One of the best things about visiting a new country is discovering that country’s cuisine. And what better way to discover a city’s little culinary gems than through the recommendations of both professional food critics and ordinary people?

Enter the Miele Guide, an Asian restaurant guide that aims to reshape the culinary landscape of the region by setting the benchmark of exceptional cuisine.

Together with 84 of Asia’s most respected food journalists, The Miele Guide shortlists restaurants from 16 Asian countries: Covering Brunei, Cambodia, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. This shortlist is then presented to everyone for online voting to get the ordinary diner’s input. Finally, this list goes through the hands of a special jury who will also cast their votes. The results for these two polls will then be used for the Miele Guide’s maiden edition, covering 2008/2009.

So, if you want to contribute to this groundbreaking endeavor, surf on over to the Miele Guide website before July 31, 2008 and cast your votes. And if making your opinion count isn’t enough of a reason to vote, how about the change to win an all-expense paid meal at the top ranked restaurant in Singapore, Hongkong or Tokyo, inclusive of a stay in one of Asia’s most luxurious hotels? I don’t know about you guys, but that will definitely have me voting.

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Just a quick reminder for Manila-based readers. The Salcedo Saturday market is celebrating its 4th anniversary tomorrow, June 21, 2008. As part of the festivities, a Kapampangan food fest will showcase the best that Pampanga has to offer with sumptuous regional delicacies. Imagine, all those yummy Kapampangan goodies (wonders if there will be fresh camachile fruits) on top of the regular Saturday market delights! Catch you guys there tomorrow!

Oh, but if you have never been to Salcedo, check this old post out to discover what you’re missing.

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Tea is one thing I can’t master. No matter what I try to make, a lot of times, I steep it too long and it ends up bitter. Still, it makes me appreciate a good cup of tea even more, so when The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf decided to start a series of Tea Appreciation seminars, I was definitely excited.

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It’s funny that I keep a bento blog, live in the Philippines, and yet is one of the last people to blog about the upcoming Bento Making Contest sponsored by the Japan Foundation.

Sponsored by the Japan Foundation Manila, The National Bento Contest was created to encourage culinary creativity among Filipinos through the fusion of Japanese Bento and Filipino cuisine. Open to both culinary students and ordinary food aficionados, contestants will be required to prepare a single person bento for the competition. For complete rules, please visit the Japan Foundation webpage.

Anybody interested? If you are joining, let us know so we may cheer you guys on. As they say in Japan, “Gambatte!”

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Food has the power to heal. And to soothe seething tempers. As was proven during this year’s World Food Expo, because despite feeling murderous during the whole getting inside thing, strolling around, surrounded by copious amounts of food easily made me happy again.

I mean, one of the first things I set eyes on was a big cow printed piece of machinery. You can just imagine how big the smile on my face was after seeing it. I honestly have no idea what it is. Mixer? Ice Cream maker? Giant squeezer? Torture Device? All I know is that it’s cute and it makes me go Moo!

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To put things in perspective, I have to say that I only went to the World Food Expo 2007 on August 4, a Saturday. I acknowledge that my experience can be chalked up to an unfortunate set of circumstances and is probably quite different from the first few days. Still, I also believe that proper planning and foresight could’ve avoided the disaster that was Day 4, so I’ll nevertheless write about it.

Because we both have work, my mother and I decided to go to the WOFEX on the last day. We were originally planning to be there by 10am but due to some delays (mostly my fault) we ended up getting there a little before lunch time. As we were crossing the street, I started to wonder why there was a thick crowd outside the World Trade Center. I was also surprised to see large buses dropping off large crowds. I thought there was another event at one of the other halls. Until we got closer and realized that they weren’t letting ANYONE in, and that the crowds outside are actually WOFEX visitors who weren’t being let inside!

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Read the first part of this entry here.

After the blindfolded taste test and subsequent reveal, would you believe what our next activity was? LUNCH! My stomach was complaining, “No more, no more!” While the servings they laid out during the blind taste testing were relatively small, at 8 courses, it wasn’t surprising that I felt extremely full already.

Still, who can resist the lunch spread the Serye folk laid out? Over lunch, we ate, drank, and got to know each other. Chris, Apples and JB pored over the Boneless Crispy pata, theorizing about how it was made. Betty regaled us with tales of heavy traffic as she drove North. Christine commented on how nice Lennie was when doing reviews, since her definition of “minor issues” was far from minor! I tried to convince Jen to switch to the Wordpress side because wordpress is love.

After the meal came the photography part. Markku opted to handle the session in a relaxed manner, turning the afternoon into an informative yet fun session. Jayvee shared valuable insights as well, not only with photography but with some styling ideas as well. Tips and suggestions were shared, all while we were busily composing, framing, and clicking.

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