Old Swiss Inn ♥ ♥

No, this has got nothing to do with Noynoy (or Kris) Aquino.

We are not related to them in any way, we are not die-hard fans, and we do not care about the issue of the president dating other women.

We just have a cousin who has this looney idea of making her guests come in the same color as what she’s serving at her birthday dinner tonight.

CHEESE!

Lots and lots of it!

Raclette – served with marbled potatoes, gherkins and pearl onions. We have plates and plates of this.

Swiss Mix Platter – slices of gruyere, emmental cheese, prosciutto and salami, served with garlic-olive oil toast (but waiter forgot to give us the toasts)

Waatlander Fondue – melted gruyere and emmental cheese, laced with kirsch for that extra kick. I think “heavily spiked” is a more appropriate term than “laced.” I can get totally wasted eating this. Not a fan.

Goulash – hearty soup spiced with paprika with lashings of beef and vegetables.
This is really good. Intense and exciting.

Barley Soup – with brunoise vegetables, dried beef and smoked bacon. Jamie says this tastes like alphabet soup. I say this tastes so much better. I want another bowl.

Gnagi – baked pork knuckles with sauerkraut and boiled potatoes. The meat, chopped up into small bite size pieces (thank you for making my life easier), is tender and flavorful.
But what I love most is that soft, sticky and gooey layer between skin and meat. It’s love.

Prawns Thermidore – sautéed in wine-butter sauce with mushrooms and bell peppers and baked with emmenthal cheese. This is overly overcooked. Prawn meat is hard and rubbery. Shame.

Herb Rack of Lamb – infused with herbs, au jus and rosmarin potatoes. Either the lamb is too tough or the knife is too dull. Seriously, I think I burned more calories cutting this dish than eating it.

Zurich Geschnetzeltes – shredded pork tenderloin in mushroom cream sauce, served with roesti potatoes. Not too bad, but at this point, we are already too stuffed and too tired (from cutting the lamb and from waiting forever for our food – service is ssssslllllllloooooooooowwwww) to fully enjoy this dish.

Birthday Cakes

Happy Birthday, Frannie… Aquino?

Gingerbreadmama and Gingerbreadbebe

Old Swiss Inn: G/F, Somerset Building, Makati Avenue corner Sto. Tomas Street, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. Tel: +632-8180098, +632-8188251

The Swiss Chalet 瑞士餐廳 ♥ ♥

Consecutive birthdays, consecutive pigging out. Yesterday it was at Zenpachi for Marcia’s birthday, tonight it is at The Swiss Chalet for her sister Monica’s.

The place is small, warm, cozy… and packed! I can’t believe it is my first time here. I make a mental note to venture out more to this area and maybe try that Japanese place with the crazy long line across the street.

 

High fiber breads – love the brown one with plenty of grains and seeds

 

The Chalet butter 

 

Of course, we must have fondue! Sautéed chicken, vegetables and bread cubes

 

Cover them in thick and gooey spinach-cheese mixture

 

And because our family is extremely carnivorous, we have bowls and bowls of beef tenderloin cubes

 

We fry them in hot oil

 

And dip them in all these exciting flavors

 

Oven baked sablefish topped with dill herb cream sauce, mixed wild and white rice

 

Swiss Rösti a.k.a fried potatoes

 

Standing: Auntie Judy, Nelson, Jessica, Jamie, Gilson
Seated: Auntie Baby, Me, Monica, little Jenson, Marcia, Auntie Juliet, Uncle Nelson

 

Happy birthday, Cuz! I really hope you get your wish!

 

The Swiss Chalet 瑞士餐廳: 12-14 Hart Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. 尖沙咀赫德道12-14號地下. Tel: +852-2191-9197

Zenpachi 禪八日本料理, Revisited ♥ ♥ ♥

 

It is my cousin Marcia’s birthday and today she gets whatever her heart desires. And what does her heart desire on this very special ONE day in a year that she can get ANYTHING she wants?

Her heart desires… SUKIYAKI!!!

Oh, that is so Perez!

 

Look how happy Marcia is (she’s the girl on the left), smiling from ear to ear!

 

When I last had dinner at Zenpachi, there was an all-you-can-eat special going on. I remember I ate so much beef someone told me I looked like a cow the next day. Pffffttt!

But the promo’s gone now, so tonight I eat like a lady.

 

Sukiyaki essentials

 

Premium Saga Wagyu Beef A4 – this is what we have and it is already quite good, but…

 

Look at what the birthday girl and her tablemates have – Premium Saga Wagyu Beef A5! This is about HK$300 more expensive than the A4, and it tastes… errr… I have no idea! 
Because none of them wants to share.

 

So we don’t share with them our sashimi, too. Mwahahaha!!! Everything is so fresh.
Life is good.

 

These are from the sashimi platter. We have them deep-fried to crunchiliciousness.

 

And Monica, whose goal is to be a mere 120 lbs by her birthday, which is the very next day, has a bowl of Chicken Rice in Clear Soup only.

  

Green Tea Ice Cream – perfect ending to a delicious meal

 

Ooops, but that’s not yet the end. We still have cakes!
Cova Mango Cream Cake and Dark & White Chocolate Cake
Happy Birthday, Marcia!

 

Zenpachi 禪八日本料理: 6/F, The Toy House, 100 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. 尖沙咀廣東道100號彩星集團大廈6樓. +852-3428-3615

The Shaw Prize Award Presentation Ceremony

Every year the Shaw Prize Foundation gives recognition to individuals who have achieved excellence and made outstanding contributions in the fields of Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematics. And every year at the start of autumn, the Shaw Prize winners and their families fly across the globe to Hong Kong for the Shaw Prize Award Presentation.

 

September 28, 2010

 

Grand Hall, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center

 

The award, a medal with the portrait of Sir Run Run Shaw with “The Shaw Prize” next to it, is presented to each of the Shaw Prize winners by none other than the Hong Kong Chief Executive himself, Mr. Donald Tsang. 

The gentlemen getting ready for the walk-in
CE Aid, HK Chief Executive Donald Tsang, Sir Run Run Shaw, winners of the Shaw Prize in Astronomy: Professor Bennett, Professor Page, and Professor Spergel,
winner of the Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine: Professor Julius,
and winner of the Shaw Prize in Mathematics: Professor Bourgain

 

That’s Sir Run Run Shaw, now 103 years old, the legendary movie mogul, the media magnate, the great philanthropist, my idol, and the most admirable person in the world.

 

The head table centerpiece

 

The souvenirs – TVBuddy figurines and TVBuddy mugs

 

They’re made from swarovski crystal!

 

And the food, year after year, gets better and better.

Breads

 

Crustacean Variation: Royale with Marine Crab, Molecular Caviar on Lobster and Avocado, Taro Dumpling filled with Diced Chicken

 

Double Boiled Abalone Soup in a King Coconut

 

Black Cod Terriyaki and Veal Tagliata, Duchess Potato with Black Truffle, 
Natural Jus with Juniper Berry

 

Baked Dates and Shredded Coconut Shortcake, Grand Cru Chocolate Cake,
Tossed Raspberry and Lemongrass Gelato

 

It totally slipped my mind to take a photo at the Shaw Prize backdrop this year, but here’s one taken with colleagues from the Award Ceremony in 2008.

Miranda, Eda, Lucille, Mr. Keung, Me, Anna, Harkima, Jeannie

 

And the prize money? It’s nothing much, just One Million Obamadollars.

For EACH science.

Mom, can I be a scientist when I grow up?

 

To know more about The Shaw Prize, please visit the official website here.