Experience Dining at The Coast Food Park in Malabon

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Food parks have continued trending that nearly every city has more than one of these food hubs with several food choices to choose from. Since they are managed centrally, the food park could offer various kinds of treats to satisfy the cravings of their customers. So aside from the usual comfort foods, they could throw in a mix of other dishes that are either new or popular among the common food hub patrons.

The biggest advantage of food parks is the affordability of the food prices and since stall owners do not need to worry about the other business requirements because the food park owners would deal with that, it is a lot more convenient and easy to operate for even small entrepreneurs that are just starting and hoping their small business will eventually boom.

Even the provinces and cities outside Metro Manila are already being penetrated by food parks but we are yet to see if they are equally successful.

Though some food stalls of a food park may not click with the patrons, they could easily redevelop new concepts or accept other food offerings. Packing up is not a hard thing to do when all their concern is within their stalls. There are several other business savvy individuals who would be willing to try their luck in the food business.



After all, everyone eats at least three times a day that this basic necessity could easily be addressed by providing tasty enough cuisines that would keep people coming back for more. Great customer service could also be a key since many would prefer to dine at a place where customers feel more comfortable and welcomed. Of course, additional value-added services like providing entertainment for the enjoyment while enjoying a meal could attract patrons to hang out and eat at the food hub often.

One food park that is quite new, and should be among the foodies chosen destination soon, is The Coast Food Park located in Malabon city. We were invited to try out some of their specialties a few days ago, and so now I'm delighted to share to you these offerings so you could at least be aware of what to expect at this food park.

My son and I were invited to join this food tasting along with other bloggers. We went as far as Malabon to see if this particular food park can match up with the other existing food parks we've been.

We asked them to serve the dishes all at once so we could do a flatlay of the entire feast. However, there's just no room to take a photo of everything from the top, so more of our photos show the dishes per food stall, aside from the individual shots of the dishes. We also have videos of each food and stall that we plan to compile into one preview of the food park. As of this writing, it is still a pending task since work obligations are not being cooperative and requires me to work even during weekends. Just stand by for the video on our YouTube channel or Facebook page as soon as we have ample time to work on it.







Which ones among the dishes served were my personal favorite? I have to stay that the Longanissa Party of Salongganisa Atbp was my favorite since it allowed me to experience tasting around 10 kinds of these yummy treats from different provinces of the Philippines (Guinobatan, Batac, Cabanatuan - Batutay and Recado, Cebu, Lucban, Calumpit, Tugeugarao, Baliwag - Garlic and BBQ), and best eaten with their special fried rice. The dish is meant for sharing with someone else but I could eat the entire thing on my own. It would be a great first choice for new visitors of this food park.



I'm also a pizza lover so I love all kinds of pizza whatever toppings you put on them. This is why I chose pizza as one of my take-outs so I could share the blessings at home. When I said "blessings," it was meant to emphasize my love for the Overload Pizza of Rox to Go that I want my loved ones to taste it too.



I would have also taken home another batch of the Longganisa Party but I ordered the monstrous Giant fried squid from Hungry Pirate instead which is also another favorite though it lack the spices I am looking for. They could improve on it by adding more herbs and spices to the breading or marinade the squid longer to taste better. I didn't choose it because it was big, but more likely because I prefer to eat seafood which is less fatty than meat.





If I'm really hungry, I would also choose to buy Pancit Canton or Pata Tim at Chelle's Diner. These are comfort foods for me since I always love pancit of every kind. However, theirs was just the right mix to satisfy our taste buds. The Pata Tim was a bit too sweet for me, but it's something too easy to fix, and you'll have a great meal already.





The steaks from Steaks & Sizzles could have been better if they sizzled it. The Beef Porterhouse and T-Bone steaks were quite cold already when we ate it so it became too dry to be appreciated. Maybe when I return there I could try a newly-cooked and still sizzling one.





Hot & Ready Buffalo Wings served two kinds of buffalo wings: Signature (Parmesan) and Garlic. Between the two, I prefer their Signature because it's a lot more distinctive and delectable in taste.







The Ramen and Takoyaki from Hanabi was not that too special to stand out but I could be wrong again since they were already too cold when we got to them. We all know that Ramen, and Takoyaki, are better when hot and freshly-cooked. That's the problem with the need to take photos., or even videos, before trying out the food, you'll end up not knowing the actual taste when served at its best.











For drinks, you have three choices here: either at Street Shakes for different kinds of shakes like their Shawberry Boulevard and Macha-ti avenue (all named after popular Philippine streets), Sebastian's Fish Bowl who has specially prepared drinks like the Peppy Flounder (Green Cucumber) and the Dazzling Ariel (Pink Lemonade Sparkling Punch), and Rox Gastropub for concoctions with alcoholic content like the Chokeslam and the Love Potion.

Each one among the three would work to satisfy my thirst, especially the drinks inside the huge fish bowl-like jars from Sebastian's Fish Bowl. Sweet-tooths would probably choose from the Street Shakes menu especially that the shakes are attractively decorated and generously filled with sweet treats, but the more adventurous peeps would go for the drinks at Rox Gastropub.







For dessert, Scoops and Drizzle serve sweet treats that are quite new in the Philippine market. Examples of their creations are the Customized Egg Waffle and Cake Balls with Nutella. The one they served with strawberry is a favorite since you don't see that choice very often and it is only in Baguio where you could almost only see strawberry-filled dishes as affordable as here.

For more details, below are the names of the stalls and the dishes they served to us for sharing. Also listed are the prices of each:
Hot & Ready Buffalo Wings
Signature Buffalo (P79)
Garlic Parmesan (P79)

Rox to Go!
Overload Pizza (P350)

Scoops and Drizzle
Customized Egg Waffle (P145)
Cake Balls with Nutella (P105)

Steaks & Sizzles
Beef Porterhouse Steak (P134)
Beef T-Bone Steak (P134)

Street Shakes
Shawberry Boulevard (P130)
Matcha-ti Avenue (P130)

Rox Gastropub
Chokeslam (P199)
Love Potion (P199)

Hungry Pirate
Giant Squid (P350)

Chelle's Diner
Pancit Canton (P120)
Pata Tim (P299)

Sebastian's Fish Bowl
Peppy Flounder (Green Cucumber) P89
Dazzling Ariel (Pink Lemonade Sparkling Punch) P89

Hanabi
White Ramen (P140)
Takoyaki

Salongganisa Atbp
Minaisang Longganisa (P90)
Longganisa Party (P245)
Hinilongganisa (P125)


As I've said earlier, the food park trend is still booming right now that you may want to join in on the bandwagon while it's still hot. People would always want something new eventhough there are already several choices to choose from. So my advise to the owners of the food parks, including each individual stall, is that they should always come out with something new. We want to keep our customers' interests sustained so that they'll definitely come back for more. It is therefore advisable to always innovate and introduce additions to the existing list of dishes in their menu, even for just a short time so frequent visitors could expect to find something different to try.



The inclusion of entertainment like a band, some singers, stand-up comedians, or even monologues from "hugot" lines or what is known as the spoken word, are a great way to attract attention and keep diners glued and awaiting for more so they could order more, but not too much because just as how free Wi-Fi access divides the attention of customers, too much entertainment could also keep them from eating at a normal pace and thus leaving their seats for the next diners would take a considerably crazy amount of time.

But in my case, I would definite want to see more stunning performances from the likes of Two Way, and the other emerging artists out there that definitely need breaks to be discovered. It would be such a waste to keep that talent hidden. It is also amazing that some of the tenants participate in providing entertainment since we were surprised to see our host, one of the owners of the stall there, who sang a song for the crowd. Now with that voice, she could totally add more brilliance to an already exemplary act.

My son and I enjoyed a fairly good dinner that night. If you were to ask him, he was not that impressed with the overall experience since we've been to better restaurants with extravagant ambiance with highly decorated and generously spiced dishes. However, the price comparison would tell you the exact reason why. 

Good luck to The Coast Food Park for entering this business venture. We hope that you'll be among those who would survive a very competitive industry. The taste preferences of Filipinos are becoming more sophisticated but there are many who still go back to the comfort foods, just like me, when I'm too hungry to dare to experiment. However, when Filipinos find and discover new favorites, they would stick longer with you. Thus, it is up to these food stall owners to find ways to sustain their quality and also come up with ideas to keep their customers.

Social Media Empowerment Abuse Is Dangerous

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The effective dissemination of information also lies greatly on how our target audience discern and interpret. Many would be biased and closed-minded because their minds are already set to accept only what they believe. It is very rare for people to research for more facts because we can see a lot that are intensely reacting immediately from click-bait headlines alone and not even reading the entire article itself.

Many news outfits would deliberately put out highly controversial or sensational angles to their stories to attract a bigger audience gullible enough to be lured easily and fall victim to a provocation of either hate or dismay towards the main elements of the stories.

I know it is quite hard to avoid looking into tempting write-ups that seem to directly target our emotions and sensitivities. This is why we should delay to give our opinions or reactions so we could wait for further developments to get nearly absolute conclusions, or better yet just hold giving out our final say to the issues. Because if we are not able enough to do our own research to seek the truth among all concerned parties, we might as well postpone sharing our own thoughts, especially those that would be damaging or irreparable.

#FakeNews spread because we easily give in to our emotions. I must admit that I am guilty of it for so many times already, because most people would interpret silence as guilt. I felt the need to defend myself by freely speaking out because I have nothing to hide. But it would often get me into further trouble because my accusers would often try to bombard me with character assassination attempts. That is, they'll try to tarnish my reputation instead if they couldn't get me with the original issue. They will either dig up past mistakes, intentionally fabricate false news, or just harass me with degrading and insulting words that has nothing to do with the issues.

I'm slowly learning to work on this weakness which is something equally prominent among many. Sadly, we may have been empowered by social media and the Internet to freely speak out, but we may be abusing that freedom. People are beginning to be horribly obnoxious to the point that they are becoming senseless just to irk people. They are no longer in search of the truth and are just trying to destroy your day mainly because they just don't like you, or are more allied with their equally obnoxious friends.

Thus media, whether traditional or online, have the immense power to influence the thoughts of many. It is therefore a huge responsibility for thought leaders, influencers, story-tellers, etc., to be accurate, appropriate and complete with their content.

There's just no way to prevent ill-mannered people to get in front of the computer or their smartphones and start posting hurtful words. But it is up to many of us to discern carefully who is really on the side of truth and fairness. Honestly, when you see people ganging up and bullying someone online, you'll realize that many are just too damn excessively aggressive online, but you won't see them do that in person.

Social media has indeed empowered us but could also have made us into monsters who prey on whom they consider as not within their standards.

Again before casting the first stone, look at ourselves in the mirror and see how our devilish horns and tails have grown out of control.



#WazzupPilipinas #PambansangBlogger

Up-And-Coming: Fashion Content Creators Who Should Be On Your Radar

Wazzup Pilipinas!

New Year, new faces! Check out these fashion influencers under Gushcloud Philippines who are definitely stepping out of their comfort zones to make a mark not only in their OOTDS and #fashiongame, but also in the industry. 

Chic and Edgy - LAUREN ESPINO (@laurgraces)

Meet Lauren, a Psychology major, whose content features her journey through pursuing her love for arts in the likes of styling, graphic designing, embellishing, and painting, whilst making it a point to ground her content in her brand’s main message of empowering women to find value and self-worth in their passions, purposes, and power to make a difference in the world, as she attempts to do so herself. She likes to describe her style as having a mix of fierceness, quirkiness, and boyishness. She doesn’t put too much effort into curating her feed, as she likes it to reflect her authenticity. She also hopes of others finding beauty and staying true to themselves. She only takes time to edit each post similar to each other by using the app called Preview to easily assess if a post looks fitting. 

On her free time, she enjoys reflecting on life and on new ideas, doing art, watching conspiracy theory and TED videos, singing, playing billiards, and being around the people she loves. This year, she plans to build up her character in pursuing her goals and, ultimately, God's plan for her; continue learning from those around her; be more engaged in finding ways to extend herself to others; and to make the most out of life and share it with as many as she can. Her favorite part of being an influencer is the fact that she gets to connect with so many different people, especially with her followers who she deems as her virtual family. Don’t forget to check out her #SheVictor movement on Instagram too!

Hip and Laid Back - CHAR DEOCAREZA (@chardeocareza)

Char is a graduating Architecture student who is into fashion, travel, and lifestyle. She creates signature styles and changes it depending on her mood. She also uses VSCO and Adobe Lightroom to edit her photos. Thus, it is no surprise that she loves doing photoshoots and exploring different places.

 Through being a blogger, she empowers different individuals to be confident about themselves. She enjoys getting to know her followers whom she treats as her friends. She aims to travel more around the Philippines to produce great content that will inspire and motivate more of her followers.

Trendy and Adventurous - KAS PEREZ (@kasperloooove)

Kas is a fashion blogger who regularly does makeup and outfit posts, travel content, and food features. She’s a simple and casual girl who prefers wearing comfortable outfits, and making it look chic! She curates her feed by using one Adobe Lightroom preset for all her photos.


As a content creator, she gets to meet a lot of people in the industry whom she learns a lot from and get to discover brands and new places she has not been to. When her schedule is not full, she looks for OOTD inspirations and new accounts on Instagram to stalk her favorite icons.

She never planned or imagined herself being a blogger but Kryz Uy, Tricia Gosingtian, and Camille Co inspired her to be one. In this industry, it’s important for Kas to always stay true to herself and not be a copy of someone else. This year, her goals include keeping in line with her schedule, creating more OOTD content, getting fit, and being a happier and more positive person.

Unique and Vibrant - KYNA SY (@kynagem)

Last but definitely not the least, here’s Kyna whose content promotes love, selflessness, kindness, and all things positive. She tries to manifest these values not only into her social media content but through her everyday life as well - from the videos that she produces to the clothes that she designs, and even to beyond the screen! Her style ranges far and wide, extending from 50’s flapper to Legally Blonde-esque to runway ready, and everything in between; all but with a common denominator of an Avant Garde look. Kyna likes being different; she loves to dress in a certain outside-the-box manner, which is why she designs most of the clothes she wears - from the initial ideation to embellishing the designs and even up to quality control.

She loves making content that make people happy, loved, and special. On her free time, she enjoys playing pranks on her peers, playing with kids and diving into ball pits in malls. She plans on starting her own YouTube channel to reach out to more people and to touch more lives. This year, she vows to focus more on God and other people, and less of herself; to apply her life motto of “no longer I but God and others.” 


So there you have it! These are the fresh new fashion faces on Instagram you should keep an eye on. They may be young and just starting out, but these girls have what it takes to positively influence the generations to come.