Eight years have passed since I first wrote this and a lot in my life has changed. But I think gratitude is one primary thing which helps me keep my sanity in these not so good times. I still thank my lucky stars! Year 2010 is not yet over, but as I gazing blankly […]
Checklist: Cold Weather Mountain Trek/Camping
I am resurrecting the checklist I used for my Mt. Pulag climb all those years ago. This list might be useful in the future if I ever get the urge to climb again. I did Mt. Fuji in 2017 and I had a lengthier list then, but the basics are already mostly here. Not all items […]
Recipe: Binangkal (Sweet Sesame Doughnut)
Description: I remember eating this Cebuano/Bisaya doughnut (or maybe it can be called fried bread?) whenever I visited my maternal grandma’s home, about 50 kilometers south of Cebu City, Philippines. I asked a favorite foodie and adopted mom of mine in Multiply – Mommy Loy – for permission to repost as I want to be […]
Recipe: Atis Ice Cream
Description: Taken from Celebrations: A Culinary Feast from the Roces-Reyes Table, edited by Delgado, et. al (Anvil Publishing, Inc. 2010). “Atis Ice Cream is such a luxury. There’s nothing like nonstop spoonfuls of pure atis frozen in creamy carabao’s milk ice cream. This is my grandmother’s recipe, and in the old days, when they didn’t […]
Recipe: Mrs. G’s Bread Pudding
I have had some of my best home-cooked meals at close friends’ tables. When they share their recipe, I make sure to take note. Description: Bread Pudding is thought of as an old fashioned dessert that had its humble beginnings in 13th century England. It was first known as a “poor man’s pudding” as it […]
PHILIPPINES: Davao – Spirale Ristorante
You can confidently bet your last piece of penne pasta when it comes to my visiting Italian restaurants which come highly recommended! Italian and Japanese are two international cuisines I try my darndest to savor when I visit another place. On 24th September 2011, after the extremely adventurous trip and butt-whomping rides through every imaginable vehicle […]
PHILIPPINES: Antipolo – Pinto Museum
Antipolo for me is way far off…but the expansive, beautiful gardens and exhibits of Philippine contemporary art was worth the long trip from Makati City. My first thought was – wow! I never thought something like this existed in Antipolo. Art galleries are spread around the country, but “Pinto Art Museum” took me back to […]
MYANMAR: Yangon – Pickled Tea Hostel
Due to our very tight schedule, for the first night in the city we opted for a hostel as we might be on the road come nightfall. Clean, spanking brand-new kind of feeling to the rooms and place – the dorm bunks the four of us occupied were spacious and well-designed. You have your own […]
INDONESIA: Surakarta – Rumah Turi Hotel
Review as entered in TripAdvisor: My regret in staying in this hotel was that we were so pressed for time, I didn’t get to spend many hours to enjoy our stay here. We only spent scant hours to check-in, sleep and eat breakfast. But I definitely would like to come back and stay here whilst […]
JAPAN: Jyōmyōin Temple – “One can never have too many Jizos”
Famous tourist attractions are understandably in a tourist’s bucket list but I do try including off-the-beaten track destinations in my travel itinerary. For this stay in Tokyo, I opted for seeing more of YANESEN – this is an acronym for YAnaka, NEzu, and SENdagi. These belong to a short list of areas in Tokyo that was spared […]