Tagaytay Food Trip

Once again my family decided to venture out of the city for a change. Because of logistics we just prowl the city most of the time. However, this time the intense summer heat provoked us to travel to the nearest and cheapest destination outside the metropolis. Around past 10am we were all cramped in our sedan cruising the SLEX towards Tagaytay.

Around 1130 am we were already at Tagaytay and comfortably seated inside the dining hall of the Antonio's Restaurant's "The Grill". For appetizer we had"Chicharong Bulaklak" and we concocted our own dip out of the available selection of various condiments on the table. The Chicharon is crunchy and tastes good making one forget for a moment the cholesterol and saturated fat one is going to digest for every piece.

To guzzle down all the food and quench thirst both my old folks opted for a Buko juice while my niece and I opted for a refreshing watermelon shake. Out of curiousity my lil' brother ordered for a mango shake with sago and his girlfriend had soda. I am always partial to watermelon shake I really find it refreshing. I even remember having 6 glasses of watermelon juice while eating at the buffet of Shangri-la Hotel Cafe unmindful that it will do me no good since it is eat all you can.

The entrees we chose have no theme at all it was purely based on what seems interesting base on the menu. We had Nilagang Bulalo, Crab Rice, Grilled Stuffed Bangus, Grilled Squid, Fried Chicken, and Ginataang Kalabasa. I enjoyed the nilagang bulalo, the meat is very tender and full of flavor. The only mild setback is it was not hot enough because I like it piping hot close to scalding my lips. I find the Crab Rice nothing extraordinary I can taste the egg more than the crab meat in the rice. The Grilled Stuffed Bangus is good ....I dont think you can't go wrong with bangus anyway for crying out loud. The Grilled Squid is a bit rubbery for me... this is the reason why I do not ask for it most of the time...I rarely find a restaurant that can serve a squid that is not rubbery. The most disappointing though is the ginataang kalabasa. It was served like a very gooey mashed potato... which I find very weird. Surprisingly the fried chiken is really good... the meat is very tender and the skin is crunchy.

One thing great about the whole business of driving to Tagaytay for lunch is the great vista that the Taal Lake and Volcano provides. If only for the scenery it was all worth it.

After lunch we dont know where to go and what to do. My brother made a little ocular inspection of the vicinity and found a Starbucks along the slope of the mountain with a great view of the Taal lake. We spent the rest of the afternoon idling at the two large couch reading YES and Time magazines that we brought with us. My dad had a large tea, while my mom opted for the Strawberry Frap, and the rest of us had their new drink Java Banana Chip Frap. We read, gulped coffee, ate cake, enjoyed the view and each other's company.

When we have read all the magazines we brought with us and drinked our coffee, we decided to call it a day in Tagaytay. On the road we can not help but be enticed to stop and buy some fruits at the fruit stalls that lined the side road. I always enjoyed gawking at these stalls I think they add color and rustic charm to the whole idea of driving out of town. Anyways, we ended up buying ...what else...watermelons and mangosteens.

We were already along the SLEX around 6pm and we decided to exit at Alabang and go to ATC. We stretched our legs and walked about in the mall. After a couple of minutes we decided to have dinner at Italliani's. We had Sicilian Chicken Salad, Pasta Cippiano, and Pizza. This time other than my dad's penchance for hot tea...we all had "bottomless" iced tea. After the sumptous dinner we brought some bread at Bread Talk and checked out the sale at Power Books. We then once again hit the road and reached home around 10pm.

Pan's Labyrinth and The Host

Hah! I finally was able to see Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth. I've been waiting to see this movie on the big screen for the longest time. There were lots of opportunities for me to see this flick via DVD but I know that this kind of movie is best seen in wide screen hence I've been waiting like crazy the past months.

The long wait and anticipation did not disappoint me ...It was all worth it. The screen was richly and lusciously painted with images of a child's imagination. The story is very relevant and current even though the setting was during Franco's Spanish civil war. It is amazing to watch how the stamina of a child to endure the adversities of life is thru a whimsical world. If only we can all see the world thru the eyes of a child I wonder how more interesting and magical life would be.



The second movie I saw yesterday was "The Host". This is a Korean movie directed by Bong Joon-ho. I learned about this movie last year from my niece. This movie premiered during the Cannes Film Festival in May last year and received very good reviews. It is also noteworthy that the movie broke all box office records in Korea and won several awards.

I enjoyed watching this movie.... I guarantee you that it will make you scream, laugh, cry, and think. The movie has a very obvious political undertones regarding the current international political issues. Also, Korea have been churning out countless excellent movies for almost two decades now and I suggest that you guys start watching these flicks and catch the Korean wave. Watch these two movies if you haven't seen them yet.

Slumber, Organic, and the Reaping

Last thursday Cat told me that we are going to sleep again at jtt's place this weekend. I was a bit surprised because we were just together last weekend for three days. This time the plan was jtt will cook us dinner then slumber then wake up early because we are going to take a dip at the clubhouse's swimming pool, visit the organic market at Salcedo Village and then go to Quiapo. The meeting place is Rob's Galleria around 6pm and I came around 7:30pm :-) As usual there is a change of plan and a telltale sign of what will happen to our planned itinerary. We decided to just eat at Chef d' Angelo because jtt is already too tired to cook for dinner. After gobbling a tummyful of pasta and some small talk we headed to jtt's abode. Before I knew it I found myself again snoring at this bedroom.

I woke up early and started surfing the net...... jtt's uber house is wifi hotspot...did I say it right? I am not a tech geek. Anyways around 8am I went to take a bath and by 9 am jtt took her turn at the bathroom and afterwhich went down to prepare our breakfast. Cat was the last to wake up and bathe. We went downstairs to find the dining table with eclectic mix of corned beef sauteed in garlic, onions, and potato, Japanese rice, and Soba. After breakfast it was already past 10am hence we decided to scrap the plan to take a dip at the pool because we dont want to miss the organic market at Salcedo Village. So off we went to Salcedo Village around 10:30am. The place is teeming with vendors with all kinds of trade. I particularly enjoyed gawking at the vegetable produce for sale.

I noticed that there were a lot of expats hanging around the market and the place is filled with conyo people. Well at least my presence have turned the conyo barometer a notch lower :-) Anyways, other than fruits and vegetables, there were also some cooked foods, pastries, breads, spices, fish, meat, plants, and various crafts and trinkets for sale. I ended up buying a butter cake, suman of various flavor (i.e. mango, cassava, langka, etc.) and vegetables for salad. One stupid setback though.... I later realized that I forgot to buy lettuce.

Around 12 noon the heat was already so intense that we immediately decided to go inside the nearby Starbucks. Fortyfive minutes later and after guzzling my venti vanilla drink we decided not to continue the trip to Quiapo because of the intense summer heat. Left with nothing else to do we decided to watch a movie, we then drove to the nearby Greenbelt 1. Cat suggested that we watch The Reaping with no other options available and a bit apprehension we ended up watching The Reaping. My initial inkling about this movie did not prove me wrong. I can't understand why Hillary Swank did this movie in the first place. The two Oscars she have garnered should make her more choosy with the kind of films she makes. I dont like this movie at all. It has its share of scare but that is all it has to show. After the disappointing movie Cat suggested that we look for a wedding dress.... she plans to get married this year and would like to have a wedding dress off the rack. After doing the rounds in all the boutiques and department stores in Glorietta and Greenbelt. Cat ended up realizing that the options is probably not even better off from what she would find in Divisoria. She resolved then that she would either just buy from Divisoria or Hong Kong for her off the rack wedding dress. After this we all felt so tired and decided to go home.

Sun-kissed at Potipot Island

Sometime last February my friend jtt was raving about a nice beach in Zambales. That's why this lenten week it was no surprise that she suggested that we spend the weekend there. Cat and I slept at jtt's new and uber nice house so that we could embark early for the long drive to Zambales. Jtt woke me up around 3am and I immediately took a very quick shower (30 minutes tops) then Cat and jtt took turns to the bathroom and we were on the road around 4am. It was quite a thrill to drive around the metropolis in the wee hours of the lenten weekend morning. There is hardly a vehicle but the car we are in.

The NLEX is really great because our ride the whole length up to our exit in Pampanga was very smooth. However, around 7am or 3 hours on the road we can already feel our stomach grumbling. Unfortunately we cannot find any open establishment and around 8am we are already at the part of our trip too far to have any fastfood joint. So it was such a delight for all of us three to see a signboard that reads Jollibee 5 KM ahead, we followed and waited for each signboard like crazy every kilometer. We cannot contain our delight that Jollibee have reached Iba, Zambales. We were like a bunch of kids drooling and jumping for joy by the mere sight of the Jollibee mascot. We all had a very heavy Jollibee breakfast inside the car...thank God for drive-thrus. Another hour or so we finally reached our destination and based on the map that we are using we are just one town away from Pangasinan.

We checked-in at the resort hotel and immediately booked a banca ride to Potipot Island. The banca ride was only 4 minutes long. From afar you can already see that the island is teeming with people. My friend jtt was a bit disappointed because when she went to the island last February they had the place all by themselves. I have to admit there was quite a lot of people in the tiny island but the sand and clear water more than compensate for the human density. We immediately took a plunge in the sea and worshipped the sun like there is no tomorrow. I even decided not to have any sunblock except at my shoulder because I would like to have some color.... jtt teased me no end that she haven't seen somebody as pale as me. It was already 10am when we reached the island and the sun is shining ever so brightly. Around 11 am we noticed that only the three of us are still basking under the sun. Most of the people are either preparing their lunch or hiding from the intense heat of the sun.

The three of us enjoyed the the sand and the sea until around 5pm then we boarded our banca back to the "mainland". The only food we have are chips, cookies, and candies hence we were starving by the time we reached our room. We immediately took a shower and headed to the resort's dining hall. The food and their prices are very similar to what you would normally have at a university canteen which I find quite odd. Anyway it was great because I am vacationing on a very tight budget and I can't have anything expensive. We spent the night playing the board game UPWORDS which is very similar to scrabble. After two rounds we all decided to call it a night. It was such a huge comfort to sleep in a comfy bed and air-conditioned room after a long day spent on the road and basking under the sunny sunshine.

Around 6am next day we are already awake and all made a quick dash to the bathroom. We had a quick breakfast of tapsilog and immediately hired a banca that would take us back to the island. Around 7:30am we are once again frolicking at the beach, this time though there's almost no other people at the island. Most of the holiday vacationers probably decided to head back to the metropolis early morning of Easter Sunday. We enjoyed the serenity of the island and it was beautiful as I have imagined it to be when jtt told us about the place. The place is perfect if you want to get out of the noise and dizzying pace of life in Manila even just for a day. We stayed on the island until 11am then headed back to the hotel resort. We had our shower and then lunch and around 12:30 pm we are back on the road towards Manila. We made quick stop in Subic and shopped at the duty free... the goods were very cheap! You can really appreciate the strength of the Peso against the mighty US dollar in places like these. After almost 7 hours of traffic and detours I finally reached home sweet home.

Good Friday at Baywalk

Last night we decided to go to Baywalk just to walk about and resolved to wake up very early the following morning (4am) . Very typical of my family..... around 6:30am my mom woke me up and I hurried up to fix myself for the supposedly very early morning walk ;-) The four of us haven't "done" Baywalk for almost a year already... we usually just pass by the area on our way to Makati or MoA. We arrived around past 7am and the summer sun is already brightly shining.

There were quite a lot of kids and adults bathing along the breakwater. A couple of minutes later came a policeman and he asked the people to stop swimming for obvious reasons like.... dude the sea is polluted. He pointed out that the bay serves as a sewage dump and it is not healthy to swim at the sea. The people grudgingly obeyed him and this just made me feel sad. Here we have a shoreline and good beach front that should serve as a recreational paradise for everybody but because of our neglect and stupidity to take care of our natural resources we cannot enjoy what we have. Just imagine how cool it would have been to live in Manila because just a couple of minutes away is a beachfront..... just imagine that.

Anyway, kudos to Mayor Atienza there is still something worthwhile to do to enjoy Manila Bay. I really liked what he did for the place. I think the Shark and Dinosaurs are great new attractions and its pretty cool to see these things up close. After my mom complained that she can't do any more walking we decided to have brunch. Fortunately Aristocrat is open even on Good Friday! So we had a hearty brunch and went home with a full and happy tummy.

The Queen

I finally saw the Queen.... and I became more empathetic with her in the process. I have never saw her in this light. Well ok it was just a movie..... but it made me think on how it must have been like to view things in her perspective. Helen Mirren definitely deserve the accolades that she received for her potrayal of the queen.

Mall and the City

In the late 70's and early 80's as far as I can remember there were just three places where one can do malling here in Manila. My parents would usually bring me and my brother to Greeenhills, Ali Mall in Cubao, and QUAD in Makati. Every Saturday my dad would go to Makati for work and drop me and lil brother off to play at the ground floor of the then QUAD car park. The ground floor housed an amusement center where me and my brother would play various video games to our heart's delight and satisfaction. My dad will just pick us up for lunch and lunch is usually at Kowloon. After lunch if there is a good movie showing at the QUAD we usually watch a movie. After the movies me and my brother will have some fancy ice cream preparation at the nearby Magnolia Ice Cream House. Saturday was then my favorite day of the week.

Then came the very first SM mall. I remember in the late 80's and the early 90's my malling adventure changed a little bit. This time every Sunday you will find me, my mom, dad, lil' brother and my two nieces in SM City. We usually did nothing but eat lunch, watch a movie, do some malling (window shopping), and then have dinner. It's almost like a religious thing for us six. Way back then it was a big treat for my two young nieces for us to park at the topmost level of the carpark. Even when I was already working for an IT company in Makati I still frequent SM City usually with my buddy Tuding. Actually up until last year of February when Tuding migrated to the US, SM city was our favorite place to hang out. I can confidently say that I can navigate the place even if I am blindfolded.

This Sunday my whole family trooped to the MoA. I think this will be my 5th visit at this mall. Man this mall is gargantuan I still can't figure out where it ends and where it starts or rather where is the front or the rear side. I definitely have no idea where the north, south, west or east side is. The last time I visited the place was when we were touring my balikbayan Uncle Ed. My uncle heard from his friends in the US not to miss the MoA. Well I must say this place is a good tourist place if only for the sheer shock value of its size. Although this mall only has two levels I still can't navigate the place without consulting the location/vicinity map every now and then. However despite the mammoth size of this mall it is still packed with people. It took us almost half an hour to find a parking space! Filipinos are a bunch of mall rats.

If you ride the MRT I think you are bound to find a mall or two after every two stations! There seems to be no saturation of malls as far as this metropolis is concern. This is the reason why I can't imagine my friend Tuding's despair in Texas. She has grown accustomed to finding herself lost in the middle of a mall in just 15 minutes ride from her home. And that includes the ever dependable traffic condition in Manila. According to my friend one time she decided to drive her car and brave the freeway of Texas only to find herself in the middle of nowhere after almost an hour with no mall in sight. I have never imagined how the malls will one day become one of the things a Filipino expat will miss of his country. So pards until your visit in July try to enjoy and be contented with the pictures below.