Barrio Fiesta 2011

It's 5 a.m. Saturday. It's too early to wake up and yet here I am, awake and getting ready to go to the province. Heck, it's fiesta and I'm sleepy. It's a two-hour commute from Makati to Batangas so I chose an air-conditioned bus so I can sleep on the way.


What's the first thing that comes to mind when we speak of fiesta? Of course, the food. 

Fried tilapia with sweet and sour sauce 

Usually, during fiesta, every menu on every house is almost always the same with the same main ingredient: meat, more specifically pork. So my father and my stepmom made sure that there is at least one menu on the table that contains fish.

Afritada

Caldereta

Pininyahang Manok

Dinuguan

My Day For Bed Space

I should think about work because it's Friday. But instead, the first thing I  thought when I opened my eyes was, "Happy birthday, self!" Nice, another year older. Now all I have to do, avoid the question "how old are you?" The joy of being a woman, trying to hide her true age.

Now the plan is to celebrate  my birthday quietly. All day, my officemates greeted me endlessly and jokingly ask for a blow out. I don't know what to say to that.

But before the day ends, out of nowhere, I decided to celebrate my birthday with my officemates/travel buddies. Where else? Bed Space, a bar and restaurant located at Greenbelt 3. I've been wanting to go there and sample the foods for several years now.



Bed Platter: fish and chips, pizza, French fries,
chicken wings, nachos



cheese pizza, red berry iced tea and guyabano smoothie

The food was great. The Bed Platter was good for 6 to 8 people and is best served with cold beer. The guyabano smoothie and the red berry iced tea was best served super cold especially now it's summer.



Sisig

We enjoyed the night as we lounged  and eat and drink on the bed-and-cushion-sleep-if-you-dare atmosphere of the bar plus the disco music. Harmless fun night on a Friday night, especially since it's my birthday.

If you would like to try Bed Space, P500 per person will surely serve you a decent meal.

A Season Called Summer

It's the month of May, it's summer. In a tropical country like mine, it's the hottest time of the year. Hence, where the food choices are involved, there aren't many because all I crave for at those times were foods which are heat quenchers a.k.a. ice cream.

A serving of ice cream on a hot day is a real topper. May it be commercial ice cream, like those with branded names but expensive ones, sundaes being offered by fastfood such as Jollibee and McDonalds, or the kind that's being sold on the street, dirty ice cream as it's called.



Banana split by Dairy Queen: vanilla ice cream, bits of pears,
strawberries, slices of banana, chocolate
and whipped cream on top.

I've tried banana split by Dairy Queen. After a serving, it's done its purpose. I felt refreshed but I want another. Huh, better watch my diet.

Since it's avocado season, I also thought of making an avocado dessert during weekend. And with a twist, of course, because I thought maybe it's better if I add corn kernels on it. It's high noon and I'm craving for something cold on this hot day. So I have my avocado, corn kernels - the canned ones, evaporated milk, a pinch of white sugar and most importantly, crushed ice.



Avocado and corn in milk and ice

Fruits and vegetables contain liquid that our body needs. It helps to go organic during these times. Again, I go for something extraordinary, which is me, myself, preparing food for myself. It's one of my cousin's best recipe using organic ingredients and best served with Coke. It's called crabmeat and mango sandwich. I put lots of mangoes in mine because it's my favorite and also, it's mango season. Other fillings for the sandwich are cucumber, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, cheese and crabmeat. You can use whole grain or wheat bread to go with it.



Crabmeat and mango sandwich



Dinner a la Carte: New World Hotel

Being a food lover, choosing where and what to eat is not a big deal for me. So when Emy, my roommate, suggested to me and Mafe a dinner buffet at New World Hotel, eagerly, we accepted the invite. I thought, well, it's a buffet, what else can you expect? Foods of different kinds on the table, we just kind of choose what we like. But, gosh, the choices for this particular dinner is so vast that I'd haven't make up my mind what to eat.



Buttered shrimps



sashimi, sushi, maki and salad



pizza, roasted beef, meatballs and rice, 
chicken cordon bleu with goat's cheese



lamb with steak sauce and mint jelly



strawberry cheesecake, tiramisu, choco mallows cake,
creme brulee and raspberry panacotta



fruit jelly, strawberry cheesecake,
 fruits in choco fondue and ice cream

tiramisu, strawberry cheesecake,
fruit jelly and chocolate fondue

After three, four servings, I don't know. I lost count. Anyways, after the full-on war on food at the dinner table, we decided to drink coffee near the koi pond of the hotel.



capuccino



cafe latte

Buffet lunch/dinner priced at P1500 per person.