On its 15th year, Jollibee, together with Aga Muhlach and the Jolly Toy Scouts has started the campaign for “MaAga ang Pasko” early this month. Jollibee’s MaAga ang Pasko is the longest running toy and book donation drive in the country that aims to continue spreading Christmas cheer to children in need.

Jollibee Donated Toys

The launch kicking-off the campaign was held in SMX beside SM Mall of Asia. Led by Jollibee executives, Aga Muhlach, and participating schools, they held ceremonial gift giving of donations in form of books and toys placing them in the donation stations to symbolize the start of the campaign.

MaAga Ang Pasko

With the series of unfortunate natural calamities that have struck the Philippines, Jollibee‘s MaAga ang Pasko drive aims to enhance the spirit of sharing and giving with more ways to make kids happy this Christmas season.

Jolly Toy Scout

Be Empowered! Be a Jolly Toy Scout!

Introduced last year, the Jolly Toy Scouts helped reinforce the message of sharing in a fun and exciting way by having more than 15,000 Jolly Toy Scouts from over 30 partner schools signed up last year to lead efforts in collecting donations such as toys and books for needy children. They also help clean up, pack gifts, and join the distribution drives.

Aga Muhlach

Aga Muhlach as Advocate

Once again, Aga Muhlach lends his support for the project and was honored as a Toy Scout Troop Leader in last year’s campaign.

“Seeing young kids and grown-ups pitching in to make other children happy never fails to brighten my day. These young Jolly Toy Scouts get to really understand the value of sharing …” says Aga.

Double Up Gifts, Double Up Happiness

Jollibee MaAga Ang Pasko Launch at SMX, SM Mall of Asia

In celebration of its 15th year, Jollibee will match every donation with a Jollibee toy, effectively doubling the number of gifts to be collected this year.

Albert Cuadrante

“As Jollibee matches every donated toy and book with a Jollibee toy, we will be able to double the number of donations and consequently, double the number of children who will get to enjoy a more memorable and happier Christmas,” exclaimed Albert Cuadrante, Vice President for Jollibee-SBU Marketing.

MaAga Ang Pasko Donations and Member Schools

Supporting Member Schools Make a Pledge

Children Looks Forward To Christmas

Adopt-A-School Program

In addition to this year’s campaign, MaAga Ang Pasko introduces a new component: the ADOPT-A-SCHOOL program that encourages schools and various institutions in becoming a partner of a beneficiary school. All toys and books collected, as well as the corresponding toys to be given by Jollibee to match their collection, will be given to their partner beneficiary school.

Jollibee MaAga Ang Pasko Toys

For More Photos, Click Here.

Please do support Jollibee‘s MaAga ang Pasko campaign. In your own way, you can teach your children selfless giving by encouraging them to voluntarily donate some of their toys, old or new, in any Jollibee branch nationwide.

Hello NomnomClub.com readers and subscribers. I recently received a delicious email from one of my admired chocolate shops in the metro – Heavenly Chocolates.

We had a very educational chocolate seminar in their shop along Roces Avenue early this year. And I was ecstatic to know that they’ll be having free tasting sessions over the weekend.

This coming Nov 21 & 22, Heavenly Chocolates will entertain customers for free tasting sessions. The first one entitled “Taste the Darkness” will be on Saturday, November 21, 2009. I’m not really sure if the title has something to do with the near-showing Twilight sequel: New Moon. 🙂

“Taste the Darkness” will introduce the new flavors of SACHI BLACK chocolates. Sachi Nama Chocolates are one of the premium products of Heavenly Chocolates. Free tasting is available all day long. Come with a friend.

The second day, Sunday, November 22, 2009, focuses more on the traditional Filipino merienda. The culprits are tsokolate (native chocolate), suman (sticky rice pudding), mangga (mango), and ensaimada (a type of pastry).

You can come in groups or as a family as long as you RSVP for crowd control. The available time slots are 2 pm, 4pm, and 6 pm.

Look for chocolate connoisseur Benjamin Pedro and RSVP via his email: benjaminvpedro<at>yahoo.com Wait for the confirmation email and see you at the 4pm session on Sunday. 🙂

Heavenly Chocolates is located at 127 Roces Avenue, Quezon City. When you are at the Timog Area, it is a stone’s throw away from the McDonald Morato Branch with a giant french fries facade. The shop is near the corner of Tomas Morato & Roces Ave. Their telephone number is 666-2208

For the first timers, Heavenly Chocolates is relatively an average-sized chocolate shop that can house about 25 customers at a time, but it gives you that homey atmosphere fit for a hot cup of chocolate drink during a rainy day. 🙂

Woot! Thank you to all who participated in my Thank You Day Photo Contest Promo a few weeks ago! This is actually a back post as I was very busy lately. Nonetheless, the 5 Nomnom Club finalists and winners are:

• Thank You Mama! by LittleNars.com

“I am doing this for Mama, this is how I will show my love for her. She doesn’t deserve any other disappointment. She only deserve happiness. So please God, MAKE THIS HAPPEN.”

• How do you spread the sweetness of gratitude? by Mamuyac.Multiply

“I can’t find the right words to say to my baby Charles but “thank you” on how he made my life an exciting and worthy journey that it is today.”

• An Entry … by IAmNicely.com

“I want the world to know how grateful I am to God for giving me such cool and loving parents.”

• My Entry… by Misha

“I am thankful for my best friends who have always been there for me through the good times & the bad.”

• Spread The Sweetness… by NextJam

“I’ll be showing you how to be appreciated through my passion in Toy Photography.”

I wish you guys the best and hopefully Toblerone would be able to select one of you in their top 3 winners from among all the finalists from the online community! Cheers!

Nonetheless, by being finlaists in my contest, all you five automatically receives Thank You Toblerone Gift Packs! You will be informed via email as to how to claim these items.

Thank you also to GeiserMaclang and Toblerone for hosting this contest.

For more information on the National Thank You Day, visit www.thankyoudayphilippines.com HERE

Located in one of the newest foodie circles of Fort Bonifacio in Taguig, I anticipated with excitement a good Japanese dinner that night. It is my first time in Jozu Kin having opened only early September 2009.

Jozu Kin, Burgis Circle in Fort Bonifacio

With a tagline “The Japanese Gold,” i was surprised that most of the prices were actually manageable given the upscale atmosphere of the restaurant. The ‘gold‘ is actually the literal translation of ‘Kin‘; and ‘Jozu‘ means ‘skillful‘ (not ‘Japanese‘, boink!).

Mari Moriawase

Their menu offers a wide range of variety from sushi to sashimi, and maki to teppan-grilled dishes.

Accompanied by 5 other friends, let’s now take a closer look at the food.

For the first order, we had Maki Moriawase for appetizer. It was a maki sampler platter of California Maki, Tempura Crunchy, Dynamite Roll, Philadelphia Roll, and Futo Maki (P357).

Maguro Togarashi

For the main dishes, we had spicy tuna with onions & wasabi mayo – Maguro Togarashi. At P125, the serving is good for two. It was not too spicy either.

Kuro Kusho Pasta

It was also an uncommon sight to see western-style pasta in a Japanese menu; well at least for me. We had Kurokusho Pasta with freshly crushed black pepper, olive oil, Parmesan cheese and black tobiko.

Upscale Entrees

Tartufo Hotate

Matsusaka Gyu

For the upscale-priced ones, 4 entrees caught my attention namely Tartufo Hotate, Matsusaka Gyu, and two Foie gras variants: Pan Seared Foie gras and Tenderloin Foie gras.

Tartufo Hotate are scallops, pan seared, with asparagus shitake mushroom and truffled brown butter.

Matsusaka Gyu is matsusaka beef seared on teppan. Matsusaka beef are among the highest-grade beef in the food industry. The price will send one of  your eyeballs bulging in a while. 🙂

Another first for me is the foie gras. Foie gras is basically fattened duck or goose liver . Tenderloin Foiegras is tenderloin beef and foiegras seared on teppan.

Pan Seared Foie Gras

The serving of Pan Seared Foie Gras looked conservatively sophisticated with a mango slice on top followed by the foie gras on rice and mango puree and finally glazed with honey. It was just a handful, but the experience is quite unique and unforgettable.

Tenderloin Foie Gras

Only one phrase can describe it: “melt in your mouth goodness.” Some of you may know the meticulous process of producing a foie gras, which explains the price.

Ushi Ebi Sunburst

The last four mentioned entrees are priced at P590, P1850, P700, and P700, respectively. Yes, Matsusaka Gyu did not send my taste buds to the heavens, but the price did. 🙂

And to end this Jozu Kin experience is the best among them all – the main photo of this article: Ushi Ebi Sunburst.

It’s a mix of giant marinated and grilled prawns with lettuce, fresh strawberry, grape, apples, orange and blue berry in balsamic vinaigrette.

Although I believe my description was exact having mentioned strawberry, grape, and blue berry in singular forms, the grilled prawns was outstanding in size and taste, and not in singular form.

Jozu Kin's Ushi Ebi Sunburst

We wish to thank Chef Jayme Natividad who was gracious enough to introduce and explain some of the dishes to us.

More photos, Click Here.

Give Jozu Kin a visit at Unit ES-2 Forbes Town Center, Burgos Circle, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. You may reach them at 403-1875.

They rhyme! 🙂 Kidding aside, Jollibee’s Spaghetti has been my favorite fast food spaghetti because of it’s tendency to be sweeter than the usual spaghetti we know. Actually, it’s called the Filipino-style spaghetti – a sweet one.

To make it even sweeter,  Jollibee launches its search for your Spaghettiest Moments with your family, friends and officemates!

Mechanics:

Send in your pictures enjoying the Jollibee Spaghetti or any Jollibee Spaghetti value meal combination in any of the following categories:

the happiest moments with your family

the wackiest moments with your barkada

the funniest moments with your officemates

Entries must include a one-line caption to describe the photo. An individual may submit a maximum of three entries, or one entry per category.

Entries may be submitted online at photos@spaghettiest.com . Suppy your full name, residential address, email address and contact numbers.

You may also submit via snail mail. Entries should be placed inside a sealed short brown envelope containing one 4R photo entry and the corresponding details (caption and participant’s information) typewritten on a short bond paper. Mail to

BCI-ENAV
30th Floor Tycoon Centre
Pearl Drive, Ortigas Center
1605 Pasig City

Jollibee Spaghettiest Moments Photo Contest

Prizes:

One winner in each category:

Family Prize Package

• a Jollibee family party package worth P7,000
• Jollibee gift certificates worth P5,000
• Sony digital photo frame.

Barkada Prize Package

• a Jollibee barkada party package worth P7,000
• Jollibee gift certificates worth P5,000
• Sony digital camera.

Officemates Prize Package

• a Jollibee officemates party package worth P7,000
• Jollibee gift certificates worth P5,000
• Sony photo printer

Deadline for the submission of entries is at midnight of November 22, 2009. You may check out www.jollibee.com.ph.

Jollibee Spaghetti Meals

Jollibee has also recently packaged the Jollibee Spaghetti into 3 set meals like Spaghetti Solo, Spaghetti and Chickenjoy, and Spaghetti and Yum.

Weeks after Red Ribbon hosted the “A Memorable Dessert Experience” online writing contest, the winners can now be revealed. This is in celebration of Red Ribbon‘s newest White Forest cake.

Continue reading →

Most of you who know the author of NomnomClub.com personally would know that I jump from time to time from the Quezon City house where my relatives are and to my place in Makati where I stay as an independent bachelor.

So what’s the point? 🙂 From the QC house, I usually do groceries first before heading home. And part of my regular grocery list are bananas.

They serve two purposes. It’s part of my breakfast (with milk or coffee), and it’s my power snack before jogging in the early evening. Yes, it’s my source of potassium.

It started to be ingrained in my diet years ago when I was much into badminton. Fellow players bring a bunch of banana and we feast on them for energy before or after game. The key point here is that it’s not heavy on the stomach, befitting athletic activities.

Now, going back to my groceries. I always end up buying either the generic Latondan (a local type of big bananas ) from SM or the big Cavendish ones from Dole. Dole is a major fruit brand here in the Philippines, and I believe in some countries as well.

Dole’s price hardly fluctuates and is almost always pegged at P46 (at least in ShoeMart Mall), in contrast to that of the seemingly generic-labelled Latondan whose price jumps up and down regularly in the range of P30-P40 per kilo.

With a tight budget, I sometimes go for the cheaper generic Latondans. However, when the price reaches almost P40, I go for the Dole Bananas. I feel it’s more worth it even with the few added peso. With the assurance of cleanliness and quality, I wouldn’t mind it being a little more expensive.

Moreover, a bunch of Dole bananas have 6 to 8 pieces while a kilo of the generic ones has about the same. But if you compare them side by side, the Dole Bananas are way bigger.

On closing note, I would have to add that bananas can help people with weight problems as well. Citing from a Dole Banana article:

…bananas contain resistant starch that is responsible in enhancing fat burning by up to 30%. More filling than most fruits, bananas can easily satisfy hunger and let you feel full longer while providing the daily nutrients your body need. And since you won’t feel constantly hungry, bananas help to curb your appetite and reduce overall calorie intake in a day. What’s more, DOLE Bananas are high in fibre that helps carry away some fat as it travels through the digestive system.

So I hope you start including bananas in your diet – Dole Bananas or the generic Latondan or Lacatan. For more helpful information, surf on to www.dolebananadiet.com.ph or simply click HERE.

Two years ago, incumbent Mayor Alfredo Lim passed a city ordinance declaring October 20 as Manila City’s official Thank You Day.

In response to highlight the importance of expressing gratitude, Toblerone has also started a petition to make National Thank You Day an official holiday with Congresswoman Cynthia Villar of Las Piñas who has also passed House Bill No.5466 to recommend that National Thank You Day be recognized as a national holiday.

Thank You Swimming Party

In light of these events and the good year that it has been with our affiliated travel blog LetsGoSago.net, Sago is organizing an exclusive “Thank You Swimming Party” as a gesture of gratitude to those who supported Sago in the Emerging Influencial Blog Awards 2009 last August and and the Blogger’s Choice in the recent Philippine Blog Awards.

Sago is in the process of contacting all those 70++ bloggers nationwide who supported him in the two activities. However, some of the blogs have no email or contact details. If you are reading this and you know you supported Sago but did not receive an invite by the end of October, kindly reply on the comment section below or email him at admin<at>letsgosago.net with a link/URL of the blog post you wrote durin for those awards.

The simple “Thank You Swimming Party” will be tentatively held on November 21, Saturday – 1pm to 5pm at The Fort in Taguig City. Merienda will be provided. Invitees can bring along a maximum of two guests(friends/family). However, the guests would be charged a fee of P100 per person. All fees gathered would be donated to Ondoy & Pepeng flood victims through the official TXTPower Fund Drive.

UPDATE: The swimming party was eventually held last January 09, 2010 at the same location. Thanks to the 30+ bloggers who came. 🙂

More on ‘Thank You Day’

Kraft Foods (Philippines), Inc.’s Senior Brand Manager, Carlo Licuanan, Graduate Training for Marketing, Cherry Ching, and Snacks Category Marketing Manager, Elio Machillanda.

When Toblerone first launched National Thank You Day in 2007, it was as a response to Reader’s Digest Global Courtesy Test in which Manila ranked number 22 and among the least courteous cities in the world. It also became a call to arms for Filipinos to revive the lost art of saying ‘Thank You.’

Traditional snail mail "Thank You Letter"

Now, two years after, the country has been recognized as the Most Courteous Asian Country among recent surveys.

“We think that the positive result of this recent survey is because Filipinos have already realized the value of expressing their gratitude,” says Carlo Licuanan, Senior Brand Manager, Kraft Foods (Philippines), Inc.

Furthermore, you could register, nominate and vote for candidates at the National Thank You Day website (http://thankyoudayphilippines.com/) to express your gratitude.You could participate in the ‘thank you photo contest‘ as well!

Aris Lacorte, Area Supervisor for The North Face, Bea Castillo, Events Associate and Macel Abejero, PR & Events Manager for Primer Group of Companies receive the Thank You certificate from Carlo Licuanan for their partnership to help spread the sweetness of gratitude.

Among the nominees are Filipino fashion designer known internationally for her world-class bridal gown designs Monique Lhuillier, recipient of Best Director Award at Cannes International Film Festival Brilliante Mendoza for his film Kinatay and one of the greatest leaders of all time for her fight for freedom and democracy, former President Cory Aquino.

“Once again let’s prove to the world this October 20 at The National Thank You Day celebration that by simply saying a meaningful Thank You, we as a country can become the most Grateful Nation of all,” says Licuanan.

“Of all the ‘attitudes’ we can acquire, surely the attitude of gratitude is the most important and by far the most life-changing.” – Zig Ziglar. Well-known author and life coach