The Quest for the Purple Piano (Plus Some Mini Food Reviews!)

For the past couple of weeks, Zepp has been fairly obsessed with piano playing, and he sometimes pretends that my keyboards are piano keys. That's why I told him Saturday night that I'm going to buy him a toy piano. His mom bought an electronic keyboard for him last year but it didn't last, so I figured that I'd get a wooden one this time instead, with no electronics.

I have my eyes set on a particular model, a Boikido wooden piano, i've read good reviews of it, and it's also the same one that he played during his visit to his speech therapist.

The Boikido Wooden Piano

Come Sunday morning, Zepp was playing the YouTube video clip from Thomas the Tank Engine where Mr. Perkins was playing the piano as if reminding me that I promised to buy one for him. :) So the wife and I got ready, and we embarked on our journey to find one. Now, I already did a bit of research on where we can find it, and even looked for a few sellers online.

The main distributor's shop was in Greenbelt 5, but someone told us that it's also available in Rustan's ATC, so off to Alabang we go. We didn't bring the kids along so we'd be able to move around much quicker, and be able to get back home at the soonest time possible.

Mall 1

First stop was the Alabang Town Center, traffic was relatively light, had some build-up in the toll booths, but we got RFID tags installed so going through them was a breeze. (Btw, ETC stands for Eletronic Toll Collection lol) We got there early too so finding a parking slot, which can be a pain whenever you visit ATC, was relatively quick. We got a slot after maybe 10 minutes of waiting.

ETC - Elebeng Tewn Ceynteyr

Rustan's was our first stop, but when we asked the salesperson, he informed us that they no longer carry the brand and it was already pulled out a month ago. Bummer! Took my phone out and did a few googling and learned that Boikido is also carried by another store in a nearby mall -- Filinvest. There was a number posted on their page but after several tries reaching them, no one would pick up (it was a sign of things to come lol)

We had a quick lunch first at ATC's foodcourt. The missus had a Chicago White from Sbarro, and I had an Angus Roast Beef Sandwich, which was 2 for PHP99 ($2) a definite bargain!

Sbarro's Chicago White

Mall 2

After the quick lunch, we went to the Filinvest Mall, which was only a few minutes' drive away after all. It was already lunch time and all the parking slots are full, so I dropped the missus at the mall entrance while I waited for a slot to open up. When I was finally able to park, the wife informed me that the store that we were looking for was closed a couple of years ago! LOL SO THAT's WHY no one was picking up the phone.

We do not want to go home empty-handed and break Zeppelin's heart, so off to Makati we go. I asked my wife to call the shop first to confirm if they had stocks available. Last option was on online seller we found which sells it for 1k less than the mall price, but she's based in Caloocan, and we both agreed that it was not worth the time and the fuel cost, but if things turn out for the worst, and there's no stock, we have no choice but to go there. It's a good thing that the store in Greenbelt has plenty of stock available! yay!

Mall 3 Plus BONUS Mini Food Review: Pablo's Cheese Tart

The Instagram-worthy Cheese Tarts of Pablo's

We finally reached Greenbelt after about a 30 minute drive, went straight to the store, tested and checked different items (my wife is pretty meticulous with these things, checking for every little imperfection that she could find) before finally purchasing one. On the way out, was saw a lot of people carrying paperpags of Pablo's a cheese tart that we've been wanting to get a taste of for so long, but I thought was a bit expensive at PHP500 a piece. The only branch back them was in Robinson's Malate, and after learning that there's now a branch nearby, I decided that I'd treat the wife and buy one for her since she LOVES cheese cakes.

As luck would have it, there was a promo when we got there. Cheese tarts are at 2 for the price of 1. It's like paying PHP250 for a piece! We got lucky that day. I got to taste it when we got home, and it was good, but not as good as I expected it to be. I still don't think that it justifies the PHP500 tag, but I got it for PHP250 so no complaints there. :)

Pablo's Cheese Tart - soft, fluffy and melts in your mouth, but not worth the PHP500 tag

BONUS Minifood review 2: ZUBUCHON

The Piano was fairly heavy so we didn't go around much and decided to go back home. It was then when I remembered that I left my snap-on sunglasses at my folk's house during our last visit, so we decided to go drop by first and pick it up. On the way to my mom's place, while driving, I saw in the corner of my eyes a branch of ZUBUCHON! It's a famous Lechon place in Cebu and I've been dying to have a taste of it for quite some time now. Plus the fact that it's owner, MarketMan is one of my favorite food bloggers from days of yore. You also have Anthony Bourdain saying that "It's the best pig ever." We NEEDED to have a bite.

ZUBUCHON in Makati (that's me in the reflection)

It was already four 'o clock then, so I guess we had room for more in our stomachs lol. We promptly got in and ordered the dish that made them famous, the Lechon Belly, along with lechon sisig-stuffed grilled squid. Service was prompt and their servers were attentive to details. I also liked the overall ambiance of the place and the utensils that they used. The servers are also very knowledgeable about their menu. The lechon came and it was not as good as i expected it to be, but it was still good nonetheless. The same goes for the squid, which was also good, but not as good as the one Dencio's has.

I'd definitely be back though. The food was good, the ambiance great, and the service, even better! I would like to try out some of the other dishes that they have next time, and I'll make sure that I'm even hungrier when I come back. A bit plus, too, is that they have a big parking space, so I'd be sure to bring my old folks there next time around.

BONUS Minifood review 3: Amber's Pichi-Pichi

Before going to my parent's house, we dropped by Amber's to pick up some Pichi-pichi which my mom loves. Got some for my in-laws as well, and of course, for my always-hungry wife lol. Amber's has the best pichi-pichi for me, bar none, and I have yet to come across one that would rival the one that they have. It's highly recommended. I prefer the ones with niyog over the ones with cheese, which I think are a bit weird, but my wife prefers the latter.

Amber's Pichi-pichi Ambery masarap.

After that, we then proceeded to go to my folk's house where my mom is waiting with my snap-on lenses. :) She also had a lot of the kid's clothes that they left from their last visit all washed and pressed, talk about a mother's touch.

On the way back home, we dropped by the Shell Magallanes station for some pasalubong for our other kids, we got a Salted Egg Flavoured Crispy Fish Skin for my daugter, and a toy car for Vedder. Traffic was relatively light with a small build up near the Padre Pio Shrine in Batangas, but we were home by 7pm.

Upon seeing what we got for him, Zepp's eyes immediately lit up with excitement! He jumped up and down smiling and he was quite positive that the box was meant for him. He gestured for me to open it and when I got the piano out, he was all smiles! It was priceless.

It's the Journey

It was a long day of 9000 steps taken (according to the pedometer) 200kms driven, and a thousand more calories eaten, but seeing the smiles on our children's faces makes it all worth it. Plus we got to spend some quality time together and got a taste of some of the food that we've been craving for so long.

Grateful

That is why I'm very grateful that I have the means to provide my kids some of the things that they want, and that we're able to enjoy good food most of the times. I'm also thankful for Steemit, because not only does it offer me a platform where I can share my thoughts, it allows me to give a helping hand to people in need without a lot of fuss, by liking their stories, resteeming it, and if needed, sending them some SBD if I happen to have them availalble.

I've also started to spread the good news to some of my FB friends who I think can bloom here in Steemit -- writers, photographers, artists, some of them could use a boost and a helping hand, they're still waiting for their accounts to be activated though. I sure hope they'll be on board soon.

Thank you for taking the time to read another long-winded post.

Here's some photos of Zeppelin playing with his new piano taken as I was about to post this.

priceless!

the virtuoso at work

All photos are taken by me, except for the ETC Toll Booth which was lifted from CNN Philippines.

Shameless Plug

If you haven't read it yet, please do take the time to read the beautifully-written A Day In The Clouds which chronicles one of Zepp's misdaventures.