Sunday, September 27, 2009

The wrath of Ondoy (Ketsana); flood, rain and traffic everywhere!

Sunday, September 27, 2009 0
Major Cities in Metro Manila Philippines got wiped off the map as typhoon Ketsana/Ondoy brought down endless rain yesterday (Sept 26, 2009) which caused flash floods and rivers/dams to overflow. Here are some pictures of places around the Metro yesterday.

Cubao, in front of Araneta Coliseum... yep that's the roof of a car.


Loyola heights not really looking so high..


Makati Ayala, underground walkways become an "only swimming" zone..

more Photos/Videos at azraelsmerryland.blogspot.com

Two low pressure areas/impending typhoons headed for Philippine shores..



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Saturday, September 26, 2009

Typhoon Ketsana (locally named as "Ondoy") hits Manila, Saturday Dates officially canceled! lol

Saturday, September 26, 2009 0
30 areas in Luzon, including Metro Manila, were placed under storm alerts as tropical storm "Ondoy" accelerated further and moved closer to Central Luzon on Saturday morning.

Weather bureau PAGASA said Ondoy was cruising west northwest at 19 kilometers per hour, packing maximum sustained winds of 85 kph and gustiness of up to 100 kph. It was located 130 kilometers southeast of Baler town, Aurora province or 90 kilometers east northeast of Infanta, Quezon as of 5 a.m.

Public storm warning signal No. 2 was hoisted over La Union, Pangasinan, Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Bulacan, northern part of Quezon, Polillo Island, Camarines Norte and Rizal. Signal No. 1 was raised over Isabela, Mt. Province, Ifugao, Ilocos Sur, Bataan, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Marinduque, Mindoro provinces, Lubang Island, southern part of Quezon, Camarines Sur, Albay, Burias Island, and Metro Manila.

PAGASA said the storm is expected to enhance the southwest monsoon and bring rains over the central and southern parts of Luzon, as well as the Visayas regions. Nathaniel Cruz, PAGASA's chief weather forecaster, said they expect Ondoy to cross Luzon while on its way to South China Sea.

Cruz said Ondoy may make landfall in Aurora province on Saturday morning and touch Pangasinan at night time before heading back to the sea. The weather bureau has also advised the Philippine Coast Guard to stop fishing boats and other small seacrafts from sailing in the affected areas.

The advisory has left more than 1,000 passengers stranded in southern Luzon and Bicol ports. PAGASA has also alerted the National Disaster Coordinating Council for possible flashfloods and landslides in the affected areas, partcularly in Laguna, Quezon, Zambales, Pampanga and Bataan provinces. Meanwhile, the Manila International Airport Authority said 13 flights of Zest Air SeaAir and PAL Express to Caticlan, Basco town in Batanes, San Jose town in Mindoro and Tablas in Romblon have been cancelled due to bad weather.

Source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Monday, August 24, 2009

Munching Cyma (Greek Restaurant) - The OPA! experience

Monday, August 24, 2009 2
I've been hearing from friends about the great cheesy foods over at Cyma, the resto was also featured in www.ourawesomeplanet.com.

So.. being a cheese lover, I decided to bring Mich here on our date last Saturday. (we actually frequent Italian restos since we're both cheese addicts.)

We went to Cyma's Trinoma branch located at the mall's 4th level outdoor garden. It's near Jack's Loft and Italiannis. By the way, Cyma, in Greek, means "to flourish".

Having no other hints but Cheese, I actually thought this was just another Italian restaurant (sure glad it was not). Greek cuisine! hmmm now how does Greek food actually differ from those of other countries in Europe? Let's check the Menu.
*click the Picture above to view the Complete Menu
Also take note of the meaning of the tags; Chef's Hat = Chef Recommended, Greece Flag = Original Greece Recipe, Earth Icon = Modernized Recipe, Heart Icon = Healthy/Low Cal.

Starting off with their list of OREKTIKA (appetizers).
One thing special in this place is their especially marked "OPA!" types of food, which they flambeau/light up in front of you, as the waiter (slash cook?) shouts Ohp-PAH! together with all of the waiters inside the resto. OPA! by the way is a greek cheer, similar to saying Hooray!


After seeing one of the tables being served with a flaming plate OPA!-style, we immediately searched the menu for those Flaming dishes. There's actually 3 of them, 2 appetizers (flaming cheese and flaming greek sausages) and 1 dessert (flaming mango). We wanted to try the sausages but they're already out of sausages, guess that's typical for a saturday night date, most of the best sellers are no longer available.










So we ended up trying the Flaming cheese. Served with Greek Garlic Bread (well its garlic bread, no more no less) but the cheese was a different story, it was good and the taste of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) blended well with the flavor of the mozzarella cheese.


Make sure you eat it immediately as the cheese cools down fast and wont stick to the bread anymore when you dip it.

We wanted to try one of their best sellers, the Chicken Gyro (P160), but like the sausages, they're no longer available. So we went and ordered the main course.

Hirine Brizola (P450)


3/4 Inch Grilled Pork Chops with your choice of either Rice-Stuffed Peppers or Greek Roasted Potatoes. We ordered the potatoes since rice stuffed inside peppers didn't appeal to us much.



Me squeezing "Greek" Lemon (lol) over the thick and juicy looking chops..
The Grilled Pork Chops were so far the best that I've tasted, it was so tender I bet even an old gramps who's already without teeth can ground it up by just chewing with his bare gums lol.

But what surprised us was the taste of the Greek Roasted Potatoes! It was flavourful but you can't really describe what was in it or why it tasted that good. Needless to say it was really yummy. As how Mich described it, it was like eating mashed potato that wasn't mashed.


Our next stop is Pasta!
Garides Mi Feta Spaghetti (P450)


Believe it or not, we were already full by the time we finished the porkchops and potatoes. Not to mention that we were very hungry upon going to the resto. So we just had the pasta for take out.

First of all the serving is quite generous, we only ordered for the solo plate but what we got was still good for two. Like 2 servings of Spaghetti at Jollibee.



See the Giant prawns? What I loved about this one is the fresh taste of the Prawns, plus the taste of feta cheese giving the spaghetti an added cheesy salty taste. Other than that, its just like any normal restaurant's spaghetti, similar to those from Italiannis and Cibo. So I would actually recommend the Pork Chops over this one.




Since we were already full, and still had a movie to watch, we didn't try anymore any of the deserts. We wanted to be early so we could see if the trailers in the 3D cinema will be in full 3D or only the main movie. Well we weren't disappointed. But that should go on a different post.


The Place was also nice, not one of the best that we have been to, the walls were plain and I really like it when they have wall decors showing pictures or anything that gives more information or Trivia about the resto's chosen theme.



Blitz's Bite:

The food is pricey but you'll never regret your visit.
The food is great and we'll definitely come back for the Chicken Gyro and Lamb Chops which are a "Must Try" from what we've heard, oh plus the Spinach and Artichoke Fondue! lol ang dami.



Below are more pictures of the menu with some Greek Trivias/Facts.
Houses in Greece... hmmm doesn't look very different from those in Tagaytay..

To view the High Resolution Pictures, click on the following link: Cyma Photo Album
Related Posts with Thumbnails
 
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