How We Can Help Haiyan/Yolanda Victims

Check out the following sites for more information and most recent updates:


#BangonPH

Google Crisis Response

#RescuePH

Hope you'll find these sites helpful

Anyway, ending this post with a song my office mate was playing in our office. I just felt it's timely and apt for our country's situation. Super empowering lyrics!

You should listen to the song here.

Bangon by Rico Blanco

Pinaluhod tayo, 

Sa isang hagupit

Niragasa, sinalanta, 

Pinaluha

Humupa ang unos, isang bahaghari!
Dala ng bukang liwayway-

Pag-ibig

Pagkakaisa

BANGON

Pilipinas kong mahal

Akay ang pananampalataya sa may kapal

AHON

Buhay sa yong dugo

Ang tibay na tatak ng tunay na Pilipino

At nagising ang bayanihan
Milyon milyon naging isa

Walang kami

Walang kayo

Walang sila

Tanging ligaya

Ay pag alay ng sarili sa iba

BANGON
Pilipinas kong mahal

Akay ng pananampalataya sa may kapal

AHON

Taglay ng yong dugo

Ang tibay na tatak ng tunay na Pilipino

Bridge:

Hindi ka namin iiwan

Hindi tayo susuko! 

Lulusong tayo't magtatagumpay

Magtatagumpay! 

BANGON

Pilipinas kong mahal

Akay ang pananampalataya sa may kapal

AHON

Buhay sa yong dugo

Ang tibay na tatak ng tunay na Pilipino

Coda:

Lahat nitong mga pagsubok

Ay ating kayang lagpasan

Lahat nitong mga pagsubok

Ay ating kayang lagpasan

Alaminos - Bolinao Road Trip

My friend Rose just celebrated her birthday in Pangasinan last week. Luckily, Carlo and Marlou's family lives in Bani, Pangasinan. It's a small town between Alaminos and Bolinao. So yehey!! It's just a short drive going to the Hundred Islands, Patar Beach and the Enchanted cave. 

We arrived Nov 1, had breakfast in Carlo's lola's house. We had shrimps and danggit! It was indeed a special breakfast to welcome us. Mama Ced, Carlo's grandma, told me the shrimps were small and there weren't many seafood in the market since it was rainy season. It was okay, we were just hoping that it wouldn't rain when we go island hopping. 

DAY 1

During our first day, we didn't waste any time at all. We just rested for a bit, then drove all the way to Bolinao. Our first stop was the Lighthouse. It wasn't peak season so it was just us visiting the place. We were actually scaring each other since the environment was a bit eerie. We just took pictures and went straight to Patar beach. 

 

 

Along Patar beach are a lot of inexpensive resorts. But if you have the money, it's really very nice to stay in Puerto del Sol. Since we already have a place to stay in Bani, we just went to the open beach. It's part of the Patar beach that is open to the public. We only had to pay P30.00 for parking. Beach huts were also there for rent, but since we weren't planning to go swimming there, again, we just took pictures. :) 

After our photo op in Patar, we drove to the Enchanted cave. the entrance costs P90.00 per person, if you decide to swim inside the cave, you just have to add P30.00 per person. A guide will accompany you to a super short trek going inside the cave, the cave was already developed that's why you'll see stairs and lights already installed inside. The water was so clear. And cold!!! But wow! It was so refreshing! There are ropes on the sides of the cave so you can hold on to those, but for those of you who are good swimmers, you can go to the middle part of the cave where the water is 8ft deep. The cave stretches to 25 meters. I actually wanted to go to the end of the cave but it was too dark and Carlo was scared. Hehe. :) SO nevermind! We stayed there for about an hour and a half and went back home at about 5 in the afternoon. We got to Bani after 45 minutes. Dinner was waiting!!! SO hungry! 

 

 

After dinner, we just had a few drinks, and lucky for us, there was a fair and a Halloween party just right beside the house! So we decided to walk around and look for things to do. After feeling sooo tired, we went back home and slept. 

DAY 2

Carlo woke me up at 9am, telling me we had to prepare for our drive to Alaminos. I was still super sleepy but also didn't want any time to pass without doing anything. SO we drove to Alaminos. It took us only 30 mins to get there. 

When we got to the pier, people asked us if we were going on an Island hopping. You'd have to register before renting a boat. There were 5 of us and we were thinking of getting a day tour that costs P800.00 (small boat: good for 3-5 people) or the small service boat that costs P1,400.00. The difference is that the P800 pesos day tour will only take you to 3 major islands. so we opted for the service boat. 

Before getting into the boat, we bought food for lunch. Carlo and I spent about 300 pesos - 3 viands and 4 cups of rice.

Our boatman, Kuya Efren served as our tour guide. And since Carlo and Marlou speaks fluent Ilocano, it was super easy communicating with Kuya Efren. He also speaks Tagalog by the way, but you know how comfortable one gets when another speaks their dialect. :) 

We went to 6 different islands. Our favorites include the Lopez and Clave Islands. Believe it or not, the sand was comparable to Boracay station 1. 

Our first stop was the Governor's island. We climbed up 120 steps just to get to the view deck. Tiring but worth it! 

We ate lunch at Lopez island where I spent most of my time sun bathing, didn't really work! :( Rose, Carlo, Marlou and Elaine went snorkeling. Rose had so much fun chasing fishes! It was actually her first time to snorkel. Carlo taught her how to swim. Hehe. 

We went to Romulo island, where I built a sand castle. We spent most of our time just watching people there and doodling on the sand. 

We ended our day taking pictures and chilling on Clave Island. We called this island Narnia. It was because a there was a statue of a Lion at the edge of the cliff. Kinda reminded us of Aslan. (I'll look for the pic, can't seem to find it) :) 

All tours must end at 5:30 PM, and it was already 4:00 PM so we decided to go back. Plus it was already raining a bit and the waves were getting stronger. 

When we got home, we were sooo tired to do anything so we just slept after dinner. Yes, it was our last day and all of us actually wanted to make the most out of it. But then we thought, hey! we already have!!!

Carlo's Food List

Whenever Carlo and I watch cooking shows, he always, AS IN ALWAYS, says "I like that",then I always say "let's cook that"

And because I can't remember everything he wants us to cook, I decided to make a list on our blog.

Beef Roulade
Butter Poached Lobster
Chili Crab
Beef Borguignon
Beef Parnentier
Sicilian CHili Beef
Ragout with Pasta
Portuguese Chicken with Chorizo and Clams


*This list will continue to grow and grow and grow. Comment on this blog post if you want us to try cooking some of the dishes you know and we'll make sure to add those to our list. :) 

Easy Recipe: Omu Rice

Whenever I'm bored at home, I check out our refrigerator and see what I can cook with what we have at home. I decided to make Omu Rice for dinner since it was an easy recipe with very simple ingredients needed. 

Omurice or omu-rice (オムライス Omu-raisu) is an example of modern Japanese cuisine that consists of rice, chicken, various meats, veggies and a thin sheet of fried egg. 

It's basically like an omelette! It is very popular in western style restaurants in Japan and South Korea.

Here's my own version of Omu-Rice

Ingredients:

4 medium/large sized eggs

5 cloves of garlic 

1 onion bulb (red/white)

1 carrot

1 bell pepper

4 cups of rice

5 tbsps Soy sauce

A dash of salt and pepper

2 Chicken Fillets

3 slices of Spam

3 slices of Bacon

Cooking oil

Mince the onion and garlic. 

(set aside)

Cut the carrots, bellpepper, chicken spam in bacon into little cubes/squares.

(set aside)

Put the bacon in the pan first. As soon as you can see the oils ooze out, add the chicken and the spam. Add salt and Pepper.

(set aside)

Put oil in the pan, add the carrots, bell pepper, garlic and onion respectively. this is because carrots take more time to cook than the others. 

Add the cooked plain rice, drizzle with soy sauce (it's up to you to adjust the amt of soy sauce). Mix all the ingredients. As soon as the white rice is brown (because of the soy), add in all the meat and mix together. 

Scramble 1 egg at a time in a bowl and fry it on a separate pan. it should look like crepe. :) 

After everything is cooked, use a cup/bowl to shape the rice on your plate, then just cover it with the egg. Top with tomato ketchup and Japanese mayo to finish. 

*You have the option to change the ingredients used, I also cooked Omu Rice using fish tofu instead of Spam and bacon. :) 


 

Try it out! Let me know what ingredients you used!

Cooking Different Cuisines, Pinoy Style.

We'll share recipes with you soon! :) 

We don't have culinary experience, we just love cooking. Both our grandmothers are excellent cooks. (that's where we probably got the skills) 

Our posts on recipes will be as short as possible. I want to avoid the unnecessary words. :p I'm not really very good with describing the taste, the texture and the aroma of whatever we're cooking. So I'll probably just write down ingredients and the step by step process. :) 

Anyway...

Like I said, we both loooove cooking for family, friends, for ourselves. :) We make it a point to cook for each other once a week, depending on the difficulty of the recipe. Sometimes we just make do with whatever we have in the refrigerator. But we've always wanted to try cooking challenging recipes from different cuisines. 

Cooking foreign cuisine can be challenging since there are ingredients that aren't locally available. What we usually do is to buy ingredients that are cheaper, readily available and  will satisfy your Filipino taste. :) 

picture from http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/cafe_bites/

Here are some of the best dishes from around the world that we'll cook some time soon.  

Middle Eastern
Chicken or Beef Kebabs
Falafel
Manakeesh
Kofta

Moutabal/Baba Ghanoush


Greek
Moussaka
Bacon-and-Leek Quiche
Chicken Fricassee with Tarragon
Spanakopita - Spinach Pie
Chicken Soup Avgolemono


French
Vegetable Au Gratin
Chicken Fricassee with Tarragon
Pork Chops au Poivre
Bouillabaisse
Vanilla Creme Brulee

Spanish
Paella
Gazpacho
Shrimp Pil Pil
Tortilla Espanola
Gambas Al Ajillo

Japanese
Omu Rice
Chicken or Beef Teriyaki
Katsudon or Katsu Curry
Tonkotsu Ramen
Tamago Sashimi

Mexican
Shrimp and Chicken Fajitas
Soft Taco
Burritos 
Enchilada
Quesadilla

Thai
Tom Tam Goong
Pad Thai
Kao Phad
Gaeng Keow Wan Gai
Pat Gra Pao

Indian
Tikka Masala
Pork Vindaloo
Amritsari Murgh Makhani
Aloo Gobi
Palak Paneer

Chinese
Chicken Chow Mein
Lettuce Wraps
Spinach and Pork Wonton
Kung Pao Chicken
Hot and Sour Soup

Italian
Seafood Cioppino
Lasagna
Mushroom Risotto 
Zuppa Toscana
Chicken Parmigiana

That Meant To Be Trip - Morong, Bataan

My friends and I have been planning a beach trip together for the longest time. It finally took place last summer. 

We wanted a beach that's driving distance from Manila, so we decided to go to Subic. We met at around 6am. There were 7 of us - Twinkle, Ran, Cla, Aidan, Marlou, Carlo and me. I drove to Subic, we arrived at 10am, ate breakfast and did grocery shopping at Puregold. 

When we got to our resort, we were so disappointed. The pictures in their Facebook page are so different from the actual site! It was horrible. We got a room that costs cheap (owner claimed it was a discounted rate) and guess what?! the caretaker escorted us to what seemed like a bodega. We thought she was just going to get blankets, pillows or sheets. But no!!!! It was our room!!!! 

We all looked at each other in dismay and decided to check out the beach. We thought that we wouldn't be bothered by the room if the beach was nice; We'll spend most of the time out of the room anyway. The beach was worse! You can't even get into the water without trash touching your legs! It was a disappointment! Can't believe they actually let people just throw trash along the shore. 

Anyway, we didn't want our trip cancelled so we decided to drive further and look for a better resort. After an hour of driving, we reached further than Anvaya Cove. We were already in Morong, Bataan. We checked out resort posters along the street and we called each if they had an available room. After calling 5 resorts, we found one that fits our budget perfectly, Westwind Beach Resort. When we got there, we were the only people in the resort so we were sort of hesitant. But the people turned out to be very hospitable and approachable. The owner, Cecile and her husband even went to see me and asked how the trip went.

 

We settled in our room, got our own spots and got dressed for swimming. 

It was really a nice place. The sand wasn't white, it was light grey, but it was clean and the water was clear. The waves were just right for swimming. 

 

We went swimming, sunbathing, played a little volleyball, then cooked our dinner. We rested awhile then drank beers by the beach until about 4am. :) 


We'll definitely go back here. 

Notes: 

We brought our own car, drove for about 4 hours, passed by NLEX and SCTEX
You can bring food inside with a small corkage fee
Westwind Beach Resort Room Rates: 2.500++ (as of Oct. 2013, low season. From AGODA)

Places to Visit in the Philippines

We have a lot of places on our list and we really hope we could visit and experience the culture of each. Time to SAVE a lot for our travels!

Region 1 - Ilocos Region
La Paz Sand Dunes
Bangui Windmills
Calle Crisologo
Bolinao Falls
Sta. Maria Church
Baluarte Watch Tower
Lingayen Beach

Region 2 - Cagayan Valley
Bantay Kalbo, Sentinala Beach
Mabnang Falls
Eat Curacha
Taggat Lagoon

Region 3 - Central Luzon
Cemento Beach 
Monasterio de Tarlac
Casa Mexico
Mt. Arayat
Hot Air Balloon Festival
Mt. Pinatubo Crater
Triboa Bay Mangrove Park
Morong, Bataan

CAR - Cordillera Autonomous Region
Scooter Race
Rice Terraces 
Panagbenga Festival
Baguio
Ifugao
Mt. Cloud Bookshop

Region 4A - CALABARZON
World War II Ruins
Kamayan sa Palaisdaan
Villa Escudero
Nuestra Senora de la Soledad
Aguinaldo Shrine
Malinta Tunnel
Corregidor Lighthouse

Region 4B - MIMAROPA
Coron
Puerto Princesa
El Nido 
Moriones Festival
Boac Church
Apunan Lighthouse
Calauit  Island
Kayangan Lake
Marble Sculptures

Region 5 - Bicol
Mayon Volcano
Misibis Bay
CWC
Tayak Beach
Puraran Beach
Masbate
Rodeo Street Dance

Region 6 - Western Visayas
Ibajay Festival
Boracay
San Joaquin Cemetery
Bulabog Beach
Jaro Cathedral
Mangrove Forrest
Dinagyang
Masskara 
Ati-Atihan 
Batabat Coral Reef 
Malalison Island
Suhot Cave 
Quipot Cave

Region 7 - Central Visayas
Mactan Bridge
Monad Shoal
Sinulog Festival
Mangodlong Rock Resort
Alona Beach
Cambugahay Waterfalls
Apo Island
Oslob - Whaleshark watching, 
Siquijor
Dumaguete

Region 8 - Eastern Visayas
Kalanggaman Island
ABCD Beach
Sambawan Island
San Juanico Bridge
San Pedro Island
Biri Rock Formations
Sundried Corn

Region 9 - Zamboanga Peninsula
Malamawi Island
Dipolog Cathedral
Sibugsay Festival
Buluan Island
Our Lady of Pilar

Region 10 - Northern Mindanao
San Fernando Rainforests
Banauag House Reef
Ma. Cristina Falls
Kitanglad Mountain Range
Misamis Oriental
White Water Rafting 
Katibawasan Falls
Giant Clams Ocean Nursery in Kantaan, Guinsiliban.
Hudyaka sa Lubi

Region 11 - Davao
Pearl Farm
Mt. Apo
Aliwagwag Falls
San Luis Beach
Amihan Beach

See more tourist spots and images here.

ABOUT

Carlo and I have been friends for 12 years. And it's only this year that we became a couple. :) 

Since we've been friends for the longest time, we know each other's likes, dislikes, etc. we decided to make a list of the things we want to do together. 

Yes! A bucket list. 

restaurants/food to try out

concerts/events we want to attend and 

places we want to visit.

things to do

This blog will be about doing everything as a couple in our bucket list; Taking on adventures and experiencing new thrills together. Hence the tagline: Tables, Tickets and Trips for Two.