Business seems to be booming in Davao since a lot of shops and restaurants that were only available in our nation's capital before are now rising in the city, and one of those is BonChon. In Korea, BonChon means "small / original village"and this is exactly the theme of this resto. They serve food especially chicken cooked like the Korean villagers used to do it and as an end result - we get a fried chicken, so savory and crunchy and is fried twice for that extra crunch and flavor.
I ♥ anything Korean and BonChon is a real famous resto overseas and in Metro Manila so I was real excited to dine there with my friends *shout out to Taynee and Fox*. Fox and I ordered the Chicken Bulgogi Rice while Taynee got the Beef Bulgogi Rice and of course, you can't leave this place without trying their specialty, BonChon fried chicken. Their fried chicken comes in two flavors: soy garlic and spicy - we only tried to soy garlic since Taynee doesn't like spicy things. Here comes the taste test - and boy, was the fried chicken crisp and delicious! Even the chicken in our bulgogi rice was crunchy, and its not the kind of crunch that you can expect from a fried chicken that was so moist inside and which only used a minimal if not, no batter or crispy mix.
The picture above would show you what their menu. They do have other meals like their famous chap chae, fresh vegetable salads and BonChon's Ko-Yo (korean yogurt) that are not currently listed on the picture but feel free to try them out, I know I would since I received a lot of good reviews about the Ko-yo, Caesar salad and especially, the chap chae.
Bon Chon is located in the ground floor of SM City Davao The Annex in Ecoland. For further information about BonChon you can visit the following websites:
Had a smashing fun weekend while playing badminton with my friends at Badminton World. I haven't really played badminton for a few years now so after more than an hour playing I was dead tired and hungry like crazy. My friend, Taynee and I thought to just eat a quick snack - burgers - since its too early to eat dinner so we decided to go to Backyard Burgers.
Backyard Burgers boasts of a full American styled burger and have two stores in Davao City: one is located on Quirino is inside the Pard's Lot across the street from the ICOHNS tower while the other one is on Tulip drive in Ecoland - and we ate on their Quirino branch since it was just a few blocks away from Badminton World.
*Quirino branch
I've been eyeing this store for sometime now since I always pass by in this area (which is facing the highway) when I go to work but I never had the time to actually dine there. I am not really a burger person but I've been seeing a lot of photos and heard about a lot of good feed backs about Backyard Burgers that made me want to try it out. Backyard Burgers has its own menu of specialty burgers but they also have a "create your own burger" special wherein as the name implies, customers get to choose what type of patty and ingredients do they want and how rare is the patty steak gonna be. The "create /customize your burger" is not a new idea but I still love it since I believe there's not that much of burgers chains in Davao that offers that option in their menu especially, with the type of variety that BB offers. I didn't create my own burger though when I was there (~kekeke after all the talk I made I still haven't tried it yet) because as I mentioned, we were hungry like crazy so we just opted to select from their specialty burgers. I ordered BB Yard Cheesy Steak Burger ..
..while my friend had the BB Yard Bacon Burger.
..and we loved it. All I can say is, that's what a burger patty or a burger really is - forget about McDo burgers or the Jolibee champ. It was a perfect combination of a deliciously grilled full meat patty, fresh tomatoes,lettuce and onion together with a very sweet and creamy cheese. We were full *patting stomach* after eating it as if we ate a full meal, and it made me love burgers.
*menu
Good food is partnered with a good drink but for now they just offer canned drinks for coke, sprite and bottled water. They do have a water dispenser but the water I got was not cold (dont know if it was broken when we were there or they turned it off) and they do have an ice box but only melted ice = water was there so it was of no use. Though the main product they offer is without a question - very delicious and satisfying - I just hope they provide more variety on the drinks they sell. If you want to check what specialty burgers they have feel free to visit their sites. Backyard Burger Website: http://davaoburgers.com BB Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/BackyardBurgersCentral
Its been raining in the city for the past few days that it kind off dampens my desire to go to the beach and relax underwater. Beach is synonymous to sunny day, swimming and soaking up some Vitamin D but I so love water so during a rainy weather, I opt to go to inland resorts.
Best one I've been so far is Matin-ao Inland Resort in New Corella,Davao Del Norte - about a 20-30 minute ride from Tagum City. My friend/officemate invited our whole team to celebrate her birthday and it also served as a team building.
Matin-ao InlandResort has 4 swimming pools that differs in depth - the one in the lower level is a 6-7 ft pool, the one next to it was a 3 ft pool with a slide, the other two in their third level is a 4-5 feet pool and a 3 feet kiddie pool with mushroom posts.
The pools are nice, safe and very COLD - I think they water changes several times a day because I never really dived and stayed in the water but it never went warm, it actually grows colder. My friend said that the water they supply in the pool seems to flowing continuously throughout the day, so rest assured its very clean.
The entrance fee only costs 35 pesos and with that very affordable amount you can already enjoy any/all of the pools and grilling station in the resort, but of course, you have to pay 350 pesos to rent their open cottages. They don't bill for food corkage except for drinks and they also have a neat little restaurant where you can buy a full meal if you haven't brought any food. If you're looking for other activities while you're there, they also have a billiard hall and videoke found on their third level. But if you thinking about an overnight stay in the place they have fully air-conditioned rooms for 1500 pesos per day and 200 pesos per extra bedding.
If you want to visit the place, you might see another set of pools because last time I was there they were building a 12 ft and 10 ft pool, and hopefully they're already finished that so you can experience for aqua fun. As a reminder though,do bring insect repellants when you visit, the resort is charming but there seems to be lot of mosquitoes in that area.
Shout out: to the Teban Freaks. Talking about this resort drives me down to the memory lane of all of us being here and had a Christmas caroling competition! ~gyaaah!
The main branch is located in 2nd floor of the Manila Bulletin Building along J.P Rizal Street while the other two branches can be found in Gaisano Mall: one in the upper ground (this shop only offers take out bread and deli) and the other one can be found in the fourth floor, in The Peak.
Cafe France is a coffee and restaurant that offers fresh and healthy menu selection at an affordable price. They serve a wide variety of salads, breads, pastas and dishes based on the traditional French cooking.
My friend, Taynee and I have been waiting for this store to open ever since we saw the posters of the food they offer in a spot in the Peak and we even giggled (and jumped a bit) when we saw the main Cafe France was being built atop the Manila Bulletin office. True, its a bit of an overreaction but what can I say, we love good food.
I wasn't really aware that it was already open due my busy schedule but my friend, Tayneebrought me to the Cafe France in the Peak to treat me for my birthday. The shop has this relaxing ambience,and I think its because they used green and brown hues in clean,simple and modern interior design. Its really is a nice place to stop by during a hectic day to relax, sit back and drink coffee or eat a pasta. We love pasta's, soTaynee ordered her fave Spaghetti Carbonara and I had the Spaghetti Pomodoro. The carbonara was so creamy and the pomodoro is full of flavor due to the spices and fresh tomato sauce. Yum!
One of the things, I find quite nice about this shop is that they have a specialty for each day in the week, so if you're new their menu you can just select the specialty they have for that day.
*just enlarge the image so you can see the image and details. photo courtesy to: Cafe france*
Vegans and salad lovers would definitely love this place but of course, as you can see there are a lot of different things in their menu that one can definitely enjoy.
Gloc 9 is one of the finest, if not, currently is the number one rapper in the country. He just released a new album new album MKNM: Mga Kwento Ng Makata, his first album under Universal Records. Gloc 9 is known not only fpr his rapping skills but also about the songs he has written that are based on reality.
It simply isn't done that a rapper, usually bent on showing masculinity, would create a song that tells an story about gay life, nor would they even mention one. However, Gloc 9 was able to break the chain when he wrote "Sirena / Mermaid" and sang it together with Ebe Dancel (lead vocalist of Sugarfree) and because of the story behind the song and the collaboration between these two artists,I can't help but rave about this single.
This is the first time I heard a song that uses a first person's point of view to deliver a story about a gay man recounting the hardships he went through while growing up. The video shows a father that is not able to accept that his son is gay, thus he beats and submerges his son in a drum filled with water. The father thinks that with enough beating he can toughen his son up and be a real man but as the child grew, it was clear that he really is a homosexual.
The child started to question if he might be adopted since he never felt his father's love and also questions why people are looking at him strangely just because he dresses and acts like a girl (a thing that comes naturally to him). This is where my second fave line in the song comes in..
"Pero bakit parang lahat ay nalilito pa rin
ano bang mga problema nyo
Dahil ba ang mga kilos ko'y iba,
sa dapat makita ng inyong mga mata"
As time went by, his father got sick and old but the child was still there to take care of his father even with all the resentment and violence his father showed him before. His father now accepting the error of his ways called his son and asked for his forgiveness. Here comes in my favorite line in the whole song.. "Anak, patawad sana sa lahat ng aking nagawa Di sinusukat ang tapang at ang bigote sa mukha Dahil kung minsan mas lalake pa sa lalake ang bakla"
The scenes you would see in the video do and did happen in real life for many homosexual people and its sad to see how narrow minded some people. The discrimination that these people suffer is really hard to cope with but still they are able to smile everyday and that shows that they are indeed even stronger than the "real men".
I have a lot of gay friends but I don't personally know anyone who experienced what happened to the gay child in the video. I do have a friend though, who recently admitted to his family that he is gay and he was disowned by his father and was kicked out of their house. Its just sad to hear that people are judged and bullied by people because of their preference rather than by character.
This song amazes me *hands down* not only because of the great blend of Ebe Dancel's soothing voice and Gloc 9's rap but mainly due to the empathy and compassion that a heterosexual rapper had for the gay community. I hope that for those who were able to listen to the song would also have a better understanding and compassion to homosexuality. Kudos to Aristotle Pollisco! Please support OPM especially this song.
I've been in a KDrama hiatus for some months for two reasons: I was too busy to watch anything and no dramas were "calling out" to me until Rooftop Prince came along. I mean, Yoo chun (!!!) would play the lead character and he's gonna be a Joseon prince much like his character in Sungkyunkwan Scandal (a drama which still I am still super hung up on) - so I really have been anticipating for Rooftop Prince.
The story is a time travel romantic comedy themed drama about a Joseon era (18th century Korea) crown prince named Lee Gak (Yoo Chun) and his 3-men entourage who were trying to resolve the mystery surrounding the death of his crown princess when suddenly they were transported 300 years into the future (modern day Korea) into the rooftop house of a girl named Park Ha (Han Ji Min).
Park Ha is a (reincarnation of Lee Gak's sister in law,Bu Young) happy and strong willed girl who has amnesia due to a car accident she got involved in when she was little. She was adopted and lived in the US and she went back to Korea to search for her family to find out that her dad just died. She tried to live with her step mom and her step sister, Hong Sena but her step sister doesnt really like to see her so she lived on her own. Hong Sena is actually the one who kept the little Park Ha at the back of a truck so that the kid would be away from their home but the truck was involved in the accident that made Park Ha lose her memory. She is also the reincarnation of the crown princess, who same as her was also jealous of her sister , Bu Young (Park Ha) and accidentally burnt Bu Young's face with an iron thus leading her to be the crown princess instead of Bu Young. So you can see that both in her past and present life, Hong Sena caused harm to her sister and is pretty much talented at lying and manipulation to get what she wants.
As you've noticed I have mentioned reincarnation several times already as this story also showcases that idea. Prince Lee Gak believes that the reason why they were sent to the future is to stop anyone who wants to kill the reincarnation of the crown princess,Hong Sena and when they do so they can uncover who murdered the crown princess and they will be sent back to Joseon. Lee Gak assumed the personality of his modern day reincarnation Yong Tae Yong (who was missing for the past two years now) to get close to Hong Sena. However, the prince develops feelings towards Park Ha and found out things about the disappearance the real Tae Yong. Yong Tae yong is a chaebol and heir to a very successful TV shopping company who disappeared and was believed to be dead for two years. Lee Gak found out that Tae Yong's cousin,Tae Moo jealous of his cousin hit him and left him to drown. Tae Moo lied to everyone and said that they didnt see each other in the US but later on he found out and because of his desperation he tried to kill Lee Gak who at that time was disguising to be Tae Yong. Tae Moo hit Park Ha instead, who would have died if not only for Hong Sena's show of conscience. In the end, Lee Gak and his retainers were sent back to Joseon and uncovered that the the crown princess tried to poison the prince urged by her family who was supporting Moo Chang (past life of Tae Moo) to be the king instead of Lee Gak but their plan failed because Bu Young found about it and she ate the poisoned pomegranates to save the prince and actually it was Bu Young in the crown princess clothes who died. In the present time though, Park Ha was so depressed upon losing Lee Gak but met a live and well Tae Yong.
*Joseon F4 - before and after the haircut*
So about the review..Lee Gak and his retainers, Song Man Bo (the intelligent scholar - green) , Do Chi San (intel officer - yellow) and Woo Yong-sool (prince's body guard - blue) provides us with very hilarious scenes as they were trying to blend to the modern life.
My top 3 favorite scenes of the Joseon F4 were:
1. Elevator Scene: I almost died laughing when they thought the elevator was a changing room. They were all half naked when suddenly the elevator opened up. Their expressions were so hilarious as if they were harassed or raped and ChiSan was already close to crying! ROFL
2. HairCut scene: I understand that in the old days it was a crime to cut the hair but looking at grown men so attacted to their hair to the point that they would choose to die than cut it off was so funny. They even cried while they were having a haircut!
3. Samsung phone scene: Look at Prince Lee Gak's very "stupid" expression and look at the other 3 who were staring open mouthed to the phone and tell me if thats not funny! They thought the prince was imprisoned in a magic box!
*look at those childlike expressions*
And of course, the rest of my favorite scenes in the show was the comical, and loving moments between Lee Gak and Park Ha. It was really an amazing love story because Lee Gak came from the past and he was first attracted to Hong Sena (such a loyal guy to be attracted to the reincarnation of his wife) but the feelings Park Ha was stirring within him, confused but delighted him. When I saw the real Tae Yong,though in comma,returned in episode 15 I already knew what the ending would be and seeing the final episode was really hard, itI did make me emotional. The best scenes I have for Lee Gak and Park Ha are actually some of the most heart wrenching parts of the drama. One of which is when the two were dating when suddenly Park Ha noticed Lee Gak was disappearing and the other scenes was that they made a small wedding for the both of them and just as when ended saying their vows Lee Gak returned to Joseon.
*cried buckets in this scene*
But the greatest part of the whole drama for me was the end, when Lee Gak wrote a letter for Park Ha (as inspired by the final letter Bu Young wrote for Lee Gak before she died) that even after 300 years and even after several life times that they would still love each other. Of course,in the end you would see that came true when Park Ha met Tae Yong in the park.
*dont know if this is truly a happy ending*
Prince Lee Gak letter to Park Ha after he returned to Joseon: "I can only imagine how you are doing, unable to touch you. I miss you like crazy. I want to hear your voice, and touch you. If I could die and meet you, I would die right now.Even after three hundred years pass, I will love you.”
It's a bit sad because though Tae Yong is the reincarnation of Lee Gak, of course its just not the same.I do think its for the best because Lee Gak really belonged in the past and that originally,if there had been no interference's Park Ha would have met and dated Tae Yong first but there's still this small part of me that hurts. I think the director understood the feeling since the last shot you would see in this drama is Park Ha meeting Tae Yong but Tae Yong was in a king's robe. I loved loved the story (more than Sungkyunkwan Scandal) but I think I would have to give it time before I can watch another time travel drama because it seems like no matter how much the story is great my heart wont be ready for it yet. Over all, Rooftop Prince is a feel good drama full of cute characters/actors, funny bogs gags and puns and its has a lovable plot. Its something that I highly recommended because its definitely a drama that can make you feel cheerful and giddy for the whole 20 hours. True, the ending is a bit sad but dont let that ruin your impression of the show since all in all it is truly entertaining.
For those in the Philippines though,be ready for this drama because for sure its gonna be another craze when it hits the primetime.
City Hunter is originally based on a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Hojo Tsukasa. The manga has several volumes and even had an anime version but this show is its first live drama adaptation. But the manga is actually a lot different from the drama seeing that, in the manga, the lead character is actually a private detective who hunts down criminals while in the Korean drama adaptation, the lead character is a vigilante seeking vengeance and hunting down a specific group of people.
I finished watching this last year (2011) but it is getting a rerun now in ABSCBN and it made me remember that I really liked the show. It really is one of the best action dramas and korean dramas that I've seen in a while. But enough about me fawning over Lee Minho's picture and let's review the drama.
In the year 1983 North Koreans (NK) blew up a place in Burma that killed high ranking South Korean (SK) officials. Five South Korean officials, "group of five", decided that SK should retaliate to show their strength and sent 21 specialized soldiers in a covert operation (called Sweep Mission) to kill some of NK's high officials. The mission was a success but just as the soldiers were about to board the submarine to get back SK, they were gunned down. One of the soldiers, Park Moo-yul (Lee Yoon Sung's father) took the bullet for his friend Lee Jin-pyo and sank below the waters of Nampo River. Lee Jin Pyo survived and found out the the "group of five" decided to assassinate them to make sure what they did would stay a secret (which was stupid because the guys who killed the soldiers would still know about it). Jin Pyo promised to avenge the death of his comrades, especially his best friend and saviour Moo yul. He kidnapped Moo yul's "son", Yoon Sung, and raised him as his own while teaching him to shoot and to fight .
After attaining a doctorate degree in MIT, Yoon Sung (played by Lee Min Ho) finally returned to Korea to fulfill JinPyo's revenge plan. He worked as an IT expert in the Blue House (official residence and principal workplace of the President of the South Korea - the White House/Malacañang of Korea) and it was there where he saw Kim Nana again. Kim Nana (played by Park Min Young) is a presidential security detail that excels in martial arts,she fends of herself and is taking care of her father, who was in a comatose due to a car accident. She is the female lead character in the drama, whom our hero falls in love with.
Yoon Sung has his own plans on how to execute his revenge and he starts of by checking out his opponent and seeing what way can he bring them down. His enemies are corrupt officials and he gets evidence in all their misdeeds so that he can have them persecuted. He did all of this inconspicuously that he was known to the public as the City Hunter. For the public, the City Hunter is a vigilante who brings justice and fights the corrupt heads of the nation and corrects the transgressions those officials are doing.
The other characters in the drama are Lee Young Joo (played by Lee Yoon Juk), a local prosecutor who has a clear and strong sense of justice and law. He understands what the City Hunter is good because the Ciuty Hunter is unveiling corrupt officials and catching in them in a way that the police can't. However, the City Hunter being a vigilante is still against the law. Jin Soo-Hee (played by Hwang Sun Hee) is the ex wife of Young Joo who helped the City Hunter when he got injured in one of his fights as a return of favor when the City Hunter helped her once.
And of course, I think one of most popular member in the cast is Goo Hara who plays Choi Da-hye, the president's bratty but lovable only daughter. Hara is a Hallyu idol from a girl group named Kara, one of my fave KPOP acts. ..and introducing the group of Five. The number beside their picture represents the order of which they are caught.
The first one was Senator Lee Kyung-wan,whom the City Hunter got a video confession that he pocketed children's welfare funds and is using it for his reelection. He was put in a box and sent to the prosecutor's office (Justice!!! it was a funny scene).
The second one was Seo Yong-hak, a former defense minister and a current presidential candidate. He pocketed the government budget for military equipment and just bought cheap second hand and faulty military equipment which lead to injuring the soldiers. He was caught while trying to buy a second hand military helicopter and asking a commission for his part of the sale which is illegal. The third one who got caught is Kim Jong-shik, an education minister. He was rather complicated since he is Prosecuter Kim's father and he was the one who caused the car accident that killed Nana's mother and made her father an invalid. It was also during this time that Nana found out that Young Soo is the the City Hunter. Nana and Young Soo worked in this case together and they found that Yong Shik was embezzling the government education budget and hiding $200 million KRW in his house to hide the money trail. They got the money and sent it to the student scholars accordingly and the City Hunter was trying to pursue Jong shik but accidentally he fell from an overpass which resulted in him being in a comatose state. The fourth one is Chun Jae-man, a rich and very cunning businessman who runs a chemical company that seems to have some disposal and quality problems because several of its employees gets sick. He is one tough cookie and I loved this part of the show because even if the City Hunter exposed the problems Mr. Chun's chemical company, Chun Jae Man has this "who's more cunning" contest - mind chess and verbal battle with Lee Jin Pyo. Of course, Jin Pyo is smarter and made Jae Man lose his money and company. I think amongst the five Jin pyo's own plan of revenge succeed in Jae Man because he was able to kill Jae Man before the City hunter can stop him. The final man was Choi Eung-chan, the current President of South Korea. Amongst the five, he was the one who voted to keep soldiers in the Clean Sweep mission alive and he lived in guilt for all those years because he was not able to stand by his decision. Later, it was found that he was the biological father of Yoong Soo/City Hunter, and Jin Pyo's main plan was to have the son kill the father as his main revenge. However, Young soo saved the President and in the end Jin Pyo declared that he was the City Hunter to save Young Soo.
*sob* *he really did love Young soo as his own*
Thoughts on the Drama : Lee Min Ho was chosen to play the protagonist Lee Yoon Sung and like most people who heard of the announcement, at first, I was skeptical if he can portray the character well. I loved him in Boys Over Flowers (one of my fave dramas), and I was entertained with him in Mackarel Run and Personal Preference,but those dramas are centered on love and romance, mostly the usual rich guy falls in love with a poor guy type of drama. City Hunter was waaaaay different from what he is used to portraying but, after seeing the drama, I can say he has grown to be a great actor In a short period of time he has shown a great depth and range in acting. Overall, he was a very good choice for this drama.
Cast was great but my favorite was Kim Sang-joong who played Jin Pyo because its a very interesting yet difficult character to play but he did an awesome job with it. Difficult, in the sense, that he is a strong willed man who became hard due to tragedy and thirst for revenge. JinPyo is cunning and has this charisma pulls you and won't make you pity him nor hate him which is really rare if we're talking about antagonists.
Though I didnt really note on it earlier but this story also has a great love story. Yong Soo knew that he wasn't supposed to fall in love because he has a keep his real identity a secret and he has a mission to do. He also is aware that he'll just make his life and his loved one difficult but he can't help it because of Kim Nana. He fell in love with her when he saw a picture of her which was a few years before he actually got to know her personally. They have an on and off relationship in this drama but their interactions are fun, giddy and cute.
There's a lot of twists and turns in the story and the things I loved the most about this drama is that the storyline is very elaborate, its not derivative and you can say that the story wasn't rushed unlike with some dramas that during the latter part of the drama things tend to get dragged on and be more complicated. The action scenes came naturally to the plot and the tension is high but its not forsaking the love and comical scenes. Some action dramas I've seen sometimes leaves you that heavy feeling but this drama leaves you that asking for more. At the end of every episode, there is a cliffhanger that makes you shout "NOOOOOOOOO". So if you haven't seen it yet, please do so especially if your a Lee Min Ho fan because I believe its his best work yet. Thanks to DramaBeans, SBS and Wikipedia.
