Happy Birthday Roxy

I want to write about my sister, but just thinking about her still makes it painful for me to even start a mere paragraph.

Maybe someday…but for now, happy birthday Roxy

I hope you’ll like the flowers. Ate loves you very much

hey, you!

 Always believe in yourself 

Café Noriter: Coffee and Dreams

Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy

I was on my way home when my boyfie and I got caught in the rain. We were hungry and initially were in a bad mood because I came late. I would like to state an excuse but it doesn’t matter anyway, Miggy doesn’t like excuses and a plain apology is more than enough for him. This reminds me that excuses do ruin the apology, explicating an idea that Benjamin Franklin firmly believes in. We went across a small alley in which a bit of a rotten building stands with a sign that says “coffee shop upstairs” and without hesitations, entered the first cafe we passed by–this is how we discovered Cafe Noriter.

Noriter 놀이터 is a Korean term for “Playground”.  At the first sight of the place, I already felt warm-hearted. I ordered for their usual hot cocoa while Miggy asked for an Iced Mocha. As soon as I saw the design of the cafe, I felt like a kid all over again. Miggy retorted that my attention span went down to 2% again, I was so busy taking down notes and photos of the place I couldn’t even understand what he was saying.  What he was saying, I think I already know. That’s how it is between me and Miggy, often times he’s just about to say what I was thinking and we’ll blurt out the same words out loud together and laugh “Let’s have coffee in here again!”. We both loved the playful detail of the place, on how it made us think and feel like a kid again. I loved how the memory of the people who went here was carved in each vandal on the wooden floor and soon enough indeed I found myself doodling too. I also loved how the customers respected the white wall, saving it from random scribbles. For me,this simple act of respect reflected the love of the people who have been here–the people who treasure this place.

But how can you help yourself not to fall in love from it’s childish charms? This place dispatches a little membrane  and connects the older you to your younger self.  It makes you leave your worries outside and teaches you how to dream again. A dream is born from hope, and this hope sprouts from a bean of optimism–without optimism, there is no dream. I took off my shoes and sat next to Miggy as he tapped the laptop for wifi-connection. We sipped our coffee and shared our laughs and in two little cups we carved our little memories on the ground that touched our feet.

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Soon after we’re finished with our cups, we placed our little memories along with the other little cups sprouting hopes and dreams, and then we left like happy little toddlers on the loose. Even in denying this, I guess that’s how we all are in some way–happy, crazy little toddlers on the loose pretending like grown-ups who know everything when we can’t even fool ourselves.

A Girl’s Day Out

Press Play! Grande Brillante- by Frederic Chopin

It was the last week of my Mom’s stay  here in the Philippines, next week she’ll be going back home to Hyougo-Ken, Japan, so my cousin KC and I decided to make the most out of our weekends with her without the expense of travelling outside of the city.

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We met mom at Robinson’s Place Manila and had our lunch at Recipes by Cafe Metro. Recipes offers a bountiful meal for only half the price you usually spend on lavish restaurants. While eating, my mom also shared some beauty tips on how to maintain a sexy figure–KC and I listened fervently. Oh, I never thought it would be so helpful! She taught us how to lose the flab around our tummy by tucking it in using a saran wrap (maybe I’ll post more details about it in the future)

Earlier as we  were waiting for my mom,I had the luxury of having myself waxed and ear-candled at Lay Bare  while my cousin had her hair cut at Vivere. We also had fine coffee and gourmet at Cafe Breton-I must recommend that you try their crepe, it’s pure heaven crushed between your sugary teeth!

What a nice day to spend some time with your best girlfriends!   

I really hope we could all do this again… *⌒▽⌒*

The Hidden Garden

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If you’re looking for the perfect “eat” place in Vigan, I suggest that you visit “The Hidden Garden” located at the Heart of Vigan. From Calle Crisologo, the trike fare is just around Php 30.00.

The place is famous for its Filipino cuisine and environmental landscapes, and I must say prices are also at an affordable range. There are a lot of good restaurants inside the Hidden Garden, some even serve Japanese food!

Food to try: Pork Bagnet, Vigan Longganisa and Halohalo. <3

 

Yuume Potter!

No, Im not talking about wizards and wands, I’ve been to the Burnayan or pottery in Vigan and I must say, making pots is no easy task to do!

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The end product:

My shit of a pot

Baluarte ni Chavit!

If you’re planning to visit Vigan, it’s a must that you go see The Baluarte of Governor Chavit Singson!

Here you’ll get to have a free donkey ride across the wide plains of his property. You’ll also get to see wild ostriches running across his vast hectares and a good look of his well-loved tigers, cultivated butterflies and colorful birds! From Calle Crisologo, I recommend that you go there by trike. Tricycle fare is only for Php 20.00 to Php 30.00!

Here are some out takes from our trip:

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Vigan Museum

The Vigan Museum enables tourists to understand the Bigueño life. What’s good about this museum is that the Entrance Fee is just Php 20.00!

Memoirs from the museum explicits a collection of photos from the early life in Vigan and its old traditions inherited from our longest colonizers: The Spaniards.

In those 300 years, the Spaniards had been able to influence Vigan’s traditions, beliefs, culture and way of living and it can be well seen in colorful dioramas inside the museum. The Museum also displays a number of photos featuring the famous people who were born in Vigan.

See if you can recognize some of the famous people from Vigan…

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Vigan’s River Cruise

Want to have a full grasp of Vigan’s history WHILE having fun? I recommend that you visit the Vigan Tourist Officer on Calle Crisologo before 4:00pm. He will take you on a breath taking boat ride on the Vigan River for less than a hundred bucks. The fee already includes your land fare going to the site and the ride back to your hotel!

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Nightlife in Vigan and Grandpa’s Inn

At night, there are usually a lot of festivities at the Vigan Town Plaza.

At the time we went there the sarswela or lyric-dramatic play was just about to start. I think it was about the life of Gabriela Silang, wife of Filipino hero Diego Silang. There were also a lot of short stalls around the plaza. I saw this tattoo shop and decided to have ink done at the back of my neck. JUST KIDDING!  It’s just made of henna and it was roughly painted. Because I lost my ponytail along the way, my hunny had to hold my hair up so that the  ink won’t  splat all around my bunny.

Another nice thing about Vigan is the awesome Street Dining at Night. No, I’m not talking about DIRTY food it’s Fine Dining baby!

Imagine eating soulful dinner as you time-warp into the mid Spanish-Colonial era.

That’s Vigan street dining for us!

We were courteously ushered to one of the available tables at Cafe Leona.

The waiters were really accommodating and everyone welcomed us with warm smiles.

You can even watch as they prepare the food in front of you!

Cafe Leona offers a variety of cuisine from Filipino food to Thai and Japanese sushis!

We ordered a mixture of Asian food: Special Maguro Sashimi squeezed with lemon juice, Thai’s spicy Tom Yum and the famed local Vigan Longganisa.

Unlike the ordinary longganisa, Vigan’s longganisa is semi-dry to my palate.

It tastes somewhat like beef tapa and it’s less sweeter but tastier.

What’s special about this Maguro Sashimi is its spicy flavoring that mixes well with the lemon squeezed juice. It’s so fresh that the feel of the sashimi almost melts in your mouth!

And of course Thai Tom Yum is also as good as the others we had ordered.

Oh when I took this photo, we were almost about to finish our Tom  Yum.

Sorry, we were too hungry to take the photo of the bowl when it was still full of seafood. >.<

My boyfriend who had already gone to Thailand said it’s the closest taste of Thai Tom Yum he had ordered in the Philippines compared to the local Tom Yum he ate in Thailand.

So next time you visit Vigan, we recommend you drop by Cafe Leona.

You won’t regret it!

Grandpa’s Inn for the Night

Too tired of walking, we stayed at Grandpa’s Inn for the night.

Now because Im not your ordinary conventional writer, let’s start with the cons:

Cons: I could clearly hear the heels of the horses trip-tropping on Calle Crisologo inside our hotel walls. But if you won’t have any problems with that, I wouldn’t say it’s a con.

But of course, we shouldn’t have stayed there if it’s not for the over-all good reviews we’ve read about Granpa’s Inn!

and here’s our free breakfast meal!

Freshly brewed Vigan coffee with Vigan longganisa, fried rice topped with a sunny side-up egg  and served with Iloko vinegar.

Pros: I love the friendly staff and the museum lay-out of the place.

The rooms are really cheap too compared to the other hotels

(Php 800.00 per person, fully air conditioned room- 2 days, 1 night)

and I love love loved the cafe next door!

<3 I recommend you try Cafe Uno’s Irish Coffee. It’s heaven in a glass!

 

 

Now where do we go next?

Next stop… The Crisologo Museum!