Walk through the Fort

Sunday shopping: went to look for replacement dustcloths at the NBC Tent but the vendor had sold out. I ended up with two books (dang! cut rate prices are so bad for my willpower), portugese sardines in tomato sauce. Hopped over to the developing Fort Strip, where I wandered through the expanded Hobbes store to look at their selection of pet products (so cute, but so useless. All I need is a water dispenser, not a food dispenser with an automatic lid cover); enjoyed seeing all the kids tumbling around the grass; overheard a family commenting on the seemingly happy lives that European families have here in the country (translated from the tagalog commentary "see? look at those Europeans, playing on the grass, they have such an easy life here. They like it better than in their own countries." Strange that the commenters had categorized the family they were gossiping about as European, not American.); thought about getting kebabs at Hosseins, but ended up trying out Batirol (see below), before popping into the new Conti's for meatpies (no chicken again! darn it), and wandering the aisles of Market!Market! for fruit and flowers and banana chips (I found the kind I like, all crispy, honey drenched, and thin).

A quick review of Batirol, the new hot chocolate place in Serendra (if a coffee shop is a cafe, and a tea house does tea, then do we call a chocolate spot chocolaterie? Cocoa-joint?). The hot choc was lovely, very native, and grainy. I had mine with a hint of cinnamon. The cup is a white modern piece with unusual handles which could make it harder for people to get their hands around it. But it was a good sized cup of cocoa for P120. I'd like to try the one with kahlua next. It was merienda time, so I ordered the pandesal with hamon. The ham tasted like Majestic ham, a mild chinese-like ham full of chunks and fat. However, the pandesal was bricklike. As in, if I was a denture wearing older female, I'd have lost my teeth trying to bite into them. I complained to the waitress and she just looked at me like a cow. The sign that says "we are on soft-opening, please bear with us" is not a good excuse, people and owners of restaurants. So, bring your own bread to Batirol if you don't want to be toothless. Until they replace those stale pandesals anyway. Or just stick to the chocolate. And could their store designer replace the hardwood driftchairs with something more cosy? I get their idea of going native but the seats are not comfy. The set up outside the store makes it look like a bad furniture store selling wood for the kiln.

I also saw the new chocolate confection store Cacao, open for business. But they don't make their own chocolates, everything's imported from the US, so said the counterlady who kept making prepositional errors every 4th word or so. After a few sentences I couldn't take it anymore and left. But not without noting that they have chocolate covered pretzels! And pecan turtles!!!