Tag Archives: travel

Philippine edition: The sweet stuff

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Food by

Hello everyone! The past 2 months have been such a whirlwind experience. I have been to and fro the Philippines and Hong Kong and now I’m back in Perth and things do not seem to be slowing down. In an ideal world I would’ve been updating this blog with lots of food experiences in the said countries soon after I’ve experienced them but let’s face it when I’m on holidays I start my day early and I don’t come back home to rest until I’m squeezed out of my last drop of energy.

But fear not! My iPhone is full of photos of, what else, food waiting to be posted. So bear with me please for the next few posts…I’m still figuring out what the best ways are to show you what it was like dining in Manila and Hong Kong.

I’ll kick it off with a few sweet things.

Cupcakes by Sonja

I think Cupcakes by Sonja started the whole cupcake craze in Manila when it first opened. “Legend” has it that Sonja, the owner of  the cupcake shop, used to work at the Magnolia Bakery in NYC. Yes, that right; that’s the bakery featured in Sex and the City. I’ve been meaning to get my hands on some Sonja’s cupcakes a few years back when I visited Manila but I’ve been forwarned by a few people that the cupcakes are not really worth trying. I think I’m experiencing a deja vu. The same thing happened to me when I was in NYC and lining up to get some Magnolia Bakery cupcakes.

But alas I made it to Serendra at The Fort and found what I was looking for. The shop looked pretty from the outside but the inside was disappointing. It was dark and it did not feel clean. There is some sort of sticky feeling when I walked in (and no it wasn’t the humidity). Lily came along to the Philippines as well and her first reaction was “my god this place stinks”. I chuckled but I agree 100%! Think of it as like a sugary musty smell. While Lily waited outside because she could no longer stand the smell I waited semi-patiently in line holding my breath from time to time.

It was finally my turn and I got myself a Mocha cupcake.

The cupcake base is delicious. Moist chocolate cupcake that is not too sweet. What makes it mocha though is the coffee flavoured icing and that was not good. The icing was too grainy and it was too much blob on a perfectly good cupcake based.

My cupcake experience here was exactly like how it was at Magnolia Bakery; although if I were to choose between the lesser of 2 evils it would have to be Sonja’s.

Chez Karine

Sitting next to Cupcakes by Sonja is Chez Karine, a fairly new establishment in the dessert scene at The Fort. Chez Karine serves up French sweets and the whole place screams cute. The shop is cute. The packaging is cute. The pudding containers are cute. The menu is cute. And for what it’s worth the shop has a sweet smelling waft that is inviting.

I wanted to buy one of each of everything they had to offer. Out of everything that was there only the macaron were subpar in appearance. I ended up getting 1 each of the macarons that were available and a jar of royal vanilla pudding. The macarons were so-so; nothing special about them and the texture is not all that great. It was too soft. The intriguing flavour I had though was maple bacon. It was not as strange as I thought it was going to be – a hint of maple taste with the tiniest amount of bacon bits – but something I probably will not have again.

What did save the day was the royal pudding (pictured above). I couldn’t resist buying one of those because the tiny jars looked too cute. I’m pretty happy too that the stuff inside the jars were delicious! Royal pudding is like a firmer type of custard and there is a caramel syrup sitting at the bottom. The syrup had the faintest hint of bitterness which completely makes the pudding an enjoyable experience.

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Philippine Edition: An ode to mangoes

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Drinks, Filipino, Food, Travel by

Cut up some green mangoes and add onions, tomatoes, pork crackling to turn it into a refreshingly sour salad then top it off with shrimp paste

if fruit shakes have awards…mango shakes would win the best fruit shake ever award

can’t get enough of these shakes!

Even unripe/green mango shakes are just as great! It’s really sour but works up your appetite!

This might be the only place where you can get California Maki with mangoes in it. And no, it’s not weird at all when you’re in the Philippines. In fact, a California Maki here without that tiny piece of mango is not a California Maki :)

Mangoes are a great accompaniment to desserts too like milk pudding

mango ice cream anyone?

The Philippines’ most famous export…probably. Dried mangoes – so you can give them out to everyone you know…

There is nothing like Philippine mangoes!! Mabuhay!

*Dried mango photo source http://www.sweetsweetmangos.com/dried_mangoes/7D_Dried_Mangoes_5Pack180.html

August’12 in a nutshell

Posted in Photography, Travel by

How is it the end of August already? Feels like the year just started…and now shops are stocking up on Christmas decorations already. It’s crazy how time flies. But anyhow, I squeezed in a little holiday to Sydney in the midst of all my studying, working, and other things that I should be doing. It was a good 4-day break.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Opera House

Three Sisters at the Blue Mountains

Of course I managed to get my hands on some Zumbarons and other sweets and they survived the plane ride!

And no trip to Sydney is complete without me bringing home some Krispy Kreme doughnuts for my doughnut deprived friends/colleagues/family. I brought back 4 dozens of doughnuts. Holy cow, everyone was staring as I walked through the aisle on the plane.

Exploring Perth 2: Perth Hills

Posted in Adventures, Perth, Travel by

Thanks to a car breakdown incident, I have discovered a new place in Perth. It’s not new per se but it’s unchartered enough that it brings me all kinds of excitement whenever I pay it a visit. Of all the years I have lived in Perth, I have not once set foot in this part of town; a town called Kalamunda, part of what is otherwise known as the Perth Hills.

Left crippled without a car, I decided to ask the company I work for, after being fed up with public transportation, if we had any spare vehicle that I may borrow while my car is being fixed. Luckily, there were quite a few spares! A colleague and I drove up to Kalamunda to pick up the spare vehicle – it’s also safe to say that I can now cross out driving a pick up truck from my bucket list – and it was the conversation I had with her during the ride that sparked my interest in exploring Perth Hills. The drive up made me realise that Kalamunda is not that inaccessible from where I live (as I previously thought); about 30 minutes from home and 15 minutes from the office by car without traffic jams.

My quest to look for a decent cupcake shop in Perth made me trek my first official visit to Kalamunda. That visit was enough to make me want to come back for more. I was pressed for time then so I only took about half an hour or so to stroll around. The shopping area, located along Haynes Street and its surrounds, is not that big but also not that small. It is small enough that it has a very close-knit community feel to it yet big enough to provide you with whatever you need (supermarkets, Bunnings, cafes, restaurants, shopping…).

One Sunday, after much Googling about Perth Hills, I went to the Kalamunda Farmer’s Market. This market is open until 12pm every Sunday so Auntie C and I rushed off after an early breakfast to get there before it closes. Big mistake regarding that breakfast. There was so much to eat at the markets that we should’ve just eaten breakfast there! A few cafes were open and there was also a creperie stall. Being full would not stop us from eating more anyway; it would just make us extremely full and skip lunch altogether. A few of the things you’ll find at the market are:

  • specialty bread
  • fresh fruits and veg
  • seafood
  • olives/olive products
  • crepes
  • plants for sale
  • honey
  • macarons

So after a stoll on a fine spring day, we decided to cool down with some homemade ice ceam at Collodel. This is one of the best homemade ice creams I have had in  a while. It was smooth and not too sweet. Just perfectly divine. I had the creme caramel flavour and it was yum yum yum.

Since we were already in the area, Auntie C and I headed out to Gooseberry Hill; a neighbouring suburb that is like a 2-minute drive. The main reason for going there was to go to this French cafe and patisserie called Le Croissant du Moulin. It is tucked away in a very small village shopping centre along Railway Road that I missed it while cruising down the street. Thankfully there was a round-about nearby. All the cakes looked enticing that I really really want to buy them all. Okay, we limited ourselves to just 3 (because we didn’t have enough cash left). Two words for the sweets – tres delicieux! I have concluded by now that Perth Hills houses some of the city’s best kept food secrets.

On the way home, we drove through the scenic zig zag drive that is worth a visit too. I never knew Perth had a scenic, let alone a zig zag, drive. It is a sight of the city from a different point of view.

That’s half a Sunday well spent.

Journey to a thousand miles begins with a single step, literally.

Posted in Adventures, Travel by

More than 5,000 miles later – couple that with 4 movies, 1 episode each of UK Junior Masterchef and Modern Family, Adele’s 21 album and 7 hours of sleep tops – it is such a relief to say that after 26 hours of flight and transit time, K and I have finally made it safely to San Francisco.

This was my first time aboard a Singapore Airlines aircraft and with their badge as one of the best airlines they sure did not disappoint. Customer service was good. Entertainment on board was so-so. There were not a lot of movies and TV shows to choose from but they did have the latest ones like X-Men: First Class and Bridesmaids. Food was exceptionally good too. While most people loathe airplane food I, for one, am one of those weirdos who actually look forward to airplane meals. I think I am so over Cathay Pacific food already that Singapore Airlines food was such a breather for me. I wouldn’t usually eat the appetisers in Cathay coz they suck but the ones in SQ were so delicious! We had 6 airplane meals altogether and if I had to choose the beef goulash would be the best one so far.

We have stepped into 3 cities – Singapore, Seoul, San Francisco – within 24 hours. We only made it to the airport for the first 2 cities but both airports were pretty awesome. Singapore’s Changi Airport Terminal 3 is absolutely fantastic! It is very modern, clean and busy. We had 3 hours to kill so we walked around instead of getting some sleep as originally planned. They had showers, gym and a butterfly garden. Well we never made it to the butterfly garden because we couldn’t find it. K was dying to get a foot massage and the airport offered a free service for that. We were thinking of masseuses giving foot rubs but instead found a foot massager machine. It was not that great but good enough to get your circulation going again after a long flight. Then off to get some breakfast and of course that Asian in me decided to have wonton noodles at 7am, just silently praying that I won’t get indigestion. After breakfast we decided it’s time to get some sleep so where better to do this than on the seats in the waiting room lounge.

The reality of being in the USA did not really sink in instantly. It’s probably because we are literally dead tired. Crying babies, turbulance and exotic smells on board just made it quite impossible to get proper sleep and, quite frankly, I was very grumpy at this point. It wasn’t until we stepped out of Powell St station and seeing all the buildings and shops standing majestically above us that we realised this is a far cry from the quiet city of Perth that we came from. We were instantly greeted by street performers with a roaring crowd. The hustle and bustle of San Francisco made me feel alive once again and I was not so tired after all.

We headed straight to the hotel after getting into the city and slept for a few hours then got dinner and groceries. There are no supermarkets in San Francisco?! How bizarre. We found Walgreens and I find it so strange that most of the products they sell are locked with security. I want that shampoo but, no, you have to press a button for assistance to be able to get that bottle of shampoo. Maybe those products are high risk for theft? Only in America.

So now it’s about 4am here and I am wide awake typing these words. Can anyone spell jet lag? I’m signing off now to try and get some sleep before I need to wake up again in a couple of hours.

Exploring Perth 1: Perth Zoo

Posted in Adventures, Perth, Travel by

Kicking things off with my commitment to exploring Perth, I have started with somewhere common; somewhere most visitors go to when they visit a new city – the zoo.

Having a zoo right in the middle of a suburban area seemed odd to me. I’ve always pictured zoos to be located somewhere in the mountains or jungles where you have to drive for hours to reach your destination – to me that seemed more logical because the mountains or the jungles are closer to home for the animals. Plus, the drive there is always an adventure in itself, specially when you are just sitting in the car enjoying and taking in the sights.

But now that I am the one doing the driving, I am very much thankful that Perth Zoo is so close to home that it’s a mere 15-20 minute drive without any traffic jam and is fairly easy to find. From the freeway just take 2-3 turns and you’re there. Located in, what some would say, a posh suburb that is South Perth, the zoo is just big enough that you won’t feel too overwhelmed and tired after a day spent there.

Bright and early on one Sunday during school holidays, I rounded up my troop and we arrived at the zoo just after 9am (opening hours: 9am to 5pm, every day of the year). The zoo was still fairly empty on this fine winter morning with no more than 20 families roaming around. For an additional $1 you get a zoo map which you can then give to the kids so they learn how to read maps and navigate. For the most part we did stay on track but with the occassional arguments about going right or left and heading up or down. I was more pre-occupied with snapping photos so I just went with wherever everyone’s going.

The zoo is divided into 4 main sections wherein animals from the same region are housed together. The African Savannah houses the ferocious lions and tigers; Asian Rainforest the playful primates; South American jungle the singing birds; and Australian Bushwalk the koalas and the kangaroos. These are just some of the animals that are in the zoo and I could give you a long list of the other ones but it would just be easier for you and me if you visit Perth Zoo’s website for a complete list. After all, they know more about animals than me and they can give you the correct names whereas I would probably just give you a description.

But what I can tell you is that being in the zoo brings out the kid in me. I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a hardcore animal lover -the most animal loving thing I’ve ever done is cuddling other people’s dogs. There’s something about zoos, though, that excites and interests me. It’s probably because I get to see animals that don’t just randomly appear in the streets and you get to observe them knowing you’re at a safe distance. Actually, it does not just bring out the kid in me. It brings out the kid in everyone. No matter which way you look you will see both the young and the old all getting giddy about spotting an animal.

The only places in the zoo I’d try to avoid whenever possible are the indoor exhibits for nocturnals and reptiles. The nocturnal animals in the likes of bats and some sort of rats always give me an eerie feeling whenever I look at them. The red beam light also made it all the more difficult for me to appreciate them. I walked out feeling light headed and lost in space. As for the reptiles, well, they are not as eerie as the nocturnals but they do give me the goosebumps, specially that humongous python that was curled up into a ball at the corner of its housing. Mind you, though, that the kids absolutely loved those bats and snakes and spiders that I didn’t. What’s gross for me is fascinating for them.

The highlights of my day at the zoo included seeing the beautiful red panda and pelicans. Also there to make my day even better was the cheeky baby orangutan who was scarily almost exactly like a human toddler. It was really breath-taking to observe how human-like it is. For a good half an hour it played with a crate climbing on top of it and then falling over and then climbing again and falling over again. When it got tired it curled up beside its sleeping mother under a “blanket” that made everyone watching go naaaaw. That was such a heart-warming sight to see.

Towards the end of our adventure, we walked past this super cute kangaroo, who was sleeping in a very quirky position. I almost laughed out loud at the sight of this because, by nature, the kangaroo’s legs really can’t touch the ground when it’s lying on its back. This is how relaxed I want to be when I’m sleeping.

Perth Zoo is definitely a fun place to be for everyone. Whether you’re bringing the whole family or going alone there sure are activities for everyone to enjoy. The zoo also has a big picnic area where you can bring in your own food and have a barbie. If nature is not your thing then there are cafes around as well. For me, though, the $5 hotdog with onions on a bun was enough to keep me going for the rest of the day.

*more photos on Flickr

Exploring Perth: My commitment to discovering this city I call home

Posted in Adventures, Travel by

A little background…

I’ve always bugged my overseas friends that if they come to Australia they must come to Perth. Well number 1 reason is because I’m here; and number 2 is because Perth and other regions of WA are so beautiful. Sadly, even with my bugging and everything, those who do come to Australia always skip Perth in their itineraries because “there is nothing to do” here; or so they say. So I’ve reminisced about my journey in and with Perth and tried to look at it from my friends’ perspectives. Here is my non-scholarly general finding for what I think why some people are hesitant to come to this city.

I came from a city where “bustling” would not do justice to describe it. If it were up to me I’d say I came from a city where chaos abounds. There are tall buildings everywhere, shopping malls everywhere, restaurants everywhere, kids running amuck everywhere and traffic jam everywhere. As you can probably already deduce there is not a dull moment in the city where I came from.

Flashforward to some 20 odd years later, I suddenly found myself living in a peacefully quaint city; the most isolated city in the world, for that matter. For the 20 odds years of my life living in a chaotic city, the move to Perth required a lot of getting use to. I used to complain that there are no good restaurants anywhere within 20kms of where I’m staying. I also used to question why shops close at friggin 5pm. I used to find it strange that there are no Starbucks anywhere; and I found it strangely amusing that Burger King is called Hungry Jacks. But my worst conclusion of all was that this is a dead city after 5pm.

But over the years I’ve grown to love Perth. So much so that, up until I looked back on my intial feelings toward Perth, I couldn’t fathom why my friends would go everywhere else in Australia but the western bit. It’s true that it feels busier over to the eastern front in Sydney or Melbourne or Brisbane but I believe that what Perth offers is an escape from all those busyness and chaos. It is nature at its finest and relaxation at its best.

All that complaining I’ve done before I have now traded for an appreciation of the quiet life. It still can get busy if you know where to look for it but I prefer the smooth sailing laid back path. I’ve taken time to discover places to eat and cafes to hang out at. I have checked out most of the beaches (within the metropolitan area) that people from where I came from drive 4 hours or fly to get to. I have also taken an interest in photographing the flora, the fauna and the sceneries of this region because they are simply breathtaking.

Some may perhaps think that a trip to see the iconic Statue of Liberty is worth more than a trip to see the wineries and sample the wine. Well to each his own.

There are so many places in Perth and WA that I have yet to visit or revisit so I made a commitment with myself to do so over the next year or so. So just in case someone does actually come and visit me/Perth I would have A LOT of places to take them to.