two cebu karenderyas: koko dine and mingnan chinese cuisine

You will always have a place in this world where you find that a lot of things have changed and a lot have remained the same in each visit. Cebu, the premiere city outside Metro Manila, will always be that for me. No matter how long I may have lived here before, or how many times I have visited it again, there is always something new to be had and something old to cherish every time.

This is especially true in my recent trip to Cebu. Although my flight arrived earlier that day, I took a cab instead of taking the cheaper yet longer commute out of the airport. I initially planned to take the latter option to see what I missed since my last visit. I then alighted by the Cebu City Hall and roamed around the vicinity.

It was noticeably cleaner this time, especially with the addition of the Senior Citizens Park, which, to the best of my memory, used to be a run-down place where you could have dirt-cheap legal documents.

I stopped by Koko Dine so that I could have an excuse to put down my backpack. My friend mentioned that their lechon could rival that of CnT's and Zubuchon's. Thankfully they only serve it during lunchtime or I would have willingly abandoned all my dietary inhibitions. For breakfast, I settled for a healthier fish tinuwa (soup).

mae krua: affordable and delicious thai restaurant in cebu

It was still 9:30 in the morning when I showed up at Mae Krua, a Thai restaurant in Cebu City. I was actually hoping that they would be open, considering that it was a national holiday in the Philippines that day. From the looks of it, they are since the front door was not locked. This was later confirmed by a crew who seemed to sprang out of nowhere and informed me of their business hours.

He probably thought that I was eyeing something inside the establishment or that he was just very helpful to someone who looked lost at this hour of the day. I could not entirely blame him if the latter is or both are true, since that Monday morning, most of the metropolis was deserted save for a few taxi cabs that passed by.

I told the guy that I'll be back in time for lunch because I have an errand to attend to. This is usually the kind of response that you make up so that the other party would not feel so bad especially if you don't show up. There is another time for that, and this was not one of those. I must be true to my word as this could be my only chance to dine in this little restaurant that my Cebu friends have been raving about. I remember that I just pass by it when I was still based in these parts back in the day.

byaheng bonifacio: finally, pamintinan cave

The Rizal province leg of the Byaheng Bonifacio was the last stop of my own journey in retracing the life and death of Andres Bonifacio, one of the heroes of the Philippines. This man is depicted as a feisty, bolo-wielding founder of the Katipunan, a secret society of Filipinos established in 1892 which clamored for independence from Spain through armed means. He was undeniably all that, but from what I learned in this 'madness,' there is actually more to him than what was being taught in our highschool history lessons.

This Amazing Race-esque endeavor was launched by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the Department of Tourism and in cooperation with various local government units, to celebrate the sesquicentennial year of Bonifacio's birth. It has 16 mandatory pitstops scattered all over Metro Manila, Cavite and in Rizal. Exciting prizes then await the first 100 persons that can complete this unique journey.

the longest way home by andrew mccarthy | book review

Andrew McCarthy was never a travel writer at the onset. He was an actor first and starred in hugely popular movies in the 80s such as St. Elmo's Fire and Mannequin. How he ended up writing for National Geographic and his many other adventures, are brilliantly unraveled in every chapter of his book, The Longest Way Home.

He starts his story with New York and then hopped his way all over the globe - Patagonia, Kilimanjaro and Vienna, just to name a few. He then ended his journey in Dublin. And after all spending all those time on the road, at sea or some remote corner in the world, he finally has the courage to face his personal questions that he may have avoided for so long, but knew the answers to all this time.

my first TWG tea experience

I was expecting a box of Japanese green teas, but I was pleasantly surprised that my good friend Kim brought me a box of TWG Tea instead. She said that she was pressed for time this week that's why she just grabbed this from the airport. I honestly thought that this was the same brand of tea that we 'hoarded' during the various trainings that we attended back in Cebu. But after a quick google search, I found that TWG Tea was miles apart from all of them.

The TWG (which stands for the Wellness Group) Tea website states that 'it was established in Singapore in celebration of the island's great history as a trading post for teas, spices and fine epicurean products.' It traces its history to as far as 1837, when the Chamber of Commerce of Singapore was established.

I quickly tore open a pack and noticed that the teabag was made of cotton and was hand sewn too. This I gather, would allow the teas to develop their full and unique aroma and would give them ample room to expand during infusion. I regretted a bit in opening this small piece of luxury but I consoled myself with that the thought that the TWG bags would not produce any tea if I just kept on staring at its fancy packaging.