JACK TV's Night Crawlers

I've seen this happen last year and got so envious with the people who did it... when I received an email inviting me this year, let's just say I was giddy to actually be part of it. JACK TV, one of my favorite cable channels showing some of my favorite cartoons and programs has been doing these events for quite some time now. In partnership with San Miguel Oktoberfest, we've been tasked to do JACK TV Night Crawlers. It's a pub crawl of some sort but a tad different because we're going to scour the favorite watering holes in Bonifacio Global City. It was traffic, but I braved all that and found myself lost at BGC's Burgos Circle which was the only location indicated on the invite. It became doubly hard to find the starting point because as soon as I walked around that area, it started to rain like hell hath no fury. I came alone and arrived at BUGSY's near that circle and found myself in the midst of millennial bloggers and about a handful of their Facebook contest winners, so it was quite awkward to note that I was joining a bunch of guys and gals whom I didn't know. I guess, just like the other pub crawls where you would generally have to turn strangers into friends. :)

At BUGSY's we were treated by the JACK TV team with quick mind games, asking about their shows like our life depended on it. The other team racked in points, although some of my team mates also answered really tough ones so it was quite okay even if they took this round. I bet my team mates are going to have the next ones. 

We transferred to RUE BOURBON and the rain didn't let out. We stopped here and waited a bit thinking that it would eventually stop, but did the necessary things a pub crawl should have... and that's beer. Out of the local beers in the market, my preferred bottle is an ice cold San Miguel Super Dry. Always have, always will be. Oh and Rue Bourbon had those fancy nacho chips in different colors, which were quite good actually especially for beer match.

Albeit a little drizzle was trying to stop us from enjoying the evening, we got to DWNTOWN HALDSTED next. That place was almost full to the brim when we got there. There were expats, treating themselves to really good bar chow. They've got real good cocktails also going on at the bar. We had take over the whole front and play some games again. Of course as expected, our team won this round. They have very good food there as I mentioned earlier, so what better way to celebrate but by having a small dinner there.

They had a pretty good spread. From well decorated NACHOS, the SALTED EGG CALAMARES (do I need to convince you? LOL), and the CRISPY PATA (fried pork trotters). Oh and there's more! To know who would win the pub crawl matches, we went to RELIK which was a couple blocks away from our last restaurant. We had to ride the JACK TV trucks to get there.

To win in the final game, we had to use a contraption that had a ring on it. We had to drink a mug of draft beer first though which made us a little woozy. I'm so glad I listened to my team mates Brent, his Dad and his family. I mean who would have known that the ones who won the Facebook contest were actually relatives, that's how far I got to the conversation. It was nice to actually nice to know how they were enjoying the whole thing, I loved how I connected with them quite well because it was like they were cool with anything. They had interesting stories in between bottles, and now they're my Facebook friends. :) This was the part where I enjoyed it most. RELIK Restaurant and Bar played music during my heydays and the people on my table were all singing the same tune. We were like kindred spirits... we were a little drunk but hey, we WON! It was just the right place and right time to have CHICKEN SKIN and BUFFALO WINGS! It was so good we had to have seconds. Thank you so much to ZOMATO and JACK TV for having us in this JACK TV Night Crawl! 

Thanks to you I now have new friends, I had had so much fun too that evening. I hope I get invited in the next ones because I heard they are planning a lot of events in the future! Thanks again JACK TV!

If you want to experience the same things I did, head on over to the JACK TV Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/solar.jacktv/ and their official website www.jacktv.ph.

Ultimate Taste Test 2014 with San Miguel Lifestyle Brews

San Miguel Super Dry, Cerveza Negra and San Miguel Premium All Malt Beer

I've been able to cover the first and second Ultimate Taste Test and was kinda sad I didn't get to do the third one. The stars and the planets aligned this last weekend and got us to attend the greatest foodie event in Metro Manila, Rockwell's 4th Ultimate Taste Test 2014. It's where 50 of Manila's greatest home based food businesses and Power Plant's Restaurants converge. Participants become true blue food reviewers for a day to see who fares the best in this year's Ultimate Taste Test 2014. The hits will also be gladly paired with their favorite San Miguel Lifestyle Brews which I saw all over the venue that afternoon which includes even the desserts which I'll let you see in a bit. Let's start the ball rolling shall we?

Fisher Farms Gourmet Baked Rellenong Bangus

I liked the part where it's baked so it's not as oily as your regular Rellenong Bangus. The taste, it was good but it leaned more into the sour side which might be caused by uneven distribution of the ingredient on the slice that I got or, it might be just the way it is. I give credit to the thought of baking this thing rather than deep frying because it presents a more healthier alternative to an already healthy fish. We'll score this 3/5. 

Belly Bob's Boneless Lechon Belly de Cebu paired with San Miguel Super Dry Beer

Belly Bob's Boneless Lechon Belly

Seeing the rolls of Boneless Lechon Belly on the display counter just made my mouth water. I thought it was going to be a hit already because it is after all lechon. The spice was good, the taste of the meat was good, but when I did take a bite on it I felt it wasn't "all that" good. It was a little upset because I had high hopes for it judging from the way it looked. It was good that this is the Ultimate Taste Test so I was with other foodies on the venue and when I asked about it, they had nothing but good things to say about the lechon belly. I got worried, so I went back to the Belly Bob's station and tried to taste it again. That's when I found out that I was tasting something off because the thing they served me the first time was cold. The hot one I got tasted differently and was a whole lot better. The air conditioning in the venue might have been the culprit. This thing should have a warning sign on it that it's best when eaten hot otherwise, they'll have a problem on the ratings later on. I'm giving this 4/5 on the premise that it's hot, when it's cold it would be like a 2. The beer made my life better as it's my favorite beer in the world. San Miguel Super Dry was perfect with the savory lechon, even more if it's ice cold!