Halo-halo is a popular Filipino dessert that is a mixture of shaved ice and milk to which are added various boiled sweet beans and fruits, and served cold in a tall glass or bowl. the most popular ones are from Razon and Chowking. I prefer the latter. The slices of leche flan and real ube are my favorite parts.

My other favorites from Chowking are chao fan, tofu (love the sauce) and siomai with toyomansi and chili oil. They actually have siew mai here in Singapore but no toyomansi. Where is the fun in that?

Fresh or No Dalandan at All

Dalandan is the Philippine native orange, and its juice is slightly sweeter than your usual orange. You can squeeze it to make dalandan juice or shake. It's my favorite drink of all time, but I want it fresh, not the ones that are made from concentrates. I like Dencio's version. My former housemate Reggie also makes them so good that the first time I tasted his creation, I asked, "Reggie, will you marry me?"

House of Sylvanas

I miss the sweet cold chewy sylvanas from House of Sylvanas. I used to swing by their branch in Glorietta 4 and buy a couple of pieces (at Php19 each) right before heading up to the movie theatre. There were many other flavors inside their freezer, but I always just chose the original one.

Quickly's Taro Ice

Purple is my favorite color except when it comes to food. I usually don't like ube (yam) flavored food until I tried Quickly's Taro Ice. Then I quickly became a fan. I especially love the nago (nata de coco sago, I suppose). Nata de coco are such wonderful things.

There's a stall in Glorietta 4 Foodcourt.

Tsokolate Ice Cream Cake

This mini chocolate ice cream cake came all the way from my hometown, Zamboanga City. Apparently a franchise of Tsokolate has opened there. It has such a real chocolate taste that I honestly prefer it over Myrna's, whose cakes don't taste good at all, just their icing with the rich butter taste.

Vjandep Pastel

The most popular pastry from Camiguin - fluffy buns oozing with delicious creamy yema (egg and condensed milk) filling. It comes in different flavors as well, but only yema tastes wonderful. I believe there's now a shop in The Fort that sells these.

Ric & Remy's Biscocho de Zamboanga

My favorite pasalubong from Zamboanga is Ric & Remy's biscocho (toasted bread). People always underestimate it and get taken by surprise at how tasty it is. I'm a bit hurt that they did not believe me when I said so in the first place. Hmp.

KFC Philippines vs Singapore

I miss KFC Philippines's fully loaded meal - a single meal that carried everything I loved about KFC - 1 piece original recipe chicken drenched in gravy, rice covered in gravy, french fries that taste like real potato slices or creamy buttery mashed potatoes with even more gravy, a moist fudge brownie, and a glass of Mountain Dew. Their gravy was so good, they needed to chain their gravy pots to the service tables to prevent people from hogging it on their tables.

KFC Singapore has only the chicken and the dew. Their gravy is no good. Their fries taste just like ordinary french fries. They don't have brownies or even rice. How uncool is that?

Their only saving grace is the oriental chicken salad. It's a mixture of lettuce, red cabbage, crispy noodles, diced tomatoes, corn kernels and bite-sized fried chicken chunks. The combination is good, but what really has me sold on it is the sweet-sour-salty taste of the oriental dressing. It's my favorite salad dressing ever. It's now my KFC staple; either this or a piece of original recipe fried chicken, with Mountain Dew, naturally.

The Best Chicharon Ever

When it comes to chicharon (pork crackling), nothing beats Lapid's.