Flavors of Asia at Marriott Manila

Tweet

Many will agree that one of the best ways to experience Asia is through its food—historic, flavorful, and vast. Especially for the Southeast Asian region that boasts a multi-cultural and hard-hitting influence with the way we enjoy cooking and eating, it’s no wonder why dishes that hail from these regions are considered a feast for the senses. 

Photo Courtesy of Marriot Cafe

To pay tribute to this revered cuisine of the world; Marriott Manila brings home four of the Asia ’s most famous cuisines.  From Thailand , Malaysia , Indonesia and Vietnam , Marriott Cafe tantalizes everyone with a masterpiece through a month-long celebration of Oriental flavors that’s uniquely Marriott.

What else could be more exciting other than a larger than life encounter with Renaissance Kuala Lumpur’s Ruhizad Muri, JW Marriott Jakarta’s Dadang Wahyudi, Renaissance Riverside Saigon Phan Tien Hoa, and JW Marriott Bangkok Thanatorn Krobsuay. Boasting with culinary career track that is dynamically diverse, expect only authentic and a palate tickling adventure anyone could get. 

For only P2, 300 net from Sunday to Thursday and P2, 500 net for Friday and Saturday, enjoy a charming Asian dinner that assures an enjoyable age-old tradition of bonding through a delicious mix of aromatic, spicy, rich, sweet, and hot Flavors of Asia.   

Photo Courtesy of Marriot Cafe

Back by popular demand, Thai food definitely deserves all the hype for its four fundamental tastes that we Filipinos love: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Chef Thanatorn Krobsuay who trail blazed the first two consecutive most-talked about Thai Food Fest at Marriott Café, there’s no denying that it’s one of the cuisines we regularly crave for. This year, chef Thanathorn makes the selections more lavish and worth discovering with his new menu line up such as: deep fried sea bass with chili sauce, sautéed squid with pineapple and cucumber, beef balls cooked with typical Malay sauce, and braised beef spiced with turmeric and coconut.

More than its legendary nasi lemak, chef Ruhizad Muri gives foodies a taste of Malaysia ’s noteworthynyonya cuisine.  A signature Penang type of cooking that blends spices from roots (galangal, turmeric, and ginger); leaves (pandan, lime, and laksa); fruit (lemon, tamarind, and green mangoes); together with other ingredients like shrimp paste and chilies.  Imbibed from Thai cooking style, chef Ruhizad puts an interesting twist with the time-honored wok dishes of Malaysia . This section invites everyone as well to get creative with blue crab, shrimps, dilis fish, beef tenderloin, chicken, clams, barbeque chicken, steamed fish, assorted vegetables peppered with Malaysian spices.

Photo Courtesy of Marriot Cafe

Another Southeast Asian cuisine that deserves to be in the limelight is Indonesian. Popular for their satay which shows Asians’ love affair for grilled meats, chef Dadang Wahyudi makes skewers tastier and more appetizing with these selections: chicken, shrimps, calamari, beef, goat, pork and fish in assorted marinations! Another must-try is the bebek betutu klung klung, an all-spiced up Balinese dish enhanced by a host of pungent roots, herbs, and seasoning. Both locals and visitors are just so psyched about this heavenly roasted duck recipe that it’s considered a dish specially reserved for big banquets and ceremonies.

A native of Ho Chi Minh, chef Phan Thien Hoa presents well-rounded Vietnamese dishes notable for its minimal use of oil, bountiful use of herbs and vegetables-- which shouldn’t make one wonder why it ranks as one of the healthiest foods in the world! Most travelers would agree that a Vietnam trip is never complete without tasting a steamy and flavorful bowl of pho. Considered the heart and soul of Vietnamese cuisine, it features a delicious play on broth, rice noodles, meat, herbs and spices. Another delicacy that Vietnam is famous for is the Vietnamese spring rolls—soft rice wrappers filled with choicest meats and vegetables such as shrimps, tofu, chicken, and beef. Enjoy it fresh and slow at this special section which will make you feel the charming street-food style eating in Vietnam .

And with the Philippines long coast line, it’s a crime to miss out our very owns seafood choices. Your meal will never be complete without the tiger prawns, steamed lobster on ice, marinated marina clam and curacha crab which are all highly regarded for its freshness, standout taste and quality. So make sure this cold section is part of your eating plan.

While the West is abundant with milk for most of their dessert recipes, Southeast Asians on the other hand capitalize on the creamy goodness of coconut milk, whether it’s for glutinous rice or fruits. A mix of sweet, savory, hot and cold, these should be a flavorful last hurrah for a really good meal: pandan crepes rolled with caramelize coconut, stewed green bean with palm sugar, banana in sweet coconut, pandan leave jelly plus other famous delicacies that will surely strike anyone’s fancy.

Photo Courtesy of Marriot Cafe

Much more, we believe that food and travel are a perfect way to go if someone wants to have an in-depth experience of a local destination. With this in mind, our Marriott properties in Thailand, Malaysia , Indonesia and Vietnam , are giving away three days and two nights gift certificates to four lucky diners of Flavors of Asia—all you need to fully enjoy a one hundred percent Asian experience!

Bringing an authentic taste of local life and hospitality, our four chefs will also conduct a special cooking class for only P1, 500 net inclusive of a hearty lunch: July 9, Thai; July 16, Malaysian, July 23 Vietnamese; and July 30, Indonesian. If you wish to experience this treat that’s injected with fun and information, consider enjoying Asian cuisine by learning to cook it yourself!

Instead of hitting the usual haunt, invite the group over and explore a night of culinary adventure at Marriott Café, guaranteed to give anyone a quick passport to Asia .

For inquiries or reservations, call Marriott Café at 988-9999.

ABOUT MARRIOTT HOTEL MANILA:

An inviting beacon set in the world-class casino entertainment complex of Resorts World Manila, Marriott Hotel Manila is the place to work and play. Ideally located in Newport City across Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, it is a convenient 15 minute drive from Makati Business District and Bonifacio Global City . Affording a splendid view of the adjoining 18-hole Villamor Golf Course, it boasts 342 exquisite guest accommodations that offers luxurious bedding, in-room safe, mini-bar, high-speed Internet, air conditioning, 40" full high definition LCDs with IPTV, videos on demand and jack pack plug-and-play system. The hotel features excellent dining options such as Marriott Cafe, Cru Steakhouse, Java+ and Lobby Lounge. Leisure facilities include Quan Spa, Health Club, Salon and Newport Mall. With a Grand Ballroom and several meeting rooms, Marriott Hotel Manila is also the ultimate destination for meetings and events, from weddings to gala dinner celebrations.

Iron Bar Chef : BuCor's Bilibid Cooking Showdown

Tweet

There are exciting projects for the prisoners in the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) to enjoy a “new life” and live harmoniously within the community.

Iron Bar Chef Bilibid Cooking Showdown is the interesting recreational and rehabilitation program of Bureau of Corrections (BuCor). This is really admirable effort giving the chance for the inmates to show their talent and they also have something to share. Mainly, the program is to give the inmates hope and confidence and to prepare them for the outside world.

The Iron Bar challenges was held June 16 at the BuCor’s Medium Security Compound.  As we were invited to witness the cooking competition among the prisoners, we were welcomed with warmth and hospitality by OIC Geraldo Aro. We were likewise chat with him regarding the BuCor’s imperatives of reformation such as Education and Skills Development, Livelihood and Livelihood Training, Moral and Spiritual Enlightenment and Sports and Recreational Program. The BuCor’s ultimate goal is for the inmates to be productive while in prison it helps and encourages the inmates who have lost hope.

Opening prayer of the program.

The Iron Chef challenges have six teams against each other, tasking them to create an appetizer, a main course and a dessert and more if they still have chance - in 60 minutes. 

It was fun activity but you can see them all with hard working seriously and with mutual understanding, with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play. 

With the five judges, and two of them are bloggers Lariza Garcia and Yani Metrado

The cooking activity in the Medium Security Compound has been complete with all the material needed, all ingredients, all tools in preparation of the food - stove top, kitchen tools and even -  knives! 

The 3  top teams of the Medium Security Compound will compete with the winners from the Maximum Security compound on the Grand Finals will be held on Saturday, June 30, 2012.

Congratulations to the winners and good luck on the grand finals! 

This is the different soup recipe from the Yum-Yum Team

The winners Yum-Yum Team, with the judges, host and OIC Geraldo Aro

Intermission and entertainment number by the inmates band, with the disco hits, danceable, enjoyable songs of 1980's  "Hagibis": "Katawan", "Lalake", "Legs", "Nanggigigil Ako", "Babae", and "Ilagay Mo Kid"  

The committed mandate of Bucor for its prisoners - “safekeeping , rehabilitation, reformation.” 


I saw this outside the Medium Security Compound, 

 "Man by nature is always capable of changing for the better. 
Rehabilitation makes it happen."

For more details, you may visit www.bucor.gov.ph.

Miss World Philippines 2012 Winners

Tweet

Queenierich Rehman, of Las Piñas City was crowned as the Miss World Philippines 2012 pageant, besting 24 other gorgeous candidates of the prestigious beauty competition.

The part-Morrocan Filipina, also won most of the pageant's special awards including Best in Swimwear, Miss Photogenic, and Miss Talent.

The 23-year-old Psychology major from Assumption College will be representing the Philippines in the international Miss World pageant to be held on August 18, 2012 in Inner Mongolia, China.

Here are the winners at the Miss World Philippines 2012 coronation night held June 24, Sunday, at the Manila Hotel.

Miss World Philippines 2012

Queeneerich Rehman (Las Piñas City)

1st Princess

Maryanne Ross Misa (Parañaque City)

2nd Princess

Vanessa Claudine Amman (Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu)

3rd Princess

April Love Jordan (Tondo, Manila)

4th Princess

Brenna Cassandra Gamboa (Laurel, Batangas)

Top 12 finalists:

Mariver Ocampo (Paombong, Bulacan)

Queeneerich Rehman (Las Piñas City)

Rufaida Babudin (Palawan)

Carla Terina Lizardo (Pasig City)

Marie Loraine Dione de Guzman (Sta. Mesa, Manila)

Kaye Wigand (Puerto Galera, Mindoro)

Maryanne Ross Misa (Parañaque City)

April Love Jordan (Tondo, Manila)

Vania Valeri Vispo (Pasig City)

Brenna Cassandra Gamboa (Laurel, Batangas)

Paulina Eliseeff (Quezon City)

Vanessa Claudine Amman (Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu)

Special awardees:

Best In Long Gown - April Love Jordan (Tondo, Manila)

Best In Swimwear - Queeneerich Rehman (Las Piñas City)

Miss Photogenic - Queeneerich Rehman (Las Piñas City)

Miss Talent - Queeneerich Rehman (Las Piñas City) and 

                    Marie Loraine De Guzman (Sta. Mesa, Manila)

Miss Friendship - Vanessa Claudine Amman (Lapu-Lapu City)

Best In Fashion Runway - Brenna Cassandra Gamboa (Laurel, Batangas)

Miss Philippines Prudential - Queeneerich Rehman (Las Piñas City)

Miss World Traveler - Queenierich Rehman (Las Piñas City) noypistuff

Miss Laguna World - Vanessa Claudine Amman (Lapu-Lapu City)

Miss Manny O’ Wine - Brenna Cassandra Gamboa ((Laurel, Batangas)

Samrt People's Choice - Vania Valeri Vispo (Pasig City)

Miss Olay - Vanessa Claudine Amman (Lapu-Lapu City)

Miss Pantene - Queeneerich Rehman (Las Piñas City)

Hurom Juicer Cooking Demo by Chef Kel Zaguirre

Tweet

Gladly to be invited to witness a special cooking demo by Chef Kel Zaguirre of La Salle’s CSB- SHRIM last June 14 at the World Trade Center  during the 6th Manila Food and Beverages Expo (MAFBEX).

Chef Kel Zaguirre was using one of today’s most innovative kitchen appliance for natural juicing----The HUROM Slow Juicer.

HUROM Juicer is now considered as “the best healthy juicer product in the country”. It gives you the best of natural, healthy juices by retaining practically all the necessary nutrients needed by our body. 

Chef Kel Zaguirre

Bringing natural health to the world—one juicer at a time

The overall idea is to bring health and good life to as many people in the world as possible, and this company is definitely on the right track.

Hurom (“human” and “rom” which means “beneficial” in Korean) L.S. Ltd., which was formed more than a decade ago, commits itself to the research, development and well-being of human life through its “juicers” and “juice extractors.”  And this commitment through its juicer product like the new “Hurom Slow Juicer” that has already reached other parts of the world like Japan, China, the USA and in other countries in Asia and Europe, is finally here in the Philippines.

It was introduced during the Philippine International Food and Beverage Expo (PIFBEX) held at the PICC Forum 1-3 in Pasay City, the “Hurom Slow Juicer,” distributed here in the Philippines by Zinven International Corp., is another of Hurom L.S. Ltd.’s innovative kitchen appliances that employ cutting-edge technology that resulted from the company’s extensive research and development (R&D) efforts.

Part of the “Hurom Slow Juicer’s” unique and distinct characteristics is that it uses its patented “Low Speed Technology System” or LSTS. Compared to other traditional juicers that has high-speed motors and sharp cutting blades, the “Hurom Slow Juicer” and LSTS gently presses (not crushes) the fruit to extract all the fruit’s or vegetable’s natural juices without losing valuable nutritive value like vitamins, minerals, live enzymes and most of all, its taste.

“People are now very much aware of ‘going back to nature’ particularly in terms of food consumption and that the way to preserve health is to consume as much natural food as possible. Our objective is to provide a product that answers the needs of people with regard to ‘natural’ food and we know that the ‘Hurom Slow Juicer’ is that product,” explains Kim Young Gi, Chairman of Hurom L.S. Ltd. and is regarded as the “Father of Juicing” in Korea.

Hurom, according to Chairman Kim, will continue to develop the right kitchen appliance that places high regard on human health, and continuously try to develop more products that effectively connects nature to human life, hence the meaning of Hurom. “We like all our products to be very beneficial to human health and we will not stop in researching and developing more technologies to help make more people live healthier lives.”

Proof of this continuing effort to come up with even better products is Hurom L.S. Ltd.’s pending patent applications and values innovations in more than 40 countries in the US, Japan, China and Europe.

And its innovative products and extensive experience for more than 3 decades in juice extraction and slow juicing in Korea were recognized by international award-giving bodies and in global invention exhibitions like the 2010 Swiss Geneva Salon International Des Invention and the 2010 Pittsburgh International Invention Fair (INPEX) where it won the gold medal. It even got a KOTRA (Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency) Seal of Excellence in Korea, a mark of quality, high technology and trustworthiness.

 “At Hurom,” he said, “we will continue to aspire to become an innovator in espousing a new kitchen culture, a leader in manufacturing technologically-advanced kitchen appliances that are accessible and affordable to more people all over the world, and an effective company where workers perform in a working environment based on teamwork, creativity and total harmony in order to make customers happy.”

The revolutionary Hurom Slow Juicer is available at Rustan’s department stores and is distributed in the Philippines by Zinven International Corp. For more details about the Hurom Slow Juicer, visit www.hurom-slowjuicer.com. 

Small-town Locals to Build “Courts of Inspiration” around Visayas & Mindanao

Tweet

Aray Natin, Galing Natin team and locals of Barangay Tabuc Suba, Jaro, Iloilo come together for the groundbreaking ceremony.

For a game that favors relatively tall people, it’s rather impressive how basketball has permeated Filipino culture. To this day, it is the nation’s most popular sport. Here, the passion is so great that you’d see people play it while wearing slippers, sandals, or sometimes, even barefoot. But nothing reinstates this fact better than the presence of basketball hoops everywhere—on the sides of buildings, in front of sari-sari stores, even in the middle of the street.

More than Just a Sports Venue

Basketball is so deeply ingrained in the local culture, that it’s hard to find a neighborhood that doesn’t have a basketball court tucked somewhere. Virtually every town has it. In fact, there are more basketball courts than there are barangay health centers. Moneyed districts may pride themselves with a “covered court,” while others will have at least some form of clay court.

Driven by the desire to provide their community with its first real basketball court, locals from barangay Tabuc Subain Jaro District were brought together to build their own “Court of Inspiration” under the campaign.

More than just being a location for recreation however, these places serve a bigger social purpose. Be it a council meeting or the barangay singing contest, basketball courts are default venues for holding community events. Is the school year about to end? There’s a good chance that the local public school will hold graduation ceremonies in there. Did a typhoon ravage the neighborhood? Expect the covered court to be turned into an evacuation center. In a sense, the place has become the de facto town square for most communities.

Inspiring Greatness

“To Filipinos, the basketball court is a symbol of the community spirit,” says Kristine Martinez, Alaxan FR Product Director, citing how a people bound by a common love for the game go to the courts not just to hone their skills, but also to bond with the rest of the community. “It’s a cultural icon, one that carries huge social impact,” she stressed.

Seeing the potential to drive social value, Alaxan FR is harnessing the power of the community through the Aray Natin, Galing Natin campaign—a collaborative effort between small-town locals to construct these symbols of community, and turn them into something that moves people to aim for greatness.

For its initial project, Alaxan FR chose Iloilo. Driven by the desire to provide their community with its first real basketball court, locals from barangay Tabuc Suba in Jaro District were brought together to build their own “Court of Inspiration” under the campaign.  Upon completion, the place will be filled with “Legend Markers”—marking areas with powerful messages conveying accomplishments and legacies of basketball legends—to inspire themselves to strive hard to accomplish the same. Through the effort, Alaxan FR aims to teach the locals to embody the values that make champions.

For its initial project, Alaxan FR chose Iloilo. Other Courts of Inspiration are currently in the works in various parts of the country. These are in Bacolod, Dumaguete, Tacloban, and Cebu for Visayas; and Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga, Butuan, Davao, and General Santos for Mindanao.

Rewarding Greatness

Barangay Tabuc Suba is just the first of many places where Alaxan FR is building Courts of Inspiration, according to Martinez. Courts of Inspiration will soon break ground in nine other areas. For Visayas, they are to rise in Bacolod, Dumaguete, Tacloban, and Cebu. In Mindanao, construction will begin shortly in the communities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Butuan, Zamboanga, and General Santos. Through these projects, the campaign aims to give members of communities in different parts of our country pride in having personally built something that doesn’t just hone their skills, but builds their character as well.

“I was impressed at people’s willingness to jump at the opportunity to serve their community at our initial project in Iloilo and I believe I’d witness the same level of enthusiasm in the communities where succeeding Courts of Inspiration are to be built,” added Martinez. “For the noble effort that people have exerted for the projects, we’re planning to give them a special treat after the completion of the projects. That’s something they should watch out for,” she ends.