Country Road

My hubby and I have been scooter riding since we have been dating and spectacular views of mountains in Benguet or just cute cats along the road capture my attention.

During hot days, I appreciate riding under the canopies of trees such as this country road in Bineng, La Trinidad, Benguet - a 30-45 minute ride from Baguio City:

But it is also nice to ride around the city at  Camp John Hay, South Drive, Mines View and La Trinidad during night time when there is small volume of traffic and when the air is fresher and cooler.. I hope to post pics of of views we saw and see on the coming posts. 

Ungrumpy at Grumpy Joe's

I first encountered Grump Joe's from a friend's post at FB. So when I got the chance to eat there with hubby, we grabbed the opportunity. It was 6:00 pm on a Sunday but we were already second in line waiting to have a table. The place is a bit small but it I guess, there are really many patrons. Most of them are young ones like us... hahahah! Usually, students and yuppies who go for affordable, reasonable yet yummy foods.

And we were not disappointed. The place can give many pasta, burger and pizza joints a run for their money. 

We opted for the best sellers so that we could get a feel of the resto's strengths.

For drinks we got malunggay calamansi juice for me, and Oliver had the same but with syrup and whipped cream... they are bottled using garapons:

Guess which had the best taste? The one with cream and syrup, of course. :p

We also had creamy pesto and seafood pasta--truly a winner:

 There were 6 shrimps and some squids and tahong... yeah, I counted them..hahahah!.. Most of the time, restaurants give 2 for marinara or seafood pesto.. you are lucky if you get 3 for a price of Php 190.00. We had 6. 

We tried also their yummy lasagna...

Truly delisyoso... and the best of all their pizza:

We had the Pepperoni Pizza (Left) and Grumpy Joe (right) pizza.. you can choose 2 flavors just like Don Henrico's. Their Pepperoni Pizza has jalapeno peppers in it and anchovies... It was spicy but I loved it better than their Grumpy Joe.

I just noted some similarities between the Grumpy Joe pizza and Don Henrico's pizza and also their lasagna's with that of the latter.. I don't know if they inteded to copy the flavors but they are similar in taste but in presentation and prices, these are different. 

Ultimately, we enjoyed our dinner and the long lines of people waiting to be seated are proofs that Grumpy Joe offers good or rather, great tasting food.

Cooking Adventures 1 - Pesto Pasta

Lucky us we have a good supply of walnuts. That's why last week, when I spotted fresh basil leaves at the Baguio hangar market, I bought some, boiled some pasta, chopped garlic and walnuts together in our chopper with olive oil, mixed it with the noodles and parmesan cheese and voila! My first pesto pasta!

It looks like pancit canton said my brother but all agreed - hubby, papa and brother that it was panalo!

Served with garlic bread and roasted chicken courtesy of Chic-Boy it was  a yummy Saturday night dinner :)

Fresh Picks

For the past and coming days, hubby and I have the opportunity to shop for our own food and cook them the way we want it. I took advantage of cooking recipes I have been doing during my pre-married life, recipes I learned from my own mother and grandmother and also those that I watch from the Food Network or TLC.

We also went back to juicing. And tonight, we had lettuce, carrots, cucumbers and lemons prepared. I always soak them for at least 30 minutes in water and vinegar to remove impurities and pesticides especially if I cannot avail of organic veggies.

I always make sure that there is lemon in all our juicings because of its great health benefits even if it is a bit expensive. Here they are - all juiced and ready for stirring:

Distributed in our glasses:

Strawberry prices went down from Php 200 to Php 120 pesos a kilogram so we decided to eat them for dessert during lunch and dinner. 

All sliced into manageable bites and drizzled with condensed milk:

Healthy and Yum-o! at the same time :)

Spanish tapas at Te Quiero

This entry is way past overdue since my food experience happened on one unexpected night when hubby and I had to send a parcel to Victory Liner Baguio Bus Station one May evening this year. We got stuck there since it suddenly rained. We brought our scooter with us and it's no fun at all to ride when the rain is pouring on you while you are riding with some lightning and thunderstorm taking place.

Thus, we had to stay there for a while. It was dinner time so we scoured the place. We opted not to eat pizza and donuts and decided instead to eat at  Te Quiero Tapas Bar at the Victory Bus. It was a good thing we bought enough cash to cover our meals because it was a buffet Friday. And the buffet costs Php 350.00 each. So even if we were way underdressed - Oliver with his jogging pants and work shirt and me also with my oversized jeans, tshirt and tsinelas - we braved the "kasosyalan" of some of the clients and ate.

Dining there provided us an opportunity to know what tapas are. According to About.com, tapas are snacks, canapés or finger food that originated in Spain which can be practically anything from a chunk of tuna, cocktail onion and an olive skewered on a long toothpick, to piping hot meat with sauce served in a miniature clay dish - or anything in between. 

The pictures do not really justify the colors of the food since I captured these using  my lowly cellphone but I just wanted to share what we ate:

The plate here contains chicken skewer, potatoes, a sausage, mussels, salsa salad and the one in the spoon is a deviled egg-- so yummy.

In this plate, we have some macaroni and I forgot what was on the right -- this was 6 months ago..hehehhe!!! I remember the taste of the macaroni though-- it tasted a bit cheesy. Masarap. :)

This is another view of the chicken skewers with their dynamite lumpia -- spring roll of sili and cheese.. appetizing:

We also had their salad with vinaigrette dressing. I loved this very much:

This is their roast chicken which was a bit ordinary for me.

Their sausage was spicy! We loved its taste.

  Trying to control our fat intake, we tasted their lechon --masarap!!!

This is the buffet and dining area of the resto:

I like the taste of spice and vinegar that''s why I appreciated what we had at Te Quiero buffet.  I give it the buffet  7.5/10 for the buffet but I was expecting more viands and maybe dessert or a free sweet drink afterwards. I cannot vouch for their other foods on the menu that was not served in the buffet. Although there were great reviews on them.

Te Quiero is located at the Second Floor of Victory Bus Station Baguio at the side of Microtel Baguio.

Sage - Pink, Green and Violet :)

Last weekend, I got to spend time with my friends and dine at this quaint place called Sage (just like the song with the herbs rosemary, sage and thyme). I never expected the place to be pretty nor eat there so  I was not armed with a proper camera except my phone's. It's great that  the pictures turned out nice.

Now for the place-- it's so pretty!!! Here are some proofs!

The "lobby"/waiting area and their white and pink Christmas tree:

Their white and pink Christmas Tree:

posing kunwari mabangong fresh roses ang nandun :p

I love their dining hall's colors and the windows!!!

The ceiling of the booths area is lined with these:

The theme of using oval ornaments can be seen reflected outside as well before the lobby:

And each table has a violet plant or two like ours. The pot is also nice :) :

For the foods, we had the yummy giant platter of nachos: Php 180.00. It came with 4 "sauces" - cheese, ranch, salsa and I forgot the other one hehehe! We just poured all the sauces on top! Lots of vegetables in this dish - we loved it!

I am digging in it :p

We also had puttanesca and pesto (sorry I forgot the prices :( )

The puttanesca was ordinary and so is the pesto -- I had better ones but they are still average to above average.

We also had chimichangas. According to their menu this is a Mexican dish and it is composed of potatoes and chicken wrapped in tortilla and then fried. It came with salsa and a white sauce -like garlic sauce.

It was okay. This costed around Php110.00

And then for beverage- we had the house water. Lemon, citrus and sage infused water. Yummy an refreshing. And, a visual treat, as well :)

For dessert, we had:
a. Roti with peaches ala mode sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. This was so yummy but so little. I guess it was so yummy nakakabitin :p

 b. Banana wrapped in pastry, deep fried and then drizzled with carame, bananas and chocolate sauce and ice cream. Yummy as well (Php 120.00)

 c. Rocky road cake. Yum-o!There were walnuts even in the cream in between the cake layers. (Php 75.00)

Overall, the place gets a rating of 7/10. It is a unique, cute place where the eyes not only the mouth can feast.

Sage is located at Military cut-off infront of Small World School.

Reconnecting Inside

Yesterday was a happy day for me despite the strong winds and nasty weather brought by Typhoon Odette in Baguio City.

Work was suspended by the mayor but I opted to go out and do my errands. After doing my errands I had lunch on my own, walked at Session Road and decided to have my hair cut and dyed. I bought some scratch lotto tickets and won 250 pesos after investing 70 pesos. :p 

For lunch, I tried eating a Ham and Cheese bread and coffee at Bread Talk. It was my first time to eat their bread. True! Because most of the time, when I am with my husband or friends, the place is always full and I am always hungry for heavy food. And let's admit it, I am a bit stingy with my money. Their bread is a bit pricey.

But boy, that bread is sure good. I understand completely why there are long lines at BreadTalk SM and in all their branches. And it was nice watching the bakers' bake bread while I sipped  my Cafe Latte.

I also enjoyed browsing books at National Bookstore and lingering in the craft stores.

I made a conscious effort to date myself yesterday because I missed doing things alone. I am an introvert. I am not shy. I am not afraid of speaking in public and confronting people but I enjoy being in solitude with myself. I am self-reflective although it is not so obvious. 

Before, in my pre-married life, I enjoyed crafts, books, staying at home, walking in the park by myself,  going out and eating out  and even watching movies by myself. But with my esposo with me,  I cannot do most of these things now because of other activities that we do together such as playing computer games, Wii, watching sports and movies at home and having other responsibilities.  I  enjoy tremendously being with him. However, once in  a while, I need to connect with my inner self and it is usually refreshing and energizing just like yesterday. :)