When new-found travel buddies suggested that we head off to Aling Lucing's for dinner, I didn't know that I would finally get to taste the famous Pampanga sisig that even Anthony Bourdain crossed oceans and mountains just to taste in Kitchen Confidential. Aling Lucing's is considered the best sisig in Angeles, and perhaps the entire Philippines.
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| Aling Lucing's from the street. At dusk, not a lot of people, but this quickly changes when the clock hits 7. Families in SUVs would start arriving and the place is packed in no time. |
According to Rene, who lives just an hour away from Angeles City, Aling Lucing's serves the original sisig in the Philippines, although you would not know it just by looking at the place. When we arrived at around 6 pm, the place looked like any other carinderia in Dumaguete. There were dishes displayed in front, and someone was preparing the grill right on the street. We did find photos of Anthony Bourdain on the wall, and he was grinning from ear to ear, so the sisig must be that good.
We ordered the sisig, of course, and another dish called buro, which is fermented rice paste mixed with shrimps. You eat the rice with eggplant, okra, or lettuce. I had no idea how buro would taste but I was in a 'try anything' mood (I was in freakin' Pampanga, for Pete's sake!) and if I could try it, then I would. So we ordered that, and the guys ordered the usual BBQ chicken innards, which tastes really good, especially when paired with ice cold Coke.
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| Aling Lucing's celeb patrons taking time for photos. Anthony Bourdain! |
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| You choose what you want for dinner here. That's buro right there, right next to the shiny red tomatoes. |
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| The famous Aling Lucing's sisig! They weren't kidding, it tasted really good. It was overflowing with onions, and the meat was soft and crunchy at the same time. They told me that that they mix chicken liver in with the pork meat, so that gives the sisig that distinct, nutty flavor. |
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The buro and eggplant and okra plate. We did eat all this stuff up (if I remember correctly).
I don't know if you eat buro as an apetizer, but it certanly served the purpose for me. the rice was sour and sticky, and it had a sour smell mixed in with the familiar burnt smell of cooked rice. It felt weird when I tasted it for the first time, since it looked like something that someone just threw up. But surprisingly, buro grows on you. The taste gets better especially if you pair it with the greens.
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| Proof that I had a really great meal. For my first night in Angeles City, not bad! :) |
February 11, I hopped on a plane to Manila to meet my boyfriend before we headed off to Clark Pampanga to catch the last day of the 17th International Hot Air Balloon festival. It was my first time to go to Pampanga, second time in Manila, and I was determined to have a blast. I got to try new food, visit the famous Angeles City strip of bars, and even got to ride the MRT for the first time (hooray for me!)
The last day was on a Sunday and we had to wake up at 4 in the morning so that we won't get stuck in traffic. We took a jeep from our hotel, which dropped us off at another jeep station where we got on a jeep that would take us to Clark. It was still dark outside but the lanes to the Clark Freeport Zone were already clogged with cars and people, most of them still bleary eyed and sleepy, but determined to see the balloons fly off into the air. The traffic was really bad that it got to a point where the jeepney driver told us to jump off about a kilometer from the base. We walked all the way to the base, passing scores of cars parked along the highway, their occupants out with binoculars and cameras ready. Everyone was there, entire families, small kids to old people to people with their dogs. The atmosphere, even at that early in the morning, was electric. Everyone was excited to see the balloons.
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| traffic so early in the morning! |
It was exhilarating to see all those balloons floating up in the sky. People gasped and pointed every time one balloon would make its way up into the air. The car and cake balloons, as well as the cheery sunflower, got the most Ooohs and Aaahs. It was also fun watching people whip out their cameras, iPods, camera phones, and iPads to take pictures. It field was turned into a field of SLRs as well. We even saw something snapping away in a Hasselblad!!!
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| Oly and Canon |
night shot
The fiesta atmosphere was everywhere in the Freeport zone. There were booths set up, and in the hangars were exhibits of Air Force combat planes and gear. For P200 you can stay inside the Freeport Zone for the whole day. There was plenty of food, since fast food joints like KFC, Jollibee, YellowCab and others have set up shop around the base as well. Families brought blankets and chairs and were setting up spots for themselves on the grass and they watched the gliders and colorful kites float by. You can also try your hand at kite flying. There were stalls selling colorful kite as well as souvenirs. Truly a great way to spend a Sunday.
I come from a family of consumate bread eaters. We love our pan de sal and 'sinudlay.' I have also discovered that I have this increasing love affair with wheat bread. So it is no surprise that most often than not you will find pan de sal left overs in our house, one or two fist-sized mounds of baked flour from yesterday or the day before. Since eating pan de sal on its own sans spread or guava jelly and peanut butter can be boring, I looked for other ways to eat it. Luckily we had lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and two cucumbers on the fridge, so I set about 'dressing up' the pan de sal so I could at least have some fun eating.
It's quite easy and simple, actually. You will need:
left over pan de sal
cucumbers
tomatoes
lettuce
tuna spread, leftover chicken, any kind of cooked meat you have lying around
cheddar or mozarella cheese
Slice the pan de sal in half and grill on the microwave for 5 minutes. They will come out with crispy crusts on top. Next, cover the top with your lettuce leaves. The leaves will prevent the moisture from the spread and the meat from soaking down and turning your bread into a soggy lump. Add the tuna spread on top, or you can choose your own variation of a spread. When we have leftover chicken I shred the chicken, mix it with mayo and use that as a substitute. Add the slices of cucumber and tomato, before adding slices of mozarella on top. Pop the 'dressed up' pan de sal for one final round in the oven for one or two minutes, just to melt the cheese. Voila! Pretty sophisticated-looking pan de sal ,ey?
I love sandwiches. I am a pretty lazy eater, especially when I have other things to do. Since it's midterm week I try to spend as little time on food preparation as I can, and this is where delicious sandwiches come in. My mom bought this loaf of whole wheat bread from the local mall which I like since since you get so full after two or three slices, and the wheat and all that fiber just makes you think that you're doing something good for your body.
I like to put anything in my sandwiches but lately it's been tuna, instead of the usual ham or salami ( although salami is pretty good too!). This is also the first time that I got to try this mozarella which according to my brother, is probably made by local farmers from Bacong from goat cheese (cool, eh?) At P50 per pack I you can make a dozen sandwiches with the cheese, methinks. Lettuce, slices of cucumbers, tomatoes, topped with cheese make up this snack. Paired with a cup of hot coffee, perfect lunch! Works for dinner, too! :D
Heavy reading is not possible if you have an empty stomach, so I try to have food handy when the need to study arises. With midterms just around the corner, I found myself looking for delivery services so that I won't have to spend an hour dressing up and heading downtown to buy food myself. There are a lot of food places in Duma that now make deliveries ( Hayahay, Neva's, Alberto's). Jollibee also makes deliveries, and I think they were the first to do so in the city when they first opened.
The minimum is P200, so I make sure to order, aside from my usual cheeseburger, large fries, and pineapple juice, other edibles such as their pies or another serving of fries. It's such a shame that they discontinued their cheesy fries (I had the worst cravings for those fries back when JB was still serving them, cravings that would last for a week!). They have flavored fries now, but it's not the same.) They usually take 45 minutes to get the order ready for delivery ( a little bit long IMO) but the good thing is that Jollibee is located along the national highway, which means they can deliver to my house in about 7 minutes.
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| cheeseburger and fries |
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| peach and mango pie |
I find it really convenient that two pizza chains are just a ride away from my house. Alberto's and Biano's put up shop along the National Highway near Claytown, and they've been doing brisk business ever since. Dumaguete is a great place for pizza, especially cheap pizza ( just ask Neva's). Alberto's and Biano's serve pizzas that are eerily similar in taste, although I've been calling Alberto's more often lately because they deliver at ALL HOURS of the day (I even had a pizza delivered at 1 in the morning) and they don't charge anything for the delivery.
Alberto's serves two kinds of pizza, one with Quickmelt and other with mozzarella. I prefer the latter, since it's not as salty as quickmelt and you get that rubbery texture that always makes pulling out another slice so pleasurable. Hawaiian with mozzarella and Hungarian taste really good. My most recent delivery was ham and egg, which turned out to be not as tasty as the other's I've tried. The egg was runny, which gave the pizza top a really wet, soggy look. It tasted ok, but this time the crust tasted sweeter than I had previously remembered. Lesson learned, I think I'll stick to the Hawaiian and Hungarian next time.
The great thing is that they also deliver ice cream (Sorbetes, P100 per half-gallon) and yogurt shakes. I 'm the only one in my family who loves Sorbetes ice cream so I could be the only person here who's happy that they are delivering ice cream for free. You can't beat having ice cream, pizza, and yogurt shakes delivered to your door. It saves me a lot of money on pedicab fare alone, and I don't have to get dressed just so I can go out and get my pizza. With their 11" pizzas costing just a little over P100, it's so hard to go wrong with Alberto's.
Call 422-6392 for deliveries. :)
JP took me to Malasag on my last day in CDO. About 30 minutes from the center of the city, the park looked like a little village in Baguio to me, with its lodges and trees and the overloooking view. It was cool there, and I almost missed Valencia. On the way up, JP pointed out the stations of the cross marked by white crosses that stand right along the road.
The ride to the park is really cool, as if you can touch the droplets of moisture in the air. It was so cool that when JP and I arrived, our lenses were all fogged up, and I almost freaked out, since my lens from the outside was already opaque with the thick layer of moisture. However, after a few vigorous wipes our lenses were back to normal.
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| entrance to the park |
There's a restaurant that overloooks the city and the coast. From there you could see the brown part of the ocean, remnants of Sendong.
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| The coast, still brown from the storm. |
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| one of the many little footpaths that lead to flowers and more flowers |
The park is perfect if you are tired of the all the dust in the city and you want fresh air for a change. The good thing is its just a few miles from the highway so the ride to the park if you are in the city is not really a big thing. If I was living in CDO I'd be here every weekend, my notebook and Tattoo in tow. I bet I can do a lot of writing or studying here. It's so quiet except for the sound of the birds and crickets, and you have the restaurant if you ever get hungry. People who like to emote alone [and I do know of a few ;)] will surely love this place.
