Weekend Eating - Kamimura at SM Baguio Foodcourt

Hello foodies! Greetings from La Union! It is very fortunate that I can grasp free WiFi from the comforts of our bedroom here in our house, so I can still update this blog of mine. Time to share another something from the weekend.

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My share for this week:





Last Saturday, my sister and I went to watch the 2011 Panagbenga Festival grand street parade, and after, we walked all the way up to SM City Baguio to eat lunch. It was funny because we weren't feeling anything the whole time we were standing along Magsaysay Avenue to watch the parade, yet as soon as people dispersed, we started feeling all sorts of pain, including hunger.

My sister and I didn't have much money for this trip, so we decided to just eat budget meals at the food court. I let her order first just so I could secure the table, and when she got back, I saw a some big slices of chicken, and hearing she only paid p89 for the meal, I went to order my food there, too.



She had the Sumo Chicken Katsu,



while I opt to get the pork counterpart. It was delicious - the breading was great, the sauce was okay (though it was a little sweet for me), but the side dish wasn't. Sister went for the pancit and she said it tasted like noodles bathed in liquid seasoning. I went for the vegetables, which was very salty, and it didn't look good. Oh well, we did get what we pay for - we just let the side dishes pass... the important is that our main meal was okay.

The name of the stall was "Kamimura." Oh okay, their meals are indeed "mura," something sister and I were thankful for. For budget travelers, this is something we consider a great blessing.

What did you have last weekend?




*** Jenn ***

Foodie 365 - Week 8

Week 8 has been good for me as I didn't have any problems as far as taking food pictures are concerned, so without further much introductions... here are the foods that made me burp this week...

Foodie 365 > 50/365 - Buco Pandan with Fruit Cocktail and Corn Kernels
19 February 2011
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Miggy, one of the kids living in the same street celebrated his birthday today. Since we don't really attend children's party, we decided not to come, but Miggy's mom Luz was so nice she gave us a container full of this dessert. I remembered during our neighborhood Christmas party, she served buco pandan and we all loved it, so I guess that's the reason why she gave us some. It was different - first time for me to taste buco pandan with fruit cocktail and corn kernels - but it was really delicious!


Foodie 365 > 51/365 - Adobong Sitaw
20 February 2011
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Cousin Dang gave us lots of yard-long beans, but because the beans traveled from Pangasinan to our place, it got wilted quite easily, so we decided to cook it adobo style. Brother cooked this, though, as I still had to do other things in the kitchen.


Foodie 365 > 52/365 - Patola and Kalabasa with Miswa
21 February 2011
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When mom got home from a day out with office mates, she had some patola (sponge gourd) and we decided to cook it for today's lunch. We usually cook it this way - and since my sister loves miswa ("fine wheat noodle" as what's stated in the Filipino-English translations), so we put in two bundles. It turned out to be really thick, but it was still delicious and my sister just loved it.


Foodie 365 > 53/365 - Homemade Siomai
22 February 2011
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Yesterday, sister tried cooking her own Siomai, and it turned out to be good, although we had a difficult time wrapping it. Today, there were some left pork mix, so I wrapped it and cooked it for lunch. I still don't know how to properly wrap it, but I least I think I am getting the hang of it. My sister and I are now looking forward to try it again.


Foodie 365 > 54/365 - Lunch Out
Sta. Cruz Food Express (Sta. Cruz, Manila)
23 February 2011
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Sister and I went out today. Supposedly, she was just about to purchase our tickets for our trip to Baguio City, but when she told me she also planned of visiting Quiapo Church, I told her I wanted to come, too. We ended up visiting three Catholic churches, and before we visited the second church, we passed by this food place in Sta. Cruz and decided to check it out. Foods were very affordable yet very, very delicious! I had: Chinese Fresh Lumpia and Burger Steak while sister had Bamboo Dimsum and Pepper Burger. Less than 200 pesos for four dishes with drinks included... it was a great food trip!


Foodie 365 > 55/365 - Watermelon
24 February 2011
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This picture I initially took for my 52 Weeks of Me project. This week's prompt is "Nourish," and I decided to buy watermelon for this. Whole watermelons were so expensive, so I was really happy seeing a vendor selling sliced watermelons. 10 pesos for a slice was a bit expensive in my point of view, but much better to buy a slice than a big whole one, right?


Foodie 365 > 56/365 - JBee Breakfast
25 February 2011
{Sony Ericsson K800i}

It was a holiday for schools in all levels, so Ria (a Psychology professor) was able to jog with us. We followed the route sis and I took the other day, and whenever we jog, we always see the Jollibee marker from afar, so we challenged ourselves to walk there and eat breakfast. We found out that the Jollibee Store was a kilometer away... we were so tired when we got there, but we were so fulfilled.

Sis and Ria had pancakes, and I had the Longganisa and Egg pandesal. Not exceptionally delicious, but good nonetheless.


Hope you all had a great foodie week!

*** Jenn ***

Bong Bong's 4 of 4

BongBong's Piaya & Barquillos
Robinson's Place Iloilo
Quezon cor. De Leon Streets, Iloilo City
+63 (033)508-8228

To read Part 1, click HERE
To read Part 2, click HERE
To read Part 3, click HERE

Last part of the series...


Piaya Regular (10pcs - p40). Compared to the one made by Original Biscocho Haus, this one was much better to eat because it was thicker and much easier to bite. The filling was slightly sweeter, too.


Ube Piaya (10pcs - p45). The one food item my sister wanted me to take home, and eating it I realized why she bugged me so much about it. I found it really delicious because I could taste the ube filling, and yes, it was a bit softer, too. Only problem is that it flakes rather easily, so it was such a messy food to eat.




Bandi (p30). It tasted like regular peanut brittle one can buy in Baguio or in South Luzon provinces, but the addition of sesame seeds was the one thing that made it different, in my opinion. The caramel wasn't really that sweet, and because it was packed with whole peanuts, it kinda neutralizes the sweetness.

Next week, I will start sharing a new food series for Food Friday. See you then!

*** Jenn ***

Tasting the Flavours of China

Flavours of China
SM City Fairview
30 June 2010


It was another grocery shopping day for us, and we timed it during lunch time so we can eat out, too. Sister was at work, so we were thinking of just eating somewhere we already visited. Go! Fan was suggested, but when we passed by Flavours of China, mom suggested we try it instead. I was a bit hesitant because I knew foods there were quite expensive (which was the reason why we still haven't eaten there), but the family wanted to try all the restaurants in the mall, so we went in.


Aside from its obvious name, decorations inside were very Chinese... but I did like that they didn't have the round table with lazy susan. Truth be told, I find it difficult to eat having to turn the lazy susan each time one needed a serving of the dish.

There are a lot of Chinese restaurants here and there, and Chinese food has been part of Filipino dining for so long now, so we wanted to veer away from the typical Chinese dishes we always get to taste from different establishments. We had:




Kropeck (Prawn Crackers). Complimentary appetizers while waiting for orders to be served. Nothing much to say about this, I think most of us know how it taste like... and yes, it was a joy to eat.


Fried Chicken in Imperial Sauce (p240). Fried chicken cooked with sweet soy sauce and Chinese spices with carrots. This was the first time I got to taste fried chicken with sauce (other than the gravy), and it was a great change. The sauce was nicely cooked, and the chicken tasted good.


Mixed Seafood Curry (p220). Assorted seafood cooked with carrots and potatoes in creamy curry sauce. Mom really loves seafood, so whenever we can, we try to choose dishes with prawns in it so mom could enjoy the food trip. Not a nice picture, I know, but it tasted really, really, good. Like the chicken, this was also my first time to taste seafood curry, and this was where I took inspiration when I cooked the same dish last December (recipe HERE). The dish had prawns, squid, scallops, and fish, and it was really delicious.


Broccoli Flower with Scallops in White Superior Sauce (p230). Blanched broccoli with scallops cooked in scrumptious white superior sauce. There were several broccoli dishes, but we went for the one with scallops because it was rare for us to taste it. Another great dish from the restaurant - broccoli were crispy and very fresh, while the scallops in white superior sauce was seasoned just right.

If there was any complaint to the dishes, it would have to be that the sauce tends to get watery quick - something very common for sauces thickened with cornstarch slurry.


Four Seasons Shake (p70). We were planning to just drink service water that time, but when mom saw the waiters serving this drink to the people sitting next to our table, she decided to go for it, too. Very wonderful way of presenting the drink, but there we felt as if there were only two fruit flavors in the shake - melon and mango. I told mom to stir it before drinking to get a good balance of the two fruit flavors, but she didn't want to - she said that by not stirring it, it was like she was having two glasses of two different fruit shakes. :)


Buco Pandan Sherbet (p80). Since mom went to order a special drink, I decided to order this for our dessert. As a house specialty, I already expected this to be delicious, and it was. Very great way to end a great meal. This wasn't too sweet, so it somehow passes as a drink, too, especially when all the shaved ice had melted.

Eating here, we kinda regretted not giving it a try back then. The establishment has been there for a few years, yet it was just this day that we entered to try their dishes. We all agreed this is a place worth coming back to, however, a few weeks after this food trip, the establishment closed up and is now occupied by Koryo (which still hasn't opened as of this writing). It was really sad that we can't eat there anymore, but we were really thankful we go taste their dishes.

Should you want to taste the Flavours of China, too, they have other branches including: SM City San Lazaro (02)786-2583 / (02)786-2584; SM North EDSA (02)442-0030; SM Southmall (02)806-0088; SM Sucat (02)825-7399; and Tomas Morato (02)374-7744.

*** Jenn ***

F - Foccacia Bread

It was in 2008 when I first had a taste of it. I remember it was on a food trip with scrapbook friends - after visiting the Carmelite Nuns in Tarlac, we went to eat at the C' Italian Dining in Angeles, Pampanga. The waitress served us some foccacia bread while we wait for our orders.

A few months after, I attended my first bloggers' event held at the Italianni's Restaurant in Bonifacio High Street, and we, too, were served some foccacia bread as well. This picture was taken at an Italianni's Restaurant, but in their Gateway Mall branch in Cubao, when the family went to use the gift certificates they gave after the bloggers' event.

On those three food trips, foccacia bread served to us were just plain, but we were served some bottles of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and some herbs so we could mix our own dip. The blend of all the flavors were really good, that I immediately fell in love with the bread that time.

Nowadays, whenever I wanted to eat foccacia bread, I don't have to visit any of these restaurants. Instead, I can just go the Sidcor Weekend Market in Eton Centris, because my friend Ria and I discovered a stall there selling breads, and they sell foccacia breads as big as table placemat (about 18 inches long, 2 inches thick) for only p60 (1.37usd). Herbs were already added to that bread, so all we need to have is to prepare the olive oil/balsamic vinegar dip.

*** Jenn ***