We Traveled 4 Hours For This!

Last Saturday was a busy Saturday for me. It was a flurry of reunions, not that I'm complaining! I spent the whole morning with former officemates catching up on our lives after our stint in the publishing world. Then, it was time to embark on a roadtrip with my BFFs.

Left my car at the Mall of Asia, and BFF Trency passed by for me. We heard traffic along SLEX was hell-on-earth, so we decided to go through Cavite. But first we had to pass by Miya (whom we met at Coastal Mall) and Gladys (whom we picked up at Sucat). Traffic was horrible even inside BF in Parañaque so it was a ROADTRIP in the making.

At first we were supposed to go to Marcia Adams' famed restaurant, but when we found out about the cover charge (which we had NO IDEA of), we decided to switch to a cheaper food haunt.

Off we went to RSM Restaurant to eat BULALO (beef and bone marrow in vegetable soup). Perfect for the winter weather feel in Tagaytay.

The restaurant was very cozy and very spacious. It had native Filipino decorations with heavy wooden tables in the dining area. I'm guessing it could accommodate 30-50 families all at once.


We were famished after that 4 hour drive in freagen traffic. So we couldn't wait to order. Of course, you all know we had bulalo.


It was served in this huge and tall metal pot with a wick at the bottom, supposedly to keep the broth hot to prevent the fat from the meat from hardening. It was served piping hot complete with smoke effect. It smelled so good! The meat was tender, you didn't even need the knife to help you cut it up in small pieces. It was my first time to try it, and I was completely sold!

We also ordered Bangus Kare-Kare

This was a bit disappointing. I love kare-kare, and for me what's really important in this dish is the peanut sauce. Unfortunately, the sauce had a watery consistency and did not really taste peanut-y. They had few bangus pieces, and those pieces we had were tiny. The vegetables, especially the Baguio beans were tough. I've recently had two kare-kare dishes over the holidays (read this and this), both of which were really, really GOOD! So I was really heartbroken with this one.

Lastly, we had Liempo.

Again, very sinful! But being with meat-eater friends, you just gotta go with the flow. I liked this one, but Gladys and Trency weren't really convinced. They said it was kinda sweet, probably from their marinade sauce.

All-in-all, the food was good except for the kare-kare. But what really DESTROYED this restaurant is their AWFUL SERVICE. The restaurant was massive, and we noticed they only had a few servers. We had a BITCH OF A TIME getting their attention, and when you finally get them to your table they look woeful. I remember telling the three, "Parang hindi sila masaya!" (It's like they're not happy.)

And since there were only a few servers, tables with used plates, glasses, utensils, and even the soda cans and beer bottles were left on the table for quite some time.



Good thing I was with the BFFs or else I would've thrown a fit. It was quite an experience since it was my first time in this restaurant. I just feel bad that you have to give them really bad feedback, and express it online. But this is just a heads-up in case you all want to eat here. The food's ok, it's just that you have to be a bit creative to get their attention. :)

But hey! The girlfriends and I were happy! We seldom get to be complete in a road trip and we finally had one early this year! We have to repeat! Love you girls!! :))



RSM Lutong Bahay Restaurant
Maharlika East, Tagaytay City, Cavite
Tel. No. (046) 860-2297
Mobile No. 0917-2761863 and 0917-9661358
Directions: Go past the rotonda going towards the direction of Batangas City. It's along the rows of restaurants after The Boutique Hotel. It's very near Starbucks and Leslie's.

What's Your "I Am Sick" Comfort Food?

So I've been sick since the last week of 2010 until NOW! The weatherman seems to be playing tricks on all of us. A lot of people I know right now, are sick or about to be sick. IT SUCKS! I've missed a couple of days at work because of this irritating cough. And while writing this blog entry, my cough is still bugging me!

So my question is, for sick days what is/are your favorite comfort food/s? Of course there's the famous LUGAW or Arroz Caldo (porridge) with chicken. Then there are the soups. The heat making your insides warm and you feel relaxed all at once. And maybe, you can hope that in an hour all your phlegm would have disappeared.

I decided to bump off my blog on our New Year's diner to continue on with my list of home-cooked meals that surpasses Christmas Eve and New Year's. I just wanted to share with you guys my favorite sick days comfort food.

NILADDI. Flat noodles with soup and some food coloring. This is a native dish, something that hails from our province in Cagayan Valley up north. Niladdi is an Ibanag term for noodles. The name may sound weird, but this is HEAVEN! Here's the super simple recipe, I'm sure anyone of you can do it!

Ingredients: Flat noodles, any kind of meat (chicken, pork, beef) and even shrimp, achuete (the red thing for the coloring), bawang (garlic), sibuyas (onions), patis (fish sauce), and water.

Instructions:
1. Saute the garlic and onions in a pot. Add the meat (chicken, beef, or pork) or shrimp.
2. When the water from the meat evaporates completely, put in the fish sauce. The fish sauce depends on how salty you guys want your soup to be.
3. Prepare the achuete by mixing it in water until it turns red. Once it turns red, pour the water into the pot. Use a strainer so that seeds won't go into the soup.
4. Let it simmer until it boils.
5. When it boils a little bit, you may add in water.
6. After you've added the water and it has boiled, add in the niladdi noodles.
7. Just wait for it to boil again. Then it's good to go!

I'm no chef. I actually dislike preparing/cooking food. But I'm willing to learn this just so I could cook it all by myself during sick days. I swear it's the best comfort food. Our helper had mastered the art of cooking niladdi. Maybe you should just ask her how she does it! :)

Lemme know what you're favorite comfort food is! Maybe there's another version of this soup dish! Lemme know!! :D

A New Year; A New Decade

Hey everyone! Happy New Year!! :) Can you believe it's 2011 already? Time flies by so fast! So what did you guys do during the New Year? I've been reading 2010 highlights from my fellow bloggers and it made me think of what I did during 2010. It's probably too late for me to do a recap, but 2010 was a year of blessings, but we also had a fair share of trials. But we all have the Lord to thank for helping us get through day-by-day! :)

Anyway, it's our first New year at home, and we were all really psyched for it. We also finally bought fountains and sparklers for this year's celebration. And when the clock struck midnight, this was the scene on our street.




There were people in our subdivision who gave us a wonderful fireworks display.


After bonding with our neighbors it was time to chow! For our New Year's Eve feast, we once again had a home-cooked meal! We also opted for something INIHAW or GRILLED, among other food choices!

My ultimate favorite GRILLED LIEMPO!

It's a slab of meat grilled to perfection! It was so good I had two slabs of this! Cholesterolific to the highest level! :D

Chicken Inasal

This may not be a Mang Inasal, but our helper was able to "copy" the taste of the chicken inasal in our old neighborhood in Makati. This dish made Iloilo FAMOUS and when the recipe found it's way here in Manila (thru Mang Inasal and Bacolod Chicken Inasal) it was an instantaneous HIT! Must-try for foreigners when they get to make their way here in the country! :D

We also grilled this gigantic fish.

Although I'm not sure what fish this was. Mom even garnished it with tomatoes.

The next set of dishes are not grilled anymore. :D

Once again, we had tahong or clams.

Our helper already bought like a kilo of this at the market. But by lunchtime Mom and I devoured it, so we had to return to the market this time for 4kgs of these bad guys! :))

Baked lasagna.

I was kind of disappointed with this. Mom put in WAY TOO much onions, every spoonful of it had onions (yuck!). It tasted funky in the end, maybe because I'm not much of an onion person. So I made sure I got most of the cheese.

Another fishy dish, this time with sauce and vegetables. I LOVED THIS, especially it's zesty sauce, and had it for lunch on New Year's Day! :)


Pinakbet

When I was a kid, I called this pangit na sabaw (ugly broth) because of it was dark-colored. It's a native Filipino dish, which has kalabasa (pumpkin), okra, talong (eggplant), and ampalaya, and cooked with bagoong. It may look fugly and unappealing, but it tastes HEAVENLY!!

For dessert, we still had our Fruit Salad


Fruits - none of those spherical ones that they say bring you good luck.

And 2 kinds of fruitcake.

It was a simple way to usher in the New Year for our family. I am quite geared up for 2011 because we'll be finishing two important things that will mean a huge relief especially for Mom. It made our 2010 very difficult, but I'm very positive we'll make it in 2011.

Mom said that for my sign, Virgo, I'd be traveling a lot this year. That's what TV Patrol (our 6pm news) said, but I'm really hoping it would be true! I'd be kicking off my travel itinerary with my Baler comeback this January 14. I just wish I could go to Baler with two of my college barkada in February. That would be a dream come true! But then by October, my BFFs and I would be heading on over to BALI, INDONESIA so I really gotta start saving!

As for my New Year's resolution I am really trying to be MORE PATIENT (people who know will support this claim and you guys may even wish me luck hahahaha), be a bit more OUTGOING, get to meet NEW PEOPLE (more blogger friends!)), blog some more (more food and travel), and be a much better friend and daughter to my Mom.

How about you guys? What are your resolutions? Let's all try to make it HAPPEN if only we put our hearts and minds to it! Happy New Year guys! CHEERS! :D

Holiday Fruitcake

Christmas Eve Celebration

For us Filipinos, Christmas Eve is more special than Christmas Day itself. It's the time when we all gather around the dining table for NOCHE BUENA and around the Christmas tree to open the gifts.

We had a very busy Christmas Eve; besides preparing for our Noche Buena, we also prepared for the Christmas Drive earlier in the day.

But after preparing our home-cooked Noche Buena meal, we all geared up and heard Mass at our Parish. By the way, also saw my sportscaster crush, Boom Gonzales in Church. He even smiled and greeted me "Merry Christmas!" OH YEAH! :D

Anyway, we came home slightly before 12MN and prepared our dining table with the food our trusty helper and Mom cooked. I'd like to share what we all had during Noche Buena. :)

We already had this during my Uncle's 65th birthday. But our helper made another batch of PAELLA for us.

Since I don't eat rice, I only ate the prawns, chicken, and clams. :)

Our helper is so proud of this, she insists in calling it CHICKEN GARLIC but it's really Garlic Chicken hehe. Really good! :)

My Lola's yearly traditional Christmas food: EMBOTIDO.

I remember when I was younger my Lola would make tons of these. It's labor intensive but she does it with LOVE for all of us. She'd start early in the morning, mixing all the ingredients together. Then she'll finish late at night when everything's cooked well.

And another Filipino trademark, PANCIT.

It's a must for every celebration, and Christmas is no different! :)

PRAWNS! BIG, SWEET, AND JUICY! Need I say more? :)

Thank God it wasn't Red Tide season or else we wouldn't have clams or tahong. I swear I could finish one whole pan of this in one sitting!

For our dessert, we had Fruit Salad (a Christmas staple)

And leche flan. Not too sweet, but our helper wasn't able to beat it well so it came out hard. But it was still good!

After our sumptuous meal, it was time to open the presents. We got our helper a suitcase since she doesn't really have a drawer.


This was gift to Mom - a nice leather wallet with lots of little compartments (?) for the credit cards. I'm happy that she liked it, and she's now using it! :)

And this is her Christmas gift to me - a Nine West bag. It's cute because last year she bought me a Nine West wallet. What's next? Nine West shoes? =P

This past Christmas is really special for us in the family. One, because it's our helper's last Christmas because she's getting married next year. And two, because we finally got to celebrate Christmas in our OWN HOME. We should all thank God for the blessings we have received, not only the gifts we received, but also like having the family together this Christmas. I really hope and pray that this is going to be the first of many happy Christmases in this house.

Hope you guys had a MERRY CHRISTMAS WITH YOUR FAMILIES! :) To our relatives, we MISS YOU GUYS! One day, let's all have a grand Christmas celebration where we're all present and all together! WE LOVE YOU!! :)

The Beauty of Home-Cooked Meals and Being Together For Christmas

I LOVE home-cooked meals! It's a staple in our family get-togethers. Home-cooked meals are more delicious than food in restaurants - we can put in more flavors, more meat, more vegetables. It's practically unlimited everything. It's just sad I keep updating you guys on commercial food. I swear my family can make the BEST home-cooked meals, thanks to my Lola who made sure she passed down the recipe to the kids.

May it be a small family gathering, to a special occasion like our house blessing last month, home-cooked meals are the stars of the show. Same thing during my Uncle's birthday last Dec. 23, we had home-cooked meals, a reunion, and our traditional Christmas exchange gift.

My Aunt had prepared a special buffet-style meal for everyone.

First, we have the shrimp dish.

I wasn't able to eat this because I concentrated on another seafood dish. But Mom said it was really good!

This I had: CRABS!!

It was fatty, in Filipino we call it ALIGUE. Super yummy fatty goodness, great when eating it with your bare hands! :)

This came from us, and this has been one of my Lola's specialty dish: PAELLA

It had tahong (mussels), prawns, boiled eggs, chorizo, and rice that was colored red. Everybody loved this! And it made us miss our grandmother!

Also a Filipino staple in every celebration is the PANCIT.

This was a special type of pancit because it mixed the noodles of pancit bihon (the thin ones) and pancit canton (fat ones). Funny, because this was a take-out from AMBER, a restaurant known for really good barbecues and different types of pancit.

Another take-out, this time from Jollibee and one for the kids present, is FRIED CHICKEN a.k.a CHICKEN JOY!

I may not be a kid, but I had this! Great with GRAVY! YUMMY!!

It was set in a long table where any can just get freely.


And of course, all birthdays have the cake-blowing ceremony. This is my Uncle, surrounded by his grandkids.


This was a special day for us in the family, not only because it was my Uncle's birthday, but also because we finally met the latest addition to our ever growing brood. Please welcome, Tristan Jay Vasquez Dumana.

This was his first Christmas, and we were glad he was able to spend it with us! For New Year, he goes back to Cebu with his Mommy.


You may have met the bunch at my birthday/Halloween blog. And since Christmas is really something for the kids, here they are minus the blood (hehehe!)


This has become a family tradition. We gather around my Aunt's living room where the Christmas tree is and wait for our names to be called out. One of my cousins get to be the one to call out everybody.


It gets to be happier and rowdier every year with the number of kids increasing. But it's so cute to see them grab the gifts so they could be the ones to give it to the respective owner.

From us, the DUMANA FAMILY we wish you guys a Merry Christmas! For our relatives abroad, we miss you guys! We really hope that one day, we get to have Christmas altogether! The family's getting bigger by the second, and we really wish you could come see us! We love and miss you all!! :)