Let me start by saying that I love Cash & Carry! It’s a mall in Makati, about ten minutes walk away from my apartment. As a mall, it’s nice enough. A little bit of everything but not particularly outstanding (except for the mezzanine mecca of cheap imported goods but that is another post). As a grocery, though, wow, it’s amazing!

So far I’ve grocery-shopped in Rustan’s, Shopwise, Robinson’s, SM and Landmark. But Cash & Carry definitely takes the cake. It has the MOST number of aisles I’ve seen in a grocery, and a GREAT selection of items, with a lot of imported goods that you can’t find in other supermarkets, and the prices aren’t bad either!!

My most favorite item to buy in Cash & Carry Makati is – BEEF!!! Yes. Cash & Carry has several freezers devoted to premium meats – beef, lamb, salmon, turkey, game hen, and did I mention, beef?!? Not just the regular cuts, but prime marbled ones!!! And at such affordable prices!

Ok – maybe not exactly prime – I’m not sure if these steaks are graded. But they’re definitely at least choice or select cuts. The point is, they taste great. And that’s prime in my book! Hahah!

When I first discovered it, I was mighty tempted to buy it but I was afraid (I’d ruin it) because I had never tried to cook steak before. However, I have had it in restaurants and it was love at first taste. Except, steaks are mighty expensive, usually a meal costs upwards of Php1000! The steak I was looking at in Cash & Carry looked just as big as the one I ate at a restaurant recently, and it cost less than Php200!!! How about that?!? So that cinched it for me. I mean, if I ruined it, at least I could do it again.

Just to show you why I drooled so much, here are the cuts of meat that I bought just this week.

Look at all that fat!! OMGGG I can’t wait to pan-fry these cuts, yum!!! And look at that, 300 grams and it’s only Php148 – wow, huh??? Look at how much 300 grams will cost you around steakhouses in Manila (in Batangus grill, 230 grams cost Php480, I ate there and the steak wasn’t even marbled at all).

Here is another one.

Ahhhh! That center marbling looks DELICIOUS! These are rib-eyes, my favorite part. I also like sirloin however Cash & Carry slices them too thin, so it’s not as juicy. I haven’t tried the porterhouse and t-bone cuts but I’m definitely going to. I tried the New York cut but found it tougher, so I didn’t like it.

This one is already open ‘coz I already ate the other half. Hihihi! It was wonderfully flavorful. Let me tell you, don’t ever buy steak that isn’t marbled. The fat provides the flavor, so if you buy steak that’s not streaked with loads of fat, it’s like you’re just buying any other beef part. Why pay a premium if you won’t get marbling, just get some fresh meat off the deli counter, they’re much cheaper and will taste the same.

But let’s not talk about healthy, ok? I know very well this is SINFUL! Hahaha!!! But life is too short to deprive myself of the finer tastes. Besides, since these premium cuts cost a lot more than pork or chicken, I don’t have it too often. Maybe just once a week. Or else I will soon be broke and probably living back under my parents’ roof. Yikes!!!

Do you want to see the cooked meat? Of course!!! Here they are!

That above is sirloin. Just seared lightly. Still a bit bloody. This is Gim’s steak, I think. He likes it medium rare. I prefer mine well-done. :)

Ok this one is a new york cut on the left, and a rib-eye on the right. That’s mine. :) The rib-eye looks great, huh?!? These are past steaks, since the raw ones I showed above are still stored in my freezer. I just popped them out for some pics, haha. But they won’t be consumed today. I’m saving them for the weekend when Gim comes home. :)

If you’re wondering how we cook them, it’s very simple. Bathe them in salt, don’t be shy, as in literally cover them in salt front and back and leave on for about 10 minutes. The salt will draw any water out, because you want your steak to be as dry as possible, to be as juicy as possible. After salting, rinse them to get rid of any salt (you don’t want to gag on an oversalted piece of meat!!) and then pat dry with paper towels. No more need to season with salt since some of the salt you put on earlier will have made it inside the meat. Just add pepper. And other herbs/rubs, whatever flavoring you like. I prefer just a light smattering of powdered pepper. Heat your pan, and when REALLY hot, put in your steak to sear with a bit of oil or butter, then flip and sear the other side, and serve! The cooking part is really fast, usually 2 to 3 minutes is enough to cook your steak well-done.

There. Well I hope I’ve inspired you to cook steak right at home! :) People in the Philippines don’t cook a lot of steak. In fact I had never had it in my life until I came to Manila. And it took me about 3 or 4 years until I discovered how easy it is to cook steak. Even easier than pork or chicken because there’s no need to marinade. It’s just that people don’t generally know that steak can be bought cheaply. I certainly didn’t until I saw the steaks in Cash & Carry. :)

Cooking at home is so much more satisfying than going to a restaurant. And so much cheaper, too!

Now I’m looking forward to the weekend!!! :)

This post brought to you by Walgreens. All opinions are 100% mine.

Ever since I started working late hours servicing a global market in my current employment, I’ve been experiencing increased headache and insomnia. I know it’s due to my altered sleep pattern, but hey, I’m thankful I’ve got a job so I have to grin and bear the pain. :) But I’m not a masochist, so I definitely get help from pain relievers. And I definitely would choose a branded product over a generic one.

My boyfriend is a doctor and he tells me over and over that, with his experience dealing with patients, those who opt to take the branded yet pricier medicines end up healing faster than those who don’t. But between two branded products that I trust the same, the choice is a no-brainer. Get the less expensive one!

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If you want to know how to remove pimples, just ask me! I pop them!!! :)

Seriously. Wait till they’re fat and ripe and then SQUEEZE the white stuff out! Until the blood comes out. Icky right? But that’s the way I’ve always done it and I’ve never had a crater. The blood will just clot anyway, and just pick away the scab when it grows. LOL. So gross, I am.

Awww poor pimple!!

Maybe this will help.

Gim makes me put it on when I get rashes. So maybe it will work on pimples too.

But don’t take my word for it. (Like if it doesn’t work, don’t sue me ‘coz I’m rambling! :D)

Would you need mba management if you could major in cute?

Let me show you two cute things I brought home from Japan.

The above picture is of my cute phone accessory! It’s a squirrel! So kawaii! :) Japan is the home of the cute – I could hardly stand it and I wanted to buy everything I saw. This is one of the tinier pieces I bought, and it’s now hanging from my office mobile. I think I don’t have to mention that my personal phone carries the bigger and cuter pieces. Hahah. :)

Japanese sweets! I found this in Gion. Back in 2005, my mom received a box of sweets exactly like these and I’ve always wanted to find them again. Not because of how they tasted but because they were just too cute. LOL. I wanted to give them as gifts, because the bearer will always have a dilemma of wanting to taste them but at the same time not wanting to eat them because they’re too cute. I wanted to share the dilemma hahaha. Actually they taste like cardboard. So the second option would be better, but curiosity always wins. :)

I had more stuff – but they’re mostly digested by now. :D

If I’m looking to buy womens sandals, or any type of women’s footwear, these days my first go-to store is Payless in the Philippines!

I love that their aisles are organized by size, rather than by shoe type. My size is 8 and a half. That seems to be a rare case in the Philippines, since most malls carry only up to size 8, and if a store does carry my size, the choices are pretty measly. It can get really frustrating looking at pretty shoes and never finding one that’s my size, and having to settle for less than what I want.

With Payless, I don’t even have to look at other sizes! I just go to the aisle of my size, and lo and behold, all the shoes fit!! :) :) I love it!!!

I’ve been to three branches in the Philippines. I’ve been to the Shangri-La and SM Megamall branches, but the best one is still the one in Rockwell, because it’s really big and my size spans about 3 aisles of shoes; while in Shang and SM, only one or less.

The shoes are well-designed, too. The Spring 2011 collections feature designers such as Christian Siriano, Lela Rose and Isabel Toledo. Shoe price ranges from 1000-2000 pesos, but there are lots of markdowns. I recently got a pair of boots for only Php600! I’m definitely going back there again – and again! :)

They even have an online site so you can check out all the new shoes!