A ONE NIGHT STAND IN BORA (The Graduate IV)

40 minutes to Iloilo from Miag-ao, 20 minutes from Molo to Tagbak, 6.5 hours from Iloilo to Caticlan, an hour from the jetty to The Boracay Beach Resort 

a two-piece surfer in Station 3, a muscled paraglider in Station 2, dressed Chinese tourists in Station 1, dream catchers for sale at the Night Market

the Brain Train knocked Tatay, Balong posed for free espresso and a puppy, Nanay flirted with two Chinese chicks

American and English for breakfast, barbecued sea creatures for lunch, Italian for dinner 

4 years and 2 family trips in Miag-ao, adobo with mango in Guimaras, inasal and piyaya in Bacolod, food trip in Iloilo, rain and surf in Boracay

Thank you UP-Visayas! 

MIAG-AO REDUX (The Graduate Part III)

Miag-ao's grand church is as it was except for the repainted statue in front of its ornate facade.

The yellow flowers too were in bloom as before although we have grown bigger and Balong is now taller than Nanay. 

We were here 4 years ago to enroll Bulan and we're back now for his graduation.

The Oblation still stands proudly nude while we wore our semi-best for the Baccalaureate Services and Commencement Exercises. 

In the covered court where we gathered, the College Deans announced the number of candidates, the Executive Vice President proclaimed them graduates, and the sablays shifted from right to left shoulders.

That was it, four years done and Bulan is now a a college grad!

We will miss our time by the beach, Bulan will have no more oily breakfasts that cost him a gallbladder, and Nanay is happy she's going to Bora!  

DEJA VU IN ILOILO (The Graduate Part II)

May 2015 dinner at Tatoy's Manokan and Seafood Restaurant: Although small in size, the lechon native chicken was so good we ordered another one to go with the sinugba nga managat, lato salad and steamed talaba.

June 2019 dinner at Breakthrough Restaurant: The fried soft-shelled crabs dipped in sinamak was perfect and crunchy, the kinilaw nga tanigue seasoned with coconut milk and vinegar was fresh and heavenly, the talaba steamed right in their shells was plump and tasted of the sea, the KBL [a stew of Kadyos, Baboy, Langka that is similar to the sinigang] soured with batwan is not as glorious as I expected, but the binakol [native chicken cooked in coconut water ala tinola] with young coconut meat strips, carrots and potatoes was spectacular! 

The title of being Iloilo's best restaurant is a close contest between Tatoy's and Breakthrough, and the bragging rights is ours in having dined in both. 

May 2015 breakfast at Ted's Old Timer La Paz Batchoy: Iloilo is batchoy country and we had our first taste [special, super special and extra special] just beside the feminist Molo Church.  

June 2019 breakfast at Cafe Panay: Our search for Ilonggo cuisine brought us to Megaworld, the former airport that was transformed into a Business Park, where we broke our fast with the highly recommended Tsokolate de Batirol and a platter of turon, cassava cake and ibos [deep fried sticky rice] topped with a bowl of Pansit Molo that is actually a soup with meatballs in wonton wrappers. 

After breakfast, we whiled time exploring the mall and could not resist a plate of boneless lechon pork belly which turned out to be mostly fat but we cleaned up nevertheless, before Bulan came back from his lunch date with his professors for a quick tour of Jaro's Millionaire Row.

We finished the Lizares Mansion, the Mansion de Lopez otherwise known as Nelly's Garden, the Sanson y Montinola Antillan House and were on our way to the old Jaro municipal building that resembled a Masonic Lodge and the Graciano Lopez Jaena Center when I fell into an open ditch that called off the rest of the afternoon due to my bruised knee and ankle.   

June 2019 Pre-Parangal dinner at Punot: The swelling eventually subsided so we had dinner at Punot [who claims to represent the modern flavors of Iloilo] mainly for the Kansi which is the Ilonggo equivalent of our bulalo [although theirs is soured with batwan] which we paired with an unforgettable Pomelo Balingon [a salad of pomelo, lettuce, cashew nuts and anchovies/dilis/balingon] and a jar of batwan juice. We had Sizzling Indong [eel] and Seafood ala Punot [a platter of assorted grilled seafood] too which are beyond okey but the Seafood Karekare is not karekare without the tripes and oxtail. And that is how we came late to the Parangal for UPV's graduating class of 2019.   

We toured Calle Real for the sec ond time after returning from Bulan's graduation in Miag-ao with Balong's giant chicken pose in Mang Inasal's first ever store as the only new episode, then walked to what may be our last dinner together in Iloilo City.

May 2015 dinner at Roberto's: Of course, we had the famous siopao, and meatballs and halo-halo too although Roberto's was the unintended consequence of our futile search for Rawit's Native Litsong Manok.  

June 2019 dinner at Jo's Inato: It is actually linner, or dunch which is a meal served between 3-5 pm, so we tided ourselves with a shared take-away of Roberto's siopao [no match with the Binondo versions] and over-extended samplers of its lumpiang shanghai and meatballs. Food finally at 7 pm in the form of chicken inato [grilled] and grilled pork belly. I ordered for myself a really superb kinilaw nga malasugue for my beer and that plus the coconut halo-halo are the highlights of the night.  

A TRYST IN BINONDO (The Graduate Part I)

"Manila's 12 Oldest Restaurants" according to Esquire are:

[1] New Toho Restaurant (established 1866), [2] Ambos Mundos (established 1888), [3] Ilang-Ilang Restaurant (established 1908-1910), [4] Ma Mon Luk (established 1920), [5]  Ramon Lee's Panciteria (established 1929), [6] Aristocrat (established 1936), [7] Ongpin Manosa (established 1940), [8] Boy Ching Woo (established 1939), [9] Max's Restaurant (established 1945), [10] Little Quiapo (established 1949), [11] Chuan Kee (established 1940s), and [12] Shantung Restaurant (established 1958). 

In Binondo we converged, I from Bangkok and they from Nueva Ecija, and walked to a Sunday dinner of pancit canton and fried chicken at No. 5, and paella in No. 2.

No. 3 is still closed when we came the next day, and so is No. 1 where I previously lunched on pancit canton and lumpiang shanghai, and No. 7 too where I once snacked on ma-chang.

We instead broke our fast with bangus tausi and beef mami at Ang Tunay Beef House which although almost 40 years old is not as old, and stopped for a congee and lechong kawali at No. 11. 

We've had meals at No. 4 (siopao and mami), No. 6 (adobo sandwich and chicken barbecue) and No. 9 (fried chicken+) before so that leaves only No. 3, No. 8, No. 10 and No. 12 to be explored soon.     

And yes, we paid homage to what remains of the Panciteria Macanista de Buen Gusto of El Filibusterismo before travelling to the airport for our flight to Iloilo.

SURAWONG

The Red Planet in Surawong will be my 7th (after Timog, Asoke, Binondo, Mabini, Makati and Ortigas) since I was introduced by Oskar Haq to the Asian hotel chain.

The convenience, flexible rates and elegant simplicity of Red Planet suits my preference and they don't offer breakfast too which spares me from the monotony of hotel breakfast buffets. 

I booked myself at Red Planet-Surawong for the 34th ASEAN Summit after being allowed to arrange our own accomodation due to capacity issues of they who used to be it. 

Surawong is a striptease and its first revelation is being one of Bangkok's oldest roads that is actually parallel to the more popular Silom Road, both leading to the Bang Rak District which is a gateway to Yaowarat (Chinatown).

And if there is history, there most be good food and that I found in an alley whose names are demarcated by an old market squeezed between Surawong and Silom, Soi Pradit from the Surawong side and Soi 20 Silom from the Silom side.

The thing is, the alley is street food galore from both ends and that is what matters to me. 

I had almost all my Surawong dinners at the Pradit Market: a nice omelette and soso spicy pork neck salad at Mama Mia on Day 1, a sad looking grilled fish at Cheaper and Better on Day 2, a surprising traditional grilled pork at the Trip Advisor-starred Siam House Cafe on Day 3, and the famous Som Tam Jay So grilled chicken wings in the Silom area on Day 4 as the only exception.   

Breakfast is exclusively my favorite fried crispy pork, super sweet Thai coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice that are all sourced from the food stands of the Pradit Market.  

Surawong is accessible by train through the Chong Nonsi Station of the Silom Line via the Siam Station if transferring from the Sukhumvit Line and it is through this interchange and the urgent need to pee that I got introduced to the eclectic food hall of Siam Paragon where high end fine dining collided with classic street fare.

I was of course drawn to the roasted duck and crispy pork stalls but it was the smell of roasting rolled northern Thailand sausages that got my gustatory senses going and right there, I decided to take the train to the airport so I can use my few remaining Bahts to partake 100 grams of the sweet burning meat (and the fresh crisp cabbage leaves that came with the pack) for my lunch.    

Surawong is more than food too and right across the Pradit Market part of Silom Road is the ornate 100-years old Sri Maha Mariamman Hindu Temple while at the corner of Surawong Road and Soi Pradit is the historic Neilson Hays Library.

My stay at Red Planet-Surawong did not end well and my [Neilson Hays] library photo on the right below can illustrate how I felt  after receiving my Red Planet guest folio which triggered an exchange of emails with the front desk...   

SOI RAMBUTRRI

Soi Rambutrri is 6.6 kilometers to the Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel and a professional photographer who took really good photos of me during the "AICHR Inter-regional Dialogue on Best Practice on Business and Human Rights" [which is the case for my refusal to have my photos taken by an "amateur"], 2 kilometers to the UNESCAP's interesting sessions on "the consequences of non-compliace" and "the future of work [and migration]" in the "Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum", 6.4 kilometers to The Peninsula Bangkok's well-stocked bar for the Philippine Embassy's Independence Day reception dinner, and the exact address of the Ibis Styles Bangkok Khaosan Vientai where we stayed for almost a week and workshopped for a day.   

Soi Rambutrri is the "daughter of Rama" and the less-famous sister of the infamous Khao San Road which has transformed into a slutty strip of an all night unbriddled partying and drunkenness mainly because Richard [aka Leonardo DiCaprio] stayed in one of the backpacker hostels before his curious adventure to "The Beach". 

It is also the street I gazed into every morning in a futile search for an insiration that will help me endure the hotel's permanent and boring breakfast fare... 

...the street where every night, we navigate a jungle of food stalls, restobars that overflow into the pavement, and all sorts of humans...     

...and the street which extends 400 meters into the Michellin-starred and sedate Patonggo Cafe for cheap but heavenly soups, or 200 meters to the riot and madness of Khao San Road on the other side. 

Soi Rambutrri is 3.9 kilometers to Yaowarat [Chinatown] and the 100-year old Khao Tom Jay Suay's  heirloom moo daeng tod [fried roasted pork barbecue] and kiam buay moo sup [ground pork balls soup with Chinese plum] that patrons enjoy al fresco at stainless metal-topped tables and plastic chairs right on the street....

...the braised pork knuckles of Kha Moo Siri Rama which is the Thai version of the Filipino's patatim that I can confidently say is several notches better, served and consumed in the same stainless metal-topped tables and plastic chairs... 

...and finally, the long line at Nai Ek Roll Noodles for its "must have" crispy pork" that we consumed as quickly as we took our place in the ever-present stainless metal-topped tables and plastic chairs, before a quick tour of the sights and smells of Yaowarat at eight in the evening.

I had my first liquid fire at "I Love Thai Food" on Soi Rambutrri's southeastern end and my last one for the week supposedly at "Bombay Blues" on the northwestern end before being lured to the ambiance, the plastic chairs and steel drum tables at "Madam Musur's", the "Yes Bar" and the "VW Cocktail Bar" right at the epicenter of Soi Rambutrri.  

FIVE DAYS

Monday morning melting though the Sierra Madre 

foothills breaking a smoky sky's horizon

18 flowers, 18 treasures, 18 blue bills

moss growing in a bottle

a lonely hill on Tuesday, flooded fields on Thursday, cows grazing on Friday   

Wednesday's fast shattered loud with beer bottles

dead man blessed with salt, soil and brandy

Hiram Abiff revived by a sip of whiskey

THE GHOSTS OF BINONDO

Between the Most Worshiful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines (established 1912) and the Scottish Rite Freemasonry Temple (established 1910) ) is 538 years of history condensed in a 950-meter stretch of sidewalk vendors, jeepney terminals and a horde of pedestrians that have no idea about what is immortalized in a marker for the Asociacion Feminista Filipina (established 1905), the story behind the National Cathedral of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (established 1902), the aspiration of the Philippine Women's University (established 1928), and that Pedro Gil aside from being an LRT Station is in fact a reknowned Filipino legislator while [Francisco] Carriedo, the gateway to Quiapo and Dong Camera Repair Shop, is a galleon ship captain.

Carriedo of course is also an entry point to the Binondo-Sta. Cruz area where 6 of Manila's 12 boldest restaurants are still operating including Los Ambos Mundos (established 1888) that I first heard from a waiter of the New Toho Food Center (established 1866) and where Kuya Edong actually took me to lunch once upon a time in Recto.

I was tempted to try its famous Ambos Paella from what I presume is their Comida Mestiza but it was too much for one person so I settled for a set meal of fried rice, lomien, lumpiang shanghai and chop suey which is the probable representation of its Comida China, a late lunch worthy of the long walk from the Dong Camera Repair Shop in Quiapo, and a fitting entree to a late dinner of steamed Kingfish and liquid rice at the more recent Mei Sum Tea House along Ongpin.    

Binondo for me is a striptease that bares a bit of its soul in every visit and this time, it finally relented to see for myself the crumbling shell of a panciteria where rebellious students met in Chapter 25 of the El Filibusterismo: 

"Idinaos ang piging ng mga estudyante sa Panciteria Macanista de Buen Gusto. Labing–apat sila kasama si Basilio....

Iniaalay nila ang Pansit lanlang kay Don Custodio. Ang mga buto buto naman ng sopas ay para sa panukala ni Don Custodio sapagkat kahit mga buto lang ay kayang gumawa ni Don Custodio ng ibang bagay. Ang Lumpia naman ay para kay Padre Irene tinatawag din nila itong lumpiang intsik. Ang hipon at tortang alimasag ay para sa kura tinatawag nila itong tortang alimango. Ang pansit gisado ay para sa bayan at sa pamahalaan dahil ginigisa raw ang pamahalaan ng sariling bansa..."

Some 240 meters away is an old neglected house in Urbiztondo where a historical marker said Gen. Antonio Luna was born in 1866 while 350 meters farther in Elcano corner Lavezares is what might be the oldest extant house in Binondo (circa late 1700s or early 1800s) which is 230 meters to Elcano corner Recto where the Katipunan was  founded in 1892. 

And then a breakfast of pork asado lechon, kiampong fried rice and egg adobo at Chuan Kee (established 1940) which claims to Binondo's oldest turo-turo.     

I could have chased all the ghosts of Binondo in one day if I had a bike but then, Ariel Guieb Tanguilig prefer the rugged biking trails of Nueva Ecija where we finally stepped down from our DD duties after a gluttonous carnivore lunch at Yakimix.