Food trip // Goldilocks

I am Filipino. 

Let me be one of the few people to say that Filipinos are Asian and not Pacific-Islanders. 

You may or may not agree with me but it's true. Unfortunately, this post is not about that. 

I will discuss that later on.

Today, I will talk about a famous restaurant here in California, not so much back in sweet, ol' Philippines called 

Goldilocks 

[[^^ You know the drill, click the linky for more infy ^^]]

Back in the Philippines, Goldilocks is famously known for a local bakeshop where you can usually get your last-minute birthday cakes. [[Yup! I know Dad, you forgot my bday again (ʃƪ ˘ ³˘) ]]

Any cow, here in Cerritos lies the famous restaurant.

From fairy tale to famous Filipino bakery grail

I was never really a fan of Goldilocks 5 years back but I am a sucker for sweets so I gave it another shot.

In the Philippines, there are numerous house garages turned to small cafeterias. For someone who was born and raised there, you get that nostalgic feeling whenever you encounter a place where it reminds you of home and that is exactly the atmosphere that Goldilocks gives you when you first enter the restaurant.

Once inside, you are then greeted by a host that will escort you to your table. Around you, you'll see copious 'kababayans' (fellow Filipino) eating with their family. This place really gives off the sense of home.

Filipinos, filipinos everywhere!

Goldilocks' icon is nonetheless the famous fairy tale character herself, as shown below. Kind of creepy but you get used to it.

I don't know how they did it; how they owned such a famous character but they did.
And for that I salute you.

A waiter then approaches you in your table and gives you the menu. A mid-size menu full of  the restaurant's specialties.

For a native, you will see very familiar words in the menu, delicacies served in a normal Filipino household such as Pancit (Noodles), Sinigang (Sour soup), Nilaga (Stew) and even Lechon Kawali (Deep fried Pork belly)

The menu has english descriptions for non-native speakers. Very convenient!

Just a brain blast moment; I didn't know that Filipino's have soul food. Very interesting. 

Crispy Dinuguan - Crispy Pork Blood Stew for your soul, anyone?

Once done ordering, the waiter then distributes the tableware suited for what you ordered.

I think this setting is really dashing.

Unfortunately, I was too hungry to even take a picture of what we got. It's simply Fried Rice but of course, Filipino-style which means it's sweet and just right for my palette.

For desserts, my friend got an Avocado Chiller which looks definitely refreshing

She has her own blog and her own review of the place.

Check her out HERE

Avocado Chiller - Avocados, silky evaporated milk, tapioca with shaved ice all over.

And as for myself, I got the traditional Halo-Halo which means Mix.
Very tantalizing to the eyes and very refreshing to the tummy.

Halo-Halo - (Mix) consists of a shaved ice and evaporated milk MIXed with a variety of sweet beans, plantains, nata de coco, dash of pounded crushed young rice (pinipig) and a scoopful of flan and/or purple yam ice cream or purple yam itself.

Top view of this majestic masterpiece before it is then pulverized to mix  thoroughly for  fun.

Last but will never be the least, if there's one thing that Goldilocks never got rid of; its the bakery.

Still the top leading bakery in the Filipino community, showcases of assorted cakes and sweets lined up on the glass cases waiting to be taken home.

For pricing, it's not that bad. Brazo de Mercedes (Rolled Meringue cake with Custard Filling) - a famous, Spanish-named  roll has taken its toll in my child-like heart. This roll has been my cake since I can remember.
≧(´▽｀)≦

Of course, there are the grand cakes suited for every birthday need!

I like this one, very simple yet sophisticated.

Price: ★★★☆☆

• For something you can simply make at home, the price is good for reminiscing old times.

Food Rating: ★★★☆☆

• Knocked out 2 stars because again, you can try and make your own recipes for these dishes. This place is meant for those who wants to reminisce home or those Filipinos who wanted their Non-native  friends to have their own Pinoy experience.

Overall Service/Experience: ★★★★☆

• For someone who cannot cook that well, I love this place as it reminds me of home. 

Would I come back?

• In a heartbeat. Goldilocks has a special place in every Filipino's heart, especially mine.

Thanks for tuning in! 

о(ж＞▽＜)ｙ ☆

Food Trip // Thai Original BBQ

Good evening Ladies and Gents...

It's time for another Food Trip!

Now to all of you living in California, you know how culturally-diverse our little state is; you have food cuisines ranging from Chinese, Soul, American (new), Vietnamese, Filipino, Thai, Greek and Mediterranean. The food choices are endless.

For today, Bugsy's mom felt like treating us outside so we headed to a Thai restaurant a few blocks away from their place. It lies in the heart of Culver City. I believe that if you're a Foodie like I am, you're already familiar of this place.

.The Thai Original BBQ Restaurant.

[[ ^^ click their website, I dare you not to drool  ^^ ]]

[[ Photo Credit to YELP ]]

I forgot to take an exterior photo of the restaurant so thanks to Yelp but any photos down below are originally mine. I promise!

Any moo, when you enter the place, you feel that rustic feeling of being in well, an Asian restaurant. You then are greeted by a waitress/waiter who will assist you to a table available (sometimes, if you're a early, you can choose your own seat!)

This is the view from our table, it wasn't that crowded that day since we went after lunch service.

Most customers prefer having their food as take-out, I don't know why but we're all different so whatever.

The menu was pretty simple and easy to follow. For our starters, we started off Bugsy's Mama's favorite; The Spicy Shrimp Soup.

Just look at the steam it's producing, I cannot wait to have another one.

The Spicy Shrimp Soup
combination of Spicy and Sour soup packed with juicy Shrimp, scrumptious mushrooms, leafy greens and tomatoes.

It didn't take us long to finish the soup, but luckily the service was fast enough our entrees started coming. We just ordered two (2) of them since the restaurant gives some pretty big servings.

To start of we got the ever so famous, Pad See Ew that I'm definitely positive my Thai readers love ( I hope...) and their lunch special, the S-2 BBQ Pork Spare Rib Dinner.

Starting off with the Pad See Ew; this dish is one of Bugsy's must when going to a Thai restaurant. The combination of sweet and savory is all I could come up with whenever I needed to describe this dish. 

It is served stir-fried with the accustomed green, crisp broccolis,  delectable cuts of beef (our choice) and what is Pad See Ew without the rice noodles.  

As I've said before, the serving can feed up to 2 people, so this dish is a definite must when going to a Thai restaurant !

You can see how vivid and colorful this dish was, I am a witness that this dish is yummy and fresh

And finally, last but never ever the least, the S-2  or how the restaurant describes it; the 

BBQ Pork Spare Rib Dinner.

This dish comes with plenty serving of succulent shrimp rice enough for again, 2 people, a set of savory spare ribs grilled to perfection and of course, their sweet sauce in which I-am-not-familiar-of-that-is-why-I-am-so-obsessed-with-it.

I'm not a Shakespeare when describing food but I can assure you that this mouth-watering dish can most certainly satisfy your palette, IF you're into or craving Thai cuisine.

The orange is optional. its garnish and edible at the same time ^-^

Price:  ★★★☆☆

• I give it three stars, just because as a broke adult, the price is not your typical Mcdonald's. It's a nice on-occasion event though. Very rewarding.

Food Rating: ★★★★☆

Overall Experience:  ★★★★☆

• We're all happy campers.

This is what I get when I asked him to take a photo us his Mom and I.
Silly Bugs~

Happy Campers!




Thanks for tuning in!
(〜￣▽￣)〜

CP Chronicles // The update

Ever since Bugsy gave me his computer tower, everything became so easy and a wee-bit stress free, its like I'm back to where I was.... I'm home. 

I was able to post here random stuff for you guys until one day I remembered I have this part of the blog wherein I just rant and ramble through the use of my phone.

-//-

Was there a time where you can  just remember things you don't want to? Where you can't run away from a memory that keeps haunting you? 

I believe that in life your greatest enemy and your best friend is..  You.

You are your own shadow and your own spotlight. If there ever was a time that you just wanna give up, want to think of ending all of this, you have to go back there... I understand that it's frightening because its a very vulnerable part of your existence but I want you to go back and you have to keep asking until you have a satisfying answer. Ask yourself one question and never as in NEVER stop asking.. 

-Why?-

To be honest, I'm not going to be the person whose gonna tell you artificial advice saying  "Its just you, it'll pass!", "You can do it!", and my most favorite one, "Be yourself".

Be yourself.

A phrase uttered by human beings, a phrase expressed by none yet endlessly spoken by some.

I hate that phrase.

I hate that advice.
I hate that presumption.

Why?
Why not?Being yourself is one of the most flip-sided things you can ever tell a person.
In this world, people will eat you alive,  figuratively.
Society wants you to "be yourself" yet it continuously molds you to become the other, what good does being yourself do?
People will leave you out when you're not like them, but that's what makes one another unique but nooo.
 Dress exceptionally, people will think you're crazy,
 If we ever try to be ourselves, society stops us.
There's no winning this awful battle.
Bullying still happens my friends. Everyday it's a constant battle happening not only to adults but children alike.
Adults will act as if they're in some sort of competition, their children will see it and will do the same, Parents will fight with other parents alike.
In result,an endless cycle of mischief.

So how do we stop it ?
Unfortunately, I don't know myself.

I hate to end my rant this way but in life there are no fairy tale ending, only mundane finale of yet another chapter.

Life is but a book with a lot of ups and downs, a constant battle where the end is death. You have to keep fighting, you have to keep going, when everything is dull and lifeless, look down at your feet and command it to go infront of the other.

I'll end this rant with a quote my friend said which I liked very much, it goes like this;

The fact that you are "here" means that you will get "there". The only difference between "here" and "there" is the T, which means TIME.
So never give up!

Review // Black & Decker Dustbuster Cordless Vacuum Pt.2

I have never done a review before but here we go. This is from my previous post about my purchase which can be found here. 

This post might be short but I'd rather focus on one thing at a time ... And now, the review;

Pros:

• very affordable if you're broke as a joke like me
• its very compact and easy to assemble which makes it very convenient when you're too lazy to clean but wants to get the job done. 
• very easy to clean
• the filter can be used multiple times in which I think is a blessing.
• the nozzle can be adjusted or elongated rather which us a very good function if you're trying to clean hard to reach spots.
• the functionality is very simple as it only has one function -- ON or OFF.

Cons:

• its gets a tad bit heavy over time and since you're bending down, it gets tiring and makes your back ache.
• you have to charge it overnight once you first get it before you could be able to use it (not entirely sure if it's the usual norm but that's  a con for me since I wouldn't be able to use it right away!)
• you have to charge it all the time. The longeviity of the sucker depends on how long its been charged.

Overall: [[ ★★★☆☆ ]]

• Overall, I knocked two stars out because of the heaviness, but other than that, the price is very forgiving and the ability to clean both hardwood and carpet is impressive.

Would I recommend it?

• A little bit of Yes and No. 
• Yes, It's very cheap compared to others and can suffice if you have a small room like mine, but if you're thinking for an alternative to an actual size vacuum; I would recommend just getting a full size one if you can afford a few more bucks. Although, the capability of the Black and Decker is phenomenal compared to generic brands plus the brand is quite trusted; I guess it only depends on your taste. °ω°

All-in-all, I'm glad I purchased this product even with all the flaws it comes with, you can't win them all right?
 You can easily buy this at any home store and I'm definite that you guys will appreciate the hard work this little sucker is going to offer.

Thanks for tuning in!

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

Rant Post # 1 // Finally

Hello wonderful people of the Mother Urf....

I would like to let you guys know that  I FINALLY got the chance to set up my desktop. Therefore, I can now regularly blog! Which is good news for me because blogging might not be the most private diary in the world but it is something I consider therapy.

I actually have no idea where to start my rant for today. I just literally spent about three (3) hours just customizing my new tower.. well more like pre-loved. Bugsy (you will meet him later on) just gave me his tower, which I find really sweet.

Now, it is June 17, 2013 and from where I'm sitting with John Meyer blasting from my Spotify, my whole room filled with cherry blossom scent and my fire alarm chirping its annoying chirp hinting me to replace its batteries, I can truly say I am at peace.

This post is nothing but touching base with my life from my previous post which was at least (2) months ago.Its already been 2 months?! Man, time flies by so very fast. I never even mentioned to you all that Bugsy is leaving for his basic and boot for the US Navy. But this is for another story.

For now, I'm just glad I have access to my addiction once again.

And I'm most definitely sure that I will be posting a lot more now.


But for now, my little random blurting ends here.

See you lovelies!

Bloglovin'

Little by little, I will try to make changes to this blog.

Hopefully, I will be successful.

I start with Bloglovin'

THIS BE MY BLOGLOVIN' And I also have Instagram in which you could see on the bottom along with the widget. I'm not one to endorse but hopefully this will be a great addition to my blog.. Till then :)