Moving around, discovering

We have divided our week into market research and desk work, unless something urgent or important comes up in between. We tried to look for new outlets, products, and culinary techniques, but somehow we could not avoid revisiting old haunts. Here, we always discover interesting items that have escaped our roving eyes or new ones that have been recently added to the menu.

Amici, the pasta-pizza chain, started by the Don Bosco church in Makati, is now quickly gaining an enormous clientele in Alabang Town Center (ATC). A few days ago, to refresh ourselves, we decided to have their gelato, which comes in flavors from standard chocolate to other more interesting variants. Drop in and look. Their bake shop produces foccacia (P85 per pack) and ciabatta bread. They’ve got ensaymada as well. Their new offerings include Sapore Supremo pizza (P385) with salami, blue cheese and anchovies; fettuccine al tartufo classico (P240) done with truffle oil and mushrooms. The place is a pleasant dining area, informal and cozy. Tel. no. 87878.

A few years back, someone gave us a beautiful cake from Marta’s. This lady is a genius at decorating her products, using vari-colored icing, designed like gift wrappers. Very original. Visit their outlet at the ATC activity area. Consult them for their grand celebration packages, factory tours and decorating activities for kids and adults. Telefax 842-1410.

Also in ATC, on the ground floor of the Susana building on Madrigal Avenue is a delectable discovery – the restaurant called Bam-bu which serves Thai cuisine. There you’ll find a chef from Thailand whose fish fillet in tamarind sauce is worth coming back to. While bathed in the sauce, the fillets remain crisp. Check their menu and get refreshed with their frozen lemon and basil (quite a combination) and water chestnut cooler, a mound of sherbet-like crushed ice with bits of chestnuts, dipped in red food coloring, with whole chestnuts surprisingly found at the bottom of the glass.

Starbucks, also at ATC, is one of our favorite waiting spots. We always delight in the beverages and pastries they serve. A few days ago, we discovered their latest – green tea latte and chai latte. Despite having worked with a British airline, we never took to tea with cream or milk. This green tea concoction is different and we like it. The flavors of tea and milk are perfectly blended, without either overwhelming the other. The chai blend is spicy.

By now, the residents of San Pedro, Laguna and its neighboring towns must have discovered shopping in a sophisticated but friendly and well-stocked hypermart. Shopwise San Pedro opened its doors two weeks ago, with a typical fiesta, giving shoppers a new experience. The ninth outlet belonging to the progressive and aggressive chain has brought to the suburb its philosophy of expansion in quality and differentiation (innovation). Signs marked “Price Watch” are all over, reiterating their thrust of providing discounts – on almost all items.

The inaugural guest of honor, the mayor, is only too happy that this will be creating jobs for his constituents. He went nostalgic and referred to his town as “Sampaguita Town,” which made us really regret that this, our national flower, seems to have become extinct. Gladly, San Pedro apparently still has it blooming. 

The place is big, neat and clean, aisles are wide, staff is helpful. One enters the complex and walks through “huts” with a selection of native food and delicacies. The dry goods are right after the entrance to the hypermart and farther down are the food section, bakery, a soda fountain (a new conceptual addition). There are chairs and tables, where shoppers can relax. There is a cooked food counter with lumpiang gulay at P18, our favorite tortang talong for P55, caldereta, etc. In the frozen section, Magnolia chicken sells at P150 a kilo, ground pork at P166. We noted Mrs. Fields zero transfat cookies (white macademia) at P205. Surely, the townsfolk will find pleasure in this modern shopping venue.

Have a good weekend, discover more!

E-mail comments and questions to [email protected]