tales0fthenugget - Tumblr blog

[tales0fthenugget]

Sa wari ko’y lumipas na

Ang kadiliman ng araw

Dahan-dahan pang gumigising

At ngayo’y babawi na…

At kaya nang iwanan

Ang bakas ng kahapon ko

Tuloy pa rin ang awit ng buhay ko

Nagbago man ang hugis ng puso mo

Handa na ‘kong hamunin ang aking mundo

‘Pagkat tuloy pa rin

[tales0fthenugget]

Reposting…

I felt this too much too…

[tales0fthenugget]

Probably a Defining Moment.

Growing older through the recent past years, I’ve felt that I am slowly becoming less passionate in life. I have a plan but I am not too excited about it. I didn’t immediately notice it but I became complacent and didn’t have the sense of urgency to work towards my life goal of growth and happiness. I’ve been thinking about it but the answer has not come to me. I discerned a little but for some reason God’s answer has not reached me - like it’s been blocked. Looking back, it’s because I wasn’t really listening properly and was fixated already to the mediocre future plan I have in mind - something safe, simple, doable even without much effort. But at the back of my head I also know it’s not gonna reignite my dwindling passion/purpose in life nor will it assure me of growth and happiness. Basically, I continued moving towards that plan because it was easy.

Then I had an opportunity to make a bigger decision. It was unnecessary for my simplistic plan but it made a lot of sense in some aspects so I went on with it. Truthfully, I didn’t give it much thought. I remember a friend messaged me saying she knows I prayed about it. I felt a little sick in my stomach reading it because I did not. Usually I would undergo discernment for key decisions and events in my life. I made a rash decision and looking back, I don’t know why. There was no need to do that - no pressure whatsoever. And then God made sure to tighten the reins because I am going out of control already.

I have to find my way back. I reached a point where I already let myself wallow in sadness and self-pity. Then of course, God stepped-in and gave me something that could help. The greatest gifts I receive from God are not always rainbows and butterflies that magically alleviate my problems. It usually comes in the form of experiences and insights, which I noticed is usually random/unexpected. So yes - I got one again. It doesn’t come with a sign that this is it but I would always recognize it in time. And when I do - I would ask God why did He give it to me. Back tracking a bit - I adapted this prayer/communication method since the silent retreat and it worked effectively for me throughout the years, as long as I am ready to listen and open to receive grace (yes, I am not an atheist). It has never failed me. I am writing this down so I will be reminded and because I feel like it’s going to be one of the defining moment that I would go back to later on.

I was temporarily given something I want that I never acknowledged. So I never asked for it - under the pretense that I don’t really need it. But in reality it’s mainly because I feel like I don’t deserve it. I think God was fed up with me and decided to give me a lesson - I guess it was the perfect opportunity too considering my predicament. I was given what I want - something that made me more alive than I’ve been in the past years - excited, hopeful, determined. Hell - I forgot about my profit forecast and that’s saying something considering the past 4 months. But it was short-lived or at least about to end because it had served its main purpose. I.e. made me realize how it feels good when I have what I want and need both. And that what I was doing is totally not towards my growth and happiness. So I better drag my lazy ass back on track. It will also made me not regret my decisions because it has led me to His gifts.

A part of me wants to beg God for it not to be taken away from me - that it’s just the beginning and I would still need to do lots of work and have tough times ahead anyway. But I will still discern about it :) For now I have to believe that I deserve the good things too and that I will have to start asking for it, and yeah - maybe humbly beg too.

[tales0fthenugget]

I have never primarily worked for money. It has always been about learning and self-improvement until I am good enough and I am worth to be paid something decent that will help me live comfortably. And I kind of achieved that somewhat - I don’t live paycheck to paycheck which I am very thankful for. But a few years back I started to question again if what I am doing for a living is what I really want. It was not the first time - maybe 10 years ago, one of my annual realizations is that I am not built for corporate life so I know my success will be limited. I am doing okay but this is not really my calling. I know as early as before graduation what path would give me the life fulfillment. But at the same time I knew then that it wasn’t gonna make me earn decently. So I made it work-out for me in corporate. I am getting learnings and experiences that I feel are making me a better person. I earned decently and able to support myself and my family. I also grew in other aspects as I continued to do my other passions (and to an extent vices) of travel and sports, socializing when I feel like it. Everything for sure contributed to my growth today and happiness and success.

In times when I felt I am a rock star at work, a part of me also feels that I could have been using these talents for somethings else that would help more people improve their lives that’s not via a business or capitalism. Especially in my home country where business process improvement ideas could go a very long way. Not to brag but someone like me could lead and make a difference in areas I know something. So I feel guilty. I know that at this point if I decide to try to go that path it will be impossible for me to be in a position of power to do that. Because it doesn’t work like that in my corrupted country. In last year’s election I had some glimmer of hope. For the first time there was a candidate I am willingly supporting to the point that I will be willing to work in the government because I believe in her leadership. Unfortunately, the worse scenario happened with her loss and a known thief being elected instead. To be honest, I felt deflated too and at some point indifferent for my country. It didn’t help that I moved to another country after a few months to start a new work assignment.

It’s been 6 months since I moved. I desperately miss the Philippines even when I just spent the last 3 weeks of Dec holidays there. A day after I left, there was a huge airport fiasco that resulted hundreds of flights cancellations, impacting tens of thousands of people. There were heresays that one of the root causes is not just incompetence but also corruption that made business continuity process difficult. I feel sad despite not being impacted. Like it is becoming more and more hopeless that I also am losing the will to fight some more - to fight for and with the others who elected the thief and other corrupt officials. So now while I am sitting comfortably in a foreign land, I am rethinking about my future.

Just the other day I was looking at my grocery receipt. I was bored so I thought of opening the grocery app from the Philippines and thought I should compare the prices. I was so shocked to see that it the prices are now almost the same as Singapore’s. Well, these are online prices so it will be a little more expensive than physical store prices. But still, it’s a developing country vs developed country. Also, these prices are way higher than what I remember from 6 months ago so there’s also really inflation factor. Since I moved to Singapore, I always feel guilty that the things I buy and eat are all very expensive since my benchmark is the Manila prices at the time before I left. My recent realization made me feel less guilty now. Because apparently they could be comparable already nowadays. So now my worry is when I go back to Manila after my temporary overseas assignment, I will earn much lesser but cost of living will remain high. I will cancel out housing because I have my own place so rent is not a factor. But transportation and mobile/internet will be more expensive too

I already thought about it and I decided to retire from corporate early (maybe in 6 years?) and maybe get a second career that is less stressful and closer to what I am passionate about. But with higher cost of living, maybe tough to achieve. So I hope I work it out. Gotta find ways to spend more efficiently for my ultimate vice of traveling!

[tales0fthenugget]

Finally, a Palawan Trip

I always feel on a high after a trip that I really enjoyed. I mean, maybe 60-70% of the time falls into that category. The average being pulled down by so many business trips I had to take for the last few years before pandemic.

Last week of August 2022 was my first time in Palawan. In one of my earliest posts in this tumblr, I have written that it’s one of my places to go. Plus I have a backstory where I was suppose to go there twice but I had to cancel. I already bought the ticket, first to Puerto Princesa to go to El Nido and the second time to Coron. Pre-pandemic there’s this travel group I would join sometimes because they usually go to off the beaten track destinations. They were planning to go to Balabac also in Palawan. I didn’t know about that place but I saw the pictures and said I wanted to go too. Plus it wasn’t as well known as El Nido or Coron so it’s appeal to me just sky-rocketed, lol! Then I looked at the travel dates and got disappointed because again I can’t make it.

So finally with a short lead time and unsure workload, I went ahead! It didn’t disappoint. A part of me was thinking if I feel really good about it is because it’s my revenge travel after pandemic stabilized. But let’s make the pictures speak for itself:

1. Place: See pics above. Plus as I said it’s not touristy so we had a sense of “privacy” as most of the time it is as if the whole island is ours! One watch-out I always give is that the Philippines is an archipelago so accessing islands would most most likely be via boat. As in long boat rides like 1-2 hours. And the waves can be unforgiving. I grew up here so in a way I am sort of used to it already. I think if as a country we help develop these places as tourism, faster boats can be used. Our campsite is only about 20km away from the Palawan mainland (Buliluyan Port) but it would normally take us up to 2hours.

2. People: We joined a tour group so 8/10 people are strangers. There were 5 in the bigger group and 3 in the other. The bigger group is very inclusive and made sure that o always include us in whatever activity or decision needed for the whole group. They do not keep to themselves as they reach out and talk to others as well. Every night is a drinking session though. Lol. But they do not pressure you if you don’t really like to. The other 3 are Spanish guys who are friends since they were 5! How cool is that now that they are in their 30s?! While they already have their own friends/family back in Spain, they took this “barkada” trip. They learned about the Philippines from another childhood friend and one of they previously went to El Nido and Boracay already a few years back. Overall, we had fun with each others’ company - lucky!! I mean you may have heard how your travel companions make or break your trips, right? That’s also why I have favorite travel buddies. Otherwise I temper my expectations such as in this so I was pleasantly surprised. Well, technically I am still ok now to go with whoever and make sure I am a responsible travel buddy. Only that by now I already know who I don’t want to go with if given a choice. Lol!! There are very few, don’t worry.

3. Food: The truth is I didn’t have any expectations. Well a little only. Like I know there will be seafood because it’s the beach. But I didn’t know they will make what we paid for worth it. We had 2 meals with crabs, 2 meals with shrimps and 3 meals with lapu-lapu fish (grouper I think). All freshly caught afrom 1-2 days. These are very expensive in the city where I am from. Of course for them, there’s less operational costs that’s why we can afford to have a lot of it. That’s exactly one of the things I really like in these local tours. Especially in Balabac where it’s not yet commercialized. Also Philippines’ seafoods are the bomb!!! It’s just on a different level, I promise!

4. Weather: I am not gonna lie - I was nervous going in August. It’s the rainy season. Days before it was raining and from what I heard there might be a tropical depression coming in the following week. But here in the Philippines, I already experienced not pushing through the trip because of the weather or just because the winds and waves are too strong even if there’s no storm or whatev. It would really depend right there and then if it will be ok. On the very first day of our island tours, it rained really hard on our way to the campsite. I felt a little down because that might be the story of our whole stay there. It was a disclaimer written in the tour operator’s ad. But it eventually stopped and sky was clear again and I was even to take pictures of the stars and the Milky Way :D We were graced by awesome weather the following days. There were a few rains but they all came and left very fast. And the winds also favored us especially on the last day where I realized the boat ride could really be fast had it not been against strong waves/winds. The weather has been different everyday that even how the sky and sunset look different. Our favorite is the last sunset we had on our campsite - the sky was like shades of pastel. We were all tired and wanting to take a shower so at first we didn’t notice. The sea was the calmest at that time so the reflection also looked different. I’d say it’s one of those miracle beauties. Something that happened by chance so again a welcome pleasant surprise. :)

5. Tour Service: We were very spoiled. Really good service. Especially on food. You will see and feel the thoughtfulness with how they prepare the food. The moment we get back to the islands, yummy snacks await us. We lived in a kubo (a nipa hut). And for me and my roommate we used the other empty kubo to keep our things so we have more room in our room. Hehe. The kubo has no lock so it is as if we just left our things in the open. When they saw it while we were away, they arranged it so it will be somewhat secured too.

Given the chance, i.e time and funds, I would love to go back! It’s my new favorite beach/islands in the world now. Lol!! So many beautiful islands in the Philippines that every time I see something new it will be my new favorite. Haha. I’ve been to many places in the Philippines already but there are still so many more I haven’t been. So many more I know are equally if not more beautiful than where I have been. Sigh. I wish that city life and economy can be better so I won’t feel the need to go away :(

[tales0fthenugget]

What's Next.

I made this tumblr mainly to be a travel blog/journal. I sort of lost the inspiration when the world had to stop travel due to the pandemic. So I blame it for not having new entries. In truth though, I have so many adventures I have not shared yet. And I could have written about them too while waiting for the world to be mobile again. Or I could write about my the what could have beens or my bitterness of cancelled trips because of the pandemic, lol!

I have planned a major adventure for 2020. I have filed for a leave of absence because I would go to the Americas. I would visit my sister in Canada, hopefully do some hiking or camping. Then I would fly to Ecuador with my friends to see the Galapagos Island, then move to Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. I’ve been learning basic Spanish a year before as preparation. And we’ve paid a reservation for Machu Picchu. I also spent a lot of effort getting my bosses onboarded to allow me to take the time off. Of course all these were just plans because Coronavirus arrived early 2020. Even if borders suddenly loosen their requirements now, I couldn’t just take a leave of absence because my work career also took a different turn. My friends and I wanted to go at that time because we’re still young. While our travel plan was relatively less intense than what we’re used to, by general standards it will still be taxing for us. We are of course very ambitious on all the hiking we’d like to do and we’re not really as young or as fit anymore as we were before, lol! So maybe in the future we will be able to go or I might have to go my own (sad though because they are my favorite travel buddies).

Aside from that major trip, I also planned for minor ones. Lol! I was equally looking forward to it though. In April, we were supposed to go to Japan for Sakura. It would have been my first time to go there without bringing work. Previously I went there for business trips. It would have been my first time in Kyoto and Osaka too, inclusing Harry Potter theme park!! Another first time would have been Romblon, a local destination. It’s also a dream place with all its virgin beaches and so much less crowd. Lastly would be Bali, Indonesia. Again, it would have been a first time, lol!! Instead of booking accommodations and tours, imagine I processed flight refunds instead! Rawr!

Well this is not my first time to have a major change of plans for a trip. Remember when our Europe trip became China backpacking? Lol!!! It may sound like a very bad trade-off but I wouldn’t change it for the world. Lol, seriously. It’s kind’a true what they say - it’s the journey and not the destination. I ended up visiting various places in Europe anyway, just not backpacking. It actually turned-out to be better so far because then I didn’t have to shed too much money as a young fresh graduate! So, I am not losing hope this time. I am waiting what would be the equivalent of my China backpacking, now. 😁😁 truth is, I kinda have an idea what would it ve instead this time. Hahaha. But we’ll see if I wouldn’t change it for the world too.

I promise to put more entries soon. Nothing wrong with going reminiscing old travels too :)

[tales0fthenugget]

Away from home

Last Christmas (no, I didn't give you my heart :p) I spent it away from home and family for the first time ever. I went to Europe to see the Christmas markets :) Many years back, my sister went to Prague and she was raving about its Christmas markets. I didn't really get it but apparently it's a thing in Europe and not just Prague. So I ignored it thinking it's just like a normal market only during Christmas. I didn't even google it to get an idea. Fast-forward to about a year ago, I saw a promo fare to Vienna and thanks to my new found geography skill I recognized that Czech and Austria are just beside each other. I asked a few friends if they'd like to join me and fortunately they said yes, hahaha. While I am very game to do a solo trip, I kind of don't want to do it during Christmas because I've never spent this holiday away from home and family so being away and alone might be too much. One friend got excited about the Christmas markets so I delegated that part of the trip to her. Thus, I still haven't googled it so no idea still.

So imagine my surprise seeing the Prague Christmas market for the first time -

I haven't felt that level of excitement from seeing something new - maybe because it's the first non-work, out of the country trip in 14 months, lol! But it was magical. That was exactly how I would describe what I was seeing and feeling then - simply magical! Like a fairytale too! I think it was a plus that this was a surprise to me.

So I didn't really buy anything from the markets but i ate a lot hahaha. We went to other Christmas markets in Budapest and Vienna but I'd have to say that Prague was the best. According to my friend, Germany also has very good ones so maybe, next time? :) For now, here are some of my favorite pictures.

What I didn't show though is how much food I've eaten here. Hehehe. So the last picture, that was post-eating picture. You can just deduce from my smile how much I enjoyed whatever it is I ate (I think I still have crumbs/stain on my lips here). I didn't expect that I would love the Christmas markets - even if they seem to be a tourist trap and expensive. I would love to go visit the other ones. Until next time then!

[tales0fthenugget]

[tales0fthenugget]

Asian Food (part 3)

This will be the final installment for now. Because I am torturing myself doing this, you know? Haha. I would crave all these yummy/favorite food but can’t have then anytime soon.

VIETNAM (1)

It’s a shame spending just about 5 days in Vietnam and still not able to go back until now. That trip was one of the most fun trips I’ve ever taken. I guess what’s different is that we’re sort of a big group (6 people) but we were all in the same page of what we want to do i.e. eat and a little bit of adventure. Everyone’s independent, as in no one is “pabebe” or needed to be taken care of – so we don’t have to worry and we take turns with the responsibilities of doing the needed stuff. We were an efficient and well-oiled machine, yeah! But it was definitely not boring because aside from the trip’s theme of pigging-out that led to our hashtag #TeamBBYinVN (team baboy or pigs in Vietnam), I would say the secondary theme was #LaughTrip. It was non-stop laughter even when we were stuck in traffic or even the moment we stepped-out of the airport to try and find a ride to the hotel. It’s fitting to have good vibes only for a super quick vacation in the middle of our very busy months that time. Going back to food, we all have the same goal to eat and try as much good food as we can. As in our main concern is if we can eat five times a day so we’ll have more opportunities to try more food that we keep reminding each other whenever we discuss our activity options. We were very lucky that one of our friends was living in Ho Chi Minh for a few months there on an extended business trip. She was the one who planned our whole itinerary including food with a lot of local inputs from her officemates there. So, here’s my list which I also had a hard time trimming down:

1. Shrimp and Squid Noodle Soup from Hu Tieu Muc near our office/Intercontinental hotel. We ate here twice (yeah in just five days) because we can’t get enough of this and the green chili sauce that they do not sell (because if asked if we can buy and take home some). Now I am half-wishing to have an audit there so I can go back really soon.

2. Coco cream, I think is the name of this from the same restaurant. So good I ate 2.5 servings hahaha.

So here’s our group picture outside the restaurant.

3. Random banh mi from a random cart on our way home from Mekong river tour that we really didn’t enjoy. I really love banh mi and it’s another shame that we are only able to try this once because yeah, we have all other food to try too. Hahaha.

4. Ah there’s this dumpling in Hoi An. I regret not taking pictures because we were hungry and it’s dark anyway. And I didn’t even take note of the name of the restaurant but it’s really yummy. Huhu. I will have to update my list but that’s it for now.

There are more food that didn’t make the list after I trimmed it like the chicken wings that we attempted to bring home to Manila but I ended up eating my share after 2 or 3 hours we bought it. Hihi. Also, there are so many good food from Cuc Gach Quan restaurant in HCM. While on its own, the food is already great with reasonable price, if I may add, it also gained popularity when Brad Pitt and Angelina were spotted eating here some time 2011 when they visited Vietnam. So I didn’t take pictures of the food because we were busy video calling other friends. And again once the food came, it was so yummy I think we forgot “documentation.” Anyway, I hope I get back there soon.

INDIA (1)

Now my India experience is in another level in a lot of aspects. But for this, let me focus on the topic at hand which is food. But the quick background is that it was a personal trip where we visited our old boss who already retired. So the thing is that the food itinerary is prepared/recommended by locals, somewhat similar to our Vietnam trip. And our old boss paid for all food, except for Day 1 we went to see Taj Mahal in Agra. So I would say I was not surprised at all that I super, super loved all food we ate. Yeah, as in even the ones from Indian fast food are really yummy, lol! I know that for some people, Indian food may be an acquired taste. Maybe because it’s vegetarian or maybe because of the strong spices that emit strong smell. But with and open mind and open stomach/tongue, we embraced the adventure to eat Indian spicy food for a week! But I would like to apologize ahead because I think I was not able to once again get the proper names of the food. I will try my best to research and update:

1. Our first night in Hyderabad, we went to a bar. We didn’t eat much because we just had late lunch at 4pm. So by around 12 midnight, we “had” to eat again. We went to one of the dark alleys near Charminar and suddenly stopped at a small space. Our boss’ nephew went out of the car and we were waiting for some time. We were speaking in Filipino and we were wondering what we were doing there. The place was dark, it’s already 12:30am and it doesn’t look like there’s any open establishment nearby. We were joking that maybe we’d be doing something illegal. Lol!! Anyway, after about 15 minutes, our new friend came back and there were two men with him carrying something huge that we cannot make out since it was really dark. It turned out that those things are tables and chairs to be set-up in front of our car. Hahahahaha. Boss’ nephew said that they are not yet open but they will serve food for us. We were guessing that he’s referring to the “food place.” Since it was our first day with our new friend, we would admit that there’s a little bit of doubt. But this stewed lamb (I think) with milk cheese, I think – the white one, is the bomb! I’ve never tried anything like this though it somehow reminds me of bulalo. I am not a fan of lamb – it’s not common here in the Philippines and if you do not handle it well when you cook it, there’s a weird aftertaste and smell. But this one was cooked tenderly with the right combination of flavor and spice. Oh plus the bread hahaha! I dunno what kind of bread but it’s a bit crispy and goes really well with the soup. I think I would never be able to get back to this place on my own and eat this food so maybe that’s why this was the first on my list. Or maybe it’s the experience that will be once in a lifetime, lol! In any case, I hope I get to try this again next time.

2. Spicy fried corn, in general. I think this is bar food, lol. But still. I love corn and the spices gave it a refreshing (though it was really hot) twist. Despite the “mild spice” burning my lips and tongue, I did not stop eating. Yeah, maybe a little gluttony but I just can’t help it, huhu. Now I want it as I think about it.

3. You have to congratulate me for remembering the name of this Indian ice cream with noodles or at least something that looks like noodles. It’s called falooda! Oh yeah!! I asked my boss what it’s called before eating, hahaha. It’s not a real noodle, I think. If my memory is correct and I had to check in google, this vermicelli noodle-looking thing is called kulfi. Or was it the milk ice cream? Haha. Imagine when I received the plate, my facial expression was like “uhm, why does my ice cream has pancit???” Lol! Boss had to tell me to go on and try because it’s really good. And yes, it’s sooooo goooood. In fact, I just didn’t know that it’s good but this dessert or a version of this dessert exists in other countries – I tried this in Myanmar and Thailand just last March 2018.

4. So I was proud that I remember this one is called aloo, only to realize that aloo means potato and that there’s a second word to name this dish. So I am yet to determine what’s the second word. My best bet though is that it’s called aloo chaat but I’m not 100% sure. As you can see, we ate this inside the car but it’s actually a street-food. However, boss’s daughter said that it’s better that we eat inside the car instead because it’s hot outside and that there are mosquitoes. This is just one of the times to show how we were so spoiled in this trip. Lol!! This has all the ingredients of food I love – potato, cheese, onions and spices. Aaaaah, give me some now!!

I stuck with food here but we had really good alcohol cocktails too ;P

MYANMAR (1)

I have to be honest that Myanmar is probably the country where I have the least local food experience. I thought about several reasons why and the most sensible I could think of is that I had an impression that it’s a fusion of South China, Thailand and India given its geographical location and I can’t pinpoint its defining aspect of its cuisine. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed the food like pizza, palak paneer, biryani and even falooda. However, I thought it’s not a uniquely Myanmar-experience for me. Or that I’ve already experienced the better version of the food elsewhere first like the biryani and falooda. Like how I associated Ichiran to Hongkong first and then eventually transferring to Japan because apparently I liked the Japan version more. Plus, we did not prepare for any itinerary, hahaha. So that may have played a factor as well. But I loooooove our Myanmar trip for other aspects.

I do have one food though that has been really memorable for us. Fried rice! I think we compensated for the lack of preparation for food itinerary with fried rice, which you can never go wrong ^_^ And it has sentimental significance too. You see, I went to Myanmar with my college roommate. Back then, we didn’t have a lot of time and talent to cook real meals. I think until now I still don’t have the skills, but my friend eventually dubbed herself “domestic goddess” as she learned to cook more yummy food. So in college, the easiest to cook for us is fried rice – we would alternate which ingredients to go with the default egg. It was team effort for the two of us and we bonded a lot in that activity. So I posted this:

"After 10+ years (literally), we are still eating fried rice for dinner!"

JAPAN(1)

Finally, I’ve been to Japan! Well, it’s for work but also partially personal when I got a chance to for to Disney Sea. Before I get confused with my list because there’s too many once more, here it is:

1. Ichiran ramen is now transferred to this list from Hongkong! But to be fair, the Japan version seems to be better. Or maybe it’s just in my mind but Ichiran is still my favorite ramen.

2. When in Kobe, eat Kobe beef. I don’t really know what’s the difference of Kobe beef with other beef. But our boss made a really good point that any beef from Kobe is Kobe beef so we can’t go wrong! Lol! It is the most expensive but also the best-ever beef I’ve eaten. I ate cheaper food for breakfast and lunch so I can splurge my business trip food allowance on this and I have no regrets. And then I had fried garlic and garlic Japanese rice with it. I was with a colleague so I appeared to be calm and chill while eating. But I was screaming inside, hahaha.

3. Food from our Manila office cafeteria sucks. Yeah, that’s something common. But not in our Japan Kobe office. I prefer to eat breakfast there than the expensive but just okay hotel food. I regret discovering about it mid-week. The caterer is called Cezar’s Café and I love all the drinks that I tried. It was a close fight between banana milk and green tea latte with black honey. Ever since the Thailand trip last March, I’ve been searching for a really good green tea latte that is not from Tsujiri. BLK 513 is probably the nearest but after tasting the Cezar’s Café’s green tea latte with black honey, it has became my favorite. Ah but there’s still a lot more drinks to try when I return to the office cafeteria in Kobe ^_^ Maybe I’ll have a new favorite drink then. I mean even the carrot-orange juice is a contender ;p

Like Korea’s, don’t get me started with the snacks and noodles hahaha. Maybe I’ll just create a separate list for that ;P

[tales0fthenugget]

So it’s been a really, really long time since the last entry. Believe me when I say it’s always been in my mind to write. The truth is I am doing a lot of writing, just not for leisure. I have finally been able to change work assignment since November last year. I was hoping I’d have more free time but it has been a constant learning curve. Not that I became slow, lol. It’s just the nature of work. I am learning and experiencing a LOT. So many new things to learn every month that I’m in the borderline telling myself “be careful what you wish for.”

Enough with my usual long story as introduction. You see my new hashtag. The new work comes with a LOT of travel around the world. And I did not expect that. Although most people in the company would like to be in this assignment for travel, I’ve never been enticed with travel when work is involved. All business trips I had involved real, intense and serious work, lol!! Now in the past 6 months of travelling, I got a few learnings/realizations/observations and stories about airports and airplanes, and let’s throw in a bit about hotels too since I’ve also frequented these recently.

So here’s to my semi-new life at least for the next two years i.e #airportislife.

[tales0fthenugget]

Repost ^_^ This is me.

[tales0fthenugget]

I’m not wallowing in sadness, at least not anymore I’m going out to see the world with the same fascination of a little kid discovering things for the first time I’m not feeling bad for things I don’t have I’m celebrating the little things that make my everyday possible, for they are proof of life I’m not going to be too hard on myself I’m dancing for the little victories, it may be slowly but surely

[tales0fthenugget]

I started my day at 1230am and as of now I'm still rushing home because I have work tomorrow. Lol! I almost backed-out because it's my audit pre-week and l'll be out again end of week. But it was such a perfect weather that made acceptance (of work cramming later) easier. Lol! More next time!

[tales0fthenugget]

This is from my Thailand trip from January this year. I went with two other friends who were both first-timers. As this was my.fifth time, I thought I’ll take some time to do a creative project since I didn’t really have to focus on sight-seeing and taking my touristy shots to most places we’ve seen since it’s been a couple of times I’ve seen those. After procrastinating for practically one year, I finally came up with this. Yup, better late than never. It’s already a pretty cool output considering my very little to zero skills and tools/resources. Maybe I’d do another next time? Lol.

[tales0fthenugget]

Asian Food (part 2)

(Updated in Jun'18)

So here's the second part of the never-ending eating adventure. Lol. I'm having some regrets doing this because I would suddenly crave for these yummy food while writing. Sigh. But anyway -

CHINA (2) (3)

My first legitimate backpacking was China. I know it's a little weird because I could have chosen one from Southeast Asia instead. My trip was well prepared and planned except for food. I thought it should be easy because I frequently eat Chinese food in the Philippines. Ah, of course I was mistaken. Language barrier was difficult, especially in Beijing. The food menu would not have English translation. Such horror, I had to resort to charades and guessing game. Not everything I ate made me happy because I have not guessed it right, but at least it was super cheap.

I had a little difficulty coming up with the list for China considering I've been to Beijing, Xian, Shanghai and lately in Guangzhou for business trip. I thought about it to understand why. I think it's also because I've already had very good Chinese food from my home country and the other Asia ones. I have a lot of Filipino-Chinese friends and we often go eat at Chinese restaurants. So I tried hard to think for anything uniquely yummy there so here it goes anyway:

1. Peking duck! One of the perks of business trips - you get to eat at not so cheap restaurants and our associate director paid for it (technically it's the company). I didn't try this during my backpacking trip. I am not a fan of peking duck as before I tasted this authentic one, the ones I tried are fatty, served warm only, and worse with cucumber (here in the Philippines), lol!! I hate cucumber. Too bad I was too shy to take a photo, not just of the food but also while it was cooked in the oven. Uhm, not a sight for vegans though. Anyway, there were small containers with fire underneath when it was served in our table. Even the wrap had that container so everything was hot. But also very delicious. The duck that was served to us was not fatty. Also, I learned that the crispy skin is dipped in sugar and not just the hoisen sauce. Lastly, the other ingredients were served separately so I didn't have to worry about the cucumber. Hahaha. I'm going back in January. Let's see if we can eat there again and if I can already take photos.

2. When I finally had more time to explore. I bought jianbing for breakfast. I am not very sure if I got the name correctly. Back in the time I was enjoying this yummy crepe-like sandwich thing, I had no idea what it’s called. All I know is that there's a long line in this stall. For only 5 RMB, I am already full and happy with my breakfast. I could have chosen other meat that’s cheaper, actually, but I’m fine with this. It’s one of the food that I’m definitely looking for again when I return to Beijing in the future.

Here's my jianbing from 2011.

And then I did return to Beijing in 2018, and bought a bigger jianbing for RMB 11.

3. I had to try and find if I have a photo of the Schezuan spicy pork we had somewhere in Xian as we took a break from exploring the Terracotta warriors. I recall this dish swims in so much oil but I remember I like how spicy it is that it's perfect to eat with rice. See the reason I had to recall is because that was from seven years ago. Hahaha. But I would definitely like to try these Schezuan dishes again.

3. I have to replace this with the drink below from Hui Lau Shan. So I don't really know what is its official name but we're calling it mango pomelo sago with coconut milk. After discovering this I almost had this drink daily. Lol!! So this is obe of the things I am looking forward to when I go back tk Guangzhou this year :)

4. There were meals when I had to eat alone. This translates to eating somewhere already familiar as much as possible. So I went inside a restaurant, not really looking at its name. My basis was looking at their menu from the outside. I saw a yummy-looking noodle soup so I was attracted. But then the other page had a variety of xiao long bao! I walked in Crystal Jade! So this is familar. I liked the pork and cheese xiao long bao. For some, it might taste a bit weird because there's a hint of sweetness from the cheese but the natural sauce and meat were awesome! I ended up eating here again after the first night.

5. I’m also adding this breaded prawn wrapped in red rice noodle. Okay so like the mango pomelo sago, I don’t know the actual name of this yummy food. Maybe I will learn about it next visit.

6. I am so sorry (or not really) for extending the list but Grandma’s Kitchen’s chicken (I think boiled in some tea) is awesome. This restaurant actually has become a favorite for me ever since I tried last November 2017. Not only is the food yummy, they have English menu and affordable prices too. I liked this too much that I tried this in both Beijing and Guangzhou last January.

CAMBODIA (1)

It's a little unfortunate that this is one of the trips where I was not too conscious yet of ensuring only yummy food goes into my tummy. Also, we tend to sacrifice yummy food if we have a jam-packed while-day itinerary. This is because we could have been stuck somewhere within the tourist (or sometimes unknown) area where we only aim to eat at least decent food. So with Angkor Wat so big, we spent the whole day - from sunrise to sunset, roaming around. Thus, few opportunities to try a lot.

1. I dunno if we were just hungry but this steak from some grill restaurant along Wat Bo road filled our stomachs. I added the photo of the other food we ordered which are just as yummy.

2. Blue Pumpkin has a full menu but I was only able to try its bakery where I immediately had a favorite in the form of chocolate chip cookies. Too bad because I only learned about it on our last day and so sadly, I didn't get a chance to eat a meal.

HONGKONG (3)

Similar to Thailand, my challenge in HK is to come up with a short list only. HK has a little "disadvantage" though because even the non-HK foodies in HK are so good too. I don't know why! You'll see what I mean from my list. Hahaha. It was only in my second visit that I had full appreciation of the food because we had intense itinerary the first time. I didn't really want my stomach full riding the roller coasters, right? Hear, hear!

1. Ichiran ramen is the bomb! I know, I know. I would transfer this to Japan when I get the chance to finally be there. Coincidentally, I also tried my first legit ramen during my first i.e. Ramen Nagi. Then there was influx of ramen in Manila. But I like Ichiran's the most. Simple and straight-forward it won't confuse your taste buds, lol!! - > yep, to be finally transferred to Japan list :D

2. Australian Dairy Company's egg pudding. We made sure we line up early because loooooong line! It doesn't look special but it's simplicity will take you away.

3. Pineapple bun from Dimdimsum - everything yum here also (and relatively cheap if I may add). But I am calling it out because I hate pineapple buns but I love this pineapple bun! I didn't know it's possible but Dimdimsum made it happen.

4. Delicious Kitchen's pork chop rice. I admit it was a bit oily but it's yummy and in relatively generous serving.

Sometimes I'm okay to go back to Hongkong even if I don't have much to do but just eat. I still have a long list of to-try food! Oh gosh, I wanna come back now!

SOUTH KOREA (1)

Going back to my post about my Seoul trip, I shared how we didn't eat a lot. Like Chinese food, we have a lot of legitimate Korean food in Manila that it's not too far away from food in Seoul. Also, there are numerous Korean stores here that my favorite Korean snacks are so accessible. So I pretty much have a short list:

1. Banana milk is a weird choice but I had a better appreciation after last month's Guangzhou trip. Banana milk there was USD 2+ and I just thought that's expensive. Imagine my happiness when S&R (our local Costco equivalent) started selling banana milk. I would buy a box with a dozen tetra paks that would translate to roughly USD 0.60/piece. I've been addicted ever since.

2. Authentic and cheap bibimbap here. My friends said this is relatively cheap because ee bought this in the university area.

3. Home-made "Choco Pie" from a random stall just along Myeongdong streets. I never really liked the commercial ones. But the home-made version of chocolate-coated marshmallow sandwiched by two cookies is just the bomb! My friends who again do bot like food in general, didn't really understand my fascination why I buy this daily. One even said, I should just buy a several for our whole stay there. But why would I - twice I bought it while it's still warm, and it's winter at that time!! Nothing beats fresh, my dears.

So I actually have more but still on the snacks and noodles. I'll definitely update the list when I get a chance to go back. No plans yet but I might as promo fares permit.

[tales0fthenugget]

Asian Food (part 1)

I am a proud Asian for a lot of reasons. One of which is cheap yummy food!!! Yes, three exclamation points as just the thought of it already makes me excited. The rich and endless variety of flavor and spices will never disappoint. It's nothing new actually as history also tells us about Westerners expeditions to the East to find spices, right? And the bonus here is that it's not expensive and it's pretty common.

I've been in most of the east Asian countries. When I started to travel, I didn't think too much about food. I was too thin in college and all I knew to eat was rice (screaming Asian!) and sweets. So imagine my happiness when I discovered food and eating as part of travel. And again since I like lists, let me share memorable food in each of the Asian countries I visited. I didn't say yummiest or unique in the place but memorable a.k.a. my favorites, hehe. It would probably be my go-to food should I go back to these countries. Btw, I would exclude the Philippines in this list as I spent my life living here. My list would never end if I include it ;) Please also excuse how I try to describe the food's taste. I am so bad at it because I'm not used to writing about food. I only want to eat!! Haha. I hope the pictures and my memories/adventures that go with it could compensate.

THAILAND (5)

My first ever out of the country trip was Thailand. It was my parents' graduation gift to me after college. I had no concept then of eating local food. I was with my sister who was on a business trip. We would only eat at restaurants. I've only tasted street food once, which was when she was working and I was left alone to roam around and eat. I didn't know then that I missed a lot! Very fortunately for me, I've had four more trips to Thailand after the first one. I think this is actually the country I've returned to the most. Since the second trip, which was backpacking - naturally means hostel and street food for me, I've had more chance of eating local food. Limiting my list to four is a huge challenge. But here it goes. 

1. Pad thai from the streets near Ratchathewi BTS station. My sisters like pad thai so much that we would order pad thai in almost every meal we eat. I've tasted so much variety in Bangkok alone but this one's the yummiest! The oilyness is just right. This i.e. oily in particular is my issue in pad thais sold in a cart. It was so good that my sister tried to find the cart again before we leave going to the airport.

2. 7-11 drinks i.e. Ovaltine, milk tea and coffee. I'm not new to living off the ever so reliable 7-11. I lived away from home in college and I'm a really bad cook, 7-11 became one of my best friends for cheap food. But I like Thailand 7-11 most for the drinks I mentioned which should not be a surprise as Thailand is known for these drinks (except perhaps Ovaltine - this is just a personal preference). The cart versions are a little cheaper and just as yummy. But the 7-11 version is more accessible and maybe cleaner? Haha, I think.

3. Fried chicken soup in Chatuchak weekend market was a late discovery. All my trips we went to Chatuchak. I am not very fond of shopping so I usually end up eating to nearby carts/hawker from where my siblings or friends were buying. It was super yummmmmmyyyyyyy! I think this is already my favorite food in Bangkok! And do you see that little green thing? I have no idea what you call it or what it's made of but we liked that a lot. I tried to look for this in shops to buy and bring home but I didn't find any. :( Despite being in Chatuchak for five times, I still look forward to going there for this.

4. Khao Soi is my favorite from Chiang Mai. This one from Khao Soi Kun Yai is one of the most recommended place to eat this Northern Thailand coconut curry noodle soup! Oh and I ordered this with the longgan juice.

SINGAPORE (4)

If you personally know me, you wouldn't expect that Singapore is my second most visited country following Thailand. You won't hear me talking about my trip nor you'll see me post photos in social media. That's because all my trips to Singapore are work-related. That's why I also have limited experience eating in hawkers and I only have one photo of my memorable food. Most of my meals are with business partners so I felt a little shy to start taking photos of our food before eating. So the only photo I have below is when I ate alone.

1. Chili crab tops my list. I like seafood so this is not a surprise. The first time I had it from a restaurant I already forgot but it's near Mandarin and along the Marina boardwalk(?). So that was the most memorable. The crab was served with yummy fried mantao bread which I enjoyed munching together with the chili sauce. Plus we ordered prawn cereals too. The crab was of really good quality, but I had difficulty eating because again I was too shy because I ate clumsily. Lol! I didn't know how to use chopsticks - I made sure I learn better next time. Because I was too proud to just ask for spoon and fork. The shell was relatively soft but I was also not used to using crab cracker and uhm, chopsticks. I was itching to use my hands, hahahahaha. That's how I do it back home. But of course, I didn't. It was only my fourth month in my first work out of college, and I went on a business trip with one of the bosses. He's really nice but we weren't really close so I had to behave. Hehe.

2. Kaya toast with two soft-boiled eggs (and milk tea, of course) had been my staple food during my first business trip. I was there for two weeks. I would buy these for morning or afternoon (or both) snack.

3. Cedele soups from our old office in Novena square. I am a soup person! My previous boss recommended that place to me. I would order soup plus a small sandwich or chocolate bar to go with it. Haha, it has become my go to place when I have to eat alone and too lazy to go somewhere and eat.

TAIWAN (3)

Another place which I associate to work is Taiwan. This used to be a country I've been to the longest in terms of total number of days until my Canada trip in 2015. Similar to Singapore, I have limited hawker/streetfood experience. And the two trips had also been a little stressful for work because of language barrier. But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the food, the tea, and ice cream/milkshake from Coldstone whose store I always passby on my way home to the hotel. But third time's the charm! My latest out of the country trip was Taipei - a personal trip, for the first time :) I still had to work but the food trip experience is so much better! Because we have enough time (6 days), we did not hesitate to take our time eating and lining-up for food. Like Thailand, it's so hard to limit my list into four.

1. Black Pepper Pork Bun from Raohe night market invites a long line throughout the night. It was worth it - freshly cooked I.e. super hot, and with generous pork servings at TWD 50. The black pepper flavor adds just the right spice popping inside your mouth. Oh and I looooove the bread!!! I'm already thinking of going back. Lol!

2. Prince Cheese Potato! We love cheese! We love potato! It's perfect. We love it so much, we bought it every night we spent in Taipei city. Available in night markets - I've seen this in Ximending and the one in Shilin also has long line. Imagine mashed potato, wrapped in crispy and freshly cooked golden brown breading, sliced, topped with your other favorite ingredients like corn or bacon, and finally cheese sauce all over. Whew.

3. Fuhang Soy Milk place has insane line, but never mind. I’m even planning to  go back next time I’m in town. Best soy milk ever!! I also love the bread and egg - as in they bake their own bread, huhuhu. Lastly,t here’s this salty  soy which I found weird at the beginning. I’m used to eating taho since my childhood. Taho is also soy but usually with sugar syrup. So this explains why the savory version with shrimp flavor is so weird for me but I eventually found super yummy.

Yes, this one looks like bread on bread. Lol!!!

Salty Soy!

4. Ay Chung flour rice noodle, which in my country is called misua. I thought it’s boring, plain noodles. I never thought that there’s a version that is not boring and plain!  It’s flavorful and the noodles - I don’t know how to describe it but think of al dente for pasta. Lol! Similar to the others, there’s a long line but service was quick. And of course, it’s worth it.

Okay, so I have to stop for now because my phone note app is not allowing me to type some more. I’ll resume with part 2 next time. And I’m getting hungry too!

[tales0fthenugget]

I mentioned previously that South Korea isn't really in my to-go list. But there was a time when everyone I know goes to a Korea trip. One late night while I was working (overtime!), my officemates were booking airfare tickets to Seoul. They sounded so excited. They are k-pop or fanatics of Korean drama/movies/music. While I only like Korean beef stew and kimchi. They asked me if I'd want to join them and I said yes. I unceremoniously pulled-out my credit card and booked that Manila-Seoul $170 air ticket, which I thought was already a relatively good price then (or until now). Our itinerary mainly involved going to places where these Korean shows were shot such as in Coffee Prince cafe, the palaces and of course Nami Island. It also included going to Everland, a theme park where we would find Pororo and where we would ride a wooden roller coaster. Then a nature trip to Mt. Seo-rak. So while I was not very excited at the beginning, two things got me all perked up eventually i.e. upon seeing the word "Mt." which should involve hiking and food!! But came the trip and I didn't get too successful on these two things. First, we didn't really hike. We walked and took pictures then decided to go back to the entrance. I think we didn't even reach the foot of the mountain that will start to incline already. My travel buddies are not into hiking! But it's okay we got good pictures and it was getting colder anyway. And then I also can't recall fulfilling my food goals. I remember we ate yummy food but not all the time. My travel buddies are not too fond of food! Can you imagine?? I ate mostly street-food but I was kind'a looking forward to eating real Korean meals. I ask too much - I remember three good meals excluding the snacks at Hello Kitty cafe. It's just that I compare it to other trips which had food as the main trip objective. We've used variations of #TeamBBY hashtags for that. BBY is short for "baboy" which is a Filipino term for pig. We accept the fact that for some trips we're really like piggies because we only eat, hehehe :D and it's really more fun to eat with a group. But what surprised me about this Seoul trip is that we've had loads of nice photos and videos. Lol! This is also one of the trips that I had the most laugh. My travel buddies are really fun people add to the fact that they were crazy k-pop fanatics. For these I am sharing some of our best photos - the ones I am proud to have choreographed/directed, taken and edited. I tried to be artsy and my subjects are happy to cooperate. However, no videos for sharing. Hahaha. The videos we shot are actually music videos, lol. But we're not really musically-inclined so nvm. :D I really enjoyed this trip - Korea didn't disappoint. I've recommended this to my sister but unfortunately I was not able to join her when she went. She went there twice!!! I am definitely open to coming back when I have the opportunity. And the next time, I will definitely achieve my food and nature goals. I hope to see you again, South Korea!