Lunch delivery from Wild Flour

I was curious if I could have some food delivered from Wild Flour.

My lunch came in this bag and took about 1 hour from their branch in Greenhills. I learned that I can have food delivered from either of their branches in Greenhills or Podium.

This is one of my 'go to' meals. I almost always order the same whenever I eat at Wild Flour and especially if I'm by myself.

Succulent, fresh salad goes well with the sandwich

They make one of the best tuna melt sandwiches I've tasted. It's probably more about the bread and the cheese than the tuna they use for the sandwich.

A box of six of their delicious donuts

I actually ordered 3 of their old-fashioned donuts but these 6 came in the box. No complaints here!

Of course, the meal was on the expensive side. This was not fast food. It didn't or won't hurt the budget if you ordered from Wild Flour once in a while, say once every two weeks or maybe once a month. Still, I thought it is worth it and will order again sooner than later.

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Checking on our sagada oranges

I do regular inspection of our sagada orange tree after it finally bloomed and bore fruit last March (yes, almost three months ago!). Here are a few photos I took a couple of weeks ago (I forgot to share them here.).

A flower in full bloom - this will eventually turn into the fruit

I just had to take this photo one time I checked on the oranges a couple of weeks ago. This was partly for size comparison.

This is the largest fruit on the tree compared to my palm. This is about 3 months on the tree from the time the first flowers came out in March.

The second largest fruit

The tree is flowering again! We did not expect this as we thought it would be seasonal and would blossom only during the colder months of the year (December to March).

More updates on these very soon (maybe in early July). I read somewhere that it may take months for the oranges to ripen on the tree or for them to be ready for picking. We'll observe the fruits and record this for documentation and reference.

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Back at Mama Lou's (at Ayala 30th)

I have not eaten at Mama Lou's since 2020 (i.e., due to the pandemic). We have not had the chance to eat there again whether at their Ayala Feliz branch or at their UP Town Center branch (which is close to my office). The opportunity finally came when I was designated to fetch our daughter at her summer workshop at Ayala 30th. I arrived a little past 1:00 PM and had not eaten lunch so I surveyed the mall to see what restaurants were there. I was tempted to go for one of the Japanese restaurants there (e.g., Ippudo, Yabu or Ramen Nagi) but saw Mama Lou's and it happened to be practically empty of diners at the time. I did not hesitate to go in and have my late lunch there.

The branch has few customers after 1:00 PM on weekdays so you can enjoy your food as well as have full attention of the staff.

It's like having the restaurant all to yourself.

The Mama Lou's Special pizza

Aglio Olio

Bread for starters and my favorite grape shake

They are opening a branch at a nearby mall very soon. That means we'll have a nice Italian themed restaurant to help satisfy our cravings for Italian food.

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Omega - Swatch MoonSwatch Mission to Pluto

Omega is part of the Swatch Group but there has been no collaboration between the Omega, which is a luxury brand, and Swatch, which is more for the affordable and popular market. So it came as a surprise for many that Omega decided to do this collaboration using its iconic moonwatch to attract watchlovers, especially those who would think twice about purchasing an expensive moonwatch. Perhaps it was a marketing coup but it made a lot of sense to make an affordable and official version of the moonwatch with several variants consistent with the branding of Swatch. A lot of people definitely got excited and one can choose among the different 'missions' as the models or variants were referred to. I got this Mission to Pluto for us (both the wife and I use Swatch watches on occasion or for swimming - we have 3 divers we bring on trips to the beach) as the colors were of our alma mater, the University of the Philippines.

The watch is naturally a chronograph as the Moonwatch is one.

View showing the crown and chronograph buttons.

View showing the other side of the watch

The case back shows the specifications of the watch as well as an image of Pluto for the battery cover.

The velcro strap is similar to that of my first Swatch diver and screams Speedmaster and MoonSwatch.

Wrist shot with the velcro strap

Wrist shot taken after I changed the straps from the original velcro that came with the watch to a leather rally strap from Hirsch.

 

The first time I used the watch was a few weeks ago when I traveled to Zamboanga for a workshop.

I did not take a photo of the box but this is a complete set. These watches have become so popular that a lot of The variants are supposed to be priced the same (if you bought at a Swatch store) but the market seems to have influenced the prices so they are being sold (or re-sold) for varying prices. The most expensive is the in-demand Mission to Neptune, whose case is colored blue. It caught a lot of attention when Daniel Craig, a name who's become synonymous to James Bond, wore one to a formal occasion. 

While Swatch and Omega has stated that these will not be limited edition watches, the demand is high for these watches and you already see a lot of them being peddled by scalpers. And then there are the fakes from China that have flooded the market and are being sold at low prices. One has to be careful in purchasing one or more of these. Make sure the watch is legit. Examine the watch and look for the red flags (you can research these online). If the deal seems too good to be true in terms of the price, then it probably is.

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Creatures in our garden - flying lizards

This is somewhat a different topic from the usual ones I write about here. Our daughter is generally unafraid and not squeamish about capturing various animals and insects around our home. In fact, she is quite good in getting them. These include bugs, snails, slugs and lizards. The latest catches were a couple of flying lizards that she eventually set free (with a little encouragement from us).

This one looks not too pleased that he/she was captured and is not being photographed for posterity.

For some reason, the lizards were not trying to escape. I guess they knew they were being handled with care and were just waiting to be released.

They seem to be relaxed as our daughter showed them and said goodbye - for now.

Those are the flaps that act as wings. The lizards use them to jump from tree to tree as they find food or try to escape predators.

 

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Vendors along the boulevard in Zamboanga

Today is Araw ng Kalayaan (Independence Day) in the Philippines. I thought to feature here something I wrote in my other blog. There are many ways we can interpret kalayaan or independence. The basic notion, of course, is about independence from a foreign power. But there is also independence (or freedom) from poverty or debt. There is also independence or freedom from unhealthy relationships. I guess you can stretch the definitions according to your preferences.

Our morning walks allowed us to observe some scenes in the city. Along the R.T. Lim Boulevard, there are stretches of what was probably a public beach. We saw these vendors along the shore selling shellfish and clams.

Vendors selling shellfish - I suddenly recalled the tongue twister: "She sells sea shells by the sea shore." I asked their permission before I took the photo. It was still somewhat a candid shot and by the time we were on the return part of our walk, most of their items were already sold. Apparently, they already have 'suki' or regular buyers.

Conchs are basically sea snails and considered a delicacy in the Philippines.

Other sea snails that some people generally call 'kuhol' are in buckets filled with sea water to keep them alive and fresh.

Clams make for good soup. I like the clear soup version that we usually order in restaurants to go with our grilled food or whatever it is we order for lunch or dinner.

These are the scenes you usually miss when you're driving or riding. Walks or jogs bring you closer to these scenes and provide the opportunity to stop and look (even inquire, make small talk or take a few photos). They enhance our walks and allows a glimpse of how life was along the shores when a city like Zamboanga was not as developed as in the present. Manila used to have public beaches before the first reclamation projects eventually wiped them out. The attempt to bring those back in the form of dolomite beaches don't really help considering the water pollution that makes swimming or wading risky for people. Still, you also see many swimming or wading in the waters, and seemingly immune to the bacteria and other threats the waters contain.

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Vintage Ricoh Dynamic Wide automatic watch

Ricoh is a brand that's usually associated with copiers. It has or had other products. I have a working Ricoh camera that I acquired during my time as a student in Japan in the 1990s. It is 'Made in Japan' as with a working Pentax camera that I also have preserved. It was much later that I discovered the company also produced watches. And apparently, it is still producing watches today.  

The watch features split date and day displays. The days are in English and Kanji (at the same time).

Side view shown the signed crown

The other side view showing the good condition of the stainless steel case

The case back showing the Ricoh emblem and the watch to be 'water proof' and 'all stainless steel'. There is also a reference number. The 'water proof' marks on the dial and case back indicate the watch to have been made and released before 1970 when watchmakers transitioned to the more accurate 'water resistant' mark. Another thing about the reference number in Ricoh watches is that the first numbers indicate the movement caliber. 30 means this is part of the Ricoh 30 series and a Cal. 30, which runs at 18,000 A/h. This dates the watch to the year 1966, when the Cal. 30 came out.

Close-up of the signed crown - this was rather overpolished or really worn down but you can still see and feel the Ricoh R.

Close-up of the dial showing details such as the jewel-like hour markers and the W often found in their "Wide" models.

The dial from another angle to highlight the cyclops crystal detail over the date feature

 

Another photo of the watch showing the elegant dial and a bit more of the grey crocodile strap that I used as a replacement for its original stainless steel bracelet. The bracelet does not fit my wrist so I just set it aside for when I have an extension for it.

For more information on Ricoh watches, you can simply Google the brand and browse the discussions. Here is one of those online discussions on Ricoh:

https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/vintage-ricohs.2732146/

You need to be careful when acquiring Ricoh watches as there are many fakes going around. These are mainly out of India or Pakistan, which for some reason produce many of the fakes including those being sold as NOS (New Old Stock). The online forums have much information on how not to fall for these fakes.

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Mango harvest 2023

It took a while but we finally decided to harvest mangoes from our tree. The weather was the main factor for this as we were losing mangoes that were detached from the tree by a combination of strong winds and rains the past days. Most of the mangoes that fell had cracked and though some were viable enough to enjoy with some salt or bagoong/alamang. Others that seem to be already ripening are being eaten by insects or birds (maybe bats?) so waiting for most to be near ripe or ripening didn't seem like a good idea.

Mangoes picked last Saturday were able to fill one large bayong.

Green mangoes - many of these will probably not ripen but these carabao mangoes at least can be eaten or given away. I already sent a big bag of green mangoes to my parents. My mother loves the green mangoes and enjoys eating them with a pinch of salt.

We did not harvest all as the more strategically and favorably located are still on the tree. We will just monitor them and pick them later. I will give some updates here later about those mangoes. A while back, I also wrote about our Sagada Orange tree finally bearing fruit. We have not harvested them as the oranges continue to grow. What I did notice last Sunday was that the tree continues to flower and that means more oranges soon. I hope the fruits will ripen on the tree (hinog sa puno) before we even harvest them.

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Memories of UPCAT 1987

The University of the Philippines is holding its College Admission Test this year after 3 years of only basing college admissions on grades submissions. The UPCAT was not held in 2020, 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results produced some controversies as many science high school graduates did not fare as well as the previous years when the UPCAT was held. That is, many were not able to get admitted to their first and even second choice programs at UP. This was apparently due to admissions being based mainly on grades and the grades of science and exclusive high school students were likely regarded as the same as what were perceived as lesser schools. The former students generally performed very well in the UPCAT and made of for whatever shortcomings they had for their grades.

Students who are taking the UPCAT enter Melchor Hall, one of the test venues in the UP Diliman campus. [Photo courtesy of a good friend and colleague who took his son, my God son or inaanak to take the UPCAT yesterday]

I took the UPCAT in what used to be the UP Integrated School building in what is now the UP Town Center. I still went to Melchor Hall afterwards to meet up with my buddy John, who took the exam there. He eventually went to Ateneo where he graduated with a degree in Computer Science. I was the one who found myself in Melchor Hall, where I spent much of my undergraduate years taking Civil Engineering. My first choice was actually Chemical Engineering; inspired by my father's profession. I think I performed well in the UPCAT as both were quota courses and landing in my second choice meant my scores (and high school grades) were more than enough for me to pursue a career in engineering. The rest, of course, is history. :)

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Chocolate review: Droste Caramel Sea Salt

We begin the month of June 2023 with a chocolate review. The other Droste chocolate that I was able to pick up at Changi earlier this year. I would have preferred their dark chocolates but the choices were quite limited so I picked up a couple of each Droste pack that I fancied.

Droste Caramel Seasalt

You open the package at one end with the perforations

Nutrition information on the chocolate

Ingredients - this milk chocolate contains a minimum 31% cacao

Expiration date of the chocolate

I didn't notice this about the chocolate packaging before. I admire their confidence in the chocolates as it definitely is NOT the most delicious chocolate.

 

Don't get me wrong. I like Droste chocolates especially the dark chocolate variants (except maybe the one with mint). It is also somewhat like a quick pick-up (sugar rush?) for when one's working or traveling.

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