Global Fun Carnival is a new attraction in town that brings excitement to everyone from kids and adults alike. It was described from it's website as the first Europen-style Carnival to travel in Asia. Most of the rides here came from Germany and Italy. For those who want to be assured of the safety of all the rides and attractions, you will be pleased to know that they have passed the TUV World Safety Standards and China's Standard Safety Measures. They made sure that all visitors are well informed by this through posters at the entrance booth of each ride. The Carnival is open daily from 4:00 pm onwards, Monday - Friday and 1:00 pm onwards on weekends. The best time to go there is between 4 :00 - 5:00 pm where the sun had already shy away and the crowd has not yet grown too much. More so, the queue is still manageable thus, you can better maximize the "ride all you can" ticket. Incidentally, there's no per ride fee inside the Carnival so it's either you buy an entrance only or ride all you can ticket. The entrance fee is P100 for both kids and adults, any day of the week. Ride all you can ticket costs P250 on Mondays - Thursdays and P300 on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays and the whole month of December 2007. You get a P50 off from ride all you can ticket if you have an SM advantage card. So make sure you bring your card along with a valid picture ID to avail of this privilege. By the way, kids above 2 ft are no longer free of charge.

There are also game booths where you can earn stuffed toy prizes. The cost per game is P50.


SOME POPULAR FAMILY AND CHILDREN RIDES:

Mini Octopus; Kids ride the boat all by themselves thus, it sure is a hit to them!


Young Pilot; This is a good family ride where Dad and Son or Mom and Daughter can bond together.

This is my second time to visit MARTABAK CAFE in SM Mall of Asia (MOA). The first one was a food benchmarking activity with fellow Product Developers, now it's a typical weekend bonding time with family. I had a good first time experience in this Cafe, that's why a second visit did not necessarily need a second thought. Although a Cafe, the food choices at Martabak are not only limited to coffee and munchies. Other equally popular Indonesian fare such as Satay and Rendang are also available. While the space is a bit small (which by the way is common among MOA restaurants specially those located on north and south ends of the mall), the interior of the Cafe is creatively done. In particular, the Indonesian mural which is genuinely eye catchy. Service is also quite fast and cordial.

Since it's snack time, we ordered Sweet Crepes and Martabak. Generally, the Crepes are plain acceptable. The crepe is a bit thicker thus, it tasted a little bready and short in creamy aftertaste. For the Martabak, I had mixed evaluations.


Mango Caramel Crepe (P100); unfortunately the cubed mango filling is too sour thus, it can hardly blend with the overall taste.

Banana Choco Crepe (P100); basically sweet, chocolatey and yummy. You really can never go wrong with banana and choco combination!


Banana Choco Cheese Martabak (P130); Martabak is the pancake of Indonesian. Wikipedia described it as a popular snack in Indonesia that is usually made by street vendors in the evening. "The sweet, thick pancake is pan-cooked in a very large amount of shortening. A thin batter is poured into a specially shaped pan. After cooking, the pancake is ready to be topped: often with cheese, and/or shortening, and/or chocolate, and/or peanuts." Banana Choco Cheese Martabak, is what my colleagues and I liked best in our first visit. Consequently, it's the one that I recommended for my family. On the whole, it's satisfactory. The sweetness is just right, again the blend of banana-choco is simply delectable, with the addition of cheese, it's completed into a scrumptious flavor trio. However, had it not been for the "overpowering carbonate taste" (malihiya in tagalog term), my Martabak experience will equate to another rush back. I find it too much that even the other flavor characters can barely mask it. I haven't tried making any Martabak Manis at home yet, so I can't say exactly where this off note is coming from. But for now, I will suspect it to be coming from the baking soda in the batter mixture. Whether it was added too much or there's an incomplete or overly done procedure, I have to confirm with my Indonesian colleagues. Anyhow, it's still a fine Cafe to spend an afternoon at.

If there's a food category that never run out of new things to buzz about, it would be with no contention - the Desserts and Sweets. I've been hearing people rave about the Banapple Cakes in Katipunan, Quezon City for quite some time now. I've even chanced it on a tube being featured by a local business show (Kabuhayang Swak na Swak). If the success story of this bakery-cafe sounds very interesting and so does its baked repertoire. Finally, we had a chance to nibble and sample the real taste of Banapple. Thanks to an industry colleague's generosity, for giving this as a birthday treat! I'll forget about the calories for now. Anyway, we only get to celebrate our birthdays once a year, so why not give in?! (To all those who remembered, thanks so much for the greetings!) We initially tasted the "Super Caramel Fudge Cake". The term super is synonymous to extremely, soooooo SWEET goodie! My God, it's really sinfully sweet! Way too much for me. I can hardly finish a slice. It's a throat hating, water addicting experience. Certainly not recommended for those who are watching their sugar level in their body! The lavishly sprinkled chocolate vermicellis and the thick caramel layer speak of the richness the cake will offer to its attacker. It's just unfortunate, this richness is prevented from being explored and enjoyed more because all that'll linger in your palate are the overpowering sugar and caramelic notes. (For a view of how this cake looks like, click here). Honestly, that first Banapple Cake experience was quite "traumatic". I can't help but have much higher standards the next time I will try it. And, luckily it did meet my expectation the second time around. Quite worthy of a second chance.

With the growing population of Koreans in the Philippines (now considered the 2nd largest foreign community next to Chinese), it's but a natural phenomenon for Korean Foods to become popular in the country. Consequently, Korean Stores and Restaurants have began to flourish. Thus, it'll be interesting to sample some of Korea's popular noodle dishes in Metro Manila. Now, were the dishes worthy enough of our day? Read on and have a peek of our Korean Noodles benchmarking activity.

Basically, we're in the look for the best Chajang and Champong Noodles. Chajang is a black bean paste which can be served with rice or noodles while Champong is a spicy seafood noodles generously served with chilies and vegetables. Both dishes are normally offered in Chinese-Korean Restaurants. As recommended by a Korean colleague, we raded two restaurants known for serving these foods: China Castle and Pukkyong (Beijing) Restaurant. Yeah, you read them right. Chinese named Restaurants serving Korean Cuisine. You see, just by the Resto's names so much fusion have happened already! China Palace is located in BF Homes Paranaque whereas Pukkyong is in Escriva St., Pasig City (beside Global Academy Culinary School in-front of University of Asia and the Pacific).

First Stop - China Castle - Chinese Food & Bulalo. I'm not quite sure if it does sound right. Now I'm confused, what's really inside this restaurant?


Hand Pulled Noodles prepared only when needed and about to be served... So, yeah they live up to their claim of "fresh noodles" in their menu.

One of the best things to try and worth exploring in Thailand is the local FOOD. The herbs and spices in Thai Cuisine are simply irresistible however, liking them might be selective and acquired unless you're an adventurous foodie. The most common ingredients used for cooking are Lemon grass, Galangal, Kaffir lime leaves, Chili, Coconut Milk and Bean Sprouts. The aroma of these herbs and spices lingered all over the place. For me, the must try Thai foods are the following:

Pad Thai Noodles (stir-fried rice noodles or glass noodles with onion chives, bean sprouts, shrimp, fried egg and peanut); sweet, tangy with strong peanut taste. The authentic Pad Thai has more garnish than noodles. The bean sprouts are bigger but with no earthy taste unlike the Philippines' version. The contrast of sweet and zesty character of the noodle dish made it more appetizing. This is really my favorite in Thai Cuisine! In the restaurants, it is normally served with additional fresh onion chives, kaffir lime fruit, bean sprouts and banana blossoms.
3. RED CURRY (Pork)


The creamy taste of coconut milk blended with red curry paste makes this dish sumptuous, I can't help but ask for more.

4. GREEN CURRY (Chicken)


This dish is basically the same as Red Curry. It's also made of coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, thai basil leaves and curry paste. Only this time it's the green colored curry paste that is used. Taste wise it's also appealing.

Other interesting foods I find are these Thai desserts called LAR and CHAN.