Thunderbird Beach resort, Poro Point La Union
I’m baaaaaack!
Has it really been three weeks already? Yes, I did the unimaginable again and abandoned the hubby in the dead of winter to go traipsing in a warmer part of the globe – the Philippines.
Thanks to the Iphone 4′s great camera resolution I was able to capture more pictures this time than simply relying on my point and shoot alone.
My food tripping actually began at my Japan stop over. I couldn’t resist a bowl of ramen from the airport’s fast food. I’m sure this is not in anyway a yardstick of Japan’s great ramen-yas, but hey it IS still ramen in Japan.
Ramen in Japan
Uhm, hours later, at around midnight in the Philippines, I appear to have noodle on the brain again…
Tendon Ramen at North Park, Makati
After a few hours of sleep, not sure what I did for breakfast, my brother suggested we have lunch at Fely J‘s in Greenbelt 5, Makati Manila, where I had the best sisig (sizzling pig’s ears) ever.
Sisig – see the sizzle…
Ensalada
Ensalada is a Filipino side dish consisting mostly of boiled vegetables, green mangoes, tomatoes and salted eggs. It always comes with bagoong (shrimp paste) or vinegar.
Adobo ribs – look at that garlic!
Adobo is Philippine’s national dish. It is usually chicken or pork cooked with soy, vinegar and garlic. Fely J’s version has whole garlic cloves strewn around the dish.
We also had kare-kare (braised oxtail in peanut sauce), but the picture didn’t look very appetizing so I decided to omit it from this post.
Mango Crepe – Cafe Breton
For meryenda (afternoon snack), my first choice would always be the mango crepe at Cafe Breton.
It would be a relief for everyone to know that I wasn’t hungry at dinner time. With jet lag kicking in and a full belly all I wanted to do was sleep. But then there was that evening drive back to Baguio – a 5 hour trip.
I spent but a day in Baguio before I had to pack again for an overnight trip to Thunderbird resort in La Union.
Rays of sun peeking through the clouds
Thunderbird is a mediterranean-style resort and the menu reflects this influences. The resort’s restaurant is famous for its braised lamb shank, but I decided to go with lighter fare – pan-fried chicken thighs.
Of course my virtuous eating habit did not last very long as our group decided for a little jaunt into town and into Max’s restaurant where fried chicken and crispy pata were ordered for all.
Crispy Pata
And I had no qualms of digging my grubby little fingers into it once everyone else had their fill.
This is how it should be eaten. Show that thing who the boss is!
Like so!
caveman-style!
There’s nothing like a healthy dose of collagen.
Though, I didn’t care much for the Max’s giant halo-halo, I’ll give it points for shock value.
yep, my face is there for size comparison
That’s all for now. And now I leave you a serene scene of the sunset…
sunset at the resort
The boys & I missed u. Nice pics!
Lovely food! A pity Filipino food isn’t all that well-known around here…
Cheers,
Rosa
Mmmm, everything looks SO delicious!! Your photos are beautiful! You do such a wonderful job photographing food. That is one HUGE halo halo, by the way!
Rosa is right. Filipino food is so tasty! We have a guy here at the Port of Miami who has an old-school food truck selling homemade Filipino food. It’s primarily for the Filipino cruise ship workers, but I’ve gone in to get some yummies for myself and it was worth the trip
. mmm!
Stumbled upon your blog, and couldn’t help but be drawn to this post:) Oh man! Looking at the adobo ribs just make my mouth water! I miss adobo anything. I used to have a housekeeper who will make me lots of yummy filipino dishes, and adobo chicken was my favourite!
lovely photos! makes me miss home
Is your Jap stop the infamously named “Bowl-Bowl” in NRT? Hahaha!
Wow! And this was just the first 24 hours, right?? Thanks for the tasty tour, Veron. For a few minutes you drew me out of my chilly little hibernation, with some sunshine and some amazing food!
hh-
rosa – you’re right, dunno why it is not more popular.
Thanks downtown foodie!
Hi kayla – glad you like adobo!
Thanks boogie!
Hi Tsok! You know what, I think you r right! hahaha!
Hi T.W. – it was more than 24 hours but it sure felt like whirlwind food binging.
I knew it! Narita airport and Bowl Bowl is soooo fun! That’s where I spend all my remaining dollars before going on that last stretch to PI. That’s where I got my shichimi.
Oh how I miss La Union! I remember so many family road trips up North to La Union and Baguio from Manila. Lovely, lovely beaches. Thank you for sharing!
Looks like an incredible trip with great food. Beautiful beach too! Glad you had fun.
Shock value indeed! I’ve never seen such a humongous halo-halo before. Did you get to eating balut?
Hi Veron! absolutely love the adobo pork ribs and crispy pata! We do get crispy pata here in Singapore but I guess nothing beats having it back in the Philippines! Do you know of a good recipe for the adobo pork? Love to try whip up a version of it one of these days!
Happy to see you had a ball over here (as always)! Let’s get together on one of your future trips!
Love Fely J’s…took some foreigner friends there recently and they too enjoyed the sisig
Welcome back Veron! I’m delighted you packed your virtual suitcase with a whole lotta goodies.
Everything looks dangerously tasty and the scenery is amazing! I’ve taken quite a kinship to those Adobe ribs and it “ain’t” just the garlic!
Thank you so much for sharing…
Thanks Everyone!
Ben – I forgot to eat balut!
Alan – I do have a recipe for pork adobo but I do not have it on the site yet. maybe soon when I actually measure what I put in it.