Cocina Juan

I was surprised when my hubby asked me out for lunch last Friday, he said he want to unwind a little. I gladly agreed and made up  a decision on my mind if where I am going to take him. There was this tiny restaurant along Maginhawa St. in UP Village called Cocina Juan.

welcome to Cocina Juan Ü

We arrived around 2pm. The warm painting greeted me as I entered with a very relaxing music.The place maybe little but the atmosphere was cozy.They serve Central American food with distinct taste. 

Inside Cocina Juan at Maginhawa St

Pasta Chimichurri was served hot and al dente.It was a cream based pasta with corn kernels that added sweetness to its unique taste.The  serving is also good enough for two.

Pasta Chimichurri fo P145

It was not an ordinary pizza as they used soft tortilla as a dough. It was incredibly delicious.The flavors blend well as I bit the thin pita pizza. It was absolutely the highlight of our table.The serving is ample and good enough for sharing. 

Pita Pizza  two thumbs up Ü

To wrap up my Central American pleasure, the good looking owner gave us a complimentary dessert.Sopa Borracha A deliciously sweet dessert from Panama. It is sponge cake soaked in sweet syrup and rum, with prunes and vanilla ice cream on top. Heavenly right? 

my tipsy dessert Sopa Borracha

For a different twist this humble restaurant is highly recommended. It will satisfy any picky palate. 

Bohol Bee Farm

Menu

This is the place where I enjoyed the best. Little did I expect the place was so tranquil.

Our Table Nice diba...

We went there for a day tour and of course to taste their unique flavored ice cream.This is also a great place to dine in with its impressive ambiance.It is situated on a cliff overlooking the sea. The highlight of the place is the farm. They grow their own fruit , flower, vegetable and herb which they used on their restaurant.

Complimentary Bread and Pesto Spread Über yummy

 I ordered the Organic Garden Salad, with colorful flowers on top and honey mustard dressing and the vegetarian pasta with okra and squash as a primary ingredient of this  pasta dish.For desserts I ordered the malunggay ice cream ( P50.00 scoop). I feel so healthy! It tastes yummy too.

Organic Garden Salad Edible Flowers =)

Pasta with Okra

organic delicious food =)

Malungay Ice Cream tastes Ünique 

On my next visit to Bohol, ill make sure ill stay here in Bee Farm. It feels like an  affinity to nature. Highly recommended

My first time to eat flowers =)

Bohol Misadventures

for my bff day tour

 Bohol Bee Farm

I almost lost my sanity when the receptionist of Air Phil told me that the plane bound to Tagbilaran flew fifteen minutes ago. I was late and I can't believed it. This is not happening not that I was late for my flight but for my dismay I also lost my wallet.I dont know where and I cant think straight. I was so depressed and devastated.Mishaps happened but I guessed that time was too much for me to handle. The money left on my pocket was just P15. I honestly dont know what to do that time. I sat on the floor and waited for my friends to arrive sadly they were also late for our flight.

I want to go home that's all that I can say. I cant afford to rebook my flight, I'm empty handed.I just want to borrow money from them and go back home. But, they insisted to continue the trip they said they will pay for my fare and skipped some of our destinations. I was teary eyed  and happy. I felt relieved. I've been  planning for this trip for almost 2 months and Ive contacted Rj for our city tour, and booked our Tagbilaran accommodation.

Welcome to Tagbilaran Airport =) Bad hair day !!

It was a quarter past 12noon when we arrived at Tagbilaran airport. I didn't expected that our driver/tour guide will be waiting for us outside. He was holding a paper with my name on it. I quickly approached him, he introduced himself as Rudy. He was very accommodating and respect full. He asked me if I want to eat lunch, I review the itinerary he gave to me, because of the delay we are running out of time so I decided to go straight to Loboc River Cruise for our lunch buffet. I originally planned a dinner cruise but due to lack of schedule and my stomach growling we've decided to pig out first. =)

Recommended by Kuya Rudy Riverwatch Buffet

The cruise went smooth. I mostly spent my time eating. We paid P300 for the buffet and P100 for the entrance fee. I enjoyed the cool voice from the folk singer aboard. I must say he was great, he sang Korean and Japanese song too.  

While waiting for our turn to cruise =)

Let's start !


 
It caught my attention seafoods!!!
  
Fried Camote for desserts?

stop over with the local to appreciate theie performance =)
 
my 1st plate takaw!!

my choice of desserts

 
Loboc River 

 

waterfalls? end of the cruise 

I was waiting for the waterfalls at the end of our cruise, ok so this is it. So dont expect too much =)

Chocolate Hills at Carmen

Our next stop The Chocolate hills in Carmen.It was almost 3:30 in the afternoon when we left Loboc. Kuya Rudy drove like we own the road. It was fast but safe. Tiny raindrops welcome us as we alighted the vehicle.Entrance fee is P50.00. 

 

The Chocolate Hills and Me!!!

Gorgeous landscape that was all I can say  as I was looking over those tree less hills.

No wonder this is famous attraction of Bohol it was an amazing gift from nature.

To witnessed the stunning view of Chocolate hills, The 3 of us climbed up the stairs(approx 100 steps) till we reached the observation deck. 

 

Butterfly Sanctuary 

We made a quick stop to the Butterfly Sanctuary.It was not part of our itinerary but Kuya Rudy said he can include it for free.It wasnt not that fascinating but im sure kids will enjoyed it.  

 

 Butterfly and me 

After 30 minutes of photo ops we hurriedly went down the stairs.It was almost 5pm. Our next stop, Man Made Forest in Bilar. It is a 2km stretch of Mahogany trees guarding the road. It is irresistable. According Kuya Rudy the town of Bilar and Loboc were part of the reforestation program due to mushy soil and floods.I was having difficulty taking pictures it was too dark for my digicam pardon me for these photos.

 

pardon me for the pic I know it blurred amg hirap ng walang tripod 

We wasted no time and go straight to Loboc for the Tarsier viewing. A small primate with enormous eyes. Cute! =) It took me so much of a time to take photo beside them. They're elusive. I guessed they were stressed because of too many people they encountered daily.

No entrance fee just a donation for the caretakers. 

Tarsier in Loboc

 

tarsier and me again, medyo dark na so pardon me for this shot 

Whatta Day!!! It was a struggle of money, but my desire to visit the stunning Bohol made my day. To those two peeps who made extra effort,forced me to travel 630kilometers from Manila. Made me laugh at my most solitude moments, paid my rebooking fee, treat me out for dinner you two simply rocks. I owed you bigtime =) 

I heart Manila

I can't remember the last time I went to Quiapo, but I got excited when hubby asked me to come with him and pay a visit to Hidalgo. Well, it was not really that far from where I lived but its tiring to pay a visit. Heavy pollution was a big factor.Anyways let skip the sad part. I knew that the local government was doing something about pollution.

Quiapo Church

We arrived before noon and hubby go straight to the shop right next to Quiapo church that sells wholesale mobile phone parts. He broke something on his brother's mobile phone. And I went to the Black Nazarene to say a little prayer.

After buying the mobile phone parts we went straight to Ma Mon Luk. At first I was hesitant to enter inside the restaurant.It was gloomy and ind im sorry but the place looks very untidy.My husband asked me why I feel so uncomfortable.I looked around and I whisper to him "malinis ba dito?" He laughed at me and said YES.He said the reason maybe the management didnt renovate the place was because to preserve it's original look.And I agree to that.

Menu

Special  Siopao

Special Mami

awesome taste!

In less than 5 minutes the waiter went back serving our special mami and special siopao.The smell so yummy, the serving was also big enough for two.Honestly I enjoyed the food. It may not be a fancy restaurant but the taste compensated everything. This is the best mami I ever tasted so far.

The Old Post Office Building

After our merienda I asked hubby to buy hopia from eng bee tin in Binondo. Unfortunately we both got confused on our way to Binondo so we ended up in the Intramuros area. I took some pictures inside Intramuros. The Manila Cathedral and the San Agustin Church before we called it a day .

Manila Cathedral

San Agustin Church

Rai Rai Ken Ramen

The cool weather brought me here at Rai Rai Ken. I got curious on this newly open restaurant infront of Dulcinea in between, SM Cubao and Ali Mall.

It was small and busy restaurant specializing ramen. The waitress hand me the menu and It was so hard to  choose what would be the best ramen to eat that night.

Im really not into ramen, but the breezy cold weather outside chilling  the tip of my ear. Still confused what to order I just asked the waiter if what is their best seller. He point his finger to the seafood ramen ok then that's my order I replied back.


The service was fast. Which is good,in addition to my ramen I also ordered 3 pieces of  gyoza. The Gyoza here isn't anthing special.

Gyoza

The broth here is full of flavor without being salty.  The seafoods was cooked correctly except for the noodles.Its kinda sticky or over cooked I guessed.

Seafood Hotpot Ramen

Oh well, enough said. It maybe not the best ramen in the world but still that night it was a comfort food for me =)

http://www.rairaiken.com.ph/
10am-8pm
Alimall Cubao

Enchanted Kingdom

Last Friday we went to EK for our family day out. My kids were so excited since it was there first time to visit EK. It was roughly 3 hours travel time from QC the traffic was disappointing.


We arrived around 12 noon. I immediately purchased our tickets, the no food allowed inside was fine with me as long as I can bring water inside especially for my kids.

When I got inside the theme park there was a lot of people lined up. The kids were so excited to ride the carousel. So I lined up without any hesitations it took 15 minutes, then the  last thing I noticed my kids were screaming for laughter. That  was truly satisfying.

Christmas is truly around the corner, flickering Christmas lights was lit up inside EK bringing more dazzle in the theme park.We wasted no time and look for our next ride.
"The Swan  lake".Me and my daughter hopped in, I need to exert more effort since my daughter doesn't have enough strenght to push the pedal to make the swan move. This is tiring especially we we're exposed in the heat of the sun, but as I can see her chasing  her cousin and screaming with gladness that makes me want to push the pedal more. Before I knew it the crews were asking us to go back to docking station. With my knees aching we headed to the famous Ferris Wheel.

Another 30 minutes waiting time. I checked the time on my wrist watch it was almost 2pm.At long last it's now our turn to ride the ferris wheel. The kids were excited and scared.I knew they were dizzy looking below the ground.


After the ferris wheel  I lined up to the Rio Grande. This time queue was like a box office movie of Sharon Cuneta.It took us 1hour and a half.Annoying! The kids are getting bored. I looked everywhere and it seems like we dont have a choice. All rides were loaded with people  waiting for their turn to experience a 3minute
ride.

While sipping soda inside EK. I realized that we went here for nothing. The kids were so tired but we didnt even got what we paid for. It was a waste of energy. They gave us a a ride all u can tag , but the EKstreme Tower Ride I still need to pay P80.And the saddest part of it the space shuttle was closed.


It was a quarter past six when we decided to go back home. Kids probabaly enjoyed it  but I did not.
My daughter asked me if we will go back I answered back maybe next year, but we will make sure we're come in early

day pass P500.00

junior day pass P320.00

enchanted kingdom

San Lorenzo South, City of Santa Rosa, Laguna.

(02)584-3535

http://new.enchantedkingdom.ph