Nomnomnom & Some Post Valentine Benefit Concert

Nomnomnom

Tomas Morato corner E. Rodriguez Streets

Quezon City

February 18, 2011

My Canon Ixus left me a couple of days before this date, so pardon the substandard quality of my photos below. I did my share of reviving Canon back to life but to no avail. We'll see each other again soon, Canon! Hang in there! (crazy me, rambling)

 Nomnomnom's supposed to serve happy food. However, I'm not happy with this crappy photo quality. The food? Hmmmm.. not so nomnomnom.

It seemed like forever waiting for our food so we decided to take a picture of ourselves. Also, the concert tickets didn't come cheap (at Php 500 each) so we included them in this pic. Let's flash the pricey tickets! Check.

 A pitcher of dalandan juice to hydrate us

 Spinach lasagna covered with loads of cheese

 This dish is simply wonderful. Lotsa cheese and spinach I like!

 

This one is called "malinomnom" It's a log pizza topped with tinapa flakes, kesong puti and tomatoes. My verdict? Not so malinomnom!

Laws of Love & Laughter: A Post Valentine Benefit Concert*

Featuring Top Suzara

Polari Comedy Club

Creekside Square Building, Tomas Morato Street

 

 

It's not everyday that I get to hold a white heart-shaped balloon and, at the same time, drink and blame Tanduay Ice (and supreme nachos on the side) for my giddy look, be tickled to death by Polari's in-house comedians and be serenaded by Top Suzara.** So, smile for the camera!

*A project of Clerk of Court Association of the Philippines (COCAP)
** If you're an avid Freestyle fan back in late 1990's, then you know what I'm talking about.

Bohol Food Trip: Jo's Chicken Inato

Jo's Chicken Inato
Carlos P. Garcia East corner Matig-a Street
Tagbilaran City
Date of visit: February 13, 2011

We had our lunch at Jo's Chicken Inato before going to my father's hometown in Loay, Bohol.

It was a bad hair day for me, literally. From Dumaluan Beach Resort in Panglao where we stayed for 4D/3N, we rode a habal-habal (the ever reliable mode of transpo in Panglao, folks!) to the waiting shed, waited for almost 20 minutes for an old baby bus which brought us to Tagbilaran City, rode the jampacked baby bus (and finally met Spiderman - but that's another story) to the city and rode a tricycle to finally savor this much-talked about chicken meal!

Yes, a very long ride with fresh rural air. Forget the hair dryer.

The resto reminds me of the old houses in Bohol during my childhood days. Now, all you see are mansions, er, big concrete houses along the main road.

In lieu of those substandard napkins

Chicken inato meal for me

Kangkong to share

 

And chicken inato for my fiancé (yes, that's right!)

Buko pandan delight to cap our delicious chicken meal

Then off to sunny Loay we went!

Bohol Food Trip: DBR Grill

DBR Grill

Dumaluan Beach Resort

Panglao, Bohol

DBR Grill is most jampacked during dinner time. Why? It's the most convenient and affordable eating places in the heart of Bolod Beach - where two of the most popular beach resorts in Panglao is located, namely, Dumaluan Beach Resort and Bohol Beach Club. If you want the Boracay ambiance, then the most obvious choice would be Alona Beach. But if you want privacy and less noisy crowd, then head to Bolod Beach.

We spent our dinner here for three nights in a row. Oh, for the love of grilled Pinoy food.  

 

Foreign tourists usually troop to DBR Grill for seafood platter and some cold beer. Obviously, they came from the nearby Bohol Beach Club. On the other hand, Pinoy tourists (mostly DBR guests) go to DBR Grill for dinner. That simple.

Note that DBR Grill is right in front of the Bolod Beach. It's unpretentious dining amidst the sound of waves and cold night breeze. Below are the food we ate.

FIRST NIGHT

 

 

Sinigang na hipon, grilled pork belly and teeny-tiny chorizo and RICE!!! An order of sinigang na hipon can feed 3 to 4 persons and hey, they don't scrimp on the shrimps!

SECOND NIGHT

Kinilaw na tuna, pork barbecue and grilled pork belly and RICE!!! Their kinilaw is to die for. So, on the...

THIRD & LAST NIGHT

... we got kinilaw again, inihaw na pusit (which, BTW, is too expensive for Php 280) and kinamatisang bulad (or dried fish cooked with lots of tomatoes) and RICE!!! It's a mortal sin not to try kinamatisang bulad because it's very delish!

And it's also a mortal sin if you miss their fruit platter. A healthy dessert indeed.

Bohol Food Trip: The Buzzz

The Buzzz

G/F, Island City Mall

Tagbilaran City

Date of visit: February 12, 2011

No need to buzz in

What's the buzzz?

Lemongrass and mango shakes and complimentary camote bread and homemade mango & pesto spreads

Herbed rice, honey cured ham and fried egg

 

Spareribs, organic rice (with camote slice) and fruits

Bohol Food Trip: Kan-anan Restaurant & Bar, Dumaluan Beach Resort

Kan-anan Restaurant & Bar

Dumaluan Beach Resort

Panglao, Bohol

February 12, 2011

After checking in to our seemingly pricey room at DBR (we booked a couple of weeks before HVD, that's why), we got hungry. So we decided to check out the in-house resto of this resort and the menu was more than enough to whet my appetite.

The menu with all the superlatives (to make you crave and order more, duh)

Fresh flowers and nice big jars

Grilled veggies (tomato, onion, eggplant, green bell pepper and zucchini)

 

Seafood pasta drenched in rich crab fat (sorry, forgot the dish name)

  

This dish is called "DBR Special". It's made of sweet ripe bananas wrapped in fatty bacon then deep fried and topped with hard-boiled eggs. Yummy!

Bohol Food Trip: The Prawn Farm

The Prawn Farm

G/F Island City Mall

Dampas District

Tagbilaran City

February 15, 2011

Before our flight to Manila, we dropped by at the Island City Mall for a quickie lunch. Since we didn't want to waste one precious minute...

... we flipped hurriedly through this haggard menu and told the wait staff in Cebuano (with my trying hard Boholano accent to complete my pleading) that we're in a hurry.

Hmmm.. Yes, my guess was right. This ain't a quickie lunch.

Drinks first. Four seasons for me and green mango shake for my fiancé

Clear beef broth to start with...

... and peanuts to make us wait and wait.

Finally, the main dishes arrived.

 

Grilled squid for fiancé

 

Grilled prawns for me. Hey, it's THE Prawn Farm after all. Yummy as in fresh & buttery.

 

Mango maja blanca to end our so-called quickie lunch.

Bohol Food Trip: Bohol Bee Farm

Bohol Bee Farm

Brgy. Dao, Dauis

Panglao, Bohol

February 14, 2011

For the greatest V-day ever in our lives, we decided to go to Bohol Bee Farm. Two major reasons kept me giddy happy en route to this famous farm in Panglao: (1) I just got engaged and (2) it's Happy Hearts Day! Although my Canon Ixus gave up on me 2 hours prior to our V-day lunch, I mustered enough guts to just let my worries be swept by the wind. Big, big effort on my part!

And a big, big effort to make this a candid shot.

Cabcab with pesto & mozzarella dip

Spicy ginger-mango & peanut butter-mango shakes

 

Just got engaged

Organic garden salad that made BBF famous & lasagna for me. Two thumbs up for the lasagna.

Grilled fish, organic red rice with camote and organic garden salad for fiance

 

I love the honey mustard dressing

 

Malunggay ice cream to end our HVD lunch

One and only downside is you have to endure a rocky ride (Panglao tourism people, hello!) before you immerse yourselves in this lovely farm.

Booksale Loot 4

February 5, 2011

Booksale Shopwise Cubao

Clockwise from left: The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason, The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory, The Last Summer (of You and Me) by Ann Brashares, Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout, and Strand of a Thousand Pearls by Dorit Rabinyan

Booksale Loot 3

February 2, 2011

Booksale Shopwise Cubao

2011 so far has underwhelmed me, but February always underwhelms me. Or I'm just overreacting/too excited to worry/bored. Good thing KHFC and HVD are just around the corner to keep me excited. But boredom really sets in once in a while. And that's when Booksale comes into play to fill the gaps of boredom. 

 

Clockwise from left: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell, The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. by Sandra Gulland, Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes and Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg

Friday Food Trip @ SM Makati Food Court

February 4, 2011
SM Makati Food Court

I made two violations yesterday both in my so-called corporate refugee life and in my cleansing diet: (1) I exceeded the 45-minute "legal" break; and (2) I had nata de coco in my drink and ate sour mangoes with bagoong (shrimp paste, dahlings). Thank God, the corporate "elites" were no longer in sight and my tummy did not make a protest, not even a hint.

One of my favorite malling must-haves - super taro ice (Php 70)

from Quickly

My eyes literally wandered in silence at the food court until I saw this interesting food stall. Aha! Mango with bagoong in a food court? Talk about street food level-up!

 Craving taste buds, be still!

After choosing the spicy and salty levels of your bagoong and the chopping galore, here they are...

Singkamas with bagoong (Php 10) and mangga with bagoong (Php 20)

Random food trips are always the best, don't you think?