are young and green when they are picked, edamame soybeans are soft and edible, not hard and dry like the mature soybeans which are used to make soy milk and tofu. It is a popular appetizer at most Japanese food restaurants, and is a great choice for vegetarians, vegans, or anyone wanting to eat healthy.

Cheap sushi can have an overly fishy taste and bad texture, but in Wasabi Warriors, you can never go wrong with their you-can-have-a-taste-of-everything packed sushi.

Have you noticed the size of their sushi rolls? 

Inari Seaweed

A classic inari pockets with traditional Japanese seaweed.Very healthy and full of goodness!

When your sushi comes, it will be on a wood plank or, less commonly, a plate. If you are sharing with friends, it may all come in a single wooden pan.  There is no general taste for sushi, and in Wasabi warriors, they serve sushi with mayonnaise instead of dipping it on soy sauce.   If you can't use chopsticks, use your fingers. That's the "proper" way of eating sushi in Japan.

Sushi made with brown rice (genmai) has the added bonus of providing even more health benefits. Brown rice contains more nutrients than white rice, and while brown rice sushi may not be traditional, when it's well made there isn't much difference from white rice sushi.

Seared Salmon

In eating nigiri, you have to put the entire thing into your mouth. Don't try to bite it in half  'cos you'll end up clumsily spilling rice. But how do I eat this seared salmon without creating a mess? If you really think you can't fit it, try chewing it a little while you are putting it in your mouth. I think you can also ask the waiter for smaller pieces.

California, Chicken Teriyaki, Fresh Salmon, Pork Prawn, Tuna and Avocado

California is the most popular sushi, it is usually made of crab meat (real or imitation), cucumber and avocado. This seems to be a good one to begin with because it has no raw fish and most people do like and have eaten crab before.

Although Wasabi Warriors’ signature is its line of healthy and creative sushi rolls, the restaurant also serves bento packs and bowls. The restaurant offers 12 different types of sushi rolls, all of which can be prepared using white, brown, red, or black rice. These sushi dishes were crafted specifically for Wasabi Warriors by Japanese sushi master chef Hideo Dekura.

True to its fast-food nature, Wasabi Warriors uses a specially made sushi robot that can make 500 rolls per hour and a rice mixer that automatically blends rice for the sushi dishes. The restaurant also has an open kitchen that allows guests to see the kitchen staff preparing the food.

To learn more about Wasabi Warriors, visit <http://www.wasabiwarriors.com.ph/> and <https://www.facebook.com/WasabiWarriorsPH> 

and @WasabiWarriors_