Santouka Hokkaido Ramen: My Katsu Sora Experience

Santouka Hokkaido Ramen opened here in the Philippines last year. I remembered the long waiting lines in their Glorietta branch, and it took me a long while to be able to try them out. Now, they have opened a new branch in Greenhills Promenade. Not only is there a new branch, but they have also opened their new katsu restaurant just exactly beside it called Katsu Sora. Their location is on the 2nd floor, replacing Burgoo.

Location: 2/F Greenhills Promenade, San Juan

Phone: +(63)915 8741990

Sora means sky in Japanese. So, does that mean their Katsu tastes so good that we'll feel like we're in heaven? We shall find out soon enough!

My friends and I just came from watching a movie last weekend, and we were thinking of where to eat lunch. We decided on Santouka, and I was surprised that they had a new restaurant which is Katsu Sora. I really wanted some ramen for lunch, but they said that we couldn't cross order as the restaurants had separate kitchens. How devastating! It's okay anyway as we wanted to try Katsu Sora as it's a new restaurant.

They say that their tonkatsu is made of premium quality. One look at the menu makes me agree as their prices are a bit on the expensive side, with P300 being the least expensive price. We were all girls and we wanted to share our orders as we were sure that we couldn't finish everything with the Unlimited Soup, Rice, and Salad they were offering with each set. Alas "No Sharing!" said the staff. #sadness

We decided to just maximize our experience and ordered all the premium tonkatsu sets available. Woah from sharing to splurging harhar! The tonkatsu sets consisted of the Iberico Pork Tonkatsu Set, Kurobuta Pork Tonkatsu Set, Shimofuri Pork Tonkatsu Set, and Sakura Pork Tonkatsu Set.

Photo from the menu

Before our orders came, we went to get some greens from the salad buffet bar. I love salads, especially do it yourself salads. The selections are just lovely as most of my favorites are there. I really liked the shredded corn, watermelon, cherry tomatoes, and my ultimate favorite was the potato salad. I even went back for more potato salad yum!

Salad Buffet Bar

This is the salad I made. Can you see my favorites inside the dish? :)

Let's get on to the main courses of our meal.

Iberico Pork Tonkatsu Set (P655)

This is the height of the premium pork experience made with the world's most sought after pork meat from Spain. It's highly marbled, juicy, and sweet that it melts in your mouth. Iberico means Spanish by the way. This set consists of Juugokokumai Rice, Miso Soup, Salad, and Hot Tea.

Iberico Pork Tonkatsu Set

I totally agree with the description for the Iberico Pork Tonkatsu. It really is very juicy and flavorful, and I can understand why it is the most expensive set.

Kurobuta Pork Tonkatsu Set (P550)

A tonkatsu made with the most prized heritage meat from Japan. Kurobuta is finely marbled, moist, and flavorful with a delicate meat texture. This set consists of Juugokokumai Rice, Miso Soup, Salad, and Hot Tea.

Kurobuta Pork Tonkatsu Set

I am loving the Kurobuta Pork Tonkatsu as I feel that it does taste very sweet, aside from the fact that it is also very flavorful. I like this better than the Iberico Pork as I tend to like food with sweeter flavors more.

*Juugokokumai Rice is a 5-grain rice that is high in fiber and more flavorful than plain rice. 

Shimofuri Pork Tonkatsu Set (P450)

Shimofuri means marbled which means this pork tonkatsu is more delicious and moist compared to your usual pork. Every inch of it is saturated with flavor. This set consists of Japanese Rice, Miso Soup, Salad, and Hot Tea.

Shimofuri Pork Tonkatsu Set

I'm not a big fan of the Shimofuri Pork Tonkatsu as I find the meat a bit hard and dry, and the taste is not as juicy as the other two. 

Sakura Pork Tonkatsu Set (P345)

A tasty tonkatsu made from Canadian pork, which is premium meat that has passed one of the highest food standards in the world. The perfect choice for health-conscious pork lovers that want pork on the lean side, but still flavorful with a little bit of marbling. This set consists of Japanese Rice, Miso Soup, Salad, and Hot Tea.

Sakura Pork Tonkatsu Set

For me, the Sakura Pork Tonkatsu has a lot of fat meat. The meat is really flavorful, but this would not be one of the healthier choices. I feel that the description is the total opposite of what I tasted.

Since there were 6 of us, we ordered two more dishes: the Chicken with Cheese and Ohba Katsu Set and the Ebi Furai Curry Set.

Chicken with Cheese and Ohba Katsu Set (P350)

Chicken served with a layer of cheese and Japanese basil, and deep-fried to perfection. This set consists of Japanese Rice, Miso Soup, Salad, and Hot Tea.

Chicken with Cheese and Ohba Katsu Set

I love food with cheese, and for me, this dish could use more cheese. The cheese flavor is so subtle that I almost cannot taste it, but the meat is soft and juicy.

Ebi Furai Curry Set (P450)

Deep-fried tiger prawns served with a mild curry sauce, stewed vegetables, and rice. This set consists of Japanese Rice, Miso Soup, Salad, and Hot Tea.

Ebi Furai Curry Set

I like the presentation of this dish, and there is a generous serving of prawns. I just think that more flavor can be added to the curry.

This is the miso soup served with all of the sets. You can refill your rice and soup just beside the salad buffet bar anytime.

Miso Soup

Same as with all katsu restaurants, they serve a bowl of sesame seeds and you would need to mix it with the sauce provided at the table. 

I like the ambience of the restaurant, and I like it that they use couch-type chairs. We were seated nearest the buffet bar, and I love our seats as they're real comfy. Too bad I don't have a picture of the interior of the restaurant.

Me and my friends seated at the couch booth (our guy friend made it after we finished eating)

Overall, I liked the taste of their dishes especially the Iberico and Kurobuta Pork Tonkatsu. I would definitely order these two dishes again. Also, the salad buffet bar is something I look forward to trying out again. Potato salad here I come!

Do share what you think of this restaurant and their tonkatsu if you've tried it. That's all for now!

Ciao!

Kat <3

Majolica Majorca Brow & Lash Colorist in BR333

After coloring my hair at home, my brows are now a bit darker than my hair since I wasn't able to dye my brows as well. It's not really that obvious, but sometimes I get a bit OC with the color difference. 

I suddenly remembered that I have this brow mascara product from Majolica Majorca. I have this for quite a while now, but I don't really use it much. Now seems to be the perfect time to use it frequently as it's a natural brown color. This product is the Brow & Lash Colorist in BR333 (P595).

Inside the box

How the product looks like

Mascara wand

So how do you use this product? Let me show you how I do it. My friend Gretch dropped by at home and I did her brows using this product.

Just outline the outer portions of your brows with an eyebrow pencil, then fill in your eyebrow hair using the Brow & Lash Colorist. (NOTE: If you have thick brows like me, you can skip outlining your brows as it might look even thicker afterwards.) 

You have to blend the color well so that it's even on all parts. I use a spoolie to blend and it works really great.

Me using a spoolie on Gretch's brows to blend the brown mascara evenly

Tadahh! Here in this picture you can see that Gretch's left brow is filled in and is now brown in color compared to the right brow which is black in color.

Spot the difference? Brown brows on the left and normal black brows on the right

I'm really happy with this product and I use it every time I go out. My hair and brows are now the same color. It's really easy once you get the hang of blending the color out. You can even adjust how thick your brows will look depending on how much product you use. Even if your hair is not colored, you can still use this product if you just want to make the color of your eyebrows look lighter. It will stay on the whole day until you wash it off.

My hair and eyebrows both in natural brown color

By the way, I tried using this product on my lashes too, and it doesn't seem to work as well as it does for eyebrows. You won't notice much the brownish tinge, and it won't make the eyelashes look longer. You would need an eyelash curler as well to make the lashes curl, and this product will not harden your lashes like when you use a normal mascara.

Have you used this product before? I would really recommend this to eyebrow lovers out there and I would surely buy this again once I run out.

Ciao!

Kat <3

How to color your hair with Etude House Bubble Hair Coloring

It's been 2 years since I last colored my hair. I always have my hair color done in salons because I don't know how to do it myself. This time, I decided to try coloring my hair at home using Etude House's Bubble Hair Coloring in Natural Brown (P378). 

Bubble Hair Coloring in Natural Brown

There are 7 colors for this product: Deep Black, Dark Brown, Natural Brown, Wine Red, Sweet Orange, Gold Blonde, and Mocha Pink. My friend recommended this product to me before, and I have wanted to try this out ever since.

I'm trying to cut back on expenses this year, and since I have already purchased this product last year, I decided it was time to give it a spin. The instructions are all in Korean so this tutorial might be helpful for you guys!

Instructions in Korean language

These are the contents of the box:

Contents of the box

1. hair dye color

2. pump container with liquid inside that will make the dye bubble

3. silky perfumed treatment conditioner

4. plastic gloves and plastic wrap with instruction booklet

Step 1: 

Pour the contents of the hair dye into the white container.

Pour hair dye into container

Step 2:

Tilt the container left and right to let the contents mix together. Do not shake it hard.

Tilt container left to right and do not shake

Step 3:

Take off the lock from the bottle, then put on the plastic gloves and start pumping out the foam from the container. 

Remove the bottle's lock

Pump the foam from the container

Step 4:

Start putting the foam onto your hair. Make sure that you get to cover all your hair with the bubbles so that the color will come out evenly.

Step 5:

Put all your hair up and just wait for 30 minutes for the dye to settle in. You will feel an itchy sensation once your hair is covered with foam. Rinse your hair well after 30 minutes  and remove all traces of foam. You will feel that your hair is quite dry afterwards.

Put your hair up and wait for 30 minutes

Step 6:

Wash your hair again with the silky perfumed treatment conditioner on all sides so that your hair will become smooth and silky.

Silky Perfumed Treatment

Done! Just blowdry your hair and you're all set to go. I never thought that the process of dyeing hair at home is so easy. I'm definitely doing this again next time but I might try another color.

Before

After

Things to note:

1. Wash your hair first if your hair is oily or dirty then blowdry it afterwards. 

2. It's better to dye your hair while dry. (I dyed my hair wet and it was hard to distinguish which parts were not already covered by foam as my hair was wet to begin with).

3. I dyed my hair twice as I tried dyeing it again when my hair was dry. This was because I didn't find my hair to be brown enough after the first try. (My hair strands are thin so I did not finish the contents of the bottle the first time).

4. Once you combine the hair dye with the liquid in the container, you should use it up immediately or else the mixture won't be as effective.

It's so simple right? Would you be using this product anytime soon or have you tried it already?

Ciao!

Kat <3

Pink Panda: Southeast Asian Diner in Makati

Happy Hearts Day Everyone!

If you still don't have any plans with your special someone for today, or even if you just want to hang out with your single friends, then I would recommend this new restaurant to you guys. It's the latest restaurant from the Hatch 22 group, which includes Erwan Heussaff. Honestly, I haven't tried the other Hatch 22 restaurants so I can't really compare so this post will be all about Pink Panda and the food I have tried.

So where is Pink Panda located? It's just beside the A-venue Mall in Makati so it's easy to locate. Just park your car in the parking lot of A-venue and cross the street to get to Pink Panda.

Address: Ground Floor Y2 Residence Hotel 

4687 Santiago St. corner B. Valdez St. Poblacion, Makati City

Phone: +632 224-3000 loc 3057
Price Range: P400-P600/head

No, the place is not entirely in pink and not bombarded with pandas if you're thinking about that haha.

Once inside the restaurant, you will see that the interiors are nicely done. It is kinda quirky, as the decorations are a fusion of different stuff like plants hanging on the wall, lamps suspended from the ceiling, chopsticks in cups serving as table decorations, a bike stuck to the wall, and small knick knacks like teapots and dolls displayed on the shelves. I guess this totally fits what the restaurant is all about. A fusion of Southeast Asian food choices that consist mostly of Chinese, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Thai cuisine.

Interior of Pink Panda

There's a private room (left side of the photo) where you can see the chefs cook through the window

Table decor with candle to ward off mosquitos

Tables with sofa seats are also available

Our orders were 1 appetizer, 1 salad, 1 main dish, 2 rice dishes, and 1 drink. We couldn't order so much as there were only 3 of us.

Our appetizer: VC Spring Rolls (P240)

rice wrapper/ trio of mushrooms/ spiced pork/ grilled shrimp/ pickled jacama

VC Spring Rolls with sauce

VC Spring Rolls - steamed and fried

I really like spring rolls and this has been one of the best I've tried. There was a combination of 2 steamed and 4 fried spring rolls in the plate. I just wish they had done 3 steamed and 3 fried rolls so that all of us would get equal shares. There were 2 types of sauce for this, one is the peanut sauce and the other is the vinegar sauce. The peanut sauce is a delight as this is not the sauce that you would normally combine with this.

Our salad: Mango and Papaya Catfish (P360)

trio of mangoes/ green papaya/ shredded catfish/ golden shallots/ chili lime dressing

Mango and Catfish Salad when served (with dressing in separate container)

After salad was tossed

I would totally recommend this dish because I really like the taste. It's like the mango and pomelo salad in Thai cuisine, but I liked the taste of this one better because there was a medley of different flavors all at once. The salad was served in a banana heart, and the dressing was put in another small bowl. The waiter then tossed the salad and put it in another plate for us.

Our main dish: B&B (P480)

black angus rib eye cubes/ stir fried broccoli/ mushrooms

B&B

I love the different selections of mushrooms in this dish, but this was quite a disappointment for us since the beef was cooked rare and there were a lot of fat meat used. It was as if we weren't able to eat any of the beef in the dish. Try to request them to cook the beef well if you want to order this.

Our rice dishes: Vietnamese Crab Fried Rice (P190) and Pink Panda Rice (P185)

yellow rice/ crab meat/ green peas/ broccoli/ peppers

Chinese sausage/ green peas/ peppers/ fried shallots/ garlic/ crispy wontons

Vietnamese Crab Fried Rice or Pink Panda Rice - looks the same

The Vietnamese Crab Fried Rice is what I would recommend as it tasted better than the Pink Panda Rice. The crab meat is more worth it I think. The Pink Panda Rice consisted more of Chinese sausage. Both rice come in a small bucket topped with crispy wontons, and if you're not a hardcore rice eater, one bucket can serve 2 to 3 persons already.

Our drink: Pink Panty (P110)

raspberry flavor

Drink with the weird name - Pink Panty

The waitress said it was their bestseller so we all went and ordered it. This is a raspberry drink and to be honest, I was all acckkk at the first sip as it tasted like watery medicine. I tried shaking the drink and still the same taste. When I got to sip the bottom of the drink though, I tasted the sweet syrup which made the drink taste a lot better but after a while it went back to tasting like medicine. I guess I drank all the syrup in a few gulps woops, I will not be ordering this anymore as it's too expensive just for a drink. I'd rather have their service lemonade water which tasted really nice.

Our total bill came out to P655/head, and this already includes the 10% service charge. Service was nice and the staff were very friendly. Our only complaint was that there were so many mosquitos that my friend got lots of mosquito bites after our dinner. Not sure what was causing this, but I hope they do something about it soon. The candles on the tables are not super effective either booo. 

Have you tried this restaurant before? Kindly share your experience as well in the comments!

Ciao!

Kat <3

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette Contents and Review

Front portion of the Naked 3 palette

12 shades inside the Naked 3 palette

Back portion of the Naked 3 palette

Ain't she pretty?

The rose gold casing called out to me saying "Buy Me!!!" The combination of pink and brown eyeshadows didn't help much in controlling me from buying this lovely palette. I love pink eyeshadows, and I love the combination of pink and brown shades even more (just check out my blog's colors haha)!

I've been eyeing this palette even before it was officially launched asking my friend to buy it for me when she was in the States last December. Too bad she wasn't able to purchase it, and desperate ol' me resorted to buying it from an online seller in Instagram last January. In fairness, I got it at a reasonable price of P2800. There's news that the Naked 3 palette just recently raised their prices so it would cost P3000 and up when you buy from online sellers. Lucky me I guess haha.

Anyhoo, on to the review. There are 12 lovely colors in this palette (4 matte shades, 3 glittery shades, 5 frost/satin shades). They are very pigmented so just a few swipes will let the colors show up nicely on the lids. The left side of the palette contains lighter colors, and the right side contains darker colors. The lighter colors are perfect for daytime look while the darker colors are perfect for evening look. You can of course combine the colors to your liking. Just be careful with the glittery shades as they tend to fall out during application. It's best to put powder guards or shadow shields under your eyes so that it will be easy to remove these excess glitters afterwards.

Here's a breakdown of the 12 colors:

Strange: beige matte shade

Dust: super light pink glittery shade

Burnout: peachy-pink satin shade

Limit: old rose pink matte shade

Buzz: bright pink glittery shade

Trick: golden copper glittery shade

Nooner: pinkish taupe matte shade

Liar: light brown satin shade

Factory: dark brown satin shade

Mugshot: taupe satin shade

Darkside: grayish brown satin shade

Blackheart: black matte shade with red glitters

From L-R: Strange, Dust, Burnout, Limit, Buzz, Trick

From L-R: Nooner, Liar, Factory, Mugshot, Darkside, Blackheart

The brush is also a dream to use. It's a dual ended shadow brush, the one on the right side is a flat brush, while the one on the left is a blending brush. For those quite particular with their brushes, I can say that this does the job well. I even use these brushes for my other eyeshadow palettes as it is really of good quality. It's also soft and does not scratch my lids. Brushes like this can cost a lot, and I'm really happy that Urban Decay included this brush in the palette. Putting in the brush makes the palette even more travel friendly.

Dual ended brush: contains flat brush and blending brush

This is how the box looks like:

Front portion of the Naked 3 palette box

Back portion of the box: should contain four numbers and a letter

To make sure that you are purchasing an authentic Naked 3, check out the inner portion of the box. It should have the purple design inside.

Inner portion of the box contains a purple design

Of course, let's not forget the freebies inside the box. For the Naked 3, the freebies are samples of their Eyeshadow Primer Potions, and there are 4 variants of the samples. The variants are Original, Sin, Eden, and Anti-Aging. These potions will help in extending the life of your eyeshadows on your eyelids. 

Freebie inside totally sealed

Instructions on how to apply

Eyeshadow primer potions: Original, Sin, Eden, Anti-aging

How the samples of the eyeshadow primer potions look like

All in all, I can attest that the Naked 3 is a good buy even though the price is a bit expensive. Urban Decay makes one of the best eyeshadows, and we are paying for good quality. I just wish that Urban Decay will make its way to the Philippines soon. It's really hard to get a hold of their products here, and there are a lot of imitations popping up. I almost bought a fake Naked 3 during last year's Christmas bazaar. Thank goodness I read lots of reviews first before I purchase any makeup or skincare product.

Do you have the Naked 3 too? For me, the colors of the Naked 3 palette are my favorite which is why I chose to purchase this instead of the Naked or Naked 2 palette. I'll post swatches in my next post about the Naked 3 palette. Till then girls!

Ciao!

Kat <3

VMV Hypoallergenics Creammmy Rich Intensive Moisture Milk and the VMV Valentine's Sale

Sample of VMV Hypoallergenics Creammmy Rich Intensive Moisture Milk

How actual product looks like (photo grabbed from Google)

Starting last year, I've become more conscious of my skin. It must be the pressure of getting older bit by bit. Seeing wrinkles near my eyes makes me want to rush off to buy the best eye cream in the market. Even the slightest blemish and starting to enlarge pores make me realize that face creams are a must. 

Every night, our skin gets the much needed rest it craves. The only thing we can do to help is pat some night cream into our face so that we will wake up to smoother and more hydrated skin. 

Okay, so I'm sure that you'll be asking which night cream do you think is good for you? Well, luckily I have something affordable and effective that I can suggest. My friend gave me her sample of VMV Hypoallergenic's Creammmy Rich Intensive Moisture Milk for dry skin, and when I tried it out, it was really a nice surprise. For something that you can use for the face and the body, with a price tag of about P800, this really does wonders for the skin. 

The sample has 5ml worth of product housed in a packaging that looks like a mini test tube. It also contains a mini spatula to get small portions of the product out as the packaging is too small.

Sample comes with a small spatula to be able to get the product out

My thoughts on this are:

*On first application, your skin will instantly feel moisturized.

*There's no scent, so no worries if your nose is sensitive to any kind of perfumey smell. 

*There's no greasy feeling at all, you'll just feel that the cream is instantly absorbed into the skin. 

*The finish is almost near to matte, and it feels really good to run your finger through your face. *poke poke*

*You don't have to worry about sleeping with your face on the pillow as this will not transfer to the pillow as it's not sticky. 

*Waking up in the morning, you will feel that your face is super hydrated. (This is one of the main factors I look for in a night cream).

After applying the VMV Hypoallergenics Creammmy Rich Intensive Moisture Milk on my face

If I have totally convinced you to buy this product, then you're in luck as VMV is having a Valentine's sale of up to 50% off this February 10-16 at Lucky Chinatown Mall. This product is 30% off so this will amount to about P560 if I'm not mistaken.

I'm gonna be checking out the sale too as I'm thinking of purchasing the regular-sized item of this product!

Do share with me if you purchase anything from the sale! :)

Ciao!

Kat <3