Monday, October 28, 2013

Trying out Exotic food at Balaw- Balaw

I’ve been reading a lot of articles about Balaw-balaw and I’m quite curious about their specialties. It was after our long road to Morong when I finally get to meet and greet the restaurant.

After parking our bikes in the vicinity, we called the waiter and asked for the menu. It took us around five minutes to decide what specialty to try since we are not so keen on trying out of this world eats. We initially agreed to try “nilasing na palaka” and “kamaro.” The nilasing na palaka was available however the kamaro was not so we changed it to “uok” tempura.

When our orders were served we initially geared for the “nilasing na palaka” since we knew that the frog meat tastes like chicken meat.

Frog meat
The “uok” was a different story. Initially no one wanted to try the dish but Paul braved himself and took the first bite.

I laughed when I saw Paul’s facial expression. Based from his reaction, it was not so bad but I knew it was not good either.

Uok shell
When it was my turn to eat the “uok” I took the smallest and soaked it in the vinegar together with some siling labuyo. I was skeptical at first but I think the vinegar worked its way to the worm. I just had a taste of the creature at the end part. Verdict? It was like chewing a wood. The worm’s earthy taste was because of its habitat. “Uok” worms live in coconut trees so I think it got its flavor from that.

Will I eat exotic food again? Hmm. Maybe. It depends how they prepared it and who cooked it. =)


Till next time. ^_^

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Back on the Road (Taytay to Morong)

It all started when I invited some friends for a Sunday ride near our place. I sent the invite only days before and few responded. No matter how busy my office schedule is, I still would like to spend my weekend doing the things that would make me more productive.

We started the day with "lugaw and egg" (rice porridge and egg) in a restaurant called Scrapyard. I dunno how it got its name so please spare me the questions. =))

After our breakfast we proceeded to our target destination. It was not over 5 minutes when we faced the "wall." It was a grueling 30-45 minutes of my life. My heart was pounding so fast. I was struggling with my breaths and boy we were not even halfway. I ended up pushing my bike. Ha ha.

Mayk checked on the road ahead and told us it will be a very tough one. So we decided to abort and proceeded to Tanay to see Daraitan Falls.

Photo taken at the stop over before we decided to abort

Our way to Tanay was not hard but it was not easy either. It was a series of ups and downs. We have to pass by several towns including Binangonan, Cardona, Morong and Baras. In one of our stops in Cardona, Mayk and Jay asked us if we still want to push. I think we were all tired and hungry so we agreed to visit the Morong church and go back to Taytay from there.

Morong Church
The road home was better because we only had to deal with 2 uphills. And it took us only 1 hour to reach Angono from Morong. Thank God for the nice weather. =)

Thanks to Mayk and Jay for accompanying us. =)
Credits to Kat for accepting the challenge. =)

Till next time. ^_^

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Tokyo Bubble Tea - Eastwood Branch


==========================
mlet: kain naman tayo sa labas
paul: oks. kain then movie?
mlet: movie? sige sige. anong movie?
paul: on the job
mlet: ayus. like ko yan. di ba yan ung kay steve jobs?
paul: filipino movie ung "on the job"

toinks!@_@
==========================



We would always prefer dining at home because 1. It’s cheaper 2. It’s cheaper and 3. It’s cheaper. But then again, to end the monotony, we go out once in a while and indulge into something different but worth it.

Tokyo Bubble Tea in Eastwood City [Philippines] just opened recently. Paul and I agreed to try this restaurant since it offers Jap food which happens to be one of our favorites.

It’s cute that they only have few seats inside so the customers would dine al fresco style. The dining area was stylishly designed and feels comfortable. The servers are also fast and courteous our bill was delivered in minutes.

What have we tried?
Paul ordered for a beef ramen while I ordered pork tonkatsu curry. We shared a tall glass of their Japanese green tea.

The verdict?
The Beef Ramen was yum yum. I even had to get some “sabaw” from Paul’s big bowl and slurp slurp slurp.



My Pork Tonkatsu curry was a killer. It was big and I was not able to finish it. It’s also delish. I tried to ask for additional curry toppings but the server said they don’t have extra. [Would have been nice to have some extra toppings.]



The most amazing thing was their Japanese green tea. We really liked it a lot. As in we were raving about it even after we got home. I hope I can copy their recipe and have my own fix at home. J



Ratings:
Food – 4/5
Drinks – 5/5 [for the Japanese green tea]
Ambiance – 4.5/5
Comfort Room – N/A
Staff – 4/5