Caterer and Stylist: K. by Cunanan (not-so-Initial Food Tasting)

Food Tasting at K. by Cunanan with the Fiance and Tita Tess (soon to be MIL)

After doing ocular at wedding venues on Antipolo City, we head down to have our food tasting at K. By Cunanan Commissary in Greenmeadows Avenue. We consider the caterer as one of the important suppliers, so we really are very meticulous in choosing the caterer. I previously blogged that we only have three choices for the caterer (Passion Cooks, Purple Dish, and K. by Cunanan). We haven't done any food tasting at the other two caterers because we are based overseas. As for KbyC, we based it on the food tasting the Fiance had done with them before (hahaha!) and also with the good reviews we have read online. We also choose them because of their styling. 

The initial food tasting was done by my sister and MOH, Ate Poyie. Most of the foods we had tasted as well in the second food tasting were the foods approved by my sister. I was very excited of course... FOOD!!!

Here is the menu of the foods we have tasted.

Raspberry Iced Tea

We started with their Raspberry Iced Tea. They have other choices for drinks like, Vanilla Iced Tea and Homemade Ice Tea. Raspberry Iced Tea tastes like any other red teas. The fiance and Tita Tess liked it. I am convinced but I still wanted to taste the other two ice teas. Rate: 3 stars

Korean Tacos, Sisig Tostada, Hoisin Crackling Pork Wrap

I think that the appetizers are equally important as the main courses. So we would have to make sure that we get the best ones as well. It is important because we plan that the wedding ceremony to start at 3:00pm estimated to end it at 4:30 pm. There will be photoshoots after the ceremony. Then, the dinner will start pa at 6:00 pm. The guests will be hungry at that time. So the cocktail foods will be their only salvation for the hunger. Juicecolored baka kahit ako gutom na nun!

We were served Korean Tacos, Sisig Tostada, and Hoisin Crackling Pork Wrap. The fiance actually chose those three foods from the menu before we went to K. One thing I learned from this, don't let the fiance be the only to decide about foods. He will only choose foods from the Wraps Category! Wala ng iba! Although, three of us agree that the Sisig Tostada should be included in our list. The other two are just not that stellar for us. Although, I quite like Hoisin. However, I would still want to taste other appetizers. 

Rating:

Korean Tacos --- 2 stars

Sisig Tostada --- 4 stars

Hoisin Crackling Pork Wrap --- 3 stars

Since, we booked at the bridal fair through my sister, Ate Poyie, we have free three desserts in our menu. I am thinking if we could convert the other one to an appetizer. So we can have an extra appetizer in our menu. Hope the AE agrees. :)

Top right: Arugula, romaine, and sun dried tomato salad
Top left: Romaine salted egg, cashews, tinapa aoili salad
Bottom: Broccoli and Cheese soup

Out of the two salads, I like the Arugula, romaine, and sun dried tomato salad or 'ARSDT' (Can I abbreviate? Thanks!) more than the Romaine salted egg, cashews, tinapa aoili salad (RSECTA). ARSDT is a little sweet. Not enough to convince me to have it though. I would still like to taste another salad on the next food tasting. As for the RSECTA, it's too salty because of the tinapa... and fishy as well. For the soup, we had Broccoli and Cheese soup. I actually really think it's good. I love anything with cheese. You can never go wrong with cheese. Although, I would like to taste another soup again just to convince me more for this soup.

Rating:

ARSDT --- 3 stars

RSECTA --- 1 star (because I'm nice hahaha)

Broccoli and Cheese Soup --- 4 stars

Here are the main courses:

Japanese rolled chicken, cheese and leeks

I like it! The fiance like it! Tita Tess like it! So definitely it will be in our menu. I have already said I love anything with cheese. I love it because you can taste the herbs but it is not overpowering maybe because of the cheese. But, I loved it. Rating: 5 stars

Seared tuna salpicao with olives, roasted garlic, baby potatoes and french beans

This food is already considered an upgrade in their Fish dishes. It tastes ordinary. Not really stellar for me. Although, the fiance liked it more than the other fish dish we had tasted. I'm not yet convinced. FMIL can cook a better version of this dish. Haha! Rating: 3 stars

Baked Fish in cream, bed of mashed potatoes, slivered almonds

Ordinary. Bland. I could whip a better version of this considering I'm not a good cook. But I'm a big food lover. Kulang sa spices. Puro cream. I guess this is the reason why we really have to get an upgrade for the fish dish. Rating: 0 

Honey Nut Prawn

One of the upgrade dishes, it really taste good! Ang sarap niya lang! I love the sweet-salty taste of the nuts. It compliments the prawn. However, it will be expensive if we include it in our list. We just want to taste it. But if we can afford to add it in, why not? For now, we'll hope if we can have extra budget for it. Rating: 5 stars

Pork roast, caramelized apples, sweet potato mash

We love this dish. I'm not big fan of pork, but when I tasted it I really know it should be in the menu. Floyd and Tita Tess liked it as well. I love how the pork was soft. You can really taste the marinade on the pork. The only downside is that it is full of fats. We would have to suggest to use more lean cuts. Rating: 5 stars

Barbecued beef ribs, corn with taragon butter and baby potatoes

I have high expectation for this because I'm a big fan of barbecue and beef ribs. It tastes good but I think the marinade could improve more. I guess we will have to try another beef dish. But I can consider this one if there are no more beef we would like. Rating: 3 stars

Carrot Rice

I read lots of rave reviews about this. It's good naman. Not your ordinary fried rice. I would definitely get this one. Then, plain rice as well. Tita Tess suggested we cooked our own plain rice instead of getting plain rice at K. Hahaha! I am seriously considering it. I hope Tita Tess is serious with that. Rating: 4 stars

Top: Spicy tuyo, angel hair pasta
Bottom: Mixed seafood pasta, tomatoes, and capers

I love tuyo. So, I have high expectation with the spicy tuyo pasta. However, the pasta is too salty for my taste. Tita Tess also finds it not worth to be in the menu. For the mixed seafood pasta, it is good but it is too oily. It's drenching with olive oil. I know olive oils are healthy but it is too much. I will have to say another food tasting is on the way. 

Rating:
Spicy tuyo pasta --- 1 star

Mixed seafood pasta --- 2 stars

Here are the desserts:

Left: Queso de bola cheesecake; Top-center: White chocolate cake;
Bottom-center: Banofee; Right: Strawberry and cream cheese crepes 

I love the two cakes. The sweetness of the white chocolate is just right. I love it. Definitely we will have this one in our menu. The cheesecake also tastes great. I love the toasty taste of the cheese. It doesn't taste like it was burnt. I love it. The sweetness of the cheesecake complements the toasty taste of it. The Banofee tastes okay. It is ordinary. It is under consideration list. As for the strawberry crepes, I won't include it because It tastes like candy. It's too sweet and strawberry-ish. I don't have problems with strawberry but the strawberry syrup tasted like candy. 

Ratings:

White chocolate cake --- 5 stars

Queso de bola cheesecake --- 3 stars

Banofee --- 4 stars

Strawberry amd cream cheese crepes --- 2 stars

We'll be back in the Philippines, hopefully this May 2016 to have another food tasting and other wedding errands like gown and stuffs. I'm still making a list of foods we would taste in our second food tasting with K by C. By the way, our assigned AE is Bea Velilla and Stylist is Nina. Bea is easy to talk to although she doesn't reply much in Viber. I guess we have to contact her thru email more. As for the styling, I'm still compiling designs I peg for the wedding. I will have another blog for the next food tasting.

Vacation in the Philippines and Wedding Plans Accomplishments Part 1

The fiancé, me, and the soon-to-be Mother-in-law went home to the Philippines last February 12. The soon-to-be MIL's main goal is for a vacation. She'll stay in PH for two months I think. You know, my soon-to-be MIL is a very blessed woman. After all the hard works she had done in raising her son (my fiancé) and daughter, all she does now is relax and take vacations. She deserves it because she raised her children to be responsible and diligent. I admire her for that. Anyway, enough about the MIL, let’s go back to the topic. My fiancé and I went to the Philippines with the following goals: 1.) To do an ocular on the following venues: The Mango Farm, Alpadi Estate, La Huerta Estate, and Pinto Art Museum; 2.) To do a follow up food tasting at K by Cunanan, our chosen caterer; 3.) To attend my Lola’s 92^nd birthday; 4.) To hold an engagement dinner with my family; and 5.) To meet our chosen wedding coordinator, Lowell of 7ten5 Events.

At the morning of February 12, 2016, after getting the car to use for the ocular and having our breakfast at Jollibee, we went to do our first to activity of the day, ocular at The Mango Farm. Actually, I failed to take pictures of the venue because of who I am as a person. If you grew up in a farm, you would not really want to consider The Mango Farm as a venue because it only looks like that… a farm. The place is not really full of mango trees. Although, what I liked about the place was that it has an indoor venue for the reception. The fiancé and MIL doesn’t want it as a venue either because as they said it looks very common. We crossed it of our list already because our target was already booked. We already have a date and we wouldn’t want to reschedule it.

The second location we viewed was Alpadi Estate. Alpadi Estate is located in Sumulong Highway, the gate beside Padi’s Place in Antipolo. The Padilla family who owns the estate is also the owner of Padi’s Place. Alpadi Estate is a vintage looking garden over the hill with an overlooking view of the city. I initially did not want to include it in my venue list as it is an outdoor venue and I wanted to have a garden for the ceremony and an indoor reception. Howevaaa, when we saw the Alpadi Estate, we were mesmerized with the rustic charm of the place. The venue itself already has a character. We don’t have to spend much to decorate itself because the venue itself is like a wonderland. Here are the photos we have of the place:

The third venue we viewed was La Huerta Estate. I liked the place because it is big. Good enough for 150 people.  Also, the Tipolo Deck is a good place to have the ceremony as it is overlooking view of the city. Here’s the picture:

This is the whole look of the venue. Lakas maka-Haciendera ang peg.

We weren’t able to go to Pinto Art Museum because it was already 12 noon. We had a scheduled food tasting at K. by Cunanan at 1:00 pm. Anyway, I just really wanted to take a look at Pinto Art Museum not for reception purposes. Our chosen caterer are not one of their accredited caterer and we don’t want to pay a corkage fee just for that.

The Verdict: Obviously, the winner is Alpadi Estate. Here are more pictures of the place.

This is the chapel they were referring to us where they said we could have the ceremony. Although, I think it would be hard to go up here if you're wearing a wedding gown

I'm not really sure if 150 people could actually fit here. However, I'm flexible with the number of guests. I was thinking of cutting the number of guests to 120 only. It'll just be a number of close family and friends we would like to invite. However, the problem is I have a really big family. Haha. Anyway, our caterer, required us to have a tent because they don't want to risk having wet utensils and sheets. SHIT! It's also in their protocol that if the venue is outdoor they'll have tents. I don't want to have a tent. The look of the place, the ambiance would be compromised. However, the fiance still wants to have Alpadi. I have no choice since the only venue we liked among our choices was Alpadi Estate. 

I don't know how we will go around this one. Renting a tent is also quite expensive. I don't have any idea yet. I would ask the coordinator with that one. Although, Bea, our AE at K.byC said that they would be the one to book the renting for us. I'm scared of what it will look like, although she assured me the tent will look classy as possible. I just don't want to cover it up. 

I just can't imagine that this beautiful green veranda is covered by a tent. Nawawala un character! I really want to protest. Haha! I'll bully everyone so I could get what I want. Anyway, I'm looking around for clear tents. I just there is a supplier for that. 

So, before this post turn into a rant, I'll end it already. Up next, I'll  be posting about the food tasting at K. by Cunanan with the Floyd and Tita Tess.

Two Rings to Rule Us All!!!

One ring to rule them all, one ring to bind them
One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them
- Lord of the Rings

I just put  a quote to add substance to this blog post. Yes! My fiance and I finally have our wedding bands yet we still don't have a venue. Haha! The reason we already bought our wedding bands is because we will have a civil wedding here in Singapore this April 8, 2015. I will write a blog post about how to register for a ROM wedding here in Singapore maybe later, or on the next week. 

The budget we have for the wedding bands is only S$1,000.00 or Php 33,000.00 so it's quite hard looking for one. Most of the pairs we looked at costs around S$1600 to S$2,500 or Php 52,000 to Php 82,500. Good thing, the day we looked for a ring there were lots of Chinese New Year Sale. Actually, those rings we saw that cost less than $2,000 were already discounted at 20%. So, it was still expensive for the two of us.

We scouted for rings at Suntec Mall here in Singapore. I read in GirlTalk (the filipino forum I frequent) that GOLDHEART, Lee Hwa, and Soo Kee have nice rings lower than $2,000 a pair. I, initially, wanted to buy our wedding bands in SK since the fiance bought my engagement ring there. However, their most affordable pair are priced at S$2000++. It is still way above our budget. Luckily, I remembered one of the girls in the forum got their pair for less than a thousand in GOLDHEART. So, off we go to GOLDHEART and found the perfect pair we were looking for. The pair we got were 18K white gold rings. Mine was encrusted with 0.10 carat sapphire diamonds. It was elegant looking and still affordable for us.

We still don't have the ring because it's a holiday here. Hopefully, we will have it in 10 days time. I also refuse to take a picture of the ring until we got married in ROM. So, how do I end this blog post? Ganto na lang. Bigla na lang mawawala.

Monthly Wedding Updates: JANUARY!

Hello, hello!

So here's the rundown of what we have accomplished for the wedding:

Crooo.. crooo...

Kidding!

1. The fiance and I opened a joint savings account wherein we can put funds for the wedding. So far, we have S$2,000 inside the account. S$18,000 to go! We accept donations for the wedding. Just PM me for more details. Thank you!
2. We already booked our caterer. Our top choice for the caterers are K by Cunanan, Passion Cooks, and Purple Dish. The reason why we chose them as our top choices is because of the good reviews we had read. We haven't had our initial food tasting yet. Initially, we liked to get Passion Cooks as our caterer because the AE I talked with seems nice and very accommodating. The reviews I read are also all praises for the caterer. However, we decided to choose K by Cunanan because the fiance already had a taste of their food and he liked the food in K by Cunanan. Also, the designs of their stylists are also very nice. After booking them, I had my sister attend the initial food tasting. She said the food all taste good and the AE assigned to us, Bea, is also very nice. So, I think we had a good choice. As for the third caterer, I guess I will expound on it on another blog post.
3. We don't have a venue yet. We will go to the Philippines to look for venue on Feb. 12. The venues we will take a look at are:
• The Mango Farm
• La Huerta Estate
• Pinto Art Museum
• Alpadi Estate
4. Photographer! Initially, we wanted to get the service of Bliss and Berries. However, they are too soft for my taste. They take very nice photos and videos, though. I prefer them than Nice Photography (which I actually think are very overrated). We also considered getting Randolf Evans Photography or ProudRad. However, we chose ProudRad because I think they suit our personality more. The hindi-cheesy-puro-asaran couple that we are. Also, I think their style is very unique. Medyo may sipa. Ganun. Pak! ProudRad style is more leaning on the dark side. Of the force. Kidding aside. Their style is very dramatic yet colorful. Opposed to the sweet, soft styles of the usual wedding photographers most brides are looking at.
5. Videographer! Pending. We haven't talked to any videographer yet. I just inquired at Woodstock Cinema. I liked their style also. The cinematography is very nice. If we have lots of budget for the wedding, I will asked the fiance to book Red Sheep Cinema. But we as much as possible, want to have a value for money wedding. Other choices are: Ghie Consolacion, Vidlens, and Dan Mendiola.
6. Couturier! Pending. Since we are based overseas, we are considering to have the suit and bridal gown made here in Singapore. We still have to consider the expenses. Although, I asked several designers in the Philippines for their rate for the peg that I want. I will still think about it. I think I still have time for that.
7. Coordinator! We are decided to get the service of 7ten5 events because of the good reviews they have online. I also watched a video of their host, the main coordinator, Sir Lowell. His hosting is really good and very lively. He also promptly replies on my emails and viber messages. We are going to meet him on Feb. 14 to discuss about the wedding plans and his services.

So that's all for now. I will update this blog on the weekend, hopefully, because it'll be long weekend here in Singapore. IT life is very hectic and stressful. Most of my idle time, I would just like to stare on the ceiling thinking of nothing instead of planning the wedding and the future. Wedding planning is kind of stressful when you are overseas. As much as possible, I want to be hands on with it but then it is not really that possible. I'm quite of a lazy perfectionist, you see. I'm very OC with the schedule but then most of the suppliers cannot meet us on the day that we will be in the Philippines. When dilemmas with schedule happen, I'm losing my energy with the preparations. Also, I don't want to stress the fiance driving around Manila just to go from Point A to Point B to Point C. So hopefully things will get better on 3 day trip to Manila just to assist the wedding preps and the engagement dinner.

Hayyy kastress!!!