i needed to buy some basic meds and toiletries and i was thinking that mercury drug would be the most convenient place to go. i was totalling in my head how much i'd spend and it came out to a little under P100.

then i thought - should i use my suki card? i mean, my purchase would only earn me 1 point. another side of me debated - but that 1 point could make the difference when i would desperately need a life-saving drug. so would that 1 point actually be worth the effort of digging through my wallet for the suki card?

in the end i didn't go to mercury to buy anything. but i figured this still made for an interesting philosophical puzzle.

it's day 2 of taboan, the philippine writers' festival. so far so good...

yesterday, lunch at UP was spartan - a cup of rice, a choice of either fish fillet with a ketcupy sauce or beefsteak or fried chicken with mushy buttered veggies and a little custard cake. all in a styrofoam pack. the custard cake, by the way, was really nice. having been in UP pretty much all my life, that lunch was pretty much standard fare as far as i was concerned.

then today it was ateneo's turn to host the activities. lunch was a buffet including baked chicken, creamed seafood casserole, salad with either caesar's or thousand island dressing, and fruit salad. with waiters. and tablecloth. i wonder, is this standard fare for their university activities?

had lunch at the texas smoke 'em - this fairly new restaurant in greenbelt. i was actually so psyched because i've always wanted to try american barbecue and things with ancho chili in them. all the stuff i see on the cooking shows.

so on our table we ordered chipotle ribs and ancho chili corn (that is "falling off the bone" their meny claims - the ribs, not the corn) and tenderloin steak with eggs and black bean rice. for the ribs dish, the request was that the corn be scraped off the cob and for the steak - replace the eggs with corn, replace the black bean rice with plain rice and well done please.

when the food first got to us after an eternity, the corn was still on the cob and there were 2 eggs very conspicuous. so repeat instructions and 3 minutes later, the eggs were gone and the corn was all scraped. problem was, the steak was nowhere near well-done. i don't advocate all-brown steaks. my understanding of well-done is pinkish. but what we got was something closer to medium-rare. and those ribs - well, the meat will fall of the bone alright, but not without the energetic assistance of a knife.

so yah, the service was spotty, the food here and there - but i'll never forgive them for being just so overall underwhelming.

ok, so back to what this blog was doing recently - talking about places to go, things to eat...

was in subic last january. haven't been there in a long, long time so i wasn't sure what to expect. all i knew was that it was a relatively quick drive, i wanted to see the sctex, and there are duty free shops in subic. the really pleasant surprise was that i didn't have a bad meal there at all.

first on the list was meat plus - a place many people recommend, now count me in. had a 1/4 kilo angus rib eye steak (with rice and veggies) for P550. really hard to beat that price especially when you consider how downright great that steak was. tender, perfectly done. mmmm-mmm-mmmm! the way that worked was i went for the option to have my own steak cooked rather than going through the menu. then i went through their freezer to choose the steaks - so i could tell right away how much i was having. then i gave that to the cashier, told her how i wanted it done (i went with medium well) and within 20 minutes i was in steak heaven.

i didn't try their regular menu but i hear everything on it is pretty much worth it. on a side note, i had lunch recently at tender bob's - which is a sister company of meat plus. but i had the local roast beef which was on tough side so i say save the hunger for subic

the other restaurant which was also very very good was a tavola. this is near the royal subic duty free (or something like that) and pure gold. some of you may know what i sucker i am for italian food and this restaurant hits all the right buttons the best bruschetta i've had outside italy! and their pizzas are the thin gooey ones. perfect! and have their wine. they have a great selection for sale, but even their house wine is very satisfying - not a common thing.

so whatever it is you're doing in subic, don't forget it's important to chow down. with these 2 restaurants, you definitely won't go wrong

a cheese steak is one of those american things i've always been curious about. i hear about it when watching american tv shows and movies - especially those set in philadelphia. seems like cheese steaks are like the state food or something.

the other week, a food stand opened at the cafeteria of the Philam Tower - one that served cheese steaks. so, being the curious food tryer that i am, i waited for the soonest opportunity to try one. i went up to the stall, told them i'd have a "classic cheese steak sandwich" without the onions and forked over my P60.

on a griddle, they heated some bell pepper and sliced up beef (which, from where i was standing looked a little on the tough side) and on another griddle they toasted a bun - they called it a french bun but i highly doubt it was. so when the beef was not as pale as it was when they first griddled it, they loaded the beef and bell pepper into the bun, asked me if i wanted hot sauce (which i did) and ladled some melted cheese over the whole thing.

looked good so far and better when i sank my teeth into it. the beef faked me out - it was rather tender and the peppers well done. not cheap, i'll admit - since it's more merienda size... but i could think of worse ways to spend P60.

my thought was - is this really what an american cheese steak sandwich tastes like? but after googling the subject, i think it comes pretty close. i understand from the web that one ingredient that makes the philadelphia sandwich good is cheez whiz. the stuff they put on my sandwich looked like cheez whiz - although it was all dressed up in a fondue thing. i should make sure i ask for more cheese the next time - that was the only thing i felt could improve the sandwich. and i'll try to make sure it's cheez whiz for even more authenticity.

i know many people might find this strange, but you gotta try it: the cheez whiz and sugar sandwich.

recipe:

2 slices white bread

spread both pieces with a good layer of cheez whiz (the regular kinds)

sprinkle with about 1/2-1 teaspoon sugar

press

enjoy

trust me, this is really good stuff.