ADONE NAZARETH

HOTEL H2O
February 12, 2012

Nope this isn’t camwhoring (defensive). lol! I think I’ve just mastered the art of facing the mirror and taking a shot of myself. Boo for always being behind the camera! :)

FLASHBACK#4
August 22, 2011 

Another photo I missed posting on tumblr. Here’s the props my lil bro showed to his crush at the school. What happened next? I’d rather not tell. :)

FLASHBACK#2
July 4, 2011

A candid shot of my batchmate, Angely. No make-up could be better than a natural smile on the face. 

CULTURAL CENTER OF THE PHILIPPINES
September 3, 2011

This was my first attempt on long exposure photography. Thanks to my batchmate, Macoy who assisted me with the manual setting.

FIRST NEW YEAR WITH MY CAMERA

I must admit I’m still on learning stage when it comes to photography. Actually I really haven’t exposed myself much on this field. I normally just shoot daily stuff well, including my favorite subjects, food and friends. It’s my first time to celebrate New Year with my DSLR and welcoming 2012 got me trying on a new subject, fireworks! It’s my first time and I basically applied the long exposure rule on manual mode using a low ISO plus a tripod.

Probably next time I’ll try shooting bigger fireworks display. Specially now that I already have tips from fellow photographers on the correct setting.

These were neighbors’ fireworks shot from the rooftop.

MANILA OCEAN PARK
December 28, 2011

Finally I got to visit the Manila Ocean Park but I think it wasn’t a perfect time to visit. The oceanarium and the rest of the park is really crowded. It’s like you’re inside a market of live fish.

We were supposed to see the penguins but their personnel told us that it would take us 3 hours before we can get inside the penguin park so my nephew’s dream of seeing the cast of Happy Feet in person didn’t happen. Good thing my 4-year old pamangkin still got excited seeing other fish and sea creatures. He was even jumping out of amazement while we were at the tunnel. Well, that’s enough reason for me to say that squeezing ourselves inside the park was all worth it.

I wasn’t able to take much photos but here are some that I can share:

FOOD TRIPPIN | SAGADA

This is so last month but anyway here are the dishes we dug into while we were in Sagada. 

BREAKFAST

We had two days to experience breakfast in Sagada and the first one is definitely the worst. I can’t even recall the name of the restaurant (or maybe I just automatically deleted it from my memory. lol!)

OMURICE

It’s a coined word derived from omelette and rice. A red-colored rice mix (I think what makes it red is the catsup) wrapped in egg. The very first dish I’ve tried in Sagada. It’s peppery and somehow edible. Nah! Seriously this one is ok except for the cucumber in the rice mix.

SAGADA’S LOMI

This one spoiled our first morning in Sagada. Common! Who told the locals this is lomi? It’s like pancit canton soup with egg and again with added cucumber. This one is almost close to not being edible. I think I should bring a bowl of lomi from Batangas next time I visit here to show this restaurant would learn what lomi really is. B-A-D! :)

BANA’S FAVORITE + CLUBHOUSE

I love this breakfast at Bana’s! The orange jam is the star. Unfortunately we forgot to bring home one. There isn’t really anything special with the clubhouse but yeah! It could be your morning comfort sandwich.

BANA’S HOUSE BLEND COFFEE

This cup of coffee tasted like brewed. The big disadvantage of drinking coffee outdoor in Sagada is that it cools really fast so you really have to drink it as soon as served.

BANA’S COFFEE ALAMID

Forbes’ Most Expensive Coffee, The World’s Rarest Blend. A couple of titles that ignite our curiosity to try out this one. It isn’t really that expensive here at Bana’s. It’s like P250 per cup. Not too much to give it a try. Well, to my dismay it isn’t my cup of coffee. It has a rich aroma yeah but I want my coffee to be really strong. Coffee Alamid is mellow blend and it does taste organic. Maybe because of the alamid’s poo. :)

DINNER

I don’t recall us having serious, proper lunch while in Sagada. We either had lunch while on the way or had quick, instant lunch while at the inn. So I have to proceed with our evening meals.

YOGHURT HOUSE

Our tour guide said that this is one the most expensive diners in Sagada so I was really expecting a great dinner after the 6-hour life-threatening cave connection experience. (Not to mention the disappointing first breakfast we had). Thank God Yoghurt House matched the price that we paid with satisfying dishes and cool native ambience.

YOGHURT HOUSE’S JAVA CHICKEN AND VEGGIES

I enjoyed the mild sweetness of the chicken. The meat is kinda dark because it was killed in a traditional way, which they call Pinikpikan. The chicken is beaten in the head instead of cutting it’s throat. In that manner, all of it’s blood is contained inside resulting the meat to turn dark. After that, instead of soaking the dead chicken in hot water and remove the feathers, the feathers are burned. That is actually one of the first few things I’ve witnessed after getting out of the van and I find it harsh but that’s how the tradition goes.

BAKED CHICKEN WITH POTATO ROSTI AND VEGGIES

As compared to the Java Chicken this one is lightly seasoned. I love how tender the chicken is and the star of this plate? The Potato Rosti! It’s like hash brown meet maruya. It’s fried though so it’s a little greasy.

THE CHICKEN DISH WITH NO NAME

Well actually, I just forgot how this dish is called. It was our friend’s plate. It’s a nice chicken soup with sotanghon and crunchy veggies. Perfect for the cold weather of Sagada.

INSIDE LEMON PIE HOUSE

I love the mood and interior of this restaurant. Too bad it’s almost closing time when we got there so I really didn’t have good source of light to capture the entire interior but here’s a glimpse on how it looks inside.
Note: Thanks to the table for serving as tripod while taking this picture. :) 

LEMON PIE HOUSE’S BUTTERED CHICKEN ADOBO

Our last night in Sagada and so I told them we can’t go home without going to Lemon Pie House. I really have to try their lemon pie and to my surprise their main dishes are as equally anticipating as their lemon pie.

This is probably one of the best adobos I’ve tried. The butter-feel just adds yumminess to the adobo itself. And boy they serve big time. It’s like for two already but since I really loved it I didn’t have to share it. lol! I even had extra rice. Hahaha!

BREAKFAST FOR DINNER?

I don’t know what’s wrong with Joann that she decided to have breakfast plate for dinner. Hahaha! Thanks to ate Loida who truly is a dear, she still served breakfast meal to us. She’s really nice and funny. She actually reminds me of Eugene Domingo. And that is a serious note. :)

Sorry guys I forgot the name of this meal. Maybe it’s fried rice with omelette and hotdog? :P

DESSERTS

Before going to Sagada I had the chance to read some of the blogs and I read about yoghurts and lemon pie so I told myself I won’t go back in Manila without trying out these two.

YOGHURT’S HOUSE YOGHURT WITH EVERYTHING

It has a little bit of everything that they mix with plain yoghurt; strawberries, banana and granola. I love the texture of their yoghurt. It’s rich, creamy and tastes natural in every dig. This is the perfect treat after the buwis buhay stunts we had earlier. It somehow made me forgot the dangerous steps we took to cross from Burial Cave to Sumaguing Cave.

YOGHURT HOUSES’ YOGHURT WITH STRAWBERRIES

So if you don’t want too much of fanciness in your yoghurt then you might just want to have the simpler strawberry mixed. I just love how the yoghurt keeps solid and intact even after an hour or more of sitting on our table.

LEMON PIE HOUSE’S EGG PIE

So Lemon Pie serves three kinds of pies; egg pie, seasonal fruit pie and the fanous lemon pie. Unfortunately they only had two when we visited.
This egg pie isn’t really bad. It’s not spectacular (cause I’m a huge fan of Goldilock’s egg pie) but I still like it.

LEMON PIE HOUSE’S FAMOUS LEMON PIE

Finally! What a way to wrap up our food trip here in Sagada! Trying out this lemon pie completes my Sagada trip. Well, I wasn’t dismayed at all. I love the broas layers, the brazo de mercedesish egg white layer and of course the lemon pie custard mix.

HEAVEN BELGIAN CHOCOLATE BLISS

Digging into this ice cream will give you a strong jaw! Yeah! Seriously because you get to spend a lot of time chewing those small chocolate chips. There’s like twelve chips in every spoon. I like the ice cream itself it’s just that it really requires a lot of chewing time.