Food: Don Henrico's Ristorante at Festival Mall, Alabang

I haven't eaten at Don Henrico's for years. So when I saw a 50% off deal at Ensogo (P500 voucher for only P250), I immediately bought 2 vouchers and planned to dine at their Festival Mall branch in Alabang. I was able to after the Holy week, together with my husband and my parents.

Upon entering the restaurant, the first thing I noticed was that it looked old and dull and tired. It was mid-afternoon and there were only a few diners inside. I asked for a table for four and we were led to one with 2 two-seater couches facing each other. There were large tears on the couches and everything just seemed to have this worn out vibe. Obviously, the interiors was kept un-updated for a long time.

So not having any interesting piece to focus on, I set my eyes on the menu. First, I informed the waiter that I'll be using two Ensogo vouchers. I inquired through phone beforehand and was told that to be able to use two vouchers per table, it will be a one item per voucher transaction. To maximize the use of the vouchers, they suggested that each item must be at least P500. Hence, we ordered 5 pieces of Buffalo Wings (P560) and a family-size Supreme Pizza (P540). We also added a regular size Seafood Pesto Linguine (P280) and 4 glasses of different flavored drinks.

I forgot that Don Henrico's Buffalo Chicken Wings are BIG (almost as big as other restaurants' quarter chicken). But the taste was as good as I remember it. The sauce that coated each piece provided a strong, sharp BBQ flavor on the outside of the chicken, which others might find overwhelming. I did so I scraped off the sauce first before I take a bite. But the inside was a juicy, tasty soft meat, reminding me why the wing is my part favorite in a chicken.The best way to eat this is to dip or dab a few drops of the ranch dressing onto the chicken for a balanced smoky-sweet-salty-sour flavor. We didn't have rice, but I imagine this would go perfectly with it.

The pizza was delightful as well, as I could note the freshness of the toppings used. Although I wish we had asked for more cheese. The crust tasted fresh, too and I thought it nicely offset the flavors of the pizza sauce and the toppings. But my Dad, who is fond of thin-crust pizzas, found it too thick.

We liked the Seafood Pesto Linguine the most. The blend of creamy-white and Pesto sauce, perfectly-cooked seafood slices and al dente Linguine noodles lent a rich, full-bodied flavor to this pasta dish. The combination of Pesto and white sauce offered a refreshingly new and wonderful treat to our taste buds. Despite the creaminess of the sauce, it didn't have that umay factor.

Overall, we enjoyed the food and was overwhelmed with the large servings.We only had 3 dishes but it was more than enough for all 4 of us. We brought home half of the pizza and 3 pieces of Buffalo wings. The wait staff were also very friendly and helpful and using my Ensogo vouchers was hassle-free.

Our total bill amounted to P1,700+, which means that I had to shell out an additional P700++ cash. If only they didn't have the 1 item/voucher rule (when using more than 1 voucher per table), we could have ordered the smaller serving size of the pizza and the Buffalo wings, and added another dish for more variety. But yeah, rules are rules and I think the P500 worth of savings is good enough.

Service: Maternity Benefit of an SSS Voluntary Member

Being an SSS member doesn't automatically qualifiy you to certain SSS benefits such as sickness and maternity. You have to pass their eligibility requirements.

I've been an inactive member for almost 4 years and I wouldn't have updated my SSS contributions if I hadn't been pregnant. Thankfully, I was able to update in time and paid the required number of months to be eligible for maternity benefits. According to the website, a female member, employed, self-employed or paying voluntarily, is entitled to the maternity benefits if:

1. She has paid at least three monthly contributions within the 12-month period immediately preceding the semester of her childbirth or miscarriage.
2. She has given the required notification of her pregnancy through her employer if employed, or to the SSS if separated, voluntary or self-employed member.
   
   
   

How to know if you have the required monthly contributions?

If you are updating your contributions regularly (and have not skipped a payment), then you most likely have paid the required number of monthly contributions to qualify. To determine this, take your estimated month of delivery and know which semester it falls under.

By semester it means:

Two consecutive quarters ending in the quarter of contingency, where a quarter refers to three consecutive months ending March, June, September or December.

For example, if your expected month of delivery is November 2012. November falls under the 4th quarter (Oct-Nov-Dec). Then include the quarter preceding that, which is the 3rd quarter (Jul-Aug-Sep). From July, count 12 months backward:

• Jun 2012
• May 2012
• April 2012
• March 2012
• February 2012
• January 2012
• December 2011
• November 2011
• October 2011
• September 2011
• August 2011
• July 2011

This means that from July 2011 to June 2012, you must have paid at least 3 monthly contributions in order to qualify for maternity benefit. Otherwise, your maternity benefit application will be rejected.

How to file for notification of pregnancy?

Voluntary members must go to the nearest SSS branch, fill out the MAT-1 (Maternity Notification Form) and submit together with a proof of pregnancy (a pregnancy test from the hospital or an ultrasound result). I don't think home pregnancy kit results are accepted because they cannot show when the test was done.

Filing of the MAT-1 form must be at least 60 days from the date of conception but not later than the date of delivery. I asked the personnel from our local branch if there's a deadline for filing, and he said that as long as the female member hasn't given birth yet, she can still submit the MAT-1 form. However, voluntary members are encouraged to file a notification earlier for faster processing of benefits.

After submitting the MAT-1 and proof of pregnancy, now what?

You will be given a MAT-2 (Maternity Reimbursement Form), which you will need to submit together with the registered copy of the child's birth certificate, after you have given birth. Registered copy means that it was already registered at the city/municipality where you gave birth. Hospitals are the ones who will submit the birth documents to the city registrar. You'll just have to wait for a few days to a few weeks to get a registered copy. You can get this either from the hospital or directly from the city/municipal hall. But this is only for normal spontaneous delivery. For C-section delivery, you will also need a certified true copy of operating room record/surgical memorandum from the hospital where you gave birth.

When I submitted these documents, I was also given an Obstetrical History Sheet and they asked me to have it signed by ANY OB-Gyne. I even asked this twice, and the personnel who received my MAT-2 said that ANY OB-Gyne, even if he/she was not the one who attended to me, can sign the form. But when I went to the nearest OB-Gyne, she refused to sign the form and said that they're not allowed to fill out that form unless they are the one who facilitated the delivery. So to be sure, just go to your OB-Gyne and have it signed.

After you've accomplished this, wait for at least 2 weeks for the check to be delivered to your address. You can also check the status of your maternity benefit claim if you have an SSS online account. Mine was processed in a week (after I submitted all the required documents) and was delivered to my home address less than 2 weeks later.

NOTE: Please note that there's a lot of unanswered questions in the comments section below. I am in no way affiliated with SSS so I am not qualified to answer all queries pertaining to your account. The information I shared in this post is based on my experience and knowledge as a voluntary paying member of SSS. If you need more information or if you have a particular question that wasn't discussed in the post, the best way is to contact SSS directly. You can go to your nearest SSS branch, or leave a message on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sssonlineinquirysystem, or you can also shoot them an email at SSS Member Relations <member_relations@sss.gov.ph> (yes, they do reply to emails but it might take a while).

Service: SSS: Changing from Employed to Self-Employed/Voluntary Members

If you're regularly employed -- that is, you are employed by a company, an organization or an institution -- paying your monthly SSS contributions is the least of your worries because they are automatically deducted from your salary. But if you're no longer employed but are still earning an income, you can continue your SSS membership, update your contributions and enjoy the benefits by being either a self-employed or a voluntary SSS member.

Formerly employed members are often confused which type of membership to change to. So let me try to differentiate the two. By SSS definition, a self-employed member is:

A self-employed person, regardless of trade, business or occupation, with an income of at least P1,000 a month and not over 60 years old... Included, but not limited to are the following self-employed persons.

a. self-employed professionals;

b. business partners, single proprietors and board directors;

c. actors, actresses, directors, scriptwriters and news reporters who are not under an employer-employee relationship;

d. professional athletes, coaches, trainers and jockeys;

e. farmers and fisherfolks; and

f. workers in the informal sector such as cigarette vendors, watch-your-car boys, hospitality girls, among others.

It seems that anybody who is earning can fit into the criteria. However, when I asked a local SSS branch, they said that if not a self-employed professional (like the ones mentioned above), a member must at least have a small business as source of their income in order to qualify as a self-employed SSS member. And when I asked which type of membership should I be if I'm no longer employed, not a professional, don't have a business but still wants to continue my contributions, they replied voluntary membership.

In order to become a voluntary SSS member, all you need to do is to pay your contributions using the SSS Form RS-5. No need to update your membership status as it will be automatically changed to voluntary once your payment is reflected.

If you prefer to be a self-employed SSS member, you have to change your membership status by accomplishing the SSS Form RS-1 and submitting the required documents (any of the following: authenticated birth certificate, driver's license, passport, click here for the complete list).

Another difference: as self-employed member, your monthly contribution will be determined by the monthly income declared during your change of membership status while as a voluntary member, you can choose your monthly contributions based on the amount that you're comfortable paying.

Once you've decided which membership to update to, there are still a few things that you need to take note of to make the transition from employed to self-employed/voluntary member easier.

First, register for an online account on the SSS website. This is really helpful in keeping track of your contributions and other notifications regarding your membership (loan eligibility and status, benefit eligibility and claim status, etc). Actually, all members can benefit from having an online SSS account.

Second, know the deadline of payment for your SSS contribution. Because you will be updating your contributions manually -- meaning, you will have to pay directly to a local SSS branch or to any accredited payment centers, you have to know the deadline for paying your contributions to ensure that you pay on time. SSS penalizes late payments and does not allow retroactive contributions.

SSS has released a new payment deadline schedule based on the last digit of member's SSS number. For SSS number ending in:

• 1 and 2 - every 10th day following the applicable month or the month you're paying for
• 3 and 4 - every 15th day
• 5 and 6 - every 20th day
• 7 and 8 - every 25th day
• 9 and 0 - every last day

For example, my SSS number ends in 4, and I'm going to pay my contribution for the month of April, my deadline will fall on May 15.

Likewise, you have an option to pay your contributions on a quarterly basis. Quarterly payments refer to contributions for three consecutive months ending in March, June, September and December.

Again, using myself as an example, if I'm going to pay my contributions for the 2nd quarter (April, May and June) and my SSS number ends in 4, my deadline is on July 15.

Third, locate the SSS branch or accredited payment centers most accessible to your house or office or place of work. Remember that SSS is open during weekdays only and like most government agencies, usually have long queues so make sure that you can spare at least half a day (a weekday, that is) each month or quarter to update your contributions.

Thankfully, you can now pay your SSS contributions at selected SM Malls. I did this just last week and this is so hassle-free because there are no queues and you can pay during the weekends.

Fourth, keep tabs of all SSS contact information such as email, hotlines, Facebook account. Why? Because chances are, you will have inquiries regarding your membership at some point. Self-employed and voluntary members don't have the benefit of having HR officers, who can answer questions and usually take care of anything SSS related, unlike employed members. So keeping these contact info will come in handy when you need them.

NOTE: Please note that there's a lot of unanswered questions in the comments section below. I am in no way affiliated with SSS so I am not qualified to answer all queries pertaining to your account. The information I shared in this post is based on my experience and knowledge as a voluntary paying member of SSS. If you need more information or if you have a particular question that wasn't discussed in the post, the best way is to contact SSS directly. You can go to your nearest SSS branch, or leave a message on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sssonlineinquirysystem, or you can also shoot them an email at SSS Member Relations <member_relations@sss.gov.ph> (yes, they do reply to emails but it might take a while).

Food: Giligan's Restaurant at Festival Mall, Alabang

Giligan's Restaurant at Festival Mall in Alabang is a go-to place for after-office dinners, gatherings and light drinking sessions. I can't recall how many celebrations were held here when I was still employed in my old company. Just that there were too many -- birthdays, promotions, girls' night-outs, bosses' dinner treats, get-togethers, informal meetings. Thinking about those makes me kind of nostalgic now.

The best thing about this restaurant is the cheap but great food and the laid-back easy ambiance. It's a grilled-sizzling type of restaurant as most of their menu fares are cooked that way. It's not too noisy and they don't play blaring music so you can still hear each other clearly. But it's not quiet either that you'd be shy to make loud noises because the restaurant is bustling with sounds of other people having fun.

I remember that we would often go here in big groups (more than 20 people), talk loud, laugh our hearts out (sometimes while pounding our hands on the table) and just have a great bonding time with everyone and not be concerned about disturbing the tables around us. Because chances are, they are having a good time themselves and usually don't care.



I still go here, after I resigned from work, sometimes with my husband, sometimes with my family but mostly during lunch hours when it's more quite. The food is always good, the serving sizes are big enough and the prices are affordable. We even held our pamamanhikan in one of their closed rooms for a more private gathering (not really pamamanhikan, but the getting to know of our families before we got married).

Just recently, we ate here to sort of celebrate my dad's birthday. It wasn't a planned dinner, they just went to buy some groceries and my husband and I were actually somewhere else. Then they asked us to come to Festival mall for dinner. And the celebrant wanted to eat at Giligan's.

We had the following:

Chicken Lollipop

I've had this numerous times before and was a little surprised that it was flat-out tasteless. Obviously, the chickens and the breading weren't flavored.

Fish Fillet with Fries

It's still good. It has the right crunch outside and the right softness and juiciness inside and the mayo-tartar dip that came with the dish was a good complement to the dish. Although I noticed that the serving size was reduced.

Grilled Salmon Belly

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to taste this one so I can't comment on it.

Sizzling Mixed Seafood

This one I was looking forward to as it was the first time we ordered it. But I was disappointed when it was served. It didn't look appetizing and the taste was just mediocre. I didn't like the black sauce, obviously had squid ink, that the seafoods were swimming in. And by seafoods, I mean few slices of squid, fewer mussels still attached to half the shell and much fewer pieces of shrimps. The only redeemable thing about this dish is how soft the squids were, which only meant that they were cooked right.

Kare-Kareng Gulay

I love Kare-Kare and this wasn't the best Kare-Kare that I've had but it was good enough considering it had nothing but vegetables. The peanut butter sauce was very flavorful albeit a little sweet than I preferred. I think this was intentional so it would counteract the saltiness of the bagoong (shrimp paste). But I think it would do well on its own.

Prior to this dinner, my husband and I went here quite a few times and had the other "usuals" like Sizzling Pork Sisig and Pork Barbeque. 

Overall, I could say that the taste of the dishes (including the ones I featured here) had retrogressed although somehow they managed to keep the prices, only slightly higher, if not almost the same as they were years ago. In trying to stay affordable, they sacrifice a little of the quality of the food, which I guess is inevitable.

PLDT myDSL & Nuffnang bring you The Avengers!

So I was asked this question:

"What are the things you love to do with a fast Internet connection, and how can the Great Payday Sale help you get you that fast Internet connection?"

Both my husband and I are fulltime online workers. Our lives revolve around the Internet and we spend at least 12 hours a day online, opening our PCs being the first thing that we do as soon as we get up from bed. So to say that we need a fast Internet connection is an understatement. We REALLY REALLY need a fast and reliable Internet connection to do our work efficiently.

There are times when I'm working, that I have to use 3 browsers and open anywhere from 3 to 10 tabs on each. Aside from that, I have online applications running on the background and Skype for when I need to conference with my client. And I can image how I can do all these easier and faster with an Internet connection that can catch up with my work pace.

But aside from work, there are a number of other things that I love to do if our connection is lighting-speed fast.

For one, there's YouTube and the many free videos that I can watch uninterruptedly.

Then there's my blogs. For those who don't know yet, I maintain 4 blogs and in all of them, I always accompany my posts with images. Uploading images, and other multimedia files for that matter, can be a pain sometimes, especially when my Internet connection slows down. But with a fast Internet connection, it will be a bliss.

My husband is also a download freak. He downloads a lot of things from the internet, and I mean A LOT. Not having to wait for hours, sometimes days, would mean more downloads -- more fun stuffs.

In fact, I was already thinking about upgrading our existing Internet connection plan. Currently, we are subscribed to PLDT myDSL, and if I may say -- is the most reliable and fastest ISP that we've tried, and we've tried a few already. But we need more speed than our current plan is offering.

So when I learned about PLDT's Great Payday Sale from Nuffnang, it's like an answered prayer.

Here's a short info that I gathered about this wonderful promo:

1. PLDT myDSL’s Great Payday Sale is happening this summer, April 27-29, 2012, which is the perfect time to enjoy the strongest connections at home.
2. All you and I have to do is register at the nearest PLDT Home booth or malls nationwide on April 27-29, 2012 with 1 valid ID, and NO CASH OUT!
3. We can upgrade our Internet with PLDT myDSL’s biggest Internet sale ever.
4. This one I really like: Freebies like a WiFi+Modem with free installation and 1 month DSL will be given away. That’s as much as P5,000 savings. Exciting!
5. Online application is also available at www.pldtmydsl.com.

The Great Payday Sale will truly be a big help for people like us who live and breathe the Internet and need fast connections at home or anywhere else. Besides the savings and the freebies, I like the idea of being able to inquire and register at one place, and that you know that you're application will be processed immediately. And if it's conveniently located in malls, that's so much better.

So I am definitely going to take advantage of this. Aside from upgrading our current Internet plan, I am also considering getting a WeRoam connection, which according to those who've tried, is the fastest and has the widest coverage wireless Internet connection in the country. This will literally allow me to be online anytime, anywhere. Awesome!

Product: St. Ives Skin Firming Lotion

St. Ives is my brand of choice for body lotion and I have been using it for the more than 10 years now, experimenting on different variants (my favorite is Collagen Elastin). I've seen the packaging, the label and the prices change but the effect on my skin has remained the same. My mom uses this, too and both of us would try another brand every once in a while, just out of curiosity or the desire to try something new, but we always go back to using St. Ives whenever the other brand would fail to live up to our standards of a good moisturizing product.

Our standards are fairly simple -- keep the skin soft, smooth and moisturized. Well, actually I just added another criteria -- that it's free of possible harmful ingredients like Parabens and Phthalates (the more natural the better). Scent and other gimmickry are just secondary and don't really matter most of the time.

After I gave birth, the effect of more than nine months of not applying lotion on my skin was horrible (I just didn't feel like using lotion when I was pregnant). I could see and feel how dry, dull and aged my skin has become and I badly needed a good moisturizer to bring it back to life. 

But for some reasons, I bought a different brand (Avea Naturals Lotion) and wasn't satisfied with the results. So I did what I should've done the first time: bought St. Ives lotion. I choose the Skin Firming variant as I thought my skin needed some toning and firming, aside from lots and lots of moisturizing.

St. Ives Skin Firming Lotion costs a little over P200 and comes in a 532 ml pump bottle. The scent is somewhat neutral and doesn't linger on the skin. The color of the lotion is white and has a thin, spreadable consistency, which I really like because it feels light on the skin, is easily absorbed and leaves a non-sticky, non-greasy feeling. 

It took only a week of daily use for my skin to recover from dehydration and lifelessness. Aside from keeping it soft, smooth and moisturized, it also gives it a visible healthy glow, which is more evident whenever I go outside. And you know the scratch test? It doesn't leave white marks anymore.

It's also quite economical as I only need to apply a thin film (although I think this depends on how dry your skin is) and it's enough to hydrate and moisturize my skin. I also apply it on my feet (I use twice as much) and it helps to improve the appearance of cracked heals.

I'm not sure about the skin firming property, but by just looking at my skin, I could tell that it has improved a lot. And I mean a lot, considering how bad my skin looked before I started using St. Ives Skin Firming Lotion.

After I empty the bottle, I will definitely buy again but I'm planning on trying out another variant. 

Product: Avea Naturals Lotion

One time, when I ran out of lotion, I decided to try a different brand, one that is particularly cheaper than my regular brand. Yes, I was scrimping on a lotion. After scanning two whole shelves of lotions, body oils and other moisturizing products, both local and foreign brands, and being a stickler for natural products, I chose Avea Naturals Lotion.

It didn't strike me as a natural natural product but seeing no parabens in the ingredients list, I thought it passed my requirements. Right off the label, it claimed to be formulated for deep moisturizing. The scent wasn't bad either. But the thing that really got me in was the price -- only P99 for 600ml lotion (33% more). A good buy it seemed.

And then, there's my weird predilection for products that have expiration dates. My theory is that if it's really natural, it make sense for it not to last for a long time. Hence, the need and the advantage of having expiration dates.

 But as it is with books, you mustn't judge a product by its label.

The first thing that I noticed when I applied the lotion was the scent. It smelled okay when you sniff it right from the bottle. But once applied on the skin, it didn't smell as nice anymore. Or maybe it's the chemical composition of my skin that altered the scent of the lotion. Either way, I don't like the smell and neither does my husband.

Other not so good points: it's sticky, it feels heavy on the skin and it leaves a shine (not a healthy glow) on the surface, like an oily residue or something.

It does very little in making my skin soft and smooth to touch. I don't have to scratch myself to check that it's moisturized as I could tell by just looking at my skin. But if I do, scratch myself that is, I see white traces -- an indication of a dry skin.

So it wasn't long before I realized that this isn't a good product after all. But not wanting to throw or give it away (and waste the P99 that I bought it with), I decided to use it on my feet instead, thinking that maybe it'll be more suitable there, relieving cracked skin and all. But again, I was wrong. Feet need more moisture than any part of the body, and Avea Naturals Lotion just couldn't deliver what it promised on the label.

I just stopped it using all together and bought myself a trusted brand. A little more expensive, but I get what I paid for.

Food: Classic Savory Beef Noodle Soup

Classic Savory Restaurant is known for their fried chicken, and that's what I usually have whenever we eat here. But that changed when they started serving noodle soup, Beef Noodle Soup in particular.

The first time I tried their beef noodle soup, I thought it was so delicious. The strong beefy flavor of the broth (the kinda of flavor you get from simmering the broth for hours), the thin, firm Hong Kong-style noodles, large and tender beef chunks, green Chinese pechay leaves and hints of familiar herbs and spices -- everything that I want was there. A large bowl costs less than P200, which is large enough to share with 1 or 2 more people, especially if you ordered other items from the menu. But as a single dish, I still think it's more than enough for 1 person.

Since then, I always favored Classic Savory over the other similar restaurants whenever I want my fried chicken to go with a noodle soup. But, a recent visit to the restaurant to satisfy my noodle soup craving confirmed what I have been feeling about my favorite comfort food lately -- that it is no longer as good as before.



I guess I saw it coming as I noted that  the solid contents were becoming fewer. Again, I had to prop up the noodles with the serving spoon, otherwise you would barely see them. The quality of the noodles had changed, too. They were less firm, less enjoyable. Or maybe there was simply not enough for me to enjoy.

The beef chunks became smaller and fewer, although they're still tender but somehow less flavorful. And the soup tasted a bit more artificial, like more flavorings were used instead of the natural flavor of a slow-cooked beef broth.

Actually, Classic Savory's Beef Noodle Soup is more of a sabaw now (a perfect complement to a rice meal) rather than a noodle soup that you can enjoy as a complete dish. It's still good, I guess, when you're dining with the whole family or with a few friends, and you want a soup to accompany the other dishes. But if you're alone and just want a hearty noodle soup for yourself, the amount of broth might overwhelm you.

I find it a little disappointing because I thought I found a go-to place for my noodle soup cravings. Some good things just don't stay the same.