Mel and the New Normal

Justin and I, we love us some thai food. Long time. So we were very happy to see a cheap place in BF, near Gourmet's Palate, that sold super cheap thai foo. Dusadee Thai! The interiors are very simple, and small, but professionally done. You could say that they started their branding really well. I can drink thai milk tea all day, everyday! And the way they prepared theirs is very authentic and true to the taste of thai milk tea. This is their Bagoong Rice with Pork meal (which, if I'm not mistaken, is P120). Yes it is very good! My favorite, mango with sticky coconut rice. Really good too! I was wondering why, for a start up business, Dusadee came off very franchise-prepared, with printed cups and well-prepared menu boards. For one, the minimum to print logos on cups is around 10,000 - an investment that few start-ups are willing to make. Also, the photos on their menus are professionally done, and the vision for the small restaurant is very clear in term...

*I ate here a long time ago, but forgot to write the words for the draft, so forgive the lack of details. After a few weeks of seeing my friends post about this place, Justin and I had the opportunity to drop by after renewing our Alabang Hills sticker. Their juicy burger photos with matching #organic hashtags made me curious, and I was glad I had the chance to check it out. Their entrance is right beside Alabang 400s - if you are familiar with Southridge, it's near that area. It's on the 1st floor of a building, and you may have to park a little far since there a lot of cars in front during the weekdays. The ambiance is very straightforward - wooden tables, dark colored but well-lit interiors.  Their menu board lists all the organic steak and burger offerings. They have a lot of choices for a place that sells organic food.  They also have desserts for those who can't end a meal without one. Though not the ultimate in terms of presentation, they were ac...

I wasn't even thinking about writing about our experiences helping out in Villamor, for the following reasons: 1) I only stayed very short periods compared to a looottt of other people, and 2) I wasn't really following protocols correctly, I think! Plus, a lot of people have written about the roles, instructions, directions that make helping out a lot less intimidating. But in case you're reading this before heading out to any of the sites, here are some of my notes: DWSD - Pasay (for repacking of relief goods) This place was easier to find than I thought! It's very near where Nayong Filipino used to be, simple as that. Since I went there the 2nd day that they asked civilians to volunteer, it was very easy for us to park (almost right in front of the gate!) I don't know if protocol has changed since then, but when we signed up, we had orientation immediately. After that we proceeded straight to the gym, and were assigned to different tables. It was pretty much ...

Our country has been hit with one of the worst typhoons in recorded history to make landfall. Please join us as we help the survivors in any possible way we can. I am happy to say that despite my disappointments with certain government leaders, the actions of my own fellowmen, certain government groups, the army and navy, foreigners and tourists who have stayed to help, and the aid of other countries, have brought my faith back in humanity. To volunteer for operation at Villamor, where the survivors land, sign up at:  http://villamorvolunteers.eventbrite.com/

Was very much saddened to read on my Facebook feed that Delamar, a known radio DJ here in the Philippines, lost her baby girl today. It always breaks my heart to read or hear of other people's loss of their children, no matter the reason. I couldn't find the exact reason Baby Eva passed away, all I know is she was about 3 weeks old and was premature. J and I happened to be listening to RX when her co-hosts announced that Del gave birth, and we had no idea there were any problems. It brings me back to our first few days after Kat left us. May God (and her baby) watch over their family in this time of grief, where sadness seems unending and infinite.

It's been 2 months, but I remember visiting Coron like it was just yesterday! As I mentioned in my previous post, I wasn't a big fan of traveling around the Philippines for a long time. I've only been to Boracay once, while others my age have been there so many times. It has more to do with being parents at a young age, I think -- we were so eager to see other countries after not traveling for such a long time. Partially also because the cost of traveling locally was almost the same as the cost of traveling abroad. The cost of the hotels and the food were practically the same!  I booked Coron several times through Cebu Pacific's piso fair, but because of work, we never pushed through. As I mentioned in my previous post about Shore to Shore , even this trip almost didn't push thru either. I am so glad, though, that it did. We arrived late afternoon at Coron, and by the time we reached our hotel the sun had set. So what we saw were just the streets leading ...

Choco-late de Batirol has been long on my must-try list of places to try when I returned to Baguio. I didn't know what to expect, I just knew I had to try it! That's Josh's snake from his horse ride. It's not part of the menu, haha. This is the Cacao fruit. I really don't know what was running through our minds when we impulsively purchased this. It's like, I expected the whole fruit to taste like chocolate or cacao! (Of course it didn't!) They advised on to suck on the seeds. Erm. Honestly it was not good at all. The ladies in the next table were peering at the fruit curiously, so we gave them some. They though we were being generous, but honestly we couldn't eat any more. Hahahaha! This is the famous chocolate de batirol (hot chocolate) of the place. It was good. However, I was expecting it to taste like Mary Grace's hot chocolate -- thick and goey. It wasn't, it was milky but still chocolatey. It was a good drink for the cool weath...

Grace Park has been around for quite a while now, but I never got to try it because I'm rarely in Rockwell. I love Margarita Fores' restaurants though, and as we passed by One Rockwell on the way to a meeting, I was reminded to try Grace Park. Was so very glad that we did! 2nd Floor, the smaller room

I was busy last week, so just had the chance to post this now. My Baby turns 1 today. If she was alive, we'd probably be having an uber cool, super-fly party for her. Because, well, that's what we do for a living. Extra special because she would have been a survivor. But, since we're corny and she's not here with us, we just styled her grave in a super cheesy manner! FUNNY, CHEESY, CORNY, GOOD VIBES! (FYI when we got there her "caretaker" had taken it upon herself to put those white flowers on her own, haha. She was expecting us because we're there almost every week, so she anticipated the date.)

My friends and I, we're avid bazaar shoppers. Living in Alabang, every weekend of November and December is filled with awesome shopping choices in the Cuenca bazaars. I personally used to buy most of my clothes in bazaars! In the last few years, my friends and I anticipated the presence of H Cuisine in the Cuenca Bazaar, for their one, delicious specialty -- Beef Belly. I never knew they had a restaurant. So imagine my surprise when I took J to eat in RUB in Timog, and H Cuisine was suddenly right beside it! Since I wanted J to try RUB (I had gone there by myself and ever since I've always wanted to bring J), we pushed through with RUB. Last week, we ended up in Timog after a purchase meeting in QC. And we knew we would eat here this time!

I was heavily dependent on my Samsung S4 during this road trip. For some reason, J's Iphone gave my zilch information in Baguio on its map, while the S4 gamely showed us the places to eat in the map and reviews! I had just bought it a few days ago through my old Globe plan, and it came in really handy during this trip. 

J and I are, like, the worst kind of clients a travel service can have. Let me expound on this. I am what you call a "sale booker" when it comes to flights. Meaning, I only book flights when it's Piso sale at Cebu Pac. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother. I can say that about 98% of my ticket purchases were done on Piso sale. Aside from that, J and I are masters of commute. And we love it. Meaning, we commute everywhere when we travel! (This got us in trouble in Bangkok though.) For us, commuting is part of immersing yourself in the culture. So we walk and commute everywhere. So we hate any fixed tours. We are also super cheap people. We don't mind staying in places that look like bathrooms, as long as they're safe. If you're wondering why we do this, it's because J and I travel differently from other people. Everyday, J and I work. By everyday, I mean, EVERYDAY. We don't have rest days, weekends, etc. We work everyday. We work until 10PM. The goo...

It was part of our agenda to visit either Ocean Adventure or Zoobic. We left the decision up to the kids, since they were old enough to make the choice. They chose Zoobic! Although Mika had already gone to Zoobic a few years back (without Josh, since Josh was still a baby that time), she barely remembered it, and wanted to see it again. The place was much nicer than I remembered it. The swags reminded me of my work! Everything was clean and well-kept. You usually expect some parks to deteriorate over time, but Zoobic was really well-maintained. This must be the highlight of my kid's summer -- touching this baby cub and getting to feed it! If I'm not mistaken it was P300 for 1 shot =p But they allowed us to take picture using our phone also, so that's okay. It's like you were paying for them to touch the cub. I really don't remember Zoobic having nice signages like this before. This was the first sign that welcomed us upon entering the park with out gui...

Hill Station is a very popular area in Baguio now. Just a stone's throne away from SM Baguio, I never noticed it until I read about it in Anton's blog Ourawesomeplanet.com. As we passed by it going around Session, I promised we'd come back and check it out. The library in the adjacent Mt. Cloud Bookshop has starred several times on the IG feed of my friends. Entrance Signages Look upon entering. It was quite dark, as it was also dark outside.  With my cousin Trish, and her BF Martin At this point (a month later) for the life of me, I cannot recall the names of these dishes. Peruvian chicken? It was good, though nothing blockbuster for me.  Personally, this was the dish that I enjoyed. It was their house salad, and it included native Baguio ingredients (what else?) like strawberries, candied walnuts. It was so fresh, like it was picked off their backyars. (It probably was!) Another memorable dish, their ice cream incorporating Baguio flavors ...