Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Eat O'Clock In Cebu - Part 2 With My Family

It's Eat O'Clock again in Cebu!

 

But this time, it was with my family! 

 

My annual Cebu birthday celebration is usually spent with Ate and Gilly but this year, it was such a pleasant surprise when Kuya and Sophie joined us too!

When I woke up last Saturday,  I was by myself.  

My family has not arrived yet.  I had breakfast at Tinderbox which is right next door to Crossroads Mall.  I ordered the Triple Blueberry Pancake with cream cheese.

 

Breakfast #2 was the Morning Bread from Abaca Baking Company.  

 

Breakfast #3 was Sunburst Fried Chicken! 

 

I checked out of my hotel to transfer to Cebu Marriot Hotel.

 

My Ate called to say she was already in Cebu and on her way to the city.   

I met up with them at CNT, Mabolo.  She knows I like to have my own order of lechon so she got us one each.

 

Dinuguan

 

Puso - rice wrapped in leaves.

 

After lunch, we went to the new Robinsons Galleria.

Dessert at The Buzzz

 

Salted honey, avocado and guyabano flavored ice cream.

Next door was The Chocolate Chamber.

 

We tried the Dark sweetened hot chocolate.

 

The Venetian Hot Chocolate was more complicated. 

 

The waitress filled a metal flask with hot milk, then dropped a bar of dark Venetian chocolate.  

 

The server started shaking the flask and then she poured the hot chocolate into the cup.  

 

Shaved chocolate over the beverage.

 

I prefer the dark sweetened chocolate, though. 

We went back to Marriot so Ate and Gilly could freshen up while waiting for Kuya and Sophie.  Their flight was delayed twice, add the traffic on the bridge and it was a formula for a nightmare.  They arrived at 2:30 pm! They were so tired and hungry.  We just brought them to CNT Ayala Center.

There was a newly delivered lechon!

 

I got them the rib part. It is the best, IMO. See those sinulid like meat? It is my favorite!

 

Next on the Eat O'Clock schedule was Giuseppe's Pizza and Sicilian Roast on Paseo Saturnino, Maria Luisa Road.

 

Quattro Formaggio/Marinara Pizza

 

Aglio Olio

 

Dessert at Tymad Bistro

 

Blueberry Cheesecake-Ate

 

Pistachio cake-Kuya

 

Nutella Crepe-Lia

 

Crepe with chocolate sauce and mango-Sophia

 

Crepe with Chocolate Sauce and ice cream-Gilly

 

I wanted to go to Matias BBQ by myself.  It is on the corners of A.S. Fortuna and Hernan Cortes.

I figured they might not like the "ambiance" because you will just eat on picnic benches and tables under the mango tree.

 

They might not like the food because they are a bit.... Squeamish when it comes to food. 

 

I just let them try the wings, we had 1 each.  

 

Sophia could not eat anymore.  Still so full from our eat o'clock schedule.

Ate and Kuya said the bbq was good! It reminded them of the bbq from Women's World across Sienna College in Quezon city circa 1970.

The next time I go back to Cebu, which is 2 1/2 weeks from today, I plan to buy bbq and bring home to Manila.  IF there is enough time.

We all went back to Marriot to rest.  We still had to eat dinner.

When I felt hungry already, I rounded up the troops.  We went to my favorite pochero place in Cebu.  Kusina Uno.

 

But it is not my favorite anymore!  

If you read my blog often, you know that I never ever write anything negative about a resto or food.

I was just so disappointed because the shank only had 1 Tablespoon of marrow! They used to give me 2 shanks of beef per order!

Plus, there was hardly any meat! Mostly, cartilage and tendons.

Mainit ulo ni Madam!

We all went home a bit dejected.  Maybe it was God's way of telling us to stop eating already because we might get sick.  Kuya actually got an upset stomach because it was not used to eat o'clock dining.

Happy Birthday Lia when I woke up the next day!

It was a bright and sunny day and off we went to Abaca Baking Company!

 

Ate and Kuya each had the Bakery Benedict.

 

Caramelized Banana Waffle for the birthday girl.

 

Nutella and Cream for Gilly.

 

Nutella and cream for Sophie.... 

 

But wait .... Remember? 

Last June I ate at Majestic? I told the waiter, I only want the shaved ice in my bowl and put the rest in separate containers?

 

Oh my goodness! My food OCD is genetic! 

It runs in my family!

We tried the Omelette also.  It had bacon, cheese and roasted red and green peppers.

 

I brought an extra suitcase just to bring home assorted bread for my neighbors.

 

 

Ate and I went to hear mass in Ayala Center.

I was so excited to eat lunch.  I wanted to let them try the crispy pata at Alejandro's but both branches were closed on Sundays!

Fast thinking on my part.... I brought them to Abuhan Dos instead.

God gave me the best birthday gift!

Hahahahaha Aside from spending it with my family.....

In Abuhan Dos, you can order marrow by the bowl!

 

I did not order one but two!

 

All that buttery marrow with soup eaten with rice, patis, calamansi and sili!

Tapos na ang labanan!

We also ordered Pochero, it's Cebu's version of Bulalo soup.

 

Crispy Pata.  Kuya and Ate love it.  I only ate an ice-cubed size.

 

Fried Squid.

 

Hey! That looks like my typical Saturday food for them! But... Really.... It is their favorite.

I am so glad that my family and I were able to go on vacation together! I think the last one we had was 15 years ago.

What will I do without Ate and Kuya?

 

Thank you dear family for taking the time and effort to spend my birthday with me!

 

Hopefully, we could do this more often!

Or not! Ahahahahahahahaha!

Everybody's stomach got so tired from following the schedule of my Eat O'Clock! 

P.S.

One of the best greetings I received on my birthday was from Yaya Hermie!

"Hppy2 brtdy, more brtdys 2 come. Injoy ur life be a gudhelt alwys,and ur so mabait lve u more tata."



 






Monday, August 29, 2016

Eat O'Clock In Cebu Part 1 - With Pinky

I just spent several days in Cebu to celebrate my birthday.  The theme was....

"It's eat o'clock!"

 

I found this personal body clock online from Booky.ph. I've never seen anything like it before!  It is perfect for me!  I am known to eat and think about food every hour! I even taught my friends to eat every hour but most of them can't keep up with me.

I took a very early flight last Thursday so I could eat a lot but air and land traffic situation was horrible! 

As usual, my flight was delayed (I expected that) but what I was not expecting was the traffic on Marcelo Fernan bridge - 1 hour on the bridge, complete standstill.   I woke up at 2 am to shower and get ready for my 5:40 am flight that was why I fell asleep in the uber car.  

After dropping off my bag at the hotel, I immediately went to my favorite breakfast place!

Abaca Baking Company!

 

 

 

It was just 350 meters away from my hotel but I still rode the uber because it was hot.

 

I love their waffles.  My goal was to order all the different kinds of waffle.

 

Nutella and Cream

 

After my "light" breakfast (light because it was light and fluffy), I went to Rico's Lechon.  I ordered the Spicy Lechon -Rib part

 

And 1 serving of rice.  

 

The caldero is cute! Same as Dicovery Shores'.

Dessert at Majestic, Snow Halo Halo!

 

And Sio Mai!

 

I was not yet nauseous, so I ate another serving of siomai, this time from Dimsum break.

 

It was time to check in to my hotel, Holiday Spa Hotel.  

 

It has a king-sized bed good enough for 2.

 

The room has a view of the pool but I kept the curtains closed all the time. 

I showered and slept until Ompy called me up around 5:30 pm.  Pinky was on her way to be with me but got held up in traffic.  She told me to look around the area.  

I did and went to the nearby Crossroads and had a bowl of Pho Bo Vien at Phat Pho!

 

 

They will open another branch in Rockwell soon.

When Pinky finally arrived, her request was to eat at Zubuchon!

 

She loves the lechon there.

 

I had mongo soup with rice.

 

My favorite duhat shake!

 

We shared an order of ube cheesecake.

 

 

I still wanted to eat chicken at Sunburst but it was closed already.

The next day, breakfast was at..... Abaca Baking Company!

 

I had the peanut butter and chocolate waffle while Pinky had the nutella and cream.

 

And then...... The most exciting part of my Cebu trip! 

Carcar City Public Market!

 

We rode the bus at South Cebu Bus Terminal.  It was an air-condioned Ceres bus and the fare was only 60 pesos.  The trip took an hour and a half to Carcar and an hour and a half back to the city.

Was losing 3 hours of my time worth it?

Yes! Baby, it's worth it! 

Why?

Tada! Lechon! Lechon! Lechon!

 

My favorite lechon is from Lita and Joel. I got 1/2 K. ribs.

 

 

One of the bloggers said to try Guilling's, so that was where Pinky bought her half kilo.

 

 

We ate it at Mcdo across the market.

What I love about their lechon is that the skin was very crispy without it being hard as opposed to other lechons in the city.  

The best part..... It is the lechon drippings! See that soup like sauce? Soooooo good and you pour that on your rice! Or you can slurp it!!!

 

The next time I go to Cebu but not on a day trip, I will definietly go back to Carcar!

Only if I can .... But if not... I can always eat the other lechon in the city.  Will make do with either CNT or Rico's.

When we got back to Cebu city, we had our merienda at Majestic.

Beef steamed rice for Pinky.

 

Pork steamed rice for me

 

And sio mai, again.

I had my usual vanilla while Pinky ordered the Ube flavored snow ice halo halo.

 

We were quite tired from our trip so we just had Vietnamese soup at Phat Pho, Crossroads for dinner.

Pinky had the Pho Bo.

 

I ordered the Pho Bo Bue(?).

 

It was so spicy! Gumuguhit! I could not take it, I asked them to drain the soup and replace it with ordinary broth.

This concludes my eating story with Pinky.  She had to leave for the airport the next day.

I am used to travelling by myself but when I woke up and looked around, I was alone. I felt the loss of my travelling companion.

I was sad for a bit but it did not last long because when I got out of bed, my eating clock started ticking again!

Thank you Pinky for spending time with me.  

 

I was so happy I was there for you when you needed me most!

You can always count on me!

Don't worry, you did not spoil my appetite! As you can see.... I still ate a lot and often!

Love you, my friend!

Next.... Eat O'Clock in Cebu Part 2