Disney World - I Ate and Ate!

I'm back from Disney World. Lots of food was enjoyed down there mainly due to to the Christmas Party and the Food & Wine Festival.

The Pastrami egg rolls were a party exclusive and were released at 7pm. And there was a line waiting for them. Don't wait as I hear they will close when the fireworks start or when they run out. They tasted good but for $11, I don't think it is worth the price. Found near the entrance to Adventureland.

Arroz con Leche Holiday Wreath. Also a party exclusive. Found at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe. It's a molded rice pudding with coconut and citrus jelly in the middle. The texture threw me off as the coconut made me think I was eating undercooked rice. I was also eating this in the dark so maybe that didn't help matters. I would get it again.

There were various stations throughout the park that was giving out various cookies and drinks. Of course it took until the last station to find the egg nog. I didn't take all the cookies, however. I like cookies but I don't like them that much. I did ask for two drinks though because they give you basically a shot of whatever they have. Cookie chasers, I'd say.

Over at Casey's Corner there was this party exclusive: mini corn dogs topped with cheese, pot roast, crispy onions, and a horseradish like sauce. Came with fries. I thought that this was an excellent value and would definitely get it again. Unfortunately by the time I got this, I was already full on the above snacks.

ABC Commissary during my park day at Hollywood Studios. Chicken Sandwich and a Linzer cookie cake. Meh, standard. It was just to fuel me up as I don't eat breakfast.

Kakigori at Animal Kingdom. Watermelon, shaved ice, and sweetened condensed milk on top. On a hot day, this was a god send! And I wouldn't share.

Park day food at Pizzafari at Animal Kingdom. Chicken Caprise sandwich in a baguette and a side ceasar salad. The chicken was over cooked and dry which is a pity because it would have been a good sandwich.

Best food festival booth at Epcot for me was Australia. Shrimp and Lamb.

Grilled Bushberry-spiced Shrimp Skewer with Sweet and Sour Vegetables and Coconut-Chili Sauce.

 Gyozas of the Galaxy was over rated. The line when I went was crazy long.

Buffalo-style Dumplings: Chicken Dumplings with Buffalo Sauce, Celery Root Puree, Blue Cheese Cream, Cumbled Blue Cheese, Shaved Carrot, and Micro Celery 

I basically only ate the dumplings themselves and the blue cheese. Didn't really care for it.

French Onion Soup-style Dumplings: Pork and Beef Soup Dumplings with Caramelized Onions, Sherry-Beef Broth, Onion and Gruyere Soubise, Parmesan Cracker and Micro Chives

This is was the best value. Soup and dumplings. It was also the better tasting of the two.

Lump Crab Cake with Cajun-spiced Vinegar Slaw and Remoulade

Seaside Pot Pie with Shrimp, Scallops, Crawfish Tails, and Lobster Bisque topped with Puff Pastry

This was very watery but I still enjoyed it by smashing down the puff pastry to soak up and thicken the liquid.

Berbere-spiced Beef Stew with Sweet Potato Mealie Pap and Kachumbari Slaw

As far as I am aware, I've only had berbere spice in doro wat so I expected this to be more spicy and hot than it was. That said, it still was tasty and was a large portion size/value. Make sure you have a drink with this.

Gulf Coast-style Seafood Roll with Warm-water Lobster, Rock Shrimp, Obster Bisque, and Sherry-Creme Fraiche on a Toasted Brioche Bun.

Rip off. I'm, sure technically, there is lobster in there somewhere.

Peach Manto Boba: Crafted Calpico Peach Juice with Mango Popping Boba (non-alcoholic).

At first, I was a little mad when I picked this up as I was expecting a bigger serving. However, this was a thick and sweet drink that I enjoyed with little sips. It is also the only thing that I purchased again.

Creme Brulee Vanille, Confiture Myrtilles et Citron Vert: Vanilla Creme Brulee with Blueberry-Lime Compote.

Just delicious. Would buy again.

All these years passing by Canada, I thought about getting maple popcorn.This time went for it. Better version of kettle corn.

After a few hours of rope dropping Magic Kingdom, I went to Gaston's Tavern for a creme brulee croissant and a LeFou's Brew (frozen apple juice). The pastry was a good idea. The brew--not so much. It was in the 40s when I got there.

Truffle burger and truffle fries and Cosmic Rays. Too strong of a flavor. If I could apply the sauce myself and put on less, I'd be more happy but I probably would pass on this.

Cast Iron-seared River Troud with Vanilla-Butternut Squash Puree, Brussels Sprouts Salad, Candied Pecans, Spiced Pumpkin Seeds, Dried Cranberries, and Maple Dressing

Everything tasted great expect the brussel sprouts. Those were trash. I'm still not sure of the outer fried skin of the fish. I'm not convinced that I'm supposed to eat that.

Liquid Nitrogen Frozen Pumpkin Cheescake Mousse featuring PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese with Candied Pegans and Maple-Caramel Sauce.

I wish I had a food buddy with me to share this food with because I was getting full and I couldn't finish this. I probably would have wished for a different flavor than pumpkin, though.

Oskana Karaage: Crispy Fried Pollock with Spicy Mayonnaise and Sweet-and-Cream Yuzu Sauce

This was not crispy but it was delicious. It reminded me of the food cart fishballs back in the Philippines. It was also another round for the Peachy Mango Boba.

Internet, Bread, and a Thai Restaurant

I’ve been receiving junk mail from AT&T advertising that fiber internet is now being offered at my address. When I check their website, it says that fiber is not available at my address. I made a call a couple weeks ago and spoke to customer service. Apparently, the website is wrong and fiber is available. 

I think I will call AT&T tomorrow. For a similar amount than what I paying now, I can get almost twice the download speed and ten times the upload speed. What I am worried about are the costs to transition from Comcast to AT&T. 

*   *   *

I made bread for the first time. I didn’t care for the results. Practice makes perfect, though. I’ll be trying again. 

There was some left-over dough left. I thought what the hell-maybe I can make an elephant ear. Ummmm… not quite. 

*   *   *

I had a craving for some Panang curry for dinner. I drove to my favorite Thai restaurant and I saw that it was boarded up. I knew immediately what happened because it happened once before—a car plowed into the restaurant. 

The owner has always talked about retiring to Thailand with his wife. I fear that this might be the end. I’m sad because his wife made fantastic curry and satay chicken.

A Burger and a Job

Today was a good day. Chase and I had made a plans to check out a burger joint about 40 minutes north of us. It's like a road stand burger joint in the middle of nowhere. Yet, I can see why it gets good reviews. Big burgers for the right price. I seriously underestimated the size of these things and looked like a fool trying to get it in my mouth!

I think more importantly, it was good to get out with someone. With my work schedule the way it is, I find it difficult trying to connect with people. Unfortunately, it's about to get worse.

I signed papers for a promotion of sorts. A 10% raise spoke to me. Plus, I had to make a career decision again lest I let myself get stuck again. I have a tendency to find a comfortable place and stick it out. When I started this job, I made decided that I needed to take opportunities when they presented themselves. I can not go through life playing it safe.

This is a needed stepping stone in my career path. It's analogous to MSU's 200 level courses. It'll be tough. It'll suck, but if I get through it, the rewards may be worth it. What I worry now is that I will now be working overnights. Nothing is final, yet, but as the newest person in the position, I'll likely get the unwanted shifts.

Disney World! Day 3 Filling Up On Food and Art

Today brought us to my favorite park: Epcot. More importantly, we were there for the Festival of the Arts which means... art... and food!

I had started eating well before this picture of some dishes from Mexico. The nice thing about being in a group of three is that we can share these expensive treats... for the most part.

Germany had this braised rib dish that was so good, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Beef Wellington at the America Pavilion.

Not seen is is the flight of chocolates (in liquid form). Holy diabetes that was sweet! Mike bought a coffee to dump the chocolate in because we couldn't handle it in its pure form.

The festival had setup these booths so you can be in famous works of arts. Here were are trying to cross the Delaware. No one listens to the navigator.

Channeling my inner Frida Kahlo.

World showcase is my favorite thing about Epcot. Here we are in Canada.

Getting on in the day, we were filling pretty full but there was a reservation at Les Chefs de France.

As kids, we would never have expected to do table dining at Epcot. Here we are!

I opted for the boeuf bourguignon. Kris and Mike opted for the fish. The food was okay. The deserts were top notch. I took our waiter's suggested and got a complicated dish which was a nest of merengue with banana cream inside it, whipped cream and berries on the top. On the side of which was a berry flavored ice cream on top of something crunchy.

After dinner we caught the our last viewings of Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. After two decades, Disney will be ending the show.

I was was struck at how beautiful  this looked at night and had to get a picture before leaving.

Dim Sum Quest

I have been wanting to go to a dim sum restaurant for a long time. There aren't any near where I live. To get some, I needed to go to Chicago so I got my friend and former co-worker, Gibran, and hopped on a train to the big city.

So this is where we ended up. MingHin has a location near Millennium Park and is an easy walk from the train station.

When we got in, Gibran shared that he was not a seafood person. I was a little frustrated because a lot of the dim sum that I wanted to try had some seafood in it. He played it safe and ordered a plate of General Tso's Chicken. I was there for the dim sum. Here is some of what we got:

Shrimp Dumplings with Peas

Tofu Wraps

Siu Mai (ground pork and shrimp)

We ended up getting six dishes, seven if you include the Gen. Tso's. The total bill ended up coming to $48 even which was substantially lower than what I was expecting. The food was fantastic and I would definitely like to do this again.

Walking in the park before are train departs.

International Food Fair - Vegetarian Edition

There was an international food fair being held at Andrews University today. I met up with my friends, Kraig and Stacey. Stacey and I have gone to this before and we enjoyed ourselves.

The event is open and you are required to buy tickets. The various booths had signs telling you what they were offering and how many tickets were required. Andrews U is Seventh Day Adventist so this is a vegetarian food fair.

Last time, I bought $20 worth of tickets. This time, I bought $10. Mostly because I am poor but this is still enough to get a good tasting meal as you can see. I don't know what half the stuff I ate was. I simply pointed and asked for what looked good. 

So what I have here going from top left and clockwise is:

Some thick doughy rice noodles with a chili (?) sauce. Very spicy and tasty. Trying to chew up the rice dough was a little off putting though. 

Chicken (fake soy chicken) Curry with potatoes and green peas. Pretty good but it was served up cold. 

Spring Roll. I needed to use up the last of my tickets. It tasted okay although I think they should have fried it longer. 

Roti flat bread. Pretty good. Helped sop up some of the sauces. 

Some kind of fake soy chicken in a delicious coconut curry sauce. Very light and aromatic. It was my favorite. 

Not seen is a slice of flan and chocolate truffle.

There were tons of other things that I would have loved to try. Fellow meat-eaters, I think you would enjoy many of things that were offered. Fellow Filipinos, if you think it is wrong to make lumpia and pancit without meat, still come, but skip that booth.

Tastes from Home

While I was in Las Vegas this past fall, I went on a pilgrimage to a shopping center that catered to Filipinos called Seafood City. It came to my attention while searching for a Jollibee location. It was my first time out west since 2008 and I didn't want to waste an opportunity to get some nostalgic food.

A few weeks ago I found out that two Jollibee locations had opened up in Chicago last year. One was attached to an also-opened Seafood City. I knew I had to make my way there and I needed to do it as soon as possible. That day was today.

I took my mom. Although she had heard about this place a long time ago--probably before it even opened--she wont drive into the city. This was her first time as well and she was excited. The only complaint that I think she had was that the prices were too high in comparisons to the same items that she could find stores closers to home. The advantage of Seafood City was that they carried things that the locals stores didn't.

Balut. For more on this click here.

So much Spam!

Yum. Blood and bile. Yeah, no, I don't eat this.

Where we live, seafood comes frozen and not definitely with the variety that they had here. Open tables of fish, clams, squid, shrimp and more. We were actually confused as to how to properly get these checked out. It was so new to us.

Since I drove my mom out to Chicago, she offered to buy me lunch. Although there were other tempting places to eat, I wanted to feed the nostalgia that I was feeling for Jollibee. Although not as busy as I had heard, the line did stretch to and almost out the door.

I opted to go for the spaghetti. I remembered not liking it when I lived in the Philippines but after watching some YouTube videos of Americans liking it, I wanted to give it another chance. Turned out to be a good decision. I found myself enjoying it. Mom got the palabok. It was okay and I would certainly eat it again if it was put in front of me but it's not my favorite food. The fried chicken was fresh, juicy, crispy. The taste bland and not very noteworthy. I'd try the spicy version next time. However, they do chicken right so I give it my recommendation. Peach Mango Pie---delicious although I swear there should be chunks of fruit in there.

I got my fast food. Mom got her cooler full of fish and exotic vegetables. It was a good day.

Screw the McGangbang, I'll take the Meat Mountain

While browsing through Facebook, I saw that my friend, Brian, posted that Arby's was coming out with a sandwich called the Meat Mountain. At first glance it reminded me of an Onion article that claimed that Arby's had an all-you-can-grab promotion. For a set price, you could grab all the roast beef you can. It's one of those ideas where it is too ridiculous to be true but would be awesome if it was. All I can grab roast beef for $2.99? I'd be at Arby's every single day. The actual article seemed to be true. It was coming from the Washington Post and not the Onion so that that was a plus. I then checked on Twitter to see if anyone had gotten the sandwich. Most tweets about the Meat Mountain were just links to the article or reactions. I found two. That was proof enough for me.

After work I went to Arby's in Niles and asked the lady at the counter if I could have the Meat Mountain and she didn't know about it. So I pulled out my phone and showed her the article. She found it amusing and took my phone to the back and got the manager. They both came back and apparently the manager had only recently found out about it as she had some paperwork with her. I was the first person to ask for it and the manager had to modify the register and give the people in the back the instructions on how to make the sandwich which is bacon, roast beef, angus steak, brisket, corned beef, ham, turkey, chicken tenders, cheddar, and swiss.

Being the first there, and one of the first in the country, I had to share this. So I took a couple of pictures and shared them on Facebook and Twitter before I tucked in.

If you are wondering if I was able to eat all of that in one sitting, the answer is no. Not that I didn't want to or couldn't but I was pressed for time as I had to make a drive to Mishawaka to make the 7 o'clock showing of the Doctor Who at Movies 14.

After posting that picture on social media, I was getting notifications though the show and into the night about people liking it, commenting on it, or retweeting it. It was great. I have never posted anything that reached that size of an audience. It was also sad, as I didn't want my claim to fame to be a ridiculously huge sandwich but you know, gotta go with the flow. Early the next morning, woke up to a twitter notification from a guy asking if a TV station out in LA could use my tweet on a news segment that they were going to show.  That was pretty cool that a picture I took was now going to be viewed by thousands more so I said that it was OK.

For $10, I'm not sure I would get one again. The idea of taking one on, and being one of the first to do so, was more appealing than the actual taste. I only have two complaints and none of them are the fault of Arby's.  1.) My hatred of ham.  2.) My dislike of cold meats mixed with warm meats.  But...if any of my friends want to tackle one, I'd be more than happy to come with them and do it again.