Buy 1 Take 1 Loot and Japan Home Center Haul

Okay, I love Robinson's Otis now. It has the biggest Japan Home Center branch I've been to so far, and it still has some of the items that I have been looking for. Check out the insulated bento bags! There's the smaller one with the flower print - very Japanese, and the bigger checkered one with a pocket. They are both well-made (there was another plain model that had bad quality stitching). They are still in stock so if you are looking for them, check out the Otis branch. I also got a sandwich box, a Winnie the Pooh container, and.. tada! Did you see the black bento? I had despaired of ever finding one. It's a real Japanese-type 2-tier bento with the top cover. I also got 2 glass containers just in case I cannot avoid having to nuke my lunch. I am trying to avoid microwaving food as much as possible. It is very unhealthy according to various forwarded emails and websites, and microwaving using plastic containers (even microwave-safe ones) are worse. As for me, I also prefer my food cooked and heated the old-fashioned way, and as for the "nuking is bad" claims, I would rather be safe than sorry.

Dad also found a lot of things on Buy-1-Take-1 or some other promo at the supermarket. Those Japanese crackers are good! I am quite pleased at the Lurpak butter haul! P145 for 2 bars? It's cheaper than Anchor! Love love love love good butter on good bread (NOT the tasty-type commercial breads)! Good bread = yeasty, flavorful, slightly chewy. Crusty outside, chewy inside and hole-y! I just don't like the commercial 'tasty' loaf being sold nowadays. They are too refined and make too many crumbs when you slice them. Me like big yeast holes in me bread. Sometimes I actually seek out the "cheaper" breads since they are closer to the real bread I like.

Japan Home Centre - Robinson's Place haul

Last Tuesday, my dad said he was going to get some groceries and I asked him where he was going. He usually goes to Robinson's Otis, claiming that it was more convenient than going to nearby SM Centerpoint. But me being me, I wanted to go to Japan Home Center. Upon checking their website, I saw that they had a branch at Robinson's Place Manila in Malate. I asked if we could go to Robinson's Place (RP) instead because there was something I wanted to check out there.

Upon reaching RP, I said I was going to the P88 store. My dad told me that there was a branch at Robinson's Otis and that there was no need to go all the way to RP, where parking was a hassle. Mental note: tag along to Robinson's Otis next time.

At RP's Japan Home Centre, I bought this yellow 2-tier bento, a smaller container with a cold pack for fruits, and a small insulated bag to put my bento in. By the way, the bag also came with its own cold pack.

Aside from bento supplies, my dad was also able to buy reading glasses for only P88, which I subsequently found at New Hatchin for only P85.

Chocolate Lover and SweetCraft haul

For the past several days I have been merrily checking out the various baking supply stores that are not too far away. Here are some of the items that I got:

From Chocolate Lover:

I got some baking cups, which I can use either to bake cupcakes or as a bento separator. The baking cups, which came in packs of 200's, cost from P20+ to P40+, depending on the size. I also got some cellophane sheets and small plastic bags which I plan to use to wrap future home-made goodies! I also got some lollipop sticks, some small M&M type candies, sugar flowers and hearts (that I plan to stick on cupcakes for decoration). The sugar flowers were around P10-20 a pack.

I was browsing around the lobby area when I spotted a stack of baking class brochures. Hmm... Maybe one of these days I will attend a cake decorating class. I do really need to learn to decorate a cake properly! My version of cake decorating only runs to dumping the frosting on the cake, smoothing it out, and occasionally drawing patterns on the icing or stenciling some powdered sugar on top... Hmm.. I should really check out those classes! I looked at the prices and they seem fairly reasonable at P800-2,000+. My one regret was that I didn't see the edible ink pens. I had been looking for them so I can make those cake pops from Bakerella. Since we arrived late, near closing time, I was in a hurry. Later that evening, as I was narrating to the boyfriend my baking plans, he told me he saw those edible ink pens at Chocolate Lover, but didn't call my attention to them since he didn't know I was looking for them! Waaaaaa!

Overall, I think I would go back to Chocolate Lover once in a while to check out if they have some new products. But in my opinion, some of their items, like the nuts, chocolate, etc.. can be had for less in Quiapo. There's a store almost across Killion that sells nuts cheaper.


From SweetCraft:


It bothers me that I have been driving through Boni Avenue on average about once or twice a month and have never noticed SweetCraft. Thanks to MarketMan's post about baking supplies, I learned about this little baker's haven. It is just a short detour from my way home so I went to visit after work today.

Since I already had most of my stock sourced from Quiapo, I didn't buy much from here. What differentiates them from the usual chocolate/baking supply store, at least for me, is that they had these big 2kg blocks of cream cheese for P855. That is around 8 regular-sized bars of cream cheese, which would average only at P106/bar. And, what made me really happy, was that they had phyllo pastry!!! Yey! Phyllo pastry desserts are in my future!

I only bought some white chocolate. Yes, the inexpensive unbranded ones. I am thinking of using them as the coating for those smiley cake pops like Bakerella's. Or maybe make some white chocolate almond clusters? I am trying to use up some slivered almonds. Hmm.. yum! Since I am still practicing I don't think buying expensive chocolate is practical. I do plan to buy some in the future for special occasions, though.

SweetCraft has A LOT of packaging options available. Boxes of different sizes, individual plastic packaging for cake slices, cupcakes, etc.. Unfortunately, I live near RM (the actual printer who makes the boxes), so I buy directly from RM. But I compared prices and I think SweetCraft's price for the boxes are the same as RM's retail price, so that shouldn't stop you from buying your boxes from SweetCraft.

Chocolate Lover is at 45 P. Tuazon Blvd. cor. C. Benitez St., QC. Telephone numbers are 724-4964 / 724-5752 / 411-7474. It should be very noticeable as the house/building really looks like a fairy-tale castle!

SweetCraft is at 373 Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong. Open Mondays-Sundays, 9am-6pm. Telephone numbers are 532-1595 /532-6289.

SM Year-End Sale haul

This is an overdue post. I went to SM Megamall last week. They were having their year-end sale, promising up to 50% off on many items. I wasn't really expecting to find anything great, but! I was able to get these items at a bargain, so I felt pretty happy about it.

I got a star and a heart-shaped ice mold for only P30 each! They seem like the silicone stuff that's popular now. Anyway, I still can't think of anything to do with them except make ice, but I'm sure a great idea will come to me. If you have any suggestions, let me know!



I was also able to buy this cute bento box for only P50! Yes, it was on 50% off! It comes with this cute matching spoon (see pics above post).

I was also able to buy these purrty sandals for only P399.00, down from the original price of P1,199.00! Good thing they were in my size!

New Bombay + Daiso & Japan Home Centre Haul

I was reading Kaoko's blog last night (www.kitchencow.com) and was inspired to do two things today: 1. go shopping for bento stuff, and 2. eat at Hana.

So off I went today, grabbed The Cat (a.k.a the boyfriend, who likes to think he's a cat) along for a day of fun, food, and shopping.

The plan was to go to 4 places - Daiso at St. Francis Square, Japan Home Centre at Robinson's Galleria, New Hatchin Japanese Grocery in Makati, and at least have an authentic takoyaki at Hana.

But we were hungry so we first had lunch at New Bombay Restaurant at the 4th floor of the Podium, near the cinema. I forgot to take pictures! We ordered our usual vegetable samosa, mattar paneer and naan. I also ordered a chicken dish. Ack! I forgot the name of the dish. Suffice to say that it was the last on the list of chicken dishes that started with Chicken Tikka Masala.

The verdict:
Yes, we are regulars at New Bombay restaurants so here's our take on this new branch's food -

• Vegetable Samosas - the branch at the Columns (corner of Ayala and Buendia Avenues) has better vegetable samosas
• Mattar Paneer - the branch at Glorietta (near A Venetto) has the best mattar paneer, imho (ask for mild spiciness).
• Chicken dish whose name I forgot - better than the mattar paneer :)

After lunch, we hied off to Daiso in St. Francis Square. At first I wasn't sure if we found the right store because the big sign said "DYI", but that was the right store after all. I ended up buying a lot of stuff, The Cat was nagging me about spending so much on unplanned expenses. Hehe :) But I couldn't help it! Pictures of my haul:

In the pictures are some small plastic containers (I'm thinking for fruit, sauce, pudding, jello..). I also got an egg slicer. I didn't even know they had the 6-wedge slicers now. I also bought the Winnie the Pooh bento that Kaoko had on her blog, some cookie cutters I might use as fried egg molds, foil cups, and a heart-shaped onigiri mold . These items mostly cost P88 each, with some at P66.

After Daiso, we went to Galleria to browse through the Japan Home Centre branch there. Almost everything was at P88 again. They basically have the same things on sale. I only bought a few items not in the Daiso branch I went to - a regular triangular onigiri mold and a flower puncher (for punching flower-shaped nori?).

I hope these recent purchases help and inspire me to make cute, colorful bento!