Gayuma ni Maria: A Sweet and Spicy Experience

Heavenly and sinful. Naughty and nice. Sweet and spicy. These seemingly contrasting words describe Gayuma ni Maria, all rolled into one interesting restaurant. In a nondescript street in Quezon City stands a charming house that has been converted into this enchanting restaurant. The street is easy to find but the place is trickier to spot due to its inconspicuous façade.

I’ve read about Gayuma ni Maria in a number of articles and know that they’re famous for their menu’s sexy and clever play on words and their take on comfort food favorites. I know, sexy and comforting in one package, hard to believe. You’ll easily get what I mean once you read what we ordered.

The Way They Lived - Apacible Ancestral House

The house is just a few steps across the street from Galleria Taal. After perusing the vintage camera and old photographs, we walked over to the Apacible house. It was already past its opening hours, but one of the persons-in-charge still welcomed us to look around. There is no entrance fee here, because the Apacible family has donated the house and all its contents to the government.

Galleria Taal: Mecca of Vintage Cameras

This is what really brought us to Taal.

Ever since we read about this extensive collection of rare and vintage cameras from a magazine, T and I had wanted to see it for ourselves. T, being a photography enthusiast, also has a collection of film cameras. A smaller collection, definitely, but I would still call it a collection. After our visit, he was inspired to display his assortment too. Maybe in the future we’ll also have a museum like this one. Right now he’s still enjoying taking photographs with cameras that are already found in this museum.

The Forgotten Heritage Town of Taal

I can vaguely remember my fist visit to Taal back when I was in college. It was a requirement for History class, so I just had to go. This time, I’m really excited to rediscover the place. When we arrived, I realized what my friend exactly meant when she described Taal as a “bedroom town”.

The atmosphere in Taal is laid back, almost sleepy. There are very few cars, people and establishments. When we were walking the streets, I hate to say it, but the place felt deserted.

Planning a Trip to Taal, Batangas

Taal is a place not a lot of people know. We usually associate Taal with the famous volcano viewed from Tagaytay. But the only similarity Taal Town has with Taal Volcano is they’re located in the same province. Taal was once the capital of Batangas, which means the prominent, powerful and rich were the residents of the area. Its grandeur is evident even today, with the magnificent houses, the massive basilica and the prominent individuals who once called Taal, their home.

Before going to Taal, research the places you may want to visit. Google doesn’t have a street map of Taal town, so we just asked around to get to the places we wanted to see. I found this website that has an extensive and informative list of interesting places and they recently added a map: http://taal.com.ph/

Capones Island, Camara Island and Anawangin Cove

Capones Island on the left, Camara Island on the right.

Eager to bury my feet in the sand and plunge in the water, we sailed away to the nearby beaches of Capones Island, Camara Island and Anawangin Cove. The two islands are visible from the shores of Pundaquit, about 15 minutes away. Anawangin, on the other hand, is about 30 minutes away.

Our first stop is Capones Island. I was pleasantly surprised to see the beautiful white sand beach and turquoise waters of this island. Definitely better than the Pundaquit beach. Unfortunately, there are no resorts here so most of the people just visit for a few hours coming from Pundaquit. There were few tents in one corner so it might be allowed to camp out in the island.

Pundaquit Beach

Pundaquit is a small fishing village located in San Antonio, Zambales, about an hour or so away from Subic. The small town has garnered more buzz in the recent years as the jump off point to Anawangin Cove, the famous camping site.

We stayed overnight in Pundaquit at Canoe Beach Resort. The accommodations are modest. The rooms have the essentials and nothing more. There's a bed, towel, private bath and the room we got is air-conditioned. There's no television and no hot shower or toiletries in the bathroom. As for the cleanliness, much can be improved.

The resort has a small pool, cottages near the beach for rent, a function room and a restaurant. The food is not bad and not that expensive, but if you don't like waiting, better order ahead of time.

That French Restaurant in El Nido

That French restaurant in El Nido is called La Salangane. Salangane is pronounced as sa-lang-gan.

This restaurant does not try hard to be a French restaurant. It just is. There is an authenticity to everything, from the menu, the decor, the staff and the food. The one page menu is French on one side and English and Chinese on the other. Soon, I realize that French is the primary language in this place.

Flavored rums sold by shots or by the bottle

When we arrived, the house is full. We ordered drinks and appetizers, while waiting for a table and deciding what to have for dinner. Looking around, the map hanging on the wall is in French. I browsed at the books and magazines and they're also in French.

The (Perfect) Alternative

The Alternative is a beachfront bar and restaurant located at El Nido town. The main attraction of this place is the unique seating available to customers called tubs.


The tubs are like round daybeds that have a low table in the middle. Around the table, the tub has a cushion and a couple of pillows, which makes it perfect for lounging after a day of touring the Bacuit bay.

There are two tubs facing the beachfront. Each can accommodate four. The two other tubs at the back are bigger and can accommodate up to six.

Being at The Alternative feels like being in a tree house. It helps that the restaurant is elevated, but also because everything is made of wood or natural materials and plants are everywhere.

El Nido Island Tour Day 2

Another morning in paradise…

For the second day of our tour, we already know thedrill. We wait for the boatmen to load things we'll need and made sure we rented a kayak for the day. The sky out in Bacuit Bay seems dark and cloudy, but we hope it won't rain on our El Nido parade.

Today’s tour is also known as “Tour B”. The sites we'll go to are farther away from the main island. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the Cathedral Cave, our first stop. We whiled away our time by asking each other what figures we can make out of the different islands and rock formations.

El Nido Island Tour Day 1

the El Nido sunrise

Our second day at El Nido marks the first day of our two island tours. The morning  was bright, sunny and filled with excitement. Countless boats lined the beach, swaying to the waves, ready to whisk away  passengers to paradise. On the shore, tourists kept busy doing what tourists do, as boatmen and guides get ready for another day at the office. I'd love to call this place my office.

Just like in Puerto Princesa, tours are already organized and you'll see similar choices in the different tour organizers. For today, we're going on what they call Tour A (they weren't very creative with the names), which includes Small Lagoon, Big Lagoon, Secret Lagoon, Simizu Island and 7 Commando. The tours usually start at 9am and ends between 4pm to 5pm. If you avail these tours, it would also include lunch. Rates range from Php700 to Php1200 per person.

Public tours are available for those traveling alone or small groups. It would be better to arrange private tours though so you can control the time spent on each place.

Journey to El Nido

I'd like to say our travel to El Nido is smooth sailing, but it's not. Our long and bumpy journey to El Nido started in Puerto Princesa, which is an hour flight away from Metro Manila. There is 237 kilometers of land separating El Nido from Puerto Princesa. From the capital of Palawan, we traversed highways, snaked through mountains, passed different bodies of water and stopped for check points so many times that I already lost count (our guide says this is normal, just a precautionary measure).

Whenever we'd see a body of water, we hoped we're already close. Sleeping in the van is difficult because most of the roads are not yet cemented(or under construction) or you're swayed (not lightly) to the zigzagging roads up or down a mountain. I haven't ever had motion sickness from any kind of transportation or theme park rides, but this trip, I almost did.

Turn Back Time at Claude's

When I met with my friend E on a recent visit to Davao City, she brought us to Claude's Le Cafe de Ville for dinner. Of course I've read about this restaurant, having done my usual research before travelling to a new place. E said it's the only nice restaurant in Davao City. She must know, she was born and raised in this Southern city famous for durian fruits.

Claude's is located at the city center in an ancestral house, previously owned by the first mayor of Davao. They actually recently transferred there from their original place across the street. My friend said people were wondering why Claude's would transfer to this haunted house. But after the restoration, the old house was transformed to a charming early 20th century home, as it would look like when it was first constructed.

Pearl Farm Resort Part 2: Beach, Pool, Food and other good things at Pearl Farm

It's been a busy month of April for me, so it's only now that I've made a follow-up on my first post about Pearl Farm Resort. (Read Part 1 here.)

Pearl Farm has two beach areas, the Maranao and Mandaya beach. Maranao beach is short, about 200 meters, but it's the better one of the two. The sand is fine by the cabanas, but will get rocky closer to the sea. It gets better though as you go into the clear turquoise water. The Mandaya beach, on the other hand, does not look suitable for swimming. It's so rocky that we didn't dare try to go in the water.

Pearl Farm Resort Part 1: Pearl of Davao

Pearl Farm is located in the Kaputian District of Samal Island. It is one of, if not the most expensive resorts in Samal Island. The picturesque view from their Maranao Beach is of the emerald green waters of Davao gulf, the white sand beach of Malipano Island, back dropped by Mount Apo, the highest peak in the Philippines.

To get there, Pearl Farm has it's own wharf called Marina, which is just a few minutes from the airport and a good 30 minutes from the city center. Marina in itself is a hotel. There are rooms, a pool and a restaurant.

Diniwid Beach Part 2: Orinda Boracay

There are not a lot of choices for lodging in Diniwid, but I think there’s a good selection that can serve different tastes and budget. We stayed at Orinda Boracay. It’s a simple resort/inn, fronting the beach with courteous and well-trained staff.

Upon arriving at the hotel, we were given bottled water, asked to sit and register to check-in. In only a few minutes, we were already given our keys, a piece of paper containing the password for the wifi and the shuttle service schedule to D’Mall with the driver’s cellphone number. We were also told what time breakfast is served and that we can have it in the room, at the dining area or out front by the beach. I thought it very professional, organized and thoughtful of them to already give all these information upfront.