Peanut Butter on Healthy Food: Kozui Green Tea Cafe

Are you a tea fan and getting tired of the usual "Milk Tea" runs? Well, you're in for a treat.

Name: Kozui

Location: Along Tomas Morato (Beside Bang Coffee)

Budget: 100-300 pesos per person

The green-themed cafe displays a healthy and environment friendly atmosphere that will keep you relaxed while drinking low caffeine green tea. Kozui is a place where you can study for your board exam, read a good book, do your backlog work, write a blog post and anything that doesn't involve the word "noise". The quiet ambiance will clear your mind as soon as you enter the cafe from a road with beeping cars and angry drivers present in Tomas Morato.

Upon approaching the counter to order, we came across a rather strange tip box. This tip box doesn't have a hole to where you put the coin into. but it has a button. One of the employees told us how to operate that tip box and so here's how it's done (wait for the gif to load).

The more I stare at it, the more I can't finish my review X3

They have various mixes of green tea from Lemon Green Teaz, Fruit Teaz, Matcha Cream Korichio, Tea Latte and many more. Me and my friends didn't even know where to start so we went for the "must try".

Matcha Latte (130 pesos)

Roasted powdered green tea with a hint of milk to nullify (to a certain extent) the bitter taste of the drink. The matcha is concentrated below so you have to mix it well before taking a sip; else, you'd say this has too much water, not much matcha and regret it later.

Jasmine Lemon Teaz (100 pesos)

The person who drank this has colds and it has lemon inside. The drink also has Chinese Jasmine green tea that has a scent that calls for beautiful maidens in the heavens while butterflies fly around you in your very beautiful secret garden. I hope I described it right...

Matcha Melon Korichio (140 pesos)

Definitely a must try. Sweet melon combined with matcha in an ice blended drink topped with whipped cream and the usual hint of milk. Sweet, flavorful, healthy and relaxing. This is love...

A trip to a cafe won't be complete without trying out a certain delicacy and we picked just the perfect one to blend with our drinks.

Mochi Dark Chocolate Truffles (70 pesos)

Need I say more?

If you're thinking of comparing Kozui with Milk Tea places, Kozui is a completely different thing. For starters, A good milk tea uses black tea and milk in green tea subdues the bitter taste more than just add up to the flavor.

On the aspect of bringing a date, Kozui is a very relaxing place after a good dinner. By the way, they serve food too. I'll try some next time.

4 out of 5!! Shhhhhhh!!

Peanut Butter on Milk Tea: Share Tea

A friend of my sister said that there is a good Milk Tea place at Wilson St. in Greenhills so I gave it a try

Share Tea is apparently number 1 in Taipei. Well I've never been to Taiwan but when i searched their specialties, one of them is Milk Tea (naicha). I went inside and this is what surprised us:

OOOOH! Hand made taro... buy one get one for half...

But we ordered a different set.

I roamed around their small space and the inside reminded me of a Chinese grocery I was once in. It gave me nostalgia.

There were four of us who ordered different drinks which gave me great time to assess their drinks and right after we payed for it, they gave us this...

It's a Share Card, not a Share Car

If you reach nine stickers (or stamps), you get a free drink. Here's what we ordered:

Taiwan Classic Pearl Milk Tea (full 100% sugar level)

Standard Pearl Milk Tea for people who crave... uhm... pearl milk tea...

Ice Blended Strawberry with Lychee de Coco

A sweet combination of strawberry and lychee that would satisfy your sweet tooth (and sour if you have one)

Rock Salt Cheese with Oolong Tea

Sip the cheese until you reach the tea part and taste the flavors mix together... or you can just always mix it if you don't want to stain your lips.

The last guy didn't want his order to be featured in this blog (what an a**!!). We are definitely not bringing him on our misadventures next time.

Share Tea has delivery to selected areas in Metro Manila. If you want more info on this place you can visit http://www.sharetea.com.ph but if you ask me, if it weren't for the delivery service and the nostalgic interiors, I'd give this an average rating.

3 out of 5... sorry Share Tea

When Black was once called "Colored"

I was watching t.v. the other night, when I saw that a movie channel was going to show a movie starring Emma Stone and thought "why the heck not?".

The movie is entitled "The Help", and it's the story inspired by the book "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett about an aspiring journalist (Emma Stone) who wrote her big break by writing about the stories of the black maids who experienced hardships while working as maids for white families. Yes, I'm using racist terms for this review, because the entire movie was about racism anyway.

The setting is based on the 1960's, when racism ranged from black people not given any decent human rights by the US government, to black people getting murdered just because they're black. This was also around the same time Martin Luther King Jr. fought for black people's rights, which makes writing about the hardships of black maids very timely. The hardships that the black community had to go through just because of their color was just impossible to make sense of. Colored people having different contagious diseases from the color of their skin, maids having to raise other people's children while their own are raised by others, black children of certain age are forced to become maids just to make ends meet, and even maids being placed in the will of their previous masters for them to be handed down to the children of their previous masters as if they were their property and not human beings. These are just some of the many stories that you will hear in this movie, and it will open your eyes, especially if you yourself know what it means to have a maid in the house.

The conflict does not revolve around Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone's character). It revolves around the two black maids played by Viola Davis (CIA Director, Knight and Day) and Octavia Spencer (famous for minor roles that make certain scenes more interesting). Skeeter was just the one who put their stories and all the other stories of other maids together. At the end of it all, it's a happy ending with justice served.

I don't really need to say much about the story since it's already a novel, but I can say that Octavia Spencer deserved the awards she received for this movie. If you're familiar with how good of an actress Octavia is in other movies or tv shows, you'd know that she has the biggest potential among those who are usually cast as extras. And this movie was able to maximize her acting skills to the fullest. Her performance for this movie gave her Critic's Choice Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, BAFTA, and an Oscar ALL ON THE SAME YEAR. Everybody else was great, especially since they all had to speak in a southern 60's accent, but Octavia gave the best performance I have ever seen from her. As for Emma Stone, I noticed her characters are usually those who are strong willed, and determined in their ideals. Well, that's what I've seen from the three movies I've seen her in. But I still think Emma Stone was a supporting cast in this movie. And I will take that opinion to the grave.

あなたはわたしのゆうじんになりたいですか (Do you want you and I to become yuujin?)

Looking for affordable and delicious Japanese cuisine? I've got one of the best for you...

Name: Yuujin ( ゆうじん )

Budget: 200-500 pesos per person

Location: 221 Wilson St. Greenhills, San Juan

The store opens at 11am - 2pm then reopens at 5:30pm onwards (up until 10pm on Mondays to Thursdays and until 11pm on Fridays to Sundays)

It's not that pretty hard to find, just look for a residential-looking house in the middle of commercial spaces (plus it has a sign).

The interior looks Japanese-enticing by the way

The choice of dishes are of the typical Japanese restaurant but presentation and taste are more than extraordinary. They served us complimentary appetizers that varies every time we go here. Sometimes we get Sautéed bean sprouts (toge), sometimes we get deep fried anchovies (dilis) but today we got this...

Potato Salad (by the way, the menu is right on top of it)

It kept my stomach busy while waiting for the orders. and I ordered their bottomless iced tea which I'm glad is not commercialized iced tea.

Homemade Brewed Ice tea (60 pesos - regular 80 pesos - Bottomless)

It's homemade brewed with honey on the side and a pinch of calamansi to add to the sour sweetness. When you finish it, ask for a refill on the iced tea, honey and a piece of calamansi.

Service time wasn't bad at all. The restaurant is just a small place so they have just enough time to serve their meals fresh from the kitchen. I'll display pictures in chronological order from the first dish they served to the last.

Maguro (Tuna) Sashimi (220 pesos)

Fresh tuna, class A wasabi and a great presentation on an octagon plate.

Shake (Salmon) Sashimi (240 pesos)

You can tell that the salmon is fresh just from this picture. No enhancements added.

Tofu Steak (190 pesos i guess)

The bean curd was cooked to perfection. This is what I always look for when trying out tofu dishes. Definitely one of the best tofu steaks I've ever eaten in the Philippines.

Yuujin Roll (260 pesos)

Deep fried sushi with ebi (shrimp), kani (crab) and cucumber (CUCUMBER!) served with a mayo based sauce. Just add the wasabi and eat it. Don't forget to eat a piece of that pickled ginger before trying out the next dish.

Mixed Seafood Teppanyaki (380 pesos)

assorted grilled (to perfection) seafood (Tuna, salmon, squid, shrimp, bell pepper and onions) with a sauce that I cannot describe. Delicious, savory and all the flavors just melts in your mouth.

There are a lot of delicious dishes I havent mentioned here in this review. There's the Chicken Teriyakidon, Katsudon, Unagi don and their Sukiyaki is the best (You can have the egg separated if you like). We also tried the Moyashi Teppan which is pork and vegetables similar to that of the Mixed Seafood Teppanyaki and many varieties of sushi carved for your taste buds.

Spending too much on a craving for Japanese food sometimes isn't worth it so the next time you crave for Japanese food, Yuujin is the best place (seriously). Affordable and delicious Japanese food is right around San Juan. Don't believe me? See for yourself...

5 OUT OF 5!!! *explodes*

Allow me to introduce "I Do Bidoo Bidoo"

Hi guys! Houston here checking in for the first time in this blog. I've been blogging in other blogging social media before, but this is the first time I'm actually using a website dedicated to blogging. That's not really much of a change, since basically everything is the same.

Anyway, for my first review here in PBoaS, we have the light romantic comedy inspired by the songs of the Apo Hiking Society. Entitled "I Do Bidoo Bidoo", the story is about two lovers who are on their path to matrimony, which is suddenly hindered by the sanctity of family standards. Torn to choose their own family's side, they realize what they have to do in order to be together again.

That's basically all that there is to the story. Which in normal movie standards, isn't worth the money because the story would be too bland. But what was it that made the movie sell? Simple. It's the songs in it.

"I Do Bidoo Bidoo" isn't inspired by the songs of the Apo for nothing. It's a Filipino-Musical Movie for all age groups. Written and directed by Chris Martinez, with the superb cast and crew, this movie would not have been possible if it wasn't for these factors:

• Chris Martinez wrote and directed the movie - I make this my number one point because I've grown tired of the typical Filipino movies that are shown in the cinemas. It was always either a romantic comedy, or a non-frightening horror movie. Both of which would always have cliche stories. But things changed when the movie "Zombadings: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington" was in cinema because it changed the standard of Filipino comedy. This new fondness of local movies was further amplified when I saw "Ang Babae sa Septic Tank". Although it was an Indie film, this was the first Chris Martinez movie I saw, and it blew my mind so much that I decided that if I'm going to watch any local movies, it MUST be written by Chris Martinez. Having him direct the movie would have made it even MORE interesting. And because this movie is written and directed by him, my expectations of the movie were not in vain.
• The cast was superb! I could not imagine anybody else in the movie. Allow me to elaborate

1. Ogie Alcasid - did an excellent job in his role as Pol Potolan, a one hit wonder singer turned guitar teacher, who's inspiration for his music is his family. And his singing of "pag-ibig" was done beautifully. And I must say, his acting skills must have been put to the test in this movie for him to have been able to pull of that one scene with Eugene Domingo. Speaking of which...
2. Eugene Domingo - Eugene (as explained in Ang Babae sa Septic Tank) has three levels of acting. The elevator acting, the TV Patrol acting, and the indie movie acting. The first two is what she uses when she's in a comedy. The indie movie acting is what she did here because the prior methods could not be applied. She needed to play the role of Rose Polotan, a hard working mother who only wants what's best for her family, so she needed to act and not look like she's really acting. This movie showed her versatility as an actress because you get to hear her sing in at least three songs! And she wasn't off key! This is because according to a behind the scenes clip of I Do Bidoo Bidoo, Eugene actually had voice lessons before filming was done. And you could hear the results very well.
3. Zsa Zsa Padilla - you could see in Elaine Fuentebella's eyes the sadness of what was going on in their side of the family, but had the courage to meet the problems that she had to face. Her singing was beautiful, but I think her character could have had a better resolve with her husband.
4. Gary Valenciano - the workaholic Nick Fuentebella who almost lost his marriage to Elaine because he couldn't care less. Gary's singing style didn't always fit with that of the Apo songs, but his singing of "Paano" fit just as well as when the Apo gave him "Di na Natuto". Frankly, if they had a deeper back story to support what they did in their resolve, then maybe I would have given their resolve more meaning. But the movie isn't just about their problems, or the Polotan parents. The movie's actual story revolved around
5. Sam Concepcion - a young registered nurse, Rock Polotan is about to be wed to his girlfriend Tracy, but their wedding is suddenly cancelled because of Tracy's grandfather who does not approve of him. His singing was sublime. I could not imagine anybody else singing the songs the way he did. But one person's singing stood out among all the cast for me. And that voice belongs to...
6. Tippy Dos Santos - Patricia Fuentebella, a beautiful, rich girl of high maintainance, is the girlfriend of Rock Polotan. Her struggles are typical when your family is against your marriage, and your boyfriend suddenly chooses his family over you. Seeing as how her list of appearances involve mostly TV shows that I don't watch, I barely knew her. But after seeing her in a line reading audition, and hear her singing voice in the trailer, I expected a lot out of her in the movie, and she delivered. The best that I could ever hear. Each time she sang, I would get goosebumps. Her acting was great, but my favorite actor in the movie would have to be
7. Niel Coleta - Commonly known to everybody as "The guy in the Nestea" commercial, his was by far the best acting that I got in the movie. I did not understand his character when he first appeared, but in his second scene, it became clear, and each time I saw him, I never saw the Nestea boy again. I will now refer to him forever as Brent. Rock's best friend.
8. The rest of the cast were also great. I just wanted to emphasize on these seven because these are the ones whom I felt made the story what it is.

• It wouldn't be proper for me to not mention his name in this review because I actually knew the Musical Director of this movie. And each time a song appeared, I could only think "only you could have been creative enough to have pulled it off like this". Yes, I'm talking about Vincent De Jesus. As a member of the Philippine Educational Theater Association, Vince knows what it means to put on a musical. And to incorporate it in a movie, he understood the elements needed to give the songs more meaning. Each word had to be pronounced properly. Each note had to be hit properly. Each word had to be given a certain stress in order for it to give more meaning not just to the song, but to the scene. These are the things that I recognized from Vince having been able to work under him a long time ago. 
• Lastly, I would like to mention the choreographers of the movie for being able to create such interesting dance routines. I just wish the boys with their guitars were more synchronized, but they're just children so I forgive them.

Let's now move on to the story. As I mentioned earlier, the story, without the songs, would have been bland. The conflict of the story was all about the treatment of society to teenagers who get married too early, and at the same time, they are of different social classes. These are two common problems in the Philippine society. And although the resolution was also what other people in the Philippines would normally do, I think the movie was never about the story itself, but it has always been about combining songs of the Apo into one movie. And I agree. This is how the movie works. It works because we get to sing along to our favorite Apo Hiking Society songs, and Chris Martinez was smart enough to be able to connect all those songs into one story. Sure, this isn't the best Filipino movie of the year, but if you LOVE Apo, then you'd be very happy with what they did with this movie.

P.S. - ang eksena ni Ogie Alcasid at Eugene Domingo ay rated SPG. Ingatan ang inyong mga mata..