ovaltine sandwiches

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

eat the greek

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One of the most impractical but fun-nest things Spanky and I've ever done is to go all the way to Tagaytay just to have lunch. He chanced upon Greek Taverna in one of his blog-hopping sprees and it seemed like the perfect huling hirit before I launched into my 3-week raket.

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It's not an intimidating resto, as you can see. But I think it's the perfect date place because it's cozy and intimate. Ang kwela dito, may Greek radio station sa background. As in may news, rap song, commercials--hehe, sounds Greek to me! We think it's pre-recorded.

As soon as you sit down, the server asks if you're a first-timer. If you say yes, she gives you a handful of newspaper clippings about the resto. Handle them with care kasi parang mapupunit na yung iba. Lalapitan din kayo ng owner (pero hindi sya hassle, promise) to make some recommendations and to inform you that their food has no "preservatives, artificial color or flavor, vetsin or mantika!" He uses 100% extra-virgin olive oil (di ba mantika din yun?) imported from his plantation in Greece. Siyempre impressed kami!

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Greek salad- forgot the technical term. As usual, forgot to take notes dahil busy sa pagnguya. I liked it kasi feeling ko, I was finally able to taste yung mga napapanuod ko sa lifestyle network. Panalo ang feta cheese, lettuce, sweet onions at tomatoes.

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Mousaka chuva. At least I remembered the first word. Spanky thought it was like shepherd's pie pero mas masarap. I recommend eating it with their home-baked bread para solb at busug-busugan.

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Grilled Chicken grilled by the owner himself. In the menu, there's a lengthy explanation of Greek food and why it's healthy. Kasi it doesn't use artificial flavor, food is usually grilled, and of course it uses olive oil. We ordered this 'coz we were kurips; ginive-up namin yung lamb (best-seller nila). Pero nagsisi din kami. Chicken is chicken. After drizzling it with calamansi, we had the urge to order toyo and suka para chicken inasal na talaga.

Pero bumawi naman sa dessert.
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Baklava cake. Pangarap ko nang matikman ito nung nabasa ko sa Bobbsey Twins many many years ago. It kinda reminds me of fruit cake (I like super moist fruit cakes) 'coz of the dried, glazed fruits. I thought it would have a hard crust pero soft pala. It's a perfect ending to a healthy lunch. (naks)

Reasonable naman yung prices. We paid less than P700 for everythang. Pero syempre, di pa kami nakuntento. On our way home, we stopped by our fave pasalubong shop. Rowena's!
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Sarap ng crumbly tarts nila! Iba't ibang flavors--may apple, pineapple, blueberry, mango, ube. Busog!

Saturday, September 02, 2006

commercial

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You can check out excerpt here.

Other Haribon-published children's books are:

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Story by: Astrid Tobias
Illustrations by: Jomike Tejido


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by Jomike Tejido


From what I understand, these books will be distributed to children in barrios to raise environmental awareness. Proceeds of book sales will go to Haribon projects.

To order, e-mail: order@haribon.org.ph. My friend also saw them at the Children's Section of National Bookstore in Podium. :)

Friday, September 01, 2006

nerjak post

Since 2 weeks ago when I had the measles, I've been making up for lost time by devouring books. Maski gaano kasakit na ang ulo ko sa kakabasa, sige pa rin nang sige. At meron akong nadiskubre!

I came across 3 books (all for young adults/children) na may reference to to our beloved Pilipinas.

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Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
by Roald Dahl
When Willy Wonka was trying to fool the US President into thinking that he didn't speak English, he started talking gibberish. And the President called his Chief Translator and said something like, "What language is it? It's Tagalog! Or Ungro right?" And the Chief Translator shook his head, "It's neither Tagalog nor Ungro."

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A Wind in the Door
by Madeleine L'engle
When Doctor Louise was talking about her experience with snakes, she recounted her trip to the Philippine Jungle where there were boa constrictors.

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The Secret of Platform 13
by Eva Ibbotson
When the boy's grandma was in a nursing home, she was delighted to find out that the nurse-on-duty was "Celeste, that nice nurse from the Philippines." Unlike the other nurses, Celeste was always smiling, very patient, and always wore a flower over her right ear.

From these portrayals of Pinoy chorvas, I therefore conclude na tingin sa atin ng mga dayuhan ay:
1) Tagalog is an exotic language.
2) Precious ang ating forests. (kaya dapat pangalagaan)
3) Mababait ang mga Pinay nurses. / Maraming Pinay nurses sa England.

Siyangapala, photos courtesy of amazon.com.