one claypot house

I don't like farewell dinners much more if the person leaving is one of your closest in the office. As Netty would be leaving to pursue law school, we had a simple dinner at this cute place just near the Provincial Capitol of Cebu. Mind you, it's really a hole in the wall as you cannot immediately notice it exists.

Here's a glimpse of the interiors..

The place is really small, it could accommodate 6 groups only. So, for our number, we occupied half of the room already.

One thing that differentiates this diner from the others was that their menu. It was one page only and contained 4 dishes and 2 drinks. Amazing, isn't it?

So, we ordered EVERYTHING! And who would not? Haha

Milky Fried Fish Soup

Prawn Paste Soup

Tempting Seafood Pasta

Lah-lah-lah claypot

Super Meatballs 

rosemary 

They served, of course, in a claypot. Though I'm really a rice person, I was not able to appreciate it. Maybe because I was not able to really get its taste or maybe it was just too plain for me. So, maybe it was me. Haha.

I think my colleagues loved it. I enjoyed mixing it with the other dishes too. So, overall, it was yummy. You just don't have to eat it alone (for me).

So, after eating, we gave our surprise gifts to Netty. We would surely miss this girl.

The Ranch

In continuation of our Payday Habit, we were able to pick this place. Situated in Banilad, you could not really tell from afar that this is a restaurant. Woody of Toy Story was conspicuous enough to lead you the way.

 

And you will  find the sign..

 

Anyway, Sean went with us that night and we ordered. The order really took minutes. We were very hungry but was satisfied when we saw the serving of the dishes..

short ribs beef stew

 fish fillet

Here's sean while waiting for our order:

When all of our orders were served, we ate as we listened to a very strange music in the background. There were no cowboy-like waiters as what we have read in other reviews. There were some halloween decor since it was november.

Their fish fillet - cream dory was really unforgettable. It's one of the reasons I wanna come back. By the way, here's their menu:

   

(sorry for the pics.. i used my phone.. )

Remo's cafe

Iris and I really click when it comes to foods. This is the main reason we started a tradition that we continually do to-date. We call it "Payday Habit". So, every payday, we agreed to explore "hole-in-the-wall" restaurants/cafes and experience the extraordinary. We made a list and draw lots. We ended up picking Remo's cafe. Hence, on a very hot noon, we started finding this restaurant. We were kinda lost and we were really glad to see the sign. This is very near Sarrosa Hotel. We were the only persons in the cafe, so we were immediately accommodated. The waiter then recommended the following:

bulalo steak

remo's fried rice

Grilled Pork Belly

We really love the Bulalo steak. This is one thing that I can't really forget and would highly recommend to first timers.

You actually have various choices as well.. Here's a glimpse of their menu:

We, of course, had to be documented.. hehehe..

Me and Iris

This is just the start of our food journey. Watch out as we unveil more hidden or less-known food places in Cebu!

bangkok experience

I'm planning to blog about my whole bangkok experience last July 2011 as far as I can really remember.. I've actually started it out.. You may see the "Bangkok Invasion" page..

From Subic to Vigan!

Our cluster outing was a blast! We went for a roadtrip in the farther area of Luzon..  SUBIC and VIGAN! Though we just had a short time to wander and explore these 2 great cities, I just loved the whole of it! Hope you would too after I tell you the whole experience which is really worth remembering..

IT’S MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES!

Around 7 am was our call time in a street just a block away from our office. But before heading, we had breakfast first at Pancake House.

Since the restaurant is just few walks away, we chatted for a moment and just observed our officemates as they were going to the meet-up place. Moments later, we joined them. Our cluster rented a bus. This will be our companion for the whole journey.

We settled ourselves, took pictures as the journey began..

 We departed around 9 am from Makati. Then we stopped over to have lunch.. Then stopped over to wee..  Then we arrived in Subic around 3 PM..  And our first stop was..

The Zoobic Safari!

The whole zoo experience was actually great.. But kids would most likely appreciate it.  You might like to read my review on trip advisor..

After around 2 hours in the zoo, we headed to our home for the night.. Forest View..

This place was really amazing. We rented a few villas.. It has 3 rooms in it.. We have our own kitchen, dining area, sala.. It just feel s like home! And the whole house is air-conditioned.

For dinner, we ordered pizza. Then, we went to Subic Puregold to wander and for me, just window shop.. It’s just like duty-free but no need of any travel docs just to enter it. It Around Puregold were factory outlets of Nike, Adidias, etc. Still, I wasn’t interested at all. I was just able to buy a very necessary thing from a Korean shop. Thank God!

Then we went back..

We have just settled for awhile when a clustermate knocked and invited us to a villa. It was required actually. And we’ve already expected this.. Drinking session!!!

I drank a little then went back to our room to sleep.. We needed to be up early the next day!

And the “next day” began!

We had breakfast .. Then bid goodbye to Subic (such a short stay!) and was really excited to meet our next destination, VIGAN!

Vigan is in Ilocos Sur.. To get there from Subic means to travel for around 10 hrs. Yes dear, we spent whole day in the bus (which I really enjoyed!). I wasn’t bored at all as I really love seeing places I’ve  never been to before. 

Around 8 pm, we finally arrived! The place was  like my trip advisor review, WORTH THE LONG JOURNEY! It was really fascinating.  The night just added to the beauty of it all.. But before digging into Vigan’s  treasures,  we have to feed our own personal needs first. We had dinner!

We explored the inn.. As we were slowly transported back to where these all started..

Then, after wandering for some time..

We headed to our home for the night again.. This time, a CASA.. a very old CASA..

It was kinda creepy really.. I mean, with all the black and white pictures around you and things that might have span for centuries..  It’s just so different..

Then, our room.. Thank God we’re many! The double-decks.. It looked really old and made our stay much more extraordinary!

After a good night’s sleep, we prepared and ate breakfast.. Then, wasted no more time!

This was the casa during the day..

We planned to tour Vigan.. But to make it much more memorable, we let the Kalesa help us unveil  the mystery of this very well-preserved city. 

An our first stop was the Bantay Bell Tower:

This tower used to be a watch tower during the colonial period.

Then, to Syquia Mansion, the house of President Elpidio Quirino.

Then to the Crisologo Museum

Then to the Hidden Garden with the best empanada in town!

We were supposed to got to the Baluarte but due to time constraints, we opted to roam in the city instead which was our last stop..

We walked through Crisologo street, the most famous street in Vigan. All of those picture-perfect images you see to describe Vigan were shot here.. This is just colourful since we just knew that a festival happened the night before which we missed!

Though time was really running fast, we did not miss chilling out, of course.. in one of the unique cafes I've been to.. Leila's cafe

Then, we went back to the house.. And bid goodbye again to the city who had captivated me.

I’ll surely be back!

Anyway, since our journey would last for 10 hours, we stopped by Isdaan in Tarlac to have dinner. It was also a really great place, a lot of things to do and the food was yummy!!!!!

Then, we arrived in Makati around 1 am already and headed immediately to the airport since we had a  5 am flight to Cebu.

Though the time for the whole trip was really kill joy, I am really thankful for the opportunity of seeing this part of our country.. Something to share with anyone..  Something to be really be proud of!

IT'S MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES!