Thursday, March 6, 2014

Join the 4th Gyudon Eating Contest


Hey guys! Have you ever had a nice bowl of steaming-hot gyudon? how about two? or three? 

If you are able to eat that much then I suggest you join Yoshinoya's Gyudon Eating Contest. Now on its fourth year, it promises better and bigger prizes to be given away! 


Last Wednesday, March 5 we were challenged to take on the gyudon eating contest. As a foodie, yes I can't resist the temptation of having a steaming bowl of rice topped with beef strips infused in herbs and spices. 


These is only a sample of all the yummy goodies you can try at Yoshinoya. 


We have the Famous beef bowl or Gyu-don


Beef Missono. 


Gyudon with vegetables.


Chicken terriyaki



The contest was hosted by Mr. Orlando "Nodz" M. Galgana, Assistant Restaurant Manager of Yoshinoya. We were given a brief run down of the mechanics and also the prizes to be given away. 



We were also greeted by Mr. Timothy Yang, President of Yoshinoya Century Pacific Inc. And also he gave some encouraging words and a reminder about the prizes. 

The Prizes for this years gyu don eating contest is:

First Place: 100,000 php CASH and Trip for 2 to Japan courtesy of Cebu Pacific. 
Second Place: 50,000 php CASH
Third Place: 25,000 php CASH. 

I remember last year there was no trip to Japan so this year's winner will have a hoot if ever they win they get to go to Japan and experience visiting popular places there! Me so jealous! haha! 

Okay I'll give you the run down of the whole mechanics in a while but first I will share to you my experience with the gyudon eating challenge shall we? 

ze bear is HUNGRRREEEEE haha!
We were first given two bowls of gyudon at the start of the challenge, but as we finish these off we will be given another one. Also there were Yoshinoya staff assigned to each contestant to ensure fair play. 


There was also a timer given of 15 minutes to eat as much gyudon as we can. When the timer had started I seriously did not expect to be able to finish more than one in fifteen minutes. As eating my bowl of Gyudon I felt a bit conscious because I was the only one holding the bowl up and eating what is in the bowl. 

I did competitive eating before so being a neat eater was not really an option for this. I did notice another competitor doing the same thing.


I was shocked to see he finished about four bowls but also happy at the same time. And so the fifteen minutes was up. 

Here's how much I ate. 


Those were the three emojins up in my head at that moment. I actually did pretty well because I believe I was the only girl who was able to finish this much. 



Measuring the left overs...of my seatmate Wilmar ^_^

The Results are in! Here are the winners for the Bloggers leg of the Gyudon Eating Contest!


I won Third place! Yey! I was actually shocked when I won third place since I was expecting another guy in our group would be it. That just proves it you guys di ako masiba...matakaw lang LOL


Second place goes to kuya Wilmar! He was able to finish 3 bowls and about 1/4 of his fourth bowl. Congratulations!


Now for the mechanics. There are two mechanics to be done, one for the qualifying match and the other for the grand finals match. 

Qualifying Match Mechanics: 

1. The Yoshinoya Gyudon Eating Contest is open to all males and females, 18 years old and above. 

2. Qualifying rounds will be held in all Yoshinoya stores daily from Monday to Friday, From April 21 to May 30, 2014. 

Schedule is as follows: 
- April 21,22,23,24,25
- April 28,29,30 May 1,2
- May 5,6,7,8,9
- May 12, 13,14,15,16
- May 19,20,21,22,23
- May 26,27,28, 29, 30

3. Purchase of the Yoshinoya Gyudon meal entitles the customer to join the contest, take-out, deliveries, bulk orders are not included. 

4. Before a customer starts, He/She must fill out a Registration form and sign a health and release waiver. For the qualifying round, the beef bowls should be consumed in the store. The customer who finishes the most number of bowls in five minutes wins the challenge of the day. 

5. Customer must show one (1) valid ID to the store manager of Yoshinoya. Only the following types of ID will be accepted: School ID, Company ID, Driver's License, SSS ID, GSIS ID, NBI Clearance, Postal ID, Voters ID, Passport. 

6. A customer can join as many times as he or she wants and should complete all requirements on the application form for every trial. 

The designated Yoshinoya crew records the number of bowls consumed by the top 1 & 2 contestants who eats the most number of bowls and weighs the amount of leftover food. 

The following will be observed:

  • Only Yoshinoya napkins and standard Yoshinoya condiments (red ginger & Kikkoman) will be allowed to be put on the table and used by the customer. 
  • Only water provided by Yoshinoya is allowed during the contest proper
  • Only the prescribed timer in Yoshinoya stores will be used in timing the customer
  • Customer should not be holding nor touching the spoon, fork, or chopsticks before the timer starts.
8. The Yoshinoya store crew shows the timer to the customer before starting the time record and starts the timer right after giving a go-signal. Customers then starts eating the beef bowls. 

9. Customers should turn over empty bowls before starting the next bowl. All left over grains in bowls will be weighed along with the unfinished bowl. 

10. The Yoshinoya store crew writes the number of bowls consumed and weighs the leftover food of the top 1 & 2 contestants to validate the entry and verifies count and weigh with the contestant. 

11. The Yoshinoya store crew writes the number of bowls and weight of left over on the registration form to be signed by the yoshinoya store crew and the customer/contestant over their printed names. Only registration forms bearing the printed names and signatures of the Yoshinoya store crew and the customer/contestant shall be considered valid. 

12. The Yoshinoya store crew writes the name and number of bowls consumed on the Leader board only. The four weekly fastest gyudon bowl eaters who qualified in the store will be placed on its leader board per store. This will be updated every time a new record is set. 

13. After the weekly qualifying rounds in the stores, all weekly contestants who qualified per store will automatically be entered in the Grand Finals. All qualified contestants will be notified between June 2-6, 2014 through mobile call and e-mail. 

14. In case of a tie in the stores, the store manager shall call upon the contestants who tied for a re-match. Contestant with the least number of rice grains left will be selected as winner for the round. 

15. In any case of disputes, the decision of the Yoshinoya store manager will be considered valid and final. 

16. A DTI representative shall be present during the eliminations. 

17.  Employees of Yoshinoya Century Pacific, its agencies and participating outlets, including their relatives up to the second degree of affinity or consanguinity and employees of sponsors, are disqualified from the qualifying match. 


Grand Match Mechanics: 

1. The Final Match will be held on June 14, 2014, 1 PM in the Activity Center of Glorietta, Makati City. 

2. The Forty-two finalists will be competing by eating the most number of bowls in 15 minutes. 

  • Finalists should release a health release and liability waiver prior to the final match. 
  • Each finalist is given ten regular beef bowls and is assigned with a marshall.
  • Finalists should not be holding or touching the spoon, fork or chopsticks before the timer starts. 
  • NO VOMITING is allowed for the duration of the contest and 15 minutes after the contest proper. In case of vomiting, contestant is automatically disqualified. 
3. The timer will start upon the go-signal of the host. 

4 After 15 minutes is up the finalist should raise both their hands and step back from the table. Marshals will weigh the remaining contents in bowls. 

5. The top 4 winning Finalists with the most number of bowls and least weight of bowl contents will win the following prizes:

1st. Place: PHP 150,000 CASH and Trip to Japan tickets c/o Cebu Pacific

2nd Place: PHP 50,000

3rd Place: PHP 25,000

6. The non-winning finalists will be given consolation prizes of PHP 2,000 worth of Yoshinoya GCs each. 

7. In case of a tie for the first place, 2nd place, or 3rd place, a 1 bowl overtime match will be done among tied finalists for their corresponding prizes. The Finalist who finishes their beef bowl with the fastest time and little to no grains left will be awarded the prize. 

8. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will be announced and awarded during the Yoshinoya Gyudon Eating contest Final Match event and announced through posters and print ads. 

9. I case the grand winner be denied of a Japan Visa, Trip to Japan ticket will be forfeited in favor of Yoshinoya. 

10. non-cash prizes and consolation prizes are not convertible to cash. 

Control Measure: 

1. All application forms per branch shall be under the custody of the store manager, properly number sequentially per branch. 

2. After the last qualifying event, all application forms will be collected and brought to the Yoshinoya Head office for encoding and safe keeping under the custody of the Operations Manager - Ms. Lal Habana. 

3. A DTI Representative shall be invited to witness the Grand Finals Match. 

Make sure to get your steaming hot bowl of Gyudon soon at Yoshinoya and enter their Gyudon Eating contest! You might be declared the winner of this years challenge. 
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Make sure to visit any Yoshinoya branches and LIKE their Facebook PAGE for other updates and freebies they have in store. 

Much Love! 

Alice

Monday, March 3, 2014

Yoshinoya Brings Japan's Famous Beef Bowl to Ayala Fairview Terraces!


Last Friday I attended an event for the opening of Yoshinoya in Ayala Fairview Terraces. If you guys would like to know more about Ayala Fairview Terraces you can check my other blog for that since today I will share to you the awesome food from Yoshinoya.

I remember when I was younger (ouch!) My cousin likes to eat at Yoshinoya and would always bring home one for me as well since I am her look out when she sneaks out just for fun.

We were young and sheltered kids so little adventures like going to Robinson's Galleria is like Dora on an adventure. Okay that sounds lame..but I really like eating Japanese food since I grew up learning a whole lot of the Japanese culture.

Okay time for history class! 

Yoshinoya's Famous beef bowl was actually invented way back in the 1800's by Eikichi Matsuda. The name of their store is Yoshinoya which means - 


Yoshino - A district in Osaka, Japan; Eikichi Matsuda's hometown
Ya - Japanese for 'house'

It has garnered a lot of attention to the Japanese people because it was their version of 'fastfood' back then within the busy fishermen and also travelers during the Edo Period.  

It went on a full expansion when Mizuho Matsuda converted their restaurant into a 24-hour restaurant which boosted its image not just in Japan but also for the rest of the world. Having about 1,200 outlets around the world namely in Japan, USA, Hongkong, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. 

And now one of its newest branch is in Ayala Fairview Terraces~!


Last Friday, We were offered to see their newest branch and also some of Yoshinoya's famous and newest treats. The program was started by the store blessing by Rev. Fr. Regalia which was actually not the typical store blessing if you asked me.



It was followed by the ribbon cutting and throwing of coins as a sign of good luck and bountiful blessings for the newest branch.


were also speeches by Managing Director Mr. Leo Co and Mr. Timothy Yang, the President of Yoshinoya Century Pacific Inc.


Afterwards we were served a full course Yoshinoya meal which consists of their famous Gyudon, Kani Salad, Hani Shu mai and green iced tea.


Beef Bowl or Gyudon in Japanese. It consists of thin beef strips, slices of onion, Chewy rice and a broth. The taste is quite good although I wish they would have a version with more veggies than onions only. You can try this for only 119PHP per bowl.


Kani Salad. This consists of thin strips of carrots and cucumber with romaine lettuce topped with strips of Kani or seaweeds, caviar and Kani salad dressing. I like this salad since it doesn't have that much pizzazz but still have that great taste into it. Try this out for about 69PHP per serving.


Kani Shu Mai - This is bascially its a special kind since it has pork meat and at the center is a crab meat. It is not the typical shu mai if you ask me because it is packed with flavor with the unexpected taste of the crab meat in the middle. You can try this out for 59PHP for three pieces.

Yoshinoya is definitely home to delicious modern Japanese comfort food. Since 2001, The company is the most preferred Japanese restaurant in the country that has offered high quality food at affordable prizes.

I felt really stuffed after eating this feast. I really love the Gyudon at Yoshinoya. The taste of the Gyudon is just superb and the serving is just right!


Make sure to join as well their Gyudon famous bowl eating contest for a chance to win 100K! Check it out from their branches or on their Facebook page.



Yoshinoya's latest branch in Ayala Fairview Terraces is located at the 3rd Floor.

Much Love!

Alice