Tasting Krispy Kreme at The Fort

We lined up today at the first Philippine branch of Krispy Kreme at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig.
Still the line was long, as eager patrons longed to get a taste of America's most successful doughnut store.
It took us at least twenty minutes of waiting before we were able to get our two promo boxes of Krispy Kreme products.
I also got to taste for the first time their coffee, although I am not a coffee drinker.
There were free doughnuts available for tasting while waiting for our turn.
Ating, our cousin joined us in buying Krispy Kreme.
Their inaugural promo is selling two boxes of doughnuts, each box containing a dozen pieces.
One box contains a single flavor, the original glaced, while the other box contains all of the various flavors of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
The two boxes are sold at P550.
Each doughnut is sold for P30. BUt it comes cheaper if the doughnuts are bout in boxes.
Krispy Kreme lives up to expectations. It is so soft and the sugar coating just melts in your mouth.
Krispy Kreme at the Fort is just the first of many branches soon to open in various outlets and malls in Metro Mnaila.
The franchise holder for the Philppines is the group that runs the Max chicken chain of restaurants.
I thought it was only in the United States where the euipment that processes the doughtnut are shown to the customers.
The set up was all the same at the Fort. You can see the doughnut maker process the dought from start to finish, giving the impression that you really get the doughnuts freshly cooked.

Krispy Kreme opens in Manila

Krispy Kreme, one of the hottest selling doough nuts in the United States opened its first ever branch in the Philippines today at the Fort area in Taguig today.

Krispy Kreme's entry was welcomed warmly by Metro Manila customers as thousands lined up in order to be among the first to taste the different varieties of Krispy Kreme products.

I first got to taste Krispy Kreme in Los Angeles years ago, when it was also a hot item at that time.

The Krispy Kreme store in L.A. designed their store in a way that customers see the process of cooking the dough nuts.

I haven't been to the local Krispy Kreme here but I expect the set up to be the same.

It was a high profile opening, appearing in various media like television news and newspapers.

I first heard of the opening through flyers distributed in offices in Makati, in full crisp color.

I do not know when we will be able to visit Krispy Kreme at the Fort, but we will wait until the euphoria subsides.

I remember their dough nuts to be laced with powdery sugar, and it comes in different flavors.

Krispy Kreme also adopted a unique advertising strategy, which is mainly by word of mouth.

And the endorements were a mouthful.

DZRJ on a roll

Honestly, I was pleseantly surprised to learn that DZJR-FM 100.3, the flagship station of Rajah Broadcasating Network Inc. landed in the top five most listened-to FM stations in Metro Manila for 2006.
More surprisingly, it was the top adult contemporary FM station, as the other FM stations in the top five were more of mass-based FM stations, beating each other out for a slice of the "masa" listeners ("Jolog stations" as one RJ executive described).
RJ caters to the baby boomers, the older generation of FM music listeners, mainly the decision-makers.
It's current tag is "the greatest and the latest", but in reality their playlist focuses on the "oldest" songs.
I am fond of oldies so I am an avid RJ100 fan, just like my friend John Lee.
John Lee lives in a remote town in Zamboangga del Norte called Liloy and there is no internet connectivity there.
I urged him to purchase a laptop and get SMART We roam so he can tune to his favorite station DZRJ.
He obliged, and he never regretted the P50,000 investment, just to be able to hook up with RJ100.
RJ100 I notice has boosted its improved music program and has been aggressive in markerting and promoting its station and selling media air space.
I thought before, DZRJ was too much of rock and roll, perhaps taking cue from its captain of the airwaves RJ Jacinto, who is one of the country's foremost band players.
By the way, RJ Jacinto and his radio will always be part of Philippine history as it was his AM station that remained on the air at the height of the 1986 people power revolution at EDSA, which became the mouthpiece of the unstoppable anti-Marcos civilian and "rebel" forces who flocked at EDSA on that fatefull days of February 1986.
I don't know much about RJ Jacinto having met him only once in a radio booth in the province when he ran for senator. But I see him as the human definition of "passion". He has passion for broadcast.
Goiong back to radyo bandido, the Marcos soldiers couldn't locate RJ's station because it changed the frequency it operated on, thus, nobody in the government or military then can identify or locate the renegade station.
It was June Kiethley who anchored this rebel station calling it self "Radyo Bandido" dishing out information helpful to the rebels and the people at EDSA who were hungry for information at that time.
Anyway, DZRJ-AM is still on the air taking on much lesser politics, but always ready for the next political upheaval.
I met and discussed some radio matters with one of DZRJ's executives Bong Banez.
I was just controlling myself and stopped short of telling him how much I missed radio.
I hope and pray something will come out that would give a dose of relief to this longing for "radio activity".

Buendia corner Makati Avenue

I'll begin the blog with today's hot news: Taylor Hicks of Alabama has just won American Idol Season 5.

The choice wasn't unexpected, although his fiercest rival Katherine McPhee was absolutely deserving to be in the finals.

Everytime Taylor Hicks performed, it was like he was imprinting his signature. He stood out. He evoked versatility throughout. With versatility, he combined with uniqueness. He capped his performance with style. I think that was why he was voted the newest American Idol.

Anyway, last night my wife and I had dinner in a restaurant located in one of the busiest intersections in Makati, a place that I realized I have been passing through for the last thirteen years or so.

There is a Petron gasoline station at the corner of Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue (formerly Buendia Avenue) and Makati Avenue, Makati City.

Since I set foot in Manila in 1993 I have been passing through this perennially congested crossing, one of the busiest in Metro Manila. It is right at the heart of Makati Central Business District.

Landmark

This place is a landmark for Makati City.

One of the very earliest buildings was errected right at this corner, the Development Bank of the Philippines building.
I saw an old picture of my father one time when he attended a seminar. The background of the photo was a lonesome building in Makati.

It turned out that the building was this old DBP building right at the corner of Gil Puyat and Makati Avenue. It was taken at a time when Makati was virtually barren, where tall, green, itchy ('ma-kati) grasses reigned over the land.

I believe it was taken in the 1970's, when the hotbed of commerce was Cubao, Quezzon City, and the blue-colored air-conditioned Love Buses were the king of the highway, being the primary mode of public transport.

Now, DBP building looks old and weary, but has stood to be a mute witness of the progress of what is indubitably the center of commercial activities in the country.

Familiar place

Buendia corner Makati Avenue is a familiar site to me. When I began my journey in the metropolis, as a probinsyano, I traversed this major intersection daily since the law school that I attended was just walking distance from this place.

The jeepneys that criss-cross Buendia Avenue are labelled "Bel Air-Taft", meaning the jeepney routes is from the Bel-Air entrance locagted at the EDSA-Buendia intersection in the East, to Taft Avenue corner Buendia in the west.

Buses also used to ply along Buendia which went all the way to Quezon City via EDSA.

In going to and from school, I usally take the bus having the Buendia route.

The traffic light in this intersection is one of the "slowest."

Anyway, this intersection, has undergone its own transformation.

The Petron gas sation had always been there. But recently, it underwent a facelift. One can now see some restaurants in the area, like Pancake House, Singkit, Tariyaki Boy, and popular pork barbique seller Aling Inengs..

The convenience store has metamophosed, and it now houses a coffee outlet of Gloria Jeans, a branch of Big Chill, seller of modern day ice cold refreshments, Mister Donuts, and many more.

Another landmark in the area is the building right accross DBP building which is the Pacific Star Building.

For a time, and during my law shcool days in the 1990's, this was the tallest building in Makati.

From afar, the neon lighted ensignia of Pacific Star used to be the guiding light for motorists.

It functioned like the guiding light and reference point in the horizon for fishermen who were out at sea.

But the Pacific Star has been dwarfed by sprouting skyscrapers.

Parallel to Buendia (Gil Puyat Ave) is Jupiter Street, where many government offices are located. Some of these government offices are the Department of Trade, the Emplyees Compensation Commission, the Intellectual Property Office.

Makati Avenue meanwhile, is the south-north intersection of Buendia. Further south is Ayala Avenue, while going north would take you to Mandaluyong City via the Makati-Mandaluyong bridge.

So if you find yourself in this intersection, you get to see a little of Makati's history and commerce.

It is a place that has adapted to the changing times, and like Taylor Hicks, has its own unique qualities and style.

One of the earliest buldings was errected here. Also, it remains a bustling place busy with economic activites day-in-and-day-out.

If there is a place in Makati that doesn't sleep, its the corner of Buendia and Makati Avenues.

The Mall of Asia

From the years it entered in retail business by selling shoes, Shoe Mart has gone a long way.

It no longer manufactures shoes. It builds gigantic malls. And lately it opened what arguably could be the biggest mall in Asia.

In fact, the latest and biggest SM mall is called the "Mall of Asia" which opened last Sunday in Pasay City.

You won't miss the Mall of Asia, not only because of its size. It is also located at the tip of Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue (EDSA) going south, at the reclamation area.

The mall covers a floor area of 386,000 square meters, or just about thirty eight hectares, sprawling upon reclaimed land of about sixty hectares, frongint the Manila Bay.

Last Sunday we heared the mall was already open so I took my brother and his children Pia and Nat-Nat who were on a brief visit in Manila, to see the SM Mall of Asia.

Little did we realize that it was opening weekend. And a multitude was there.

I really don't like going to malls. Its a place where you usually see the same stores.

But I noticed there were some new stores that opened in the Mall of Asia. When we entered the north entrace, we were greeted by an Olympic-size skating rink where a huge photograph of Mount Everest is mounted.

For a moment, one gets to feel like he's at the foot of the mountain.

Well, expectedlly, the kids wanted to go straight to the Toy Kingdom. And boy, all the other kids were there.

Since it was opening weekend, popular characters of television cartoon shows were there to entertain the children.

We only got to visit the northern part of the mall because it was just too big.

The usual restaurants are housed in one section in the northern part of the mall.

I told my wife we should visit the Mall of Asia again, but not on a weekend so there would relatively be lesser people.

I used to work in the Senate which is just a few hundred meters away from the SM Mall of Asia.

At the time I was there, I remember looking from the top what used to be an empty piece of land, with contruction going on.

Just a few years have gone by, and the empty lot now hosts the country's biggest mall.