Archive for September, 2008

A taste of Thailand

September 22, 2008 at 6:21 am · Filed under Food

My friend Al has a hobby. Opening restaurants. Haha he owns Jatujak (check it out in Megamall and Mall of Asia) and KKK (West Ave. cor. Examiner St.) and he recently opened a new hole in the wall Thai restaurant called Chariya’s Thai Kitchen.

According to Al: “Inutusan lang ako ng nanay ko bumili ng suka sa kanto. Pagbalik ko nagbukas na ako ng restaurant. Call it spontaneous, business savy or just trigger happy.“

Haha I loved Chariya’s. It’s pretty much open (meaning there’s no aircon) and cozy and should be on every food fanatic’s hit list.

Food is cheap but really good! It’s prepared by a brother sister tandem–Chariya and Jok. Chariya has been teaching in the culinary school of Gene Gonzales while her brother Jok used to work at Spice market restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok.

I’ve been to the place twice already and I still cannot get enough of their Tom Yum. It’s spiciness will definitely wake you up. Perfect pick me up after a tiring day at the office. Or, in my case, a day spent bumming listlessly. Hehe check it out:

They also have the best Pad Thai I’ve tasted.

I just sprinkled it with too much chili powder so I ended up glued to a pitcher of ice cold water. Complement it with sweet Thai Iced Tea. Waaah yummmm. Really filling.

Their curries are good too. Best seller is the Green Curry Chicken.

Ooh, start off your meal with Green Papaya Salad. Tangy!

And who doesn’t have room for dessert? Try the Thai halo-halo. It’s nothing compared to our Pinoy halo-halo but they add an interesting twist to it by serving it in chilled coconut milk.

I also tried their Mussaman Beef (not sure if I got that right) during my second visit but I didn’t have my camera then so I don’t have a photo. It’s reaaaally good. Beef in peanut sauce. I thought I died and gone to, er, Mussaman heaven. Hehe

Anyway, that’s about it! I haven’t tried the whole menu yet but I know na where to go when I have Thai cravings! hehehe

Do check out Chariya’s Thai Kitchen. It’s located along N. Garcia St. (formerly Reposo). Coming from Jupiter, it’s two short blocks away from St. Andrew’s Church after crossing Kalayaan. Red Canopy. You won’t miss it.

Happy Eating! :)

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Synchronicity in Baguio

September 15, 2008 at 2:42 am · Filed under Baguio, Travel

Last weekend’s Baguio trip let me experience synchronicity in a whole new level. And only the people who were with me (Trish, Arnel, Gigi and Poch) can fully grasp the meaning of that statement. It’s one of those ‘you had to be there’ instances where only you and the people you were with can fully get the kick out of a joke other people do not seem to find funny. Hehe. Labo? Well, you simply HAD to be there. :P

Anyway. Synchronicity. It’s funny because the only common denominator we five have is that we were all friends with Tricia at one time or another. We totally got along and it was just really a blast hanging out together in Baguio. Quite the adventure, actually.

We left for Baguio coming from Pampanga a little after 7pm. It was the longest drive not because of the distance but because of all the stops (read: FOOD) we had to make on the way there. We finally got to Baguio around midnight where we found ourselves parked in Camp John Hay where we had our first round of drinks.

Meet this entry’s crazy cast of characters:

The two Tricias and GG.

Everybody’s Cafe’s Poch and fellow food lover Arnel:

Finding ourselves a place to stay was quite the adventure. People say there are a lot of ghosts in Baguio and I bet that night they were laughing their asses off as they watched us go around town in circles before we finally found ourselves in this really quaint Bed & Breakfast called PNKY along Leonard Wood.

Here’s a photo of the hotel during the day.

It’s so pretty! It’s sort of like your home away from home. It’s a house that is converted into a hotel. I loved the interiors–very colorful and cozy. It’ll appeal to anybody’s inner artist. Check out the main hall:

And the dining area.,,They have a lot of paintings by the artist Carlos–makes me wonder if his family owns this place. I love his artwork. Vibrant, colorful, and very much alive.

I think PNKY offers 5 rooms for it’s Bed & Breakfast hotel. They also have cottages for rent in a different part of the city (Quezon Hill) and we stayed there the following night because the room where we stayed (they call it the Van Gogh Room *sniff*) had to be vacated to make room for new occupants. Sigh. I loved that room. Van Gogh’s one of my favorite artists and that room had a lot of Van Gogh prints. Loved it. Want to go back and stay there again. Hehe

The hotel also serves really appetizing Baguio Longganisa:

They have tables set up outside for when you want to take in the view while eating. Most of the furniture used in the hotel are actually for sale. PNKY has a collection of unique furniture pieces like this one:

You can’t get any more detailed than that. Hehe.

The cottage we transferred to was nice as well. I think it can probably fit a group of 10. There’s a living room which has a day bed, a bedroom, two baths, and a kitchen/dining area. And parking. haha.

The dining area where we never got to eat (at least, I didn’t anyway).

More of Baguio later! Gotta go have breakfast. Did I mention we did nothing but eat there? Trish kept on insisting our main reason for heading up was work. And we did nothing of the sort. Well, a little. Hehe

TBC!

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Collecting sunsets

September 4, 2008 at 3:42 pm · Filed under Sunsets, Tagaytay

Being a bum isn’t so bad. You get to have the luxury of saying YES to spontaneous road trips like the one I went on today with Pao, Adelle and, well, let’s leave the last person anonymous because she supposedly called in sick today. Hehe

We went to Pao’s Tagaytay rest house and spent the whole day staring into space. We paused to eat baby back ribs at around 3PM and the rest of the day, we spent doing our own thing. Adelle walked around the village taking photos. Pao spent it with beer and cigarettes. Anonymous slept on the living room sofa. I zonked out.

It was bliss.

The highlight of the day, though, was when the sun made its way down. I’ve never seen a sunset this spectacular. Check it out.

The photos do not do it justice. You simply HAD to be there. :)

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