Best of Cebu Food Part 2

Fine Dining Setting at Anzani

BEST MEDITERRANEAN in CEBU
Anzani

There is simply no competition.  A definite must try.  Enough said.

Anzani is in D'Address right beside Bellini at Nivel Hills, in Lahug Cebu.



FAVORITE BEEF IN CEBU
Olio

Somewhere at the Crossroads in Banilad is a less-popular (at least to tourists and short-term visitors to Cebu) fine dining place called Olio.  It is a 2-storey place just like many at Crossroads.

After frustrations from other Steakhouses in Cebu on the cut of their beef to their questionable definition of Rare and Medium Rare, Finally!  a steakhouse worth mentioning in Cebu.   We were obviously attracted to visit because of their Anniversary Buy-1-Take-1 Steak promo.   And we were just happy.

Major difference of the beef at Olio is that it is not masked.  No extra and  fake flavourings, you get the best beef plain and simple.

Olio is at the Crossroads in Banilad, Cebu City.   It is walking distance from the Cebu Golf Club and a few minutes away from BTC.


BEST PASTA in CEBU
Cafe Elysa

Hidden between the tourist spots in Parian and the barangay basketball courts is a gem of a restaurant in Cebu.   It is very difficult to find for a non-local, so finding it is a like a treasure.

Rather ironic that the Favorite Pasta in Cebu is not from an Italian Restaurant, but your opinion will change once you have tried the Pasta Bolognese with Basil and Grana Padano Cheese.  Consistent with all of the dishes at Cafe Elysa, the pasta is not greasy, seem simple, but exploding with lots of flavour.  And at less than 200Pesos a plate, this is a must try dish.

Another interesting pasta dish is the Bolognara Pasta at Cafe George.  The chef combined Bolognese and Carbonara sauce which conceptually could be trouble but actually blends really well.  For those who like their pasta sauces on the rich side, then this one is for you.  There is beef and tomato from Bolognese and Musrooms, Bacon and Cream from the Carbonara.  A pure delight.

Cafe Elysa is in Parian Cebu.  It is walking distance from the Cebu Heritage Park.
Cafe George is located in Banilad, right after Crossroads and before BTC.  You can also try Oh George, which is a restaurant-cafe on the Marina Exit side of Ayala.

Anzani in Cebu

A year living in Cebu, and I have not been back to Anzani Restaurant.  What usually happens is what happened.  Places that are close to where you live, you try to avoid.  You go very far to eat, drink coffee, or hang-out but seldom at the place near your house.

You see, Anzani is 2 minutes away from where I stay, as both are in the bottom part of the Busay Mountains.  Anzani is in D'Address together with Bellini and Belle Fleur.   Bellini is a fantastic bar, which I have visited maybe 20 times this year.  Belle Fleur is a fine coffee place, which I have been to also around 20 times.  But Anzani, the fine-dining Mediterranean place is often skipped.

Now that I am about to move to another place to stay, I suddenly realize I miss Anzani.   And I remember the one picture I have where I ordered some of the best-tasting Gnocchis I have ever had (outside Italy).

Definitely one of the best Mediterranean restaurants in the island, and maybe the whole country.  Anzani is a must try.

How Far? The elusive plane legroom

Is it just me, or are the airplane legrooms shrinking?  This year, I had been flying crazy - a grand total of 105 flights this year alone.  Majority or domestic 1-hour flights.  But still, the cramped space seems to be bother me more and more.

Cebu to Manila via AirPhilippines.   AirPhil was my favorite budget airline, and I even took it when I traveled to HongKong in 2009 and to Singapore in 2010.  But I could not imagine the legspace to be this cramped before.

Well, Philippine Airline tickets cost 50-70% more than Cebu Pacific or AirPhil.  At least, you get 50-70% more legroom in domestic flights.

This is Alaska Airlines from San Francisco to Alaska.  Definitely one of the better legrooms in a domestic flight.

Delta Airlines from Tokyo to Detroit.  Over the past 20 years, the legspace of NW/Delta has shrunk considerably.  Their service also reflect that.

The Exact Cebu Taxi Drivers

Many tourists and expats who come to Cebu from Manila are surprised by the Cebu Taxi Drivers.  For one, Cebuano cabbies are more polite even considering the language barrier.  It is not rare to be greeted Good Morning Maam or Good Evening Sir.  Secondly, Cebuano drivers are more honest, I think it has something to do with having pride for their work.  Lastly and more glaringly, here in Cebu, Taxi Drivers give exact change.  This has to be the differentiating factor.

Yes, taxi drivers in Cebu actually give change.  And mind you the exact change.  If your cab fare is 82.50 and you paid 100, expect to receive back 17.50.  An occurence that never happens in Manila.  Manila cabbies have assumed keep the change, and in most cases they expect some sort of tip.  For example if your cab fare is 95.50, they expect 120 pesos, a tip for navigating the hellish traffic of Manila.  Maybe that's the difference.  Traffic in Cebu even in the city is more tranquil especially compared to Manila during rush hour.  

I live in the boondocks of Busay, and I often feel guilty of paying the exact cab fare.  Considering the extra gas it takes to climb up the mountain, plus the extra factor of "will Mr. taxi driver have a passenger out of the mountains"?  So, sometimes I still pay extra.  Much to the chagrin of my local Cebu friends.  One of the first things they told me is to never give extra to the Cebu cabbie. They do not encourage vagrancy among themselves, and they don't want the cab drivers to be like those from Manila.  I am trying, but having lived most of my life in Manila and a frequent taxi customer, this is hard.  Still learning...

SHOCK DOCTRINE

One of the best books of the decade is Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine.  It is well-written documentary that is as insightful as it is controversial.  In one sentence:  It is a controversial expose on how people in power use Shock and Fear Tactic to advance personal interest to gain power and money.

It takes the reader from Chile to China, from Argentina to Europe and then tackles the many issues impacting the US with its many military country affiliations.

This copy is a gift from my sister in Singapore.  I went to National Bookstore only to be disappointed that it is not available there.  Maybe try Powerbooks or FullyBooked.  This is Naomi Klein's second full-length book after what I consider to be one of the best books - No Logo.

Frustrations from PAGCOR Casinos

To PAGCOR's Defense I think their declared expenses for coffee is not too exaggerated.  For strategic reasons, coffee is readily available in most PAGCOR casinos - they need people to be awake.  And many people at Casinos drink coffee.  Maybe only Casino goers really understand.

Another thing casino goers understand is the highly INEFFICIENT manual process at most PAGCOR casinos - everything is still painfully manual and that includes cashing out.  All Cebu Casinos are unfortunately run by PAGCOR.  The worst part of winning is claiming the money.  In some machines, if you win less than 3,000 pesos coins come out.  Still coins in 2012!   But actually, getting all your prize money in coins is the better part.  The worst part is that >50% of the time, coins in machine run out which means the dreaded HOPPER EMPTY message comes out at your machine's screen.  Which means, you would need to call the attendant to put money on the machine.   This takes forever.  First, the attendant needs to check the machine, then fill-up a requisition order, then the manager approves, then the attendant hands the paper to the cashier, then the cashier prepares the coins, before the attendant refills the coin hopper.  The worst part this whole process can take 1 hour on peak times.

If you win more than 3,000 pesos then it requires paper processing.  This means the attendant need to check the machine.  Go to their station and check the winnings.  Print a paper to document the winnings.  Then have supervisor approve.  Then go to your machine to reset.   After that, you will be called to line-up at the cashier to get your winnings.  So obviously, every step of the way can be delayed.  What if all attendants are busy on peak hours.  What is the supervisor is available.  What if you are in the far end of the casino and no attendants are walking by?

The worst part is the arrogance of many PAGCOR machine attendants.   They know how important they are in the winning process, and they make sure you realize this.  Many take their painstaking time to do their job.  In fairness, many of them seem very busy. Doing what? I don't understand.   Whenever this happens I sincerely wish that PAGCOR automates very soon so we can get rid of all inefficient attendants.  RW in Manila was able to do it.  Some casinos (like SLLP in Carmona and to an extent Hyatt) were able to implement a semi-automated card reading mode, so why can't the rest of PAGCOR casinos.

Please please PAGCOR, it is 2012 start automating.


A nice win.  A 45 peso bet (around 1$) wins 15,000 Pesos (~ 320 $).  Of course at Resorts World Manila.  Hope RW builds one in Cebu soon.

Pink Treasure of Cebu - La Maison Rose

Along Gorordo Avenue is a pink gem.  Right beside the enormous Mormon Temple is an authentic French Restaurant called La Maison Rose, with the subtitle The Pinkhouse Restaurant.  It was our first time to be in a restaurant where the primary theme is a color.  So we were very excited.

The menu is in an iPad.   So really impressive, until we realized there were only 3 iPads available.  So ordering can mean waiting for the "menu" to be available.

Nevertheless, the menu is quite impressive.  I had to try a lot.  Knowing the chef is French, and the restaurant is beside Alliance Francaise I felt comforted that we will be savoring real French dishes (not just the names)

For starters, I was intrigued and ordered the Soup Trio.  And then the Foie Gras was beckoning so I ordered one as well.

This is the waiting area.  Obviously very pink.

Apart from Pink, the La Maison Rose also is Indochine inspired.  So the decors were Western European and Asian inspired.  Worked for me.

I was looking for the men's restroom and told it was outside the main hall of the restaurant.  I was uncomfortable to enter first, because well it was too daintily pink.  I had to ask again, if this was really the men's room.  Upon receiving confirmation went in and took pictures.

The door is very French and very pink =)

We were talking and talking about work, about the decors, and about recent comic events at the office for a good 10 minutes....then our orders arrived.

This is the soup trio.  The leftmost is a Spinach & Ham Soup.  I used the spoon at first, but decided to try sipping from the glass itself.  The yellow middle is a Scallop Bacon Soup, one of my favorite dishes of the night.  The Red soup at the right most is Gazpacho.  My least favorite, but the heck I finished them all.

The pictures of the Foie Gras were not visually delightful.  The taste was OK.  Not bad, but not very good either - would not rave over it.

Main dish is the Truffle Pasta.  First bite was overwhelming.  The earthly flavor explodes right away.  I didn't think I could eat half the serving but ended up finishing the whole plate.

A friend order the French Lechon.  It was served with Mashed Potatoes and Carrots on the side.  Very interesting dish.

After the main course, I had to order the cheese platter.  The cheeses were fantastic, but the grapes were overriped.  And I didn't mind the salad that went with the platter. 

For dessert, I ordered their special espresso.  Which later I found out to be quite expensive at 125 pesos.  Taste was just OK.

But the biggest delight of the night was the very rich Chocolat Coulant.  It was everything you wanted in a cake - very moist, chocolatey but not sweet.  

For 1Soup, 1 Starter, 1 Pasta Entree, 1 Cheese Platter, and 1 Dessert I paid 1,500.  A little pricey for Cebu but just about right for the quality of food (not to mention ambience).

La Maison Rose at Gorordo St. Lahug, Cebu CIty is highly-recommended.   Just a tip - reserve ahead.  Friday is packed so we had to simmer at the table outside for 15 minutes, before we were transferred inside.

Technology Waves in Cebu

The passion for Technology is the same as my passion in connecting to people.  So, the past few weeks had been very busy in sharing Technology to faculty, students and practitioners in Cebu.

I spoke about Technology Trends and what we need to do to prepare for it.  I told them that the Cloud Computing people had been waiting has actually been there for quite a while.  I touched on PaaS, SaaS, Mobility and Analytics and how technology has been helping taking the world around us take a different shape.  I also challenged their students to invest time to understand what's happening around them.  Lastly, of course I highlighted that there is career in Technology.

The Technology Wave is in Cebu!

Computer Science and IT students and Faculty of Cebu Institute of Technology -University doing the Technology Wave

Engineering students and Faculty of University of San Carlos doing the Technology Wave

and last July 23, 350+ students, faculty and IT practitioners of Cebu gather at the Waterfront Hotel to be part of  the Technology Wave

And there was press coverage for the final event.


Press coverage:
http://mytechisland.com/2012/07/accenture-marks-technology-month-in-july.html
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=832759&publicationSubCategoryId=108
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/business/2012/07/23/software-can-solve-world-s-problems-233596

Waterfront Hotel Lahug Cebu City, Cebu

4 months ago, the Waterfront Hotel in Lahug, Cebu City underwent a massive renovation.  So it looked something like this...

A few months after, the promise of a Grander lobby has been realized.  

The Waterfront Hotel and Casinos in Cebu City is one of the most popular hotels in the whole island.  Location is fantastic, less than 10minutes away from Ayala, 15 minutes away from SM, less than 20 minutes away from Downtown, and a literal 1-street cross away from IT Park.

Now with a grander lobby, can the Waterfront Hotel at Lahug challenge the more affluent hotels in the city? Let's break it down.

Facade, Lobby, Interior:   In 2008, I referred to the Waterfront Hotel as the Disneyland of all hotels in Cebu.  At night, the green and purple lights outline the palatial architecture of the building - imagine the palace in the animated movie Aladdin.  With the 2012 renovation, the Waterfront Hotel can challenge the Shangri-la Mactan and Imperial palace in terms of "regalness" of their Lobby.  I love when a promise of grandness from a hotel is realized.  So kudos to Waterfront for this.

Things to do:  Lots! There is a duty free store here, a decent gym, a nice pool, Uno - the buffet restaurant, a Japanese restaurant, an Italian restaurant, and a nice bar.  Plus not to mention the biggest casino in the whole of Cebu.   And the location of the hotel provides easy access to the major tourist, shopping and dining places.  Of course the hotel is in the city, so do not expect a beach here.  But everything else is here.  And I also fancy the bands that play at nights at the lobby.  Incredible voices from "upstairs"

Service: Hotel Service in Cebu is "above average" on the average.  And Waterfront is no exception.  I lived at the hotel for 34 days straight back in September.   And I really liked how polite the concierge was in reminding me that my company has not paid for my room yet =).  They do this very discretely.  But avoid the check-in rush hour.  And in Waterfront this is not 2pm, this is more of 5-7pm.  I think because many businessmen and office people fly to Cebu in the morning, go to work first and check-in after office hours.  The check-in queue could be incredibly long.

Rooms:  Ugh!  The downfall of Waterfront.  All irony start and end here.  For the grandness of their lobby, the shabbiness of their rooms.  I particularly despise their room carpets.  It is the same as the Days Inn Hotel carpet in Tagaytay.  To put it mildly - gross!   I just hope they also have plans of renovating their rooms.   Next to the carpet, they can start with the beddings and the curtains.  They probably inspired the invention of different off-white colors like ecrue, mother-of-pearl...you know those that are supposed to be white but are not.  Next would be 100% renovation of their bathrooms.  This I can compare to airport restroom marble counters.  The money that they may have saved years ago will cost them a fortune to renovate.  Sorry, replace.  There is simply no hope to renovate the black and mildewed counters.

Price:  Very reasonable, probably the best 'value for money' hotel in the City of Cebu, especially with corporate rates.   They charge almost 50% less than Marriott and even Radisson.  So if you like spending more time outside your room, then definitely consider staying at Waterfront Hotel.

In Summary for Waterfront Hotel Lahug Cebu City:
Location:  9/10 stars
Things to do: 10/10 stars
Room: 2/10 stars
Service: 8/10 stars (I wish they had flat iron and ironing board in every room like Marriott)
Price: 9/10 stars

Learning and Challenging the Mind

Last Month, family went to San Franciso and decided to spend a few hours at the Exploratorium   Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception.  We ended up staying and exploring for a good 4 hours!

I heard Manila also has a Science Museum in Taguig.  Great!

Math Equations That Changed the World

Mathematics is a foundation of technology.  Any new cellphone, gadget, or practically any scientific discovery was inspired by Mathematics. Yahoo published a list of the most important Math equations courtesy of Professor Stewart of the University of Warwick. Here they are:

According to Prof. Stewart, the following 17 equations have changed the world: 
Pythagoras's Theorem, Logarithms, Calculus, Newton's Law of Gravity, The Square Root of Minus One, Euler's formula for Polyhedra, Normal Distribution, Wave Equation, Fourier Transform, Navier-Stokes Equation, Maxwell's Equations, Second Law of Thermodynamics, Relativity, Schrödinger equation, Information Theory, Chaos Theory and Black Scholes Equation.

Math Equations that changed the world:

1. Pythagoras's Theorem:  





In any right triangle, the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares whose sides are the two legs (the two sides that meet at a right angle).


2. Logarithms





The logarithm of a number is the exponent by which another fixed value, the base, has to be raised to produce that number. 


3.  Calculus





4.  Newton's Law of Gravity

Every point mass attracts every single other point mass by a force pointing along the line intersecting both points. The force is proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them:

where:

• F is the force between the masses,
• G is the gravitational constant,
• m₁ is the first mass,
• m₂ is the second mass, and
• r is the distance between the centers of the masses.

5. The Square Root of Minus One


 i² = −1


The imaginary unit is sometimes written √−1 in advanced mathematics contexts (as well as in less advanced popular texts). However, great care needs to be taken when manipulating formulas involving radicals. The notation is reserved either for the principal square root function, which is only defined for real x ≥ 0, or for the principal branch of the complex square root function


6. Euler's formula for Polyhedra


Realized that Euler has a brilliant, brilliant mind.  So any of his formulas could end up on the list.  So the list was not talking about this formula: 



but rather this formula below.This is also called Euler's Polyhedron formula. Where V refers to vertices, E to Edges and F for Faces.  One of the more people-accessible formulas from Euler.





7.  Normal Distribution




Looks very complex, but this is one of the more practical in the list. Mathematicians call this the Gaussian function or the probability density function.  To everyone else,this is the formula for the Bell Curve.


8. Wave Equation




 the wave equation concerns a time variable t, one or more spatial variables x₁, x₂, …, x_n, and a scalar function u = u (x₁, x₂, …, x_n; t), whose values could model the height of a wave







9. Fourier Transform





Expresses a mathematical function of time as a function of frequency, known as its frequency spectrum.  More common in Physics or Engineering but of course a mathematics construct just like most of them.




10. Navier-Stokes Equation

Navier–Stokes equations (general)

where v is the flow velocity, ρ is the fluid density, p is the pressure,  is the (deviatoric) stress tensor, and f represents body forces (per unit volume) acting on the fluid and ∇ is the del operator. This is a statement of the conservation of momentum in a fluid and it is an application of Newton's second law to a continuum; in fact this equation is applicable to any non-relativistic continuum and is known as the Cauchy momentum equation.


11. Maxwell's Equations


could refer to several ground-breaking equations, as Maxwell is considered to be the godfather of Electromagnetism.  The more popular one would be a derivation of Maxwell's concepts, more popularly known as Gauss's Law:

12. Second Law of Thermodynamics

A change in the entropy (dS) of a system is the infinitesimal transfer of heat (δQ) to a closed system driving a reversible process, divided by the equilibrium temperature (T) of the system.^[1]

The first law of thermodynamics provides the basic definition of thermodynamic energy, also called internal energy, associated with all thermodynamic systems, but unknown in mechanics, and states the rule of conservation of energy in nature.

However, the concept of energy in the first law does not account for the observation that natural processes have a preferred direction of progress

13. Relativity


E = mc²


The two postulates of special relativity predict the equivalence of mass andenergy, as expressed in the mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc², where c is the speed of light in vacuum


14.  Schrödinger equation


Time-dependent Schrödinger equation (general)

where Ψ is the wave function of the quantum system, i is the imaginary unit, ħ is the reduced Planck constant, and  is the Hamiltonian operator, which characterizes the total energy of any given wavefunction and takes different forms depending on the situation.




15. Information Theory


There are so many formulas from the Information Theory, but the most common would be this: 


 


16. Chaos Theory 

where λ is the Lyapunov exponent. The rate of separation can be different for different orientations of the initial separation vector. Thus, there is a whole spectrum of Lyapunov exponents — the number of them is equal to the number of dimensions of the phase space. It is common to just refer to the largest one, i.e. to the Maximal Lyapunov exponent (MLE), because it determines the overall predictability of the system. A positive MLE is usually taken as an indication that the system is chaotic.

17. Black Scholes Equation




where W is Brownian motion. Note that W, and consequently its infinitesimal increment dW, represents the only source of uncertainty in the price history of the stock



The full yahoo article is in the link below:
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/17-maths-equations-that-changed-the-world.html;_ylt=AjJmzT_E5Dr.ZPoASLokzN71V8d_;_ylu=X3oDMTFqaTNjbzlmBG1pdANBcnRpY2xlIEJvZHkEcG9zAzMEc2VjA01lZGlhQXJ0aWNsZUJvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTJyazB2ZzUyBGludGwDcGgEbGFuZwNlbi1waARwc3RhaWQDMDA5OWIxMzItNGUyZi0zOGIxLWI2YTctZThmMDQwNmFkZjQ4BHBzdGNhdANidXNpbmVzcwRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=3?page=all