tired legs at 50
tainted blood, tarnished urine
a prayer gone wrong
Monday, January 27, 2020
Sunday, January 19, 2020
3 DAYS TO 50
16th January 2020
17th January 2020
18th January 2020
anemic tea chase stale sandwiches
overpriced Grab cab race a slow Baliwag bus
Netflix activated by Sheldon and Leonard
17th January 2020
a Lodge was opened and closed
San Miguel, Naked Grouse, Johnny Walker
bottles breaking at midnight
18th January 2020
a cake aged to perfection
blood sugar, cholesterol and uric acid rising
50 and I wish 25 more with a stiff!
(and 58.6 kilometers to counter excess!)
Thursday, January 16, 2020
THE STARS OF MICHELIN
Michelin is a French tire company owned by the brothers Edouard and Andre Michelin who in 1900 published the first Michelin Guide to provide useful information for motorists with the aim of increasing demand for cars and therefore their tires.
The popularity of the restaurant section eventually metamorphosed into the [in]famous Michelin Guide with the star rating introduced in 1926.
A star indicates "a very good restaurant in its category", two stars for "excellent cooking, worth a detour", three stars for "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey", with each star awarded or withdrawn making and breaking many restaurants.
In 1955, the Bib Gourmand distinction for "exceptionally good food at moderate prices" was introduced but it was only in 2016 that "notable street food establishments" were listed and awarded with stars.
A number of Bangkok's street food joints have been listed as Bib Gourmand since then and I have the bragging rights of having dined in some namely Patonggo Cafe for chicken stew, Rung Reung Pork Noodle Shop for pork noodles of course, Famous Khao Kha Moo for barised pork trotters, Go-Ang Khaomunkai Pratunam for chicken rice, Kuyajup Mr. Jo for crispy pork, Wattana Panich Restaurant for beef noodles, Nai Ek Roll Noodles for crispy pork and noodles, and Jeh o Chula for tom yum.
And I've added three more Bib Gourmands in this particular trip:
And I went back to Soi 19 Sab Sab Wanton Mee for the rice pork that was gone too soon the first time I came, super tender braised pig trotters on a mound of rice with pickled greens and half a boiled egg on the side, good but not enough to long for unlike the eternal crispy pork and sticky rice and a hundred more places waiting to be discovered in the streets of Bangkok.
There were the usual places like grilled pork neck at Suda and new experiences such as smoked bratwurst, cubano sandwich and whiskey sour at the ARTBOX Night Market.
And of course, crispy pork and sticky rice with street coffee for one more breakfast in Bangkok before a disppointing dinner of crispy dinuguan and spicy tawilis at Kantina Sabel in Makati which help explain why Michelin stars are rare in the Philippines.
The popularity of the restaurant section eventually metamorphosed into the [in]famous Michelin Guide with the star rating introduced in 1926.
A star indicates "a very good restaurant in its category", two stars for "excellent cooking, worth a detour", three stars for "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey", with each star awarded or withdrawn making and breaking many restaurants.
In 1955, the Bib Gourmand distinction for "exceptionally good food at moderate prices" was introduced but it was only in 2016 that "notable street food establishments" were listed and awarded with stars.
A number of Bangkok's street food joints have been listed as Bib Gourmand since then and I have the bragging rights of having dined in some namely Patonggo Cafe for chicken stew, Rung Reung Pork Noodle Shop for pork noodles of course, Famous Khao Kha Moo for barised pork trotters, Go-Ang Khaomunkai Pratunam for chicken rice, Kuyajup Mr. Jo for crispy pork, Wattana Panich Restaurant for beef noodles, Nai Ek Roll Noodles for crispy pork and noodles, and Jeh o Chula for tom yum.
And I've added three more Bib Gourmands in this particular trip:
Polo Fried Chicken near Lumpini Park, crispy brown but juicy and liberally garnished with fried garlic, the sweet spicy chilli and jaew (grilled chilli) dipping sauces accentuating the flavor, and excellently complemented with som tum (green papaya salad), sticky rice and of course, an iceless but almost freezing bottle of Chang, good but short of extraordinary.
Pink Noodle Soup (Yen Tao Fo) that is indeed pink with hints of tomato which is unusual for Thai noodle soups, and a spectacular "myriad of textures" from an assortment of fish and meat balls, fried wanton wrapper, mushrooms, soft tendons, blood curd, and crunchy water spinach, and all that for just 60 Baht!
And Chakki, famed for its stir fried beef noodles drowning in a thick gravy sauce (Rhad-Na) that has enticed a loyal following in the last 30 years, into which I disappeared into during a meeting lunch break in boring Picnic Hotel.
And I went back to Soi 19 Sab Sab Wanton Mee for the rice pork that was gone too soon the first time I came, super tender braised pig trotters on a mound of rice with pickled greens and half a boiled egg on the side, good but not enough to long for unlike the eternal crispy pork and sticky rice and a hundred more places waiting to be discovered in the streets of Bangkok.
There were the usual places like grilled pork neck at Suda and new experiences such as smoked bratwurst, cubano sandwich and whiskey sour at the ARTBOX Night Market.
And of course, crispy pork and sticky rice with street coffee for one more breakfast in Bangkok before a disppointing dinner of crispy dinuguan and spicy tawilis at Kantina Sabel in Makati which help explain why Michelin stars are rare in the Philippines.
Monday, January 13, 2020
THE OLD QUARTER
There was a king named Ly Thai, who built his palace in Thang Lo, and there skilled craftsmen gathered, once upon a thousand years ago.
The French came then the tube houses, modern Ha Noi rising from ancient Thang Lo, 36 guild streets evolving into bars, hotels, shops and a Beer Street.
Meanwhile at the Temple of Literature, short skirts clash with lengthy Ao Dais, a stern Confucious stare at curious unbelievers, Richa shopped as we posed for a selfie.
But the Temple is boring so I took off to the Old Quarter on a Grab bike where I whiled time nursing a cup of coconut coffee that tasted more like a slurpee.
I signed up for a 3-hour walking food tour of the Old Quarter to kill the rest of Saturday, not for the food really but to get to know more of its historic 36 guild streets and what's inside them tube houses.
And yes, because the food I already had during our scooter tour in Ho Chi Minh, like the fried rice pancake (Banh Xeo), wrapped in a thin rice paper, better than my first one although what got my eye are the slabs of meat being prepared at the restaurant entrance;
then steam-rolled cake (Banh Cuon Thit) which is again better than the previous, my first foray inside a tube house through two flights of narrow concrete stairs into a tiny room crammed with small tables and chairs, the ceiling touching my head, my phone camera focused on the white haired lady chef rather than what we were eating;
and of course, vermicelli with grilled pork otherwise known as the famous Bun Cha right on a busy sidewalk, Vinh the Guide pointing out that it's the charcoal grilling that makes a good Bun Cha, my fourth overall in Hanoi actually;
then dessert that was a treasure hunt through a smorgasbord of street sights and smells into a narrow alley to a hole-in-a-wall with two sets of the usual small chairs and tables, a tarped menu displaying an extensive selection and I going for mixed fruits (Hoa Qua Dam) --- shaved ice and yogurt on jackfruit, water chestnuts, tapioca pearls, gulaman and what can be coconut strips;
and finaly the coffee shop that seemed not there, unsigned, the entrance surreptitiously barricaded by the ever present motorbikes, two flights of narrow stairs leading to a dingy room of the usual small tables and chairs, run down and resembling an opium den rather than a cafe, good music wafting from ancient speakers, packed with an eclectic crowd, there where Hanoi's famous egg coffee (Ca Phe trung) was invented, so ornate it's almost a shame to disturb the foamy art.
What was amazing is I got the tour free through my Klook credits, that I had enough for both lunch and dinner and a long walk to my hotel through the shores of the Lake of the Returned Sword and the gate to the Temple of the Jade Mountain, pausing a bit to watch a sexy street dance and wonder at the irony of a candy peddler on bike at the entrance to the affluent Trang Tien Plaza, then moving on to a disappointing Banh Mi sandwich dinner.
The French came then the tube houses, modern Ha Noi rising from ancient Thang Lo, 36 guild streets evolving into bars, hotels, shops and a Beer Street.
Meanwhile at the Temple of Literature, short skirts clash with lengthy Ao Dais, a stern Confucious stare at curious unbelievers, Richa shopped as we posed for a selfie.
But the Temple is boring so I took off to the Old Quarter on a Grab bike where I whiled time nursing a cup of coconut coffee that tasted more like a slurpee.
I signed up for a 3-hour walking food tour of the Old Quarter to kill the rest of Saturday, not for the food really but to get to know more of its historic 36 guild streets and what's inside them tube houses.
And yes, because the food I already had during our scooter tour in Ho Chi Minh, like the fried rice pancake (Banh Xeo), wrapped in a thin rice paper, better than my first one although what got my eye are the slabs of meat being prepared at the restaurant entrance;
then steam-rolled cake (Banh Cuon Thit) which is again better than the previous, my first foray inside a tube house through two flights of narrow concrete stairs into a tiny room crammed with small tables and chairs, the ceiling touching my head, my phone camera focused on the white haired lady chef rather than what we were eating;
and of course, vermicelli with grilled pork otherwise known as the famous Bun Cha right on a busy sidewalk, Vinh the Guide pointing out that it's the charcoal grilling that makes a good Bun Cha, my fourth overall in Hanoi actually;
then dessert that was a treasure hunt through a smorgasbord of street sights and smells into a narrow alley to a hole-in-a-wall with two sets of the usual small chairs and tables, a tarped menu displaying an extensive selection and I going for mixed fruits (Hoa Qua Dam) --- shaved ice and yogurt on jackfruit, water chestnuts, tapioca pearls, gulaman and what can be coconut strips;
and finaly the coffee shop that seemed not there, unsigned, the entrance surreptitiously barricaded by the ever present motorbikes, two flights of narrow stairs leading to a dingy room of the usual small tables and chairs, run down and resembling an opium den rather than a cafe, good music wafting from ancient speakers, packed with an eclectic crowd, there where Hanoi's famous egg coffee (Ca Phe trung) was invented, so ornate it's almost a shame to disturb the foamy art.
What was amazing is I got the tour free through my Klook credits, that I had enough for both lunch and dinner and a long walk to my hotel through the shores of the Lake of the Returned Sword and the gate to the Temple of the Jade Mountain, pausing a bit to watch a sexy street dance and wonder at the irony of a candy peddler on bike at the entrance to the affluent Trang Tien Plaza, then moving on to a disappointing Banh Mi sandwich dinner.
Saturday, January 11, 2020
BIA, CAPHE AND BUN CHA
Vietnam for me evoke images of millions of motorbikes and insane traffic, makeshift stalls in the streets with low tables and chairs, amazing rice noodle dishes and the ever present traditional conical hats, and narrow tube houses.
Vietnam is also good coffee, a legacy from its colonial past that was introduced by a French priest in in 1857, and I tried to have all local variations in Hanoi: from the regular cafe suada (black coffee with condensed milk), cafe sua chua (black coffee with yogurt), cafe trung (coffee with egg yolk), and cafe cot da (coffee with coconut milk).
Vietnamese coffee is mainly of the arabica variety, strong and harsh whose insomniac effect foiled a nightly parade of Vietnamese beer (Bia Hoi, Hanoi, Saigon, Truc Bach, La Rue, and even Beck's Ice) and sky bar cocktails (mojito, Song Cai gin with soda).
Coffee shops and stalls are everywhere but for beer and cocktails, perhaps the best place will be at the Old Quarter, the heart of Hanoi and a myriad of various sights, sound and smell that collide in each street to reverberate a chaotic yet enigmatic symphony.
There is of course the Bun Cha, the queen of Vietnamese noodles made famous by Anthony Bourdain and Barack Obama, and I had my first in a cramped shop across the Oxfam Office along Le Dai Hanh Alley which I have vague recollection of after I started missing my bike...
Vietnam is also good coffee, a legacy from its colonial past that was introduced by a French priest in in 1857, and I tried to have all local variations in Hanoi: from the regular cafe suada (black coffee with condensed milk), cafe sua chua (black coffee with yogurt), cafe trung (coffee with egg yolk), and cafe cot da (coffee with coconut milk).
Vietnamese coffee is mainly of the arabica variety, strong and harsh whose insomniac effect foiled a nightly parade of Vietnamese beer (Bia Hoi, Hanoi, Saigon, Truc Bach, La Rue, and even Beck's Ice) and sky bar cocktails (mojito, Song Cai gin with soda).
Coffee shops and stalls are everywhere but for beer and cocktails, perhaps the best place will be at the Old Quarter, the heart of Hanoi and a myriad of various sights, sound and smell that collide in each street to reverberate a chaotic yet enigmatic symphony.
There is of course the Bun Cha, the queen of Vietnamese noodles made famous by Anthony Bourdain and Barack Obama, and I had my first in a cramped shop across the Oxfam Office along Le Dai Hanh Alley which I have vague recollection of after I started missing my bike...
Monday, January 06, 2020
VISION 20/20
January 1
has been the start of the year ever since Julius Cesar created the Julian Calendar in 46 BC until it was changed in 567 AD to either December 25, March 1 or 25, or Easter; until it was again restored in 1582 by Pope Gregory as Day 1 with the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar.
January 25
is the start of the Lunar New Year which has been the case since 202 BC of the Han Dynasty.
2020
is the Year of the White Metal Rat in the Lunar Calendar that is predicted to be restless, unpredictable, impulsive but good for investments.
20/20
refers to normal vision of "what an average individual can see on an eye chart when they are standing 20 feet away".
50 in 2020
on January 18 and after that day, I will let go of all the rancor in my heart, pursue a healthier lifestyle, travel more with the family, and save for the inevitable old age.
has been the start of the year ever since Julius Cesar created the Julian Calendar in 46 BC until it was changed in 567 AD to either December 25, March 1 or 25, or Easter; until it was again restored in 1582 by Pope Gregory as Day 1 with the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar.
January 25
is the start of the Lunar New Year which has been the case since 202 BC of the Han Dynasty.
2020
is the Year of the White Metal Rat in the Lunar Calendar that is predicted to be restless, unpredictable, impulsive but good for investments.
20/20
refers to normal vision of "what an average individual can see on an eye chart when they are standing 20 feet away".
50 in 2020
on January 18 and after that day, I will let go of all the rancor in my heart, pursue a healthier lifestyle, travel more with the family, and save for the inevitable old age.
Thursday, January 02, 2020
THE MALLS OF SILOM
Silom has evolved from its humble beginning as a dike into a major financial district and one of Bangkok's busiest streets, and its core is the Siam Center BTS Station, Bangkok's busiest, where the Silom Line interchange with the Sukhumvit Line.
We've had an amazing and memorable family adventure by bus from Vietnam, Cambodia into Thailand and it's time for us to go home for the new year.
After a breakfast of 7-11 ready-to-eats in our hostel, we hailed a tuktuk for the Siam Center to kill time before our 6:50 pm flight back to Manila.
The Siam Center BTS is the beating heart of Silom and cluttered with mostly high end malls: Siam Paragon where we deposited our luggage, it's namesake Siam Center where the wife had a photo with Vin Diesel, Siam Discovery and its giant aero christmas tree, and the exceptional MBK Center whose affordable merchandise and Dairy Queen ice cream we can afford.
We have one final street food-inspired lunch [two variations of fried pork and grilled Northern Thailand sausage after the Pablo cheesetarts and Haagen-Dazs ice cream] at the Siam Paragon Food Court before taking the train to the airport where I pilfered snacks from Miracle Lounge before our flight.
We landed at NAIA Terminal 2 near midnight and were fortunately checked in at Red Planet-Bonondo before the new year's fireworks exploded.
Brunch [bihon, siomai, lechong kawali] at the Ying Ying Tea House where we had our first Binondo family meal many years ago and a visit to Mayor Isko's gentrified Jones Bridge as requested by the wife ushered our first day of 2020 before heading to the Baliwag Bus Terminal in Cubao for the trip back to Bakal 2.
This vacation is our first abroad as a family to celebrate 22 years of happy marriage in December 2019 and my upcoming 50th birthday on January 2020, and a great way to celebrate both previous and new years.
It will not be our last...
We've had an amazing and memorable family adventure by bus from Vietnam, Cambodia into Thailand and it's time for us to go home for the new year.
After a breakfast of 7-11 ready-to-eats in our hostel, we hailed a tuktuk for the Siam Center to kill time before our 6:50 pm flight back to Manila.
The Siam Center BTS is the beating heart of Silom and cluttered with mostly high end malls: Siam Paragon where we deposited our luggage, it's namesake Siam Center where the wife had a photo with Vin Diesel, Siam Discovery and its giant aero christmas tree, and the exceptional MBK Center whose affordable merchandise and Dairy Queen ice cream we can afford.
We have one final street food-inspired lunch [two variations of fried pork and grilled Northern Thailand sausage after the Pablo cheesetarts and Haagen-Dazs ice cream] at the Siam Paragon Food Court before taking the train to the airport where I pilfered snacks from Miracle Lounge before our flight.
We landed at NAIA Terminal 2 near midnight and were fortunately checked in at Red Planet-Bonondo before the new year's fireworks exploded.
Brunch [bihon, siomai, lechong kawali] at the Ying Ying Tea House where we had our first Binondo family meal many years ago and a visit to Mayor Isko's gentrified Jones Bridge as requested by the wife ushered our first day of 2020 before heading to the Baliwag Bus Terminal in Cubao for the trip back to Bakal 2.
This vacation is our first abroad as a family to celebrate 22 years of happy marriage in December 2019 and my upcoming 50th birthday on January 2020, and a great way to celebrate both previous and new years.
It will not be our last...
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