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.

A Day in Davao City

If you have one day to spend in Davao City, here's my suggestion on what to do, places to visit and food to try:

7:30am: Breakfast at your hotel. It's the most convenient way to go. There's a ton of choices for a place to sleep in Davao City, from luxurious to the affordable. Dormitory-type hotels seems to be popular. This will fit the bill for those travelling in big groups on a tight budget. From less than Php1,000 to as much as Php6,000.

8am: Grab a taxi to Crocodile Farm. From the city center, Crocodile Farm is about 45 minutes away. Taxis are abundant in the city and drivers are honest so no need to worry about getting tricked. It will cost about Php150 from the city center to Crocodile Farm.

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.

Return to Nature at Eden Nature Park

One of the perks of working in the corporate world is sometimes you get to go to places for business. Although if it's just a short trip, there's usually only a few hours of personal time. On this trip in particular, most of the personal time we got was just for sleep (and it's not even enough sleep for me!). It's still nice though to be able to get out of the office on what should have been a regular work day.

 Our first two days was spent up in the mountain at Eden Nature Park. Their tagline, "return to nature", is perfect because you'd feel like you're in the middle of a forest inside the resort. Amazingly, they say most of it is actually man-made. It's the owner's private garden and vacation house before it was opened to the public.

T's Frazzled Cook Birthday Celebration and My First Civet Coffee Experience

It seems destination restaurants have sprawled around the metro in the last couple of years. These off-the-beaten path eateries offer something special other than food and somewhere to eat. It could be a unique location, rare delicacy, authentic cuisine, kitschy decorations, mood-altering food or doubling as an art gallery (like this restaurant in my previous post). For me, the thrill is in the discovery of something new and the overall dining experience.

One of Frazzled Cook's tables.

The Frazzled Cook hits a few of the destination restaurant offerings I've mentioned. Their location is an ancestral house in a residential area in Mandaluyong City. Their kitschy decoration consists of books, magazines, mismatched chairs and dining tables, antique chandeliers, old postcards and a group of chinese lucky charm cats. The rare delicacy they're offering is Civet coffee or Coffee Alamid as it is known in the Philippines. Sounds interesting, right?

Coron Part 3: Coron Island Tour (Nemo Found!)

On our second day in Coron, we were scheduled to have the Coron Island tour. According to our tour guide from Be Cool Travel and Tours, it would normally cost Php1200 per person for the whole day tour (from 9am to 5pm) with lunch. Since it was already included in the package we got, we didn't have to worry about this. Our tour guide and boatman were very nice and helpful throughout our trip, unfortunately, I can't remember their names (I'm so bad with names!).

We were picked up at the resort at around 9:30am. After some introductions, we got on our way to our first stop, the Marine Sanctuary. You can rent snorkeling gear from them for Php150, which you can use for the whole day. It's better to bring one of your own though or just use goggles, if you like snorkeling, just to be on the safe side.

Coron Part 2: Mount Tapyas and Maquinit Hot Spring

On our first day in Coron, we arranged to go to Mount Tapyas and Maquinit Hot Spring. Our resort got tricycles to bring us to these places and where ever else we wanted for around Php100 per person. A maximum of 4 persons can ride in one tricycle. Although more people can actually fit in it, that would make it a difficult climb to the foot of Mount Tapyas.

Our first stop is Mount Tapyas. It takes 700+ steps to climb to the top. What's there? Well, according to our pseudo tour guides (they're really just kids selling bottled water), you can see a good view of the Coron islands and Culion islands, the historical leper colony. I would just have to take their word for it because I wasn't able to climb all the way to the top.

Coron Part 1: Dive Link Resort

Coron is on the northern part of Palawan Island, famous for its rock formations, beaches and for divers, shipwrecks and rich marine life.

Our flight from Manila, although scheduled for an hour, landed in Busuanga airport 30 minutes earlier. Upon exiting the small arrival area, you'd see a number of tables outside, where different resorts have setup to welcome guests. It is highly advisable to make your reservations before arriving in Busuanga because I noticed the area was almost deserted once all the tourists have met up with their resort. Another reason is I don't think there's any public transportation from the airport to Coron town.

We went straight to Dive Link's table, where a friendly staff welcomed us and patiently answered some of our curious tourist's questions. The ride to Coron town, where most of the hotels and inns are, is 30 minutes from the airport. From the port, there's a 10-minute boat ride to get to Dive Link.

A piece of Taiwan in Ortigas

One of the things I look forward to on a regular work day is my dinner break. Fortunately for me, my Ortigas office is just a short walking-distance from two major malls, a few minutes drive from a couple of other malls, and the sprawling neighborhood restaurants in Kapitolyo just a quick drive away.

Shi Lin is one of those restaurants I go back to again and again after I discovered it. Their interiors may be modern but they serve traditional Taiwanese fare, and even their background music is authentic! It reminds me of the times my mom plays her cassette tapes of Chinese songs.

Xiao Long Pao

Their specialty is Xiao Long Pao( Shi Lin spells Pao as Bao. As someone who's of Chinese descent, I'm used to the Pao pronunciation, so that's what I'll use throughout this post.)

Art in the Park 2012

The Manila Art in the Park is on it's sixth year this 2012. Although this is my first time to visit the event, I've heard it has gotten bigger and received more visitors each year.

For those who have not heard of Art in the Park, it's an annual event that happens just one Saturday in February. It aims to bring affordable art to the masses (at least the masses who can afford to spare a few hundreds or thousands on art). This year, the maximum amount that participants can sell is Php30,000 (If US$1=Php44, that's US$682). It increased from last year's cap of Php20,000 (US$455). Either way, it's still a lot cheaper compared to prices in galleries.

A piece of France in Makati

Tucked away in a side street, in an area known for Manila's version of a flea market in Bangkal is Le Bistro D' Agathe. It's a quaint French bistro and art gallery by chef and owner, Patrice.

Wall art outside the bistro.

We accidentally found this bistro on a flea market excursion in Bangkal. We were going to have lunch at Fat Michael's, but found out that it has closed and Le Bistro D' Agathe has taken over it's location. The paintings on the wall caught my attention and as the sign says, it's also an art gallery. Interesting. We told ourselves we'll come back some other time since it was closed that late afternoon.

On the early evening we returned, the bistro is open and we're the first customers for the night. Inside, the place is dimly lit and cozy. The interiors are simple, probably for patrons to give more attention to the artworks on the wall. The place is small. With only a few tables and chairs, it's a perfect venue for a romantic date.

Diniwid Beach Part 3: Nami Private Villas and Spider House

As I’ve mentioned on my previous post (found here and here, there’s a good selection of lodging in Diniwid. From high-end, mid-range to the unique, there’s definitely something to suit different travelers. We stayed at Orinda Boracay, but I was able to take a peek at other options.

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.

Diniwid Part 1: Alternate Boracay

If you’ve been going to Boracay for at least once a year for the last few years, raise your hand. If you’re raising your hand, you’re probably one of the beach lovers who: A. knows Boracay like the back of your hand. B. Logs Boracay as your hometown in Facebook. C. Dreams of moving there for retirement, or move there. Period.  You’ve definitely stayed in a couple of different hotels, resorts, inns in the island, probably in White Beach.

Sand, sea, sky at Diniwid Beach, Boracay Island.

A close look at Diniwid's sand.

I’m guilty of that. For some reason, on my past trips, I’ve always stayed on White Beach. So for my trip last November, I browsed the web for other options and got interested on Diniwid Beach. It looks just like White Beach with its fine white sand, blue crystal clear water
and wide-open blue sky. The similarity with White Beach ends there though.

One Spa-bulous Day

One week before my friend’s wedding, I got early at our friend’s house to make sure everything is ready for our surprise bridal shower-spa party. I picked a home service spa company after reviewing and contacting more than 10 companies, probably close to 20. I viewed all the links Google suggested for the keywords “spa party home service”. I want to make sure we get the most value for our money (always my primary objective when picking goods and services).

Lucky 7

Wow, my first blog post. Incidentally, today's also the anniversary of my seventh year in the corporate world. I'm still with the same company I got into fresh out of college. I can't believe it's been seven years. There are days I barely notice all that time, if not for my more matured and stressed out look. I don't think haggard-chic will be the next beauty trend anytime soon.