Native Bag Shopping in Bicol

I am a bag-a-holic. I was about 5 years old in the photo below. It would be easy to spot me... guess who's the only angel who has a bag?

I still remember that bag. It was a small square red bag with a butterfly design in front. My Mom got it for me and I always had it with me. That bag started my love affair with bags.

Some people find it strange that I prefer native bags. I had a collection of it. HAD because they all perished during typhoon Ondoy. Most of them were from the 100 bags that I bought in Daraga, Albay. I sold most of the bags, but kept about hmmm... ten percent of it.

I've been trying to rebuild my collection of bags, but I've just managed to buy 2 from Davao. I had a 24-hour long trip to Legaspi, Albay last week and managed to squeeze in 30 minutes to go bag shopping. The hotel crew told me to go to Tahao for pasalubong shopping. It was bag heaven (but would've preferred to go to Daraga, Albay).

Typical pasalubong shop in Tahao, Legaspi, Albay.

Here are four of the bags I got during my trip. Good thing I brought an extra bag. I had to limit myself though because it could only house 3 bags.

I hand-carried this bag since it's quite big. I would've gotten the blue version but thought this looked more eccentric. The blue one looked dainty.

I got this bag because it can match any outfit. I have a similar clam-shaped hand-bag which I got in Davao but it's smaller.

I loved how they used maong on this bag. I got the bag because it reminded me of a similar one I had which typhoon Ondoy ruined. It's an upgrade though because it's bigger and I like the maong straps.

I consider this to be my toy bag. They had it in several colors and I had a hard time choosing. I almost got it in blue, red and green too, but I decided not to because it might shock Sweetie too much and I don't have that much space at home.

Guess how much I spent for these bags?

*map to Tahao

Cafe 5845, First Ever Cheese Cafe

I love cheese, so fresh from Legaspi City I went straight to the opening of Cafe 5845 at the Mall of Asia (it's just beside Cabalen/IMAX). Cafe 5845 is a project of Kraft Eden Cheese and Magasaysay Center for Hospitality and Culinary Arts (MIHCA). It is the result of the Guiness World Record event where Kraft and MIHCA made 5, 845 unique-cheese based dishes last December 2009. 

Ï love the "Cheese Dynamite" dish. I am not a fan of eating sili (chili) but this one was stuffed with cheese and coated with breading (not sure about the right term, but like tempura). I was apprehensive that it would be spicy, but was assured by the food server that it wasn't. I loved it from the first bite (I wish Kraft would come out with the recipe!). (Sorry forgot to take a photo of the dish).

The cafe will have a different menu everyday and will be open only until end of August. Price is also very affordable so your one hundred pesos will get you a snack and a drink already. Tip: bring a fan since the venue is open-air.

Here's a couple of the dishes that were served during the opening:

Cafe 5845 is located at the SM Mall of Asia North Living Seaside Boulevard area (facing Manila Bay/SM Hypermarket side). It's in between Cabalen/IMAX/Friday's and Don Henrico's.

The Majestic Mayon Volcano

I am Bicolana. My Mom was born in Pamplona and my Dad was Ateneo de Naga's basketball rockstar in the 1950s. I am a hilaw na Bicolana though because I cannot speak the local dialect, but I do understand it fairly well. I also fail at eating spicy dishes, but I absolutely love Bicol dishes (sans siling labuyo).

Locals always tell me that I am lucky that everytime I go to Bicol the Mayon Volcano shows itself. When I arrived early Friday morning I couldn't help but utter a loud, "Wow" when I saw the Mayon from the plane's window. The majestic Mount Mayon commands you to look at it. I have seen the Mayon many times already but I always find myself in awe of its beauty.

I have many happy childhood memories of Bicol and I can still clearly remember when I was a toddler my Dad would bring me up to the roof of the Apolo ancestral house (it's the base of the Moderna Bakery) in Naga. Early in the morning one could see (if you are lucky) the Mayon. Most of my drawings when I was a kid include coconut trees, our beach and the Mayon Volcano.

Best time to visit Bicol and see the beautiful Mayon Volcano is during the non-rainy season (December to May).

PNoy's First SONA, Solutions not Lampoons

President Noynoy Aquino's first State of the Nation Address was direct to the point and littered with a lot of data. It was totally different from that of the past president's SONA which was full of self-praise and bola. What I liked about his speech is his call to have everyone walk the straight path and help our nation. It is a good reminder that our nation will not rise by itself, we all have to work hard for it. Of course it helps to have bottomless optimism.

Service. That's what my Dad instilled in me since I was a kid. In fact my Dad has a whole book about it entitled, "Solutions not Lampoons". If you are interested to read it please leave a comment with your address and number (or leave a message here) and I'll try to send you a copy.

Thank you P.Noy, you have inspired me to work even harder to be of service :)

Some great links:
Copy of the 2010 SONA of President Simeon Benigno C. Aquino III
Archive of Tweets with hashtag SONA2010
Video of the 2010 SONA (part 1 and part 2)

Ateneo Alien

Saw this alien draped on the old Ateneo library last weekend. It's made of orange electrical tubes (not really sure what it's called). Thought it was cool.

Mouth Watering Singaporean Dishes

I had a rare treat the other day when I attended lunch hosted by the Singapore Tourism Board. I arrived early and had an animated conversation with Lee about Singapore, Filipino food, Filipino places, politics and quirks! I told Lee that he holds the record for the most talkative Singaporean I've met and I was really surprised with his knowledge about the Philippines and our unique characteristics as Pinoys.

I've been to Singapore countless of times and I've done a lot of write-ups about it in the past few years. Most of those posts were about food and a couple about Singapore tourist spots. I confessed to Lee that in the past year I have been obsessing about milk tea (thus my tea blog with Drew) and that I have been supermarket hopping in Singapore to find the best instant milk tea.

The highlight of the intimate lunch was the authentic Singaporean dishes prepared by Heritage Hotel's Singaporean chef. I lit up when I saw that the menu included mee-goreng. Mee-goreng is my most favorite Singaporean dish and have attempted to cook it twice already (both attempts failed), so I'm on the look-out for the best mee-goreng locally.

The Singapore Slaw. I didn't really know what to expect from the salad since it was my first time to eat it. Mixed the veggies and dressing after taking a couple of photos and then ate a forkful. I was surprised that the colorful combination was delightfully flavorful and tasty. I actually craved for more when I got home.

Nyonya Meatball Soup. Linelle explained that Bawan Kepeting is traditional soup like our sinigang/nilaga. It takes about a day to prepare this soup. I was surprised to see a lot of ginger in the soup and thought that I wouldn't like the taste. I thought wrong. The ginger added a lot of flavor to the soup and the meatball (which tasted like siomai) was a great complement.

Singapore Laksa. I have a confession to make. Inasmuch as I've been to Singapore numerous times I never tried the laksa because I was scared! Before I tried it out Sweetie exclaimed that it was really spicy. That got me nervous. I found it really spicy too, but I soon realized there was nothing to be afraid about the laksa because it was really delicious. I'm fond of coconut based dishes (that's the Bicolana in me) and I liked the rich flavor of the soup.

Mee-Goreng. My favorite Singaporean dish of all time, need I say more? I did impress Lee though when I told him that I knew the difference between Chinese and Indian mee-goreng. Haha. I hope to perfect this dish before the year ends.

Hainanese Chicken Rice. It's been years since I last ate this dish because I developed allergy to chicken. I was unfazed though because I was hungry and really wanted to eat chicken again (it's been 18 months!). Linelle explained that Heritage Hotel imports chicken since our local chicken isn't fat enough for this dish. And guess what? I didn't have an allergy attack. Linelle also mentioned that this dish was made by Chinese immigrants when they arrived in Singapore. Definitely a dish you should have when you go to Singapore. If I remember correctly it was the very first dish I had during my first visit to Singapore back in 2003.

Sago Gula Melaka with Ice Cream. There's a certain twist in this dessert that I couldn't pinpoint. I liked it anyway.

There's one easy way though to enjoy these dishes anytime - move to Singapore and work there! Harold from Stratworks mentioned that a TV news segment said there are 100,000 jobs available in Singapore. Singapore government has made it much easier to find a job through Contact Singapore and did you know that you can actually get a one year pass to find a job there?

I must say that based on experience, Singapore is an easy place to live in. Everything works like clock-work and commuting is a breeze. There is also so much to see in Singapore, check out my Lakwatsera Ako travel and food blog for more stuff about Singapore.

For more information about visiting Singapore as a tourist, visit YourSingapore.com. And for more details about finding a job in Singapore visit ContactSingapore.sg.

Thank you Lee and Linelle for the awesome experience!

I Won John Lloyd Cruz, I Mean... a Phone

I have a confession to make. John Lloyd Cruz has been my crush for the longest time and I have watched most (if not all) of his movies and telenovelas. I also watch ASAP every Sunday whenever I'm home to see his antics with the other Kanto Boys.

We were destined to meet I tell you (haha!). I have had to pass on several invitations to meet him in the past because I either had meetings or the event was out of the way, but I knew that someday I'd finally see him in the flesh. Good thing my dear friend, Juned, reminded me and Sweetie about the event today. Things just fell into place since Sweetie and I were scheduled to go to Quezon City.

So you can just imagine how excited I was about the event. I immediately stood up to take John Lloyd's photos when he arrived (so I can show them off to my Mom and her amigas). Kim Chiu, Cherry Mobile's newest endorser soon followed and after awhile they announced the raffle. I was taken by surprise when John Lloyd said, "And the first winner is... Aileen... Apolo... de Jesus!"

And so this is what transpired when I got my bearings and went onstage to claim my prize. John Lloyd even joked that the phone didn't have a battery and charger. So sweet and charming!



Anyway, the chance to have my photo taken with him felt like the grand prize! Hahaha.

Thank you for brightening up my day Cherry Mobile, John Lloyd and Kim. =)