Tuesday, April 8

10 Ways to Keep Cool this Summer



[Note: This article came out last April 6, 2008 in the Philippine Star, Flavors Section. This is the original draft and photo layout]

10 Ways to Keep Cool This Summer!
The summer heat is back with a vengeance. After weeks of cool breezy weather in February, it’s back to the oven for all of us as we burn to a crisp and steam gets forced out of us like an espresso machine. During these times, you begin to think of ways to keep cool and luckily for you, we have a list that does just that.

1) Café Mondial- Hip yet elegant places with exquisite food are hard to find unless you’re willing to bust your entire paycheck in one night. This scarcity of good places to go to is the problem that has been directly addressed by Café Mondial. The summer heat makes people crave to be transported to far off places with great ambience in the company of beautiful people. Located at Silver City along Julia Vargas avenue in Pasig City, Café Mondial or Global Café in English this uber-trendy café offers exactly that and perhaps much, much more as it delivers the finest truly international set of delectable dishes from different countries across the globe. What makes this place different from other restaurants that pretend to be international is that the food does not taste like a mere version of the food from that locale. Café Mondial offers the real deal. What’s more, during the weekends, Café Mondial transforms into the hippest, coolest bar in town complete with world class DJs that complement their world class food selection.

2) Del Monte Fit ‘n Right- Keeping trim this summer is a definite priority for a lot of people. If you’re thinking of bringing a beverage to the beach, remember that your choice of drink will speak volumes of who you are to the opposite sex. Your best bet: Del Monte Fit ‘n Right. Carrying this baby around alone tells others that you’re smart when it comes to choices. Just think about it. While burning your fat from the outside through the sun’s rays, you’re also burning it from the inside! But don’t sweat the burn. Coming in 3 different flavors, this refreshing drink not only quenches your thirst but it also satisfies some of the cravings for something sweet or fruity allowing you to easily take a pass on other sweet dishes that could’ve added calories to your body.

3) Freska’s Beer Balloon- Summertime is the best time for barkada nights out. One way of beating out the night heat is by hanging out with your closest friends at a watering hole and during these hot summer nights, nothing tastes better than ice cold beer. Freska, offers the Beer Balloon for all your barkada gatherings. Reminscent to the MVP trophy of the NBA, this ten bottle strong beer container is the newest offering from the country’s premiere seafood grill. It’s a unique centerpiece that looks a bit like a crystal ball and after a few of these, no doubt, a few secrets will be revealed. And at the practically bargain price of 325 pesos, you’ll surely have a lot of cash left for their wide selection of delicious pulutan. Freska and its Beer Balloon can be found in Katipunan, Pasig and at the Promenade, Greenhills.


4)Nestle Ice Cream Pops- If you want a quick ice cream fix that’s not too heavy, look no further than Nestle Ice Cream Pops. These chocolate covered vanilla ice cream are about the size of Hershey’s Kisses and are fun to eat and one small pack that costs 25 Pesos can be shared with a few of your friends as well. Quick technique: Pop one in and just let it melt in your mouth.

5)Homemade Milkshake
There are many restaurants and cafés out there that offer milkshake in their selection of drinks and beverages. While a lot of them are indeed very good like the comebacking McDonald’s milkshake, most of the time you are left to choose between 2 or 3 flavors only. (Unless you’re in Davao, where there is always “Durian flavor” in any food item) Milkshake is actually very easy to make and you can make them right in your very home. Milkshake has two basic ingredients: Ice cream and milk. This means that the number of flavors that you can make depends on the number of ice cream flavors as well as milk flavors in the supermarket. Here’s a simple Milkshake recipe that you can enjoy while holing up in your crib.
One Pint Vanilla Ice cream
1/3 cup of milk
1 sachet of Nescafe Sweet and Creamy coffee
Mix it all in a blender and… Voila! Wala nang init sa katawan mo!

6)Picnic- Unbeknownst to many, there are many places in Metro Manila where one can go on a pinic. The best would probably be the La Mesa Eco Park in the heart of Fairview Quezon City. This sprawling nature haven is like an oasis in the middle of the humid and scorching Quezon City environment. You can bring your own food or even try to catch a fish while your kids play around in the soft, green, grassy plains of the park. It’s a family friendly environment but a lot of young lovers like our friends Abet and Diane also go there for some shenani.. err G-rated relaxing leisure time with each other. You can also go on a night picnic for which Marikina Riverpark in Riverbanks is the best place to go to. It’s safe accessible and has no closing time. Grab your banig, a few sandwiches and a bottle of your favorite softdrinks and you’re good to go.

7)Fiesta San Miguel- Hanging out in hotels isn’t really popular unless your name is Antonio Trillanes. However, once you get a taste of Fiesta San Miguel inside the luxurious Dusit Hotel in Makati, you just might gather your troops and invade this princely restaurant/ bar. Having been open since October of 2003, Fiesta San Miguel offers freshly brewed San Miguel Beer both Pale Pilsen and Light variations that are, quite honestly, the zenith when it comes to taste that even non beer drinkers would fall in love with. Here, beer is not tasted but experienced. As an additional treat, each night there’s a different live band playing which makes the experience all the more exciting. Quick Tip: avail of their Happy Hour rate till 9 pm.


8)Zagu- In the early part of this century, just about everyone went crazy with the pearl shake. The number of pearl-shake drinkers was only outnumbered by the number of pearl shake stores in the market. It was so prevalent that one could not determine whether it was a phenomenon or a plague. In a matter of months practically 99% of them folded and to this day very few of them are still in business. Luckily, the pioneer remains and every summer, when people feel like burning up in the city heat, Zagu is there to give us our pearl-shake fix.

9)Iron Chef America- In the 1990s Mark Dacascos established himself as a rising action martial arts actor. Who would have known that it would take only a few years before he would be known as The Chairman? Dacascos plays the nephew of the chairman in the original Iron Chef series in Japan who goes to the US to create his own Iron Chef battleground. Iron Chef America is an absolutely engaging show as it pits world renowned Chefs against non-celebrity chefs and sometimes against each other. The best part of the show of course is watching the renowned chefs from the Food Network such as Wolfgang Puck, Mario Batali and Bobby Flay shed their fun loving persona from their shows and become ultra-serious and competitive. In one episode Bobby Flay and Masaharu Morimoto got into an argument that left me wishing that the Chairman would hand them a kitchen knife each. Where’s Yan of Wok with Yan when you need him?

10)Ka-Toque- For those of us who love local cooking shows, one would realize how far these types have gone over the years. Originally aimed towards housewives, cooking shows are now aimed towards a much younger demographic. The most exciting and fun show right now is “Ka-toque” which airs on Q-TV 11 every Saturday from 11 am to 12 noon. Ka-toque stars youthful chefs led by the dashing Chef Nino Logarta and features celebrity guests who come in and participate as well as judge which dish is the best. With the help of their liveband “Ska-beche” the show is a lively alternative to other standard shows that are just about as exciting as reading a cookbook. Simply put, this is one cool cooking show that you do not want to miss.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

mayn you are so hot!