Thursday, April 26, 2012

Afterwork Cravings at A Veneto Pizzeria Ristorante

If you know me or have been reading my blog or last posts, you would have noticed by now that I have an addiction and I just cant help it. I guess I am a pizza and pasta-HOLIC. You know how a common question goes like, if you can only have one food to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be? This is my answer.

I have been craving for pizza for days and one Sunday night after work, I gave in,haha
We went to A Veneto Pizzeria Ristorante in Glorietta to satisfy our pizza cravings.

What We Ordered:

Baked Ziti with Meatsauce P305
 
 


aVenetto Classic P250 for 10"







The Verdict:
The baked ziti has a huge serving probably good for 2-3 persons and its good but not that good, you know what I mean. Then the pizza also tastes average and has too many onions for my taste. I also didnt like the fact that they use the Jufran Hotsauce because its so hot (in a bad way) and the hotness lingers in your mouth long enough that it can be painful.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Pizza Lovin at Bistro Ravioli

I was walking around Glorietta and saw this new restaurant in G3 just right accross Kenny's Rogers. I was on a diet, but oohhh for the love of pizza and pasta, im in!






Here's what we ordered:
 
Garlic Seafood Spaghetti P170


Margherita P260

3 cheese ravioli
The Verdict: 
I so love their ravioli. I have tried the Italian Sausage and the 3-cheese and I love them both! The pizza is also really good and the prices are very affordable. Oh gosh, I'm already thinking of stopping by before I go home.=)

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Stopover: Tacsiyapo in Gerona Tarlac

On our way back to Manila from Baguio, I was pretty excited for our stopover dinner (or should I say breakfast? Its 1:00am and we havent had dinner) because it would be my first time to go to Isdaan in Gerona Tarlac and  I have been hearing a lot of stories about their tacsiyapo wall that I have planned to visit a long a time ago when my heart was broken.haha





The place is really interesting because they have a lot of statues from buddha, monkeys, past presidents and security guards. Aside from that, they also offer different attractions like free fish if you sing the karaoke, feeding fishes, bands , dancers and the famous tacsiyapo wall.


The place was huge and they have nipa huts suspended over a pond full of Koi fishes. After taking a few  pictures, I have decided to just stay at the hut because I was so hungry. Unfortunately, we called the waiters numerous times but to no avail.

All of them were busy serving other tables and it took them 30 minutes just TO GET THE ORDER. I dont know, maybe they have limited staff during that time because it was already 1am, but wth? Bad service is bad service and I don't care what time it is!

They served the food 30-45 minutes after the order was taken. We ordered Ginataang Alimasag (they serve it per 100g), Sinigang na hipon and Spicy shrimps.

It was expensive! 1kg of alimasag (crabs) would cost over P1,000, the taste is average and if I went to Tarlac just for this, I would be disappointed. Good thing this was just a stopover.
waiting and waiting and waiting for the food
Then after eating, I went to check out the tacsiyapo wall. If you're mad, angry, brokenhearted or whatever, you can release all your anger here.



tacsiyapo!



Thursday, April 5, 2012

Under the Sea @Malapascua Island

Diving has always been one of the things that I wanted to do. To know what its like to actually see the view below the waters, up close and personal. But since I'm not the best swimmer there is, I was hesitant to try it. 

For my birthday I wanted one thing off my bucket list and this time, it would be diving! So off I went for a trip to Malapascua Island to discover scuba diving.


We contacted one of the dive shops (near Ging-Ging's Restaurant) and arranged our schedule for diving. We got our DSD (discover scuba diving) for P2500 and Sam's fun dive for P1200 since he is a licensed diver.

We went to Bantigue Island for the briefing near the shore and then off we go to the site where we can see soft corals.

 Before the dive; TIPS FROM SAM:
1.Drinks lots of water
2.Take a rest before the dive
3.Equalize — Begin equalizing before your head submerges and continue to equalize frequently during descent.

Equalization is the act of forcing air into an open space to offset increasing hydrostatic pressure. This can be applied to such spaces as a dive mask or the diver's ears, and prevents what is known as a squeeze.


preppin for the briefing


briefing before the dive
 After the briefing, I got a bit scared because its different to breathe through a tank. Its also important to listen very carefully to the dive master so you know what to do once your under the water and lastly but I think one of the most important, DO NOT PANIC.

The first few meters on our way down was scary because it would hurt your ears but you just need to equalize underwater ear pressure.


under the sea




ohh the ocean floor.

After descending, I cant stop looking at the surface cause I cant actually believe I was that deep under the water. I didn't touch anything because I was scared that they would move or could be poisonous or something, but it was so much fun.

But the view under water is really different compared to snorkeling. Its like having a backstage pass for a concert. I felt like I was Ariel from The Little Mermaid. I felt like I was visiting my fishes in the tank in Doodle Fish Farm, up close and personal..hahaha




ok!








exhausted and hungry after the dive

thinking: I'll get a diving license!!!



 I once said that I would never go back to places Ive traveled before but well I must say "Malapascua, I shall return!" and next time with a diving license! #FingersCrossed

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Beachified in Malapascua Island!

My summer started early this year with my CamSur Adventure where I got to try wake boarding for the first time. I wanted another thing off my bucket list and this time its diving, so my next stop? Malapascua Island in Cebu:)

How to get there:

From airport, you can take a cab to the Northern Bus Terminal (approx P200 for metered taxis) then you can take a bus to Maya port (P170) or rent a van for P2000. Travel time is approximately 4-4.5 hrs for bus and 3 hrs if you rent a van.



From Maya port, there are boats waiting for passengers going to the island for P80. Travel time is about 30-45 minutes.



Malapascua Island


We checked in at Purple Snapper, and got our rooms for P2400 for 2pax/night. The resort has a pool and its own restaurant. The place was great but thing is, its not located in front of the beach so you still have to walk for like 3 minutes to get to the beachfront.





resort pool

   

        
                                     Purple Snapper Resort
 
One thing that I noticed about the island is that it is full of foreigners, probably because the island was endorsed in LonelyPlanet and very famous among divers because you can actually dive here to see thresher sharks up close.

When it comes to food, there are a lot of restaurants within the island. You can try Ging-Ging's Restaurant if you're on a budget like us.






I didn't like this place because it took them an hour to serve the food. The food was okay but not great, but as I have said, this is one of the cheapest restaurants in the island.

After lunch, we spent the rest of day at the beach drinking.


oh no were not drunk YET



Mojitos+Lime=Drunk and Happy


 Our resort offers Discover Scuba Diving for P2800. We managed to find another dive shop, just beside Ging-Ging's Restaurant and offered it for P2500. For licensed divers, fun dive is for P1200. I wanted to see thresher sharks but sadly, the activity is strictly for licensed divers only. They have other sites to visit for fun dives to see soft corals and so we scheduled our dive the next day.


Day 2 started with our "island hopping". With quotes because I actually thought were going to visit other islands nearby but its more of visiting different sites to snorkel. Rate for island hopping is P250/head with three sites to visit.





We saw a local kid playing with these. These were actually baby sharks that they caught, white tail sharks, if I'm not mistaken.

Our diving was scheduled at about 2:30pm. We just ate brunch at the resort and enjoyed the pool while waiting.



back dive
 I decided to eat before the dive because we were informed that its really tiring, but don't eat too much before the dive because you might puke underwater specially for first timers like us.


Bacon cheeseburger melt burger @purple snapper P295

Diving at Malapascua


corals

ok!
 Diving was fun and it was a different experience. I'm thinking to get a license someday.
You can check what happenned to my dive and check Under the sea at Malapascua Island

After the dive we went for a walk to look for a place to eat for dinner. I heard Angelina's is a good restaurant that serves Italian food. Watcha say? Italian? Its time for pizza and pasta!

Angelina's is quite far from the resort, about a 15 minute walk or so, but was worth it.


tagliatelle asparagi e gamberetti P310

raviola al pamodoro P315

penne al arrabiata P305

calzone P410

super angelina P425

After our sumptuous meal, we rode a "habal-habal" (single motorbike) going back to the resort. You can actually ride these motorbikes for P10.00 and tour around the island.

Since its also my birthday, we decided to drink a bit beside the pool while waiting for midnight. Then, just when the clock is about to hit 12:00am, they surprised me with my birthday cake.


blue berry cheesecake that they bought @Exotic Resort I super loved the cake! I really appreciate it! Love you guys! Mwah.


We woke up early the next day to eat breakfast and to swim at the beach again before we leave. I didn't want to go home yet!

Unfortunately some good things has to come to an end and so after taking some pictures we prepared to leave the island. The boat going back to Maya port will only leave the island with at least 10 passengers so instead of paying P80.00, we paid P1000 for the whole trip so we wouldn't have to wait for other passengers. We also decided to take a van going back to the city. We got the van for P2000 from Maya port to Mactan airport.

The past three days were days spent in paradise. Thanks again Bro for the opportunity to travel:) Oh well, got to get back to work and save for the next trip.See yah!