1. Max’s Chicken – all branches, smiling staff
2. Mexicali – galleria branch, Megamall
3. Tsoko.nut
4. Life coffee and tea
5. Big Sky Mind
6. Aling Nena’s – Cubao
7. Mien San -
8. Cafe Med -
9. Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf -
10. Paciteria – teachers village

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Royal Canin cat food

It was about three months after our wedding when I got a call from a co-worker, Misha, telling me he was near the house, and that he was bringing over a wedding gift. Imagine my surprise when he parked in front of the house, and emerged from his car carrying a cage with a Siamese kitten!

It was the first time we had ever had a purebred cat. All our other cats were the offspring of my Botchok, a stray I had picked up in UP ten years ago. Though her kittens have grown to be big, strong and healthy cats, they’re still different from purebreds.

So I was a little bewildered. What do we feed him? Does he need special food? Does he need exercise? Does he shed more? I called my husband, whose first reaction was, “But doesn’t he know we already have five cats!”

My husband came home, and as soon as he saw the Siamese, he absolutely melted. “Awwwwwww!” he squeals, and he couldn’t resist picking up the kitten and cuddling it. Ah, the power of a cute baby.

Like me, he felt rather confused about taking care of a purebred cat. Fortunately, my friend Jill ran an online pet show, and often had free samples of cat and dog food. She very nicely offered me free samples of Royal Canin wet cat food.

The free samples we got were Instinctive, Kitten Instinctive, Ultra Light, Intense Beauty and Oral Mature. The kitten, Bunny, was only three months old, really a baby, so we gave him the Kitten Instinctive. He seemed to really like it, though he also ate dry cat food.

Indoor Mature

Our other cats are used to dry cat food. We normally feed them Tri-Pro pellets, sometimes Friskies. They won’t eat Whiskas. We only started buying Royal Canin when the vet told us that Botchok needed food for mature cats. We realized Royal Canin was something awesome when all the other cats wanted Botchok’s food. Imagine the chaos when we’d be trying to feed Botchok, and the other cats would keep trying to steal her food! We had to feed her in a separate room, and keep everyone else out.

Finally, we were able to feed them Royal Canin with the free samples from Jill. We had to make sure to put a small amount in each dish, just to make sure each cat got his or her share. If we put everything in one or two dishes, the cats would walk all over each other trying to get the food!

Unfortunately, Royal Canin is a little pricey, so we can’t really afford to feed all 6 cats with it. Since Botchok is the only one with special needs, we buy Royal Canin only for her. We feed her Indoor Mature. While she’s always had a lovely coat, I think the Royal Canin food has made her fur even smoother and silkier. Now she has the nicest coat of all our cats.

Or I could just be biased because she’s my favourite baby cat.

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In response to Lorie’s status message on Facebook asking what people were reading right now, I started writing down the titles of the books currently parked in various parts of the house. I realized my comment would be ridiculously long, so I’m posting it as a blog entry instead.

Would you believe I’m reading about 4 books right now? Since I have more free time now that the Kapihans are over and I’m no longer working for Playboy, I’m reading more and more. Webcomics, RSS feeds, news, books, and even comics. The books are scattered all over the house, so wherever I am, if I feel like reading, I need not look far for a book.

Books:

• Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe, by Laurence Bergreen. I’ve been inspired to read aboutexplorers and adventurers since I read Tony Horwitz’s book about Captain James Cook. I bought this one because it looked like an interesting angle on Magellan, and I’ve never read anything about him other than what’s written in Philippine history books. Different perspectives are always interesting.Unfortunately, I’m finding the writing of this book a little less engaging. Bergreen put a lot of effort into his research, though, taking care to explain the situations of the time, the histories that affected royal and religious decisions, and the importance of these voyages of discovery. I find my attention wavering from time to time, but not enough to give up on the book. I still want to know more about the man who first brought our country to the attention of Europe.
• Daughters of Britannia: The Lives and Times of Diplomatic Wives, by Katie Hickman. This book talks about the trials, tribulations and triumphs of women on diplomatic mission (either as diplomats or companions of diplomats) for the UK/England/Britain/whatever they called it at the time. Very interesting read, as we see accounts from different women–wives, sisters, daughters–in different times and different parts of the globe. These women braved raids, terrible weather, sick husbands and children, malnutrition, great discomfort, various modes of transportation over an even greater variety of landscapes and cultures.Though mine was not a diplomatic family, the book evokes many memories of my own travels, with my own family and friends. It is also a very personal look into the lives of these women who are long gone, as few of the excerpts are from history books or official records, but are instead taken from letters sent to sisters, mothers, friends. It makes me wonder about my own mother’s difficulties when we moved to the desert kingdom in 1987.
• Marvel Visionaries: Chris Claremont. Adam bought this for Oneal a few years ago. Actually I asked him to buy it, so I could give it to Oneal, but Adam refused to let me pay him back, so it’s a birthday gift from Adam really. Anyway, Oneal always said Claremont was his favorite X-Men writer, so I said I’d give him a read. So far I read two stories from this collection, and I find them pretty interesting. I hope to read the rest of the book.
• A Man of my Words, by Richard Lederer. I love Richard Lederer! I love reading about other people’s love affairs with words. I love etymologies, anecdotes and jokes related to words andtheir usage. I also love colloquialisms and observations on the vernacular. So this collection of Lederer’s writings is a fun read. It’s not something I need to read continuously, as the individual pieces (columns, I think) are pretty short. It’s good to pick up when I’m bored. It’s also a great source of trivia, which is often good among my friends for conversation topics.

Webcomics:

I used to read webcomics rather religiously, but with the wedding and the move, I’ve been so busy that I lost track. So I returned to my old favorites and started reading them all from day 1.

• Ctrl+Alt+Del, aka CAD. I’m not a gamer, not really (Dante will protest), but I love gamer humor. I guess it’s because a lot of our friends are gamers. Also, a lot of the humor isn’t just about games, but also about movies and fandom. Lots of pop culture references, so yeah, it’s right up our alley.
• Questionable Content. If CAD has games, QC has books and music. They make a lot of references to bands I’ve never heard of, and it’s funny because a lot of it is self-deprecating. The characters are also a lot like many people we know, haha, so it’s hilarious because sometimes they sound exactly like us. I don’t think I’m anything like Dora or Faye though.
• PVP. Another gamer comic, this one started in 1998. So yes, I have over 10 years’ worth of webcomic to read. The characters work in a gaming magazine called PVP, and it’s funny because they’re different kings of gamers: Cole, the editor, is all about classic games like Pacman. There’s Brent, who is a Mac user (and therefore the minority in the office); Jade, to whom I relate a great deal because she’s usually the only female in the story; Skull the troll (yes, they have a troll); and Francis, The Child. There are other characters, and their antics are really nuts.
• Something Positive. Dante got me started on this. I started reading it in 2003, I think. There’s a lot of plot and character development, and some things get really crazy. There’s a lot of geek in there: RPGs, theater, music, movies, and other pop culture stuff. I dunno if I like Peejee or Aubrey more.

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Ingrid has been doing Jovan's hair and make-up since high school!

One of the many suppliers we’ll need on the big day: hair and make-up! Shey and Jovan each recommended an artist. I tried Jovan’s recommendation yesterday: her suki’ng bakla, Ingrid, who owns a parlor in Marikina near Jovan’s house. It went pretty well!

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We got to try them sometime last year. The owner and her family are friends of Jovan. The food tasting was held at Oasis.

I honestly don’t remember the specific foods we tried, but I remember that we liked most of them. Unfortunately, we arrived late, and they’d run out of some of the dishes, like the prawns Thermidore, and most of the desserts. Oh well.

Pros:

• Maybe Jovan can get us a discount!

Cons:

• They’re not accredited at Fernwood.

– rej

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I’ve said that we can’t hire Caterer Tananaaan for the wedding, because every time I hear the name, I’ll start giggling and there will be no stopping me. I’ll need an inhaler! And it’s Oneal’s fault.

One day, we were stuck in traffic, approaching Guadalupe on EDSA southbound. I think we were going to a bridal fair. We were reviewing the list of caterers currently accredited at Fernwood, and we started laughing at Caterer Tananaaan. Oneal launched into an impromptu skit where Caterer Tananaaan is some macho chef, and every time his name is uttered, there is theme music (trumpets i think) coming out of nowhere. The mental image I’ve conjured up is Johnny Bravo, but brunette, Italian, very smarmy, and with a handlebar mustache. If I hadn’t been in the car, I’d have been rolling on the floor, laughing.

But the point is: the food! The food-tasting was held at the Coral Tree Garden in Fernwood. That was good because we saw how our reception venue looked with all the tables. The food was mostly good. Not excellent, but definitely better than Caterer J. They seemed to be flexible about swapping out the amenities. The stuff that was cooked on request were good, at the carving station and the pasta station.

Pros:

• Lauriat doable.
• They’re accredited at Fernwood.

Cons:

• Salad dressing was not nice.
• Desserts are so-so.

– rej

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We see them EVERYWHERE! We were wondering if they lived up to their rep. Seems like they did. I liked the vegetables, which were served with a cream sauce and breading. Not your usual veggie dish.

There was also a carving station, and we liked the beef and the pork. They had the usual buko pandan dessert, and it was good too. I think there was also chocolate mousse.

Bottom line: There’s a good reason they get jobs all over Metro Manila. Those trucks are carrying good food! If you’re at an event catered by Caterer H, I dare say you’ll be well fed.

Pros:

• Oneal and I both like the food.
• The company is actually run by the family.

Cons:

• They’re no longer accredited at Fernwood.

– rej

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They’re the ones who catered Anna’s wedding. I confess I don’t remember how their food tasted, which leads me to agree with Oneal that it’s not one of the things people will think about or recall after the event. But still, I’m eating, and so is Oneal, and we would like good food.

Oneal and I were able to go to a food-tasting for Caterer A, and their food tasted good! Oneal actually liked the breaded eggplant. That’s very encouraging.

They also passed the Lengua Test. To my recollection, not a lot of their dishes made me think, “I can make this.” And that’s good. Their food is kid-friendly too.

Pros:

• Anna hired them!
• They do lauriat.
• Oneal ate the eggplant.

Cons:

• They’re not accredited at Fernwood.

– rej

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This is the only food-tasting we had to pay for.  We saw them at a wedding fair in the Rockwell tent. We didn’t like them. First of all, the lady in charge wasn’t very nice.  Second, the food was very ordinary. My cooking is better! Third, you know it’s bad when even the dessert is boring.

The only good thing about them is that they are accredited at Fernwood, and that’s not a good enough reason to hire them.

We got to try them again last December, at AJ Axalan’s birthday party. The food was all meat, and it was so heavy and filling that I felt bloated afterwards. Even Oneal gave up on the lechon, which is one of his favorite foods. Anna told me about a wedding they attended in January which was catered by Caterer J was the caterer: she, her mother and Gabby all had upset stomachs afterwards.

Caterer J is definitely not an option.

Pro:

• They’re accredited at Fernwood

Cons:

• Upset stomach
• Ordinary food
• All-meat kids buffet
• Unfriendly staff

– rej

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They had a food-tasting at Aliw Theater while the Themes & Motifs wedding fair was ongoing at the PICC Forum. The food was pretty good. They had a really nice, tasty soup, and a good salad with shredded chicken. Oneal liked it. When Oneal likes the soup and the salad, that’s a really good sign.

They only had plain rice and rolls. The pasta was not nice. Mom makes better alfredo sauce, and their red sauce was just bad. The rest of the food was pretty okay. The Parmesan-crusted cream dory was good, and the ginger chicken. The BBQ chicken was tasty enough, but nothing special. They did pass the lengua test though.

The best part was their dessert buffet. Yum! They had different kinds of mousse, gelatin and whatnot, as well as eclairs, and all but one item was excellent.

Pros:

• They’re accredited at Fernwood.
• Chef Nick can get us a discount

Cons:

• No lauriat option, only buffet or sit-down

– rej

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