The Binondo Food Walk

Been hearing so much about the Binondo Food Walks that we decided to try it ourselves. Instead of paying for a tour guide to help us out, we decided to just borrow a Binondo Food Wok map and made our own itinerary. There were 5 of us, I was the only girl =), and we took just one car to save on parking. We were able to secure a parking slot near the church (Php 40 pesos).

We started our food trip at Tasty Dumplings.

Tasty Dumpling Menu

We were there before 11am so the place wasn't crowded yet. Here's what we ordered;

Kuchay Dumplings (Php82), Pork Chop Rice (Php 115), Spareribs (Php 140) and Silver Bread Roll (Php 53).

 The Dumplings were my favorite of the food items, it had pork and chives inside. The bread rolls were also good, we came back to order rolls to go =) We stayed in for awhile to figure out our route;

Really handy map!

Next up was Chuankee Fast Food to try the famous soup #5 (Bull's penis if you are wondering). The place was quite busy, we had to wait for a table. This gave us time to order the soup and some kikiam;

The soup #5 was pretty good, it tasted like regular Bulalo, although I did not taste the meat =) The kikiams were bigger than the usual ones we see on the streets. Well worth the money. We were able to share the soup and the kikiam between the 5 of us.

Further along Yuchengco Street, we found Sincerity Restaurant rumored to have the best fried chicken. According to the Food Wok map, another food to try in Sincerity is the Oyster Cake. I love oysters and was really excited to taste this. We ordered half a fried chicken to share. No rice so we won't be full =)

Sincerity Menu

Fried Chicken (Half) for only Php 150

Oyster Cake (Small) for Php 140

 The fried chicken was delicious! Crispy and tasty and juicy... we almost wanted to order rice! The oyster cake... ugh. It looked like an omelet with big juicy oysters and some sticky rice gel underneath. It tasted like a mix of oysters, egg and tikoy. Not recommended hehehe. We ended up taking the leftover oyster with us. I gave it to a dwarf man begging for food.

After eating from 3 restaurants, we decided to take a long walk so we would feel hungry again. We walked around Ongpin and even went inside a few jewelry stores since my friend was checking the price of a silver bracelet. We even saw a novelty store selling some pretty good stuff!

 Feeling a little tired, we saw the DEC store and hubby got all excited because he really loves the diced hopia and iced drinks available from this store. Sadly, there were no hopias but there were cold bottled drinks. I got the almond jelly for Php 40. Since we were there, we decided to buy some pasalubong. I got tubes of big haw flakes for my daughter, some tikoy delicacies for me and buchi. My friend bought some frozen dimsum. The ever so popular President's dimsum place was nearby and we decided to eat yet again by ordering several dimsum.

Hakaw

Chicken Feet

Siomai

We were served hot tea and they did not mind that we have several bottles of DEC bottled drinks. The siomai was meaty and juicy. But the hakaw was the best! Fresh, plump shrimps inside the pristine white wrapping. Hubby loved the chicken feet, he said the sauce was sweet and spicy. We spent less than 500 pesos for what we ordered.

After exiting President's, I took a picture with the famous Ongpin street sign;

After the street sign, we saw Mr. Ube's. I was happy to see that they had Laksa on the menu and ordered that. We also got the Pancit Canton. The laksa was average in taste. Not too spicy and the noodles were a bit soggy. Same for the noodles in the pancit canton. At leas the place was clean and they had a bathroom where we were able to freshen up.

We ended our food walk buying more pasalubong in Ho-land where we bought several kinds of hopia.

The trip took us about 4 hours. It was hot so best to wear light clothing and comfortable shoes. I wanted to go around some more but we were all so tired. Definitely looking forward to Part 2!

City Kart Racing

I love watching Formula 1 racing, so when my husband went to City Kart Racing in Makati, I decided to tag along. I was bit confused when we entered the Parksquare parking lot and proceeded up the ramps. Turns out, the 7th level of Parksquare is where City Kart is located.

The place was empty at the time, it was around 7pm on a weekday. We waited for the rest of our companions inside the City Kart cafe and took pictures in the podium;

First Place!

When everyone came, my husband paid the fee of Php 760 for the pro kart plus the Php 150 registration fee since it was his first time to race. Racers can register using City Kart's state of the art technology. They automatically take your picture and you can input your details in one of their several computer screens, City Kart will email your race results each time you visit them. There was a short orientation for the first time racers on safety features, kart techniques and picking the right gear per racer. They have several helmets to choose from;

Clean and sanitized!

The helmet and gloves come with the fee. No need to pay extra, if you're a serious racer, you can bring your own gear. Finally, the karts arrived and each racer got in. Safety reminders were again brought up and off the track they went;

Race track

Track turns

For each heat, City Kart tracks the lap times of each racer. You can have a tournament with friends and the person with the best time is declared the winner.

Actual race results =)

For the racers companions, they can watch inside the cafe or at the sidelines where several chairs are provided. It's a bit hot inside the track and very noisy from all the engines. I opted to stay at the tracks to take pictures =)

City Kart Racing

Republ1c Wake Park

Location: Nuvali, Calamba, Laguna
Date Visited: May 20, 2012
Travel Time from Manila: 3 hours

Hubby came across the website for Republ1c Wake Park and decided that we should go to Nuvali and try out the sport. We left 2 days after the night he saw the site on a sunny Sunday morning. There were 7 of us in the van and we arrived at Nuvali before 11am. The park is not yet fully operational at the time but there were several people going around the man made lake.

Man made lake at Republ1c Wake Park

Sadly, we were unable to ride. We had the option to buy a board for Php 9,000 (no strappings included) so we can ride. But we decided to watch instead and explore the park. Walking around the lake, there were several little frogs jumping around. This was fine until we saw the parents;

ugh...

I had to walk carefully after I saw them. We saw the beginner's course and there were several people learning how to ride;

Beginners lessons

It was more interesting to watch the pros especially when they went thru the ramps and did stunts, the women were especially good!

Wake board fun!

After almost 2 hours of watching, we decided to spend the rest of the day in Tagaytay, rather than go home  =)

For more information (rates, membership, lessons, etc.) on Republ1c Wake Park, visit their website here.

Mega Merienda: Puto Bumbong

One cold and rainy afternoon, we had this for merienda;

Puto Bumbong

Who says Puto Bumbong only comes out during the holidays?

Spacing is the Key!

Pwede naman Taglish eh, No Doble Parking =)

A Hundred Miles to Hundred Islands

Location: Alaminos City, Pangasinan
Date Visited: April 10, 2010
Travel Time from Manila: 5 hours

Unlike our impromptu Baguio weekend getaway, we had more than a few hours to plan a trip to the Hundred Islands, Pangasinan. I think we had a whole day =D

My husband's childhood friends came for a visit from Guam and wanted to go to the beach. I don't know who came up with the idea to travel 5 hours to Hundred Islands but everyone agreed to go. There were 8 of us who went, 4 couples and no kids. We all fit in the van and packed the following;

1. Large cooler with ice cubes
2. Barbecue meat for our dinner
3. Hotdogs
4. Chips
5. Alcoholic drinks
6. Marshmallows (to roast over a bonfire)
7. Snorkeling gear
8. Zip lock plastic bags
9. Underwater camera

We left Manila at 5am, luckily, everyone from the group lives in the same village so we were able to pick everyone up on time. We took the NLEX route and had a total of 4 stop overs. First was in Tabang to have breakfast and the rest was to take bathroom/cigarette breaks.

5 hour drive, it helps to have a reliever driver =)

We arrived at Lucap Wharf, before 12 noon. The place had a huge parking space that's safe and from there we were able to talk to a tour guide who prepared everything from our motor boat, island hopping tour and even lunch (Boat rental cost us Php 2,500). The downside of the wharf is that there are no public restrooms or baths. We found a sari sari store who had a bathroom we can use to change and shower in for a fee of Php 10/person. We left most of our stuff inside the van and brought the necessities; towels, wallets, cellphones, keys, etc. We kept our phones and cigarettes inside the zip lock bags so they won't get wet.

Before boarding the boat, we bought our lunch in the nearby market. There are  several canteens that can cook and pack food for you. The food is pretty cheap, less than a hundred pesos for a meal. We bought 1.5 liter bottles of soft drinks and lots of water. With our lunch, we boarded our motor boat, the Aquarius 300!

We started the island hopping tour and visited several. First was Governor Island, it had a resort and climbing the peak of this island gives you a bird's eye view of the Hundred Islands. It was crowded in Governor's Island so we proceeded to the Bat Island. There we saw several of the flying mammals sleeping upside down the trees;

Sleeping bats...

We saw several other islands including one that had it's own waterfall! Finally, we went for a swim in the Giant Clam area. It's nowhere near an island, just a spot in the open water marked with a floating platform and fish nets around the giant clams area. It's a good thing we had our underwater camera case to take pictures of the giant clams and several schools of fish;

Clam diving!

The motor boat crew provided us with snorkeling gears and life vests but it's recommended not to use one if you know how to swim so you can get close to the clams. The water is about 15 to 20 feet deep but it's really clear. After 45 minutes, we searched for a place to have a late lunch. Our tour guide found a small island and we had it all to ourselves! The crew unloaded a wooded  table and we all shared a meal of inihaw na baboy, inihaw na bangus, tinapa, kamatis, itlog na pula and rice.

Roughing it...

We stayed in the island to swim some more and I picked shells to take home to my daughter. Finally, we went back to the wharf. I again paid Php 10 to have a shower =) We then headed to Bolinao to look for a place a to stay. We found an old resort (I forgot the name, LOL) where a room for 2 costs Php 1,000. My husband and I strolled on the beach in front of the resort and watched the sunset.

We slept for a couple of hours before we prepared our own dinner. The owners of the resort were nice enough to offer us the use of their kitchen. We grilled some hotdogs and barbecue and served it all on a banana leaf. Since we didn't bring any rice, we ordered from the resort. Sadly, we were unable to have a bonfire so no marshmallow roasting for us =(

We had a few drinks at the resort's balcony. The next day, we ordered breakfast from the resort (Php 150/person) and left at 10am since we still had a long drive home.

Summer Vacation for Kids

Here are some ideas on how to spend summer vacation with your kids...

Go to the Beach!
This summer, we were lucky enough to visit 3 beaches (Subic, Batangas and Pagudpud). My daughter Clarice enjoyed every one of these locations. I've learned to bring along her beach must-haves;

• Pail and shovel to make sandcastles
• Rubber slippers or Crocs
• Goggles for her to explore life underwater (preferably Speedo, they have children's sizes)
• Tent to keep our things safe and to avoid too much sun exposure (Php 1,500 fits 3 adults)
• Wake board (Php 400 in local sports stores)
•  Sunblock! 
• Snacks and a cooler

My daughter recently learned how to swim so she had a great time in Pagudpud swimming underwater and seeing lots of fish. We also searched for seashells that we used to decorate a picture frame.

Sun Kissed Clarice!

Enroll in a Summer Program/Workshop
For 2 weeks, my daughter attended a swim clinic by Milo. We were lucky that Milo decided to hold this summer program in our village clubhouse. The cost for the ten day clinic is Php 3,500. Each lesson took an hour a day and there are 3 swim coaches who facilitated the workshops. My daughter learned proper breathing techniques, how to paddle using a board and of course, to swim!

There was an incident where we attended a swimming party and my daughter accidentally jumped in the deep end of the pool. She would have drowned since I was several feet away. Good thing she remembered her swimming lessons and was able to reach the stairs of the pool. Now that is my ROI for the Milo fee!

Paddling with a board

Be Creative!
Since it would be too expensive to go out every day, I have some fun activities that can be done at home. I got out my daughter's unused watercolor palette (Php 25 from National Bookstore) from her school things and set up a table with a small easel. Next, I collected all of her test/quiz papers and used the back of the pages for her to paint on. I then made her wear an apron to keep her clothes clean. For 2 hours, I left her alone so she could paint, and paint she did!

Photo edited using Instagram for iPad

This project continued for almost 2 weeks and the only problem I had was looking for used paper.

Make your own Easter Egg Hunt!
When I was a child, my cousins and I celebrated Easter Sunday with an egg hunt in my grandfather's house. Our parents would boil chicken eggs and hide it all over the garden. For each chicken egg we find, we get Php 1 and for a quail egg, Php 5. I wanted my daughter to experience an egg hunt but since the malls charge Php 500 to join an egg hunt activity, my husband and I decided to paint and hide the eggs ourselves. Total cost for egg hunting is only Php 300 for loads of family fun;

• Poster paints (Php 200 for 6 colors), these can be used in other art projects
• Paint brushes (Php 60), I bought 3 brushes because we all wanted to paint!
• Carton of egg (Php 45)
• Quail eggs (free, I asked some from my mother in law)

The day before, I boiled all the chicken eggs and set them in the egg tray to cool. Then the fun started!

Between the 3 of us (me, hubby and Clarice), we were able to come up with the best egg designs! The next day, we hid the eggs from Clarice, gave her a basket and let the hunting begin!

Literally skipping while hunting!

Clarice had so much fun she asked to have the eggs hidden again!

Read and Write
Make use of what your child learned from school. My daughter and I would read books both in English and Filipino so she can practice and perfect her reading skills. I also encouraged her to keep a diary where she writes down her daily activities. This way, she maintains her neat handwriting and also learns how to spell new words. You can use the blank pages of your child's school notebooks as a diary.

Chores
I ask my daughter to help out at home. Now she knows how to set the table, fold her clothes, make her bed and take care of her pets. This helps create a sense of responsibility. Of course, we never let her do any heavy lifting =D

Food Trip
Need not necessarily eat at expensive restaurants. We recently sampled the new flavors of the McFloat and had a great time sharing fries. We also tried several ice cream stalls at the malls for less than Php 20.

Sweets for my sweetest!

Have a Disney Movie Marathon!
This is really fun! We downloaded several Disney movies (especially the Princess Collections), bought microwave popcorn and prepared a pitcher of ice tea. One afternoon of pure Disney fun!

Cleaning Out
Ever experienced wanting to throw or give away your child's old toys but your child refuses to do so? This is a great time to sit down and have a 'discussion' if you can throw or donate your child's toys. Sometimes it takes some patience and reasoning powers to convince your child that the ratty and torn doll needs to go... I told my daughter to donate some of her toys to children who are not as lucky and needs toys. She really understood this and we were able to donate a box of her old playthings (and clothes).

Feel free to comment on how you spent your summer vacation =)