Dining at another restaurant downtown for dinner. More relaxed ambiance compared to the energy of the diners at Ocho. I like the Kinilaw – raw fish meat (tangingue?) cooked in vinegar and spices. The Laing was also good, similar taste/texture with the laing in Manila. The porbida last night at Ocho was different and had more of a creamy saltiness to it. I prefer the … Continue reading Leyte 2019: [10] Acacia Restaurant
Days ago, San Juanico bridge was only an image from my elementary textbooks for me. Now, I can say that I have crossed the bridge when I got there! (riding a vehicle). It’s illegal to stop in the middle of the bridge so the other option was to drive a bit slow. It takes a couple of minutes to pass through the approximately 2,200 meter … Continue reading Leyte 2019: [09] San Juanico Bridge and MacArthur Park
2 provinces in less than a day! My friend’s mom was going to buy some woven mats (banig) in Basey, Samar for her friends. Of course we tagged along to see more of Eastern Visayas. This also gives us a free ride to San Juanico Bridge. Pronounced as “Basai” by the locals, some sources say that the current name “Basey” was because the American soldiers … Continue reading Leyte 2019: [08] Basey, Samar side trip
Pei Pa Koa Milk Tea??? I just had to try that! Good timing, I was craving milk tea whilst having a mild sore throat. It cancels out right? Watching them prepare it, they actually poured the pei pa koa syrup from the bottle into the milktea cup. Legit. Sooo it tasted like..mild cherry? Is this what they mean when people say cherry is “lasang gamot” … Continue reading Leyte 2019: [07] Origins Authentic Tea
For the actual lunch, we ate at Sunzi Cafe, a local restaurant at the mall. Nachos Salad Sweet, tangy, and addicting. Not the strong tomato salsa and tortilla corn chip. It was a lighter version with a more salad vinaigrette dressing rather than salsa/cheese. Home made nachos which were less corn chips but more corn flour in texture. You don’t get the kernels texture, but … Continue reading Leyte 2019: [06] Sunzi Cafe
City tour of Tacloban! For the 2nd quarter of our day (1st quarter was the morning walk), we went to some landmarks in the city. Sto. Nino Shrine and Heritage Museum FYI this is different from the church downtown. Rather, this houses artifacts, art and other historical items dating back from the Marcos regime. There’s a fee to enter the museum portion but it is … Continue reading Leyte 2019: [04] Downtown Tacloban
Seafood paluto! You know how paluto goes, you could select from a display the fresh seafood that would go into your meal, then choose from their menu how it would be cooked (fixed cooking fee per kilo per type of dish). Too bad there’s a “No Pictures” sign at the area where you choose your seafood/meat/veggies so I wasn’t able to take a photo. I … Continue reading Leyte 2019: [02] Ocho’s Seafood Paluto
First time to snag a Piso Fare from Cebu Pacific. Legit one peso base fare only! I know, Piso Fare has been around for years now but I never seemed to chance upon the coveted 1-peso-base-fare for destinations I wanted – until this booking. Round trip ticket costs less than Php 1,000 only! Cheaper than a dinner buffet. Flight times weren’t exactly ideal as it … Continue reading Leyte 2019: [01] The First Flight
Another must-go place is Jewel at Changi. To have ample time to eat and explore, we booked a ride via GoJek, similar to Grab. First view of the control tower. Through the automatic doors, here’s a shaky video entering Jewel. Hear the rush of the Vortex, the tallest indoor waterfall in the world. But before we bask in viewing area, we had to get some … Continue reading Singapore 2019: Jewel Changi and Departure
What’s a trip without buying some chocolates from the airport? Here’s what I got from the Cocoa Trees store in Changi Terminal 1. Valrhona 70% Dark Chocolate Guanaja Starts with a stone fruit flavor – I quote from a the website – as I could not pinpoint that flavor that flavor when you take the first bite. Not really sure what it meant since I’m … Continue reading Singapore 2019: Valrhona and Neuhaus Chocolates
The Gastronomer's Diary 