For our 9th anniversary, Toto and I decided to skip the usual beach trips and go for a quick R&R for a change. We scoured the net for quaint lodgings a few hours away from Metro Manila and there were just too many options, really. From Casa San Pablo to Corito's Garden to The Inn at Cliffhouse Tagaytay. But most of them are in South Luzon, and we didn't want to commute along SLEX on a long weekend (Chinese New Year) so we thought of looking at the Central Luzon area. There are considerably fewer B&Bs here and so it was a bit more difficult to choose the one that suited all our needs. Needs talaga, lels. Abe's Farm seemed to tick off all the things on our list: good location (not too far away and accessible), good food (they're part of the LJC group), and massage services (they have a "spa village" according to their website).
I can't believe it's been almost half a year since I last updated this blog! NOT. I'm on blogging hiatus most of the time so I don't know why I'm feeling obliged to blog now...must be the PMS/hormones. Hihi. So anyway, I'm loving how 2014 is turning up so far! There are a lot less travels but much more reconnecting sessions with family and longtime friends. And oh, a lot of pigging out, too! Ah, good times. January: Abe's Farm and Reunions Toto and I celebrated our 9th anniversary of being together (OMG, I feel so old) in this bed and breakfast a couple of hours away from Manila. It is not the best we've been to, the food is mediocre (and expensive), the place is not well maintained, and the massage is overpriced (!!) but we enjoyed our stay just by hanging around and doing nothing. LOL. I will blog about Abe's Farm in detail soon. I promise :D
After walking aimlessly along Maginhawa St. on a humid Saturday night, Toto and I finally decided on trying Don-Day Restaurant in Malingap St. I've never eaten in a Korean restaurant before because I heard their food tastes weird (and they probably think the same about Pinoy food) so I didn't know what to expect from Don Day.
Okay - I know, I know. Gross title. But if there's anything more memorable about our trip to this famed resort other than the "overratedness" of it all, it has got to be me shitting loads of papaya down the drain (will probably edit this after getting my imaginary "virtual manners" back).
Being the stereotypical tourist that I am, I wanted - no, scratch that - I needed to visit Pearl Farm. It promised a taste of luxury for a day tour rate of P1,950/person on weekdays and P2,500/person on weekends *gulp* Of course I scheduled our day trip on a Thursday. Besides, if we pushed through with the original itinerary and visited on the next day, which was a holiday, I'm pretty sure we'd have no place to even have our asses seated judging by the number of people already waiting in the resort's, well, "waiting area" (sue me for my limited vocabulary ples). Jack's Ridge is perhaps one of the most popular tourist spots in Davao City along with Eden Nature Park and Philippine Eagle Center. But after an in-depth research (naks), I concluded that Jack's Ridge is just like Eden Nature x Tagaytay (why do I sound so thesis-ish). Yeah it's great because it offers a good view of the city skyline and blah blah blah. But on that day we just decided to ditch the one-with-nature kinda place in favor of an all-you-can-eat-crab adventure (everyone loves crabs!! <3). A month before our trip to Davao, Two2Travel blogged about Glamour Restaurant & Cafe's crab buffet and that definitely gave us an idea on where to satisfy our seafood cravings. So after freshening up (because we sure as hell were stinky after spending eight hours around the city), we asked Court View Inn's receptionist for directions to Glamour Restaurant. She gave me a puzzled look because apparently the restaurant wasn't as famous as I thought it was. After five minutes of listening to ate receptionist debate with the other hotel staff, we left with no definite directions *facepalm*.
If there's anything about Boracay that we love more than the hot chicks and tanned dudes, it has got to be the food. Although we weren't able to walk past through station 2 (heck, we barely even made it to station 2!), station 1 has its own food heaven for the tourists to enjoy.
I am not so fond of eating unconventional, exotic and out-of-this world food. I don't consider myself an adventurer when it comes to eating (I just love to eat). In fact, when I like something from a certain food chain or restaurant, that's the only thing I would order for the rest of my life. Hihi. Even when traveling, I always order the "safe" foods like pork barbecue, chicken inasal and grilled fish. It's because I don't like spending on something I probably wouldn't like in the end, something that would leave me saying, "I should have ordered this or that." Toto, on the other hand, loves to try new things. He always likes to have a taste of the house specialty. Ate Pong, his sister, loves exotic food. So on our way to Pulilan, Bulacan to attend my cousin's birthday, they couldn't stop talking about itik. Almost one year ago they had a taste of a local eatery's fried itik and they were so delighted by its taste that they considered it one of the highlights of their stay in Pulilan (lol). Itik, pato, bibi, duck, or whatever your call it, isn't exactly an exotic food in Bulacan. It's actually a common pulutan or finger food shared over bottles of beer. But for someone like me who'd rather eat chickenjoy on any day of the month, itik is exotic ;p
So recently I've decided to not make this blog travel-exclusive anymore. It's pretty lame to maintain a travel blog when there's nothing to blog about, really. I'm not the type who travels on a regular basis anyways. Not enough funds :| And since I'm in love with just about anything that's edible, a food section is a natural addendum. I actually eat more than I travel. Or more than I exercise (I know, I know). I don't splurge on clothes or shoes as much as I do on food. So, uhm, yeah :|
Today, Toto and I decided to have some homemade kebab. I love Persian food and anything that has bell pepper on it. The ingredients are not hard to find and we're already tired of fried food so we're excited to do our very own version of kebab! *cue MasterChef opening music* |