spaghetti-ish

i made spaghetti the other night for dinner. after a few bites, my daughter says, "mom, your spaghetti is spaghetti-ish."

 wondering what she meant by "spaghetti-ish", i asked her why she thought so.

"it has too much potato sauce," she replied matter of factly.

that just made a happy ending to my day. :)

speaking of spaghetti sauce, i came across a recipe that adds bacon, lots of chopped onions and bell pepper. bacon, for a smoky flavor. bell pepper, well i can't describe the flavor it adds but it sure does make the sauce taste different and good!

perspective

I wake up to this, thank the good Lord. In all the idle minutes of my life that I chose to just stare at this river flow lazily, I have never seen a floating trash bag or even a discarded soda can. It gets muddy and dotted with clumps of dry leaves after a heavy rain but it returns to its dark moss-green glory after a day. 

Along this river is a bicycle/ joggers path. I've seen men and women running along this path like it was the easiest thing in the world- to run like marathoners. On weekends, parents with their kids bike along. Ideal.

I wake up to this view, along with the traffic noise that starts at 6am. No horns, just cars flooring it, trying to beat the rush hour traffic. Forgot to mention that there's a highway also running along this river. Oh well. Must take the good with the bad (and a cup of coffee). :)

home

"what the heart cherishes, there its home will be."

smell the flowers

the past few days, i've just been lurking, observing, absorbing. a lot of things happening to family, friends, acquaintances. happy, sad, nasty, funny. a lot really goes on in our lives. some choose to share to others, most keep to themselves. 


one bit of news that has really gotten to me is that of a relative getting sick at such a young age. it put so much anxiety in me. she's been part of my morning prayers everyday.


these lines from the book i'm reading has somehow reminded me, to live, to embrace the present, to be thankful, to just be.


"...but such was the virtue of the land of Rivendell that soon all fear and anxiety was lifted from their minds. The future, good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have any power over the present. Health and hope grew strong in them, and they were content with each good day as it came, taking pleasure in every meal,  and in every word and song." - J.R.R. Tolkien

Baked Teriyaki Chicken

this one's a keeper. easy yet with good results. here's the recipe from allrecipes.com.

in a saucepan large enough to accommodate your chicken pieces, put together the sugar, soysauce, vinegar (i used rice wine vinegar cuz that's what i had), garlic, ginger (i used fresh) and pepper. when the sugar's all dissolved, stir in the cornstarch dissolved in water and simmer til thick. 

i cooled it a little and put in the chicken pieces. you can leave the chicken in for about 2-5 minutes. my intention really was for the marinade to stick on the chicken so that when i grill it, i get some caramelization going. i don't have a picture of it but i grilled these chicken pieces to get that smoky flavor. just on a grill pan, stove top. the chicken doesn't have to be cooked, just to get some grill marks and caramelized sugar.

then i put them in a pan, poured in the remaining marinade and stuck 'em in the turbo broiler. 180 degrees, 15 mins each side. the reason i poured in the marinade is because i know that the broiler is famous for drying up food, and that i didn't want to be basting every so often. cover with foil if you think the pieces are drying up. the objective of this part is to make sure the chicken is cooked and to reduce the sauce a bit.

better with buttered corn, carrots and peas on the side. lurve it! :)

Blogs roll

I have just read the article by Margaux Salcedo about the Big Bad Blogger here as well as Marketman's take on it. I've always been careful about recommendations of bloggers for a certain product or service but i really didn't think that they would get to the point of organizing it and making it a business! 

Well, that explains a lot. Do they also clean up the web of negative comments? hmmm... 

More Bohol pics...

Broas

The adventurous, time-unconstrained tourist may want to see Bohol via local public transportation. 

This Philippine Flying Lemur was in a neighboring cage next to the tarsiers. Apparently, it can't fly and is not a lemur (says wikipedia) :).

Bohol Beach Club

Bee Farm's viewing deck.

Go on down and wade. I did :)

It really is so quiet here, this part of Bohol. I actually feel a tinge of sadness looking at this picture.

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Bohol Beach Club

By far, this is the nicest beach I've been to. It's perfect for my scaredy cat little one who had always clung to her dad when swimming in the beach. The waves are not too strong, the sand is powdery (even finer than Boracay), and the waters are quite shallow. About 5 meters from beachfront, waters didn't even reach up to our knees. Little one really had fun playing in the waves and sand.

There weren't a lot of people that day. 

What I meant by shallow waters. You can sit in the middle of the sea :)

Part of the entrance fee is consumable so eat! Don't miss the kinilaw. :) There's a very nice, friendly waiter there, forgot his name (He said he's not from Bohol).

Day rate is Php350/person and kids up to 5 years old enter for free. Overnight room rates start at Php5200 or Php5400. I checked the standard room. Clean, basic, not much aesthetic. But then if ever I'm going back to Bohol, I'd definitely stay in Bohol Beach Club.

 

Bohol Bee Farm

We chose to stay in Bohol Bee Farm based on the recommendation of a friend. Also, there were hardly any negative comments about it in travel blogs.

We first stayed in Beehive Suite 1 (Php3000/night). Try to get another room if you end up with this one cuz the ambiance is a little off - dark, musty, damp (upstairs sink was dripping).

After two nights, we got transferred to another room- the Langka room (Php2500/night). This one's much better because it's very spacious. Two queen size beds. Airy and sunlight streaming in through the windows.

Trees shade a small verandah. 

Breakfast was always good. This one's my favorite: waffle, ham and omelette. It comes with a choice of brewed coffee/ kapeng mais/ tsokolate and a glass of fresh juice.

Other meals were ok. Prices start from Php180. We tried the honey glazed chicken, spareribs, grilled fish, pasta. They usually give a complimentary serving of kamote bread with the bee farm spreads.

Bee farm has a viewing deck. Nice to stay here early in the morning when the sun isn't so hot. It's pretty quiet.  I don't think swimming is a good idea but you can wade. Aqua shoes recommended because of sea urchins.

Overall, Bee Farm is a good concept. It's a place to relax and be still. It would be nicer to stay here when it's not raining too much. Keep in mind that it's a farm concept, so be prepared for mosquitoes, creepy crawlies and the like. If you have kids, I would recommend a day visit only or an overnight stay. If you plan to go out of the farm, transportation may be arranged at the front desk for a fee of Php500/vehicle - just a bring-to/ fetch-from arrangement. Tours start at Php2500.

At the end of our stay, Bee Farm was kind enough to charge us only Php2500 for the Beehive Suite.

Bohol Countryside Tour

Four of us decided to spend part of the holidays in Bohol. Sister was lucky to have scored discounted tickets from PAL even if she only booked 3 days before travel date.

Observations, lessons learned, tips:

1. Countryside tour - I contacted Ritchie Vasquez whose contact numbers i found in two other blogs. But upon reaching the airport, Ritchie told us his brother Rejjy will be the one to drive for us. For Php2000, they have 7 sites as part of the tour package. 

Tip#1: Later in the tour, we also met two other enterprising guys who were driving for balikbayans. These two guys were much more enthusiastic and younger, so I guess they'd be more fun (Rejjy was a bit stoic) to have as tour guides. Joseph Bungabong, Mobile +63910 818 6880. (i'm not paid for this, just offering an alternative :) )

Tip#2: Confirm the sites included in the package you're getting and include a fetch from airport/bring to hotel arrangement.

2. Chocolate Hills is the farthest site so it was first in the itinerary said driver Rejjy. We already noticed that skies were a bit cloudy on the way but we really didn't know the implication of it. Here's the implication:

Yep, we didn't see the famed Chocolate Hills because of thick fog :). Oh well.

Entrance fee: Can't recall if it's Php150 or Php50/person

Tip#1: Check the weather. If it's cloudy or rainy, go to other places first before going to Chocolate Hills. 

3. Hanging Bridge of Sevilla - For Php10, you can cross this bridge (or just a fourth of the way) and have your friend take your pic. I saw locals crossing the bridge carrying stuff from the market. Hope they generate the funds to build a better bridge for the locals.

4. Tarsier - We disturbed their afternoon nap. Poor fellas.I don't recall the name of the place. They don't charge a fee but donations are welcome.

5. Loboc River Cruise - We went for Riverwatch. Food was ok. Food is Php300/person and government tax is an additional Php100/person. 

Tip #1: Be there around 11:30 to catch the lunch crowd. Boats wait a while for more customers before leaving the docking station.

Tip#2: We treated our driver to the river cruise lunch. But there are also cafes/restaurants in the docking station.

6. Osang's broas - The bakery is behind Baclayon church. There is another bakery beside it which was newly constructed. Good thing i read about Osang's being old school and marked by a pile of firewood. Just go past  the new bakery and you'll find Osang's. They sell broas packs for Php50 and Php100. The 100-peso pack was quite a lot. I think they're good pasalubongs. 

We finished the tour around 3pm and Rejjy brought us to Bohol Bee Farm. If you want to go to sites not on their list, you'd just have to pay extra (Rejjy said Php300 for Hinagdanan Cave).