Mutated Fruits & Veggies

Man's quest to be more efficient or do something different have been extended even on the farmed produce. Even without tinkering with genetics, he is able to dictate the appearance of some fruits below:

Kamayan sa Palaisdaan in Bay, Laguna

After our hike in Mt. Makiling's Mudspring, we decided to have lunch at Kamayan sa Palaisdaan restaurant in Bay, Laguna. Its on the right side of the road from UPLB heading to Sta Cruz, Laguna, probably less than 5 km. from the intersection of main highway and Lopez St. (road that leads to UPLB). Parking is not a problem, as they have ample parking space shaded by trees to keep the car cool even at lunchtime.

Upon entering the restaurant grounds/fishpond, a man-made waterfalls with statue of laughing buddha will greet the customers. A waiter with laminated menu card on hand directed us to a floating hut where we'll enjoy our lunch for 5 persons. There are big tilapia and mudfish on the fishpond, which the guests could catch if they bring their own fishing rod and pay the prices of the live fish per kilogram. The place is very popular as it was almost full by 12:45 pm, half an hour since our arrival.

Another Mt. Makiling Hike

Two months after our previous hike in Mt. Makiling, we did it again this morning, this time with 2 nephews from Bulacan. We started the hike to Mudspring at 8:00 am, then arrived on our destination in 2 hours. We were told that Kuya Kim's team from Matang Lawin TV show is scheduled to do an episode of Mt. Makiling today, but we have not seen his team until we got down before 12:00 noon at College of Forestry.

See a short video of boiling mud below:

Kids' School Books

Our 3 kids' total book cost for this year will be almost Php 14k if we get all of it from their school. Thats a lot of money, aside from their tuition fees, uniforms, and other school supplies.

Buying used books from Recto Avenue or their senior schoolmate counterparts could be an option, but only if the books' previous owners took good care of them and didn't leave any mark, which is almost impossible. If those books are less expensive on bookstore chains, it could be another option, but most of the time they don't sell those institutional books.

BPI Credit Cards Pizza Hut Promo

Good news to all BPI credit card holders!

I received an SMS message from BPI last night advising their promo with Pizza Hut Restaurants and Bistros, valid from 18 May until 15 July 2010. As usual, BPI has not yet posted the promo details on their website, but a quick call to 89-100 confirmed the details below.

Redemption is until 15 September 2010, and valid for dine-in customers only. For every minimum charge to your BPI credit card, you can redeem the following items from regular Pizza Hut outlets:

Tagaytay on a Sunday

We've been to Tagaytay for countless of times, but its only now that I will write a blog post about our Tagaytay trip this afternoon.

From our home in Binan near Carmona Cavite border, we usually take the route in Governor's Drive leading to GMA, then turning left at Shell station thru a road that pass barangay Maguyam in Silang, Cavite.Upon reaching Seaoil station at the end, another left turn then right turn on following street will lead us near Riviera Golf in Aguinaldo Highway. This shorter but becoming-more-popular route cuts at least 15 minutes of our travel time than if we take Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay road or if we pass thru Dasmarinas.

Our first stop was the Pink Sisters Church at around 4 pm, with usual volume of people on a weekend. After saying our prayers and some photo ops, we transferred to Mushroom Burger for snack. This time, I tried their tapa rice meal with adobo egg, from the usual cheese or royal burger. As our usual practice whenever we go to Tagaytay, we brought our own iced tea drink on a cooler, plus plastic cups, so we don't have to buy any expensive drink.

Pacman the Dog

We have a 7-month old dog, a half askal-half beagle (or other breed) named Pacman. He may be an ordinary dog, but with the extent of vaccines and treatments that he received, aside from updated anti-rabies shots, his net worth could be close to imported dogs with commercial breeds.

Venus Over Crescent Moon

Before leaving Tagaytay at dusk today, we have seen a rare phenomena of a "star" over the crescent moon. It had reminded me of a popular Islamic symbol that are found on some mosques.

What looked like a "star" was actually the planet Venus, as featured on the net tonight. If there was another planet or a star beside Venus, it would have been a perfect smiley face, naturally done in literally astronomical terms by our Father, the omniscient and omnipotent Being who created the universe.

Photo was taken by Voltaire Domingo from Yahoo Phils.

Can't Get Enough of Hong Kong

Arriving to Hong Kong's Kowloon side by ferry boat from Macau, we walked 10 minutes to our hotel at TST district. One of the perks in working for a great hotel chain, our stay was totally free and the most luxurious on all our travels, hehe. :)

After an hour in settling to our room, we proceeded to the Star Ferry terminal to go to Central District for HK$ 2.50/pax, and rode the bus that will take us to the Victoria Peak Tram lower station. Since Peak Tram is our sister company, Wife and I got 50% discount on peak tram and sky terrace tickets. We are tired of museums so we skipped Madame Tussaud's wax museum, and went to an early dinner at The Peak's Burger King instead. 

Braving the cold winds at the Peak, we waited until it got dark, and we're rewarded with magnificent night time view of the city below.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Coming from Brunei then KL's LCCT Airport thru Air Asia's promo fare, we arrived in KL Sentral by Skybus at almost 8 pm. Its good that we booked at YMCA for RM 80/night with breakfast, as its only 5-minute walk from the hub of bus and train stations. Their train system also use magnetic cards similar to Manila’s MRT, but they have much more routes and better organized.

After checking-in, we went to Chinatown at Pasar Seni station to buy some shirts. Dinner at a Chinese roadside restaurant on the corner and middle of Petaling St. in Chinatown was surprisingly expensive given the portion size of food and poor quality of a pearl shake drink which looked good in their menu.

Brunei, I Cannot Deny

Coming from Kota Kinabalu, Brunei’s arrival area is smaller than most international airports. Many thanks to our family friend Dolf  and Cecille, and their 2 wonderful daughters who took very good care of us during our brief but enjoyable stay at Brunei. They pampered us since our arrival, until our departure in the small but peaceful country.

Dolf took us first to the classic Jame’asr Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque (locally known as Kiarong Mosque) in Gadong area straight from the airport. With the premium marble finish and 24k gold-covered chandelier and ceilings, it is their biggest mosque that speaks of Brunei’s wealth. However, photo shoots are not allowed inside the mosque, so we could only take pictures of mosque from the outside.

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Wife and I went to Kota Kinabalu three weeks ago, thanks to Air Asia’s promo fare at Php 500/pax from Clark Airport to Kota Kinabalu, booked last October 2009. We stayed at City Park Lodge which is at the city center along Jalan Pantai for just RM 80/night. 

The hotel has a perfect location since major areas are just within 10-minute walk away like Seri Selera, Atkinson Clock Tower, Jesselton Point, seaside food stalls, handicraft market, and all the 5 shopping malls. There is a grocery store and taxi stand in front of the hotel, money changer and cellphone shop at the ground floor, while inexpensive restaurants and bus terminals are just below the hotel and within the block.

Arriving on a Saturday night, we tried claypot and nasi lemak dinner at Sugarbun Café just below the hotel. The claypot chicken and 3-layer tea tarik were good, while the nasi lemak’s sambal sauce tastes too fishy for me. A live Malaysian band was performing that night on the foodcourt, but they’re not as good as a regular Pinoy band. 

The experience is not bad for a RM 24 dinner for two. We bought food supplies and RM 20 sim card with top-up load before getting upstairs to the hotel. The local prepaid sim card with load allowed us to make 30+ minutes of calls to Philippines, during our combined 4 days of stay in Kota Kinabalu and Kuala Lumpur.

Your Precinct Number, Candidates' List & Voting Reminders

For voting Pinoys who have no idea yet on which polling place and precinct number they should go on Monday, you can check it on Comelec's website at:

http://www.comelec.gov.ph/precinctfinder/precinctfinder.aspx

Those who want to see the list of presidentiables, vice-presidentiables, senatoriables, and party lists, you may follow the link below:

http://www.comelec.gov.ph/2010%20National_Local/certified_list_of_candidates_2010_toc.html

To get a list of your local and congressional candidates, view the applicable PDF file per province/city on this link: