The Gentle Dumaguete

Word association game: Dumaguete, Silliman University, the silvannas at Sans Rival, international cuisines at restos in front of the boulevard, the boulevard, gentle people, motorcycle / tricycle. You will feel in love, inspire, and be mesmerized once you set your foot in this rustic and lovely city. Natives say that our national hero, Jose Rizal, used to walk the boulevard en route to Dapitan where he also got inspirations for his famous novels.

the romantic boulevard

Dumaguete pier

motors - Dumaguete's official transpo

the strip of restos ( to the right is Mamia )

Silliman University church

Sans Rival sandwiches and coffee ( also famous for its Silvannas )

( I forgot what this historical monument is )

the bay

Carbon-ated

I finally had inserted in my precious time in Cebu to go, visit, see, buy something in Carbon -- the ultimate bagsakan of fresh veggies, fruits, and nuts in the city. It was one scorching mid-day hour but this did not stop me to explore the sights and sounds of the market.

pechay

squash


there's color amidst the Carbon

saging

camote

luya

ang yagit na naka-Nike at naka-digicam !

The Power Six !

I miss my singing-mates. For the controversy-aware Ilonggos, these six are the official semi-finalists of PDA Season 1 - Iloilo leg. Unfortunately, though, none was chosen from them ( us ) as the network decided to pick from an unofficial venue at an unofficial schedule. Well, there's no business like showbusiness. But the ugly incident forged a new bond among us six. There's a reason for everything, after all ! Hope to sing again with you guys !

Mark, Bloody, Em-em, JJ, Irene, moi !

Fast Food After the Fast Feud

My ka-abri-syete Fifer and I met one rainy afternoon in a mall-based fast food when I was back home. As clouds continue to "juice" out the last drops of rain outside, Fifer was also all mouth to me "juicing" out a real fast feud that happened prior our meeting. Haaay, life is indeed fast now what with fast food and fast feud. And fast crafts, and fast breaks, and fast pace, and fast forward, and fast learner, and fast...zzzz....

Food Trippin' with the Tripper

I must admit. I'm slowly falling in love with the cuisines that each Cebu restaurant I visited has offered me. Each dish has its own story to tell and a new taste to share. Given the time and the budget, it's always a memorable experience sharing a delectable meal with the persons you love. Food gives us life, energy we need, strength to carry on the day's toil. Some consider food as their god, back when paganism was observed ( albeit, till now ). Others regard food as inspiration for their fashion design, music, arts, architecture, etc. It is no wonder at all that food ranks first in every human's needs. ( Photos by JJ )
( Disclaimer: All pork dishes were untouched by Juan Rofel; it's just for photo op sake. I totally abhor pork and some seafood creatures. )

STK resto ( I forgot the name ! ) - my "business" mind in me is really in awe everytime I see these kinds of restos here in Cebu. There's a lot of them here. It's literally a family business thing --- transforming a part of your ancestral home to a cozy dining area and a "lutong-bahay" ambience ( even the plates are "home-y", check below ). Reminds me of Afrique's in Iloilo.

Thai soup with blue marlin head

baked scallops

mixed seafoods kare-kare

pork belly

Casa Verde - another "transformed" ancestral home to a very dainty diner.

Raffitas - make your own soft taco

Bryan's Ribs - their bestseller

Death by Chocolate - heavenly !

Baked Alaska

the famous siomai sa Tisa ( Tisa is a place in Cebu )


Chic and Fab Boutique Restaurant - a two-storey restaurant where the dining area is located at the 1st floor and a cabinet-ful of lotions, shampoos, soaps, and other beauty products on the other side. Go find yourself a nice outfit on the second floor.


khao pad gai ( rice mixed with chicken )

spicy squid

chicken pineapple curry

Loraine's Journals

Loraine is one cute Kinder 2 gal in a private school back home. She has this quest for advanced learning as seen in the scanned journals she wrote below. Young as she is, she explores “ journal-ing” her daily activities.
The journals remind me when I was a bit younger ( flashback between 5-7 yrs. old ) when I also tried to re-write the lyrics of “ The Greatest Love of All “, make mini-stories/novels inspired by Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and write scripts complete with dialogues, motivations, sfx, etc. with the presence of errors like misspelled words, wrong use of punctuation marks, proper/common nouns rule, SV agreement, among others. My main motivator back then was my Lolo Papang who pushed me to continue my writing and even predicted that I will be a great writer someday. Hehehe !
Going back to Loraine, her ideas are present, the words perfectly describe each other ( if you can decipher them ), and the tone of an innocent, docile, and intelligent child seems to be reflected in the composition. After all, like giving of presents, it’s the thought that counts. And with Loraine’s constant perfect practice, her writing will also be perfect soon.

" My Layfe "
' That is mi the Own and onle me so that is it my Frends in Shcoole loves mi and i love them to wans in a wayl my mom yosto Spank mi if i get noyse and lasey ny cusin andy loves to play with my dolles and my cusin aineke loves to cry '

" Abaot the Famely "
' My Family loves me even do i ol redy have a neyu cusin but they love my neyu cusin to my Famely ol ways gets a taym for my cusin '

" Oll abaote my cusins "
' My cusins layc to play in my playroom so my cusins loves mi '

Delicioso Arano !

Ok, as said in one of the posts below, I’m obliging myself to come back to Arano and try a full meal to really satiate my cravings ( and curiosity ) of what this Spanish diner has to offer. True enough, two nights after our first visit, Carms, Rizz and I headed to Fairlane Village ( where this is located ) and found ourselves gorging and tasting a bit of everything from the food we ordered. Delicioso !

Green Salad - Lettuce with Asparagus seasoned with Vinaigrette



Burritos Con Carne, Taco Con Chorizo, Taco Con Carne ( go figure which is which, I myself forgot. um ! )

Paella ( yummy )

Gracioso Arano !

Chiqitita brought us to this Spanish resto, Arano, that only opens at night. ( Chiqitita by the way had stayed here in Cebu for a couple of months, way way back that's why she's quite familiar with the ins and outs of what Cebu has to offer. And, indeed, Arano is located in one of the "ins" here in the city --- you have to drive to a village in Guadalupe. Not that far actually from the Capitol.). Espanols who I think were the owners of the said diner greeted us with " Maayong Gabi-i" as soon as we entered. Based on the menu, the dishes are affordable; I really have to taste them since we only had dessert when we went there. It's an unassuming place inspired by some Spanish restos I see in magazines.

Chiqitita, Rizz, Carmela, Juan Rofel

the very small signage

Arano's facade almost hidden by crawling plants. Arano's signage to the left of the door

Chiqitita, Rizz

Carmela, Juan Rofel ( i was uttering something while smiling )



Inside Arano ( last pic shows a hanging lamp with a heart cut-out. Belated Happy Valentine's or Advance Happy Valentine's ? )

Larsian

One's trip to Cebu will never be complete without visiting and eating and inhaling and imbibing the smell of the famous Larsian! It's an inasal "foodcourt" famous for its big-sized chicken skin, iwi/esol, liver and many more. Yummy for the native/exotic food hunters, but as what I've said, you can always tell if a person came from Larsian through the smell his shirt emits.

Puso ( rice inside banana's leaves ) and inasals

Lifestyle Tripper

Smoky Foodcourt

Chiqitita and Carms

Rizz


Inasals

Larsian galore