in search of cheap good food (part 1)

Cheap and good food are words that are normally not associated with each other and yet it's exactly this combination that propels many foodies to go out and search for this "holy grail".

My boyfriend found this treasure when he got hungry on the way to work a few months back.  It was originally a pizza/pasta place called Neilsen's Bageri and  is now called Chuck's Steak & Chops.  It's located next to Lapid's at the basement of the Landmark foodcourt just beyond the check out counters of the supermarket, across French Baker.

Our all-time favorite is their double porkchop with a choice of either a cup of Java rice or two cups of plain rice.  And it only costs P69.  Add P4 for a small cup (8oz) of orange/pineapple juice and P8 for (12oz) the large cup.  The porkchop cuts are actually not as thick as I would've liked but it's enough to satisfy my craving.  Their gravy though is a different story…OMG.  I've tasted gravy and I've tasted gravy…but this one takes the cake.  It's triple tasty to say the least.  The fact that my porkchops are swimming in it is enough to make me drool even now.

They also serve combos like: porkchop and burger, double burger, sisig with egg, T-bone steak, porterhouse, burger with egg, porkchop with egg, tocino with egg and all other sorts of combination you can imagine in a place that serves steaks and chops. 

 Chuck's steak & chops overhead menu

    my double porkchop order

after 10 minutes…clean plate!    

field trip

Since it opened some years ago (around 2004 I think), I have always wanted to visit the Avilon Zoo in Montalban, Rizal.  I can't recall why I never did.  Maybe it's because weekends were too busy with chores, activities with Make-A-Wish, or was just too lazy to make the effort. 

Last Saturday, the chance to visit the zoo finally came.  My sister's Zoology class was having a field trip and my boyfriend and I decided to tag along.  Since my sister's group were going from LB, they had to have a couple hours' headstart.  I took the MRT to Trinoma and met my boyfriend there at around half past 10.  We had printed the "map" posted at the Zoo's website along with the 3 versions of "How to get to Avilon Zoo" that I googled days before so we had a vague idea where we were going.  We took the Commonwealth route, past Marikina and on to Rodriguez, Rizal.  We kept looking out for Mercury Drugs, Total Gas stations and whatever other landmarks were given in the directions.  Of course, rereading those printouts now made me realize just how bad we Filipinos are at giving directions (no insult intended)….but I digress.  Merging the details from the 3 different versions, we got to the general area where the Zoo was located.  We even managed to find Twiglet Mini Mart….funnily enough, the printouts said to turn left when we find the mini mart, which we did and ended up driving all the way to the ends of a housing project.  We made our way back to where we came from (Twiglet's) and got a big scare when a huge, hairy spider dropped onto the windshield.  Ugh.  That was our welcome committee. Hahaha. 

We found the tiny Avilon Zoo sign on the little dirt road (first dirt road left of Twiglets since the 2nd dirt road goes to the housing project…duh!) and went our way. Finally! We made it.  After more than 2 hours of driving around.  Regardless of the ambiguity of the directions we had, it helped…a bit.

First order of business when we got there.  Introductions to my sister's professor and her classmates.  Lunch was individual orders of Teriyaki Chicken, Boneless Bangus (it wasn't boneless at all) and Inihaw na porkchop.  Each came with rice, atsara, veggies and a bottle of Summit mineral water.  Although the food was nothing to rave about, it wasn't so bad either…for 95 bucks.

The next 2 hours found us wandering around the zoo.  We spent the longest time with the crocs and tigers.  It was fun to see such sedentary reptile move so fast each time we threw in a leaf.  The tiger was beautiful but the cubs were just something else.  It was like playing with big kitties.  And since my sister and I adored felines, we were in cat heaven.

 We also had the chance to talk to the zoo vet and watch a local TV station film the Jaguar for the evening news.

Here are some pics of the zoo that caught my interest:

There still tons of room for improvement for Avilon Zoo but definitely it has the potentials of becoming something like the Singapore Zoo. 

To top off a nice day, we had dinner at Steak MD along Tomas Morato.  I had their recommended "rub ko 'to" rub to go with my medium-rare large (335g) T-bone steak.  An order of their special rice (had a hint of pandan in it), a side of veggies and a can of Mountain Dew (they only serve Pepsi products) rounded up the meal.  Between the three of us, our bill totaled to Php800.  Not bad.  Definitely going back for seconds and thirds soon…maybe fourths even.

A fresh start

So many things have changed this year so I thought it was just right to start fresh with a new blog as well.  My old ones have been abondoned for some time now since I got busy with other things.  But lately, whenever I find something new or interesting, I can't seem to make myself write about it.  Or more aptly, I can't seem to find the right words to describe these things.  It was then that I realized I was so out of it.  I haven't written in almost 2 years!  Sure, there are people who write better than me (I've never claimed to be a good writer anyway hehehe) but I enjoy writing simply for the chance to express myself….to give myself the chance to read about what I thought about something years from now…to reflect on how my point of view has changed over the years…to see how much I've grown.

So this one's a dedication of the things I've learned for the past years I've missed out writing about, the people I've met, the places I've been to, the interesting stuff I've seen, the food I've gorged on and the friendships I've made.