A Day and One-fourth in Hanoi

This is right across St. Joseph Cathedral. I wanted to go to Hanoi House Cafe, but we didn't have time. :(

When I saw the fire trees were in full bloom during a recent roadtrip to Dumaguete, I reminisced the same fiery sight I stared at in Vietnam and how the flowering tree popped the place with its deep orange color--and then it occurred to me--it's been a year since my Indochina trip! Funny how it took this long for me to make a post, considering the excitement I had  to update my blog when I arrived in Manila back then. zzzZZZzzz... 

What I did find is a short paragraph of how I described Hanoi during our first night at our hotel. I wrote:

"Staring down from the airplane window, I could see the city lights of Hanoi and how far it is from the airport, a pitch black gap distanced the two. We're thankful that our hotel, May de Ville Backpackers Hostel, provided us with a free shuttle service...even if the driver was half-asleep and almost crashed the car several minutes in. I was about to have a my flashback-of-my-whole-life scene but our panic thankfully woke him up, making the 45-minute ride to the hostel more memorable than most. We arrived at our place in the city's old district at 2AM, so it's no surprise that it was dead quiet and unalive." -May 21, 2014

The Gourmand Market

Although it was a totally bad idea to have decided to drop by the event after pigging out at Niu, causing me not to get excited at the sight of food AND not want to eat any more despite how pretty they all looked because I was still recovering from a food coma. Instead, what I found delight in was the whole set up of the place, transforming the site into a very rustic-vibe market with the whole crates and pot with dainty flowers thing going on. I had no camera with me, but the place was too pretty to ignore that I decided to use my cellphone to take the pictures instead. It was high-noon when I got to the place that I could not see what I was shooting at, but here's a few okay ones that I got at the end of the day.

With so much going on, I didn't really notice what they were selling.

I will never get tired of seeing coffee shops.

Reminds me of the movie props where the car smashes
right into the fruit stand and the pieces fly out the screen.

It was so bright I didn't see my finger was covering the lens.

Added attraction were three poor goats unsure of the whole situation.

This was the first thing that made me want to take photos
even if all I had was my cellphone.

Now, this could have been a better shot had the child chose not to sit there...

Chilled Taho from Holy Carabao for Php50.00

I did buy chilled taho from Holy Carabao to take home, and it was nice with them opting to use the large pearls instead of the typical tapioca ones. The taste though was lacking as compared to the ones being sold by manong taho on the streets...but they did guarantee a sanitary product at least. 

I did try the free samples being given out and the were tasty as the ones your aunt makes. You can feel the love they've put into every morsel of their product.

They provided picnic tables for a communal dining experience with other guests, and the whole setting was really a nice place to hang out in for those who like to be surrounded by food and all things organic.

The event will be until tomorrow at High Street Central...and I'm hoping they do it again soon because it's a pretty place to stroll through a few minutes especially when it's smacked right in the middle of a concrete jungle. 

Cafe by the Ruins

Strawberry Shortcake. A layer of fresh strawberries, shortbread, whipped cream and syrup. Yummehh!

The moment the bus arrived in Baguio city, after almost seven hours of butt-aching travel, we immediately thought "Luuuunch time!" Since we did our research, we knew the place to be was at Cafe by the Ruins. Doing research is one thing, but navigating the actual site posted as a challenge. We called a taxi to take us there and he said, "Lakarin niyo na lang!" and left us. :( It was nowhere in sight! We went to another taxi and asked him to take us there, and he said, "Mag jeep na lang kayo!" :(( At least he was kind enough to assist us and instruct the jeepney driver to take us there. It was the right decision not to walk all the way to the Chuntug branch from where we were at. We arrived at Cafe by the Ruins and was 16th on the waiting list. :((( On our way back to Manila we realized that there was actually another Cafe by the Ruins two blocks away from the Victory Liner bus terminal. :(((( I managed to buy a bottle of their fresh milk for Php120.00 before getting on the bus. It was so fresh that it got sour on the third day and I only managed to drink half of its content. D: Although interior-wise, I prefer the one at Chuntug St. than the one in Upper Session Road.

Despite the setbacks, their Tita Susie's Crispy Tapa alone was worth the trouble.

2014 Roundup

Our Nochebuena above and Media Noche below. I cooked pasta margarita, aglio olio, lamb steak and date bars this time.

What can I say? 2014 has been good to me, so good that I’m rather sad to see it tick by. I love it so much that I subconsciously awoken at 3AM today and for some weird reason and could no longer sleep…probably because of the coffee I drank before bedtime, but then again it was never an issue before. I’ve achieved so much this year: reaching the furthest point I could be in my life thus far, meeting new friends, learning new whatevers, tasting A LOT of dishes for the first time, riding the zipline, dyeing my hair red, getting a shot at working at a new department and putting out new projects, learned to like my job then resigned by year-end, but the highlight was establishing a startup business with my friends along the way. Needless to say, this year has been one of the best years of my life. My 2014 has certainly been a year that gave me back my confidence in making life decisions, big or small. This was a year of letting go of doubts and trusting my gut-feeling no matter the criticism, and it was because of that move that I was able to smile at the world a whole lot more.

The quote, “If you think things are falling apart, it’s maybe because so it could fall into place” or something of that note really came into my messed-up brain tonight. This year was about letting go of everything, and that includes the stable job I had for over two years, just so I can have a real start by 2015. And although I felt fear down my spine the moment I stepped out the office consciously knowing that I was now jobless in god-knows how long, I also actually felt brave having been able to do. For some, it may seem like a stupid move, but it was a proud moment for me to have stood my ground beside all odds.

2015 will be my transition year, between this point of my life, asking myself “what now?” and actually finding myself doing something I’ve always wanted without the constraints of being chained into an office. 2014 was my break-away year, and 2015 will be my making-something-out-of-nothing year.

And thus here are a collection of my last few days of this year...though it mostly revolves around food and eating. :/

It was a great one!

Thank you to everyone for the gifts!
I wasn't able to take the photos of the ones I got in Bacolod though. :(

Three things I do when I go to Bacolod:
1. Eat inasal at Aida's in Manokan Country.
2. Eat dessert from Calea or anywhere new.
3. Eat at a Korean Restaurant. It's cheaper. 

Dinner at Krabby Fatty. It was comfort food, but was a little sweeter than should.

Lord Byron's Baby Back Ribs for only Php150.00!!!!!!!
I mean, this would have easily cost twice as much in Manila.
It was a smoky-sweet and fall-off-the-bones meaty goodness.

Teacup Ideas at Passionfest and Art Mart 2014

THAT'S TODAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! and tomorrow!! See you there!!!!!

2nd Year Blogsary

I'mma turning two today! And Sheepig is celebrating it with a little bellydance.

I may have missed last year’s first anniversary, and this time I made it a point to be right on cue for the second one. Although I’ve been missing on many weeks of updates due to two things: scatter-mindedness and procrastination, but worry not since I’m weeks away from my last day in the office. Yes, as promised (to myself) this year will be my breakthrough year after two consecutive years in the dumps. So much happened this year that I can actually say things are looking up...but it's best I talk about this at the end of the year because I might jinx the whole looking up thing.

As for this day…I was at work…but I had a lot of free time planning our possible trip to Baler. Since it’s a Monday, it’s only natural that I’m in a daze from the weekend's happening and wish it was Friday today.

So…what else is there to say?

I’m hungry…I suppose. LOL!

Oh yeah! I’m thinking of updating the banner and background of my blog sometime by year-end…and proofread…urgh! I need to edit some posts here as I saw minor corrections in most of them. X_X And I also expect myself to be finally able to update a whole lot more at the start of 2015 since I’ll be free as a couch potato by then. Look forward to my posts about my 10-day trip around Indochina—as well as a couple more restos and cafes that I’ve been to the last few months! :D Yes, it’s sad that I haven’t made a whole lot of posts this year in spite having gone through a lot of firsts. Things will get moving by December, and if not, January.  

Book of Life

The first poster of Book of Life appeared in my local cinema months ago. At first glance I had mistakenly thought of it as a Tim Burton film, much like how I thought Boxtrolls was also directed by him. Let's just put, anything that is a dark rendered animation I assume Tim Burton is responsible by default. But by the end of the film it occurred to me that it did not have that magical Disney touch nor Brother's Grimm...grimness. No, it was distinctly beautiful in its own right that I'm actually glad that I decided to watch it in the big screen. Fox Animation did well on this one. The animation was flawless, even for supposed clunky wooden dolls running around doing chop-chop moves. The colors used--oh the gorgeous rendering of shiny glowing objects (because I'm obviously attracted to luminous stuff) that fills the background with flare--has mesmerized me throughout the film. The colors used remind me of videogames and locally published children's books, and that is always a good thing, personally. The soundtrack was also vibrant despite it being mostly acoustic ballads, thanks to the relaxing guitar plucking mixed with that velvety voice and Latin twang of Diego Luna--I ended up looping the song "I Love You Too Much" for at least an hour after the movie! 

I live for your touch

  I whisper your name night after night
I love you too much

The end credits was also catchy as it was sung by one of the happy couples who makes beautiful music together, Us The Duo. Urgh! If only I have a knack for music...makes me feel bitter to know their love story--Michael and Carissa Alvarado's--they even sang "No Matter Where You Are" at their wedding! >_< 

As for the movie...

The movie is a straightforward love story with that usual against-all-odds thing going on, but the theme also taps on death with the involvement of Mexico's famous fiesta Dia de los Muertos. There's an obvious tap on Mexican folklore, with the characters and terms being said. The skulls in the movie were more vibrant and ornate than Alexander McQueen's, far different from Jack Skellington's anatomy as well. There's the occasional humor mix of slapstick for the kids, and lines like "Why are you telling us these things!? We're only kids!!!" for the older folks like me. I actually found myself chuckling, especially at the emo kid.

Although there are some setbacks when it comes to character attributes, particularly on the supposed villain Xibalba, because he practically gave up nearing the end of the movie. He basically just stared at the hero and did nothing--wait--a lot of villains actually do that to help end the movie! My bad. Even the rivalry between the two leading men seemed confused many times, often overshadowed by their genuine friendship. What I did like was the portrayal of Manolo though, as his character didn't seem too linear unlike most leading men. He was like the wooden action figure of Prince Charming, only more well-rounded and a better version of. I also liked Joaquin, he was awkwardly charming and voiced sound's exactly like Channing Tatum! I also liked the characterization of Maria as this strong-willed woman, yet also hopelessly romantically inclined...a rather believable depiction of a modern-day woman. Other than the minor-forgivable setbacks, it's a delight to watch.

So watch it! Even Rottentomatoes certifies its freshness.