Erra's Ramen: Shoyu on a Cold January Noon

It's soup weather. Chilly weather requiring hot soup. Where I'm at, on some mornings, it's pea soup as Scully had said in the Rain King. (The X-Files are back, by the way. In the Philippines, Season 11 airs Thursdays, 8:55PM on Fox with replays on Saturdays 7:05PM and Thursdays 8PM and 10PM.) Thankfully, it's fog not smog. Perks of living in the province. Though with our place rapidly becoming urbanized, I'm afraid we won't be getting fresh air much longer. It seems the local government is intent on turning the municipality into a factory hub. There's an equipment barn a block away where I live now. At least the female owner who goes berserk on the workers or orders them around while on speakers has been quite, um, entertaining.

Anyways, I've been feeling cold even at noon so I've been warming myself with soupy dishes this past couple of days. Yesterday, I found myself at Robinson's Place Ermita so off I went looking for Erra's Ramen, a much-talked about ramen place along Adriatico Street. From the mall's Pedro Gil entrance/exit, I turned right, then walked until I reached Adriatico Street which at that point was the first street to intersect Pedro Gil. Turning left, I went towards Remedios Circle. A minute or two later, signage to my right announced that I have reached the place.

Thanks for 2017, Hope 2018 is Better

In Miracle on 34th Street, Kris Kringle sent a shopper to a rival store when the store he's supposed to represent could not meet her needs. While I have encountered people in the service industry who've done the same, nowadays, they're a rare species. It's usually company first, customer second.

A stark contrast to the CSR I've mentioned in my post a month ago (He who insisted that their system is perfect. Dude, my brother is a computer programmer. He handled bank systems of countries, plural, all at the same time. He gets tickets at 3AM. I think he is in a better position to tell anyone that no system is perfect.) are the CSRs from PLDT who've been contacting me and my sister's numbers. They're pleasant to talk to, not pushy or bossy, do not sound bored, are not too chirpy either.

There were also these CSRs from Globe Telecom and another from The Generics Pharmacy. The one from Globe gave me the benefit of the doubt when others would have suggested that it was my fault. She walked me through to how it's possible that my data subscription got consumed so fast, no accusing tone, no air of detachment. Just concern that I have lost data.

Meanwhile the CSR from The Generics Pharmacy showed initiative after I messaged a query through their facebook page. It was just a question but this CSR put two and two together then took it upon himself to resolve our problem without any prompting and without me telling him initially what our problem was. It was the first time I've encountered a CSR like him. This person genuinely cares about the customer. And so because of him, we have been buying my mom's monthly meds from TGP.  If how this CSR handled our situation is company policy, I feel confident I'm buying meds from a company that got our backs.

I do wonder how the sales of Sanofi products are doing now what with the Denvaxia controversy. But then I don't think a lot of people check labels for the manufacturer in as much as they do check the price.

2017 was pretty much a repeat of 2014 for me and the family. It was health crisis after another and being victimized by people. After 2014, I'm not as afraid of things I could not see as I became aware that people are more capable of inflicting pain, with twisted reasoning to boot. Or without, trip lang. Still scared of demonic possession though. 2014 was not a really good year, so much so that I gave up writing by 2015 and had not been as active on social media. With 2017, I was, "why should I give up things I enjoy doing?" I'm not going to mope around. Okay, maybe a tiny bit.

So thank you to everyone who has made 2017 a less than bumpy ride for me and my family. Wishing a better 2018 for all of us.

Baked Treats and Goodies for the Holidays

For a few years now, our dining table and refrigerator, especially during the holidays, have been laden with baked goods and sweets, boxed or pre-packaged ones you would often see in bazaars or during Christmas gift giving at work.

My brother and his wife, their day jobs in the telecom industry notwithstanding, have been flexing their entrepreneurial muscles for some time now, reselling food items like chicharon (Chicharon capital Sta. Maria, Bulacan is just two municipalities over where we live.) and said baked goods and sweets. We are only too eager to taste test and provide feedback.

clockwise from left: Pines brownies, Aiza's Sweets marzipan, Pines butterscotch, Chocovron polvoron, leche flan

Aiza's Sweets Marzipans are yema bonbons with generous slivers of cashew nuts. This is my sister's bet. Because she is nutty. Kidding.

Chocovron Polvoron is actually a brand of  polvoron with inventive flavors like malunggay, sometimes coated in chocolate. They're really good.

I am not sure of the brand of the leche flan but this one's a winner. This milky creamy flan is coated in a generous caramel sauce. It does not have the gelatin-y taste some flans have. Said flans use gelatin to hold them upright and keep their structure. There have been flans with fancy flavors like strawberry cheesecake and cookies and cream which have come out but this simple unadulterated flan will remain as our favorite.