The Island Explorer

It's the time of the year again, and despite the overload of work and seemingly impossible schedule, I still find my way i Isabela in the Cagayan Valley. An eight hour drive up north is one of the longest I've ever had, but taking the bus proved to be convenient. We took a Victory Liner bus in Kamias, Cubao and embarked through Bulacan, the endless Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, finally hitting Isabela. I was in the province in search of the Microentrepreneur of the Year, a yearly award given by Citi, the Bangko Sentral, and the Microfinance Council of the Philippines. We had to interview 3 nominees in the province. We stayed in the Cauayan, which is a sleepy city an hour away from the capital, Santiago. There was nothing of interest in Cauayan, so the highlight of the trip was interviewing these nominees. One couple made chicharon for a living, the other a former soldier who is now making puto and kutsinta, and the last one, a mother who had several agricultural businesses in her

For some reason, I feel at home when I dine at Icings in SM Hypermart in Pasig (Tiendesittas). So when Icing opened a new store in Tomas Morato, I was happy. The place was bright and airy, and bigger. It was a good place for a conversation with friends over coffee, tea and cakes. The shop in Morato expanded their menu to offer breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have yet to try their new offerings. I have been a fan of their sandwiches. So if you're in the area, drop by Icings. It's located along a street off Tomas Morato (sorry for the directions), but there was a sign that guided me. That's how I found it. Sugarfree Ube Mango Cake White Velvet (white chocolate coffee concoction) Spanish Tsokolate

When Jason and Mich told me that there was this new resto in Greenhills, I immediately asked if it was good there. I think I have been on a bad restaurant streak these weeks, and I just couldn't find anything new and worthy of true praise these days. So, off we drove to Greenhills, trying to find the newest kid on the block, Cucina Gayuma. Not to be mistaken for the now closed Gayuma Restaurant in Katipunan, Cucina Gayuma is located just after the intersection of Santolan and Ortigas in Greenhills. You wouldn't miss it, going to Gilmore. Parking is a problem since it's in a row of shops situated in front of a very busy road. Ok. When I saw the sign and got a peak of the inside, I must admit I became hesitant. It was those types of restaurants that was in a wrong place, with a bad taste for design. The place was small, but had two floors. There was a function going on upstairs, and there were other big groups dining downstairs with us. So it was pretty packed and that was im

As I've said, I've been a fan of frozen soft-serve yogurt for years now, and it's good that the craze is finally hitting the Philippines. Fro-Yo, as it is more popularly called, is a great alternative to ice cream and is a truly satisfying dessert. The best thing is, with the notion that it is "healthier", you can devour one without the guilt. From FIC Ice Cream Bar, we move on to White Hat. Most consider White Hat to be the best fro-yo in town, so I decided to pass by while visiting an event venue in SM Mall of Asia. White Hat is located in front of Nike on the 2nd floor near SM Discovery Center and China Highlands Palace. Rotimum is also nearby, which I think is a great partner to the Fro-yo. White Hat has two sizes, regular (P85) and large (P115). Toppings start at P20. The toppings are not that appetizing on display, hence I had a difficult time choosing. I was weary since the fruits looked canned. No fresh ones, so that was a disappointment. The selection was

I forgot to post this entry on Apartment 1B, the quaint restaurant at the ground floor of Lafayette along Sedeno in Makati. Of course, this entry may be too late, since Apartment 1B is already considered one of the worthy restaurants in the city. I was excited to try everything in their limited menu, since I was so hungry (hence, takaw-tingin). Here's what we had: For Starters, the New Zealand Mussels. This dish was supposed to be a starter, but it was more of an entree! Well, mussels from New Zealand are huge, but they served a lot of it. They were both fresh and refreshing. We even ordered extra bread, that was also excellent. The first entree was the Pasta, the Spaghetti Vongole. It was a spaghetti with manila clams, white wine, olive oil and garlic. It was not a good choice, since the starter tasted similar to this dish. Just change the mussels to clams, and make it spicier and throw in some spaghetti. We just wanted some pasta, so this was the choice. It wasn't bad though.

It's been more than two months since I've been to Greenbelt, and I really haven't explored much of the new Greenbelt 5. So when I saw the new row of restos in their ground floor near the garden, I just had to try one of them. For this, we wanted meat, so we headed straight to Myron's Place. The ambience in this part of Greenbelt was classy, and I thought Myron's interiors weren't as great as the others around it. Though with a garden outside like that, it's so inviting to just take a table outside. However, we sat inside because I was feeling hot. Unfortunately, the aircon was not working properly, so it eventually became hotter inside than outside. Quite a big no-no for a high end place. Anyway, on to the food. We were given dark rye bread for free. It wasn't great, but the butter cream was good. Our appetizer, the Risotto Balls with Chorizo was then served. We initially wanted oysters, but decided to jsut go with something new. Hence, the risotto mixed

After eating at Manang's (yes, the timeless Ateneo College food spot), we had this sudden craving for ice cream. I was headed back to the office in Ortigas, so I figured, why not make it the best time to try FIC Ice Cream Bar in Rockwell (a bit out of the way I know, but I really wanted to visit this place a long time ago). FIC Ice Cream Bar in Rockwell is located at the shops a the ground floor of Joya, one of the newest condos there. The place is bright and cheerful with its white interiors. It really does look like an ice cream bar from childhood. I am a fan of FIC Ice Cream, especially its green tea ice cream which I think is my most commercially favorite ice cream. Serve it, I'll ask for more. FIC has really stepped up its presence by opening this place and I must say, I just want to congratulate the owners. I have no other thing to say but this place is perfect. Seeing the menu will make your mouth water instantly. I wanted this and that, seeing the fantastic ice cream sh

Ok, the name attracts. It works. Put art in the name and the restaurant instantly charms. Leona Art Restaurant is located along White Plains Ave., just near the intersection of Boni Serrano near Monterey Meatshop but on the opposite side of the road. It was a spur of the moment visit, as we were headed somewhere else for dinner. But I always keep passing by this resto, and I just had to stop and finally visit it. The place is indeed charming. It's a house converted resto, and I just love the ambience of these kinds of places. I was surprised to see that the place was full on a Tuesday night, so I was expecting. It seems that big groups frequented the place, since it also doubles as a great drinking spot (cheap beers). So, that was a bit of confusion. When a resto becomes a beer joint, questions about the food are raised. The menu was simple. Rice and pasta dishes. There was pizza and some other stuff. Not that much to choose from, but they have this cool concept of making your own

I love islands, so even though I am an avid promoter of Philippine beaches, I still manage to land in a lot of islands in Asia. Having been to a lot of beach destinations around the region just lets me compare the ones we have here and theirs. The latest destination was Koh Chang, a side trip weekend during a business trip to Thailand. It has been almost 6 months since I last visited Thailand, and being there almost every month before, I told myself I should visit a beach while there. I was choosing between Samui and Koh Chang. I ended up with the latter, given my limited budget. Going to Koh Chang can be done conveniently by bus. The journey on a first class bus from Bangkok Ekemai Station is 5 hours, with a stop for around 15 minutes. The ride was so comfortable and the government bus I took even served snacks (think airplane). I dozed off for most of the trip so the next thing I knew, I was in Trang, the province where the Koh Chang Marine National Park is situated. A 45-minute ferr

After more than a month of hibernation at work, I am back. I hope to get this blog updated. The next entries will be a mix of my adventures here and abroad particularly in Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand. So come back in time for a barrage of experiences.