dekaphobe.com | Food, Travel, and Lifestyle Blog

Note: This restaurant is already closed.  I was recently invited by Chuck's Deli ( through Eugene of Hefty Foodie ) to an intimate dinner with fellow bloggers. It was good timing since my college friends are planning to try their eating challenge: the Slay The Buffy ! The Buffy is one of Chuck's Deli's bestselling slabwich which has buffalo chicken and garlic sauce. Finish the whole slab of the Buffy (worth Php 590) under 5 minutes and get it for FREE! You'll also win an 'I've Slayed The Buffy" shirt and have your name displayed on their wall. :) Chuck's Deli is the brainchild of Marco Alcantara, who was craving sandwiches he grew up within the US. Together with his wife, Chef Katrina Kuhn-Alcantara, they created wonderful sandwiches we now call a SLABWICH.

This is probably the longest book month for me as it took half of my July to finish the last book. Vacation planning, vacation, and watching TV series took a lot of my free time too. I do hope I'd get to read more books in the future. :) As a continuation of my May post , let me share with you my June books: 18. Ligo na U, Lapit na Me by Eros Atalia Karl Vladimir Lennon J. Villalobos or Intoy is friends with school transferee (and heartthrob) Jenny for more than a year. For more than a year, they have been also bed partners without any emotional attachment. Little did Jenny know that Intoy already has feelings for her. Just when Intoy is ready to declare his feelings, Jenny dropped the bomb that she's pregnant, and Intoy's not the father. After the revelation, Jenny stopped attending school and stopped communicating with Intoy. Intoy struggles with surviving his heartbreak while searching for a job after graduating and contemplating the 'what-ifs' if

Update: This branch relocated to Ground Floor, Burgundy Building, Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila I was invited by Richie to try the much-talked-about burger event in the Metro: Zark's Burgers' Jawbreaker Day 7! :) Zark's Burgers is popular for serving ridiculously humongous burgers and their eating challenges, imagine Adam Richman's Man v. Food in Manila.

Who would have thought that a simple question would lead us, the PEx Gluttony Society , to rediscovering a restaurant that has been serving Old Manila cuisine for over a hundred years: Comida China de Manila. Formerly known as Panciteria San Jacinto, Comida China serves traditional Chinese dishes at really affordable prices. What I liked best is that their dishes are available in four serving sizes: poquito, small, medium, and large.   The restaurant has American-Spanish-influenced interiors and has function rooms for different occasions.

Update: This restaurant is already closed.  Note: As of January 31, 2013, Champs Burger is now located at Balete @ Kamias, 175 Kamias Road, Sikatuna Village, QC A few months ago, I won a Champs Burger voucher from Yaniconquistadora . I almost forgot about it until I checked my unused vouchers. Good thing it hasn't expired yet, which gave me an excuse to revisit Maginhawa . :) Champs Burger is the newest sports-themed burger resto in Maginhawa. The whole place is al-fresco and an awesome place to hang-out with friends. Aside from beef burgers, they also serve fish burgers, rice meals, and chicken.

Before I announce the lucky winner, I'd like to thank everyone who joined my Happy Lemon giveaway. :) For this giveaway, I  received more than 400 entries, that's overwhelming, guys. Thank you so much! :) Again, the lucky winner will receive Happy Lemon GCs worth Php 300 , which he or she can use in any Happy Lemon store  in the Philippines. :) And the winner of the Happy Lemon giveaway is:

One of the most memorable spots we visited in Davao City in Davao Crocodile Park though I haven't even seen a crocodile. Why? We didn't enter the zoo. We actually went there for Sweet Spot Ice Cream. Sweet Spot Ice Cream offers a unique ice cream flavor that can only be found in Davao: Crocodile Durian Ice Cream. :) Crocodile Durian Ice Cream has, of course, Davao's pride Durian and Crocodile Eggs! Crocodile Egg is said to be creamier than chicken eggs. There's only one way to find out: try the Crocodile Durian Ice Cream.

Note: This location is already closed.  When I asked friends about the must-try foodie places in Davao, Blugre Coffee topped the list. Blugre Coffee, best known for its durian coffee, is one of the pioneer coffee shops in Davao City. It currently has three branches in Davao City and one franchise branch in General Santos City, owned by Manny Pacquiao. :) Aside from coffee and desserts , Blugre also offers breakfast meals, pasta , and panini. I was quite impressed with the interiors of the place. One could mistake Blugre as an international chain. Believe me, I even had to ask the barista if Blugre's really a local brand. They proudly use Philippine Arabica coffee beans from Mindanao.

I'll let you in a little secret: I haven't been to a lot of mainstream restaurants until recently. A few months ago, I got to try Pancake House , and now I got to try Bon Chon Chicken! :) Bon Chon Chicken opened its Philippine franchise almost 2 years ago and still one of the box office restaurants ever. It was a birthday treat from a good friend that he thought of taking me to Bon Chon since I haven't tried it yet. 

This blog just turned one! And as promised, I'm holding another giveaway to thank my readers for supporting this blog. :) I can't thank you enough for all the likes, fb shares, twitter shares and google +1's. I really, really appreciate it.  This time I'll be giving away GCs from one of my addictions: HAPPY LEMON!

Note: Lyndon's relocated to  740 Roxas Ave, Poblacion District, Davao City, 8000 I recently went out-of-town for a quick weekend trip with a friend and we went to a beautiful city in the South: Davao City. We arrived in Davao on a Friday night that after we settled at our dormitory (yes, we stayed at a dormitory, more about this soon), we were ravenous. Good thing one of the foodie places on my must-try list is nearby: Lyndon's World's Worst Ribs and Awful Chicken. Lyndon's resto name really got me curious. Aside from the Worst Ribs and Awful Chicken, Lyndon's also serves Horrible Spicy Mechado, Rubbish Kaldereta, and other seafood dishes.

Note: This location is already closed.  I have been bugging my friends to accompany me to explore Kapitolyo so we visited this newly-opened place called Milky & Sunny .   Milky & Sunny opened less than a year ago and offers all-day breakfast items that we always love. The place is mostly white and blue, which feels like a home kitchen. I found the whole place really cute. :)

Note: This restaurant is already closed.  I recently went to Ayala to have dinner with a close friend and we decided to have dinner at CBD or Cheesesteaks, Burgers & Drinks, located at Ayala Triangle Gardens. CBD is from the owners of Tender Bob's and Meat Plus Cafe in Subic and serves American comfort food like cheesesteaks and burgers.

Note: This location is already closed.  Since last year, buying birthday cakes for my family has been my personal tradition. It gives me the freedom (and excuse) to discover hidden cake shops.  Last June 2011, I bought Lia's Cakes in Season's Avocado Cake for my mom's birthday. She liked it (but my dad loved it, so I bought the same cake for his birthday, which he finished all by himself), but she told me: "I hope next year would be a chocolate cake." So come June 2012, I decided to buy her something from Purple Oven. Purple Oven is the pastry and cakes supplier of some coffee shops and restaurants in the Metro. Though the location is hidden within Pasig City, people are willing to do a trek to buy their wonderful cakes, cookies, and other sweet goodies.

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who joined my FIRST ever blog giveaway. I got exactly 440 entries in a span of 7 days! That's fantastic! :) Also, my BIGGEST thanks to Jamba Juice Philippines for the vouchers! More power to you guys! :) Again, each of the five (5) winners will receive 3 vouchers of Jamba Juice vouchers valid for a 16oz smoothie indicated in the voucher. The vouchers are valid until July 21, 2012 at all Jamba Juice stores in the Philippines: Bonifacio High Street, Alabang Town Center and SM Mall of Asia. After verifying the entries, I'm happy to announce that the 5 winners of the Jamba Juice vouchers are:

Chicken Teriyaki Sushi by Kimono Ken This blog just turned ONE year old! :) It's unbelievable that I've written over 150 posts in a year, improved a lot on food photography, got invited to events by reputable businesses and met wonderful people along the way.  I made this post to thank the following who inspired me to work on this blog (though ideas of getting into a diet sometimes intrigue me). :D 

Note: This restaurant is already closed.  I recently revisited Maginhawa for dinner and bonding with a fellow blogger, Lovelee . I met Lovelee a few months ago at an  Openrice event and we agreed to set another food trip somewhere in Maginhawa with other bloggers. After months of rescheduling, we finally met up (sans our other blogger friends). Sancho Churreria Manila is owned by people who used to worked for Dulcinea hence the similarity in the menu. This cute restaurant can sit around 20 people, Good thing I arrived a little early that we were able to sit near the desserts display (who doesn't like looking at desserts ?)