CAPRICCIOSA NOW IN MANILA!!!

(Shown here with my mom at Capricciosa, Makuhari, Japan branch)

I was browsing the net yesterday searching for new Italian restaurants to try... After a brief search, I was surprised when I saw this headline: CAPRICCIOSA NOW IN MANILA... Capricciosa happened to be my family's ultimate favorite Italian restaurant when we were based in Tokyo for a time. It is a chain of Italian restaurants all over Japan. Any branch of Capricciosa always invites a long queue of Japanese patrons whether during lunch or dinner. They served a superb Seafood Spaghetti, Lasagna and Calzone. Those were the only dishes we ate there. Not because those were the only decent items on the menu, but a visit to Capricciosa would not be complete for us unless we eat all three. Because of this, we never got to try the other dishes.
When we eat at Capricciosa, which was about a 20 minute walk from our apartment, we are usually too lazy to prepare dinner and we just crave for good food. Happily, Capricciosa never disappoints. So you can imagine, we have our standards set really high.

My sister and I zoomed to Greenbelt 3 after office to have our fix. Upon entering the doors of Capricciosa, I felt a familiar air, like I was brought back to Japan. It helped that there was a long table filled with Japanese men, loudly bantering in Nihongo. We looked at the menu and we sighed in relief to find out it was the exact same menu, only that, we didn't need to ask for an English menu "Eigo no menu, onegaishimasu"

We ordered the Regular Sized Seafood Spaghetti (P310) which served 1-2 persons. It was spaghetti served with tuna, calamari, mussels, shrimp in tomato and garlic Sauce. It was just like the Japanese recipe. The pasta was cooked perfectly al dente. Then we had the much-celebrated calzone (P490), which is shown just below my chin in the picture. The Manila version however was smaller, less puffed. It still tasted good, although a little different than its Japanese counterpart. It is served with a siding of marinara sauce. No complaints, we still enjoyed it.

Although the prices were a bit on the expensive side, I think it was worth it, than travelling all the way to Japan, just to give in to our longing for Capricciosa. Welcome to the Philippines, Capricciosa! Ganbatte!

Capricciosa is located at the 3rd Floor, Greenbelt 3, Makati City (beside Coldrock).

HATE LATE?

Big banners donning this slogan are now scattered all over the Metro. If not for the recognizable colors of Pizza Hut- Red, Black and White, you would have no clue what it meant. We were discussing it one time we got stuck in traffic. At first glance, the message will not register immediately. You would even read it slowly as Ha-te-la-te! Funny but it's true! I felt that their previous slogan, "Fresh, Hot and Fast" was more effective.

The fact, however, remains that Pizza Hut is the food chain with the best delivery service. Fresh hot and fast indeed. They guarantee your order to arrive in 30-45 minutes, hot off the oven. Most recently, they have begun accepting credit cards for delivery, which is so convenient. You can eat pizza in the comforts of your home, even if you don't have cash at hand. And there's the Palm Card! For P150, you can get a card which you can present upon delivery and you get a free pizza for every order of pizza and a 1.5liter bottle of Pepsi. The card is valid for six months. After barely a month, I believe I have made good use of the P150 I paid for to get the card.

I just recently rekindled my lost love of Pizza Hut. For a time, we ate nothing but Yellow Cab Pizza, ordering constantly the Roasted Garlic and Shrimp variety. I just loved shrimp on my pizza, even in my younger years, as much as I loved pineapple with it. But with the help of effective advertising of Pizza Hut, I found myself running back to Pizza Hut during those times we craved pizza during TV nights. I have to say that when I experience a craving for pizza, which usually happens when Im in front of the TV set, an advertisement of Pizza Hut appears everytime.

Now that I've dedicated this post to pizzas, I just want to make special mention of the Quatro Formaggi Pizza of L'Incontro. It is simply the best!!! My sister and I had dinner there last week and we devoured the whole pizza all on our own. It was topped with big slices of parma ham, thinly crusted and about 12" in diameter. It costs P430 but we absolutely loved it!!! We plan to eat there again tonight!

RIDING THE CHA-CHA TRAIN

I almost swore not to write about politics on this blog, despite the fact that I belong to a political office. So I promise to keep this short and raging angry! Lately, I have a very indifferent attitude towards politics. When faced with my daily copy of the PDI, (Philippine Daily Inquirer) I just read the headlines, I merely breeze through the text. Honestly, it's no longer the best way to start the day. It just dampens my spirit reading how corruption has seeped into all corners of our society.

Now, the Chacha train, or more like the Chacha rollercoaster, is all over the papers. What better way to prepare for the holidays than to push heaven and earth to railroad the Charter Change initiative. What are they in the mad rush for anyway? A Constitution is a sacrosanct institution. It cannot be maneuvered or unscrambled in a short span of time, just so people who are afraid to become mere constituents can stay in power perpetually. They have made a fool out of the Filipino people. Just because they have not chosen to take to the streets to protest this meaningless circus, it doesn't mean they couldn't care less.
We are sovereign! We rule!

I need to take a deep breath, and then shout out, DAMN THEM ALL! GIVE US A FREAKING HOLIDAY BREAK!

POSTSCRIPT OF THE PHILIPPINE IDOL GRAND FINALE

Mau Marcelo is the first Philippine Idol. It came as a surprise to me. I wasn't rooting for anyone in particular. My sister and I agree, anyone of the Big 3, Jan Nieto, Gian Magdangal or Mau Marcelo was equally deserving to be chosen as the Philippines' own idol.

I have to be honest though, I did not follow the competition religiously. I began watching intently when it came down to the Top 5 choices, before Pow Chavez and Miguel Mendoza were booted out. I just had the habit of watching shows when they were about to end. I guess I'm not the only one who has this nasty habit. Nakikiuso lang kumbaga.

Anyway, back to the topic, I thought that Mau had the most powerful voice of the three, Gian the total performer, and Jan, the hardest worker, and such a hunk hehehe. (not to mention a Management Engineering graduate from the Ateneo) I also had the feeling during the Final performance night that the resident judges were rallying behind Jan.. Or it could be that they employed reverse psychology on the voters. Thecy consistently criticized Mau's performance that night.We know how the Filipinos love the underdog. But when Mau stepped on the stage to perform the record producer's choice, "On My Own" by Whitney Houston, the rest was history. She was greeted by a standing ovation from the Araneta Crowd. I bet that the same reaction reverberated to all the households tuned in on the program. The performance was absolutely spectacular.

I had a lot of conspiracy theories on my mind that night. If the organizers would allow Mau to bring home the title, in a country like ours, which adored celebrities with fair complexion, tall noses, waif figures, the complete opposite of all that Mau is. But I was happy with the results, the best performer won. Congratulations to Mau, to Jan and Gian for a battle well fought.

Congratulations as well to the organizers of the Philippine Idol Finale, it was a joy to watch, especially the duet of Pow and Aiza Seguerra. They were like mirror images of each other. They even sounded the same! It was a well-organized production. I stayed Saturday and Sunday night at home just to tune in. It was all worth it!