Tokyo Tokyo’s “Halo-Halo”

Can you feel the afternoon heat rising as the days go by? Although the Philippine weather bureau says it’s not yet officially summer in the Philippines, Pinoy foodies are certainly already looking for summer heat quenchers such as the famous Halo-Halo….and Tokyo Tokyo might just have what you are looking for! Continue reading →

There are over 1,700+ Metrobank ATM machines (11,000 w/ affiliated ATMS nationwide & 1.6 million worldwide)

I’ve had my first bank account at the age of nine (9), and it was with Metrobank along Del Monte Avenue in San Francisco Del Monte, Quezon City. My parents and relatives wanted to teach me the value of money early on. With most of my relatives managing their own businesses, this was not much of a surprise.

As a kid, it was no big deal, not realizing just yet the value of money management. They provided the initial amount but they made it clear that it was I who should make it grow, eventually.

Metrobank Prepaid Card

Fast forward 26 years and a number of savings accounts in different banks and investments in bond funds, UITFs, mutual funds, insurance, and the stock market, I could say I’ve explored the world of finance more than the average Joe.

With different money management instruments in the market today, I’m glad Metrobank has introduced the new Metrobank Prepaid Card which can be used with no regrets at all.

NomNom Club stood witness to the card launch a few weeks ago at Vyne Restaurant (beside Hyve) in W Global Building, Fort Bonifacio. We were joined by other notable online foodie and fashion personalities including Gretchen Ho, David Guison, Patricia Prieto, Camille Co, and more.

Live Without Regrets

Have you charged your expenses through a credit card and see your bill at the end of the month only to regret your purchase? Have you lost a debit card or accidentally shared it online compromising your account security?

Shopping with the MPC

Now, you can live without regrets as the Metrobank Prepaid Card gives you a worry-free lifestyle. It has all the convenience of a payment card like credit cards, but without the worry of overspending or sharing your main account details online.

This alone, sold me to the idea of having my own Metrobank Prepaid Card!

Load & Swipe

Simply use it just like a regular credit card which you can swipe in POS machines among any of the 30.2 million MasterCard affiliated establishments worldwide.

Other features include:

• Withdrawing at any local and international ATM
• Reloading made easy*
• Lifestyle discounts, promotions, and freebies

* You can load the card online at Metrobank Direct, through your phone, or through any of the 1,700+ Metrobank ATM machines (11k with affiliated ATMs nationwide & 1.6 million worldwide).

Furthermore, the prepaid card need not connect to a bank account so it’s safe. No maintaining balance nor initial deposit required either! Simply put, it’s a convenient budgeting tool that can substitute for cash but without the worries.

NomNom Club Experiences

I myself have tried using the card in a number of establishments in the past few weeks. These included M Cafe in Makati, Yabu in SM MOA with my wife, and Chocolat.

No-Regrets-Date with the wifey at Yabu

Using the new Metrobank Prepaid Card at Yabu!

Smoked Salmon from M Cafe without regrets!

Chocolat @ SM Mall of Asia without overspending

I even used it in the recent 3-day Sale in SM Sta. Mesa. Our purchase were not in credit, hence I’m living without regrets! 🙂

Metrobank Prepaid Card with other discount cards from SM Advantage and Resorts World Manila

No more worrying about credit card bills and you are sure to spend within your means. Moreover, this is a handy allowance allocation tool for parents who want to give children their allowance through the prepaid card. No worries about the card security or overspending. Parents can actually allocate the monthly/weekly allowance and they can monitor the spending as well.

Interested enough? Get your Metrobank Prepaid Card in four easy steps:

1. Visit any Metrobank branch
2. Fill out the prepaid application form
3. Present 1 valid ID, preferably a government ID
4. Pay the P100 fee for the card valid for 3 years

#LiveWithoutRegrets !

Know more about the Metrobank Prepaid Card and how to apply for the card at their website http://www.metrobank.com.ph. Click on Personal Banking => Metrobank Prepaid Card. Check out their Facebook Page as well. And finally, Live Without Regrets!

Greenwich Carbonara Pasta

Have you experienced craving for something but not really too sure what you want yet at the same time? It’s the craving we had over last Saturday, and a pleasant surprise came over courtesy of the Greenwich Barkada! Continue reading →

Are you a Del Monte Kitchenomics baby? Or maybe your mom collected those old Kitchenomics recipe booklets that gets delivered by snailmail?

Continue reading →

Magnum Gold

“It’s coming…”, says the teaser of an ice cream brand with a golden shadow on its side. Came Sunday – 02.09.14, Selecta ice cream announced the coming of the newest Magnum variant in the Philippines – Magnum Gold?!

After the luxurious Belgian chocolate ice cream bar came to the Philippines since two years ago, the premium ice cream on a stick has already made mark in the local market .

Not resting on its laurels, Magnum ice cream kicked off 2014 with its big news for loyal pleasure seekers with the new Magnum Gold. This new level of indulgence mixes a swirl of sea salt caramel with the silky vanilla ice cream. Moreover, it is the first double dipped Magnum bar wherein the ice cream bar is first coated with a layer of Belgian milk chocolate and dipped again in a layer of golden-colored white chocolate!

In a campaign prior to launch, Magnum hinted the public with the hashtag #GrabTheGold while SM Supermarket complemented it with #GRABtheGOLDatSM to highlight its convenient availability in SM Mall’s SM Supermarket areas.

Furthermore, Magnum has tied up with Hollywood acclaimed director Bryan Singer (XMen 2014), Oscar winner Benicio del Torro (The Collector – The Guardians of the Galaxy,  Avengers), and Brazilian supermodel and actress Caroline Correa to create a golden cinematic trailer to launch the newest flavor that is Magnum Gold.

Magnum Gold Philippine Launch

Magnum Gold Price

Here in the Philippines, celebrity Raymond Gutierrez led the pre-launch teaser at SM Aura‘s Director’s Club theater for the media three days prior to the grand reveal.

On the field, motorists around Metro Manila, particularly Makati, have caught a glimpse of a massive golden vault, marked only by the letter ‘M,’ being escorted through traffic. The 7×7 foot-large vault of shining gold was hauled from the RCBC Tower on Ayala Avenue to the Fort Bonifacio Activity Center, guarded by an entourage of BMWs ensuring its safe arrival. At the Fort, the golden vault was held under security until its unveiling last February 9.

Online, Magnum lovers were also teased with ‘unlocking the gold‘ through mysterious activities at www.magnum.com.ph.

Magnum Gold revealed

Magnum Gold Bite

NomNom Club w/ Raymond Gutierrez

NomNom Club & Magnum Gold

And so it came. NomNom Club was among the first to try the new Magnum Gold 3 days prior to the reveal.

The vanilla ice cream we love maintained its silky smooth quality and is now even more enhanced with the sea salt caramel swirls. The double coating made the experience more interesting with its thinker coating and stronger-pitched crackling sound. :) The golden white chocolate was also a welcome twist.

Grab the Gold at SM

The golden day came and mini gold vaults popped up in cinema lobbies and SM Supermarkets of malls around Metro Manila. These malls included: SM Megamall, SM MOA SM Hypermarket, SM North Edsa, SM Southmall, SM Aura, and SM Makati, among others.

At exactly 3pm, the first 100 consumers to line up at the cinema lobbies at the malls got the chance to experience the Magnum Gold standard.

In SM Supermarket groceries, shoppers got instant rewards to claim their free Magnum Gold at the “Unlock the Gold” booths where they also got the chance to win one of five iPhone shuffles that day among the 200 lucky SM Supermarket customers. #GrabtheGoldatSM

2 for P100 at SM Supermarkets

Magnum Gold in SM Supermarket

One Magnum Gold is regularly priced at P55 each but from February 10 to 28, you can get 2 Magnum Gold for only P100 in all SM Supermarket, SM Hypermarket, and Savemore Market.

Know more about the new Magnum Gold in the Philippines at www.magnum.com.ph, So spread the word and let everyone know, it’s now time to #GrabtheGold, or better yet, #GrabtheGoldatSM !

If this is your first time to hear about heart-shaped pizzas, where have you been? 🙂 NomNom Club was able to try Angel’s heart-shaped pizza for Valentine’s Day for the first time about two years ago. Continue reading →

Puregold Supermarket

Puregold Price Club Inc. strengthens its business ties with Ayala Land Inc.(ALI) with the opening of Puregold Fairview Terraces in Fairview-Novaliches. Continue reading →

Crystal Jade Shanghai Delight

Traditionally, Chinese New Year in the Philippines is celebrated with the colors red and gold. ‘Red’ symbolizes luck in the Chinese culture while ‘gold’ represent prosperity.

But in the new Crystal Jade Shanghai Delight restaurant in Greenhills, you have more colors to celebrate it with care of their multi-flavoured Xiao Long Bao!

New Look

Aside from changing their old name Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao, Crystal Jade Shanghai Delight also revamped its look. In my second visit to the restaurant a few weeks ago with my wife,  I was surprised to know that they had a renovation sometime mid of last year. I didn’t know about it since my first visit was perhaps back in 2012. I felt it was a let down at first since the see-through noodle kitchen was gone. It provided an interesting view from the outside whenever I pass by V-Mall in Greenhills.

New Crystal Jade in V-mall Greenhills

On another thought, the changes were also good in a way that the new ambience was refreshing to the eyes dominated by light purple shades and the skyline of Shanghai on one wall adding to the casual dining experience.

Xiao Long Bao

Xiao Long Bao

Having grown-up in a Chinese family, Xiao Long Bao (a steamed soupy pork dumpling) was a common sight in big family gatherings in Chinese restaurants. But I have never seen a Xiao Long Bao other than its traditional plain and white form. Needless to say, the Multi-colored Xiao Long Bao (Php 229) came as a surprise. 🙂 Wifey and I discovered that the rainbow-colored Xiao Long Bao set was a mix of 5 flavors including Shrimp (orange), Spicy Chicken (dark orange), Spicy Beef (red), Vegetable and Dried Beancurd (green), and interestingly - Cheese (yellow). :) You can mix and match any of the five as a package for only Php 229. One piece is about P49-P59 each. I think this is the only colored Xiao Long Bao in the Philippines.

Multi-Flavored Xiao Long Bao

With a more piqued interest, we just had to try it! 🙂 And so we did. For a spice-averse couple like us, you can easily guess our favorites. The seafood-lover in me cherished the shrimp while wifey went for the cheese. The spicy chicken and beef flavors were tolerable for our standards so you need not worry either. The vegetable and dried beancurd was a good one; it was my second choice, actually.

Yummy Beverages

Crystal Jade Shanghai Delight Menu

Beyond the signature Xiao Long Bao,  Shanghai dishes are mostly represented by La Mian noodles, Tan Tan Mien, Spicy and Sour soup, and sauteed chicken with cashew nuts, among others. Here are some more new and interesting dishes we tried from their menu over lunch.

Braised Pork with preserved vegetable in Claypot (Php 300) [NomNom Recommended]

Lion’s Head – braised minced pork & mushroom with cabbage (Php 358)

Crispy Eel in “Wu Xi” Style [NomNom Top Choice]

Deepfried Mushroom in Salt & Pepper (Php 288)

Mango Pudding (Php 120)

Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Taro (Php 120 3pcs)

We also got a ‘Fried Mixed Rice in Hot Stone Pot‘ (Php 348) but organic red and brown rice is not for everyone. They usually turn out tougher than ordinary rice; so think twice about this. We liked it for it’s health benefits though. Check out our Costales organic farming adventures here.

The Braised Eggplant with Pork in Claypot (Php 300) from the menu looks interesting as well so I think we will try this in our next visit.

Moreover, Crystal Jade is open for breakfast in the morning from 7 to 10:30 a.m with a special breakfast menu. Pair up your favorite dimsum with a bowl of their signature congee or pulled noodle offerings and conclude with a Chinese tea.

Crystal Jade Shanghai Delight
Address: Unit 117-121 Ground Floor, V-Mall, Greenhills
Operations: 7 to 10 p.m. Monday to Sunday
Telephone: (+632) 570-5233 & 570 6910
Website: www.crystaljade.com

Crystal Jade Shanghai Delight also delivers via City Delivery at (02) 87878.

Crystal Jade Shanghai Delight Restaurant

Did you know that Crystal Jade also offers Black Truffle and Foie Gras Xiao Long Bao flavors? 3 pieces cost Php 188. So why not celebrate your colorful Chinese New Year with the family at Crystal Jade Shanghai Delight tomorrow? 🙂