It's been years since the last time I visited the Philippines. Although I usually have Filipino food at home, I have never been to a Filipino restaurant here in Toronto. All that changed today when I, with a few buddies, visited this little spot near the intersection of Don Mills and York Mills called Casa Manila. It felt like "home" the moment I walked in the restaurant. The interior setup was very welcoming with Filipino ornaments displayed all over. The set up was very simple, tables and chairs set up nicely around the restaurant and the dried leaves decor on the wall made it more Filipino. The wait staff was very friendly as well. We were greeted by, I think, the owner of the restaurant who also walked us to our table.

We started off with a glass of Sarsi (Filipino root beer) and man it was good! It reminded me of my days growing up in the Philippines drinking it almost everyday after school. We also had some "Lumpiang Shanghai" (Chicken/Pork spring rolls). I was quick to choose "Daing na Bangus" (panfried boneless milkfish marinated in citrus) as my main since I haven't had this dish in so long. I ordered the dish with a bowl of garlic fried rice. My two other friends, being non-Filipino, took some time deciding and I had to explain to them what the dishes were. Eventually they decided to get "Pancit Palabok" (a Filipino style noodle) and "Kare Kare" (Beef with peanut butter sauce). They pretty much based their decisions on the pictures but I assured them that they made the right choice.

As the food came to our table, we took a few photos before eating and man the taste was awesome! My Daing na Bangus was cooked perfectly and tasted just like it was from home. I ate the fish with the garlic fried rice and it felt like home. My friends ate the Palabok and the Kare Kare and both liked the dishes very much. One of them had trouble figuring out how to eat Kare Kare but with a few suggestions from yours truly, everything went very well. We finished our main completely satisfied and then it was time for desert.

We all decided to get "Halo-Halo." Halo-Halo is a famous Filipino desert which is basically a mix of a little bit of everything desert. It's mostly crushed ice drizzled with sweet milk topped with red beans, bananas, "leche flan" (Filipino custard cake), purple yam, coconut gel, jellybeans, ube ice cream. The word "halo" means mix in Filipino which explains this desert's delicious set up. I haven't had Halo-Halo for at least 5 years and having it after such a long time was the best feeling ever. My friend who had it for the first time said it was like "heaven in a bowl." You can easily eat all the toppings and just be left with the crushed ice but even that was awesome! The sweet milk mixes in well with the melting ice pellets giving it an awesome sweet taste. It was 0 degrees today when we ate this and we froze our faces eating this stuff but it was worth it! Definitely going to be consuming this desert more often when the summer season starts.

Overall, Casa Manila is a cozy little place in the heart of North York giving Filipinos the chance to taste restaurant quality Filipino food and others to try and see what Filipino food is all about. Casa Manila is definitely my little Philippines.

To all the people who are in love or looking for love, Happy Valentine's Day :). The best things come when least expected, love is one of them.

This may be old news to some, but I recently stumbled upon an article in photographyblog.com showing the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Mark II lens. It is estimated to launch in March (for the Nikon version) and July (for the Canon version). According to Photography Blog's article, the new Tokina lens will have a new quieter focusing motor and a new magnetic AF sensor similar to the one found in Tokina 16-28mm FX. The new lens will also have an improve multi-coating. Looks like the lens is pretty much the same as the first one with a few improvements. I still use the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 Mark I lens and I don't think I need to upgrade, but it's very good to know that Tokina is improving there already awesome line-up of lenses. 

Click here to see the article from photogragphyblog.com.

Where do you go if you're craving Japanese noodles for lunch? A noodle house of course. Kenzo Noodle house is a famous Japanese Noodle house in Bloor St. just outside UofT. They serve, well, you guessed it, noodles - and darn good ones too.

The restaurant was a little on the small side but it was not so bad and the interior was pretty cozy too, fitting environment for a noodle house. It gets pretty busy during the lunch rush with students and workers alike flocking the small house for some lunch noodles. Despite the chaos, the wait staff was quite calm and welcoming finding everyone seats very fast. Kudos Kenzo!

The menu was not very big which makes choosing easier and faster especially during the peak hours. I got myself the Yakisoba Noodle for this visit. I had yakisoba noodles before in other places but I wasn't expecting what I got. A generous serving of it was served on a sizzling hot plate topped with loads of meat and vegetables. It also had thin onion peels that flapped around due to the heat which added to the presentation. I thought the plate was alive when it arrived on my table. You have to see this in action! The taste just added to the goodness. The noodles were very fresh and the toppings were also fresh. The taste for me was just right and the generous serving makes this a filling lunch item for the price - us uni folks don't have a lot of money to spend you know.

Kenzo Noodle House was a delight. Despite getting there during the lunch rush, the friendly wait staff, and the awesome food made it all worthwhile. Definitely worth a look and I will definitely come back to try out the other items on the menu. Kudos Kenzo!

There's a new food place in UofT! I stumbled upon this new establishment as I was walking down College St. to get my usual shawarma dinner. The name of the new spot is "The Saj." Intrigued by this new sight, I walked inside to see what's up. It's just like any typical food place on campus where you go to the counter and order your food. Some cool design on the wall adds a nice touch.What makes this place unique though is the way they serve the food. The Saj offers wraps and pizza. There are different kinds of pizzas like cheese, pepperoni, and their special one, The Saj pizza. All pizzas are served as a whole and for the price, I say they are worth it. I haven't personally tried the wraps since this was my first time there.

So what is unique about this place? When you order an item (pizza or wrap), they bake the bread in front of you. They whip out some dough, put it in a baking machine to bake either the pizza crust or the wrap, and put the ingredients all in front of you. This is a welcome change from the typical pre-made stuff that other places offer. The cook time may be longer but the food is super fresh and tastes better because of its freshness. The staff is also very friendly which is always a great thing especially for a new establishment.

I ordered "The Saj" pizza for $6.99 which was a 12-inch pizza, enough to feed 2-3 people for lunch. For that price, it was a steal! I had to choose which meat goes on the pizza and two types of veggies. I chose chicken, mushrooms, and green peppers (see photo below). It was amazing to see the whole process from ordering to baking to receiving the box of fresh pizza. And the taste? Wonderful! One of the freshest pizzas I've tasted in a while and it's not as greasy as the pizzas of the other major brands. Healthier!

Overall, The Saj is a very cozy place to hang out, get some work done, and of course, eat some fresh healthy food cooked fresh right in front of your eyes. I can totally see myself and my friends coming back for more.

School started 2 weeks ago for me in University of Toronto. Starting third year Computer Science was both exciting and sad. Exciting because I get to see my university friends again and because I'm a photographer for my student council which means that I go to events and take photos (If you don't already know, I love photography!). Sad because summer is over and this means that I will need to wake up early in the mornings to get to school and come home late to do school work or go to my part time job (CN Tower). 

Two weeks in and I'm already swamped by assignments, readings, and other responsibilities for the term or even longer! I can't really complain because this is an integral part of university life but it just sucks that I went from having fun everyday doing almost nothing to barely having any time of the day to finish all the tasks! I don't mind though, I'll get through it! Just gotta get used to the work habits again. 

I still have a lot of photos taken during the summer that I still haven't edited (due to school) but I'm trying to find time to edit those pictures so I can post them up here on the website and other places. So until then, stay in school, and keep shooting! =D

Hello All,

I feel really bad that I wasn't able to update this website at all since September. As much as I would like to, I couldn't find the time to do so because I have a lot of University of work to do. I have new pictures that I have saved somewhere in my computer which is basically pictures that highlight the architecture of University of Toronto. But I still haven't found the time to sit down and actually edit them. Furthermore, the collection is not really done yet because I still want to take more pictures of the campus especially during the night because some of the more classical buildings in the campus actually look dramatic during nightfall. So I am hoping that i will get those photos taken by November; edit and share them to you guys by December of this year. For sure, I'll have something really neat to share with you guys before the year is over, so stay tuned for that =). For now, please take a look at my current collection of galleries and hope you like what I have to offer in this website so far.

Cheers,
Angelo Maralit