Friday, June 21, 2013

Man of Steel at Giligan's

I watched Man of Steel the other day at IMAX, SM Mall of Asia. I've been wanting to watch Man of Steel after hearing/reading good reviews about it but I never had the time to so when somebody invited me and I was free, I said yes right away. I was really excited. Besides, I haven't been to IMAX in a long while.

The movie was good. It didn't disappoint. The reviews I read were right. It was really entertaining. The visuals were really awesome. They looked believable. It is  also interesting to note that the present Superman showed more 'emotions' than the previous Supermen (does the rule apply here or should it be Supermans since it's a proper name anyway?).

The supporting cast were good. I must say, however, that I thought Diane Lane was Sharon Stone made to look old. I don't know why so please don't ask me.

Anyway, what I want to really tell you in this blog is that we ate at Giligan's after watching Man of Steel. This is a food blog, right? Haha

We chose Giligan's because we were 5 and somebody told us that they have 'group orders' that are affordable. Their group orders are divided into two. The F group and the S group. The F group (F1, F2, F3, etc.) is good for four hence the F label and the S group (S1, S2, S3, etc.) is good for six. Since we were 5, we ordered from the S group -- we had S3.

S3 has fried squid heads with sweet and spicy dip, fried pork liempo, sinigang na baboy, beef steak with bean sprouts, lumpiang shanghai, 2 big plates of steamed rice and 6 glasses of iced tea. The serving of the different viands aren't big but since there are several kinds, all of us had enough (or at least I think all of us had). We were only 5 so I don't think it could really serve 6.

The sinigang is what I likes most. I am not really fond of sinigang na baboy but I liked theirs. I also liked the fried squid heads. The shanghai is okay -- it was fried just right. The liempo was also okay but nothing really outstanding. The steak tastes like the ordinary carinderia variety. I'm not saying it was bad. It's just that there is nothing really special about it.

For P 835 (P 139 for a group of six), I think it's a good deal provided that not all of you are men who are big eaters.

If  you have needs like the Man of Steel, I think this package isn't enough --  even if you eat it alone. Wait a minute, I just realized, I didn't see Superman eating anything in the movie. Did he eat in the past versions?

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Kangaroo Jack - a not-so-special menu and an expensive 'charging' rate

June 12, 2013. Independence Day. Holiday.

My friend and I decided to go to a restaurant to finish some work we brought home. I don't usually bring work home but since it's the middle of the week and I can't go out of town, I decided to just bring some to occupy my time. We chose The Hub located at the Rizal Par, Luneta, beside Chines Garden. It's described as an upscale lounge facility owned and operated by 2Go. When we got there we were surprised by the sign at the door that says "CLOSED". I didn't expect that The Hub would be close because it's a holiday and it is located right at the heart of one of the places that a lot of people visit especially during holidays.

We then decided to go to another restaurant near Luneta. Again, the place is closed. What on earth is happening? We had no choice but to go to Robinson's Manila to find a restaurant or a coffee shop where we could charge our laptops so we could finish our work.

We saw this restaurant called Kangaroo Jack at the ground floor of the mall. It has an eat-all-you-can merienda with unlimited red iced tea for only P 189. Before we got in we asked the waitress standing by the door if they have electric outlets where we could plug-in our laptops and she said yes. So we got in and started with our buffet meal.

They had 2 kinds of pasta -- spaghetti (with red sauce) and pesto. They also  had chicken adobo, meatballs and steamed rice. There's soup with toast. They also had nachos and banana fritters or mini turon with chocolate syrup.

The spaghetti is ordinary. The pesto is good but there's also nothing especial about it. Same with the adobo. Modesty aside, I could cook better adobo. What I really like is their nachos because of the salsa. The tomatoes and onions were cut small but not very small to the point that they would look like purees. The banana fritters is also good --  not too sweet and the wrap is crispy with the filling kept soft.

While we were eating we were told that charging is allowed but is only free for the first 15 minutes. They charge P 50 for the succeeding hour. We were surprised by this but just said okay because we have already started with our buffet meals. Then on my second round (hey, this is eat-all-you-can, lol), another waiter (a Richard Poon look alike I almost looked for Maricar, lol) approached us to say that they charge P 100 per hour for charging laptops. The P 50 rate they earlier told us is for cellular phones. I felt it was too much so we just decided to leave the place. That is after we get some more helpings from their not-so-special eat-all-you-can table.