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? :)

Go Green!

Philippines is a meat nation. It is pretty hard to get vegetarian food. Often, if you tell them that you're a vegetarian or you don't eat meat, they'll say, "Oh we got fish." However, Corner Tree Cafe is probably one of the rarest vegetarian restaurant in Manila and also the winner of the Best Vegetarian Restaurant in the Philippines. Not only they serve western style vegetarian food but also local style and catered to vegan or non vegan.

We ordered the feta/spinach croquettes, deep fried lumpia and fried polenta with mushroom sauce. I really love lumpia and they make very good ones, they're crispy and not oily at all. I don't know about carnivores but for me, if I can have such great tasting vegetarian food like these constantly, I really don't need meat :)

Corner Tree Cafe (Vegetarian Food)

150 Jupiter Street Bel-Air, Makati, Metro Manila

Summer Fat Camp 2010 - Destination II

Summer Fat Camp Destination II is the.... Philippines!

No summer camp is complete without going to the beautiful islands of Philippines'. For this trip, we went to Apo Island. Apo Island is a diving heaven and a marine sanctuary. I was hoping to go diving and I did! But I didn't feel too good after the first dive and got really sick but other than that I had a great time on my 2nd dive and snorkeling in the marine sanctuary. The hotel that we stayed in is so rustic that there's no running water and electricity is only available on certain hours. Reminds me of my grandmother's place when I was growing up. :)

Isn't the weather and the sea beautiful?

It was an awesome weekend! I would love to go to Apo Island again and maybe you can come along too! :)

Legazpi

After a fruitful 2 days of swimming with the whale sharks we went to spend a night at Legazpi.

The main attraction would be Mount Mayon or Mayon Volcano.

"The most destructive eruption of Mayon occurred on February 1, 1814. Bombarding the town with tephra that buried the town of Cagsawa—only the bell tower of the town's church remained above the new surface."

After the eruption in 1814, the Daraga Church was built on top of the mountain and is now the country's historical treasures.

We were totally overwhelmed by the beauty and the weather, we just couldn't help ourselves. =)

Thanks NLC and GGA for the photos!

Dear flying friends, I had so much fun! Thanks for the great last weekend!

This is the best Filipino breakfast I've ever had.
Really, I'm not a fish person but this Tilapia is so fresh and well fried and the almost non existence bone almost made me lick my plate clean! My father will definitely be proud of me. =)

Donsol

So swimming with the whale shark, or locally known as the butanding is a must do in Donsol. On a good weekend, you get to see more than 20 over butanding, but if you're not in luck, there's no sight of them. Too many (good) things happened over the weekend...

Waking up at 4am to catch the 6am flight to Donsol.

Mayon Volcano , Woodland's Resort - Where we stayed at Donsol, the sunset before we took the boat out to see fireflies at the mangroves.

2 hours dinner by this eccentric lady at Barracuda Cafe, though, food is yummy, around the town of Tabacco market and the church that was built in 16th centuries.

JUMP!

Over the weekend, I jumped 17 times into the sea, saw 3 whale shark's fin on the water surface and swam over 2 hours with them (collectively). How was it? Oh, it was definitely a very surreal experience, feels like as if you were flying in the water but when you see the whale shark about to bumped into you, you wish you could just jump out of the water straight away - well that's how I felt, I know some people actually wished that they could ride on the gentle giants!

It was quite stressful in the beginning when the guide told you to get ready and before you know it, he said, ' NOW! NOW! NOW! JUMP!'. Then you have to jump into the water before the whale sharks swim away. Sometimes when the guide is really good, the moment you jump into the water, you see the gentle giant head on. Oh my, many times I swerved right away as fast as I could but the guide always pull me closer to it and laughed.

But when you get to actually swim side by side with the whale shark, your whole world seems to quiet down and you're in a surreally calm atmosphere, watching the giant fish swimming next to you or underneath you, until they come too close to you or you have a collision with a fellow blind snorkeler. Haha... =) But this is definitely a once in a life time must do experience!

Thanks NLC for the photo!

S.C.U.B.A

Aren't they beautiful?

All the photos are taken at Koala and Arthur's dive sites at Anilao.

Thanks to KJL for the photos!

Anilao Rocks!

I did it!

I must say, I'm quite proud of myself and I didn't expect to say that I will definitely come back to Philippines to do more diving with the great bunch of people that I've met!

Over the weekend we went to Anilao for our check out dives, meaning, to check out from diving class. :)

Bambu Villa Resort, where we stayed. Our dive master - Neyney was checking the equipment to make sure everything is ok. Right before the dive, everybody just lounge around doing nothing. Before the dive, the dive masters gives briefing to the group then only everybody suit up and head towards the waters!

Anilao is a great diving spot. Apparently there are more than 10 dive sites at Anilao.

I must say it was very terrifying in the beginning, but at the end everything is worth it. Even the sunset was amazingly breath taking. Just looking at the sunset feels like a reward after a hard day's of work.

So for our training dive, we went to Cathedral and Koala. At Cathedral, you get to feed the fish and they swarm in schools around you as for Koala, the corals are really beautiful but I don't have any photos to show you.

These photos are taken at Cathedral courtesy of my friend who has an underwater camera. :)

To all my diving class buddies... you guys are a great fun to be with!

I'm glad I took up scuba diving. :)

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!

Happy Valentine's Day!

So what did you do for the weekend?

Well, I went for a road trip! Where else but to the beautiful Tagaytay again!

The drive was quite jammed, I think everyone was planning to go for a romantic getaway over the weekend.

First stop - Antonio's. I was really looking forward to lunch because I was hungry and the drive was a little bit crazy.

I'm too hungry! And this time they added parsley on top of the olive spread. Yummers.

My friends ordered the Valentine's Menu Set and it comes with both white and red wine and I ordered the Dalandan juice, a popular local juice. It tastes so much better than lime or orange juice. I had like 4 glasses!

The salads, I can never get enough of the salads, they taste just too amazingly out of your expectation! The combination of the vinaigrette with blue cheese and the greens and the fruits? Woah...it's one hell of a ride for the palette. Simple yet bursts of flavours!

Lime Sorbet - right before the soup and the main course.

Look at my beautiful rack of lamb. The sauce was a little tad too salty, but it tasted great with the pumpkin rissoni! I love it so much!

Gnocchi and pumpkin rissoni.

Ah hah! For all chocolate lovers out there, have you tried Spicy Chocolate? My my, it does burn your throat a little bit like how old ginger does.

I never liked poached pear, but Antonio's poached pear with Vanila ice-cream is perfect. *Swoon*

Supper - What's left of the 600gm steak that comes with the Valentine's Menu Set.

Eating at Antonio's has always been an experience for me, not only the food is affordably priced for that kind of quality, it is also very highly recommended for those who intend to visit Tagaytay.

Day 2 :

We tried to wake up before the crack of dawn the next day just to watch the sunrise but it was a cloudy day and ain't no see no sunshine.

Breakfast by the lake was quite cool.

Right after breakfast, we need to take the boat to the opposite island for a short hike up to the crater.

We stayed at this quaint little B&B called Flamingo Lake Resort which has only 4 rooms.

The trail towards the top was very dusty. On a full day, up to 1000 tourists hike up to the top, we were early, it was only 7am so we didn't have to suffer much from the dust.

The view from midway.

Finally we reached the top after 35 minutes - let's take a break!

On the left is the lake in the middle of the crater, look up front, you can see Taal Volcano, on the far right opposite the island is where we came from.

What is amazing is that, here you see the lake in the midst of the crater, then you see Lake Taal surrounding the island. So it's like a lake in the middle of an island surrounded by another lake in the middle of an island.

Ah, the hammock, just perfect after the hike.

After that, we went to Tagaytay Highlands, it's actually a Private Country Club but since our resort is affiliated to the Country Club, we had special invitation passes. It's not the greatest photo ever but the place is almost as big as Cameron Highlands and it's private, you can only enter if you're a member or you have a special invitation card. It's like a small town, kinda feel like a combination of Cameron Highlands+Kota Tinggi. And on the peak, you have a full view of the whole Tagaytay and you could also see Manila at the far end.

There are 3 golf courses, different properties spread throughout, the cabins, the bungalows, the condominiums and the apartments, various recreational sports and business facilities, cable car services, 20 restaurants.. etc etc etc.

So we went around looking for a place to eat and everyone raved about the Tagaytay Highlands China Palace so off we go in search of good Chinese Food. And of course, the food is as good as it looks! :)

Well I must say, all I did over the weekend was indulging in good food, so don't be surprised when you see me next! Double than what I used to be - Ooops. Hehe. :)