celebraTINg exisTENce

Favorite namin dito. Halata ba? :))

First visit link: here.
Second visit link: here.
Third visit link: here.

We were thinking of a restaurant to eat at last Mother's day and Tong-Yang was our unanimous choice. Tong-Yang has that ability to top our buffet choices all the time. Dito kasi kahit umulit kang bumalik, iba pa rin sigurado 'yung luto mo the next time you're there. Since everything's up to you, may ganitong factor: "Ah, ganito gagawin ko sa susunod." "Sayang, hindi ako nagluto ng..." Ayan, gusto raw nila sa susunod ng grilled duck.

At kailangan ko pa bang sabihin na kaya gusto nila dito kasi merong crab? ahahaha. Ang abangers lang namin.

Plain soup and Sinigang soup

Eating at Tong-Yang is like being a "masterchef". Naka-depende sa'yo kung anong soup, grilled and sawsawan creation mo. Perfect for those who love to cook and even for those who have no background in cooking. Medyo what you get is what you grill ang peg, pwede naman 'yan.

For my dips, I made kalamansi with toyo, suka na maraming maraming bawang, at pinatabang na Filipino style suka nila kasi ayoko ng sobrang anghang. It's a plus that all needed ingredients for my d.i.y dips are in there. Mahilig talaga ko magsawsaw ehh lalo na sa suka.

Laki, noh? Kaw ba naman i-pwesto malapit sa kuhaan ng crab. Talagang abangers for life ng bagong lagay kami.

I'm not a soup person but all my family members are. The only food I cooked there was my corn cobs which I dipped in melted butter with iodized salt before eating. Aside from corns, all I ate were grilled- grilled beef, pork, squid, intestine etc. Bet din ng beef strips cooked in BBQ sauce.

My family members made their own versions of ramen, sinigang na hipon, nilagang baka at kung anuano. 'Yung totoo, ampon kaya ako? Ibang iba talaga taste ko sakanila. hahaha.

Chocolate and Vanilla ice cream for dessert.

P.S. Even if the restaurant was filled that day, the service wasn't compromised. 'Yung assigned waiter sa amin was very attentive. Pag nagsstart na mapuno 'yung table namin ng gamit na plates, inaalis na niya agad. Pag nauubos 'yung drinks, tinatanong niya agad kung gusto pa namin kasi siya na kukuha. Nung nakita niyang medyo madami ng sauce and butter 'yung grill namin, pinalitan niya agad. I appreciated that he was initiative kahit di lang naman kami 'yung mga taong inaasikaso niya. I even asked for crab claw cracker, hot tea, butter and many more. Dami ko lang inutos because I thought iba iba 'yung mga nauutusan ko. Hahahaha. 'Yun pala isang waiter lang siya. Saka lang sinabi sa'kin nung mga kasama ko when I used my credit card to pay for our bill dahil walang change 'yun, diba. Parang sila, "Hindi mo man lang bibigyan ng tip? Naka isang daang utos ka ata." Hahahahaha. Hindi ko talaga na-realize na isang tao lang 'yun. Thank you! At nagbigay naman ako kahit papaano. :))

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Nakalimutan ko lang na if I'll choose to be happy then I'll be happy. Isa sa mga gabing mas pinili kong magpakain sa lungkot. Omg.

Ayoko munang nakakakita ng kahit anong may kinalaman sa Pasig, Taytay, at BGC...
Ayoko munang magsearch sa kahit anong networking sites para makibalita. Naturingang "ano" pero asal stalker. Ano 'yun? Hindi ako ganyan dati. Ayoko na!
Ayoko munang makakita ng lugar o ng kainan sabay mapapaisip akong, "Ay, magugustuhan niya dito."
Ayoko munang tumingin ng kahit anong litrato o ng kahit anong sulat lalo na 'yung mga may kirot sa puso.
Ayoko munang naririnig 'yung kanta ni John Legend na "All of Me". Medyo bangungot na parang sumisikat 'yung kanta na 'yun ngayon...

Sabi ko dati na hahayaan ko na lang ang panahon na magsabi kung anong mangyayari pero bakit ganun? Hindi ko maiwasan na sa bawat araw o sa mga gabing kagaya nito, naiisip ko na gusto ko ng sumuko. Bakit parang ang sarap tumigil sa paghihintay?

Siguro nga overthinking.

Or maybe I've dedicated more than necessary time for someone that everything has started to take its toll on me? Maybe I've forgotten what it's like to spend a day without waiting for a chat or a private message that I want to go back to that point of my life again?

I don't want to recall memories of the past and I don't want to wait anymore. Because the more I tell myself to wait and the more I try to relive the things that had happened in the past, lalo lang akong nahihirapan. To the point na kahit walang tumutulong luha e parang hindi ako makahinga, Bakit parang pakiramdam ko ang hopeless ko? Hay! Darating kung darating, magsasama eventually kung magsasama pero habang nandito ko't naiwan mag-isa, ayoko ng umasa at maghintay.

Ayoko na magising sa umaga na pakiramdam ko may kulang sa'kin. Maybe if I feel complete once more, hindi na ko masasaktan ng kahit anong alaalang naiwan sa'kin. Maybe if I stop waiting, magiging madali na lahat. Kasi aside from I'll be busy living my life, hindi ka na muna isa sa mga priorities...

Ito na naman sa ganitong klaseng post.

Hindi ko rin alam!!
Sarreh. Okay. Sarreh. :))

Huhuhaha! CHEER UP!!!!!!!

The thing I’m most afraid of is me. Of not knowing what I’m going to do. Of not knowing what I’m doing right now.

Haruki Murakami

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I brought my sister and my cousin once removed ('yun daw English translation ng anak ng pinsan eh.) to Megamall to try ice skating. When we all got hungry, we went out of the rink to find a restaurant and then we passed by KyoChon (Building B, Ground Floor of SM Megamall).

Well, actually a friend of mine already informed me that KyoChon has opened last April but I totally forgot about that until we passed by the resto.

Since other Korean Style fried chicken restaurants have been around for years now, I was having second thoughts because I just didn't feel that they had something new to offer and my two companions prefer the safe fastfood chains over trying out a new restaurant. But being the oldest (and the one who is to pay our meal), they had no choice but to follow. Thanks to the picture of Lee Min Ho Oppa for luring me in. Lee Min Ho was actually the deciding factor. He's my Korean crush (link: here) and since Kyochon is marketed as "Lee Min Ho's favorite chicken." - ALAMNADIZ. :))

Menu was handed to us as we reached our table. Yes, it is a sit-down restaurant unlike its competitors that usually have a fastfood set-up.

I was unsure what to order so I got the "basic".

I ordered Combo 1 + additional rice.

Combo 1 has 10 wings, salad, 2 rice and 2 drinks.

The waiter asked us if we wanted to make this a combination of the four available chicken variants but I told him that we'll stick with the original flavor - soy garlic.

After eating, I asked my companions if they enjoyed and they said yes. We all agreed that KyoChon's is the tastiest of all the Korean Style fried chicken we've had (Even superior to my own version. Imagine that! haha!) . The batter is more flavorful and the meat was tender. It was also not oily even if chicken cooked this way are all fried two times. My cousin once removed (ang awkward lang sabihin nito talaga) even told me that he wants to celebrate his birthday there. That coming from a boy who would pick his favorite KFC fried chicken over any food no matter how delicious looking it is; he must have really liked Kyochon's chicken.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying these because of Lee Min Ho ha. Although he was the reason why we entered, we stayed and enjoyed not because of him but because of our food. 미안해요, 민호 오빠. :))

When I asked for the bill, a Korean lady approached us and asked us if we enjoyed our meal and it was an obvious yes. She told us to come back and try the rest of the variants too which is also an obvious yes.

잘 먹었어. 다시 올게.

All these cost: P 620.00

P.S. I hope that they offer thigh parts as well. :)

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Weekday lunch is priced P 688.00/person + 5% S.C.

Weekday dinner and weekend lunch or dinner is priced P 888.00/person + 5% S.C.

I told my family that I'll treat them here so I did. Grabe talaga, hahahaha. Kala mo sinong mayaman pa-vikings vikings na lang. :))) Eversince I ate there January of 2013, I have always wanted them to experience eating there too so when I realized that we have a graduate and a birthday celebrant. Go na! Take advantage of the promos kaya kahit medyo alanganin ang timing kasi ang dami kong na out-of-town ay okay lang kasi babalik naman 'yang pera na nagastos ko. Tiwala lungzz. The more you give, the more you receive.

Anyway, enough for that.

I have no pictures of the buffet since the "feast" was already starting when we entered. Ang bilis nauubos nung mga nilabas na food kaya ang hirap din mag-picture. Refer to my previous posts na lang.

1st time at SM Marikina link: here

2nd time at SM North EDSA link: here.

Here's what I got for my first plate.

Lechon Kawali and Chicken Bulgogi (Basta that chicken was from the Korean station) were my favorites from this plate.

No more huge fish in the sushi station. Still good though.

Another plate of sushi and milo shake.

They now have their make-your-own pizza and pasta station. In there you have crusts and toppings. You'll be the one to assemble your pizza. Give your pizza to the assigned staff for him to bake, give your table number and he'll deliver the pizza to you once cooked.

Here's the pesto pasta of my sister. According to her, this tasted okay.

Little salad with many bacon bits doesn't sound bad.

And

The reason why I prefer Vikings buffet than the rest is because of their dessert choices. Of all the buffet restaurants I've been to (link: here), Vikings has the widest and most delicious desserts.

Hello, unli chocolate from the chocolate fountain, blueberry cheesecake and frozen yogurt.

And of course, avocado ice cream!
Just disappointed they didn't have dark chocolate ice cream for that day. I remember eating a scoop of that before.

Tipid ng 2. Thanks for their birthday and graduation promos that I only paid a bill for four persons. The two ate for free and that's almost P 1,400.00 worth of discount.

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Pico de Loro / Mt. Palay-Palay climb kahit na wa poise is love. :))

Is Pico de Loro a mountain for first timers? Suuuuure. Why not! :)

Last April when I posted my Anawangin Cove and Capones Island blog entry link: here. I wrote there that I also want to try mountain climbing. Fast forward to April 24, I saw a sponsored facebook post of Arcobaleno Trailout Tours which said that they have a scheduled climb on May 1, 2014 (Labor Day).

Thursday: Saw the advertisement on Facebook
Saturday: Paid the fee at BDO (P 1,380/person all-in)
Thursday: Climbed Mt. Palay-Palay

That's how impulsive we can get.

Thank you, Louise for going with me at hindi na talaga ko uulit na ayain ka sa mga ganitong bagay if ever. Magswimming na lang. Ooops, unless ma-tripan mong mamundok ulit. :)))

My first summit!

Same trail but definitely different personal experiences and hardships.
'Yung nasa likod ko ay ang summit ng Mt. Palay-Palay.

Here's my side of the story:

Since this, once again, is a group tour. I don't know the prices of the fees nor where should you pay them.

Meet-up was in McDonald's at Aseana City in Pasay.
I was asleep the whole travel from Pasay to Cavite (Uhm, may bago ba dyan? Lagi naman ako tulog sa byahe. hahaha)

DENR
We prepared for the climb, did some briefing and stretching here.

Even if I googled some blogs regarding their Pico de Loro experiences and I also asked someone regarding his, I still didn't know what to expect for mine. Kahit pareho naman kasi ng trail, magkakaiba kami ng kakayanan umakyat.

We started trekking at around 7 AM.

Good morning, sunshine!

Arrived at the base camp.
I wasn't that haggard and dirty looking yet.

Listened to another mountain climbing orientation.
That guy explained the do's and the don'ts of mountaineering.

TAKE NOTHING BUT PICTURES. LEAVE NOTHING BUT FOOTPRINTS.

I enjoyed every step, every view, every breath. Yezz, may ganyang drama. Hahaha.

I can do this over and over again. I found another thing worth all the body pain I felt the next day.

This is just a glimpse of the trail.
The whole thing is for you to find out.

And then we reached the camp again.

We ate our lunch, took pictures and rested for a while before ascending Mt. Palay-Palay's Summit.

Picture pa!

Still oblivious of the challenge she is yet to face.

In the summit, you'll see the different coves of Batangas.
Ang ganda ganda ganda pls.

Those persons are forming their line waiting for their turn to climb the monolith that is named Pico de Loro or Parrot's beak.

The Parrot beak's at my back.
At this point, only my hands and my shoes were covered in dirt.

One of the many coves you'll see in the summit of My. Palay-Palay.

I only reached the summit. I forwent ascending the Parrot's beak simply because I had no confidence in my upper body strength.

Some people say that the Pico de Loro hike isn't complete without going to the Parrot's beak, ah okay sila na lang. Lelz, I consider going/climbing this summit an accomplishment itself. But since this is my mother mountain, I might come back someday and by then climb the monolith.

Sige, i-feel mo na ang kalinisan. :))

And this is how you descend the summit. It is so steep.

I thought I was doing fine and I'll be able to go through everything without any complains and shouts until I had to descend.

Grabe, takot na takot akong bumaba dahil baka pag nagkamali ako ng tapak e gumulong na lang ako bigla.

I won't be able to go down there on my own. As in, baka mag-overnight at tumanda na lang ako sa summit kung hindi ako kukunin ng chopper. hahahaha. But I was able to face my fears with the help of our guide (Thanks, Dan!) and another guide (whose name IDK). They taught me where to step and what to do and thankfully, I was able to go down alive.

This was obviously the hardest part for me. Your experience would definitely be different though. Maybe you'd find the ascend more difficult or you'll find both easy as pie.

Wow, ang long-legged naman ng babaeng 'yan.

Halfway the descend, I thought that I can't make it down alive should I continue descending the "normal" way kaya ayan, umupo na lang habang bumababa. Yes, poise? Iniwan mo ko nung nag bundok ako!!!

Friends, in the battle of your poise and survival, the latter always wins.

I held onto stones, bamboos, to whatever is there just to be able to climb and go down safely.

'Yung lupa ng summit, naging putik na sa katawan ko dahil nahalo na sa pawis. Imagine?! Hindi naman ako maarteng tao pero hindi ko pa talaga na-experience 'yan kahit kailan.

This is the dirtiest state I have ever been in my whole life and I didn't even have enough water to wash my arms well! Hahahahahaha. Maybe it's true that mountain changes you (rhyming pa 'yan). Nawala 'yung arte kasi mas gusto mo pang mabuhay or in preparation to my tree planting wish ko 'to?

And the documentation ended when we reached the base camp again.

The last 30 minutes - 1 hour trek after passing this kubo/store was the toughest part of the trail naman for me kahit nadaanan naman na 'yun nung umaga nang walang problema. Andun 'yung anticipation na "WALA PA BA TAYO SA HIGHWAY?" at nandun na 'yung pagod at 'yung kagustuhang makainom ng tubig. Nga pala, dito sa Manila ay ayoko nakakarinig ng tricycle na maingay pero dun, music to the ears ang bawat ingay ng tricycle na narinig ko dahil ibig sabihin nun ay malapit na kami makabalik sa DENR. :))

At, dun ko lang din na-experience 'yung sa bawat dikit ng sapatos ko sa lupa ay may kasabay pawis na bumabagsak. Kinulang nga 3 panyo ko eh. Grabe, ang saya lang.

First Mountain Climbing Experience?

Check na check!!

At dahil na-inlove ako, NAMAN!!! Marami pang beses 'yan sigurado. Samahan mo akez pls! :))

REMINDERS:

1. Pack light! Leave all your unnecessary things. Ours started at 7 AM and ended at 7PM. Baka gustuhin mo nalang itapon 'yung mga gamit na hindi mo naman gagamitin pero kailangan mong bitbitin.

2. There's a store in the mountain but make sure to bring enough water to keep you hydrated and trail food (ours was provided by arco) to keep you energized. I brought 2,500ml of water but it was still not enough. If possible, freeze your water before leaving home so that you'd have cold water to enjoy.

3. Greet other mountaineers. This felt awkward for me at first. Sinabi kasi 'to nung guide sa DENR na bumati ng good morning, good afternoon ganyan. But when it's the "normal" thing to do when you're there, okay lang pala. Ikaw pa ang maa-out-of-place kapag hindi ka namansin. Nakibati rin ako ng, "Good morning. Good afternoon. Ingat po." Kaso hindi ako nauna kahit kailan, sumasagot lang ako pag binabati ako. hahahaha. Hindi naman sa isnabera, hindi lang ako sanay na bigla na lang mamansin.

- Pagbaba ko galing summit, meron akong nakasulubong na dalawang lalake.

Parang sila, "Good afternoon, Ms.!"
Ako, *tingin lang. May ngiting hinaluan ng ngiwi. Dahil sa pagod at dahil sa linis ko siguro.*
Sabi nung isa, "Uyy, pagod na pagod si Ate. Hindi na makasalita."
Ako, *ngiti ulit* Nga eh... Sige po.

Kung nababasa niyo po 'to, Hello!!! Sorry.

P.S. 'Yung ngiti ko, hindi ko rin alam kung nakangiti ako sa paningin nila o mukha lang akong mamamatay-tao. :))

4. Although it is supposed to make you feel fresher than other colors, refrain from wearing white colored shirt. Halatang halata 'yung dumi eh. Pero alam mo 'yun, ako lang 'to. Baka hindi naman kayo maging ganyan kadumi pagbaba.

5. I won't say that the hike was easy nor would I say it was hard. Thing here is, no matter what happens to you or no matter what you feel the moment you're there, continue. Even if you're the last person to reach the summit, it won't matter- it does not matter. :)

Doing this tour yourself could be cheaper than joining a group tour. You also won't get lost since there are guides in DENR (yata) and the trail is easy to follow but we preferred the convenience of being in a group and paying a fixed price for everything. First, dalawa lang kami. Second, hindi namin alam kung paano pumunta dun at kung anong gagawin dun. Third, mas convenient at mas sure na makakarating.

Tinanong ako ng Nanay ko bago ko uamlis ng bahay,
"Nagbayad ka para pahirapan ang sarili mo at delikado pa yan, ah?"

I guess, it's something that not all people will understand. As for me, the moment I started trekking and especially that moment when I set foot on the summit of Mt. Palay-Palay, I knew that it won't be my first and last. Hindi ko naman inaambisyon umakyat ng Mt. Everest pero para sa mga mas madadaling mountains na meron dito sa 'Pinas, gusto ko rin maakyat 'yung iba na meron tayo. Iba lang kasi 'yung feeling ng nakaabot ka dun sa taas pagkatapos ng hirap.

Thank you, Arco for making my first climb possible! See you next time, other mountains!

Check out Arcobaleno Trailoutours Schedules link: here. Tara, Mt. Manalmon saka Mt. Pulag tayo! :))

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The thing I’m most afraid of is me. Of not knowing what I’m going to do. Of not knowing what I’m doing right now.

Haruki Murakami

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