Sagada

On a not so recent long weekend, meaning last year, my friends and I went on an extreme adventure trip to Sagada. Ay mali pala, my friends went on an extreme adventure - cave spelunking, cave connection, trekking, etc. while three of us roomies slept and ate most of the time. It is a notch colder there than the cooler parts of Baguio, and the travel itself was no mean feat - 15 long hours. Sagada is about 6 hours away from Baguio, and the scenery on the way to, and in Sagada is majestic. :D


I did not get to take as much photos as I wanted to; the cold is making me palpitate. I would have loved to capture more local color.

I miss my jeans!

G pointed me to this blog yesterday. She's a fabulous mom, who, I noticed, wears jeans a lot. As I was looking at her older posts, I suddenly missed wearing jeans. Now if I can only fit in my old pairs. =))

Let's eat, Pampanga!

By three in the afternoon, we were all tired and sleepy. But we still have three stops to find, and the best one - recommended by bloggers and restarateurs - is yet to come.

Our next stop is iconic and popular Razon's famous for their halo-halo. No surprise there, because we already know how their halo-halo tastes like. In the interest of pagtitipid and over-all kabusugan, the four of us shared one serving of halo-halo. Yes, only one. One by one, we trooped to the restaurant, lugging our heavy equipment behind us, and then called to the waitress,

"Ate, isa ngang halo-halo."

And then she waited. And she waited some more. Then finally she asked, scanning our faces.

"Isa lang po?" Hahahaha.





Now, for some pasalubong shopping at Pampanga's best. I got curious about their turones de casuy because Jeremy was excited about it. He said it really tasted good. I am a fan of turones but I have yet to find one more delicious than at Eurobake's. So I tried their version. I wasn't sure if you can eat the white wide wrapper that comes with the turones, but Jeremy said it can be eaten, and that it tastes like ostia. The wrapper hides the candied cashew nuts inside. I think I still like Eurobake's more traditional version better.



And now for the star of this food trip -- Everybody's Cafe.

Before embarking on this food trip, I read a review of this restaurant in Flavors magazine, and again on one or two blogs, when I searched in Google. And when the attendant in Susie's Cuisine heard that we are on a food trip, she suggested that we try Everybody's Cafe which serves exotic Pampanga cuisine. Jeremy was actually willing to try their crickets.

It was getting dark and some of cannot wait for the food trip to be over. But on we searched for the mythical Everybody's Cafe. And then we got there. And it all went downhill from there.

The interior looked clean, but it has that distinct hospital smell, which would have been forgiveable if you were in fact, in a hospital. Their exotic crickets come at a hefty price, P200 for a small plate of crickets, which do not look delectable at all. So we settled for their batute, fried frogs with fillings in their stomach.



I've eaten frog a lot of times - fried, tinola, sinampampalukan - but for the uninitiated, frog simply tastes a lot like chicken. I like it specially when it is crunchy. At home, we get these frogs for free, but here in Everybody's Cafe, they come at P80 per serving. We were expecting at least three frogs per serving, but no! Only one pregnant frog arrived. Kung di lang talagang sineseryoso namin tong food trip na to, gusto na namin sabihin, are you effin' kidding me?

Good thing we still have one more stop before we call it a night. Nathaniel's. Yey!







Whew!!! Til next time!

Pampanga: A Taste Of the World (2 of 3)

From unpretentious, in-your-face sisig care of Aling Lucing's, we proceed to have lunch and coffee in cozy C. On a similar food trip to Pampanga, I remember a friend saying that before Yellow Cab's Dear Darla Pizza, there was C's panizza. We got a plate of Stefano Panizza, for a hefty P555.00, but I tell you, it is worth it. First they served bread (which was on the house), which you have to dip in olive oil with basil leaves chopped into tiny, tiny, tiny pieces.







(Ronna and Anie, here goes!)
Then came the Stefano Panizza, with plain cheese, parmesan, garlic and fresh rosemary which you stuff with green things that look a lot like pechay and togue hahaha (they're arugula and alfalfa sprouts). Initially, we didn't know what the greens are for, but of course, Jeremy Bourdain knew how to eat the Panizza properly (:p). It was amazing that Chef Chris Locher who owns the place was there to greet all of the guests.





We also had fun reading the messages written on plates by famous guests, and we were wondering why we did not get one. (Sikat ka, teh? I particularly liked this one, by Ryan Cayabyab.



Then on to Mexico! Kidding!

It would have been nice if our next stop, Zapata's, which boasts of Mexican food was actually in Mexico, Pampanga, but it is not. And we had a bit of a difficulty finding the place. We made a turn somewhere and thought that Zapata's was the place were many parked vehicles were, but it turned out to be just a vulcanizing shop. Kaya naman pala,Zapata's transferred to another location farther away from C.



Their doors seemed to come straight from a cowboy movie. The place was cute and Anie immediately found these cute costumes which we all wore.



We ordered nachos and virgin margarita and daiquiri, if only to keep the waitresses from throwing us out, after our photoshoot with their costumes on.



Virgin Daiquiri.

By now, we were so full we can't bear to think about food anymore, but to keep our integrity intact, we have to go on.

On the the next stop, Razons'.###

Next Stop: Pampanga (1st of 3)

Google "Pampanga" and "food" and you'll surely have more hits than when you google "Bulacan" and "food." If only for this reason, we thought our food trip in Pampanga would be more exciting, the food choices more diverse, the cuisine more dynamic.

So one sleepy Saturday, Jeremy, Anie, and I met up for another food trip, this time, in neighboring Pampanga. We fetched Ronna from Guiguinto and by 10:30, we were still on the road looking for our first stop, Susie's Cuisine. It was a bit difficult to find. I was so hungry that I kidded, "eh kung mag-drive thru na lang kaya tayo?" After a few wrong turns, we finally found it. Susie's!

We were the only patrons. Susie's Cuisine is famous for their Tibok-Tibok, a native delicacy with a consistency resembling that of maja blanca, and made with carabao's milk and topped with latik, but because we were so hungry, we had to order something more filling. Jeremy, Anie and I tried their palabok while Ronna got puto and dinuguan.






The palabok definitely looks tempting. It is actually delicious, except for the not-so-crunchy chicharon toppings, but their Tibok-Tibok (P20 per slice) is heavenly, and if only for that, we forgave them for everything else.



Pasalubong

Wow Kasuy

Next stop, the Sisig Queen, Aling Lucing's! It was unfortunate that the sisig queen, Lucia Cunanan, died in 2008, we would have wanted to interview her. I am sure Anthony Bourdain would have wanted to see her, too. Bourdain sampled Pampanga's most famous food, sisig, when he was in the Philippines early this year.

Cute signage

Jeremy Bourdain meets Anthony Bourdain meets Aling Lucing

Foodies cum photographers Jeremy and Anie

I heart Sisig
I liked their sisig, the meat is soft and juicy, not crunchy, as other adaptations tend to be. It was presented simply, no embellishments like eggs or mayonnaise that alter the taste of sisig. I wonder what Anthony Bourdain had to say about this dish.###

Coming up: A Taste of The World: Italy and Mexico in Pampanga

Excessorize

My 2010 is marked by over self-indulgence.

In the beginning of the year, I was so sick that I used up almost all my leave credits. I was absent from work for months at a time.

On days that I was strong enough to go out of the house, I would indluge in expensive lunches and dinners, thinking that the more I spend on food, the better I would feel.

And then there was my obsession over thrifting. I would scour the ukay shops in the vicinity of Cubao, Kamuning, Anonas for everything from cute skirts to jackets to trench coats, to boyfriend blazers, to dresses which are not exactly wearable, then I would have these stuff altered just so they would fit me.

And then the magazines. I bought all the current issues of Preview, then the back issues. Then I bought all the back issues of Yummy available in Filbar.

Then there was the issue of groceries. There came I point when I was at the grocery shop every day for, like, a month. Then I would cook elaborate dinners like spaghetti or Pad Thai noodles for my housemates.

And then there was the shoes. Oh, yes, I bought shoes that I would wear once, decide that I hate them and then give them away.

In short, I wasted a LOT of money this year.

And so, dear friends, if you are reading this, I want you to know that for Christmas, I would be giving away stuff I already have on hand right now. Don't worry, the stuff I'll be giving away are nice, and clean. I obsessively clean them, especially the stuff I bought from ukay.

Yun lang. Hehe. ###

Stagnant

I've stagnated. I've stopped studying, and I think I've stopped learning. I don't write as much as I want to, and as well as I used to.

And I have been shooting for a few years now but still haven't graduated from taking photos of flowers.







Kinda reminds me of a quote forwarded by a friend.

1. If you do not go after what you want, you will never have it;
2. If you don't ask, the answer will always be no;
3. If you do not step forward, you'll always be in the same place.