More ways then one to use your camera-phone

In this day and age that cellphones are equipped with a camera as a standard, we find more ways to use the camera-phone. Aside from the obvious call and text utility of the camera-phone, I use the phone's camera to take pictures of my dog (before he died), my nephew, my girlfriend and myself! haha!
Well, thats until I came across this article from lifehacker.com a few days ago that outlines how to use the camera to increase your memory.

My fav bit that i picked up from this article is to use your camera phone to remember where you parked in the mall and to use your camera phone to take a picture of an item you want on your wishlist! I have found myself on several occasions on the wrong floor of the parking lot in the mall, so now i take a picture of the area/ floor number of where i parked. Also when i go to the mall without cash on me, just to window shop, i find interesting stuff I want to buy the next time i drop by the mall so i take a picture of these items and label them with the price and the name of the store.

This article from itmanagement.earthweb.com details other uses of the camera-phone aside from extending your memory.

What do you use your camera-phone for?

Green ATS Bulalohan - Tagaytay FoodTrip #4

Day 3 time to go home and time to go shopping for pasalubong (gifts to bring home) so after checking out we headed over to Amira's Buco Tart Haus to buy some tarts and then have lunch at Green ATS before getting to Bag of Beans to buy some bread and choco rolls (yummy!!) to bring home!

My Grandfather wanted to have Bulalo for our last lunch for our Tagaytay vacation and so I suggested we try Green ATS, which isn't far from the place we stayed, it had a view of the Taal lake and it served bulalo :)








From our past experiences, we always ordered too much food and poor me i had to gobble it all up! So we decided to order 2 main dishes and rice good for all of us. We ended up with an order of Special Bulalo, an order of Buffalo wings (just because it caught my grandfather's fancy), and an order of garlic rice to share.














The Special Bulalo was ok but the soup in it was perfect! The meat in the Bulalo was marbled, so it was actually a little tough for my grandmother to chew. The veggies and the soup were the Bulalo's saviors otherwise it would have left us wanting for something else. The Buffalo wings were NOT Buffalo wings.. they were just deep fried chicken wings with batter served with thousand island dressing as a dip. But in defense to these so-called buffalo wings, they were pretty good! - i actually enjoyed these better than the Bulalo meat! The garlic rice was something like the garlic rice you always want for breakfast. Green ATS bulalohan were generous in the amount of garlic they put into the rice, making the rice really garlic-y-yummy!!

Green ATS bulalohan is located right after Bag of Beans (coming from Sta Rosa)


To see pictures of our Tagaytay trip, check out this (ALBUM)

Manos Greek Taverna - Tagaytay FoodTrip #3

Day 2 in Tagaytay. After a hearty breakfast of poached egg, pandesal and assorted cold cuts, we left Sunrise Holiday Mansions to go visit the chapel at Pink Sisters and the chapel at Angel's Camp. For lunch we decided to go to the Greek Restaurant near the Tagaytay rotunda going towards the road to Sta. Rosa.

Mano's Greek Taverna is not hard to miss with its light blue and white sign. As you enter the resto greek music and greek pictures/ art greet you. Tables and chairs are simple fare but that will not get in the way to getting to eat good food!! We ordered Pasta Tomato soup and Saganaki (Shrimp, feta cheese and bread cubes in tomato sauce) as appetizers. My grandfather ordered the Grilled porkchops, my grandmother ordered the Cabbage rolls and I ordered the Mousaka (180php). The Pasta Tomato soup was really good, they used superb fresh tomatoes to really drive the taste of the soup! The Saganaki was ok - I had allergies that day so i wasn't really able to enjoy it because as I took as spoonful I was fretting over a possible allergic reaction! truly woe is me! :( The Grilled porkchops were grilled to perfection! It was really good - that it did not need any sauce to add to the flavor!! I'll say that the Cabbage rolls are for an acquired taste. It has rice and ground beef inside the cabbage exterior and is served covered in lemon-tasting-like sauce. The Cabbage rolls were ok, but if you are like my grandmother that enjoyed the sour flavoring added by lemon-like sauce then it would be delicious for you! haha!! I was initially disappointed with the Mousaka when it was being served - no side dish? no rice? or at least veggies? But the taste made all the difference!! It was not as rich as the Mousaka at Cafe Med, but it was still flavorful that made you want to finish it!

For healthy Greek food in a cool Al fresco setting, head over to Mano's Greek Taverna!

The Greek Taverna is located right before you reach the Tagaytay rotunda coming from Sta. Rosa.

Here's another review on Mano's Greek Taverna - (LINK)

Piccolo Mondo - Tagaytay FoodTrip #2

After checking in at Sunrise Holiday Mansion my Grandparents and I decided to have late lunch at Piccolo Mondo, an Italian Restaurant away from the conglomeration of restos along the ridge of Taal.
We were served with an appetizer of pita bread with olive- oil- balsamic- vinegar- with- parmesan- cheese dip on the house. My Grandfather ordered the Spaghetti Alla Carbonara (150php), my grandmother ordered the Lamb Chop with mint sauce (295php) and I ordered the Herb Roast Chicken with Pasta Alla Olio as the side dish (295php) - thinking that the dishes were only good for 1 person, but we were mistaken and I ended up 2 pounds heavier today! Haha!!

The Spaghetti Alla Carbonara was delicious!! We loved it!! It was really tasty and creamy and the bacon's saltiness fit right in!! The lamb chop left me wanting.. It was tasty but the meat was kinda tough - too tough in fact for my grandmother, after a few bites she decided to eat the Pasta Ala Olio instead.. but i must say the mint sauce (pesto) was really good! The Herb roast chicken was kinda dry, but the gravy that came with the lamb chop was the perfect solution around the chicken's dryness. The Pasta Ala Olio that came with the chicken was good, but my grandmother ended up eating it, so I didn't really get to enjoy it - but that was ok, I helped my grandfather finish the Carbonara anyway :)

Bottomline is that the food in Piccolo Mondo is good for 2 and that its a good place to eat pasta - if their super delicious Spaghetti Alla Carbonara is any indication of yumminess of their other pasta dishes!

Piccolo Mondo is located beside David's Salon in front of Shell Gas Station, which is right after Mushroom Burger (coming from Sta Rosa)

Amira's Buco Tart Haus - Tagaytay FoodTrip #1

On the road going to Sunrise Holiday Mansions, my grandparents and I decided to cruise along the highway to spot a resto where we could eat lunch after checking in the hotel. Along the way we spotted Amira's Buco Tart Haus' pink banners and were instantly curious on what this place had to offer - my grandfather being a Buko-lover, so we decided to give the place a visit after lunch. After lunch in Piccolo Mondo (for another post hehe!), we trooped over to Amira's Buco Tart Haus to check it out.

Amira's Buco Tart Haus sold, well, Buco Tarts as well as Mango, Pineapple, Ube, and Apple tarts in boxes of 9pcs for 130php. They also sold egg, blueberry and mango tarts in boxes of 6pcs for 130php. Amira's also had other delicacies for sale, under consignment.

My grandfather decided to buy a box of assorted tarts, a box of egg tarts and a box of blueberry tarts to try before we decide to buy for pasalubong. From the box of assorted tarts I tried the Ube, apple and pineapple tarts - (my grandfather beat me to the Buco tarts!). The apple and pineapple tarts reminded me of smaller versions of apple pie and pineapple pie, respectively, but were surprisingly good versions of these pies; the Ube tart was ok. The blueberry tarts tasted really good and again reminded me of smaller versions of the blueberry cheese cakes. The Egg tart was a pleasant surprise, it was delicious; it reminded me of leche flan in tart crust, yummy!!

Unfortunately for those I wished to bring home pasalubong, Amira's Buco Tart Haus has already a growing fan base that ensures that some of their tarts get sold out around lunch time - even on a week day!! So I was only able to purchase one box of assorted tarts, one box of egg tarts and one box of mango tarts (I had to settle for mango since the blue berry tarts were sold out already!) - the mango tarts were also really good!

I recommend Amira's tarts as one of the must-bring-home-some items, aside from the bread from Bag of Beans, from Tagaytay city.


Amira's Buco Tart haus is located between Bag of Beans and Royal Tagaytay Estates.

Photo # 4

Framing

Check out this (ALBUM) to see more landscape and food photos. thanks!

Photo # 3

Contrast in the sunrise

10 restaurants i have yet to dine in with Angel

10 restaurants i have yet to dine in with Angel

1. Amici in Don Bosco - I feel like such a loser for not having eaten here yet..
   
2. Red Kimono - for their order all you can special
   
3. Apartment 1B - for their special comfort food
   
4. Cookbook Kitchen - a new discovery thats just a 5 minute drive from my place
   
5. Galileo Enoteca-Deli - another hidden resto near my place that serves Spanish food
   
6. Cafe Mary Grace - their cheese rolls and ensaymada are good and I wonder if their food is just as good
   
7. Soms - a hole in the wall thai resto thats supposedly yummy and easy on the pocket
   
8. Peri peri chicken - because i love chicken!
   
9. Cafe Juanita - looks like a nice place to eat plus its near my office, hehe!!
   
10. Moksha - another place thats just a stone throw from my house
    

Hopefully we will be able to visit these places and blog about it in Tambokkami

Would you recommend any other restos that Angel and I should try out?
Thanks in advance!