Saturday Night Stout

Steelhead Extra Stout
Mad River Brewing Company Product of Humboldt County From the Heart of the Redwoods
Steelhead fine ales are carefully handcrafted to perfection using the most traditional brewing methods. Only the premiere ingredients from around the world are used to make these exceptionally fine ales brought to you from the heart of the redwoods

I was so excited to taste this brew that I didn't set up my shot anymore. I usually fix a slower shutter speed. But for this shoot, it was just auto mode with flash.

A really dark beer, black almost. I'm drinking this quite chilled, and it's very enjoyable. The richness and thickness of the liquid is marvelous, the toffee tastes produce little explosions in the palate. This is a very strong stout, flavor wise. I smell coffee, cocoa. The bitterness is subdued. The hops are not the stars here, it's the cafeteria flavors and smells that prevail and excel.

I'd venture to say that this is the best stout I've had so far. I have some heavyweight brews in the pipeline, with one Imperial Stout included, but until I taste that one, I won't hesitate to rate this Steelhead as my best stout yet.

A bottle or a glass of excellent stout may be the perfect standalone beer.

Con-Con Rating System: F=forgettable; G=good and will drink if available; D=desirable, will opt for seconds or more; and W=wow, would go places just to seek out this beer

The verdict:

Steelhead Extra Stout: W, alcohol unspecified

*click on the label "beer philippines" below to see other beer reviews

Meat Plus Subic

On the way back home to Manila from Zambales after the reunion, we passed by the Subic smuggling, er, I mean, freeport zone last Sunday afternoon.

The Meat Plus restaurant is doing brisk business. You'd normally shell out 200-300 pesos ($4 - $6) per meal, which is a good deal considering the meat is tasty. The pork ribs I ordered was tender.


If you're in the area , this place fulfills that meat craving.

Bautista Family Reunion

Mommy, Abi and Ethan arrived from California last Thursday, and that necessitated a grand clan reunion. They'll be staying until early August.



We drove four hours on a Saturday to Iba, Zambales. The beach itself was not good. But it was the company, fun and games that we were after.





Bakasyunan Resort had the basic amenities, nothing more. It would be hard to justify going to this place from the metropolis were it not for the hurried need for a place anywhere to get a big group together.




Perfunctory sunset shots at the beach.

Am I Happy or What?

This month's entries have basically been about toys. Yesterday I finally got hold of the Soul of Chogokin GX-31 Voltes V. It's been pre-loved by a collector in Pampanga. This would be my display unit for the intended Voltes shrine. The other box would be the Mint-In-Sealed-Box specimen.

The joints are still relatively tight on this one, and it's a joy to transform the five Volt Machines. Now I'd be setting my sights on the ultimate prize, the holy grail of Voltes collecting - the original Chogokin DX set from the Seventies. Yahoo Japan has good pieces on offer from time to time, but the cost makes you think twice, thrice, before taking the plunge.

In the meantime, Let's Volt In!

Major May/June Haul

"Haul" is hobbyspeak for a major buy. Four packages landed at the same time at the Pasig post office, and this time I was levied taxes. Lesson learned: if possible, avoid ordering too many stuff that will arrive simultaneously. Customs people would surely notice, and make you pay (literally) for it.

Very satisfied with the arrivals though. Queen's Blade was amply represented by Nanael (the winged one) and Shizuka (the horned one).




A guilty pleasure was acquiring Syokatsuryo. I requested Keiichi-san (one of my Japanese Ebay sellers) to find me this one. Good thing he did.


And ah, Eve. Just the name itself conjures images of...sin? Her figure and face are so lifelike I always do a double take.



Wasabi Toys in Greenhills also had a Nendoroid Kureha arrival, and I got the last available piece yesterday. She pairs nicely with the earlier Kureha figure.


Figure collecting at this level proves that in life, you can't have it all. The satisfaction and psychic reward of possessing these works of art means that your lunch and grocery money has thinned considerably, and you will have to make do with a drastically slashed budget. Something has to give.

Baby You Can Ride My Car

Sorry, Beatles, for modifying your song title. Can't think of an original heading. Anyway. There's a seemingly Freudian element running through the blog of late. In the previous entry it was bananas. For this one it's uniquely-named taxi - Screaming "O".