A Taste of Kuala Lumpur

In an attempt to ease my clogged nose, Ime and L decides to vaporize me, the good old Vick's Vaporub way, complete with a small basin of hot water and a towel to cover my head in. I was sick, and it was so bad that I could not taste my food the past days, and if anyone knows me, I like my food, I like them a lot, especially after L's reappearance in my life. Hah. But truly, his weight gain is directly proportional with mine.

I digress- but look at all the food we had



Nasi Lemak: I could not taste the scorching spice from the food because my stomach was also upset as I was taking anti-puritic medicine.


I loved their tropical fruit desserts, though. We have similar fruits in season, and they use these freely in their dessert, along with crushed ice, nata de coco or kaong.





There are ubquitous noodle houses, as well as satay stations, which by the way, are not open on Sundays, so get your fill on a Saturday.





By Saturday evening, I was feeling better and could already taste the crab I longed for. This one is new for me, salted egg crab, which by the way, has got to be the dirtiest restaurant I have been in (Restaurant Lau Soon Fatt). Crab cooked in salted egg, blatantly smothered by this rich sauce, ahhh, heaven.

Next Stop

I caught a really terrible case of the flu after our Laoag trip. It was too much sun in the day, and the drizzle at night that made me feel sick. I had the chills and boy I could not get up, not even to open my laptop to download some mails. By Thursday I was able to work, with a 37.7 Deg. Celsius body temperature. At around noon, my good friend Ime reminds me that my flight to KL is on that day. "No," I tell her, "..my flight is tomorrow. And then my return flight is on Monday 6 AM. " Clearly I was still having delusions. I checked my tickets, and true enough I leave that day, so off I went to pack my stuff and flew via Cebu Pacific to my gracious host.




Abangan my stories about Imelda.

The Ilocos Tour: Of Churches and Bellfrys

Remember the old FPJ movies, the ones we used to watch in the afternoon where the high noon sun is up and it is scorching outside? FPJ would be on a horse and the town is deserted while he calls out the name of his nemesis, " Lumabas ka dyan!, " he would say.

This would be part of that movie, the Church of San Agustin, slightly off the town of Vigan, but is just a calesa ride away. It was the highlight of our Vigan tour, the calesa ride. It was almost 11, and with the afternoon heat came the sound of the horse's hooves and the wind was caressing my face, passing through the cotton fibres of my clothing, soothing, quietly telling me to slow down my pace.










We passed by Vigan Cathedral. It would be my first, and last, I predicted.









There are many 16th century churches in the Ilocos province; some wonderfully preserved, while others already encroached by the modern market and establishments. My favorite is the Paoay church, which stood majestically in place, surrounded by grey clouds on this Sunday afternoon.

Day 2: Cape Bojeador, Banggi Windmills

The Banggi Windmills carry an eerie sound as the turbo engine propels. I look up at its majestic sight and I realized I could stay there all day or night, but the enormity of its size made me feel so small, and think eerie thoughts. Like for example, I imagined myself being thrown on one side of the mill and churned round and round before slipping into the ocean, thrust ed by it force.






Traversing the path to the lighthouse, Cape Bojeador, on the other hand, was uneventful, except for the actual going up the steep staircase leading to the top. Cie almost didn't make it, and so she congratulated herself after successfully getting down our first (I think) lighthouse. From the top, one can see the tip of Taipei, where I will be headed in September.

Adventure Begins From Naia3 Terminal

The new airport looms to my left, a sight to see after turning from Nichols. The entrance is fitting an international airport, finally, after a million years, the new old airport is now open and in use for all their PAL and Cebu Pacific flights.






Passing through NAIA 3 which was sparsely occupied by tenants, was uneventful, except for the fact that Cebu Pacific is once again, delayed.






Our flight was supposed to leave 6:10 PM, we finally took off at 7:40 PM, and arrived past 9 PM in Fort Ilocandia.

The Ilocos Leg: Laoag, Vigan, Pagudpud

All photos taken by: Chris Cagasan



Day 1: Vigan

"We're now going to the Vigan" says Agnes, our tour guide, who seemed intimidated by the French couple who were earlier on complaining about our being late for the 9AM tour. We tell her it's ok, it's our vacation, and she should not let those foreigners get in the way of her spiels and her sunny disposition. So off the blabbers with (I assume) her usual line

"Did you have a heavy breakfast? Because this is going to be a long tour--"
"What is heavy, it's very subjective," interjects the male (French) spawn, shaking his head, as if to say this conversation is pointless. Agnes continues to engage him,
"We usually eat rice for breakfast. I used to work for a Frances (huh?)...in the industry(huh? what industry, I thought? Apparently she's finished her sentence).
"They eat French fries for breakfast," she boasts this information.


To this we all holler, and she insists that this is true. Whatever. Apparently Agnes is willing to believe anything; our supposed Muslim-French couple, we later find out, are Turkish non-Muslim expats who have been living in the Philippines and have visited more islands and provinces than the average Filipino.







From Fort Ilocandia, we drive through Ilocos Sur via Laoag, Paoay, Currimao, Badoc; a distance of over 50 kms, covered in an hour and a half drive. Along the way, we spot a man taking the road on a carabao, and uhmn..texting.










I wonder what Marcos, and many of his forefathers would say to this. Actually I wondered how come many famous (or infamous) men came from Ilocos, unlike our province of Aklan whose only claim to fame is Cardinal Sin.








Is it because Ilocos is steeped in history, with its revolution and many great heroes from a series of battles against the abusive spanish Augustinian friars? After all, this where Diego and Gabriela Silang, Gregorio Aglipay came from. Ilocos is the birthplace of Juan and Antonio Luna and Padre Jose Burgos, as well. Yes, maybe history has a way of telling the next generation not to forget its past, especially when the past is still standing, a full reminder of the blood shed by one's ancestors.

Sonya's Garden 2008

On L's birthday weekend, the KP boys and girls hied off to Canyon Woods again, and all 14 of us managed to fit in Uncle P's house, with the boys sleeping in the living room, on extra mattresses pulled from the basement room. Every time we go here we eat , we drink, we sleep at 4 in the morning and then we do the same thing over again. Last week, though, I dragged L to Sonya's, so he can take some photos and so the girls who have not been there can see the gardens as well.





I first went to Sonya's in the early 2000, when I still had my first digicam, a Fuji Finepix. All my photos were uploaded to webshots, and there was one particular photo I loved, taken of the bed right in the middle of the garden, where the afternoon sun was caught in the seams of the gazebo and captured perfectly on cam. It was ethereal, and one feels like a fairy looking at that shot. You would not think about the many people who lazed in that bed (someone from FHM I think even confessed to doing it right there). Back then that was indeed possible because those who managed to pass by the gardens were free to roam around and the garden was more open and inviting, with shrubs and jars scattered around in a disorderly yet well-designed manner. According to Sonya Garcia, English gardens were like that, and since retiring here, she decided to make her own English garden since she could not found one in the Philippines.





Since then, Sonya's Garden has come a long way. It is now booked for weddings, despedida de soltera, anniversaries, baptisms and other more formal occasion. There had been additional structures- a spa, a panaderya, a country souvenir shop, and a resort cottage for overnight stay. What has remained the same, though is their menu, which is so good the taste, the scent, the visual presentation remains in my memory.
Forget about "blind" eating, which is the rave in other countries, a lunch at Sonya's is a feast for the senses.

















Sonya's Garden
Brgy. Buck Estate, Tagaytay
www.sonyasgarden.com
0917-5329097/09285073301
Meal set at P610/head.

The Weather These Days

During this time of the year, it usually rains. From where I sit in the office, there is so much drama from the murky, overcast skies, shielding my usual view of Makati and the bay area. From my house, this is how it looks like during the height of the storm, which came and went in an hour.

Photo by: Chris Cagasan, aka L