on films, books, food, restaurants, favorite haunts in Metro Manila (and now, Philadelphia)...
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| rants and raves on films, books, food, restaurants, favorite haunts in Metro Manila (and now, Philadelphia)... |
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Monday, May 26, 2003 Boracay Notes:
Tuesday, May 20, 2003 Filipinos + Karaoke = a country where everyone thinks they’re destined to be the next great pop star All Filipinos think they can sing. It’s in our nature. It’s mandatory for anyone that breaks into showbiz to pursue a side career in singing, even if only to lip synch really badly on noontime shows. In Pico Iyer’s “Video Night in Katmandu,” he has a chapter on the Philippines and he goes on and on about how obsessed our country is with getting up on stage and singing to our heart’s content. And way in the middle of nowhere in our most remote provinces they may not have indoor toilets or paved roads, but they will most definitely have a karaoke machine. posted by wys | 9:47 PM 0 comments Monday, May 19, 2003 Ilo-ilo was the same old sleepy province with narrow roads, minimal traffic and nary a high rise structure in sight. I made myself a list of things to do (I’m plan-oriented that way) and it looked something like this: 1. Relax. I know this shouldn’t be a to-do, very self-defeating really. 2. Read some books. I didn’t even finish Atonement, but I perused my new Gabriel Garcia Marquez book. It’s absolutely insane, each chapter is a single run-on sentence. What kind of fool would buy a book like that? Pa-intellectual ones like me, that’s who. 3. Learn a little bit more about the family tree. I didn’t really go out of my way to meet new relatives, but I did pick up a few interesting tidbits about their lives (read: chismis). 4. Practice some new Ilonggo phrases. I can totally understand the dialect but I can’t speak a word. I can’t even read it. I saw a Globe billboard that said “magkit-anay” and I couldn’t figure out what it meant until someone said it out loud. 5. Buy an Island Souvenirs Ilo-ilo shirt. Done, I got a cute one for kids for PHP 159. 6. Do a little shopping. I went to SM Ilo-ilo, the first sight that greets anyone who flies into the Ilo-ilo airport. The department store actually has a lot of good cheap stuff. Of course most of it is good cheap stuff that’ll probably disintegrate after five washings, but who needs clothes that last forever at those prices? And there are no people! 7. Order room service. Cheap thrills of life. I’m appaled at the price of room service when we travel to other places, but everything in Ilo-ilo is so friggin cheap I feel compelled to order room service just to make the most of the prices. 8. Eat, eat, eat. posted by wys | 7:15 PM Wednesday, May 14, 2003 I’ll be in Iloilo from Saturday to Sunday… there goes my weekend. There’s not much to do there but eat eat and eat. Hopefully I’ll get a lot of reading done. Change of scenery should be interesting. *** Next weekend my whole family (and I mean my WHOLE family) will be going to Boracay for what looks to be one of the most fun outings we’ve ever had. With my grandmother, my mum’s siblings, all my first cousins, and my own family it’s sure to be a blast. Past local destinations for big family trips include: Lake Caliraya (so so, blah), Subic (boring!), Baguio (before ukay-ukay was uso), Dumaguete (without me), Palawan (which was also loads of fun), Tagaytay (too near to be a vacation really), Ilocos (the 10-hour bus ride was torture). This year it was a choice between Sagada and Boracay. Sheesh, no contest. The adults have been obsessing over their sun-protective gear. Scarves, long-sleeved shirts, long pants, wide-brimmed hats, SPF 70 sunblock, and this really ridiculous looking implement, a sun visor gone awry … attached to a band that you wear like a sun visor is this piece of hard black plastic/film that goes over the entire face. I’m sure it’s the latest in extra-terrestrial fashion. posted by wys | 10:27 PM 0 comments Monday, May 12, 2003 I ordered some books online at Booksale’s website. It was actually so long ago I had forgotten that I even ordered anything. They only list their popular fiction books, none of that Mills and Boon included. I ended up getting:
On the cheapo bookstore front, I also visited Books for Less by UA&P over the weekend. Not much to say really—crappy selection, expensive prices, stinky (literally) store. Blech. posted by wys | 9:55 PM 0 comments Tuesday, May 06, 2003 Interesting reads:
Sunday, May 04, 2003 Cooking Notes:
Saturday, May 03, 2003 RESTO-RANT Pepato GF Greenbelt 2, Ayala Center Margarita Fores’ newest addition to her already very successful line of restaurants (Café Bola and Cibo) was a terrible disappointment for a big foodie like myself. Pepato (in Greenbelt 2) is a very happening place right now, even sans a big flashy launch party and any significant press coverage. I made a reservation for Friday night and they could only accommodate me at 7.30 (too early) or 9.30 pm. Interiors were designed by Jorge Yulo (not sure who he is though) and it’s flamboyance at its best. Jason says it’s all very Wallpaper. There’s this huge imposing spiral staircase that greets you in the front door with clear glass steps and gold-painted banisters. The staircase goes all the way up to the second floor, and even up into the ceiling to create the faux impression of a third floor. Chandeliers are these interesting pieces that hang the entire height of the second floor over the first floor, made out of hundreds of these aged-looking glass panels. Walls and ceilings are a haphazard mish mash of blocks jutting out from all over the place with nary a boring flat surface in sight. Acoustics on the second floor were terrible though, with sound relentlessly bouncing back and forth. Hardly ideal for a pricey pseudo-romantic dinner date. We were served a nice handful of multi-colored bread sticks flavored with rosemary (one of my favorite herbs) in a glass container with parmesan cheese to help keep the sticks standing. There were also what appeared to be fried/baked lasagna strips. Cream cheese stuffed ham was served as a mini-starter, compliments of the chef. I ordered a mixed greens salad with raw carrot and zucchini curls tossed with citrus vinaigrette (PHP 140). I know it sounds boring to begin with, but I wasn’t expecting it to be as dull as it actually was. I was served a terribly boring salad on an itty bitty 6 inch by 6 inch square plate. Raw vegetables on the plate, with no new and exciting twist. I love all the salads in Cibo, and am wondering why they couldn’t do more here. Jason started with a Farro, Mozza and Tomato Salad with truffle oil (PHP 220), which turned out to be a couscous type thing with very small bits of mozzarella cheese and tomatoes. He claims he liked it, but I thought it was just too strange and not really for me. His first course was Spagettini Carbonara Deconstruct (PHP 295), with fresh noodles made out of dry semolina. This was actually pretty good, and wasn’t really like any regular carbonara. I know super corny Pinoys think they’re being adventurous whenever they order carbonara in a restaurant. Puh-lease. In any case, the sauce was mostly oil-based and the dish was just light enough for two to share as a first course. My main dish was roast lamb rack (PHP 895) with an interesting and very original coffee guava glaze. I was served three small chops (albeit with all the fat trimmed off) resting on a bed of zucchini slices and the rum-colored coffee guava glaze. There was also this unusual cake of poleta-onion-ginger-ish bread on the side which was generally okay, but not really my preferred side with my lamb. Jason's main was baked chicken breast with a walnut crust (PHP 395) and stuffed with gorgonzola-provlone melt and tomato basil passato. I didn’t have a taste so I can’t really comment much on that, but he says it was a big disappointment with a poor excuse for a walnut crust and hardly enough cheese to make an otherwise boring chicken breast palatable. Dessert choices that faced us included: lavander panna cotta, muscovado gelato, and some fruit-based soupy sorbet thing. I ordered a caprino cheesecake (PHP 165) because I was intrigued by the description that it had “sugared carrots, celery and fennel.” Now how would anyone in their right mind be able to pull off a cheesecake with sugared vegetables in it? It turns out the sugared veggies were served beside the cheesecake and not actually inside it. The cheesecake had the perfect consistency for me. Stiff, a little resistant at the first bite, chewy, easily malleable. And initially I thought the cheesecake would be a winner. But then it had this strangely pungent after taste that usually accompanies moldy cheese. Hence the sugared veggies on the side to counter the moldy cheese after taste. Blech. Service was generally good, with the waiters all dressed in these cute old-Filipino style duds—tight pin-striped shirts, sepia toned aprons and dark brown suits. Unfortunately, I thought that for the hotel-type prices I was paying (PHP 1000++/head) I deserved hotel-type service. Dinner in Pepato costs an arm and a leg, and it is just not worth it. Pepato is supposed to be Italian, but with all the Filipino décor and accents, incongruity abounds … and that just kind of bugged me. To experience Margarita Fores’ genius as a chef, it’s a surer bet to head over to Café Bola or Cibo. Call Pepato at 757.2636. posted by wys | 10:41 AM 0 comments |
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