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!

Thanks Tinx!

When it rains...it pours! INDEED. This month has brought a roller coaster ride of emotions. At one point, I am surrounded with negativity... frustrations and a lot of  bulls***t... I swear I want to vomit! But then again, God always provides balance. It also brought opportunities for me to reconnect and hang out with old and reliable friends. In my recent post, I shared about spending time with my TeleTech friends. This weekend, I went to Laguna with my APC family and got the opportunity to invite Tinkerbell. 

Tinkerbell or Tinx as I call him was my former manager. Whenever I get really depressed with work or caught up with my personal drama... he is always there to be my happy thought. It's almost a year since he left and I really missed his company. Our weekend get together was the perfect venue to just have a good time. I rarely drink alcohol but I guess I was just so happy to celebrate the friendship that I had a little too much to drink last Saturday. We sang our hearts out with songs about love, heartbreak, friendship...anything that we can find on the videoke song book provided by the resort. [i know I usually sing off key but duh? who cares?] We laughed till our eyes were filled with tears. It was so much fun I can't wait for the next time we can hang out. I wish he didn't have to leave last year... If I can only turn back time. *sigh..sobs*

Thank you for the friendship Tinx! 

me and my boss 

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',)