avocado cake

last thursday, i finally got to taste one of the most unique cakes i have heard of. since junjun was in the gilmore area, i asked him to buy cake slices from lia's cakes in season.

this store is known for their avocado cake. unfortunately, that was not available when he went there, so he opted for avocado choco cake instead.


together with starbucks coffee (which we got with a discount of Php 40.00 due to earth day), we sampled the cake. it was a unique blend of the nutty and distinct flavor of avocado and the sweetness of chocolate. it was accentuated with cashew nuts. i really enjoyed each bite of the cake, which was very moist. for around Php 70.00 per slice, the cake was a treat.


other unique flavors are available at lia's. they also have other branches. for more details, you can visit liascakesinseason.multiply.com

i hope they have avocado cake the next time...

puerto galera

For our holy week trip this 2009, our family decided to go to Puerto Galera. This trip included my mother, my brother, his wife and three children, me and my hubby.

Since we had children with us, we decided not to “go with the crowd.” We left for Galera on Tuesday (April 7) and went back on Thursday (April 9). We stayed in Talipanan, where it was quieter and not too crowded.

At around 6am, we met near Robinson’s Place Pala-Pala where the terminal for vans traveling to Batangas City port was located. The fee was Php 150.00. There was little traffic on our way to Batangas and we arrived at the pier after approximately 2 hours.

At the pier, we bought tickets for the Commandos motorized boat, which is the only boat which makes its stop at Talipanan beach. Tickets are priced at Php 300.00 (one way) or 550.00 (round trip). It is advised that you buy your round trip tickets when you arrive at the port.

After the standard inspections, we boarded the boat. Coincidentally, with us on that boat is JB Soriano, a reporter from GMA. He was making a report on people going to Puerto Galera. We gained a little screen time in his report which was shown in GMA’s 24 Oras.

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

The boat ride was around 1 hour and 15 minutes long. During the travel, we were lucky enough to see a dolphin and flying fish (some sort of) jumping above the ocean.

Upon arriving at Talipanan Beach (the last stop after White Beach and Tamaraw Beach), we were welcomed by Ate Marge and Aya, the persons in charge of the resort we were staying in. We stayed at Mengie’s Beach Resort. The room we had was priced at Php 2500.00 per night. It was an air conditioned room, with a king sized bed, spacious toilet and bath, and a terrace outside. We also had an extra mattress which was setup on the floor of the room. Ate Marge is very accommodating; she lent us the kalan, fueled by coal, where we cooked our food. She also let us borrow one of her pitchers which we used for our water.

The resort also had a restaurant that served different kinds of viands and meals. The prices were also reasonable. We tried out the Sinigang na Tuna, which was priced at around Php 100.00 and was good for 4-6 persons.

One of the activities that we did was to ride the banana boat, which had a rate of Php 200.00 per person (the children were free). The first round was where my nephews rode, and it was made sure that the banana boat would not turn over. The second round however, which consisted of me, Junjun, my brother and his wife, and my niece, was the exciting banana boat ride. We were first bought up to White Beach and on the way back to Talipanan, they tried very hard to throw us off the banana boat, to which we happily complied to.

Other activities which could be tried were parasailing (at around Php 1500.00 for two persons), snorkeling, boat ride to coral reef (Php 700.00 per boat), and sea walking (this is at Php 1000.00, I think).

We also got to try the pizza from Luca’s, an Italian restaurant within the walking distance from Mengie’s. Their pizza and pasta servings were HUGE, and it was fairly priced. We had the Cañonero variety, which was priced at Php 380.00.

Before going home, Junjun, my brother, my sister-in-law and I also got henna tattoos, for a minimum of Php 100.00.

We enjoyed our vacation at Puerto Galera. We had lots of bonding time and lots of fun. I wonder where our next holy week would be spent…

a deeper experience

using the oceanarium tickets that our maid of honor gave us as a wedding/christmas gift, junjun and i visited the manila ocean park last april 6.

because it was a holiday, we went there at around 9:30 am to avoid the crowd. nevertheless, there were already people inside when we arrived.

the oceanarium featured different species of marine life mostly found in the philippines and other asian countries. the sections progressed from those found in shallow waters to the deepest part of the ocean.

turtle

bamboo shark eggs

giant spider crab

it was very interesting and relaxing to watch these different marine creatures. it is recommended that you take as much time as you can while exploring each area, and not let the crowd push you. if you think it gets too crowded, wait a little bit for the crowd to pass, and then go and look at each tank.

there are a lot of fish species and other marine life that you will meet here. at the end of the oceanarium, there is also a small activity area where one can learn about water conservation. other activities which can be done are fish spa and riding the glass bottom boat to observe the fishes seen in the tunnel.




overall, it was good getting to see all these kinds of creatures, some of which we only get to see on tv. i just hope that all visitors will follow the rule of not using flash when taking photographs. some people are just too dense or clueless to even ask the staff on how to change their camera's settings.

it is a deeper experience indeed...

sizzling pepper steak

last night, junjun and i had our date at sizzling pepper steak in glorietta 5. despite mixed reviews on this restaurant, i still decided that we give it a try.

when we arrived at the place, we were almost seated at once and was handed the menu.


because i scanned thru numerous blogs and websites regarding this resto, i already had a fairly good idea of what to order. i got a sizzling beef pepper rice and cranberry juice while junjun had the herbed chicken, japanese rice and bottomless soda.

sizzling beef pepper rice
(Php 185.00)

sizzling herbed chicken
(around Php 150.00)

the sizzling beef pepper rice was good. the beef was thinly sliced and was not gummy, the pepper flavor was just right. i think it just lacked sauce, or maybe i should have asked for additional serving of the sauce. the herbed chicken also has a nice distinct flavor and junjun liked it. the only downside of eating on sizzling plates was that you have to wait a little while before you can take your first bite since you will burn your tongue if you hurry.

the staff were friendly and efficient. prices were also good, we spent a little over Php 500.00, and they had no service charge. the place was a little crowded though, maybe due to the weekend crowd, so we sat on the veranda.

i would recommend this place to someone who would like a different adventure on eating.

big sale!

big sale this coming april 17 - 19 at the mega tent meralco ave. sponsored by bpi credit card.

lessons learned from bonito island

Last March 28-29 our project team held it's team building at Bonito Island Resort in Mabini, Batangas. (http://www.bonitoislandresort.com).


Here are the things that i learned from that trip:

1) websites can be deceiving
when i first learned of where we were going for our outing, i immediately checked its website. i was impressed by the website of the resort and thought that it would be a good chance to break from my usual routine. i was WRONG! almost nothing in its website is what is in real life.

2) aircons need rest
we arrived at the resort at around 10am. after checking in into our rooms, we found out that there was no power for the airconditioning units. what we did was ask the resort manager regarding this. her reply was "may gumamit kasi nung aircon buong magdamag kagabi, so kailangan magpahinga, mga 4-5 hours pa bago buksan." [the aircon was used last night, it needs to rest, it will take about 4-5 hours before we turn it on again]. what the...

3) electric water dispensers are used for dispensing purposes only
the water dispenser in the dining area is not plugged into an electrical outlet, hence the water is neither hot nor cold... it was room temperature.

4) salty water is the standard output of all pipes
salty water in the sea, in the poolside shower and in the room's shower. good thing they provided mineral water for brushing teeth...

5) buffet does not mean eat all you can
if you are late for the serving of the meals, and some of the dishes are no longer available, sorry... but you have to be contented on what is left for you.

6) termites are also guests
termites can be found in the window sill and bed frames

7) love the koreans
because there were korean guests present, the resort played korean songs over and over again... and served tons of kimchi.

the island itself was a beauty. some of my colleagues went snorkling and saw a variety of fish. but the management needs to improve (a lot) on its customer service or else they will lose the business. also, they should invest more in the maintenance and care of the resort... buy a higher capacity genset!