JP was scheduled to spend the second and last week of his winter vacation with me, after spending the weekend in CDO. I asked him to bring me a box of French Macarons, if they have them since CDO is already home to SM and Centrio and KetKai, while Dumaguete only has Robinsons so we have a pretty limited array of options when it comes to pastries here, which is really not that bad unless you really want to know what French Macarons taste like. I've been seeing photos of these pastel-colored treats all over the internet, and I believe that there are pastry shops in Bacolod that sell them, but alas, none in Dumaguete.
I was already half -thinking that there could be a teeny tiny chance that he'd bring me the macaroons that most of us know, you know, the kind made with shredded coconuts. They taste good and I've had many childhood memories of me and friends munching on tasty, fresh-from-the-oven coconut or butter macaroons, but this time I wanted 'em French and round and pastel-colored!!!
To make the long story short, dear boyfriend came bringing the shredded coconut macaroons. I couldn't get mad, even if I tried. I imagined him walking all over the mall, looking for the macarons but not knowing what they look like. The effort was very much enough for me. Perhaps we can try French Macarons together the next time he visits. If the urge becomes too irresistible, I could just hop on a bus bound for Cebu and fix this French macaron obsession once and for all :) And besides, the macaroons he brought were so colorful and cute, I really regretted not taking any pictures of those before my brother and sister got to them.
|
I enjoyed the last of his macaroon pasalubong since my brother and sister ate the entire contents of the box, except this one. And it tasted pretty good! |
My first time at Rai Rai Ken was on a dull afternoon with the boyfriend on his first week here. The side of the mall was quiet, since it was a school day and an afternoon to boot. Rai Rai Ken was empty which suited us fine. I was in the mood for something hot and warm to soothe my tummy and the boyfriend suggested we get some noodle soup. I'm not really a fan of ramen (chopsticks are NOT my friends! :O) but I agreed with him that ramen was probably the best thing for my tummy at that time. And so into Rai Rai Ken we went!
Rai Rai Ken is located along the back of Robinson's Dumaguete, along the short strip of restaurants beside Dong Juan's and Kalikaf. It stands just right across the Bingo hall (another thing I have yet to try!) and is pretty small, but they are making a habit of putting out tables outside to accommodate diners who prefer to eat al fresco.
|
He suggested we get the red iced tea. It was good! I feel like red iced tea is something very Chinese and ramen-y, something they usually serve in ramen houses... of course, I could be mistaken, since I often do not go into ramen houses that often haha! |
|
Ah chopsticks. We never got along, and perhaps, we never will!
And for that, I thank the person who invented the fork :D |
|
Ramen! Ramen everywhere! The miso was good though.
I was beginning to feel anxious that I would not like, but I did. I also like how fast the service was. |
|
:) |
Will I go back? Probably when I get the munchies for some good ol' noodle soup that is not of the instant variety, haha! I'll probably try the dumplings next time, but I think I'll try practicing on my chopsticks first! :D
If you have better chopsticks skills than I do, check Rai Rai Ken out
here.
I spent the first Saturday of December in Salagdoong, Siquijor. I love how blue the water is over there. The huge rock located to one side of the resort is a popular jumping point for adventurous souls, and there's a pool and a restaurant those who want to lay back and just have a good time. I stayed in one of the rooms on the third floor, where I had a double-occupancy room all to myself. I initially liked the idea of a solitary weekend all by my lonesome, but the lack of Wifi and TV in my room put a stopper on my happiness somewhat. I can hole up in a room as long as it is cool and it has TV and an internet connection. Other than that, I am likely to curl up in a ball and start reminiscing about the most depressing moments of my life. I started to read Anne Frank's diary on my phone, but knowing that she was going to die depressed me even more. So I opted for the lighter romance novels in my phone, which made me cry happy tears in the middle of one sappy story.
Since the Wifi does not reach the top floor, you have to go down to the lobby to check your messages. Power went out a couple of times during the night, which is apparently common on the island. Oh well. I had a good night's sleep, though, and the food in the resort is good, although bottled water and ice cream are pretty expensive.
|
road to the resort |
|
Good food, fresh vegetables! |
|
garlic chicken |
|
walking up to the hotel, you see interesting lines created by the shadows |
|
Second floor looby of Hotel Agripino |
|
new portion of the resort |
If there is anything to be learned during this trip, is that Salagdoong is best enjoyed if you are with a rowdy group of friends. Perhaps doing a solitary trip is good if you just had a really toxic week and you want to recharge. However, Siquijor is all about beach and sun and fun, all three, in my opinion, better spent with company.
More information on Salagdoong Beach Resort and the hotel
here.
Nikki, a fried of mine had her birthday at Island Leisure Boutique Hotel and Spa sometime in September. I have heard of the hotel and have read about it on Facebook but never really knew what the inside looked, so I was pretty curious about going. The hotel is charming, cute and homey, which is no surprise since it used to be a house before it was gutted and transformed into what it is now. There are small nooks with fountains and benches for you to choose from. I found the decor interesting, probably a mix of different Asian themes. The upstairs rooms still smelled of pain and woodwork, but they already had a fully functioning spa and Jacuzzi. I also loved the lighting-- subdued and soft, which was not surprising since it doubles as a spa after all.
I like the boutique concept-- the items used to decorate the hotel is for sale, and you can see how much by flipping over the price tags attached to each one. I don't know if Dumaguete has other boutique hotels like this. This is a pretty nice concept and it would be nice to see other hotels like this pop up in the city.
The food left a lot to be desired, however. I wouldn't go into the details since I forgot what we ordered. One of the friends ordered beef, which came hard and rubbery. She practically wrestled the beef into submission since she was hungry and needed to go back to work after dinner. My mashed potatoes came cold and bland, very much unlike other preparations of the same dish that I have tried in restaurants in the city. The only thing in the menu we liked was the calamares. The exterior was crunchy and crisp, while the squid meat was soft.
Perhaps it was just our luck that we went there when the place was still very new, and the staff didn't have the system down yet, so there were problems with the service as well. ( For one, they brought the silverware per dish, which required a lot of going back and forth, pretty tiring to watch even if you didn't do the actual going back and forth yourself.)
We did have fun taking pictures though. I kind of want to go back again, to sample the spa this time. Perhaps we can make a date out of it. Hopefully by then we'll see improvements in the food and service as well.
I had my birthday on Sunday, which I marked by going to Hukad with the family. It was my first time there, although Golden Cowrie is one of my favorite restaurants ever (it's one of the places where I make happy noises with abandon) since the food is so Pinoy and so good and everything is overflowing with flavor, from the crispy pata to the ginataang langkka (favorite!). I was so happy when I found out that Hukad, apparently the high-end version of Golden Cowrie, was opening its doors here, although it took me this long to finally try them out.
This is going to be a short post, since I am drowning in Finals week To-Dos, but I just wanted to post the pictures since I finally have them. Oh food, glorious food! By the way, I didn't bring my camera with me since it is big and lately I've been trying scale things down (my brother has got me hooked on looking at pictures of the Sigma DP line, which is a great camera with such an excellent picture quality for a point-and-shoot.) so I used my mother's phone to capture the food instead. The iPhone is a really great phone, and I was reminded why a lot of people love to Instagram their photos using this phone--it is fun indeed, the phone really focuses well and it is quite fast for a camera phone.
|
grilled tangigue |
|
live sisterette |
|
chili chicken |
|
buttered scallops |
|
ginataang langka |
|
pork sinigang |
|
calamares |
|
crispy pata |
|
kangkong(?) really not sure what this was, although I'm sure this is good for you.
|
Now you won't find an attempt at any food review here (like I do that well, or a lot, because I don't). Suffice it to say that I went out with a slightly bigger tummy than when I went in. And I will go back, as soon as I make room in my stomach for another Golden Cowrie binge. I am so going to be there. :)