Cravings

Catanduanes, Batangas and Bacolod City...have one thing in common. They have a special place in my heart. Catanduanes is the place where I grew up. Batangas spelled vacation to me when I was young. My dad is from the land of the Batanguenos.Unlike the first 2 provinces, Bacolod does not have anything to do with my roots. It's just that I worked in this beautiful city for two years. I have made friends, lived the life of a hiligaynon and learned their dialect as well. I left Bacolod in May of 2005 and was not able to visit since then. 

It's almost 5 years. And within that time I still feel the connection I have with the place, the culture and the people. There are a lot of things I miss about this place. The cheap taxi rides around the metro... the seafood I get to eat everyday, the beautiful places outside the city that I get to visit, the company of my super "malambing" friends and of course the FOOD! I am craving for food from Bacolod.

Here are some that are on my "CRAVINGS" list:


[1] CALEA Pastries & Coffee

 If you have been to Bacolod you are more or less aware that Calea is the place to be if you want the best cakes and pastries in town. Most if not all high end citizens prefer Calea cakes over the commercially available cakes from Goldilocks and Red Ribbon. The chocolate cake is to die for! And oh, did I mention that the chocolate mousse makes me forget my name? whew!

                                          Cakes by Calea

                                           Chocolate Cake 

                                                            

                                         Triple Chocolate Mousse

[2] Pendy's 

       

I apologize but I couldn't find a better picture than this. Although Pendy's also boast of a wide array of pastries, I fell in love with their Napoleones. The best in town I can say.

                                           Napoleones 


[3] IMAY'S

With Imay's I get to enjoy my favorite Filipino food. Aside from the usual crispy pata, kare kare and inihaw na tilapia, I always come back for their famous pinakbet. Yummy!

Pinakbet

[4] 18th St. Palapala

To complete my cravings list, nothing can beat kinilaw na tanigue and scallops in butter and garlic! I can almost taste it as I check out the pics..

scallops with tons of garlic and butter

I have lived a quite comfortable life in Bacolod. Thanks to my former boss for the experience. The Business Inn has been my home for several months before I decided to look for my own spot one of the subdivisions within the city. 

My home away from home

I miss Bacolod and I will be back soon.

MASSKARA Festival 2010... here I come!

one fine day

I received a message from a high school classmate the other day and it said, "good friends must not always be together. It is the feeling of oneness when distant that proves a lasting friendship". TRUE. 

I am very lucky to have kept great friends despite different religious affiliations...contradicting political views and geographical locations. These differences made the friendship stronger. I say trust and mutual respect is the key. 

In my previous posts, I wrote about leaving TeleTech with a heavy heart. One of the many reasons that I miss my old company are the friends [family] I left behind. Thanks to Facebook and texting, we were able to keep in touch. It's not the same though. I miss hanging out with them... sharing crazy stories or just goofing around. Most of them have left TeleTech and it got harder to make our schedules meet. 

A little over a month ago, my Accenture friends and I planned a get together. Just to catch up on things and see how each of us have been in the past year. Marcky [now working for Startek], Mommy Rubs [24/7], Shaoi [24/7], Faye [Thompson], Tofer [Verizon] and Barbie [24/7] agreed to set the date on April 13th. I really felt excited to see them again. 

Today is April 13th. I just got home from our get together. Unfortunately, only Marcky and Mommy Rubs showed up. For some reason, the rest of the crew had more important things to attend to. Although it would be a lot more fun if they came, we decided to make the most out of the day. 

After my shift, I went straight to Makati to meet my friends @ Starbucks Greenbelt 3. I had my usual choco frappe and Mommy Rubs ordered Caramel Macchiato. We waited for Marck because he overslept! duh! After almost 45 minutes of wait time, he showed up. I was really happy to see both of them today. Miss them much. 

It was almost eleven thirty-ish, we decided to look for a place to eat. Our feet led us to Bubba Gump. We checked out the menu and felt that we are not up to too much shrimp. Sentro was also a good choice but we had our lunch there the last time we met. Marcky suggested we eat at Recipes by Cafe Metro. We devoured on the delicious food served. 


See pics below: 

Recipes by Cafe Metro at Greenbelt 3

crispy tilapia, gising gising & general's chicken

lechon kawali with kangkong

prawn tempura

seafood rice

I was so full. Good food + good company + great conversations = BURP! We did not even finish everything we ordered, the rest we had to take out. whew! We did not realize that the crew were waiting up on us since they are about to close. We got our check and headed to Starbucks [Glorietta 4]. We continued our great conversation over chocolate frappe mocha frappe and mango passion fruit frappe! 

It was a blast. It felt like we just saw each other yesterday. I was happy to know that Marcky is able to apply some of the things I shared with him on how I handle my team. Of course there were funny anecdotes of when we were still with TeleTech. How time flies...I am just glad I was able to keep the friendship and lucky to have such great friends!

Brunch and more @ ATC..

It's the 15th..PAYDAY! Like any other payday...we decided to eat out. We got tired of our usual fast food and Hidden Tapsi visits. Today, we are off to North Park Noodle House at Alabang Town Center. North Park offers scrumptious Chinese food.

We had to travel for a good 45mins to an hour just to have our brunch. I can say it was worth the travel time and the money. We had Yang Chow Fried Rice, Salted Garlic Squid, Boneless Lemon Chicken, Lechon Macau and Fresh Prawn Dumpling. To say that my tummy was packed that day is definitely an understatement. Not to mention that we also made a quick visit to Dairy Queen. Judy wanted to check out their famous Blizzard (served upside down or its free!)

I am enjoying my nice super creamy and funkily messy Oreo blizzard when we saw Dexter, our manager on the same side of the mall and walking towards us. We candidly asked him to join us. After a few spoonfuls of blizzard (from Judy), he headed on his way to the bank nearby to pay his bills. Realizing that we still have to report for work in the evening, we decided to call it a day and go home. On our way to the car park, Vic asked if we could stop at Starbucks and smoke before we leave. Since most of us are smokers..we all agreed. I was about done with my last stick when we saw Brian and Paul. They are exchangees from Rhode Island who reside just beside ATC. It was funny how we all worked that day and found ourselves bumping to each other inside a mall that's definitely not a stone's throw away from our office. It was a great day spent with friends over good food.

I am pretty sure we will do this again next payday..wonder where our next stop is though.. c',)