Food trip

We went on a trip to the Philippines to stuff our faces. It’s a half-joke… half a joke… but it was a proper food tripping holiday vacation.

I started preparing the photos for Daily Post’s Rounded Photo Challenge but I got distracted, considering NaNoWriMo began to take over my life, which was probably a great thing as posting round plates of food and other shapes of plates of food would have been lame. (Those photos are still this post but under another prompt.)

I was going to post this, too; not only the Philippine food trip… it is posted.

Another week of challenge peeked at me but I ignored it. There were words to write, to be counted… but writer’s block reared its ugly head. Strange. I am a writer… Anyway, I got blocked so I thought redirecting my focus on images should help my brain get replenished with words later.

Thus, here we are… Nothing can be more temporary than the food you place in front of me. The waistline becomes a a thing of the past, too… temporarily or permanently. I know, I could post photographs of brown leaves, or moving cars and trains, or landing planes…

What about the blooming jacarandas?

The sunset obstructed by a bridge that’s a work-in-progress, which causes obstructions on the road especially during peak (not peek) hours. (Yes, I still sneaked in it there.)

However, my best example of temporary is the mist in Mpumalanga.

I will have to wait to share our long weekend at the end of October in the eastern side of the country. Instead, I am sharing with you all the eating we did when we went to the Philippines in April 2016.

The main purpose was not to stuff our faces although that would not be the worst reason to visit a country. I love food. We were there for my son, who was supposed to stay there to study. He could not handle it (I must say that South Africans, I am stereotyping, please forgive me, are more spoiled than Filipinos) and came back after a few months.

We shopped a little but if I were to shop, I’d go back to Paris… or Thailand… except for the shoes. I do love the shoes in the Philippines.

TAGAYTAY

We also found a lovely inn in Tagaytay, south of Manila, which I’d like to try next time in the Philippines… budget permitting. It is a boutique-type hotel so it is pricey. We had to ask.

FIC (Fruits in ice cream)

We actually only had the yummiest ice cream here, after we checked out the lake. But no, behind us (on the first image above before the pictures of the inn) is not Taal Volcano.

CHOWKING

I am getting ahead of myself here. Let me start from the beginning… I do know that Filipino food isn’t a popular Asian cuisine and I gathered that some are not crazy about our food but it’s all subjective I know. They must try my father’s cooking. He’s the best chef, followed by whoever cooks for Chowking. Ha-ha! I’m kidding, but the first part of the sentence is true.

GOLDILOCKS

Next on the list after Chowking was Goldilocks. Initially, Goldilocks sold cakes and baked goodies only but added ready-to-eat meals… I think they are ready-to-eat, prepared in advance like in “turo-turo”, directly translated as “point-point”, as opposed to prepared according to order. I may be mistaken. That’s how it was when I still lived in the Philippines… twenty-four years ago.

Somewhere near La Salle

We tried a local favorite near De La Salle University and we did enjoy the food. We love food!

At home

DUNKIN’ DONUTS & CHOWKING

Munchkins from Dunkin’ Donuts and more Chowking for home consumption

IHOP, MOA (Mall of Asia)

Gerry’s Grill, Market! Market!

SHAKEY’S

I had to let the South African family try Shakey’s in Glorietta before crossing over to the Greenbelt side of Ayala Center to meet a friend at Starbucks.

MCDONALD’S

I found the biggest McDonald’s fries in the Philippines!

UNCLE CHEFFY

On our way to Tagaytay, we stopped for lunch, and as per my friend’s suggestion, we tried Uncle Cheffy. I did enjoy our chosen fare.

Somewhere between Manila and Tagaytay

Then, on our way back to Manila (from Tagaytay), we had more food. I do not remember where it was exactly. (It must have been in Alabang already.) It happens with extreme delay in blogging. Hubby was disappointed with his food but he had high expectation ordering beef / steak at a fastfood restaurant in the Philippines considering that South Africa has excellent beef.

INASAL CHICKEN BACOLOD

We tried other places such as Inasal Chicken Bacolod in one of those SM Malls, either in Quezon City or Marikina. We did drive around a lot. It helps to hire a car, including the driver is even better, although hubby liked the drive to Batangas so next time, we would probably rent a car for the duration of our vacation.

J.CO

When it comes to doughnuts, Dunkin’ Donuts was my favorite. There was one just outside De La Salle University, Manila. I frequented that tiny branch from May 1989 to April 1993. I have learned to love Krispy Kreme and J.Co was new to me but hubby loved it, but it could because of the little burgers. South Africans must have meat. This one was in one of the SM Supermalls in Quezon City where my son was meeting a friend, my friend’s daughter.

DON HENRICO’S

For our get together with my cousin, her hubby and child from the UK, we went back to MOA (my link is Wiki because their website doesn’t seem to work but it could be because my internet connection is slow) and gave Don Henrico’s a chance. It was actually a scorcher of a day and I needed an air-conditioned facility. It got cooler in the evening and we had a good catch up.

LORENZO’S WAY

Meeting up with my barkadas (best of friends from university), we went to the fancy BGC (Bonifacio Global City) and had an awesome dinner at Lorenzo’s Way. I must have been so starved that I did not take pictures of the food. Ha-ha! I was having fun with some of my closest friends whom I hardly see. Priorities!  It was imperative to take a picture of the fish because… well, it was just different.

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For the love of breads

It was as important to give hubby a taste of the local breads. The Philippines has all sorts of breads. Fattening as they maybe (Duh! Starch and sugar!) I miss them. It is best that no one sees me go crazy over the baked goods of Goldilocks. Below was a stop we made on our way to Batangas (the beach).

CHOWKING

During our 2-week stay, we ate Chowking’s food the most.

It’s a pity below is what I had at the airport before our early morning flight out of Manila. I am Filipino, and I use spoon and fork at home except when eating meat, but I couldn’t help but wonder how I was going to eat my hotcakes (flapjacks) with a spoon. Sometimes, I think, the Philippines forget that the combination of fork and knife works better than the traditional fork and spoon.

All the same, my tummy had the time of its life. Ha-ha!

 

Hungry? Just eat! We only live once.