Quirky store/mall practices and then some

Yesterday, we were in Rustan's Supermarket in Power Plant. As we were about to pay, the cashier advised that we do it in tranches of P1000 each. Why? The store has this promo where every single receipt of P1000 entitles you to a gift check worth P100 which you can use to buy Le Gourmet sausages or ham. So, if you buy P10,000 worth, you need 10 different credit cards or 10k cash and ask the cashier to cut off totaling your purchases as soon as you reach a thousand pesos worth. Fine if you have time for all those transactions. But pity the poor cashier as it complicates her work. My son shook his head at the hare-brained scheme. Really ludicrous.

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Some malls charge parking fees according to the length of time one stays in the building. Maybe this is fair but again, it penalizes the cashier, lengthens queues and could be unfair. The cashier needs to compute how much you'll have to pay. As she does this, more cars queue. And how is this unfair? That you have to queue prolongs your stay in the establishment, raising the possibility that you'll pay more. The scheme is a flat rate of say P35 for the first 3 hours and P20 per hour thereafter.

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Ate at Chelsea in Serendra because a few weeks back, their chef guested in one of the shows on TV and demonstrated how risotto balls were prepared. The chef used lots of cheeses so I imagined tasting the balls would be exciting. In an earlier blog, I recounted how the risotto balls in Buon Giorno disappointed me for being so dry. Chelsea's was a little better but was still not good enough. I ordered a burger sandwich per the recommendation of the food server. While I said "medium rare" she said to get "medium well" so that it would not be bloody. I thought her suggestion worth trying out. well the burger was very dry and thick, so dense it no longer looked appetizing. The sidings that came with it were okay, though, especially the potato wedges that were served with a mayo-ginger dip with mustard on the side. It had two small slices of onion rings dipped in batter and deep fried. That was ok too. The sandwich was served with lettuce which I didn't touch because it had no dressing.

Meanwhile, my husband ordered fish and chips. This was really good. The serving was generous, my husband thought, too generous in fact. he couldn't finish it. It was served with cole slaw (violet cabbage) and aioli dip and vinegar. Nice one that.

The cake we ordered was Chocnut Dark Varlhrona and it was good. It melted in the mouth.

Will we go back to Chelsea? likely yes, so our son can try the food thereat, which are mostly his favorites: pasta, pizza, cheese platters. The place is always full and I thought months back, intimidating. From the outside, I thought before that it was a really sosy place, but guests weren't formal at all. In fact, the lady in the table next to ours was so noisy, name-dropping (Bea Zobel's name). She addressed someone as bishop and said they'd vacation in the Pyrenees. I thought I'd develop a headache listening to her. I wanted to scream for her to lower her voice. She wasn't young, mind you, maybe mid-fifties or older.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow.



Picture is of the foccacia bread topped with roasted garlic they served soon after we arrived.



The fish and chips et al. lying on their side. (lazy to set it upright)



Their frosted drinking glass.



Risotto balls



The daunting burger



The melts-in-your-mouth chocolate cake. Yummmmmmmyyyyy.

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On Bonifacio High Street, between Fully Booked and the Gap store being constructed, saw this huge Havaianas for "Grandma Wolf" ("What big feet you have" -- Think Little Red Riding Hood.):