Hiking Philippines: Taal Volcano

For our third Philippines hike we decided to check out the top of Taal Volcano in Tagaytay. Since we were going to be all the way down there we figured breakfast at Antonio's was in order. The new breakfast restaurant overlooks the volcano and is beautiful. The service was a little slow, maybe because they were new. And the omelettes were a little salty, but overall a good experience. 

A friend had given us the number of a guide in advance so we texted him on the way out of the restaurant and decided to meet him at the bottom of the hill. About halfway down a motorcycle starts circling our car, so The Shark rolls down the window and the driver shouts, "I'm Albert, follow me." The Shark turns to me and asks, "Is our guide named Albert?" Of course I have him listed as "Taal Guide" in my phone and couldn't quite understand what he was saying when we talked. So we followed him and turns out he was our guide. We parked and then traipsed though his house out to the boat. 

The 40 minute boat ride was uneventful. Then we arrived. I don't know what I was expecting, but a bunch of makeshift houses and some guys washing their cows in the water was not it. The registration area was in shambles and immediately the sellers swarmed us. Did we want to ride a horse? No. Did we want a mask for the dust? No. Did we want a hat for the sun? No. Turns out maybe we wanted all three. 

The hike was brutally hot with almost no shade, luckily it was only about 90 minutes roundtrip. The trail - of a major tourist attraction mind you - was literally covered in horse poop. Which meant lots of flies. And the dust was real bad.

Fortunately the view at the top was nice, despite the shacks selling crap, and The Shark and Sister's Hubby got to shoot a few golf balls into the crater. Oh, and they had buko. 

I definitely wouldn't go back, but nice to check it off the list.

Manila Restaurants: 2012 Edition

I like to eat. Who doesn't? Manila has a lot to offer when it comes to restaurants. Pretty much anything you want, you can find. However, traffic is a nightmare, so we tend to stay close to home in Makati. So keep in mind that most of my reviews are from around there, a few we ventured a little further. Also, I don't really eat meat. The Shark does (duh), so his picks are here, too. Happy eating!

Best Vegetarian
1. Corner Tree Cafe
Intimate setting (sometimes tables are too close), awesome walnut tofu burger, good service, always crowded
2. Pipino
Reasonably priced, good service, nice selection, weird decor, limited parking

3. Sugar Leaf, Roxas corner Buendia, Makati
Convenient parking, delicious juices, small organic grocery store

Best Mexican
1. Orale, The Fort
Great decor, outdoor seating, fresh ingredients, good beer selection

2. Chihuahua, Greenbelt
Nice selection of sauces, always out of guacamole, adequate indoor seating, great margaritas (or so I've heard), now open in Greenbelt but prefer the Makati Ave branch
3. FaBurrito, Makati Columns
Fast delivery, consistent taste, not open Sundays, budget friendly, good veggie chips
4. Achoite, Rockwell, Power Plant Mall
Outdoor seating, good selection of beer, fresh ingredients

Best Italian
1. Caruso, Bel-Air Village, Makati
Great ambience, awesome service, excellent food, nice selection of wine
2. La Grotta, Legaspi Village
Cute atmosphere, decent food


Best Filipino
1. Mesa Filipino
Great for big parties, quick service, tasty salads

2. XO 46 Bistro
Small wine pours, slow service, friendly chef, delicious tofu sisig

Best Mediterranean
1. Hossein's, Greenbelt 3
Outdoor seating, quick service, large selection, awesome hummus and falafel
2. Cafe Mediterranean, Greenbelt 1
Delivers, consistent,

Best Pizza
1. Papa John's
Tastes like America
2. Yellow Cab
Fast delivery, a little greasy, overall good


Best View
1. Skydeck, Bayleaf Hotel, Intramuros

Best Indian
1. Legend of India
dim lighting, average service, delicious naan
2. New Bombay
Delivers, decent ambiance, inconsistent quality

Best Thai
1. People's Palace
Hard to get a reservation, nice outdoor seating, best Thai in town

Best Moroccan
1. Food stall at Salcedo Market.

Best American/Comfort Food
1. Apartment 1B
Always packed (make a reservation), comfortable seating, attentive servers, overpriced, great salads
2. Draft, The Fort
Awesome fish and chips, excellent beer selection

Best European
2. Sala Bistro
Outdoor seating, good service, 

Best Spanish
1. Terry's
Great wine selection, hearty pours, yummy
2. Alba, Bel-Air Village
Great live music

Best Japanese
1. Sereyna, Little Tokyo, Makati
Always busy, cool seating, delicious food
2. Omakase, Ayala Triangle
Great location in the park, limited beer selection, tasty food
3. Kokoro, Roxas Blvd., Manila
Quick meal, yummy ramen and rolls

Best Dessert
1. Chocolate Fire
Beautiful display case (that they don't allow you to take pictures of!), creative combinations (dark chocolate covered honey comb)
2. Cafe Breton
Amazing crepes, cute outdoor seating, blogged about the deliciousness here

Best Brunch
1. Sofitel
Totally decadent, very pricy
2. Marriott
Dessert room, lots of options

Japan: Kyoto

We spent 10 days in Japan. Lovely, crazy, cold, and oh so foreign Japan. It was tough to decide where to go, but we narrowed it down to Kyoto, Yudanaka, and Osaka. First stop, Kyoto.

After a quick 3 hour flight from Manila, we landed in Osaka. Getting our JR (train) passes was a major pain. It took over an hour. And this was after we pre-paid for them online. We missed our train, so grabbed some soba and beer. Which Toto loved--the soba, not the beer. And Yaya got to try chop sticks for the first time. I have to say that surprised me as she lives in the ASIA. And has travelled all over the world. But she got the hang of it pretty quick. Once we started riding trains, we fell in love. They were clean, on time, and spacious. And had vending machines. The best part was that Toto didn't have to sit if she didn't want to, which she never does.

Where we slept

Kyoto Royal Park Hotel, nice ambience in the lobby, expensive breakfast, friendly staff, cramped quarters, convenient location. But the best discovery? Heated toilet seat. 

What we did

The Shark booked us two private tours and a group tour through Tours by Locals, and we were impressed. My favorite activity was the private cooking class. We started out by shopping in the Nishiki Market, which was about a ten minute walk from our hotel. Thank god for our guide, or we seriously wouldn't have known what 90% of the food was. Most stalls had samples and I was in heaven when we hit a huge shop of dried fruit. We ended up with some cranberries, strawberries and kiwi. And an awkward encounter when I tried to buy the display items. 

Persimmons 

Then we walked over to our guide's apartment. We tried to act like we weren't staring at everything, but we were. And the toilet seat was heated there too! We had a blast learning how to make sushi rolls, spinach salad, and miso soup. And by the time we finished cooking, we were STARVING and wolfed it down.

Pretty and delicious.

Just like all the Asian tour groups we saw in Washington, DC, we had to reciprocate and joined a huge bus tour to see some palaces and temples.

Stay with your buddy and be back to your bus in 1 hour!

We spent a whole day on a private guided tour of Fushimo-Inari, a Shinto Shrine built up a mountain to honor a huge rock at the top. We walked several flights of stairs and saw smaller shrines along the way. When we came a map, our guide showed us that it is possible to go all the way to the top, and laughed as though we would even consider doing that. Then her eyes bugged out of her head when I said of course I wanted to go to the top and see that rock. So we did. And it was beautiful.

Just a few more steps...

Top o' the mountain

What we ate

As soon as we arrived we found the closest organic store and headed out to stock up on milk for Toto. It was called "Help" for reasons unknown to me and I couldn't read anything, but just felt better knowing it was a natural grocer. We got some fruit, milk, and tons of snacks. Toto ended up loving these rice crackers with seaweed. If I would have known, I would have bought 20 bags.

We had dinner twice on Pontocho, a narrow road near our hotel. Once for the best sushi ever (Kappa Zushi), and the other for an awesome Italian meal to celebrate The Shark's birthday. Yes, Italian. You can only eat so much soba and fish. On the other hand you can never get enough sake.

You'll love the food here. If you can find your restaurant.

What we saw

Kyoto did not disappoint in the blossom department. We were fortunate enough to be there for the end of the plum blossoms and the beginning of the cherry blossoms. 

The we hopped on a train to head for the mountains and meet up with Sister and her Hubby.

Community Service

Every year our office (200+ employees!) organizes an event for our Leadership Day. This year we played sports with Philippine Special Olympians in the morning and did service projects in the afternoon. I signed up for bocce ball as it seemed to require the least skill, and mind you, we were playing outside in direct sunlight. My Philippine counterparts were AMAZING at bocce ball. One girl got her ball within inches of the target ball every time. I wasn't quite as good.

After lunch we split up and my group headed to a home that feeds and educates street children. I was shocked when I realized it was about a 1/4 mile from my house. The kids weren't around so we painted most of the walls white and helped organize the library.

Before

After

I see shocking poverty every day on my way to and from work, and this was a good reminder that anyone can do a lot to help in just a couple hours. 

Art in the Park

Love, love our little park. Yes, the old ladies leave mounds of food out for the cats, which in turn pee everywhere. And sometimes the youths have beer parties at night and leave their cigarette butts and empty cans. But its a little green space that hosts awesome events. Like the art fair. We missed it last year because we were lounging on the white beaches of Boracay. I know, poor us. This year we spent time walking through all the booths, until it started raining. Luckily, vendors were prepared with plastic sheets.

One artist hung a huge tarp over the playground and painted away. That kept Toto's attention for awhile.

We picked up two pieces for Toto's big girl room. The theme of her room is things that fly. She picked out the first with The Shark's help.

And I picked out this one, which is actually an illustration from a children's book about a Jeepney that gets tired of the traffic so flies away. I wish I could do that sometimes.

Running March

It's officially summer folks. And it is HOT. Fortunately, we spent 10 days in chilly Japan eating soba and drinking sake. Unfortunately, it led to lots of not running. There were a few difficult hikes, and lots of walking. But more eating than working out. We still managed to squeak out a decent month. And I have my mom's running group to look forward to - every weekend we are out there running and talking about our kids.

Week 1 (March 1-3)
The Shark: SCUBA, Basketball
Moi: 9.6 miles, Yoga

Week 2 (March 4-10)
The Shark: 16.2 miles, Basketball
Moi: 24.2 miles, Yoga

Week 3 (March 11-17)
The Shark: 16.4 miles, Basketball
Moi: 26.3 miles

Week 4 (March 18-24)
The Shark: 12.42 miles
Moi: 19.2 miles

Week 5 (March 25-31...JAPAN!)
The Shark: 0
Moi: 0

Want to go for a run? Sure, let me just finish this soba and beer.

 And then a little more soba. And beer.

 Can we just grab some quick sake with this guy?

 And a little sashimi?

 Oh, hell. We're not going running. Might as well have some curry, sweet bread and ice cream...

March Totals
The Shark: 45.02 miles
Moi: 79.3 miles

2013 Totals
The Shark: 204.92 miles
Moi: 260.5 miles

Our only run in Japan was the first morning we arrived in Kyoto, on March 23. It was cold. But the views along the river were beautiful. Funny how fast you get acclimatized, and 55 degrees feels like the Arctic. But we are back in the saddle, squeezing in runs at lunch.

Easy Veggie Soup

It is never cold in Manila. Never. But when it rains I start getting that cozy soup feeling. I came across this recipe on my favorite food blog and it reminded me of all the times my best friend and I ate way too much unlimited soup and salad at Olive Garden. This can be made vegan with veggie stock, or chicken stock. It was simple to make and Toto loved it. Great way to get some veggies and protein (beans!) in her tummy. 

Beans, beans, they're good for your heart...