2020 Highlights

As the year comes to an end, I can't help but reflect on all the things that happened this year - to the whole world and to me. I learned a lot of things this year not only because of the quarantine but also because I allowed myself to know more about the people around me by being open minded and well, becoming a little more understanding.

Hong Kong 2018: Food

Disclaimer:

I believe most parts of this entry have been written two years ago but I just never had the guts or creativity to finish it. Now that we're all under quarantine, I've decided to finish all the drafts I have. Besides, my cravings for Hong Kong (Chinese) food are heightened ever since the first month of enhanced community quarantine. It would be nice to starve myself but go back to the good old days.

Aside from the weather in January, food was also on top of my list. As mentioned in my previous post, I literally just walked around with no plan. I chose to write a separate entry for my mini food adventure so my posts won't be very long. Here are the random places I chose to devour my favorite Chinese dishes. Don't get too excited though - I ended up eating my favorites each day. Lol!

I'm really sorry I can't state all the names because I couldn't read and understand them myself.

Day 1

We arrived at brunch time and since we stayed at Marriott Hotel, we just randomly chose a restaurant from the mall connected to the hotel. I basically didn't enjoy the food because it was unbelievably expensive so I just chose a salad and dim sum. It was good, especially the dim sum. Maybe I didn't enjoy it because............ bitin. LOL! 

This dim sum was extraordinarily spicy and I loved it so much!! But it's rather small and expensive.

For dinner, my mom had me, her boss and a colleague walk thousands of steps by trying desperately to bring us to the really really good restaurant my family and I ate at from 2015. She failed to find the restaurant, but we again just chose a restaurant since we were all hungry and tired from all the walking. The restaurant did NOT disappoint - and it wasn't as expensive as the one we ate at for brunch.

I didn't include the fried rice in the photos because I forgot to take a photo of it. The first dish was a bit sweet and people close to me know that I'm not a fan of sweet dishes. I want my meals to be salty! The noodles were good, but of course, my favorite is the duck! I ate 70% of it. No lie.

Day 2

I paid for my ticket (proudly), and I'm lucky enough to be allowed to stay with my mom in her room, but I didn't want her to pay for my breakfast anymore. I told her I'd just go out and explore and buy breakfast but for day two, I just heated leftovers from dinner and ordered fried rice (room service).

For lunch, I went on my own (again cause for my mom, this was a business trip). I roamed around and searched for a noodle house that wasn't full and relatively cheap and found this place. Aaahhh this place was so good!! And its interior is way nice than other places.

And voila! My first noodle-day!! Believe it or not, those are all mine! I ordered what I always do: Beef Brisket Noodles, Goose, and rice! I tried (and succeeded) not to finish the goose so I have breakfast for the next day. Daaaaamn, I love this place so much! Of course I don't know its name, and I don't remember which street it was. But I know how it looks like from the outside. Lol

After lunch, I badly wanted to walk so I did. Besides, what else would I do? Anyway, I roamed around the streets that were very familiar to me and I found my cousin's and my favorite "midnight snack" place!!!! I can't believe I did it on my own!! I brought my mom there back for dinner and she enjoyed it as much as I did! Sorry to disappoint, but I ordered the same thing I ordered for lunch so here's a picture of me from the place. Besides, they were very strict there. They don't really allow photos inside. After me and my mom took photos of each other, the lady came to us and showed me the sign that said, "photos not allowed". I'm deeply sorry - I did not see. Lol

Day 3

For the third day, of course, I once again searched for different restaurants. This time, I hopped on the train and chose a stop I wasn't familiar with and picked a diner from there. Wow, brave.

For day 3, I opted for another Chinese dish favorite of mine, the salt and pepper spareribs. I think I was judged by the nationals who were eating there because the server told me that it's good for two people but I...actually..finished..it...all..by..myself.... Haha! I loved it. I loved it so much!! I also love how this diner was SO CHEAP! Apparently, I was already in a "province" and so the prices were lower. So so happy I braved it.

For snacks, I decided to try egg puffs, one of the famous street foods from HK. It was pretty cheap, but also pretty boring. I know right, boring isn't really an adjective used for food. But to me, it was really boring. The taste wasn't bad, it's just... as I bit into it, it was like... air. 

It is still photogenic though. That's probably why I see it a lot on my instagram feed whenever a friend visits Hong Kong. As for me, that would be the first and last time I'll be spending on that.

For dinner, I brought my mom to the first diner I ate at and told her that their goose and noodles were as good as the one from our favorite place but they allow photos inside. LOL!! Here's a photo of the goose.

I feel like I have to explain myself on this one. 

For most, or probably for people who aren't big fans, the roasted goose and duck are actually different (though they look alike). I prefer the goose more because it has more meat and it just tastes better. 

Day 4

For the fourth day, I've decided to find Ichiran because why not? I haven't tried it yet, and I've read a lot of good things about it. My whole Ichiran journey was very exciting because I got lost a number of times. I had an actual map with me, and I also used Google Maps (but shunga shunga din talaga ang lola niyo) but I still deliberately failed. I once stopped in front of a jewelry shop (not on purpose) and I think the guard was bothered so he approached me. I then asked him how to get to the street where it was located. Good think he knew how to speak in english. When I got to the street, I STILL got lost. Hay. I entered the wrong building, went to the basement, and was surprised by 10 construction men. It was under construction. Lol! I was on the verge of giving up, but suddenly saw two teenage-looking girls laughing and walking towards a direction I haven't gone to yet. I just had a feeling that I should follow them because they MIGHT go to Ichiran too. And... well.. they did! Ha!

Ichiran had a ridiculously long line but I didn't travel and get lost just to leave.

One of the WRONG streets I entered LOL

Finally

Smart way to keep the customers from being imptatient

Not overreacting when I said it was a ridiculously long line

Finally got to sit

I know some restaurants here already have this, but I really liked having baskets to put my stuff on

The ramen definitely did not disappoint! All the mishaps were all worth it! I really wish Rab were with me to try this but someday...

If I remember it correctly, I posted my Ichiran photos with the caption... "my favorite bowl to RAMENber"............... k.......

After lunch, I went back to the places that were familiar to me because I didn't want to get lost more than once in a day. I found a tart shop and bought myself a cheese tart (I had this thing with cheese tarts during those times). I was so excited to try it and thankfully, it was really good!

For dinner, as you'd expect, I once again had the same thing: goose and beef brisked noodles. I can't let a day go by without it. I'm sorry.

Day 5

For the fifth day, of course I didn't have that much money left so I went to 711 for breakfast and lunch and just ate at the hotel. Their 711 meals are a hundred times better than ours.

For snacks, I tried their famous fried pig intestines. In other words, isaw baboy. I didn't like it. Mang Larry is better. Or maybe I just prefer grilled. It's less fatty/oily.

After my unpleasant experience with the fried pig intestine, I bought ice cream (I was freezing as I was devouring my ice cream to get rid of the intestine taste). It was probably not a bright idea since it was 7 degrees that day but it was good nonetheless. I searched for a 711 for drinks.

Since we were leaving early the next day, as you would expect, I ate beef brisket noodles and roasted goose for dinner yet again! 

I wanna go back! I wanna go back now, please!!!

Cookings & Cravings

Earlier this year, I bought a new camera and then the pandemic happened. I haven't had the chance to use it outside that much, so I decided to take photos of my meals and simply put it here.

I am no chef, and I am not claiming I am the best cook there is, but I pride myself with the dishes I make. Unfortunately, I cannot share the exact recipes because I love experimenting each time and it always depends on the quantity.

Taal Eruption, 2020

My friend and I drove to Tagaytay last January 12 to attend a friend's wedding the next day. We were actually pretty excited at first because who doesn't get excited at weddings?!

Even when it's crazy, it's beautiful

I saw this during sunset and realized how this mirrors my feelings right now. The sun shines and sets on me. Happy days, sad days, lonely days. The light comes in, but there is darkness that I can't avoid no matter how hard I try.

I know I'm in a beautiful place. I know there is a stronger kind of love that surrounds me. But sometimes, I allow myself to be dragged into the dark.

Well, even though the sun has set on me now, I know it will shine again tomorrow. Its warmth will bring me comfort, it's light will give me hope.

Prewedding Shoot

I don't want to sound defensive, but I want to explain why we ended up having this type of photo shoot just because I know that to some people, it's a bit "grand".

To start off, we didn't pay much for this shoot. Had we rented a condo unit (which I had intended when I thought renting out a yacht would be too expensive), or a public place, we would probably end up paying the same. We had a pretty good deal from a friend so we decided to push through with it! Lucky, I know! 

Years ago when we just started dating, Rab said, "when we get married someday, I'd like to have our prenuptial shoot at a yacht because it's somehow aligned to my line of work, and I also dream of having one someday. If ever I don't get to own one, I'd have those photos to look at when I'm old." It was nice to hear that from him at that stage because at least I knew I wouldn't be wasting time and emotions for him; and he was thinking about marrying me. Anyway, months before I actually had the courage to ask my friend, I was looking at different yachts for rent and they were all too expensive. I already told Rab that I think we had to go to plan b which is to rent a condo unit. As mentioned above, well, we went with the original plan.

We're not really morning people therefore we really hate waking up early. It wasn't necessarily hard to pick a date, but it wasn't easy either. I had to make sure everyone would be available: the makeup artist (a good friend), hairstylist, photo & video team, the yacht, stylist (a best friend), my dad or our driver (to drive the PV team), and of course, the groom to be. We woke up really early that day since we had to travel from Manila to Subic and start at 12NN to get good shots.

When we started, both me and Rab were very awkward because we're not really used to being subjects for a shoot! Especially me! I'm used to being the one behind the camera. But the Digital Elements team was so good we somehow didn't get lost doing poses. BIG THANKS to our HMUA as well for making us feel confident about ourselves and of course our stylist for making us look fab! Another big big big thanks to my dad who drove the team. 

I didn't think it would be that tiring but oh my gosh. There was a part of the shoot where we had to lie down and close our eyes as the PV team was doing the drone shots. I fell asleep! Lol! At the end of the day, I knew that it was a success and I WILL NOT HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY. I love that we didn't go for plan b, and I love that we have these fab photos to look at for the rest of our lives.

Special thanks to:

Digital Elements

Makeup by Iya Gueco

Hair by Renzo Lusterio

Styling by Nikki Sapo

Here are some of the great photos:

Of course I had to include my dad!