How to Apply for Philippine Passport

Did you know that you can now apply for your Philippine passports in malls? If this is your first time hearing this then read on.

Getting a Passport is now made easier and more accessible as we can now schedule for an appointment online and make our personal appearance in their satellite branches located within malls! Yehey!

My passport has two more years left before its expiration but my husband insisted on renewing it to update my last name to my married name so that we can apply for a US VISA. So here's the steps on

Product Review: Imarflex 3-in-1 Convection & Rotisserie Oven

My husband recently just bought me one of my dream stuff in the whole world - my very first cute li'l oven! Well, actually I was the one who ordered the oven but he paid for it. hehehe

The 30L Imarflex 3-in-1 Convection Oven costs Php 4,999 in malls, but if you order directly in their warehouse branch they will give you a discount. Plus you can also order from them another rack for Php 370 only - this way you can place two cookie trays at once to save on electricity. I have mine delivered to my doorsteps at no extra cost! Such a great deal! (But I think they now charge a certain delivery fee depending on the area)

The oven's temperature is in Celsius and can be adjusted up to 250C. It has 5 function selectors: (1) Upper Heater, (2) Lower Heater, (3) Up & Down Heater, (4) Rotisserie + Convection + Upper Heater, and (5) Convection + Both Heaters. I have only tried using function 5 to bake some goodies which I will be writing on a separate post soon.
Your oven should come with the following parts: Rack & Tray holder, Skewer, Grill Rack, Baking Tray and a Crumb Tray. Mine came without the Crumb Tray so I called up their office and they came back to my house the next day to deliver the missing item. Two thumbs up for the really great service.

I have already used my oven twice to bake a Calamansi Graham Pudding and Calamansi Muffins (both recipes can be found in Pepper.ph) and the results were great! There were no problems so far. As for its energy consumption, I would still have to wait for my next electricity bill.

Happy baking everyone!

UPDATE: They now charge delivery fee. Please log your inquiries to know their delivery fee.

UPDATE 7/28/2015: I have been informed that there will be a price increase of php500 effective August 1, 2015 which makes its SRP to Php 5500.

Resto Review: Kichitora of Tokyo

We were looking around SM Megamall for a place to eat and I was as usual indecisive of what I'd like to eat. After some time, we decided to try out Kichitora of Tokyo found in the 2nd floor of the Mega Atrium.

We ordered their set meals which had a side dish and a portion of their dessert. It price depends on the type of Ramen you choose to go with the meal.

My husband ordered one of their best sellers, the Paitan Ramen Zenbu no Se (Php 300 small). Honestly I am not fond of Ramen but when I tasted this one I instantly fell in love with it. The soup was so delightfully flavorful, its meat was so tender and noodles was just right. No wonder this is a best seller.

My husband's set meal came with Chicken Karaage (Php 150 single) which you drizzle with lemon juice. The breading was crispy but the meat was not as flavorful.

My order on the other hand was soy-based, the Hokkaido Miso Ramen (Php 290 small). It was also delicious but after some time it became quite salty for my taste. I do love the grilled meat - it was tender and added a smoky taste which complimented the overall dish.

My side dish was their Gyoza (Php 150) which I can attest was one of the best Gyoza I have tasted so far.

As for our dessert, we were served with their Almond Jelly (Php 150) which also came with some strawberry sauce to add sweetness. This was nothing special but I was still delighted because I just love jelly.

Overall, their food was delicious and was served fast. The only downside was that their staff were not friendly and attentive to their customers. But still, I would love to eat here again if we have the chance.

Loom Bands Galore

I just got myself a set of Loom Bands and I was so excited to try it out.

I bought my set at 1StopBiz for Php150 but for a limited time it's now sold at only Php100! This set is perfect for those who just want to try it out first before investing on those expensive ones.

The set consists of 600pcs bands, 24pcs s-hook, loom board, multi-purpose crochet, and instruction manual.

The instruction manual only had instructions on how to make a single loom band which in my opinion is not so nice to look at. I suggest you start your loom band adventure by making the basic fishtail.

But don't fret, youtube is overflowing with lots of loom band tutorials that you'll never run out of projects to do.

Warning: This is a very addictive hobby. I ended up doing 3 more projects for 3 straight days since I got the kit. Heheheh I really had a hard time doing the Star Burst pattern. I had to start over 3 times! But nothing beats the feeling of satisfaction once you complete it.

Fishtail and Star Burst

The making of the Hexafish

Paleo Diet by Vetri

I just got myself into another diet plan and this time it's Paleo Diet by Vetri. The one week meal package costs Php 1,800 and bought mine for two weeks at half the price through their promotion at Groupon. Vetri is owned by Chef Ric Loteria who's a celebrity chef and was awarded 2 Michelin Star - knowing this I have high hopes that his food would taste really good. Paleo Diet is composed of high protein meals with low or no carbs at all. The diet's concept is for one to eat what our ancestors used to eat. The diet is also known as the Caveman Diet.

Day 1

My first impression when I saw the brown bag "This is it?". The bag was so light and I wondered how can my entire day meal be this light and would fit in a small brown bag. I opened the bag and whoala! I just confirmed that I will be having really really light meals throughout the day. Their servings were so little! huhuhu What have I got myself into... But I must endure this challenge because I still paid for it. So here goes.

Breakfast: Organic "Asian Style" Scrambled Eggs
I don't know why it's called "Asian Style" because it tasted like just scrambled eggs to me that was a bit creamy. It was surprising fulfilling maybe it was because of the water I drank but my tummy still made grumbling noises from time to time.

Snack: Fresh Fruit Jelly
As I opened my fruit jelly, it gave out a weird smell and as I took a bite of its mangoes it was sour and the rest of the fruits were already spoiled. This is so disappointing. I had really high hopes for this diet meal and seeing food go to waste is frustrating.

Lunch: Pollo ala Cacciotore
Dinner: Classic Italian Minestrone
Seeing that both meal portions for my lunch and dinner were small, I decided to eat both of them over lunch.
The chicken that was supposedly my lunch wasn't even a quarter chicken size =( it was so small! It is tasty but only because it was salty. The corn was just a bonus just to make me feel full.
My supposedly dinner was only tomato soup with bits of chopped corn and carrots.

I really had high hopes for this diet plan but I can now picture my future meals for the next days. I should have tried reading more reviews about them and not immediately be enticed by the title of the chef. A lesson learned and it's just day one. =(

Day 2

Breakfast: Vegetable Frittata
Snack: Carrot Salad Fresh Fruits
Lunch: Chicken & Fish Cake with Pumpkin Sauce
Dinner: Country-Style Bacon Pork with Amatriciana Sauce

For my second day, the meal portions are more than yesterday. Thank goodness! Breakfast was nothing special quite bland actually. The fresh fruit salad for snack was more of papaya salad then a few pieces of pineapple. For lunch, I honestly liked the chicken and fish cake - I didn't think that chicken and fish together will blend well but it works - a bit salty though. The pumpkin sauce is completely unnoticeable. Dinner was sour but just because the sauce is made of fresh tomatoes but I just wished they did something to balance the overall taste of the meal. By the way, it had no bacon but had fatty pork slices.

Day 3

Breakfast: Corned Beef & Chayote Hash with Baked Eggs
Snack: Vegetable Thai Wrap Grapes
Lunch: Beef Rendang with Roasted Vegetables Corned Rice
Dinner: Grilled Fillet o Fish with Garlic Mushroom

I love corned beef but I am disappointed to get corned beef through diet meals. It would be ok with me if they made it from scratch but the corned beef used for my breakfast tasted like it came from a can. =(
For lunch, I liked the sauce of the beef rendang but unfortunately the beef was not tender enough and was fatty too. The meal is matched with corned rice which did not taste anything like corn - it actually did not taste anything at all. I just didn't get it.
As for dinner, it was not fish fillet! I don't know what it was but I think it was ground pork with a few pieces of carrots and peas.

Day 4

Breakfast: Asparagus, Tomatoes & Egg
Snacks: Fresh Fruit Salad Gelatin
Lunch: Rosemary Pork Steak, Corn & Carrots with Red Rice with cucumber
Dinner: Eggplant "Paleo" Lasagna

My breakfast for today was just terrible. I can't believe that they served me egg cooked in a microwave! How do I know that it's cooked in the microwave? Because the whites completely sticks the sides of the container.

But my day just got worse seeing what's for lunch - it was pork chop with a big chunk of fat! Are they really sure their giving out the right calories per meal. I am not so sure anymore. They just lost my trust just by serving this to me.

I was quite surprised seeing gelatin for my snack. I love gelatin so I thought to myself that I'm in for a treat but no... the gelatin did not have any taste at all. It smells of mangoes but it does not taste like anything. It was like eating an unflavored gelatin. What a disappointment!
Just when I thought that my day won't get any worse, one look at my dinner meal and I instantly got sad. It was so unappealing and the taste - it was sour and salty all at the same time. I am now completely frustrated and unmotivated to go on with the diet so I just eat what I want to eat from this day forward.

Day 5

Breakfast: Smoked Bacon & Organic Eggs
Snack: Fresh Fruit Cucumber Salad
Lunch: Classic Fish & Zucchini (not fried)
Dinner: Vegetable Marinara with Baked Prawns Thigh Chicken Stew Soup

Here comes the last day and once again they changed the menu. Breakfast was just so-so and once again had eggs. The fish was just alright for me but I am overwhelmed to see that they served it with Sayote and Singkamas. This is definitely not worth the money I spent on. The chicken was just stew and not enough to be called a soup.

Update 7/30/2014 - food from the second week of delivery:

The Verdict:

Paleo Diet by Vetri is by far the worst diet meal delivery service I ever had. I definitely do not recommend anyone to subscribe to their meals. Unfortunately for me, I have to endure another week of their food since I got their 2 week meal plan.
I can only think of one good point for them - they deliver on time. All other points are going downhill. Below are their cons:

• They don't provide utensils.
• They don't provide notes on how much calories your meal has or at least what's the menu for the day.
• They don't stick with their menu. They change their menu anytime they want.
• Meal portions were small.
• Their food were salty and fatty.

So if you plan to avail their meals, proceed with caution. I am definitely not listing them to my list of recommended diet meals.

For good diet options, click here.