I’ve been contemplating for months to buy an Instax Camera. For those who aren’t familiar, they are basically polaroid cameras except by Fujifilm. They’re expensive at Php6,600++ so I’ve been holding off my purchase thinking that it’s only an impulse. However, 3 months later, I’m still constantly surfing the net to find a reasonably priced camera.
On Friday, I went on Sulit.com.ph and found an online seller, Cutegadgets, selling the one I want at Php5,400. This was a good deal and she had it in stock. I spent all of Saturday chatting with her via Viber regarding my upcoming purchase. She runs a reputable online business selling gadgets so she seemed legit. We were all set for Monday. I was gonna deposit it into her account when the banks open on Monday and she would ship it to me. It would be in my hands by Wednesday. Throughout Saturday, we were texting because I wanted films and I messaged her to add that to my order. In short, I was racking up a bill.
Anyway, today she sends me a text to say that lots of people bought and paid for it on Saturday so she has no more stock for me. I was PISSED. My heart is so set on this camera, disappointing me is not a good idea. Even if I don’t have a choice but to wait, I still told her how disappointed I was. I said how the least she could have done was inform me that stock availability was an issue because we were texting all-day saturday and if needed, I would go to her office and pay for it in cash. I said that we wasted all this effort and I got my hopes up now I have to wait. She explained that many people express the desire to buy but never actually go ahead with the purchase. I’m an online seller myself (I sell designer bags) so I’m all too familiar with this. However, I already gave her my full name and address and we were constantly texting on Saturday about the products. The least she could have done was to tell me at one point that hey, we’re out of stock. Or.. maybe you should come here because we’re running low on stocks. Anyway, I’m pissed and disappointed. I make sure to express this to her. I sent her a bunch of messages because I was really upset.
I asked her to confirm that she can allocate one camera for me in two weeks. She said that she will refer me to another seller. I guess she is making too much money that she doesn’t want my business anymore. It disappoints me. Here’s a screenshot of what I said. She no longer wants to deal with me. I guess I’m too difficult.
Since our family business has a large service component, I’m all too familiar with customer wrath. We are on the receiving end quite often. Unfortunately, in our case, no matter how much we want to, we cannot tell people that we no longer want their business. I’ve come to realize that many customers just want to vent their frustrations and want a commitment that their situation is being rectified. In the same way, I was willing to wait for two weeks yet this girl said she “should not be in a position to deal with me.” (The wording is really offensive. No businesses should ever say this.) In a difficult and unpleasant way, customer complaints actually help improve the business. It’s not easy to face but in not everything in business is all fine and dandy, whether you’re selling cars or cameras.
Please note, there’s nothing wrong with her. I’m sure her business is legit and gets lots of positive ratings, so if you are her customer or potential customer, don’t let this entry deter you from doing business with her. I just don’t like the way she handled this situation so I’m posting this to express my disappointment. As a rule for all businesses, if you don’t address your customer properly and/if they are dissatisfied with your responses, they will find another outlet to vent their frustration.
Time to start searching for another Fuji Instax Camera.
I must say that Bawai’s Kitchen and my family got off to a rocky start. However, I’m a believer in looking beyond first impressions so this story ends with a very happy tummy. Read on.
The much talked about Bawai Kitchen has been on my family’s to-eat list for about a year now. Despite their newly opened Katipunan branch, we trekked all the way to Tagaytay on a quiet Sunday to check out the original.
Some Photos of the Gate & Dining Area of Tagaytay.
It’s a reservations-only Vietnamese restaurant deep in the heart of Tagaytay/Silang. We arrived kinda late and the place was full. We had high hopes however we quickly found that there was nothing left in the menu we could order. Everything was out of stock. We were only able to order 4 dishes (the last remaining dishes). We were a little disappointed but we still looked forward to a good meal. Here are our dishes:
Our Food:
Spring Rolls – It’s difficult to make a spectacular spring roll because this dish is served in thousands (maybe even millions) of restaurants around the globe. However, Bawai’s take on this is a non-greasy roll filled with fresh ingredients that gives this Vietnamese lumpia a more delicate taste. I must say I really liked this.
Tom Rang Me: That Sauce. What do they put in that sauce? It’s so freaking delicious. But more on that later.
Pho Bo: Pho is all about the broth. This needs improvement in that department. It was also served lukewarm instead of steaming hot.
Bun Tom: It’s okay. These lacked flavor.
At some point during the meal, the husband of Bawai, Mr. ___ (I forgot) came out to the dining room to explain things to us (and the other patrons in the restaurant.) It turns out they catered a party that same day which meant they dispatched their waitstaff and ingredients to the event instead. This explains the slow service and out of stock menu.
As a token of apology, we were invited to give Bawai a second chance. Exactly a week later, we found ourselves at Bawai’s Kitchen in White Plains Katipunan. We had a completely different experience.
From the Outside:
The doorway to great food
There is a view of Eastwood City
Full House
Nice to sit al Fresco
The Food:
Goi Cuon: Known to the western world as summer rolls, this Goi Cuon is probably the best I’ve had in the Philippines. For those that are not familiar with this dish, these are rice noodles, lettuce, pork and shrimp wrapped in a steamed rice wrapper. The ingredients were fresh, generously portioned and tasty. The rice wrapper was just the right amount of chewiness and the peanut sauce added that nice nutty flavor. This was SO GOOD that we ordered twice.
Bawai’s Salad: This was delicious! Crunchy shreds of coconut sprouts and carrots, topped with shrimp, shallots and herbs. Refreshing.
Com Suong Cha: Grilled Pork Liempo with Mushroom Egg Pie and Greens. I can’t talk about this because I don’t really eat pork anymore.
Banh Cuon: Whenever this is served at a restaurant, I must have it. It is one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes. It is a rice roll stuffed with minced pork and mushrooms. It’s topped with Vietnamese ham and shallots. It’s best with their Vietnamese patis which, contrary to our patis, is mildly sweet and tangy. This is delicious. It passes my strict Banh Cuon Standards. It is chewy though so if you don’t like food with that texture, this might not be fit for you. However, taste-wise it is delicious.
Pho Bo: Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup. Much like its Tagaytay counterpart, we feel that this needs to level up in terms of flavor. As it is, it’s really subtle and mild. The broth isn’t that tasty and isn’t served steaming hot. For people like my mom and brother who want Pho to have a stronger flavor, this was really lacking for them. We compared this to the Pho we had in Vietnam and this sadly fell short. Real Pho is supposed to be bursting with flavor.
Tom Rang Me: These tamarind prawns were a hit for my family, at both locations. The sauce is wow. It’s the kind of sauce that you can pour over rice and just eat on its own. I had to tell my brother to stop otherwise he was really close to licking the plate clean. The one thing about this dish that we didn’t like is that the prawns were overcooked. It was difficult to peel them from the shell.
Banh Da Lon: This dessert is pandan and yellow mung bean cake with coconut paste and sesame seeds. the best way to describe this is that it’s a Vietnamese “Sapin-Sapin.” It has that same sticky, chewy texture and sweetness. I liked the sesame seeds which give it a nice crunch and a subtle roasted flavor. I think for some, it might be an acquired taste. My brother commented that it gets more delicious as you keep eating it.
Basil Ice cream (not pictured)- If you like and love basil, order this. If you don’t, then don’t. It’s something different for sure.
Bawai’s Kitchen Menus: Please note these are SEASONAL. What you see here may not be what you get when you go. But just so you have an idea of what they serve.
Bawai Tagaytay Page 1 | Bawai Tagaytay Page 2 | Bawai Katipunan Page 1 | Bawai Katipunan Page 2
Disclosure: During our trip to the Katipunan Branch, we got to sample some dishes (the bestsellers) for free. These were the 1st order of Goi Cuon (Summer Rolls), Bawai Salad, Com Suong Cha(Liempo), Pho Bo(Beef Noodle Soup) and the dessert. Everything else, we ordered separately. The meal was given for free because of the dissatisfying time we had in the Tagaytay branch. Bawai’s Kitchen really knows how to make it up to customers. For the record, as of this writing, they have no idea that I have a blog.
Bawai’s Vietnamese Kitchen
Tagaytay: Hernandez Street, Purok 5, Bucal, Silang, Cavite
Directions can be found on their Facebook
Open Fri-Sun Only
Telephone #: 0920-972-2924
Katipunan: 79 Katipunan Avenue, Bellitudo, White Plains, Quezon City
Open daily from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Landmarks: Crave Burger, Flaming Wings, The Souq Organics
Tel. Nos. 442-8874, 0917-885-1445
Each time I’ve visited Shangrila’s new wing, I’ve been tempted by Spätzle’s warm and inviting interior. Today I was presented with the perfect opportunity – a catch up lunch with one of my oldest friends.
Right away, I will tell you that I don’t know what you should order. I can tell you though, what NOT to order. I think I set my hopes too high because We were sorely let down by the food.
Our coolers were mediocre at best.
Don’t Order — My food, the homemade sausage with cheese spätzle was a sad, unappetizing dish. I should have listened to the waiter. He looked hesitant to recommend it to me, for good reason. The cheese spätzle itself (what the restaurant is named after) had zero taste. It also looked like little worms. Nothing about that is good. The sausage was okay. The sauce was bland also.
Salmon Rosti – decent but not spectacular. This needs a lot of sour cream and thinner potatoes. I would order this as a lesser of two evils.
The service is wonderful though. They are accommodating and friendly. Though this doesn’t make up for a disappointing meal.
Would I go back? I would wait until their soft opening is done and I would definitely order with caution. I suggest you do the same.
There’s a fat person who lives inside all of us. That is the only explanation I have for why humans worship food. It makes sense though. Think about it. When we are sad, we find comfort in food. When we are happy, celebrations call for food. Meals have come a long way from bread and fish of the biblical times to culinary journeys in molecular gastronomy.
Last time, I shared my weight gain story. People usually ask me what I did to shed pounds. The truth — Diet, exercise and moderation. I spent hours at the gym and really watched my food intake. I shared my meals and ate smaller portions. I drank lots of water. I stayed away from the buffets. I tried not to eat anything too fatty. But that’s boring stuff so lemme share with you the other motivators:
#1 – Have an extra critical family – I’m not kidding. When people constantly tell you how fat you are, you almost have NO CHOICE but to lose weight. That’s what happened to me. My family doesn’t know the meaning of sugarcoating. They used to say, brutally, “anak you’re fat” or “oh my god ang taba taba taba mo na” or “laki ng legs mo!” While it hurts like heck to be told the truth, losing weight was really the only way to get everyone to shut up already about me being fat.
#2 – Think of an “angry inspiration.” – Be angry when you’re working out, it pushes you harder. Hate your Ex-boyfriend? Your ex-bestfriend pissed you off? The people who used to bully you in school? Someone who told you that you are ugly? Tap into that motivation. That’s what I did. You wanna look good so all your haters can look at you and die with envy. I’m not gonna say what my angry inspiration was anymore but it worked. Turn off the negativity when you leave the gym though.
#3 – Be vain – Seriously. I’m vain. If you say you’re not, then you’re lying. Everyone is conscious of how they look. Everyone (male or female) is insecure about some physical aspect of their body. We all fixate on how we look in the mirror, in pictures, how we might look to other people, how that shirt fits us, what our butt looks like in jeans, the fact we’re losing hair, our small boobs, our man boobs, our beer gut, our stubby legs, our hairy arms, our height, our skin tone, our wrinkles, etc etc etc. The list goes on, forever. If you have those parts that you wanna work on, vanity will push you to correct them. Hold on, I don’t mean this in a Belo way. Correct as in, the right way. I have a weighing scale that I check weekly and I scrutinize myself in the mirror quite often. I’m vain to the point that it makes me mad when I don’t fit into clothes right or when I look funny in photos.
#3.5 – Work with your flaws. Learn what camera poses make you look thinner and what types of clothes best suit you. I hate my mid-section because I have a flabby tummy. So I hide it a lot with flowy tanks or dresses offset with skinny jeans or shorts.
#4 – Know your body – I can gauge what kind of foods my body will react to and what I can eat with gusto. Carbs make me bloated (but disappear pretty fast), sweets make me a whole different kind of fat (the flabby gross kind). Carb-fat disappears fairly fast for me, I burn it off quite quickly. For example, I can eat a lot of bread and rice and I feel the gain but it’s easier to get rid of than two slices of chocolate cake and a side of ice cream.
#5 – Distinguish between hunger and thirst. This is one of the biggest lessons I have learned. Often hungry and thirsty feel the same. More often than not, you will think you are hungry when in fact you are merely thirsty. Hence, I eat when I’m hungry and drink water when I’m thirsty. I don’t eat when I’m thirsty. Enough said.
#6 – Moderation is Key – We all love food but we cannot have too much of it. So much about food has already been said so I won’t say too much to this. But when you eat, make sure it’s worth the calories. If it’s not then, don’t eat it.
#7 – DO NOT eat in search of something – Broken hearted? Confused? Lonely? Looking for love? Try your hardest not to eat your feelings worth in ice cream or chocolate. Also, if you are craving for something but don’t know what, do not consume food in search of that unknown thing. I used to crave unknown food items but since I couldn’t figure out what I wanted, I would just eat until I could find the thing that would satisfy me. In the end, I would take in a lot of random food items and still be dissatisfied. Waste of calories. Pinpoint what you want to eat (like, really figure it out) and then just stick to that. If it’s chocolate cake, then just have it. Don’t eat a burger, fries, milkshake, chips, pizza, only to decide on chocolate cake. Also, when you go to restaurants, try to order what you went there for. If you deviate from your usual, you might regret it and eat double.
#8 – Do not deprive nor starve yourself. No crazy fat burning drugs either.
#9 – Ask for help – If you are desperate, you cannot lose weight alone. Perhaps a trainer can give you that extra push. Or diet with a friend who is also trying to cut back. Tell all your friends to police you to make sure you don’t slack off.
#10 – Stay positive! I was super grumpy and moody for a bit but the weightloss felt great so that’s what kept me going.
Goodluck!
I am 5ft, 5inches tall. I used to be overweight at 150lbs. No joke.
I wasn’t always this way. In high school, I was a lean, mean athletic machine, keeping a consistent weight of 115-118lbs all four years. So what happened? America happened. I moved to New York for college, got a job that allowed me to afford expensive meals, became a foodie, ate all that American deep fried food, finished American portions, stress-ate, didn’t exercise, drank at least 2 venti-sized cups of coffee per day and voila! Fat Julienne. Please don’t laugh at the photos.
From May 17 2008. I am the one on the left, in black, which is supposed to be slimming but I look pregnant. On the right is my friend Tiffany.
The funny thing is, I never thought I was fat because Americans were so much bigger. Despite all this weight gain, I remained a size Small to Medium. I thought I was fine. In hindsight, some of my body problems back then were probably because of my weight. I had a slight knee thing (not a sickness, not an injury but a “thing”) from years of high impact volleyball training but this “thing” became worse when I was in New York. I would have swollen knees and would feel pain when navigating New York’s famous city streets and subways. It never occurred to me that it was because my joints were creaking under the weight. Now it makes sense though because I don’t feel that pain anymore. Now it’s just a knee “thing” again. Thankfully.
Taken at a restaurant overlooking Central Park. I can’t remember the exact date. But around August 2008.
Anyway, I moved home in August 2008 and was bombarded with “you’re fat” comments from family, friends and relatives. Filipinos really have nothing better to say sometimes but I guess they were right. Still, it hurt to hear. The worst though was shopping, I could never fit into any of the Asian sizes. The Asian Large is an American Small. It didn’t take long for me to move out of my house and into Gold’s Gym.
Here I am, Dad’s birthday celebration August 26 2008. A few days after I arrived in Manila.
I know it doesn’t sound like much but coming from years of unhealthy living in America, going back into the Filipino lifestyle (portions, food, humidity, sweating, criticism, Asian sizes, etc) really helped the pounds shed off. I’m a walking example that America’s dietary system is really not good. All those huge portions and deep fried food are probably laden with additives and other unhealthy chemicals that lead to weight gain. No matter how bad our sisig is, their burgers are worse, I think. Our white rice is much healthier than their pizzas and pastas.
