Usapang Kanto

Have you ever experienced Usapang Kanto? A long and never ending talks, stories, ideas and comments about life and everything around it. It's like you cant stop the flow of ideas from your brain and you're putting everything in words and you're waiting for the next thing that you'll see so you can comment on it and you went on and on until your mother says "umuwi ka na... gabi na." (TSK!) This is a collection of stories and thoughts from my daily life adventures. I hope you enjoy it!

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Usapang Kanto: San Augustine's Sound Of Music

San Augustine's Sound Of Music

San Agustin Church

This blog has long been overdue. I just want to share another amazing day of my life the “Usapang Kanto” way. There’s no better way to do this kind of whole day affair other than doing it with your family. We started the day with a good food at one of my family’s favourite Filipino restaurant in Intramuros, Ristorante Delle Mitre, located near CBCP. We had the usual and as ever, I had their mouth watering signature dish, sinigang. We tried their coffee. It’s fine, value for money, nerve stimulating hmmm anything that will describe a good brewed coffee but it will not change the way I crave for Sumiyaki at UCC and my Bustelo at home will still be better than Ristorante Delle Mitre’s signature coffee. I’ll make sure that I try their pastries on my next visit.

Anyways, my brother was invited in an exhibit in San Agustine Church. It was an exhibit of images of saints made out of ivory. It was Fr. Pooh’s friend doctor, whom I forgot the name (I’m sorry), who made and designed the images. The location was really secured because the images are really valuable and expensive. Cameras were not allowed inside the exhibit rooms so ergo, I don’t have any pictures. It was my first time to roam around San Agustine Church because most of the time, we only stay inside the church. I never thought that San Agustine is a one big museum. There’s a 17^th or 18^th century feel when you’re inside the museum area. Accdg to my brother, all the churches in the Intramuros area fell down during the war because of the bombings except for San Agustine Church and also, the most valuable treasure of the church is the church door. I so love being with kuya when we do museum trips because he always has a trivia to say. I lost count of the numbers of rooms we’ve been to but I can tell that some of the rooms have a creepy feel, some gave me goosebumps. It was probably just paranoia because I know that it’s an old church so there’s a big possibility that there are a lot of entities inside it. The best room we went to is the room where the bamboo organ is. If I’ll paint an 18^th century choir area, I will paint it exactly like that. Big chairs with oversized hand rest, big strips of wood for the floor, ceiling high bamboo organ and the view of the whole altar. It was a very hot day when we went there and as much as I wanted to, I can’t stay inside the exhibit rooms for long because not all of the rooms were well-ventilated. Good thing, there’s a friendly refreshment store by the exit. The exhibit left me with good feeling. Overall, it was such a good exercise of nationalism and religious beliefs.

We spent the next half of our day at the Resorts World to watch the Sound Of Music. It is always a must to have coffee before watching a play. Maybe not for everyone but at least for my family, I guess our blood is partly coffee and we badly need to sustain it haha!

SanAgustine Church Entrance

The lead star, who portrayed the role of Maria Von Trappe, on the date we watched The Sound of Music was, Joana Ampil. We were lucky enough to get a good seat; we were like 5 rows away from the stage. My mom always gets sleepy when watching plays or performances onstage, but she never snoozed throughout The Sound of Music. I even saw her singing once in awhile. The last time she snoozed on a play was with “Sampung mga daliri” by the UST conservatory of music (please don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of “Sampung Mga Daliri” and it was incomparable to the Sound of Music, I just used it as an example to express my mom’s sleeping habits when watching plays) The Sound of Music was such a blast. All of them did well. I love the accent and their voices and the orchestra. It was never a snore fest and I highly recommend everyone reading this blog to watch it. I think it will run until February 2012. Aga Muhlach’s daughter, Atasha, was so adorable. I can go on and say a lot of good things about it. I guess you just need to watch it to experience it yourself.

It was a long and amazing day... another well spent time for family bonding. Until my next blog! Chao!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Illustrado for a Day

Illustrados for a day wannabees

Villa Tortuga by Lito Perez- I’m sure you’ll get a lot of information about it if you’ll search it on the net but this blog will be helpful if you want to know the exact feeling of the whole trip.

August and September are our family months, we made sure that we set up a family day every week for those months. We thought of a different kind of trip this year. Initially, we thought of going to the beach but my parents hate riding the local airplanes so we tried to think of something else. My brother got an article from the inquirer about VillaTortuga.

Villa Tortuga

It is a vintage house rented and preserved by Lito Perez, a designer, in Taal Heritage Village in Batangas. Reservation is a must so we called a day before. I’d say hmmm not bad for 1500php/person which includes welcome drinks, lunch, heritage tour, and a family photoshoot on Lito Perez designed vintage clothes.

We started our day with a good cup of coffee that we brought at the Basilica de San Martin de Tours in Taal. Cafe Bustelo plus the view of an enormous and mountain-like 256 years old church opened the Henry De Tamble within us and it led us back in time... Batangas Illustrado for a day wannabe? Let’s get it on!

Basilica de San Martin de Tours in Taal, Baangas- We met our tour guide, Kuya Bennet, at the Basilica. He gave us a lot of nice to know facts:

*Taal is a UNESCO heritage site. The local government in Taal made sure that there’s no commercial establishment in the area like SM, fastfood chains etc except for the only convenience store in the area, 711, which strictly followed the rules and regulations of the local government like minimal ads etc. It is also true that there is no night life in Taal.

*Basilica de San Martin de Tours claims to be the biggest Catholic Church in Asia by land area which includes the area outside the church itself. The thought was contested by the Sto Domingo Church.

Basilica Ruins

The Basilica was undergoing renovation when we went there. Our travel guide, Kuya Bennet, also gave a short history on how the elders in Taal debated on how the church’s ceiling should look.

Old Taal- after the Basilica tour, the next part of the Itinerary should be at the Agoncillo House but it was closed for maintenance on the day we had the tour so instead, we went to the Old Taal which is by the Taal lake and overlooking the volcano and Mt Makulot from San Nicholas, Batangas view. On the way to the lake is the ruins of the old basilica that was destroyed by the volcanic eruption in 1600s.

Lunch @ Villa Tortuga

Caysasay Church- This church is very rich in history. The church was made by the Chinese traders and has a hint of Chinese culture is every part of it. One can tell right away that the church was inspired by the Chinese people because of temple-like roof and windows. The history of the church evolves with the image of Virgin Mary caught by a fisherman, Juan Manicad. The history is a bit weird but it made sense. Near the church is a healing well.

Villa Tortuga- After the tour, we headed to Villa Tortuga for lunch. Villa Tortuga is situated by Pansipit River which drains to the Balayan Bay to the South China Sea and Taal Lake. Pansipit River was the super highway in 1500s since most of the Chinese traders use it to sell goods during those times.

lakas trip pix

We had our welcome drinks served by a waiter on his 16^th century costume. After an inspiring and perspiring morning time travel, a fresh mango juice from Villa Tortuga, will really make you say “aaah refreshing!”


Evolution of Cameras

Sir Rogee , the person who manage Villa Tortuga, gave us a quick tour of the house then we all went to the photo studio inside Villa Tortuga. Lito Perez had the house air-conditioned. They said that the temperature inside the house is the same during 1600s, maybe that’s why people in the past can withstand wearing long Filipiniana gown and coats. One will surely understand why a reservation is needed once you got inside Villa Tortuga. The house is not that big and the dining area can just probably hold 20 persons at a time. At the photo studio, we changed to Lito Perez’ designed 16^th century Filipiniano clothings then we had our family sepia photo. After the photos were taken, we headed to the dining room, still on our filipiniana clothes. There were 2 helpers serving heirloom recipes.

We had Malunggay Sotanghon soup, Adobo sa dilaw, ensalada, paksiw, tapa ng Taal, pork with pineapple, fish omelette in tomato and the best dessert ever... suman and batirol Yummy!

It was a good experience. You’ll really feel that you are living in the 1600s with the ambiance, the helpers in costumes, us in costume, and the music that adds accent in every factor that I said. The music they played can only be heard from the show at Paco Park. My parents enjoyed every bit of our stay in Villa Tortuga. After the good food, more photos taken at the dining area, and loads of conversation, we headed to the next part of our itinerary the Villavicencio house.

Rizal in Calamba

Villavicencio Compound: They call it as the gift house. It was the gift of Gliceria Villavicencio’s husband to her after the wedding. It is a big colourful house where the new telenovela of Nora Aunor was shot. It is also a bed and breakfast so anyone can stay there for the night. There was a bridge connecting the gift house to the main house but they were not able to preserve it. At the main house, a cold face towel was given to all of us before the film showing about the history of the house and the unrecognized heroine, Gliceria Villavicencio. After the tour, we had another serving of Batirol and Suman for our snacks. For the last bit of our tour, we went to Galleria Taal.

Galleria Taal- I think that this is the most expensive museum in Taal. It features the evolution of camera owned by Manny Inumerable and vintage photos from John Silva Collections. The photo that caught my attention was the last photo of Jose Rizal in Luneta.

Well, it was a good experience. We enjoyed every bit of the trip. I will definitely recommend Villa Tortuga to my friends but I guess it is just good for a one time experience. I can’t think of a reason to go back.

After the Villa Tortuga Taal Tour, we spent the night in Tagaytay and ended our day with a dinner at Leslie’s. We thought that we still had a hangover of being an illustrado the day after so after our breakfast at Bag of Beans, we went to Calamba to see Rizal’s Heritage House. It was a disappointment because the furnitures were just replicas. There is a saying that “There’s nothing to do in Calamba” well, I think I’ll second demotion to that. After seeing Rizal’s Shrine in Calamba, we had lunch at RSM then we met up with some family friends. That's how our Illustrado for a day ended. It is so nice to express how you love being a filipino once in a while.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Adarna Night

Adarna Food and Culture is situated on Kalayaan Ave in QC. This restaurant was featured at ABS-CBN’s travel show, Trip na Trip. Adarna restaurant was included in Trip na Trip’s top 10 restaurants in 2010 together with Spicy fingers, Café Juanita, and more.

Adarna restaurant features recipes that were almost a hundred years old, they call it their heirloom recipes. (Pancit 1913, Pancit Anamita 1930, Pancit Tondo 1800 etc.)

Last Sunday, I tried Adarna Restaurant with my travelmates. It is always a must to try the local dishes in every place that we go like the Dinamita in Vigan, rice noodles in Coron, sarabasab in Pagudpud etc. With that, I guess Adarna restaurant is the best place to bring them for dinner because Adarna features different local dishes in most of the places in the Philippines.


checkers inside the anteroom

Ambiance: There is a Filipino hispanic feel as soon as you enter the restaurant's garden. This thought can be overrated but I thought there was a hint of Juliet Capulet's Garden in it. The anteroom is so Filipino. Classic Sari sari store with the old comics and magazines, old soda cases, long bench with checkers on it, jukebox, antique furnitures. The anteroom is perfect for picture-taking. You know the feeling when you're at your relatives' ancestral house that was maintained by your aunt who enjoys her single blessedness haha that's it! haha

Music: The music in Adarna compliments the ambiance. The songs played were like tracks from The Concert at Paco Park, Filipino musicals like Larawan, etc.

Food: Here are some of the dishes that we tried...

Batanes Yellow Rice

Batanes Yellow Rice (as described in the menu): From up north, a rice dish that is so simple but elegant. Turmeric, garlic and a bit of pork flavors the rice for a special treat.

My Take: so...so... not bad. Just like any other fried rice.

Adobong Batangas Ala Adarna (as decribed in the menu):

Shared by the architect's grand daughther from a prominent family in Batangas City.

My take: Every household in the Philippines has their own version of adobo. This is not a must try. I guess you'll say that your mom's version of adobo is better than that.

Pancit 1913 (as described in the menu):

Chinese panciteria popularized this favorite take home one dish meal that working people, rich and poor would willingly queue for as a take home treat for their loved ones after a long day’s work.

My take: Good. My taste buds would prefer pancit than spagetti. I remembered what my Pareng Denotes and I will always say before we try a new version of pancit "teka, baka magbago pananaw ko nyan sa pancit" then we'll wait for a confirmation that it is good before we try it. 1 to 5 spoons (5 being the highest) I'd give it a 3. Of course, I would always prefer my mom's version of pancit.

Chicken Mole Soup

Chicken Mole Soup (as described in the menu):

Chicken Chunks with savory coconut milk with pechay and spices. A dish reminiscent of our South east asian heritage.

My take: My friends said it was good. I thought so but I didn't enjoy it. Onion bits makes me sick.

Piassok: (as described in the menu)

Piassok

From Mindanao, experience this exotic Sulu dish of beef chunks cooked slowly in smoked coconut cream and ten spices till tender then buttered and grilled just before serving.

My take: This is a must try. I love it. The beef was tender and I thought it was so filipino. I want to try the original version of Piassok in Mindanao.

Gising Gising (as described in the menu)

Smoked pork belly simmered til tender in coconut milk flavored with bagoong and crunchy kangkong. Great on top of hot rice and divine when paired with grilled fish.

My Take: Salty. Kidney blasting. That's it.

Tokwa Rebosado: Crisp tofu patties with fresh tomato salsa

My take: Tofu cooked differently. I always thought that tofu can only be fried but Tokwa Rebosado is something else. I don't know how they did it but the flavors blended well.

Grilled Stuffed Tilapia in Banana Leaves: as the name implies.

My take: Just like any other grilled tilapia in any other filipino restaurant. Nothing extra ordinary.

For Dessert:

Platanillos con mangga

Platanillos con Mangga (as described in the menu):

Light cream on crepe twirled into a cone and finished with rhum-flavored mango slices.

My take: It was everyone's favorite that night. I don't have a sweet tongue and I thought that the cream inside the crepe is too sweet.

Kesong Puti and langka Fry (as described in the menu):

Original malolos, Bulacan Carabao Cheese and sweetened langka in a crisp wrapper with mango cream

My take: Have you ever had Toron de Saging? The taste is almost exactly like that except for the banana. The langka flavor is too distinct that I almost forgot that there was a kesong puti inside it.

Juices: We tried Guava shake, Santol shake, and mango shake. It was good but my Tatay's version of santol juice is better of cours.

Overall, it was a good experience and I will definitely bring my family there one of these days. I know every mom will love that ancestral house feeling and almost all the food that they serve is worth a try.

Meet my travelmates

After a good dinner on Kalayaan Ave the best way to end the night is to go for a few drinks and videoke at Music Bank on Timog Ave.

Thank you friends for a good night. I'm hoping that our El Nido Trip will push through...

Monday, August 15, 2011

A good try =)

Scramble with the girls

A well-spent weekend, that’s the best way to describe it. My brother chose 3 not so well off kids from our neighbourhood and asked me if I can do an apostolate and bring them to the nearest mall. Hmm not a bad idea... Its just that maybe my brother was thinking that I need to do some charity works to make up for my sins funny but that’s a big check!

My day started with a good cup of coffee and breakfast. By 930am, the 3 kids were ready and were on their best get up. I really felt that I was a bit underdressed for the occasion the moment I saw them. You’ll know that they are excited because they got inside ecto1 (my owner-type jeep) right away. On our way to the mall, I was trying to make them feel relax and comfortable with me. At first, they just answered me with giggles but as soon as I crack some jokes they started talking and laughing. It was fun! Believe it, I know exactly how they feel. We were not well off when I was a kid and going to the mall is like saying we’re going to paradise in my ears. I can still remember how we save our allowance just to go to the mall to buy the latest addition to our not so fab miniature collections.

With Jollibee

In the mall: we started the day with the 1^st mall ride that we saw, the carousel. They were running towards the carousel the moment I handed the tickets to them. We took some pictures then we went around the mall. I asked them what they want when we were at the kids section of the department store. The look in their eyes was indeed gratifying. It was a long woooow look hahaha! They got a set of hair accessories and the eldest kid got a new kikay bag. We stopped for scramble then we head for the next mall ride. I’m not sure what they call it but it will sure make you feel that you are falling. (I hate that feeling but I still ride the extremes in Universal Studios, Enchanted and Alton Towers but no way to Oblivion! (an extreme ride in Alton Towers)). I got a bit scared because the kids were about to cry during the ride but it made me laugh because I thought they will kill me as soon as they finish the ride. And for lunch, I met up with my family at Jollibee as requested by my guests. After lunch, they had another request, to have a photo with Jollibee well that was ok but the next request gave me that slurch in my stomach but I did it anyway. They asked me to have a photo with Jollibee tsk! Well, it should be ok if it was the mascot but it was a photo with the life size Jollibee Statue that’s at every entrance of every Jollibee branch.

It was a good experience but I was thinking to do it in a bigger group next time. The feeling was gratifying. Praying, hearing mass and being religious is not enough, one should always extend their hand in helping if not making other people happy by doing some apostolate. I usually over think everything but at that moment I just enjoyed that refreshing feeling. I just hope I can do it again in a bigger group and with my friends so I can share the feeling with them.

UPSIDE DOWN RESTAURANT

The Pan De Amerikana Bakery and Restaurant is situated along Katipunan Road in Quezon City. The concept of the restaurant is great. Everything is upside down. The entrance was like the window of the attic and there is a Land rover and a bike hanging upside down outside the restaurant. Inside the restaurant were a grand piano and a dining set hanging upside down. A lot of famous reporters featured Pan De Amerikana’s Upside down restaurant. The ambiance is good except for the mosquitos. I had like 3 to 5 mosquito bites during our stay there. The food is inexpensive. It ranges from 40 to 400 pesos. The taste? Hmm from 1 to 10 (10 being the highest) I’ll give it a 3 though the service is really fast. I guess a great concept and a good endorsement from famous reporters are not enough. The restaurant owners should really concentrate on the food they serve. I also tried the pandesal from their bakery and it was good. If I’ll go back to that restaurant I’d probably just have their pandesal instead of the food inside the restaurant. Peace!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

One Fine Weekend

For Lunch

Coconut House

For lunch, my brother wanted to try this restaurant because it was featured by Cheche Lazaro and Korina Sanchez. My brother never fails to recommend a good restaurant so we gave it a try. Coconut House is located at Quezon memorial circle. The restaurant has 6 to 8 tables and well conceptualized. They have a shop inside the restaurant for the coconut by-products (lipsticks, flour, virgin coconut oil, accessories, wine etc.) it was amazing! For the food, we ordered a bit of everything. We tried the following:

shop inside Coconut House

Pancit Buko: this is a must try. It tastes really good. It has buko strips instead of the usual canton noodles. You’ll not know that it was buko strips until you had the after-taste of buko. Amazing!

Coco okoy: The usual okoy made of squash strips with a buko twist. This is also a must try.

For our main course, we tried their binalot style dishes:

Gatadobo: chicken and pork adobo with coconut milk. The taste? So..so..

Kalderetang dagat: Fish Caldereta. It’s like eating a glorified Century tuna mechado flavor

Hipon Puso: Crispy shrimp with puso ng saging in coconut milk. Well I thought the same dish at Jollijeep will taste much better than the one at Coconut House.

Laing BBQ: Laing is my favourite but I got disappointed. The BBQ is not tasty enough and the laing hmmm not so good.

We pay 1,100php for 6 persons. Not bad. I might go back to try the rest of their desserts and light snacks but not for lunch.

Snacks:

Coffee at Mocha Blends: We tried the Pavillion Cafe Mocha. Cheaper than their regular Mocha Blends Best. Nothing extra ordinary but from 1 to 5 (5 being the highest) I might give it a 1 because I wasn’t able to finish it. My buds for coffee can’t take it.

Floss, Croissant, and pizza slices from Bread Talk: two thumbs up! Yummy!

For Dinner:

Chicken All You Can at Max’s: I’m grateful that they have that promo again. I never had the chance to try it the first time they launch it. It was 199php from 6pm to 10pm. I suggest that you go there around 6pm so you can have time to relax every after serving so that you can exercise your gluttony haha! I was hoping that I can eat at least 5 pieces of chicken but I stopped on my 4^th.

After that columnar epithelium blasting dinner, we watched Transformers.

Transformers at Greenbelt

I was able to watch the previous films and I’d say that the new Transformer film is just a so...so... nothing‘s new. Just like any other action film I’ve seen where the main character’s situation was redeemed towards the end of the film. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (Victoria secret model) did a good job but I think she'll be better on the ramp than in the film, she is sexy, hot and all but Megan Fox will always be Megan Fox.

One fine weekend then back to work. =)

Helpless

Singapore City Adventure

At the train w the map

This travel blog is not that comprehensive. This is just based on my general observations and experiences but I hope it helps you in any way it can.
Suggestions before travelling to Singapore:

Cigarettes with prices in SG

Travel light
If you’re a smoker, do not consider buying your cigarettes in Singapore. Check the guidelines on how much cigarettes you can bring.
If you have a drinker friend, just buy him a bottle of liquor at duty free. The price is more or less 50% off than the price outside the airport (Allowed: 1 litre per passport)
Check out the Do’s and Don’ts in SG. Yes, Singapore is indeed a fine city. They will fine you for a lot of things.
Check out the SG attractions and plan your days in SG (but it didn’t work for me hehe)

Airport

Arrived at the airport about 2 hours before the flight.
Bad Vibes: Travel tax should be paid upon luggage check in... 1,620php plus 750php terminal fee amf! That’s steep! Customer service at the travel tax counter? Snail-ish. There were less than 10 people on the queue and it took more than 30 mins to pay for the travel tax. And here’s the best part, the cashier at the counter got pissed then he said “Teka naguguluhan na ko sa inyo e” The F!

Anito and the foreigner at the airport

Good Vibes: Things to do at the airport while waiting for the flight:
1.    Observe: Anito and the foreigner. Check out the picture. I think they’re together. The first thing that hit my mind when I saw them? “So you think you can get away with that huh? You can’t bring that ancient artifact outside the country” (hehe bad melon!)
2.    Classic picture taking by the airplane.
3.    Yummy coffee
In all fairness, Airphil is on time.
Arrival at Changi Airport Terminal 2
Terminal 2 at Changi airport is really nice better than their terminal 3. We bought the EZlink card (12 Dollars) then took the train going to Ang Mo Kio. The best Singapore welcome... thick southern Indian scent inside the train and durian’s smell by the supermarket upon exit of the train.
The map is a must when you want to go around Singapore. The train map reminds me of the London Underground map. I’m lucky to have a Singapore Tourist Guide Book.

Travel tax

S’pore Discovery Center/ Army museum
The travel going to the Discovery center is much better than the travel going to the place where I stayed. The smell at the train is not as olfactory bulb blasting like the night before. You can tell that we are the only tourist on board since we are so busy checking the map. There were like 4 to 6 nationalities in every train cart. I heard the ringtone of a Chinese looking old guy, it was like the ending theme of a classic Chinese movie funny!
Discovery center is really good for school fieldtrips. It is educational and interactive. We were able to watch Sammy’s Adventure (3D). Too bad we missed Kung Fu Panda’s screening time. We met a Filipino waiter. The food inside the Discovery center is expensive, just like in any other tourist spot. We had Sarpino’s Pizza, the pizza is ok but the lasagna arrrrgh! Awful! (50% onions and 50% lasagna and taste like caldereta)
Army museum is just within the Discovery center’s compound. The shooting range is really nice and the show was amazing. There was a real battle tank and helicopter inside the screening room and you will feel like you were in a real combat during the show.

Universal Studios

The best day of our trip is the day when we went to USS. We rode the Sentosa express from Vivo Shopping Center. I opt to ride the cable car but it was too expensive and according to some of my friends, the view up there is not worth the price of the ride. Anyways, the feeling was whoa when we arrived at the Universal Studios. Imagine this, upon entering the theme park, you’ll see the signature orb with the words Universal Studios going around it and the smoke at the bottom of it and the music that compliments the beautiful site. Anyone will surely get excited upon entering the theme park.
We tried the extreme Galactica, the mummy, we watched donkey, shrek etc. I love every bit of that theme park. The best show that we watched was the Waterworld. It was a jaw dropping experience. I really had fun. I also had my precious pictures with the casts of Waterworld, Madagascar, Kung fu Panda, and many more.
The only bad vibes that day was the food. I needed a heavy meal so we went to Goldilocks inside the Kingdom far far away area and we had chicken. Unfortunately, it was halal and I only had a couple of bites then I stopped eating it. I just had mashed potato for lunch tsk tsk loser!
We went to Sentosa right after and had coffee at Palawan beach then we crossed the hanging bridge to get to a small island which they say was area below the equatorial line. We also went to the Siloso Beach and went up to see the Merlion.

Chinatown

Orchard Road
Overwhelming! That’s the best way to describe it. We watched some super talented people performing at the street, had ice cream, shopped at Cotton On, check out the new releases at Nike and just roam around while waiting for my friends.

Makansutra
The hawker center by the Marina Bay. We had stingray, yang chao, chicken and fried squid. The place is always crowded and that is the area where a lot of Filipinos meet up. I love the sugar cane juice.

Drinking by the street

Drinking area by the Street
I never wanted to stay at fancy restaurant or bar. I felt that to really experience Singapore I need to be on the streets. I had 3 Tiger beers, satay and a good long talk with my closest college friends and Amal.

Makansutra

Marina Bay
Amazing architecture, fancy mall and whatta lighting show. We were not able to get inside the art museum because there is a private red carpet event where some Hollywood stars will be in but unfortunately, we were so tired to go back to the venue by 10pm. There were photo ops around Marina bay, fancy restaurants and Starbucks by the bay, I wanted to have coffee while watching the light show but it was full haist but its fine. I enjoyed it even without coffee anyways.

It was a really good experience. I will definitely go back to Singapore given the opportunity. F1 Race?? We’ll see hehe

Friday, May 20, 2011

Foodtrip!!!

1 SPOON to 5 SPOONS

Yeah I am on a see-food diet. When I see food, I eat! Except for onions, I just really can’t push it down my throat, I’m not sure if this is congenital but I have this talent of removing the littlest onion in my mouth as soon as my tongue sensed it. I hate it but I’m really having trouble eating onions grrr... as my friends always tells me “every other dish has onions in it” well, I don’t care! I may be wearing glasses but I have this microscopic view of onions on my plate. Rubbish! hehe

Lana and the muffin

One fine day in the office food trip:

Christian’s Laing for lunch (Therese’s hubby) and Lana’s Banana Choco Chip muffins. I can’t describe every detail of its taste but let’s just put it this way hmmm I had 2 helpings of rice and I was so full after but I was still able to create some space for the muffins. Who can resist that almost dry meaty spicy laing and that home-made banana Choco chip muffins. Well, I confess I know gluttony is a sin but I just can’t help it. My tummy is the weakest part of my body when I say it is the weakest it means that it is the weakest in every single way that you can think of. It is a refreshing feeling to have an office foodtrip on a very anxious and frustrating day.

Therese and the Laing hehe

One of my teammates, Cindy came back from Cebu and she brought us some Lechon Cebu. The thing is...I dont eat Lechon. The last time I can remember eating lechon was when I was on 3rd grade and I never ate lechon after that, well it was because I thought it was raw but when I had a taste of Cindy's Lechon Cebu, everything changed. It felt like I was born again hahahaha Sarap!!! Can't help but ask for more. By the way, Christian (Therese's hubby) will cook caldereta soon. Yum! Can't wait!

I’m not really a food or restaurant blogger but let me try haha! Let’s do it by number of spoons.

1 SPOON (lowest) and 5 SPOONS (highest). Here’s are some of the restaurants we’ve been:

UCC at G5

UCC cafe: 4 SPOONS (I’m saving the highest score for something else) If I am to compare UCC with Starbucks hmmm well, I can’t live without my Chai Tea latte half soy half 2% no water no foam drink from Starbucks but I fell in love with UCC’s Sumiyaki. It is every coffee drinker caffeine addict migraine patient's dream coffee. I’d love to try their espresso next time, as soon as my tummy permits me to do so. I hate being under meds.

Modern China: 3 spoons I have not much to say about Modern China (Glorietta). The food is a bit oily. They have big servings and I don’t think you can finish the food that you ordered without asking for the dessert in the middle of dinner.

The Reef in Camayam Beach Resort in Subic

The Reef in Camayan Beach Resort: 3 SPOONS Buffet style breakfast. I’d say that the breakfast is almost Cardiff's Holiday inn-like except that everything is Filipino.

Ristorante Delle Mitre

Ristorante Delle Mitre: 4 SPOONS The Filipino Restaurant via CBCP. The food is really good as well as the service. They hired hearing-impaired waiters so there’s some notes on the table on how to call the waiters but not all the waiters at Ristorante Delle Mitre has impairment so you can still do the usual.

Racks: I’ll give it 5 SPOONS for their baby back ribs. Yummy!

Red Crab

The Red Crab: 3 SPOONS. The food taste good but costly. I’m into seafood but I’d rather spend it at a good restaurant at Seaside.

Seaside: 4 SPOONS. Every restaurant in seaside offers the same dish that has the same taste. Funny but it’s good anyways that why I gave it a 4.

Ongpin: All time favourite: we’ve been to several restaurants in Ongpin and they are all good. I just don’t like their idea of displaying dead turtles, cow’s tongue, dead duck etc on every restaurant window. (eeew-ish)

Villa Escudero: 2 SPOONS: The ambiance is really great but the food hmmm typical fiesta food. All meat nothing extra.

Isdaan: 5 Spoons. The restaurant is situated in Gerona, Tarlac. They serve Filipino cuisine with a twist like the Pinoy style Burrito. They have these big statues of Buddha, monkeys and fishes etc. A nice break from a very long road trip. It is the home of the famous Tacsiyapo wall. A very good stress reliever. The sound of the breaking glass really makes you feel good.

Until my next restaurant blog... =)

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Fast 5: Plot Shenanigans' Effects

Fast Five: The best of the Fast and Furious series. The Italian Job, Ocean’s 11 and The Godfather rolled into one perfect film. You would want to stay on your seat to watch the film again after the screening. Fast 5 is notable for bringing back the bulk of its previous main characters and conglomerating them into a single team.

Who would forget these lines from the film?

Hobbs: Alright, listen up. The men we're after are professional runners. We find them, we take them as a team and we bring them back. And above all else, we never ever let them get into cars.

Dominic Toretto: If you're gonna survive, stop thinking like a cop. You're in my world now.

Dominic Toretto: One last job, then we disappear forever.

Roman Pearce: This just went from Mission: Impossible to Mission: In-freaking-sanity.

Dominic Toretto: Chances are sooner or later, we are gonna end up behind bars or buried in a ditch somewhere. But not today.

Brian Oconner: We just went from the middle of the "most wanted" list to the very top.

Tej: [to Giselle] Did he smack that ass, or did he grab it?

Roman Pearce: When are you gonna give Martin Luther King his car back?
Tej: Just as soon as you give Rick James his jacket back.

Roman Pearce: [regarding going into a police station] What? Why me?
Brian Oconner: Out of all of us, you got the biggest mouth.
Tej:That is for damn certain.

Roman Pearce: You know, I think I make a better special agent than you ever did.
Brian OconnerI guess that depends on how you define 'special'.

Roman Pearce: Sexy legs, baby girl. What time do they open?
Gisele: [pulls her gun on Roman] My legs open the same time I pull this trigger. Would you like me to open them?

Hobbs: I'll see you again.
Dominic Toretto: No you won't.

Who would forget about this Ducati girl Gisele? Gal Gadot in real life.

Given a chance who will you choose?

Her or her Ducati? hmm.. of course.. THE DUCATI!!! hahaha!
(with her on it? hehe ambisyoso!)