Meiji Melty Kiss

When I saw this, I wondered so hard what the inside would be like. That's the thing I have with boxes, that's why I'm extremely addicted to them, that's why I'm kind of weird (but who isn't, anyway?). I know that the picture at the top shows that it's a piece of chocolate in square shape, and it has some green color inside, and it's covered in coco powder. But I just had to actually see them, and see how they were packaged inside.

LO AND BEHOLD. Cute right?

I bought the green tea flavored one. Deciding on which flavor to buy was the toughest one I've made in my entire life. I had three choice: chocolate, strawberry, and greentea. I went for the last one because I haven't tried green tea chocolate before. 

(Forgive the poor lighting.) It tasted like sweet green tea. You'll hate it at first. Personally, I didn't get its flavor when I had my first piece. Then I started to like at after my third one. It's a flavor kids wouldn't enjoy, though. And the same goes for those who don't like tea at all.

No coco powder at the outside at all. It's just the texture. Matte-ish frosted whatever. 

Loved it! Will try the other two flavors soon :) 

Pamana - Tagaytay

October 21, me and a few of my friends had lunch in Pamana, a Filipino restaurant in Tagaytay somewhere near Olivares. It's a restaurant owned by the same people who run Barrio Fiesta, I'm pretty sure you know them well.

The place is awesome. It has a great view of the Taal, Volcano and strategically placed near a lot of hotels and inns - very easy to navigate. The exterior can really catch your attention because of its classy edge, as if only the rich has the capacity to enter. But no.

The elegant exterior of Pamana. I'm sure it made your heads turn when you drove right by.

My very matakaw friends : (L to R) Daday, Cha, Nikki, Romark.

"A legacy of Filipino cuisine" - they truly are. 

The interior is just as amazing as what is seen outside. There's a piece of family history on almost every corner of the establishment. It has that vintage touch with a hint of Victorian style. I don't even know if that makes sense to you, but bottom line is it's really nice.

I'm too lazy to put my "logo" on individual photos so I combines these. 

And of course, there's the staircase with a punch of old pictures on the wall. One does not simply just fly the stairs, they must take a photo near the photo wall...because we're hipsters...and that's what hipsters do.

There's a homey feeling once your'e in. The building has a rooftop - perfect for smokers and those who just want to enjoy the 24/7 bed weather of Tagaytay. It also offers a relaxing view of nature that would make you appreciate life. *charot!*

The three of us, marveling at the view of trees lined with water. The Taal Volcano added more majesty on what seems like canvas of painting.

Now on we go to the feed. My main verdict: DELICIOUS.

We ordered a lot...well that's what we thought when the waiter repeated our order. But when the food came in, it looked just right. The menu of Pamana offers Filipino cuisine...with which a little twist was added. The restaurant's dishes were made signature by experts. 

The Ensaladang Bagnet (Php.250) and Sizzling Adobong Kangkong at Chicharon (Php.199). Both tasted very Filipino. The bagnet was nice since it's served with some greens, tomatoes, and onions - a combination Filipinos could enjoy any time of the day. And the kangkong, it's surprisingly delicious and very asian. Sarap!

 Sinangag, just the way Bacolodians Cook It (Php.150) Good enough for two hungry-to-death people. It's super loaded with garlic, just the way I like my rice. It really goes well with everything on our table...except for the bulalo.

The Three-Way Adobo (Php.295) An innovative way to serve the classic Filipino dish. My favorite  is the adobo flakes. It's really crispy and perfect for breakfast - my favorite meal of the day. It really went well with my garlic rice. :D

 Lumpia Trio (Php.250) - Some tuna, Vigan longanisa, and mozarella cheese wrapped in lumpia wraper...fried into perfection. I liked them all. Especially the cheese stick...because I like cheese. It's a nice way to start a meal. Light but still very tasteful.

 Nilagang Bulalo (535) The most expensive dish on our table. I did not actually like it because I'm not into meat and beef. But the soup was great. Like really great. It was perfect for the windy noon that Tagaytay is known for. I wanted Kare-kare, but the others wanted this so....I'll definitely come again to try their Kare-kare and sizzling balut.

Daday and Cha fighting the wind on their face just to have a shot with the food on the table.

Now I can cross out Pamana on my bucket list.

Choice Buffet

The Korean food craze entered Manila even before everybody went "sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry". Of course, Filipinos loved it because of one plain reason: it's new. For me (a very untalented and stubborn aspiring foodie), I think Korean cuisine in Manila is all about grilled meat wrapped in lettuce. Well, I'm not one to talk since I've only experienced their food once, but see, there's this saying that goes "first impression lasts." I'm not a strong believer of this one, though. But I sure do hope I get to take these things I've just mentioned about Korean food....since I love Korean and I'm simply jealous of their skin.

Okay, so I went to Choice Buffet with my cousins a few days ago to have dinner. Originally, our plan was to drink the night away, but a certain someone had to ditch us for his academics. I mean come on, what's his deal, right? What's so much better than food? LOL, kidding, I totally understand since I went through that hell just earlier this month.

Okay, so I arrived late, like an hour late. But eh, whatever.

On to the food!
I don't have a photo of the buffet, but see, there wasn't much to take. Just rows and rows of raw meat, veggies wrapped in raw meat, raw seafood like salmon, shrimp, and squid, and the rest...fresh fruits and veggies that you make bibimbap (kimbap?) with.

On the other side, there's an all-you-can-eat serving of Jap Chae, my favorite Korean noodle dish. Also, bottomless servings of different soups that I didn't try because I just know they would fill me up too fast.

On my plate, I had the following:

Some beef and pork marinated with Korean flavors that I don't know what to call with, asparagus and string mushrooms wrapped in a sheet of beef (like it's bacon), and some kind of chicken bbq wings.

Well, I like everything I grabbed, but my cousins just kept on eating what I put on the grill. Except for the veggie and seafood. And it took too long for me to realize the presence of helpful servings of lettuce at the bar. But anyway, everything was okay. Just okay. Didn't have anything exceptional. I still enjoyed the experience because...well it was my first time, so...figures.

Grilling some pork on this so-called smokeless grill. 

The grilled salmon. Oh yes, I had a lot these. In fact, it's the only thing I thoroughly enjoyed that night. This one is still a bit raw, but just look at how juicy it was. But this was the belly part so...yeah. This was my favorite food on their menu.

The shrimp. Again, it's grilled seafood, so I don't have to explain everything. But just so you know, I'm a huge fan of seafood.

The adults of that night...grilling away. I didn't get to have a taste of their rice, but my bro told me it wasn't that great. And that red paste you see, it's some kind of tomato sauce. But it's really delicious, so Korean.

Team fourth generation. And that guy in purple is my bro. He's going to Korea on the fifteenth for some education. He gets to experience legit Korean food soon!

For the drinks, I went for their four seasons, but it had too much pineapple. Tasted like powdered juice. 

They also had sushi and ice cream. The sushi, I wasn't also able to try. But the ice cream, I devoured a whole bowl of it. Strawberry, mocha, and chocolate. I loved the ice cream, it wasn't too milky.

So bottom line: I loved the salmon, the ice cream, and the Jap Chae. The place did pretty okay with the quality of their food, nothing much to fuss about. Just the fact that it was fun grilling and wrapping meat around with lettuce.

But I think I'll soon change my mind about Korean food. It's my first time but I'm keeping my doors open :)

Bag of Beans, Palace in the Sky - Tagaytay

If you want to spend the whole day in Tagaytay, go there early in the morning. Like really early. Not only will you enjoy the light traffic, but the weather is simply nice. You get to enjoy breakfast in a weather you'll never find in Manila.

BAG OF BEANS 

Bag of Beans is a cool place, very earthly and elegant. The food is quite, okay, yummy. But it's just breakfast so don't expect anything much. But as for us, we definitely loved it.

Their buffet includes food that you would just normally see on a breakfast plate: eggs, sausages, pan de sal, corned beef, hotdog, tocino, and of course, the main staple of every Pinoy household breakfast: sinangag (garlic rice).

As you can see, there's nothing special about the food. But don't get me wrong, it's something I really enjoyed and the food is tasty even if it's just your typical breakfast. I actually loved it because it's very Filipino. But I bet you've all had sausages in your life. So I'm not gonna sell you out on the food, I'm gonna sell you out on the place itself. 

I've been trying to track this place down with my friends. So glad I found it! 

My much older cousin, Anjek. You'll be seeing a lot of that face in this post. Actually, you'll be seeing a lot of her here in my blog. She just loves the camera too much. 

This way to the breakfast buffet. See that balcony-ish shit on the right side? It is....

A cool place where you can enjoy their signature hot choco. And everything else.

I wanted to take a shot of the whole place, but she just smiles instantly when I lift my Canon. Well, as you can see, the place brings you closer to nature. I bet it's even prettier in the evening when all those lights and mini parols are on.

 For people who considers privacy as an essential part of a meal, they can have kubos like this one reserved ahead of time. I think each one cost Php.1000 for 3 hours (consumable). 

Can't help but imagine it with an acoustic band playing.

Another photo of their outdoor setting. Pretty rusty and elegant right? I love it.

Their indoor setting. Quite great for any event.

Another huge tent. Bag of Beans did well with putting a touch of nature in their place.

The food. Love that they're kept warm and fresh.

Those baskets contain bread, you can actually toast them on the spot, provided that the toasters are not occupied. Yes, they have toasters. That kaldero had molo soup. And yes, that's cereal. Further on the right (not in photo) you'll see elegant containers of their calamansi juice, iced tea, hot choco, and water. I got the calamnsi juice and it was perfect, not too sweet and not too sour. Although I wasn't sure if it was calamnsi because there were slices of pineapple in the container.

Galit galit muna, gutom na kaming lahat eh.

The place is great! Perfect pang picture. 

Can you believe that this is their powder room? Nice diba?

Behold, she's this creative when it comes to posing for photos. Can't believe she's older than me.

Elegant and simplistic sinks.

Take it from the name, their known for their coffee and hot chocolate. Bring some home to have a little bit of Tagaytay in your home.

Pastry goes well with coffee. My mother loves their raisin bread. Personally, I love their garlic sticks.

BAHAY PASTULAN

Make sure you drop by and bring home some of their famous Ube Jam. Patience is a must, the line can sometimes become quite long. Specially if there is recollection going on around their vicinity.

Their jams used to be in glass jars. I don't know why they switched to plastic containers.

Make sure you try their buko (coconut) pie, their delicious and surprisingly light! Also, these halo-halo balls are amazing. It's really like eating halo-halo. You'll taste kaong (the pink ball), langka (yellow ball), ube (purple ball), pandan gulaman (green ball, and the buko (white ball). They're delicious!

PEOPLE'S PARK/PALACE IN THE SKY

I don't know which name came first, but the place is known by the two. It's supposed to be the highest mountain tip in Tagaytay, so high that it could actually reach the clouds. No kidding.

On your way, you'll notice the fog. You have to go there early in the morning to experience legitimate thrill. 

Darken the scene and you get some serious horror scene.

You can barely see the trees! It's so cold! But it's nice.

It's not just cold, it's breezy!

Feeling nasa Korea. 

The entrance to the park. There's nothing much to see inside, actually. But you'll just enjoy the view provided by nature.

Tiangge outside. Get your souvenirs here :)

What's inside: a thirty minute walk of pure nature.

Pauso!

Don't you wish this was Manila?

Welcome to Silent Hill.

We can't help it...

I don't dig the idea of riding a vehicle otw to the top. It's a park people, the walk is what it's about.

No more fog on our way back!

AMIRA'S

 Let me make this short, go for their buko tarts, dilis, and coffee, tablea, and okoy.

We love their okoy :)

Do grab some of this gummy candies for your kids :)

This is how my family spend December 31 :)