Get a chance to win a trip to New York at Central Square

New York has been one of the top travel destinations for many. From Broadway to the famous Central Park, the happening boroughs and shopping outlets, there's just too many things to do in the city. And you could fly to the big apple without spending a cent if you get lucky with the Big City Escape!

Central Square launches The Big City Escape where it brings the iconic city to Manila. Interactive vignettes representing the five boroughs will be up at the mall atrium this month till June to give that NYC vibe. Take a photo and tag @centralsquareph and @ssilifeph, and use the hashtags #CSQBigCityEscape, #CentralSquarePH, and #SSILife to win exciting prizes.

Now in Manila: New York's Magnolia Bakery (M Bakery)

Magnolia Bakery has been one of the well-loved iconic establishments in New York that stood the test of time. Established in 1996, it has delighted New Yorkers since and it has been one of the hottest must-visit brands when visiting the city. With long queues to greet you, one would wonder what made this bakery great. And to be honest, it was not exactly love at first bite for me. But having it the second time around sure won me over!

Hello, M Bakery. 

The world-famous Magnolia Bakery is finally in Manila as M Bakery. 

Foodie Alert: Yellow Cab celebrates World Pizza Week

Remember when Yellow Cab had the brilliant idea of holding an Unli Pizza promo? Well, It's back and it is going to make World Pizza Day even better. 

Hello, Yellow Cab.

Yellow Cab began to share with Filipinos a slice of New York back in 2001 with its first branch in Makati Avenue and it has continued to expand nationwide with over 100 branches to date. Such number proves how much Filipinos love its pizza (with perhaps a side of Charlie Chan). 

New Restaurant Alert: The Halal Guys

Yes, it is finally happening. After almost a year of waiting (or was it over a year?),  The Halal Guys is finally opening its first store in Manila!

I still remember the first time I saw The Halal Guys Opening Soon tarpaulin signage at the quirky SM Mega Food Hall. I squealed like fangirl and anticipated its opening which was supposedly July of this year. But just like most stores’ opening dates, The Halal Guys’ was also moved. They said that the cause of the delay was that they wanted to make sure that they get the quality right. Sounds reasonable to me as long as I get the real deal!

And THIS IS IT. The Halal Guys already announced it in its Facebook and Instagram accounts that it will open tomorrow and here’s the good news… first 100 customers get free meals! Yes, FREE MEALS! Woohoo… for you. As much as I want a free meal, it’s logistically impossible for me to be one of the first 100. *cries*

New York Stop: Tad's

Ever since we arrived in New York, we can’t help but notice Tad’s, a steakhouse quite scattered all over Manhattan. N, being a big steak fan, wanted to dine there as he was also tired of eating hotdogs every single day. (Hey, we’re in New York!) One night, we met up with C, a good friend of N and C volunteered to bring us there for dinner.

Hello, Tad’s!

I can hear N mentally say, “Finally, a sit down dinner!” while I seriously stare at the menu placed on top of the counter.

They have several set meals and I was staring at the one with the biggest serving. Hey, we need all the nourishment from all the walking we did!

Unfortunately, they were out of #1, Grilled Prime Ribs ($20.99) so C and I settled for #2, “The Big One” Pound T-Bone ($19.29) while N settled for #3, Rib Steak ($16.99).

Smorgasburg: A Foodie Destination

I love weekend markets! I just do not like that it closes so early. I want to munch and munch (then digest) and munch some more! While traveling, it never occurred to me that I will be visiting a weekend market. But the video R sent was just too convincing that despite being tired from walking and the long 2 hour travel from Staten Island to Manhattan, N and I just couldn’t help but gooooo~

Why hello there, Brooklyn Bridge!

It was easy to spot Smorgasburg as it is located very near the famous Brooklyn Bridge. I instantly fell in love with the brick walls surrounding the open food market.

Our eyes sparkled seeing a lot of promising food vendors. There’s this concessionaire that sells ADOBONG LUMPIA (6 rolls for $7) and there’s this kiosk that sells amazing BEEF BRISKET ($10 per sandwich). But I’m getting too excited. 

Central Park Favorite: Wafels & Dinges

I feel so guilty knowing that I haven’t blogged for quite some time. Frannywanny has been telling me to blog as well. And now I am baaaack! Hello again, blogger me! I have a lot of yummy dishes and interesting places to share with you all and first would be something that I went gaga over… Wafels & Dinges.

It was one chilly, wait, really cold Wednesday morning in New York City when we planned to visit Central Park to skate and feel like we were part of the movie Serendipity (only our version was rather clumsy and full of violations—I’ll share that in a bit!). J, our wonderful host, joined us and got excited over this food cart outside Central Park. I’ve heard her rave about this cart days ago so the foodie in me can’t help but drool (in the inside of course!).

Since I wanted to try several toppings, I decided to go for the plain waffle (liège wafel, $5) and got the unlimited dinges (WMD—wafel of massive deliciousness, $2) and chose bananas, strawberries, nutella and belgian chocolate fudge as my toppings. Oh sweet waffle goodness!