Toni Gonzaga Archives - Between Bites - Bites of Food, Travel and Lifestyle

October 6, 2009 by Janey

I missed the opening night of the Philippine reality hit TV show, PBB. This newest season dubbed as PBB Double Up launched last Sunday with 10 housemates and 2 pairs of male twins. The housemates were chosen from 57,824 applicants who personally went to the 18 audition sites located worldwide.

Princess, the Sassy Vamp ng Cebu

Tom, the Romantic Stud ng Samar

Delio, the Simpatikong Kusinero ng Batangas

Paul Jake, the Negosyante Prince ng Cebu

Jason, the Boy Astig ng Mindoro

Melissa, the Inday Kengkay ng Gen San

Yuri, the Multilingual Hottie ng Japan

Carol, the Conservative Pharmacist ng Tondo

Mariel, the Struggling Mom ng Davao –is she the one who looks a bit like Wendy Valdez from PBB Season 2?

Yhel, the Young Widow ng Pampanga

Toffi, the Basket Bolero ng Rizal, and his twin brother Kenny, the Joker Jock ng Rizal

JP, the Jetsetter Dad ng Quezon City,and his twin brother JM, the Delightful Dad ng Quezon City.

Paul Jake, Kenny, Yuri, Princess and Tom are the ones emerging to have interesting personalities.

The housemates are billeted separately in two houses and right after the opening night, the twin pair were put to a challenge. Inside the confession room that adjoins the two houses, Big Brother instructed the two sets of twins—JP and JM as well as Toffi and Kenny not to inform the other housemates about the other twin.

Image Source: PBB Multiply Site

The twins went to separate houses and spent some time there when Big Brother called them again to instruct them to exchange places. If they failed in this task, they will incur the penalty of forced eviction. Last night’s first official EP showed that the house where most of the girls are staying suspect that something is up, particularly Carol, the conservative pharmacist and instructor from Tondo. Melissa, the supposedly funny one from the group noticed the difference in weight and facial features when the other pair substituted.

Tune in to know if the big double secret will be busted before the actual reveal. This ABS-CBN show airs every weeknight, right after Dahil May Isang Ikaw.

The Big Winner of PBB Double Up will get P1 million cash, a house and lot worth P2.5 million, a water business franchise, and an Asian tour. Aside from that, the Final Four will get to choose charitable institutions that will receive cash amounts equivalent to what they would be taking home.

PBB Steaming is available on SKY Cable. Call 631-0000 for more information.

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A Sum of Ho-hum @ Sumo Sam

May 19, 2008 by Janey

Full-length mirrors are on the khaki wall. Wooden tables matched with black leather low chairs traditional Japanese with modernity. The wait staff are all dressed in black ensemble. The house music makes the vibe young and hip. Red spotlights outside frames the total look of the restaurant.

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It took a while for our orders to arrive and when it did, I almost did not eat it. The server had his fingers on the plate (like almost touching the food or sauce!) every time (note every) they served the food –so gross. A sushi roll even fell from the plate that the waiter was about to serve another table.

On the Table:

Freebie: Hot Raspberry Tea

Bubba liked the service tea that expels an aroma of raspberries.

Pepper Crusted Chicken with Garlic Linguini PHP240

It wasn’t pepper crusted, more like garnished with pepper. I liked this dish because the chicken compliments the garlic pasta.

Ebi Tempura PHP330

Too pricey for its taste and size

Japanese Rice PHP60

Ho-hum.

Katsudon PHP180

This is Bubba’s staple order every time the cuisine is Japanese. He said it was salty and surprisingly didn’t finish his food. I would normally finish it since I don’t want to waste food but I wasn’t in my eating rampage mood this week.

Dynamite Roll PHP195

This has got to be the highlight of the whole average dinner. It had generous serving of salmon on top of the sushi rolls. It came with a sweet brown sauce, not your usual soy and wasabi dip. It was named dynamite because it was supposed to be spicy. A vision of Elmer Fudd red faced and smoke coming out of his ears entered my mind. Sadly, it didn’t serve its name well. I didn’t find it spicy at all.

Celebrity spotting:

Toni Gonzaga and Direk Paul at Cravings

Ariel of Ariel and Maverick Duo at Sumo Sam

Preggers Ina Raymundo with family passing by

The food was overly priced, as it is only artistically ordinary. Some dishes are interestingly different. I am not excited to have a second visit to Sumo Sam but we’ll see. Bubba gave a passing grade.

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Marvin Agustin is part owner of this modern Japanese restaurant. Sumo Sam is located at the 6^th level of Shangrila Plaza Mall in Mandaluyong City. Contact them at 9100388/6375704.

Sumo Sam Album