Michi Photostory

Long weekend is over pero feeling ko nagdaan lang ang araw and hindi ko naramdaman ang bakasyon. I have a long list of things to do for the Holy Week break but I couldn't do anything because suddenly my husband decided to go to the province. Despite the long list of things to do, I decided to squeeze in some time so I could blog. 

When it comes to food delivery, I rarely order online because I hate waiting and I had few bad experiences na rin na sobrang late dumating yung order. Yung hangry (hungry+angry) ka na, wala pa rin yung food so I rather go to the restaurant and magtake-out ng food or store pick-up. 

Yesterday was the last day of my husband’s Bereavement Leave so we took advantage of it and went to the shopping mall to buy some stuff that we need for our upcoming summer vacation. It was lunchtime but the restaurants were not crowded, maybe because it was a weekday.

My husband suggested Banapple Pies & Cheesecakes. It’s been years since the last time that we ate here. Wala naman nagbago, maliit pa rin table nila at masikip pa rin restaurant. Last year, my husband ate at Banapple and he told me, “Masarap pala lasagna dun”. Natawa na lang ko kasi that was our order before and as far as I remember, yung bread ang nagustuhan niya.


Anyway, we ordered Bacon Fried Chicken Steaks with Milk Mushroom Gravy P275, Lasagna Roll-Ups P280 and Banoffee Pie P135. I was reading my old post, and I noticed na ang laki na ng price increase. Well, price inflation after 6 years. Banoffee Pie from P95 to P135 and Lasagna Roll-ups from P180 to P280.


My son and I shared on Bacon Fried Chicken Steaks with Milk Mushroom Gravy meal. The meal has crisp chicken fillets topped with creamy milk and mushroom gravy and bacon pieces. It has corn too for side dish. I thought bacon pieces na malalaki, bacon bits lang pala kasi halos hindi ko nga napansin. Taste is just okay for me.


I tried the Lasagna Roll-Ups; a herbed cream and parmesan cheese fill al dente lasagna strips, rolled up and smothered in classic tomato meat sauce and mozzarella cheese. The pasta is indeed good and of course, we won’t leave without eating the Banoffee Pie. My son said, he won’t eat that pie but after tasting it nakalimutan na niya na share kami. Hehehe!


Update September 2019

After our passport renewal at DFA NCR South (Metro) we ate at Banapple for our early dinner. We know that they have big serving so my son and I always share food and we were not able to finish our order. For a change, we ordered Hickory Smoked Barbecued Country Ribs at P345, Trio of Sausages Pasta P325, and Banoffee Pie P160. As expected, we finished the pie in few minutes. The ribs and pasta are just okay so we won't order this again.




It’s been more than two years already since the last time we ate at Banapple. It is one of our go-to restaurants if ever we are in Alabang Town Center. But because of the COVID19 restrictions, we cannot just go to the mall whenever we want. We just celebrated my son’s 13th birthday so we had reason to buy a cake so my husband bought 1 whole banoffee pie for PHP1,225.

I had my lab test and a doctor’s appointment last week. After check-up, instead of going home, I told my husband to go straight to Alabang Town Center so I can look for Christmas Gifts. We had lunch first at Amici. It’s been years since the last time we ate here, sa dami ba naman kasi na restaurant sa Alabang Town Center ang dami ko gusto kainan. Most of the time, we will just buy gelato here.


I remembered our first dining experience in Amici Don Bosco Branch, 7 six years ago self-service pa siya but now, you don’t need to go to the cashier to order and pay your bill. Our old favorites here are Tutta Carne Pizza, Spaghetti alla Carbonara, Pollo Arrostito, Sansrival, and Gelato.

Amici serves pasta, pizza, and gelato. While browsing their menu, I noticed na ang dami na nila food choices, may option sa pasta if you want regular or grande size and may rice meals na rin. My husband and I ordered Spaghetti ai Tesori del Mare P420 (Regular), Margherita Pizza P345 and Oreo & Blueberry Cheesecake Madness P210.

The staff offered Gusto Privelege Card where you can get a discount for every visit but we declined since we seldom visit ATC or dine at Amici. While waiting, they served complimentary hot bread and it is good. Sana pwede refill, hehehe!


After finishing our bread, they served our pasta, ang bilis ng service nila. Spaghetti ai Tesori del Mare is a mildly spicy feast of spaghetti, tomatoes, scallops, clams and chili oil. I’m not fond of spicy food but I liked this pasta because the spiciness is really mild.


I ordered Margherita pizza and while eating, my husband said bakit wala ko malasahan na toppings. I just laughed and I told him, Margherita lang order ko so cheese and basil lang yun. Hehehe! Nasanay siya na Tutta Carne order ko.


For dessert, I initially ordered Ferrero-Chocolate Overload but it is not available so I ordered Oreo & Blueberry Cheesecake Madness. Combination of an oreo cookie and blueberry cheesecake gelato topped with caramel syrup, brownie chunks, whipped cream, and cherry. We liked this gelato and it is good for sharing.


We are satisfied with our order and also the service is really good. We already have a bottled of water on our table but the staff kept on refilling our glass. Bawal ba ang half-filled glass? So never kami naglagay ng water sa glass namin. Lol

December 20, 2018

We fetched our son in school and off we went to Alabang Town Center to buy his gift, we were so busy with so many things and we forgot to buy stuff for ourselves. We just ate at Amici last week but we decided to eat here again, this time with my son. We ordered the same pasta which is Spaghetti ai Tesori del Mare P420 (Regular) because we liked it. My son ordered Ham and Two Cheese Pizza P368.


While waiting, they gave us complimentary bread, one stick of bread per person. The staff gave a Kiddie Sheet and crayons to my son. My son read the note “Present this completed Kiddie Sheet to your server and get a Free Junior Scoop of Gelato” so he immediately colored and answered the page.




My son likes pepperoni pizza but it is not available so he chose Ham and Two Cheese Pizza, it has ham, mozzarella, and cheddar cheese. Mukhang corn or pineapple yung cheddar cheese.


We only ordered pasta and pizza but still, we did not finish our food. May take-out pa rin kami na pizza to think na tatlo na kami kumain. But of course, we won’t leave without eating gelato. We showed the Kiddie Sheet and asked the staff kung totoo ba na may free gelato yung anak ko and she said yes. So my husband and I ordered Junior Gelato Cup too P60 each.

The staff informed us na maliit lang yung cup but we still ordered the junior size because the last time that we ordered Oreo & Blueberry Cheesecake Madness gelato, nahirapan kami ubusin yung order namin. My son chose Ferrero, my husband chose Pistachio and I ordered Blueberry Cheesecake again.


While waiting for our gelato, the staff served a slice of cake on our table. Sasabihin ko na sana na hindi kami nag-order ng cake but the staff already said na FREE daw yun. Wow, may free gelato and free cake kami that day. The Midnight Dream Cake is layered decadent chocolate chiffon with caramelized cashews, chocolate, and cream.


When they served the gelato, ang liit ang talaga but it is enough to satisfy our gelato cravings. Again, we were satisfied with the food and service. Mukhang mapapadalas na kami sa Amici at may mga freebies. hehehe!

Amici - Alabang Town Center 
Alabang Town Center, Commerce Avenue,
Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa
Mon to Thurs 11AM to 9PM
Fri to Sunday 10Am to 9PM

We don’t usually cook instant noodles at home but I still buy few pieces in the grocery just in case we want to eat pansit canton or we want hot noodles with egg. 

We love Lucky Me Pansit Canton but we don’t like pansit canton from scratch. It is weird that we prefer the taste of the instant noodles, lol. Anyway, we love pansit bihon and palabok naman. :) 

We attended “A Hoppy Easter” event at Vivere Hotel last Easter Sunday and Lucky Me Baked Mac is included in my son’s loot bag. 



Yesterday, I cooked baked mac for our merienda. The pack includes macaroni and sauce. 



Cook the pasta, drain and mix the sauce. The color looks pale, it is not the usual red sauce. 



I added grated cheese. 

Surprisingly, the taste is good. Of course, we still prefer our Baked Mac recipe but if we want baked mac in few minutes, Lucky Me Baked Mac will be an option. 

Read: Baked Mac Recipe

California Pizza Kitchen celebrated its 18th anniversary last August 14 and 15 and they had a National Pizza Day promo so after our grocery we immediately went to Alabang Town Center. 

After my phototherapy session last Saturday, we went to Festival Mall to pay bills and buy stuff in National Bookstore for my son’s experiment in Science. While going to the bookstore, we saw Sbarro, I thought they are already closed, they just moved to new location lang pala.



It’s been a while since our last visit so we had lunch here. We availed their cheese promo pizza, NY-style 17-inch pizza for P289. The Pasta Tortellini is P144.75 (I think 25% off). 





My son is not fond of pizza before, most of the time he will just eat the pizza toppings but ever since he watched the “Home Alone” movie where Kevin ordered cheese pizza, he now loves pizza. He wants cheese pizza and if it is not available, we will order pepperoni.

As expected, we enjoyed our pizza and pasta. The cheese pizza is so big so we took home the left over for our snacks.

I first learned about California Pizza Kitchen when HSBC had a promo but since Alabang Town Center is far from where I live and I don’t know if their pizza is yummy, I did not redeem the free pizza using my credit card slip.

Every time we go to Alabang Town Center I always see this restaurant but it was only last Sunday that we tried this restaurant after my lab test in Healthway. Since it was our first time we just availed the P999 promo + P120 for 1 pitcher of iced tea. The promo includes your choice of salad, pasta, and pizza. The meal is good for 3 to 4 persons. 

It’s been almost a week of not blogging because I was not feeling well since Wednesday, good thing that May 1 was a holiday and my husband was on leave last May 2 so I was able to rest. Anyway, I was checking my photos on my phone and I saw food photos when we ate in Don Henrico’s two months ago. Hehehe! It was not my first time in Don Henrico’s, my first time was when I was still in College. My Baguio trip will not be complete without eating in Don Henrico’s at Session Road. 





It was really nice revisiting this restaurant again but this time not in Baguio but in Festival Mall. Of course, I ordered my favorite which is Lasagna P290 and Don Henrico’s Supreme Pizza P310. We always visit Festival Mall but I did not know that they have a branch here medyo tago kasi yung location nila.

Update: September 2017

We had a staycation at Makati Shangri-la Hotel and since hotel foods are expensive we went to the mall for our lunch. We ate at Don Henrico's and ordered lasagna, pizza and iced tea. I just noticed na iba ang presentation ng lasagna sa Glorietta branch. But taste is the same, lasagna is my favorite pasta.

Just like that, we already finished the first month of summer vacation and few weeks from now the school year will start again. Last Thursday was Ethan’s last day in swimming lesson and first day of summer class so we’re still in busy mode.

My husband’s family had a family reunion last December 31, I was having a hard time thinking what to bring and I don’t want to go to grocery just to buy ingredients, I hate the long lines so I just check my pantry and decided to make Baked Macaroni and Cheesy Garlic Bread. Pasta is not really my favorite but I always have this in my pantry because it so easy to cook especially if we have nothing to eat at home and for emergency like this “potluck”.