Hungry Travelers

Who or what is this?

2009-08-09T17:35:00.004+08:00

One of the most fascinating items I saw in the Syquia Mansion was this sculpture of what seems to be a soldier. I say soldier basing on his cape, helmet and sword, but I'm not really sure. It stands in front of a mirror in the mansion. There's something compelling about it. If I were to write a story about the "soldier," it would be a tragic, diabolical one.Is it just me or is the sculpture

Vigan, finally!

2009-08-09T15:29:00.016+08:00

I've always wanted to go to Vigan, Ilocos Sur and I finally got the chance recently. It was primarily an overnight business trip, but hey, we were already in Vigan so why not enjoy what the city has to offer.We left Quezon City for Vigan at midnight and the land trip took us six and a half hours. One of the travel tricks I've yet to master is to sleep while in the car/airplane. I don't think I

Food Trip

2009-04-10T23:24:00.005+08:00

I don't bother going on a diet before taking a trip to Boracay because all the self-deprivation would become useless one I set my eyes and hands on the various foods on the island. Warm Bread with Pesto and Balsamic Vinegar in Olive Oil Paella Valenciana in Dos MestizosTo get to Dos Mestizos, you'll have to walk a bit into the path beside the Tourist Center in Station 3. The restaurant has a

Boats in Boracay

2009-03-23T11:28:00.001+08:00

I will never get tired of Boracay. Never.Sinking my feet into those powdery, almost cornstarchy, sand made me want to say "aaaaaaahhhhh" out loud. I just feared that the men peddling sunglasses, pearls, and boat rentals would find me weird, if not, uh, unwillingly sexy.Speaking of boats, while I was trying to take a photo of the beach from the roofdeck of our resort, a dragonboat came rowing by.

Spit fire

2009-03-14T15:13:00.007+08:00

I love spicy food. I ate this rice meal at Thai Express in Singapore. I forgot what it was called but it has chicken and pepper. As you can see from the picture, the chicken looks ground up. It had a little bit of sauce with it. It was already very spicy at first bite but very delicious. I really liked its level of spiciness and saltiness.Oh wait, did I just say I liked its level of spiciness? As

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park

2009-03-10T20:12:00.004+08:00

To add to Ces and a Cup of Choco's Palawan post, below are some photos of the entrance to the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park a.k.a. Underground River (for brevity?). It's a 90- to 120-minute road trip from Puerto Princesa.For more info, you may visit www.puerto-undergroundriver.com

Nice washroom...

2009-01-18T20:53:00.003+08:00

Pretty neat, huh?

A good, no, GREAT, reason to buy an underwater camera...

2008-12-20T12:36:00.011+08:00

...Palawan! It doesn't have two entries topping the current New 7 Wonders list for nothing!I stayed overnight in Puerto Princesa (a scheduled but totally unplanned vacation). It was a real pity that I couldn't go to the Subterranean River! I've heard so many great things about it. But what can I do when I'm just staying overnight?!?Go to Honda Bay, that's what! My best friend and I were supposed

That amazing zoo

2008-11-22T22:03:00.011+08:00

I always complain whenever I accompany a first-time Singapore visitor friend to the Singapore Zoo. "But I've been there already..." And yet...The place is already huge and has a lot of attractions yet they still come up with something new each time I visit. That's one of the reasons I still end up amazed.A really good deal was the 2-in-1 ticket my friends and I got for SGD30. It allowed us

When Ces met Ben & Jerry

2008-11-04T15:57:00.004+08:00

Finally, I got to taste Ben & Jerry's ice cream! And it was so worth the wait. I'm so into that ice cream I want to marry it. Hahaha!I tried two flavors: New York Super Fudge Chunk and ONE Cheesecake Brownie. NYSFC was really chunky! One small scoop already had more chunks than a mug-full of a "chunky" local brand. Yeah, yeah, I eat ice cream by the mug at home. OCB really tasted like cheesecake.

Overbooked

2008-11-03T23:28:00.008+08:00

Well, there you go... I never thought it would happen to me but it did.My friend and I were among the last to check in for our flight to Singapore via Cebu Pacific. We didn't come late, but unfortunately, most of our co-passengers showed up much earlier. We were at the tail end of the queue and by the time we were checking in, check-in guy told us that we might not get on the plane. Why? Because

Satiated with satay

2008-11-03T21:40:00.007+08:00

Singapore. Smith Street. Satay. So yummyI, together with three friends, had chicken and mutton satay from a little kiosk called City Satay. We sat around a table along Smith Street in Singapore's Chinatown where Chinese lanterns hung high above our heads. The company of friends, the festive atmosphere coupled with tasty yet inexpensive food = a very happy Ces (and a cup of choco).The meat was

What is regret?

2008-09-08T09:03:00.000+08:00

It's what you feel after you eat a few pieces of really good chocolate then find out that those were worth 543 calories. WAAAH!!!!!!

Colorful Breakfast

2008-08-15T10:02:00.000+08:00

Took the day off from work to study for my final exam on Quanti on Saturday. What better way to start a brain-crunching day than to have a healthy breakfast! (Sounds like a commercial!) Salad was made up of greens, apples, carrots, cucumber, and tomatoes. Topped with caesar dressing. (Of course there were more apples than greens, haha!) Apple cranberry juice on the side. Love that red! Reality

Pastillas de Leche

2008-07-28T11:16:00.000+08:00

I have this clear picture of my 4-year-old self sitting on the bedroom floor of our old home with a box, more like a karton, filled crumpled pieces of white bond paper and white japanese paper. I don't know why my selective memory retained a vision of me and what seems to be just mere evidence of pastillas de leche. Perhaps my subconscious thinks it's a sin to leave the sugar-coated milk candy

Free Instant Recipe Maker

2008-06-12T21:59:00.002+08:00

I admit, I admit, I'm such a lazy cook. Oftentimes, I find myself staring blankly at our pantry or the inside of our refrigerator and I'll still be clueless on what food to cook. We would have meat, pasta, veggies, and spices, but I still wouldn't know which would go best with what ingredient. But now, I've found a new savior to help me during those what-can-I-cook-today moments.RecipeMatcher is

Pancetta e Pomodori Pasta A.K.A. imbentong pasta!

2008-06-10T13:18:00.003+08:00

Nothing substantial in the ref save for a pack of light bacon and lots of tomatoes. Thus this dish which I haven't cooked ever before. Buti nalang masarap! Kung hindi, baka ibalik ako ni Marvin sa nanay ko. This photo was taken shortly after we moved to our home and after a few attempts at using the new oven. I'm extremely scared of popping and sizzling sounds in the kitchen so I don't do fried

Take me to Paris!

2008-06-10T12:52:00.007+08:00

Darn Hubert! A few days ago he left me a YM message saying he's watching the French Open men's semi-finals. Live. Right there in Court Philippe Chatrier. I was sooooooooooooooooo envious. Someday, I hope to watch it live. No, not hope to, HAVE TO. Darn Hubert!I have the last laugh, though. He was rooting for Federer, I was rooting for Nadal. Rafa is still undefeated in Paris. *cue shouts of VAMOS

I dream of ice cream and planes parking in mini Sydney Opera Houses

2007-10-11T00:33:00.006+08:00

Some websites say that Suvarnabhumi is pronounced Suwanapoom; others say it should be Suvanapoom (our pilot said it this way). Whichever way you pronounce that word, Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport is massive! It definitely is a major upgrade from the Don Muang airport. As your plane taxies, you can already see the airplane parking bays. They reminded me of the Sydney Opera House. The passenger

Bangkok loves Benjamin Becker

2007-10-04T22:34:00.003+08:00

My friend Kumi and I recently visited Bangkok to watch the Thailand Open. Obviously, we are tennis fans.The event was held at the Impact Arena. It's part of a massive property, about 20 minutes away from Bangkok's Victory Monument. The arena itself was impressive, although the bleacher type seats were a bit scary. If you have vertigo, don't look between the steps!The restrooms were impressive too

Walking around Binondo

2007-07-30T21:45:00.002+08:00

Thanks to one of our office’s extracurricular activities, I was able to join Carlos Celdran’s All the Way Down to Chinatown tour on July 15.The Binondo area or Chinatown is not entirely unknown to me. My brother’s ex-girlfriend lived in Binondo and he took me once or twice when he visited her. My mother, who was assigned to BIR Binondo years ago, introduced me to Jones Bridge, to Q. Paredes, to

E-ticket anyone?

2007-07-18T13:14:00.001+08:00

I used to be curious how other people - especially those from other countries - book their travels online. Choosing an airline and picking a good fight, I mean flight, are very complicated processes and the least you'd want to happen is to book yourself a flight elsewhere when all you wanted was to get some R&R in Bora. Then there's also that nagging thought that someone might hack your credit

Ces and a cup of tsokolate-ah

2007-04-06T15:20:00.003+08:00

One of my all-time favorite food combos is tasty bread or pandesal dunked in tsokolate. My grandmother Lola Edil always served tsokolate whenever we were visiting at her house. Lola Edil's tsokolate and the tableya she uses for it are homemade so I'm sure there is love in every sip of that tsokolate. Aaawww...Lola Edil has been slowed down by age (she's a sprightly 91) and we don't go to the

My Favorite Salad So Far -- a recipe of sorts

2006-11-21T12:02:00.001+08:00

I just had the most delicious salad I have ever tasted in a long time! No, it's not in the menu of a famous Italian restaurant nor was it prepared by the hottest gourmet chef. What I'm sure of is that it was made with careful consideration of the taste preference of the person to consume it. No green bell peppers and the right amount of cheese to disguise the taste of vegetables. Heck, I'm one

Pizza Hut Bistro

2006-11-02T12:27:00.001+08:00

After a long day at work last week, I ambushed three of my former officemates to have dinner with me in Makati. Perhaps because I seldom set my tired soles on the busy streets of Makati or perhaps because they had nothing better to do, these three cool ladies happily obliged. CES AND A CUP OF CHOCO and I agreed to meet halfway through the stretch of Ayala Ave.On the second floor of Insular Life

Dumaguete City

2006-10-01T12:41:00.001+08:00

With a note about Jo’s Chicken Inasal I was about to comment on Kate’s entry but then I thought I should just post a separate blog entry so here it is.When I was still in elementary, summer vacations were always spent in Negros Oriental. We had relatives in Dumaguete City but my lola’s house was in a town about 3 hours away from the capital. Today, though, my parents also have a house in

AA Grill

2006-09-27T13:38:00.000+08:00

My love affair with AA started in 2003 during my first trip to Cebu. A local recommended that we try the famous barbecue and grill restaurant along Salinas Drive. At that time, it was more of a humble eatery than a restaurant. Customers picked out fresh seafood or meat products, put them in a tray, and passed the tray on to the staff for cooking.I recall that I couldn't take my eyes off the block

Carbon Market

2006-08-27T19:03:00.000+08:00

Heaps and heaps of dried fish and squid, in various sizes, abound in Cebu's Carbon Market. This is where you can buy the famous danggit as well as other pasalubong items such as dried mangoes and otap biscuits. Be prepared to smell like you've been salted and dried too when you stay here for more than 15 minutes. There's no escaping it. But, hey, that's part of the fun, right?

Charbroiled Burgers with a Twist

2006-07-31T22:01:00.000+08:00

The past 25 years or so have resulted in the fast growth of the, um, fast food business, of which burgers are a staple. Unless you’re a vegetarian, you’ve probably eaten dozens of burgers in your lifetime. So why is this article about burgers still?Well, some burgers are so special, they’re worth a try. These are the charbroiled burgers of Gourmet’s Palate. First of all, the patties don’t

Caylabne Bay Resort in Cavite

2006-06-22T07:44:00.002+08:00

Caylabne Bay Resort is an ideal place to spend the weekend. It is located 90 kilometers south of Manila in Ternate, Cavite. The property is secluded yet accessible, allowing visitors to enjoy the countryside without the hassle of a long and tiring drive. The resort is the only one classified as triple A in the entire Cavite province so don’t be surprised to be offered superior service and

Ah Fat Seafood Restaurant in Davao

2006-06-08T09:25:00.000+08:00

Ah Fat Seafood Restaurant is said to be the best seafood place in Davao City. It must be true. Because I was brought to have lunch here in two occasions by two different peple. And it's the only property at Victoria Carpark with another branch just about 30 feet away. Victoria Carpark looks like the Greenhills Shopping Center circa 1980s. There's Victoria Mall, which is like your Shoppesville,

Chinese Buffet Lunch in Cebu

2006-06-08T09:02:00.000+08:00

Stepping inside the Grand Majestic Restaurant is reminiscient of a traditional Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong. Thanks to its impressive interior decor and brightly-lit dining area, you would think that a serving of dimsum here would cost you 300 pesos.Well, actually, it does. But you don't just get siomai and hakaw (shrimp dumplings), you also get a slew of other delicacies like crispy pata (

Jo's Chicken Inato

2006-05-30T07:58:00.001+08:00

This is your simple chicken barbecue with special powers of temptation. The meat is very tender and the skin is just so sinfully crispy. I have been refraining myself from eating chicken skin until I got my hands on my Jo's Chicken Inato. A quarter-cut with rice costs only P68 in Tagbilaran, Bohol. Less than half the price of similar barbecue meals on Bohol's resort island, Panglao.I was

Welcome!

2006-04-12T16:05:00.000+08:00

Food and travel go together like bed and breakfast. You can have one without the other but the experience doesn't seem to be... filling.I'm finally joining the blog bandwagon by writing about two of my passions -- eating and traveling. I'm no professional food critic nor jetsetter -- just a foodie who wouldn't mind going to different places if time and resources permit.It doesn't matter whether