TONG YANG (AGAIN)

I am so proud to say that my first born is fast becoming to be someone like me!

Now before you all get hysterical and claim "mass hysteria with dogs and cats living together", don't worry he's NOT becoming EXACTLY like me. But he IS following in my love for food and finding/making up reasons to have it. Yep! My dear Mati now has a variety of food favorites that would even surpass the taste of his picky Father's. At the same time he likes getting sentimental and would also create some new family "traditions" in order for us to have a reason to EAT!

This new family "tradition" that Mati whipped up has something to do with his deep love for school (tee hee). I'm not sure though if Don Bosco is the only school whose last day of quarterly exams would fall on a Saturday. But since it does, my Mati thought that every time it is the last day of his grueling periodicals, we would fetch him and celebrate afterwards. Yup! This has caught on fast for me and the Chinese Adonis because even if we're supposedly scheduled to meet up with friends for lunch on a Saturday, we cancelled it because of our "Mati Tradition".

Now there's no arguing about the importance of THAT.

At the end of Mati's exams, he asked if he could play basketball first before we head out for lunch. So we brought his basketball gear and he changed his school uniform.

We then proceeded to their school gym where the Chinese Adonis and Mati will be shooting some hoops.

Hold on. The last thing I want is SOMEBODY doing that favorite pose of Paris Hilton.

Now THAT'S better.

I'm happy for my husband that his sons shared with him the same love for basketball. 

I'm sure he would agree with me that playing against his friends is nothing compared to the joy he feels doing basketball with the little lords.

He's just torn between letting them win and doing his usual "varsity" game of course. He he he he he!

After playing basketball, Mati tore off his sweaty jersey and got ready for lunch. We remembered that for the end of Mati's 2nd quarterly exams, our little lord wished to eat at TONG YANG since he read my blog where we treated his Tita Gem and Tito Jun for dinner. 

TONG YANG rates!

Andrei wanted to join us at first, but when I told him we would be eating in a buffet, he immediately changed his mind. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

TONG YANG was full that day but good thing we were able to make a reservation for 11:30am!

My happy little Mati at TONG YANG!

When the waitress asked what TONG YANG broths we preferred for our pot, we chose the sate and vegetable soup since we remembered how tasty both were the last time. 

I told Mati he could go around and decide which ones he would put into his TONG YANG Shabu Shabu. He was a bit surprised to see the long rows of ingredients for his hot pot.

My poor baby is now confused at this point in TONG YANG. What should he choose???

When we got to the TONG YANG Sushi buffet, my guy was quite pleased to see that they had octopus!

Of course, don't expect the cold appetizers of TONG YANG to be as vast as the other popular buffets out there.  But what they offered were all tasty and acceptable.

I especially loved these TONG YANG Roasted Sushis!

Mati got a few pieces to eat of the TONG YANG octopus sushi while waiting for the other grub.

While the soup was heating up, I went with Mati to help him choose from the TONG YANG seafood.

One of my "Hiro's" favorite is crabsticks. So I got some of those for his TONG YANG Shabu Shabu.

Does Mati want some veggies?

NOOOH. 

 

Does Mati want some TONG YANG meat in skewers?

NOOOH again.

But the Chinese Adonis loved them so he got some.

We both loved udon noodles so I made sure to get an extra serving of THAT for our TONG YANG hot pot!

My plate! My very healthy and raw TONG YANG plate!

While we were "shopping" for more seafood, the Chinese Adonis ordered up some sliced meat.

My husband, the forever carnivore. 

Here's my husband's first plate. I don't know why he tried to camouflage his plateful of TONG YANG meat with 2 pieces of Pechay and Cabbage. Well... let's just say we could still totally see what he has hidden underneath.

As for me, I just discovered that I love vegetables more now than fruits. Weird right? So amidst all the fresh seafood and meats everywhere, I proceeded to help myself to these greens.

Me got some TONG YANG Spinach, Enoki Mushrooms, and corn!

It's not that I'm TRYING to be healthy but I just love these vegetables! I could never have enough of them!

Of course to be sure that we don't run out of noodles, I got some more TONG YANG udon and egg!

"Just add one egg... TOINK!" He he he he he he!

Another old Philippine commercial jingle there.

I saw some sorry looking crabs swimming in their own death scene in the TONG YANG buffet.

I still got some of them. HA! They will go so well with my TONG YANG sushi, kani salad, and fried rice!

Our dipping sauce of garlic and spring onions with sate sauce!

That goes for me and Mati!

While I was concentrating on the TONG YANG shabu shabu, my husband was dumping everything that he had on the grill.

Yep! He's our Iron Chef "Pogimoto"!

ERICJAZ FOODIES with Mati in TONG YANG!!!

My little man was so excited to eat. In fact, he already finished with his TONG YANG Octopus sushi when I sat down with my first plate. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Mati said the food in TONG YANG were all delicious!

Hmmm.... I can't help but notice the amount of balls in our TONG YANG hot pot. Now either Mati has eaten everything at such warp speed or the Chinese Adonis got almost ALL of the balls at his side.

Interesting.

Oh well... I'll deal with THAT after I have at least tasted my cooked TONG YANG grub!

Mati and I took out the cooked TONG YANG noodles and shells so it won't get soggy and rubbery. We just dipped them in the boiling flavorful soup when we're about to eat it to heat them up!

While Mati and I were slurping on our hot TONG YANG shabu shabu, Yub was frying up these fatty strips of meat with butter. These were awesome! Yum!

I noticed from other TONG YANG diners that they would load up on these seafood and topped it off with some garlic, butter, and spices.

We did the same thing and flavored these TONG YANG scallop looking meat with more butter and garlic!

It took forever to cook and we were not really sure how to go about it. Great thing that the TONG YANG manager offered to finish it off for us and served it afterwards.

The TONG YANG manager turned it over when the flesh was already detaching itself from the shell. I forgot what kind of seafood this is. Could anyone tell me?

While you're all thinking about it, let me have a small helping of TONG YANG sushi and salad again. He he he he he! What could I say? Japanese Mayo is one of my weakness!!!

Along with.............. secret.

Dear Mati was so pleased to see that it was drink all you can too in TONG YANG. 

He loaded up on his favorite Sprite and Iced Tea when he was halfway through his meal.

And we're done!

Wait! There's still 2 pieces of corn on the cob left in the TONG YANG hot pot!

Well... There's nothing that melted butter couldn't do in this case.

If I could go back in time, I would give myself such a karate chop on my face for making THIS expression. 

NOW I know why Benedict Cumberbatch proposed to that hussy. He cannot bear to see more of THIS face that launched a thousand ships.... to the mortuary. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! 

TONG YANG desserts were pretty simple.

My husband went for the usual ice cream route.

As always, it's coffee and a pastry for me!

Our TONG YANG bill!

Dear Mati was too full to move to pay for our bill.

Oh well... This goes out of his College fund

KIDDING! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

LET'S EAT!

TONG YANG SHABU SHABU and BARBECUE RESTAURANT

Promenade, Greenhills, San Juan City

02 4632625

TONG YANG WEBSITE
TONG YANG FACEBOOK PAGE