25 yards

How much would you pay to play golf?

In Manila, 3 buckets of golf balls + a caddy girl costs less than Php. 200 and with an instructor for an hour it's Php. 700. Now, what say you? Golf anyone? :)

Ukkokei Ramen Ron

My Japanese friend, told us that there's a really good ramen place in Manila. Ooh...then it is definitely a must try!

So after the tiring scuba weekend, we went to have ramen before heading home. This place is apparently, one of the best ramen place in town!

I had the Ukkokei Shoyu Koumi - Ramen with Shoyu Sauce. The distinctive flavour is from the deep fried minced shallots and it can be quite bitter towards the end. But the ramen is so chewy and the soup is so 'comforting' it's a great meal after a tired day. :)

My friend had the cold ramen in sesame sauce.

From the looks of it, you know it's good isn't it? *grin*

Well, it is. I was very happy, I must say, this is definitely the best weekend I've had.

And it's March already, I hope March is as eventful as February has. :)

I'm in Love with the Skies of Manila

On a good day, this is the type of sky that you get to enjoy in Manila.

Aren't these clouds absolutely beautiful?

But sometimes, even if it gets cloudy, the sun always shines through.

Don't they look majestic? :)

La Cocina de Tita Moning

Right after my walking tour, I was chauffeured to La Cocina for lunch!

I don't know why, but I was the ONLY guest for lunch today.

And it feels kinda weird when all the staff are standing there ready to serve you. Maybe this is how it feels like to be an aristocrat? So before lunch was served, I was given a short tour around the mansion.

The interior is beautiful and the food is really good but - this lunch costed me an arm and a leg and instead of taking the taxi, I took the bus home! Haha.

Upon arrival, I was treated to some bread and chilled Lemongrass Juice.

See, I took a bite before taking the photos :) it was very delicious.

The family room where I was seated before lunch was served.

The stairways, there are 3 levels to this house but the 3rd level is off limits to guests.

This is called the Ballerina Room because two of the Legarda daughters are ballerinas and here they showcase all their belongings.

It's probably the Spanish's influence? Or the American's? Everywhere that I've been to and like are usually furnished with all sorts of chandelier and I have to confess, I love them, they're so shinny and pretty and I really love the interior of this place. However, the Legardas no longer live in this house, instead, the servants do now.

The main dinning hall, there are a few dining rooms to chose from depending on the amount of pax per table, and those blue china on the walls? Each of them is uniquely hand painted and lined with gold. No servants are allowed to touch them and they have to be washed by the Legarda children themselves.

And lunch is ready - table for one. :)

There was a note left on the table explaining the histories of the China plate that I was using, also, they encourage patrons to use this bell whenever the needs arrises. Of course I don't need to, all of them were watching me while I eat! They even know what I wanted or secretly desired (like how I wanted more side dish of spinach and brown rice to go with the main but was too shy to ask for more because I don't want to waste any food).

I was really struggling with lunch, not because it doesn't tastes nice but because it was very rich and filling as how locals would describe Filipino food - comfort food. But of course what I ordered wasn't purely local, they're infused with Spanish influences.

My onion soup - I wanted something not creamy so that I can eat dessert, but they put bread crumbs and cheese in the soup and made it very filling but it is undoubted, the best onion soup I've ever had, comforting indeed.

Fresh Papaya Salad with Jamon Serrano, Fresh Carabao or Mozarella

Cheese, Basil from La Cocina Herbs Garden and a Honey Calamansi Vinaigrette.

La Cocina famous slowly roasted Pork with its own cracklings candied sweet camote and organic brown rice. I felt like I've gone back to Medieval times eating out from China and steel plate.

Now, this dessert is really something - Banana in Mille Fille drenched in Rasberry Chocolate sauce. I couldn't finish it because it was really sweet but I was glad to have ordered it.

Their own Herbs Garden.

Verdict - it was the most romantic lunch I've ever had even though I was all alone. Can you imagine if you were there with your significant other? Sigh...such romantic I am.

Walk This Way - Intramuros

"INTRAMUROS, the old capital of Manila, was built in 1571. It remains a monumental, if ruined, relic of the Spanish period in Philippine history. It is a city within a city, separated from the rest of Manila by its crumbling walls. This ancient capital had well-planned streets, plazas, the Governor's Palace and churches. However, many buildings were reduced to shambles in World War II."

You can never predict the traffic in Manila. My walking tour is scheduled at 9.30am and I left for the LRT at 8.15am. I was late, it took me 1.5 hours to reach Intramuros and I had to wait 3 times before I got onto the LRT/MRT (because the passengers were already full to the brim and beyond the maximum capacity) and had to practically run to Intramuros. I thought I was late but the beauty of being in Manila is everyone is always late and the tour started at 10am, I was so disappointed when I thought everyone had left without me so I was sitting in front of the steps of Manila Cathedral enjoying the breeze and catching my breath and determined not to let it ruin my day when Carlos Celdran suddenly appeared!

I was so happy when I saw him. It's really an adventure to take the public transportation to Intramuros and I really dread having to go again because I've been there 3 times(for different reasons)!

Though a little bit pricy but his tours are definitely highly recommended, it feels like a walking theatrical experience! He's very entertaining and he has different soundtracks and props for different occasions during his tours! Amazing! Below was when he was talking about the Americans in Manila. He even put on the American accent while he was impersonating General McArthur.

St. Augustin Church and some of the interiors. We're not supposed to take photos, at least, not with flash anyway, but all the Pinoys *snap snap snap* with flash...

You get to make 3 wishes when you're in St. Augustin Church, what would you wish for?

Plaza San Luis

After the 2 hours walking tour, Carlos Celdran treated everybody to a glass (or as much as you want) of Halo-halo. Aww...isn't he nice? Also, because he said, Filipinos are just like Halo-halo, you're not a true Filipino unless you've decorated something to death like the Jeepneys! So Halo-halo is a combination of various sweet condiments in ice, just like our ABC.

So what did I do after the tour? Treat myself to a sumptuous meal of course!

Cafe Ysabel

"Cafe Ysabel is the restaurant of Center for Asian Culinary Studies."

A 9 months cooking course costs about US 70-80k. Not only it's one of the best cooking school in Asia, it is also highly raved by food connoisseurs even Anthony Bourdain and Bobby Chin came and had a review at this restaurant.

Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling well that night, after an overly stuffed weekend, my tummy was feeling crummy.

However, the freshly baked bread paired with this 'Special Secret Ingredient Olive Oil' is indeed very yummy and special.

I ordered the Angry Sauce pasta -shellfish, salami and rich Naples sauce spiked with peppers, vodka and brandy. The name is so cute isn't it? The flavour is indeed very good and it's not as peppery or alcoholic as I expected and the seafood is so amazingly fresh and cooked just right. Now I understand why people loved eating seafood, especially when it's fresh and cooked just right. Sadly, I couldn't even finish half of it and also skipped dessert.

Salmon ala Griglia - grilled fillet with red wine sauce and kalamata olive puree.



Grilled Salmon in Miso sauce.

Peter Pan Pie – chocolate ice cream, butterscotch and Belgian chocolate in a cookie crust.

Crepes Ysabel – our chef's own rendition of this luscious dessert.
It's actually crepes with mango and Vanilla Ice-cream.

The food presentation at Cafe Ysabel is amazing!  If I could stomach more, I would've definitely ordered more stuff and taken more photos, look, even my photos turn out crummy, I guess it really wasn't a good day for me to eat...

BUT! What is great about this place is the school provides short courses for food enthusiast like me! And it's CHEAP! So I'm definitely coming back to take some lessons when my schedule permits! Muahahhaaa....

Caruso Oh Caruso

Caruso is one of the best Italian restaurant in Manila.

Therefore, it is a must place to go!

It's actually quite pricy unfortunately but the food was good.

We went too late, so we couldn't 'afford' to eat too much, *aghem* so we had 'sufficient'. Haha... definitely going back for 2nd round. What I had was really just an introduction.

I had the octopus carpaccio with potato and lemon, my friend had the mushrooms and my sister ordered the ham free basil pizza, but I prefer Margarita actually.

Frankly, if you're stressed out and dying to have something decadent and sinful - the deep fried breaded mushroom in cheese is definitely the one to go for! Haha....Yumm!

Then my other friend had lapu-lapu (fish) and the far end was squid ink pasta.

Binondo - Chinatown Manila

Went to Binondo on a beautiful weekend. It's quite impossible to go there during the weekdays because the traffic is just too congested.





Ongpin Street - the center of Chinatown.



You'll be surprised with the varieties that are available in this Chinatown, everything you wanted from Hong Kong, Taiwan or China you can find it here.

I'm getting old, I need Chinese food when I travel...



Century Egg Congee. The waiter said a bowl is only good for one person, uh-uh, it's good for two! They serve crazily huge portions here.



Garlic prawns and vegetarian hot pot.



Bamboo and winter melon.

But these food is still no where close to home's...

Sunset Cruise at Manila Bay

We were lucky enough to be invited for a sunset cruise on a friend's personal yacht.

Check out my handsome sailor :)

My wonderful entertaining hosts - Jacob and Matthew.

The view of Manila Bay from the yacht. Jacob says that's the building that's on fire, but it's actually the reflection of the sun.



The sun, from where I was sitting, can be quite dangerous to stand up unless you're the Captain.



The moon was already out but I couldn't get a clear photo of it.