Travel Footprints

And it has not even begun yet! We haven’t been posting in our blog lately because we were so caught up in our training plan in preparation for our travel to Nepal next month AND prepping ourselves to move in a 2-bedroom bi-level condo unit we bought for nesting right in the heart of Metro Manila. Yes, the RoamingRonos are moving house soon!

So, our typical weekends this month were spent either mountain-biking in San Mateo, Rizal or Bataan, having our physical check-up in Medical City (we want our pink of health when we travel to a high-altitude country), bargain-hunting for outfits to bring to Nepal or window-shopping for furnitures that might fit nicely in our condo.

So far, on our quest for lightweight, thermal wear clothes for Nepal, we’re loving selections from Columbia (we already bought Columbia thermal wear, trekking shoes, jackets and long-sleeves blouse) and ROX (we got Aigle trekking pants on sale!). Rustan’s has a varied selection of travel stuff (travel bags, lock for our backpack, etc). Needless to say, we’re stacking up on shopping bags in our room already! 

All this big (and small!) purchases made Mr. Rono and I re-evaluate our finances this month as well. We love doing this to make sure that we are on the right track with our financial goals (successfully building a retirement fund for one!). As a DINKY (Dual-Income No Kids Yet) couple, we feel privileged to have the freedom to travel and splurge on our hobbies. But, we always have a big picture in mind in terms of finances (hence, the condo purchase among others). So, even if our top spendings are on travels and eating out (and now house amortization), we can still sit back with satisfaction on our financial health. I guess you can say we have become sensible lakwatseras as we grew older

We will be posting any other interesting preparations for our trip to Nepal as we try to make the most out of the few weeks left to stick to our training plan! For our future posts, we are inclined to put more tips and real-life experiences for the travelling couple. Since we both have full-time day jobs, we realized it’s pretty amazing how much travelling we try to do in a year. We wouldn’t say it’s easy though. It’s challenging to even take time off work for holidays. So we want try to write about our experiences here as much as possible and dedicate this to the road to our maturity. You know what they say, travelling…

…when you’re in your 20s, you have the energy and time but no money
…when you’re in your 30s, you have the money and energy but no time
…when you’re in your 40s, you have the time and money but no energy

So cheers to adventure travels for us in our 30s (almost!). We are both looking forward to sharing our amazing travel stories to our future kids and travel with them, in a milder fashion, as they grow up.

Some of the other highlights for the month of February for RoamingRonos: watching RENT The Musical (Mr. Rono didn’t enjoy as much, which woud have been avoided if he had a slight idea what the musical is about before actually going to the show) and eating ‘designer burritos’ at Ristras in Greenhills (we call it designer burritos because you customize all the filling depending on your preferences! We spent two of our Sunday lunches here this month alone!)

Notice that Ristras serve authentic Mexican beer (a bit expensive at Php200/bottle). Btw, DINKY is the term I got from Lindsay’s blog which I have been checking out lately for decor ideas on our condo

Mr. Rono and I have been frequenting malls lately checking out interior decor and furnitures. Over the weekend, we were doing the rounds of stores as usual. It gets pretty tiring after a while so naturally we always end up eating! In Robinson’s Galleria, we discovered Nasi Lemak which serves Singaporean cuisine with Chinese and Malaysian specialty dishes. I was happy to see they have my fave dish from Penang, Malaysia – char kway teow.

That photo was taken on our last trip to Malaysia last November 2009 where the noodle dish is served by the road (hence, the plastic plate) pretty much like pad thai in Thailand. Although I found the char kway teow dish that was closer to what I had in Malaysia in Crustascia (Trinoma Mall), Nasi Lemak’s edition was a close second.

This had us thinking about the dishes that takes us back to a place we visited before especially after we had dinner at Fish & Co. at the Shangri-la Mall where the signature dish is, well, fish and chips. This fish and chips dish was very reminiscent of our vacation in Cape Town, South Africa. Toast Box in Trinoma (inside Bread Talk) also serves good hainanese chicken dish that takes you back to a time in Singapore or Hong Kong. I’m sure there are a lot more to discover on a food trip around the metro, it’s really interesting how far you can go while staying stuck in Manila with a great sense of culinary adventure and a healthy dose of wanderlust.

Whenever foreign guests arrive in Manila, we always make it a point to share a bit of Philippine culture however short their stay is. Normally, I would recommend a day trip to Corregidor Island or Taal Vista Hotel. It’s trickier if their schedule for leisure is tight (read: business trips).

Luckily, I discovered that Barbara’s Restaurant not only serves superb Filipino dinner buffet but also hosts Kultura Pilipino, a Philippine Cultural Show showcasing Filipino traditional dances by the NCCA Sayaw Pinoy.

It’s also a great convenience that Barbara’s Restaurant is situated right in the heart of Intramuros so that our foreign guests would have a breather from the concrete jungle of the city’s commercial business districts. This short tour gives them a chance to catch a glimpse of history in what was once the walled city of Manila and then some

Photo shows our international expert from Brazil showing us his dance moves (“this is definitely not samba!”) and our Canadian partner being led to do the tinikling herself. The cultural shows run Tuesdays to Fridays at Plaza San Luis Complex with a Filipino buffet dinner served by Barbara’s for only Php495/person.

How to get to Barbara’s Restaurant? Just park at the San Agustin Church and you won’t miss it!

I’ve always had pleasant visits to Davao in the past and I knew this time would be no different as soon as I boarded the PAL flight and saw this –

The airline’s inflight magazine had featured Davao as its cover story! Definitely a useful read during the 1 hour 30 mins flight to Davao from Manila. While I was not in Davao for leisure, it’s always nice to squeeze in a good dinner or two, take time to go out and explore the largest city in the Philippines. Of course, nothing beats recommendations from the locals. I was fortunate that a college orgmate was able to take time out of her busy schedule from Davao Doctors Hospital to show me around her beloved city.

I’ve always preferred staying in Apo View Hotel while in Davao, not entirely because of the room rate or strategic location (it’s a big plus, though!) but also because of their cheap massages at Php250/hour. Imagine my surprise when my friend brought me to a ‘hole-in-a-wall’ restaurant that serves Italian just behind the Gaisano Mall (walking distance from Apo View Hotel). I’ve walked to Gaisano Mall from the hotel several times not knowing that there was a gem of a restaurant right behind it.

The place is called Picobello Ristorante Italiano, up on the 9th floor behind Gaisano Mall from the basement parking. I love places like this! Breaking into the dining scene of Metro Davao mostly through word-of-mouth, it’s an artsy little space that serves, well, pasta and Italian main course. The ambience is definitely cozy with a window table that overlooks most of the city.

It was a short stay in Davao but I’m looking forward to discovering more in my next visit! I was pleasantly surprised to see the bustling nightlife of Davao City on a weekday while visiting more coffee places around. It does pay to go out of the hotel room sometimes. It is also comforting that the locals would really extend their assistance if you need help with directions. Taxi drivers here are well known for giving back the exact amount of change down to the last centavo, or even returning wallets left in cabs.

Davao’s charm also lies somewhere in the streets called Madrazo, where crates of sweet, juicy pomelo or marang and other fruits are sold. I could never go back to Manila without my family expecting to receive some flavors of Davao, especially now that it’s Durian season –

Of course, the best farewell to Davao is to fly PAL business class going home

I first ‘heard’ about C’ Italian Dining Restaurant through a feature in PAL’s inflight magazine, Mabuhay, early this year. We wanted to have our Valentine dinner here but had to pass due to some conflicting plans with our Mt. Pinatubo trek. This weekend, we made sure we had our fill of our Italian cravings from this restaurant, which apparently has already served prominent political figures and celebrities in the country.

Conversations with my husband over dinner at C’ Italian went like this:

Hubby: Sino si Mahoma? At kelan ang panahon ni Mahoma?!

Wifey: Alin ang mas matagal, panahon ni Mahoma o 19-kopong kopong? Ang kopong-kopong ba ay numero o tao?

Hubby: Ilan ang isang katutak? Ilan ba ang katutak?

Wifey: Alin ang mas marami, isang katutak o isang damakmak?

Hubby: Sino sa Annabel…at ano ang kinalaman nya sa mga monkeys? At ilan ba talaga ang monkeys na nakita nya? Si rikitikitik nga ba yun blue black sheep?

Believe me, this was part of our ‘intelligent’ debate as we waited for our orders. It’s probably the result of the relaxed atmosphere of the restaurant making us feel like home. Our order of panizza (which you wrap with arugula leaves and alfalfa) and salads were such a treat, it probably gave us the good mood over dinner.

We’re sure glad we were finally able to experience this Italian resto simply called C.

If you have a few hours to spare to explore Jakarta, where would you go? That was the question I was asking myself during my second trip to Indonesia. Fortunately, I was able to make the most out of my free day in exploring the city of Jakarta before boarding my Philippine Airlines flight home in the evening at 2300.

A friend met me in Hang Tuah Hotel in the morning and then met up with another friend from Uganda, East Africa. We rode the cab to their Kota (also called Batavia) to get a taste of the city’s history and culture. I have always felt that Jakarta has an uncanny similarity with Metro Manila and this particular place in the city reminds me of Intramuros somehow. There were a couple of museums in this area, plus the Central Post Office which gave me the opportunity to send postcards for home (a practice my hubby and i shared for years).

We had late lunch at Cafe Batavia, set in an old house that was first erected sometime in the 1800s making it the second oldest building in the area of Fatahillah Square. The first thing you will notice is that the walls are filled with framed photographs of celebrities. 

Wall of photos by the staircase of Cafe Batavia

The back of framed photos serve as the restaurant menu as well

Even their comfort room donned framed photos (it became a little disturbing for me to see a photo frame inside the cubicle itself). Cafe Batavia reminded me of Barbara’s Restaurant (in Intramuros, Manila) a lot. The food was great although a bit on the expensive range.

On our way to experience the beaches of Pangasinan from Manila, we stopped by Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac for breakfast and saw this sign:

Now how about that. A fastfood chain with a credit line.

Discovering this restaurant along Kalayaan Avenue in Quezon City was pure coincidence. We saw the sign - ’Now Open To Serve You’ and above it Adarna Food and Culture. Sounds interesting enough, so we decided to have lunch there.

As we entered, it was a nice surprise to see the place so full of character. You enter the patio first and move in to the main dining. All around you are little trinkets and arts representative of the Philippine culture. In the main dining hall, what struck me most is how warm it felt to be there. Like visiting your grandmother in the province as she prepares lunch for the kin.

We like Adarna because of its home-like ambiance

And their menu does not disappoint as well. Everything looked interesting but we opted to get what sounded to us as ethnic dishes of the Philippines : Dinakdakan, Gising-Gising, Adobong Batangas ala Adarna, Ensaladang Bukid, Pancit 1913 and Gambas. We paired this with Batanes Yellow Rice and the lunch meal was almost complete. I ordered a cold chocolate drink made from tablea (cocoa). Now, it was the perfect Filipino meal! 

Our total bill was Php4,000++ for a party of 12 people. Not bad, really. All in all, it was a great Filipino dining experience. The restaurant was cozy and all the servers were very accommodating. We will definitely go back and experience the ‘magic’ of Adarna again.