Chocolate review: Liana's Chocolate 60% Dark Chocolate Rice Crisps

I close September with another chocolate review. A third bar of chocolate from Cebu is this dark chocolate with rice crisps. I picked one of each bar I saw at the airport shop and this was the last of the three that we ate. It turned out that, to us, this was the best among the three we had bought. I think it may be the rice crisps that made this bar enjoyable. I also think that 60% is somewhat the middle of sweet and bitter in as far as dark chocolates are concerned.

60% dark chocolate with rice crisps

Details at the back of the package

The expiration date is December 2, 2022. We thought that was too soon for your typical chocolate bar so this might have been manufactured much earlier than when we purchased it.

Close-up of the front

I haven't bought 'new' local (Philippine made) chocolates for some time. With the exception of new variants from Auro, the last time to buy local chocolates was 2019 in Davao. While these have not been as enjoyable or delicious as we wished or wanted them to be, it was important to have a taste of these in order to appreciate these products and have a benchmark or point of comparison in case we encounter them and decide to buy again. Liana's is priced as a premium bar but as I stated in previous posts, it is not in that league. Will I buy these again? Probably, and because I want to know if they will improve in the future. These chocolates are from Zamboanga Del Sur (not from Davao like Malagos and Auro) so I am rooting for them to level up on quality.

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Sunset at Manila Bay - the calm before the storm

I was supposed to post these photos of the sunset at Manila Bay last Saturday. I was not able to do so. And yesterday, I instead posted on Typhoon Noru (Karding) as it was arriving on the eve of the 13th anniversary of Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy). The sunset view at Manila Bay was spectacular that afternoon. I took the following photos from the Sofitel grounds. We stayed overnight at the hotel as the wife had a meeting there. We took advantage to use our Accor membership privileges that we have not enjoyed since December 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic started and escalated.

A close-up with the outline of Mt. Mariveles in Bataan Province seen in the distance

I tried to play around with the lighting settings of my phone's camera. The results are more blues to frame the yellows, reds and oranges of the sunset.

Another shot a few seconds after

Here's another shot of the sun setting behind Mt. Mariveles taken about 10 minutes after that first photo.

The sunsets at Manila Bay are indeed marvelous. I'm not sure how the views will be affected though by the proposed reclamation projects in the bay. Those who currently enjoy these wonderful views will soon only have city scapes during sunset to look at instead of the having these natural backgrounds like the Bataan peninsula.

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Supertyphoon Noru arrives on the eve of the 13th Anniversary of Typhoon Ketsana

On the eve of the 13th anniversary of the onslaught of Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy to many of us who were affected back in 2009), a super typhoon is bearing down on Luzon. Registering at a Category 5 just before landfall, Noru (Karding) carries with it a lot of both wind and rain. Ketsana unloaded record rains in September 26, 2009 and perhaps, mercifully, didn't have much in terms of winds. Here's is a map of the  typhoon track from the Philippine weather bureau.

Typhoon track from the PAGASA website

 

I've experienced so many typhoons in my life. The worst experiences are those that brought severe flooding in our place in Cainta. While I look back at those times with mixed feelings, my most recent experience with the floods of Ondoy and Habagat were certainly life changing.  And so I remain awake as I do my version of a storm watch. I have trouble sleeping during these typhoons. Unfortunately, most information these days come from the internet. Unlike the coverage previous typhoons had (e.g., Yolanda) there's not much on TV about Karding. There is some coverage on radio though and I am thankful for the familiar sound of AM radio news reports about what's happening on the ground in areas affected by the typhoon. That's old school news reporting for you.

Stay safe everyone!

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Seiko SRPJ41 Kosuke Kawamura

Seiko released what it called 'Sonar' watches, which I thought was based on the dial design. There seems to be two kinds of these watches one that was a helmet design case and another had a transparent dial. Both bore 'sonar' on their dials. I have the first type, a 7018-6000 Time Sonar, which I posted here last August. I have yet to acquire the second. Seiko recently released what I would term as an instant classic and definitely highly collectible watch - the SRPJ41.

Wrist shot the first time I wore the watch on a Sunday when we usually visited my parents.

The watch features a transparent dial that evokes the similar dials of Sonar models released in the 1970s. Another prominent feature is the rotating 'rally' bezel. The combination makes for a stunning piece that's an instant classic for Seiko.

Close up of the watch and its transparent dial showing the day and date wheels. Notice, too, the red triangle mark at 12 o'clock. This is also similar to the one found in an even earlier Sonar model.

View showing the crown and bezel. The case is very similar if not the same as the SKX series divers watches with the crown located at 4 o'clock.

The other side view

The bracelet buckle also bears the signature of designer Kosuke Kawamura.

The transparent back is tinted dark and bears the signature of designed Kosuke Kawamura.

Here's a clearer photo showing the watch as 2,275 of 3,000 made for this limited edition model.

 

I seldom buy a new a watch but this was too good to pass up so I inquired about it from a vendor. Unfortunately, his stock was out as all were reserved in advance. One day I was getting a new vacuum cleaner to replace our old one, I decided to check out the Tokyo Store in the nearby mall to see if they had one. They didn't. Yet. And informed me they have not received their allocation of the limited edition watches. They asked me to leave my contact info so they can inform me of the arrival. And so I did, and the following day, I received a message from the store saying only one arrived and they could hold on only until 6PM. The rest is, as they say, history and here I am sharing photos of a keeper.

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A quick snack at Pound, Robinson's Place Manila

We arrived early last Monday for a wedding at one of the hotels in the Mabini area. As we were very early, we didn't want to hang out at the hotel while final arrangements were being made at the venue where both ceremony and reception will take place. Since we were near Robinson's Place Manila, we decided to drop by and have a snack. We had a couple of hours to spare so we had time to go around and see where we can have our merienda. We didn't want to eat a lot because of the dinner that would follow the wedding ceremony. I haven't been to this mall and the wife was there only twice before but for meet-ups with friends over lunch. And so we were both surprised to see a lot of options, a lot of places to eat at that we haven't seen in other malls that we went to before even prior to the pandemic.

One of those was Pound, which had a simple enough menu (for us). And so we ordered some sliders (basically mini burgers) and truffle fries. And we had their house brewed iced tea to wash it down. There were only a few customers when we ate there but eventually more came just as we checked out and decided to start walking back to the lobby for a ride to the hotel.

Sliders and truffle fries

The sliders were good and satisfying. The truffle fries were okay. We probably will eat there again but there's just many other restaurants to try out especially if we'll be back at Robinson's Manila. We'll see...

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A vintage Weekly Auto Orient AAA

I used to have a a few Orient watches in my collection. I am not really fond of their designs though their watches are reliable and there are some that made me curious enough to acquire them (they also happened to be inexpensive so they weren't risky buys). I've since parted with three and only one Orient watch remains - this Orient Swimmer.

The watch has a black dial with day and date complications. The day wheel is in English and Kanji.

View showing the signed crown and date quickset button

The other side view showing the condition of the watch

Case back showing the serial number and attributes of the watch ('40m perfect water proof')

Close-up of the dial

Wrist shot

 

A photo of the watch when I took it out of the package. I got this from a favorite seller from Saitama, Japan from whom I already acquired a few watches including some nice Seikos and Citizens.

This Orient caliber runs at 18,000 A/h

Another look at the movement

Inside of the case back where watch repairmen usually indicate the dates when the watch was serviced. This had no dates written or etched on it.

Detailed information on the watch model - The model was produced around 1964. This was a relatively expensive model at the time; retailing at 8,000 to 9,500 yen.

Detailed information (in Japanese) on the caliber

This is the remaining Orient in my collection so this will be a keeper for now. I have not really used it often but when I did, it worked well and kept time. It could probably still be reliable for daily use.

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Chocolate review: Liana's Chocolate 60% Dark Chocolate - Fruits & Nuts

This is a quick follow-up on the post about some chocolates we bought at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA). We also ate the Fruits & Nuts variant of Liana's 60% dark chocolate.

Liana's Chocolate's Fruits & Nuts with 60% dark chocolate

Photo of the back showing the maker's address and little other information at the back of the package.

Close-up showing the expiration date and the price of this 50g bar.

Close-up of the front of the package showing the basic ingredients.

 

I am not sure if these are really all the ingredients that are stated in the package. If so, then this is a very basic concoction that probably needs other ingredients to have a smoother chocolate. This one though tasted better than the plain 60% dark chocolate bar. It's probably due to the fruits & nuts, which are not specifically mentioned in the ingredients (what fruits or nuts were used?). This one is more expensive than the plain 60% dark chocolate bar. Priced at 170 pesos for 50g bar, we thought that it was a bit expensive for a chocolate that was not as refined as Auro or Malagos.

Finally, we thought that the maker should include more information such as those on nutrition, the sourcing of the cacao, and even whether the product is halal (which I would have expected for a chocolate coming out of Mindanao). There probably also should be a story here somewhere (e.g., is it fair trade? is it single origin?) to help justify the cost of the chocolate bar. Or perhaps it was just priced high so the retailer or store can maximize profit from the local chocolates? There are some missed opportunities here in as far as marketing these chocolates is concerned.

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Chocolate review: Liana's Chocolate 60% Dark Chocolate

The recent trip to Cebu yielded some chocolate purchases. I am always on the lookout for local chocolates and Mactan did not disappoint. We got a few bars from the airport shop just before the pre-departure areas. The first one we tasted was the 60% Dark Chocolate. This was practically what we call 'basic' dark chocolate, and should set the tone for the other dark chocolate variants we bought.

Liana's 60% dark chocolate comes in a 50g bar

The back of the package shows few details about the chocolate including information that the chocolate was made in Zamboanga Del Sur.

A close-up shows the information about the maker and the expiry date. The ingredients are listed at the front and there is no nutrition information, which should be standard for products like this.

 

This chocolate is okay but not yet as refined as the Malagos or Auro chocolates so its not as satisfying. I thought it has only reached the level of Theo & Philo (though the latter may have improved the last few years). The chocolate is on the expensive side at 150 pesos for a 50g bar so it certainly does not have that "bang for the buck". There's definitely room for improvement or refinement of this chocolate.

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Fruits for the week

I am the one who goes to the wet market from our home. I actually like to go to the market on weekends - either Saturday or Sunday. That's where we get our supply of seafood and fruits. While we also buy vegetables there, nowadays we get these from the Sunday talipapa (informal market) in our village. The talipapa though doesn't usually have a lot of fruit varieties so its the wet market or the supermarket for our fruits. A constant would be bananas and I prefer the latundan variety over the lakatan/lacatan. We also usually buy saba, which can be fried or boiled. Fried saba bananas or in the form of turon or maruya are favorites at home. At times, I take fried saba as baon for lunch. It's filling and doesn't make me sleepy during the 'unholy' hours from 1:00 - 3:00 PM.

Our kasambahays like to arrange our fruits on the counter for everyone to see what's available to eat. This way, there's no excuse for not eating healthy.

We make it a point to have fruits at home. We encourage our daughter to have these instead of junk food or sweets especially in between meals (i.e., snacks). Of course, fruits are great as dessert and sometimes with the meals (fried or boiled bananas as part of breakfast). My favorites like atis and kaimito are seasonal and so were mangoes. I usually buy these at the market, too, where I have suki (favorite) vendors for our fruit supplies.

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Tea of Spring, Shangri-La Mactan

There are two restaurants at the Shangri-La Mactan that we had been curious about and planned to eat at but haven't. This despite several stays at the hotel in the past years (of course, except 2020 and 2021 - the height of the Covid-19 pandemic). This time around, we decided to stay put at the hotel/resort so we were able to try one of the two.

Appetizers consisting of peanuts and pickles

Wok-fried Australian beef in Merlot

Black truffle fried rice with chicken

We also had some wonton noodle soup but our daughter already started eating it before I got a nice photo of the bowl.

The following day, we decided to have lunch there so we can try their dimsum.  Here are a few photos of the what we enjoyed for lunch:

Shiitake buns - these we thought were the most delightful with the buns shaped like shiitake mushrooms

Hakaw - steamed shrimp dumplings

Siomai or shu mai - steamed pork dumplings with fish roe toppings

Despite staying at the Shang for several days, we were not able to eat at the Cowrie Grill. At the time, there seemed to be events being held there or near there and we decided to stay away from the larger crowds. There should be another opportunity for that in the near future.

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Back at Marison's Antipolo

We are back to our weekend lunches out. One of the restaurants we used to go for lunches and even some dinners before was Marison's. The restaurant's origins is in Antipolo though I heard (not confirmed) their original branch is now closed. They retained two, however, that are located in malls - SM Masinag and Robinsons Antipolo. We usually ate at the one in Robinsons because its closer to home.

Beef caldereta with potato chips on the side

Pork adobo

Pancit Sotanghon

Frozen brazo de mercedes

The food did not disappoint and we had hearty meals at the restaurant. The quality and quantity were on point (sakto!) and the cost was also okay (won't put a proverbial hole in your wallet or pocket). We already look forward to the next lunch there.

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