• 100km / 50km : 3,500 PHP
• 22km / 11km: 1,000 PHP

You can get a 30% discount if you have the The North Face 100 discount stub which can be found on the January 2012 issue of Total Fitness Magazine. You can get the magazine at National Bookstore or Power Books for 120PHP.

This will be our 3rd North Face 100 race but it will be our first and longest race yet at 50km. Our goal is to finish the race within the specified cutoff time. I was hoping of bringing our daughter again for this race, since she was with us last year for 22km event in Camarines Sur. But I don’t think she’ll be up for it this time, we will most probably have to camp out during the race. But rest assured when she grows (maybe 10 or 12 yrs. old) older the 3 of us will definitely join the 100km event.

Let the training begin! See you guys there!

One thing I really like about them is that you can order an entire cake with different slices of both pies and/or cheesecakes! Ensuring there will be a slice for everyone. And if by everyone you mean yourself, you won’t get stuck with a single flavor all through out the life span of the box. Which is exactly what we did earlier; We sample 4 pies and 5 cheesecackes:

1. Hope!
2. Banana Berry
3. Santa’s Chipper
4. Blueberry Cheesecake
5. Strawberry Crunch
6. Banofee
7. Apple Caramel
8. Praline
9. Gobline Pie

I think I’ll have a hard time going back to Red Ribbon or Goldilocks cakes after today. Much more so since their servings have gotten smaller and the lack of new refreshing flavors on their menus.

They only have several branches around the metro that I know of. There’s 1 at Katipunan, Ayala Triangle Tomas Morato, and ofcourse in Greenhills. They also deliver, a minimum of 500PHP food purchase with a 10% service charge. You can check their facebook page for more info.

The last time I was at the Cafe was several years back for its 20th year anniversary, unfortunately I wasn’t able to get my grub on due to the festivities. This time around I made it a point to stop by the place and have my fill!

Strawberry Soda

Thin slices of fresh Strawberries, dunked into a cold glass of soda water, with a dash of strawberry syrup/honey

Lola Pilar’s Sandwich

2 deep fried buns with ground meat filling. Served with a side of fries and ketchup!

Strawberries and yogurt

Home made yogurt topped off with strawberries, served with honey.

Amici is basically an Italian Restaurant, and most of their dishes (if not all) are in Italian with short English descriptions below for the uninformed. Despite the classy sounding names of their dishes their price point is surprisingly competitive. If you compare it to other pizza/pasta joints like Sicilian or Italianis, they’re almost the same if not a bit cheaper. Taste is subjective, but personally for the money they are asking I think it is worth it.

Antipasti & Insalata e Zuppa

Zuppa di Ceci con Vongole

A delightful combination of carrot and ginger soup topped with spring onion garnishes and a scrumptious dash of cotenna di maiale fritto (chicharones)

this was the first time I tasted this kind of soup, and it is hands down the highlight of my meal. It’s one of those happy accidents, were you glad you tried something out.

Arancini

A Sicilian Classic! Fried risotto balls filled with savory meat ragu and mozzarella cheese

I personally prefer risotto as is and dislike deep-fried food. I’m sure other people without a bias against fried food would appreciate it.

Pasta

Ravioli di Pesce Mousseline

Fresh and handmade ravioli filled with a light and healthy offering of sole fillet in a refreshing sauce of greens and olive oil

One of my new found favorites. It’s a light yet filling and healthy pasta dish. Great for carbo-loading before a run. It’s so simple it screams less is eat more!

Spaghetti Ai Tesori del Mare

A mildly spicy feast of spaghetti tossed in fresh tomatoes, scallops, clams, mussels and chili oil

Think of it as Marinara on a diet! It’s an Olive oil based pasta dish, emphasizing on the pasta and seafood. with a bit of a kick. After tasting this I don’t think I can go back to eating your sauce-drenched, run-of-the-mill seafood pasta.

Fettucine Al Tartufo Classico

Fettuccine in a scrumptious blend of truffle oil, button and shiitake mushrooms

Never been a fan of cream-based pasta, but this was a bit too salty/rich for my taste.

Pizza

Al Quattro Formaggi

Parmesan, Mozarella, cream cheese, and blue cheese

Chorizo e Spinaci

Spanish chorizo and spinach in white sauce

Pesto di Aglio

Pesto sauce, Italian sausage, mushrooms and roasted garlic cloves

Their thin crusted pizza weren’t fantastic, but is a refreshing alternative to your typical, Yellow Cab, Pizza Hut, Shakey’s pizza offerings. They’re roughly in the same price range if not cheaper. Also a healthier choice from the lot if you ask me.

Amici doesn’t stand out against their competitors; but it’s a nice break from the norm. They offer a good selection of a full course meal with competitive pricing… not necessarily affordable. If you’re willing to spend 500 bucks on a YellowCab pizza, you’d better off sampling other pizza/pasta joints like Amici.

The obstacle sections were few and far in between, and not challenging at all. I figure their goal was to make it easier on the novice runners. But my goal was to accompany my significant-other Fedhz, so I didn’t mind too much. They handed out finisher medals for the 10 and 15 kilometer finishers, something new to me since in most cases medals are only handed out to 21km finishers and up.

All in all it wasn’t that bad. I got a chance to run with Tado of Strange Brew, even got a photo-op. I also got a copy of the April 2011 issue of Men’s Health magazine featuring George St Pierre. Was it worth the 750PHP registration fee? …I guess so, compared to other events. Will I be joining next year? Probably not.

The Appetizers

Sizzling Tofu

This tasted more like Sisig than anything else. It was pleasure to eat, since you get to taste the flavors of Sisig with a healthier twist without the guilt feeling or health risk of eating the real thing.

Fried Kesong Puti

If you’re a cheese lover like me; you’ll definitively appreciate this. Small Kesong Puti balls dunked in batter, deep friend to a crisp golden brown ball of cheesy goodness! Served with an Onion Dip and Sweet Chili Guava Dip. I can go on and on about this dish, though I’d rather you sample it for yourself to appreciate it.

Smoked Fish Spring rolls

A nice alternative twist to the traditional “lumpia“, it has a nice smoky flavor served with the right vinegar that makes it pop. I am not a big fan of either fish or spring rolls but I did appreciate the dish.

Main Courses

Sinigang na Corned Beef

The house specialty, a welcomed twist to the traditional Sinigang na Baka where they use big chunks of tender beef with the right blend of “asim” to boot. They ask you to taste the broth while preparing the dish to get as close to your Lola’s Sinigang as possible. All in all this was the best dish I tasted and was the highlight of the entire meal.

Garlicky Adobo

A unique take on the Adobo flavor. Sentro’s version focuses more on sauted (ginisa) and sour flavors topped off with the tender Corned Beef chunks also found in their house specialty Sinigang na Corned Beef.

Rated GG (Galunggong)

This reminds me of the toyo at minantikang kanin (rice mixed with soy sauce and used cooking oil) with inihaw na Galunggong served with bagoong (fish paste) and green mango’s… Just like the good old days. Though Sentro did not serve it with Bagoong, we got the next best thing: Sentro’s Bagoong Rice.

Sentro’s Bagoong Rice

Need I say more? The last 2 words said it all! Pinoy rice at its best!

Crispy Pork Ribs

This dish leaves much to be desired. Even after sampling it freshly cooked it just didn’t do it for me. If there was any dish I wouldn’t try in this restaurant this would be on the top of my list.

Egg Plant and Bangus Torta (Omelet)

Personally I didn’t find anything spectacular about it. Along with the Crispy Pork Ribs, this is something I wouldn’t be sampling again anytime soon.

Final Thoughts

If you’re hungry, impatient or both, make it a point to order in advance. It takes some time for them to prepare/cook the food, but in most cases it is well worth the wait. Their prices aren’t “competitive” so to speak, compared to other restaurants who offer similar dishes. But in return you get value for your money. Something that’s hard to come by these days with all the cost cutting gimmicks most restaurants do to make a profit.

The new theme of my site will not only feature my work, but my other passions as well which include but are not limited to Food and Traveling the Philippines. My goal is to fuse all my passions and simply have fun… and not work a day in my life anymore.

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