A delight- rainbow pancakes!

Have you heard and have tasted rainbow pancakes?   Well, I had my share courtesy of Beatriz, my new condo neighbor who shyly knocked one early morning to hand me a stack of colorful pancakes which she experimented and wanted me to try them and give my honest feedback.  Whoah.. trial and error!  Well, there were no sparks or fireworks when got to taste them, nothing extra ordinary except that it is colorful (courtesy of food coloring).  The bright sunshiny color will surely perk up one’s breakfast.  Not to dishearten her, in fairness, her pancakes taste like pancakes and for sure, adding  honey syrup and butter will  do wonders.

I bet this is going to be one  food craze again so I have to research on how to prepare them and I will try it too…

These are the things to prepare:

1. Pancake mix
2. Food coloring- to change the appearance of your pancake
3. Bowls

Follow step 1-5

Step 1

Use an add-water pancake mix. Place the pancake mix along with a cup of water into a large bowl. Use a whisk or large, wooden spoon to stir your pancake mix. Mix until all of the contents are smooth and ready to be turned into pancakes.

Step 2

Separate the pancake mix into several small bowls. Allow a bowl for red, orange, yellow, blue and green pancakes.

Step 3

Add  three to four drops of food coloring into each bowl. Mix food coloring until the mix is completely colored.  If you are worried about the taste, food coloring will only change the appearance of your pancakes.

Step 4

Fry your pancakes and cook until the edges are crisp.

Step 5

Serve as a stack and you are in to witness a unique visual display.

I have scheduled one week end to surprise Beatriz with my own version of rainbow pancakes.

Restaurant furniture

We have a strong affinity to the new restaurant that opened somewhere in the city proper.  Although we have to travel more than 45 minutes to get there, but we really don’t mind going that  far just to meet up friends for dinner.  We found the place cozy and the ambiance is relaxing and inviting for a quiet and  intimate meal time with family and friends.  I will not be surprised at all  if numerous transactions and closed deals happened in the restaurant.  The mood will affect a serious buyer to ink his/her signature of approval.  I wondered who is the brain behind the restaurant’s total package?

We particularly liked the classy and modern restaurant furniture that really compliment the whole interior of the place aside from good food, fast and quality service offered.  The furniture are tastefully chosen and because you are relaxed, the coziness will make  you stay long enough to order second round of meals.

Is that we called marketing strategy?

Business proposal

This food cart business proposal came from my cousin and although I am sold to the idea , it is still my parents who have the final say.  She was convincing me to be her business partner citing that I am good at marketing and advertising strategies.   I am not interested yet to venture into something I know I don’t have the time to personally supervise since I am about to graduate from college and my hands are already loaded with school projects.   Liz is persistent for us to give it a try citing that ROI (Return of Investment) will not take years… and the income is good.    Well, my cousin, I think failed to realize what a good life I am enjoying now,  I just have to study and I never worry about my allowances because all of us were all provided for- all expenses paid.   So, why do I have to think of business this early? I understand that she is feeling bored after her graduation and that she don’t want to apply for a  9-5 job so she wanted to do food cart business instead.   So as not to discourage her, I volunteered to do research and study on the proposal and promised her that I will try to present it to my parents.

Business venture is not only having capital to start with but it also requires careful planning, hard work, long hour, dedication and a lot more. Oh, if I can only tell her to just stay home and blog.. but I also don’t want to rob her of her dream to own a food cart business.  So, I think what she needs now is a good marketing assistant to guide her and definitely that wouldn’t be me.  Not now … maybe after my graduation…

by far well suggested Food Cart Business

A promise is a promise and asking around for referrals from friends led me to browse the web extensively and I found some Best Food Cart Business today (as posted).  I know Liz is also doing her assignments and I wish her all the best.  She needs to be prepared not only financially but emotionally as well because every business has entailed risk.

So, cousin the choice is yours….

Weight loss pills

Losing weight doesn’t come easy and one really have to work hard to achieve it.  It is a known fact that millions of people are struggling to keep off unwanted pounds thus abound health clubs,exercise videos, yoga,   fad and crash diets and even interventional procedures.  Far too many people I knew are are into weight loss pills. Not surprising though when one of my aunt is into it.  She is  uncomfortably chubby but cannot be considered obese.

Whining and complaining for not losing  weight fast is  already music to our ears for we’ve heard it from aunt Therese countless of times.   She is already considered one who is  into yo-yo weight loss syndrome but she won’t give up believing in the saying  ”different strokes for different folks”.

Now, she showed up bragging that she is 3 kgs. lighter.  Oh well, we will see how tough her fighting spirit is, I am baking her most fave blueberry cheesecake.

Hang on!

A visit to the El Rancho

With work loosening its grasp of my neck this past few days I decided to invite my friends and go to El Rancho, a newly opened wild-west themed restaurant down at Taft. It was a place that was quite promising because of its attention to atmosphere, something that the gang and I loves. Yep, nothing like eating in a different environment to enhance the experience.

Everything was spot on, from the tables, chairs, walls and decorations. It made you feel like you were really in the wild west. To top it off, the waiters and waitresses even don a cowboy costume, from the hat up to the riding boots. The only thing left is them riding horses!

I really admire the effort that the owner put on his establishment. It’s something that you rarely see these days. Most restaurants don’t bother with it at all. It’s almost as if they’re saying “Here’s your food, eat it and get out”.

It is rare that someone puts in an effort to really immerse you in an experience. El Rancho, just like the rest of the themed restaurants that I’ve been in the past, I give you a 5 star!

Ok, the grip is now coming back. Back to work.

Loves cowboys ~ Pol

An Afternoon at Cafe Monti

One of the main highlights of our all-day road-trip that my friends and I had yesterday was Cafe Monti. A cafe owned by the uncle of one of my friends. It’s not really that well-known in the country but is famous in the area.

I was hesitant to include the trip to our itinerary at first because we had other places to go to. Eventually I had no choice but to give in after my friend convinced me that it has the “best coffee” in the south.

“Best coffee, huh?” I’ve thought to myself. I’ve only been exposed to StarBucks and Coffee Bean my whole life so it wasn’t a bad idea to try something new.

“Show me a coffee better than StarBucks and I’ll give you a dollar”

I was also told that the place had the best venue as it has a vast garden filled with outdoor commercial planters where you can have a sip of your coffee.

The place wasn’t that far from where we stayed. However, the venue was a little hard to find as it was almost hidden between the large trees by the highway. It was almost as if it was an enchanted place that only appeared to visitors who happen to pass by.

When we got past the entrance, I was mesmerized by the beauty of the landscape. I wasn’t told that it was such a vast place! The place was filled with various commercial planters both large and small. Some are adorned with beautiful flowers and are wonderfully arranged. In the middle of the compound was a small tiny hut where you can place your order and wait.

The menu only had one item. Coffee. Nothing else. No cappuccino, no tea, not even a frap, just plain coffee. Since it seems that I wasn’t given any choice at all, I went with coffee.

We chose a place next to a small pond surrounded by large commercial planters and it was beautiful. I would post some pictures but Jason hasn’t sent them to me yet.

The coffee came and Jason told me to be the one to have a sip of the coffee first since he told me that I was the most skeptical of us all. And I did…

It was horrible, lol!

I don’t know why but it didn’t suit my taste. Others sided with me but there were some who liked it. Jason told me that it’s okay since the taste is indeed unique and is a hit or miss to some. I guess my tongue has gotten used to StarBucks and Coffee Bean that my taste buds has dulled to the point that it can’t appreciate exotic coffee anymore.

Darn Starbucks.

It was an unforgettable experience nonetheless. We only spent an hour there and rushed off to our next destination.

The journey continued.

Likes Coffee Bean better ~ Pol

The Rants of a Hungry Pol

To those individuals who never cook, or are just too lazy to, the fast-food delivery service is a lifesaver. No more rummaging through the pantry, no more cooking, no more worrying about the dishes. All it takes on your end is thinking of what to order, a little bit of patience, and some cash. This is why when I got home tired from our all-day road trip, I didn’t hesitate at all to call our favorite fast-food restaurant.

It was just a standard order, a burger meal with fries and a soda. I usually order their special, but this time I didn’t for it usually takes an extra time for them to prepare and cook it. With my rumbling tummy crying louder every minute, I just didn’t have the patience to wait longer.

I waited for over an hour and the order didn’t came. I tried to follow-up by calling them again but they said that the delivery guy might have been lost. Lost? Possible. The problem with the system of addressing here in our country is confusing at best. Roads connect to streets, streets connect to smaller streets, and even those smaller streets have even smaller ones connected to them. The country is a web of streets with zigs and zags all thanks to the poor urban development of previous administrations. Oh, and add to that the horrible traffic!

“I know we were supposed to go left somewhere”

To add to the delivery guy’s woe, labeling of streets are sometimes jumbled. Addresses are not organized. Some even don’t have address signs placed outside their homes. Shouldn’t this be provisioned by the government? An address sign on every lot would really help. But what does the government care about the delivery guy, right?

After a few more minutes the delivery arrived. I was told that we didn’t have an address plaque outside our building. Which was weird because I know that we have one. What? Do people steal address plaques nowadays? What is the world coming to?

Dave’s positively sure that the plaque would go at a hefty price

It makes me think of how the system of addressing is set-up here. Maybe something needs to be done to improve it so that everything will arrive on time. If they do, you won’t be reading rants from a hungry Pol anymore.

You don’t want me when I’m hungry ~ Pol