Healthy By Choice – Book Review

The book Healthy by Choice was written by Cynthia Llantada, a breast cancer survivor who tried and successfully battled her disease through alternative medicine.  In this book, the author recounts how she survived the deadly disease in just 14 months after being diagnosed of having a stage 3 breast cancer.  What is more interesting is that, she battled the disease without undergoing chemotherapy or radiation.  

The author emphasized the importance of knowing the root cause of her disease, changed habits that contributed to her poor health and seek professional help from doctors practicing both conventional and alternative medicine.  Among the alternative medicine she applied are reflexology, acupuncture, hydrotherapy, use of herbal supplements, nutrition therapy, water purification and the use of scalar-energy enhanced products such as pendants to re-calibrate the “voltage” of her body’s cells.

The book is easy to read with fonts being so friendly for the eyes and since it’s a really interesting subject, you can finish the book in just one sitting. 

The author being the patient herself made the book so easy to understand that even someone who has no knowledge in medical terms can easily absorb what she is trying to say.  The book is full of information complete with a bibliography where she listed all the sources of her research and suggestions for further reading.   Tips on how to maintain a healthy body and list of foods that have healing properties are also included. 

This is a very good read not only for people diagnosed with cancer or other diseases but for all people who wants to stay healthy and wants to try alternative approach in maintaining a healthy body.

Reading this book made me more aware of my overall health.  It made me realize that our health should not be taken for granted and should be taken care only once we are afflicted with a disease.  Being healthy is our day to day responsibility to our body, feed it well, be anxious of what we’re eating, treat it well, pay attention to what our body is trying to tell us, minor discomforts may mean that we have to slow down and have a much needed rest.

We should always remember that there are no spare parts for our body, so an ounce of prevention is always better than cure.

Mini Shabu Shabu at Bonifacio High Street, Taguig City

My husband and I love shabu shabu because it's healthy and delicious.  There are only few restaurants serving shabu shabu so it's good to know that there is one restaurant at Bonifacio High Street serving this dish and that is the Mini Shabu Shabu Restaurant..

Today we have the chance to try this restaurant.  There are 6 of us, 4 adults and 2 children.  We ordered the packaged menu ( I forgot the term they used for this) that was good for 5 to 6 persons.  The package included 6 drinks, a combination of seafood, beef, lobster and crab shabu shabu and a platter of fruits for dessert.

The individual hot pot for each diner

Unlike other shabu shabu restaurant we tried before, individual hot pot is provided for each diner.  I think this idea is good if you are dining with friends or if you are all adults but if you dine as a family and have children, it is better to have one large pot so that the cooking would only be done in one spot.

The broth is not yet seasoned so you have to season it with the sauce and shrimp paste which are provided in separate bowls.  Minced garlic, green onion leaves and red chili was also served so you have the choice to add these spices or not.  You can always adjust the flavor according to your taste.

Fresh and crisp vegetables, mushrooms, noodles, fish cakes, tofu, crab sticks and different types of balls are also included.  With the package that we selected, there are two platters of these ingredients.

The ingredients served were fresh, from the vegetables to the seafood to the beef, they are all fresh.  Sea cucumbers were included in the seafood platter.  This is my first time to taste these sea cucumbers and I like it.  I felt like eating button mushroom.  The beef were thinly sliced and were cooked fast.  It's better to just dip the beef in the broth and just wait for the it's color to change then dip it in the sauce and put it straight to your mouth.  The beef is flavorful once it is not overcooked.

A platter of seafood composed of sliced squid, shrimp, oysters, fish and sea cucumber.

The lobster and the crab were already cooked when it was served to us.  Actually it can be served fresh and can be cooked in the broth but my husband requested to have it fried which I think was a wrong move.   The lobster and the crab were deep fried and served with browned garlic and I think they were overcooked because the meat were already hard to get from the shell and its already dry.  I didn't enjoy eating the lobster and the crab.

The deep fried lobster and crab served with browned garlic and some greens.

Except for the lobster and crab, the food was great.  The drinks were refreshing.  We ordered fresh mango juice, freshly squeezed orange juice and buko juice.  We finished our lunch with a platter of sliced fruits consisting of banana, apple, pineapple, mango and kiwi.  There were still lots of ingredients left which were not cooked  so we asked the waiter if we can take it out and they gladly packed the left overs.  They included a new broth and sauce for us to continue the food trip at home.

The place is spacious, you can walk around without avoiding the seats of other customers.  Giant Japanese arts are displayed on the walls.  The tables are higher than the common restaurant tables prompting my 8 year old daughter to us the high chair for children.  Normally, she doesn't need the high chair anymore but here in Mini Shabu Shabu, it's just perfect for her.

The service was quick maybe because we were the first costumers for the day.  We arrived past 11 o'clock in the morning and there are no diners yet but after we were seated, customers started to come in.  Waiters and waitresses were very formal, smiles are seldom seen from their faces.  Well, they are there to serve the diners and not to entertain but it would be a big plus if you see happy people serving your food.

Lastly, about the price ... oh, I just want to forget about the price.  So far they are the most expensive shabu shabu restaurant we have been to considering that there are only 6 of us.  A service charge of more or less 9 percent was automatically charge.  All in all, you have to budget 500 to 1000 pesos per person if you want to enjoy the food they serve.  Maybe, one thing that made our order expensive is that we ordered a packaged menu which by the way can serve 8 to 10 persons instead of 5 to 6 persons. This is true especially if you have children in tow.

Anyway, it's an experience worth trying and we will definitely return to try some other dishes listed on their menu book but of course not missing on their shabu shabu.


Mini Shabu Shabu
Retail Promenade,
Bonifacio High Street,
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig

Abe Restaurant - Bonifacio Global City Branch

Me and my friends were strolling at Serendra, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig looking for a place to eat when we spotted Abe Restaurant.  The restaurant is new to us and we really have no idea what this restaurant is all about but standing just few meters away from the entrance, we can smell the inviting aroma of food served inside and we just can't resist the temptation of going inside to try what they have to offer.

Looking at their menu book, we discovered that they served Filipino cuisine.  There are lots of foods to choose from, some of them we haven't tasted or heard of so we decided to try some but I was a little disappointed because the Paco Fern and tomato salad which I wanted to try was not available but they served us burong mangga (green mango preserved in brine)instead and that was for free. It was also my first time to try sinigang na bangus belly in ripe guava(boiled milkfish belly with ripe guava to make the soup taste a little sour)and ripe tamarind shake.  We also ordered calamares thinking that it was a deep-fried squid slices coated with flour but instead it was sauteed squid with it's black ink sac as sauce.  It was similar to adobong pusit (squid cooked in vinegar and soy sauce) minus the sour taste.  All in all, the foods served were satisfying and delicious plus the rice was unlimited.

The restaurant has lots of waiters and waitresses that the service was really fast. They are also friendly and accommodating that even if they are busy attending to a lot of diners, they still have time to stop by our table and entertain our questions.  A group of waiters even sang a birthday song to our friend and gave her a free dessert when they knew that we were there to celebrate her birthday.

Their place is clean and well-lighted and a lot of old pictures of people (maybe family members) and old things (even a small typewriter)were displayed.  It made us feel at home and eating foods served from generation to generation. It was such a relaxing dining experience.

With regards to their prices, they are just reasonable and affordable.

This restaurant is really a must-try so if you crave for Filipino foods, go ahead and satisfy your cravings at Abe Restaurant.