Ramen Discovery: GO-EN - The Japanese Ramen Shoppe

Found a comfy place in Sgt. Esguerra at the Jardin de Zenaida compound which Livestock Restaurant is also in. It's very near ABSCBN and GMA so it pretty much has these two's lunch crowd and also nearby offices. It's a Ramen specialty store called "GO-EN" The Japanese Ramen Shoppe. Go-en actually connotes the Japanese 5 Yen coin, a sign of GOOD LUCK for friends and relationships. It's usually given as a gift and this time, it's the perfect name for the store.

The Interiors

The place looks like a genuine Ramen shop in Tokyo, Japan. It can fit around 50 people in one go and has a few seating options for a group, bunk chairs and about 4 people outside. The wooden walls and chairs are accented by Japanese art, tons of Anime books (of which your favorites are included!) and a shrine for an old school wooden toy game called Kendama. They let you actually play it right inside the store and the concept is pretty simple. You just have to place the ball tied on the handle inside little slots on the toy. I must warn you, there are professionals that actually do this on a regular basis. There are also tournaments designed for that, so just imagine if you picked up this hobby. Check out these shots!

The Food

Now you have to trust me on this, I think what they're serving is real authentic food. They're not a regional Ramen place (of which I have a thing for) but more so a Ramen restaurant that does Ramen right. Does that make sense?

Tantanmen - Soy based broth with Sesame oil, ground pork, firm springy ramen and perfectly boiled tamago. It's spicy and perfect for those hangovers if you've been into a little binge drinking. This is by far, my favorite on their menu.

Cheese Ramen - This would be nice for the more adventurous foodie. They made your favorite cheese into a bowl of hot ramen. It's miso based broth, with corn, minced pork and tamago. It's not too salty as I thought it would be and the trick is to take little bits of cheese on that mound plus the noodles. The broth was good too, it'll make you warm and fuzzy.

Karamiso - a Miso based ramen soup filled with a slight spicy kick. It's got all the things you love, plus sliced pork and my favorite Naruto. This is basic and they've done it quite good.

Tonkatsu - For those who love meat, this breaded pork cutlet will make you happy. You can order a bowl of rice but I prefer it just with the side of potato salad and cabbage slaw. I liked this a lot too.

Ramune - this is something that you can only find here in GO-EN. It's very limited too because they can only source this in Japan during festivals. It's available in Grapes, Strawberry and Peach flavors. It's quite nice with everything on their menu so when in GO-EN, don't forget to order one of these!

Kara-age - It's fried chicken done the Japanese way. It's small bites, paired with super creamy Japanese mayo and a slice of lemon meant to be drizzled on top. I prefer it without the lemon though, it's already lovely.

Okonomiyaki - This is a Japanese pancake. It's egg, cabbage, aonori, mayo and special sauce on top. It's savory but not my favorite thing. It's good but I suggest you get the more filling items on the menu as this probably would pass on as sides.

Mochi Ice Cream - It's soft rice based soft cover that's handmade. It's something delightfully sinful but they only make a few of these per day. They also limit it so they could serve a few handful people per day. If you can, please order one of these for me. Love this!

This place remains not so crowded and for those who want comfort food like ramen, this might be the easiest place to go when in Quezon City. I must admit, they're a little pricey but most of their ingredients are imported from Japan. If you think about it, you don't have to travel there to get something so good. Visit them in Sgt. Esguerra, here's the map CLICK HERE. They're at the back of Livestock so you can't miss it. Play Kendama too if you're there, it's one of the finest things you can do when in GO-EN. Tell me what you think about their ramen too please! For me, it's definitely worthy to try. If you're looking for a new place, this might be it.

For more information about their artists:

GOEN The Japanese Ramen Shoppe

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Visit their official website

http://www.goenramen.com/

The Smart and UBER Partnership

Everybody was all smiles when this happened a few days ago. Imagine, two giants, one from the Telecom industry and the other from transport. It's a synergy bound to change the landscape of ride sharing in the whole Asian region as they start a groundbreaking partnership that will ultimately benefit thousands of Filipino riders and give them convenience where they need it, when they need it. This is the work of Smart, the country's biggest network and UBER, the ride sharing app that's connecting riders and drivers around the world!

Smart, PLDT and UBER's executives now plan to roll out the first ever FREE WIFI service in all UBER cars, a feat that hasn't been done in UBER rides anywhere else in Asia. Now, you can have your favorite streaming services like iFLIX and Viewstream, Facebook, Instagram and internet services  right in the comforts of your own UBER ride starting with the UBER Black Cars. They're still rolling it out right now and pretty soon all your UBER rides will have this on board. 

Aside from that, Smart and UBER is giving away voucher codes to all first time UBER riders that's got SMART Postpaid, SMART Prepaid and SMART BRO Postpaid accounts. You need to be a smartphone user, be in NCR, a credit card holder and a first time UBER user to take advantage of this great promo. Just download the UBER app on the App Store or Google Play store, use the voucher code SMARTUBER as part of the registration or after it. This means you'll get 2 UBER rides worth Php 300 each for FREE. You may click here and register your number for convenience.

The Scary Film Called "The Green Inferno"

You probably have seen this a couple of times during the beginning of a movie. Or, you might have seen it too on Facebook Feeds. This is the thing that would make people NOT look at the screen. It's a masterpiece by Eli Roth and stars Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levy, Aaron Burns, Kirby Bliss Blanton, Sky Ferreira, Daryl Sabara and Nicolas Martinez. If that ain't enough reason, check out these stills.

Now I know you've seen those environmentalists that have gone thousands of miles away from different countries yet they feel the need to protect what's out there. They seem to have been lucky that day that the plane they are riding just conked out and crashed in the deep jungles of Peru. Some of them died, some of them fell off, but some survived.

When they woke up, they weren't as lucky as they thought they would be because they were all rounded up by cannibals. Yeap, people who eat people. Now how in the world are you going to watch it if this is creepy. I don't know, I'm going to find out too when it shows on theaters come September 25, 2015. I don't really watch horror films, but judging from the reviews they're getting online it's something I'd be interested in. If I go out of the theater early, then this is good LOL! Make sure you catch it this week as it shows on theaters nationwide!

For more information about their movie:

The Green Inferno

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Visit their official website

http://greeninfernomovie.tumblr.com/

OPPO Launches R7 Lite and R7 Plus

OPPO just launched 2 new phones last week. It's part of the R7 series and they baptized it as R7 Lite and R7 Plus. One's a 5 inch, and the other is a 6 inch smartphone. The R7 Plus has about 3GB RAM and a Qualcomm MSM8939 1.5 GHz processor that can take task abuse easily. It's also got a Magnesium Aluminum body, something that I absolutely love about the R7 Plus. I can imagine this could take the rough and tough environment we live in and might give those high end phones a challenge with design. It's thin too at 158 x 82 x 7.8 mm and looks pretty classy. As for battery life, it's got 4100 mAH and works with their VOOC Flash Charge. So in 30 minutes, your phone can get to 75% very easily, that's less time and more charge compared to your Android phones today.

The R7 Lite on the other hand like the Plus is made of Aircraft grade Magnesium Aluminum. It also takes almost 2 days to polish so you can see its detailed craftsmanship.It's also got the proprietary Color OS based on Android, plus a very powerful camera that can take 13MP on its back and 8MP in front. Selfies are welcome. It can also accommodate networks since it's got Dual Sim capability on a 4G network. It's smaller form might be better for ladies who indulge in being different, as it fits nicely on your hand. Check out this video from the event!

Now I didn't take a video of Sarah Geronimo anymore because Viva will claim it again on Youtube. Yeap, they think it's theirs when it's an event I took videos with. That's how greedy they are, there I said it.

This looks very promising though, but I haven't really personally tested performance yet because we were only fiddling with the actual phone for a few minutes, so take these with a grain of salt.

For more information about their artists:

OPPO PHILIPPINES

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Visit their official website

http://www.oppo.com/ph/