Banchetto 11-11-11

Location: Megatent, Ortigas

We traveled all the way to Ortigas to finally check out Banchetto and watch the launch of the wish lanterns in celebration of the date 11-11-11 (Nov. 11, 2011) last week.

I was already in a "slightly" bad mood when we got to the place because of the long walk (motorists were equally pissed off because of the traffic). Nevertheless, I tried to cheer myself up with all the food. It was hard to feel cheery though since dozens of people are jostling you at all sides. It was worse than Divisoria during holiday season.


There were hundreds of stalls but the food was still not enough for the people. Lots of people came (mostly my age - teens and twenty-something people) and the organizers weren't that prepared. By the time we got there, there were no more drinks!

Luckily, I still got a taste of some of the yummy cakes like the red velvet cake seen above. The cream cheese frosting was so yummy and complemented the cake (which I think is vanilla-flavored).

Some history: Banchetto started out as a Friday midnight food bazaar (if I'm not mistaken) at Emerald Ave., Ortigas. It caters to the many call center agents working in the area. I wish I could have visited it back then. Going there for the 11-11-11 event was not a good idea (SO MANY PEOPLE!). And I hate their new locations (Megatent). The gravel ruined my sandals. Anyway, now they're open from around 9pm to early morning (7am I think).

Back to what makes me happy (hint: food):

There were a lot of grilled food...

At one instance we stepped on hot coals that spilled on the gravel/ground.

There was one stall offering lechon and rice (for less than P100).

And there's the staple burgers and sandwiches, as well as value meals which weren't really that cheap.

Since all the tables were already occupied, most of us sat on the sidewalk or the grassy area.

I tried to cheer myself up with the company and the food I had but I was further disappointed when they announced that the launch of the lanterns won't push through.

As consuelo de bobo they released one.

Afterwards, building guards came to tell us that we can't light a fire. So I guess the lantern launch did not push through not because the organizers were concerned with our safety (too crowded) but because they weren't able to get a permit. Anyway, they received A LOT of flak after the event.

Personal note: wear rubber shoes next time (IF I decide to go through food stall hell again).

Some pictures to cheer us up.

That's me, my boyfriend Carlos and his housemates Gio and AJ. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get pictures of Carlos' sis Karen and her boyfriend who arrived late.