here’s what you need:
- milk (fatty milk creates more foam. cow head’s so far my creamy choice)
- freshly ground coffee beans
- coffee machine (cheap one will do, because i’m cheap)
- milk foamer/whisker/whatever you call it

1) brew coffee. a spoonful of ground coffee for every half cup of water.
2) heat milk in a microwave. don’t forget to put cover if you don’t want to end up cleaning the mess later.
3) use the electric whisker on your milk until you are satisfied with the foam.
4) pour brewed coffee into mugs, then add your foamy milk.
5) dust cinnamon over your beverage, if you like. add sugar as desired.

voila! el cheapo cappuccino.

it’s been a while since i last had a yan-yan snack, and now they come with cute fortune lines! “black ink” does not sound like a fortune, tho.

we weren’t able to look around iloilo since i wasn’t able to do any research about it, the trip here was nothing more than a jump off to bacolod city. we weren’t feeling adventurous at that time and it was running a little late, so instead of riding a few jeepneys to the sea port, we took a cab and headed straight to the port.

there are 2 fastcrafts going to bacolod almost every hour, you may check their schedules by visiting their websites or call them directly if you want to be sure.

oceanjet
weesam express

since we weren’t able to actually go to la paz, we ate batchoy at a turo-turo just outside the port. it tasted pretty much like the instant batchoy found in local stores. i think the mother of all batchoys is still out there lol.

the ride to bacolod wasn’t exactly pleasant, typhoon bebeng was bitchy that afternoon and the movie playing on board was something about shipwrecks and people being chomped off by sharks. we reached bacolod’s reclamation port in about an hour and it was already dark. we got ourselves a cab and went to tindalo pension.

tindalo pension wasn’t a classy (or even standard) type of lodging, but it was clean. i couldn’t say it’s comfortable because the mattress was hard, and the pillows were too low and unfluffy. but hey, what do you expect with P420 a night? lol aside from the air conditioner, their rooms are spartan.

i chose this pension house because it’s just a few steps away from kuppa.

BACOLOD

any aspiring cook/chef must be tested in bacolod. seriously. there is nothing much to see in bacolod, but you MUST stuff yourself like hell when you are there. my sister’s friend, patti, is from bacolod and she and hubby mark treated us to an inasal dinner that night. it was one of the best inasal i’ve ever tasted– moist, juicy and sinfully tasty. mark taught us how to enjoy it best: drizzle achuete oil all over your rice, and the best drink to match is mountain dew or lift. achuete oil is like an extra condiment common in inasal restaurants in bacolod.

gaddemmet i’m hungry. -_-

you should have at least two sticks of inasal to make your host proud and happy lol. our inasal dinner filled us to the brim, but patti and mark insisted that we go try cafe bob’s yummy pavlova desert. food in bacolod, in general, is extremely affordable and what you get will almost always surpass your expectation.

cafe bob’s

KUPPA COFFEE & TEA

the following day, we decided to have our breakfast at kuppa and order their breakfast sets. for somebody who’s used to manila’s coffee shop prices, you’d be amazed to learn that their yummy and filling set is only P95. that already comes with freshly brewed, houseblend coffee

salmon & eggs with cappuccino

omelette and brewed coffee

kuppa pastry prices ranging from P25 to P75

kuppa gelato

kuppa tea room

EVERYTHING ELSE

that same day, patti, my sister and i visited the local museum, then we had lunch at a korean restaurant, and had foot spa afterwards. the spa at l’fischer was DIVINE, i suggest you try their services and relax :)

later that day, mark and patti took us to see the balai negrense. we weren’t able to take good pictures because of the low lighting condition :(

we then headed to el ideal bakeshop where they sell the famous guapple pie. unfortunately, they ran out of stocks when we asked. :(

inside el ideal bakeshop

on the way back to the city, we passed by patti’s cozy pastry shop called puffs & tarts. it’s in lopue, behind chinky’s (also patti’s family business).

i know you can find roli’s napoleones in SM west’s the block, but there’s nothing compared to freshly made napoleones in roli’s bacolod. patti gave us enough napoleones and halfmoons to turn us diabetic overnight. it was already late and we still have more inasal dinner to catch with our cousin. so patti dropped us at kuppa and promised to bring us bailon’s special piyaya.

i personally don’t like piyaya, the one that’s like a pressed hopia. but this one’s exceptional. it’s not hopia-ish at all. it’s very crunchy, has got caramel and sesame seeds all over. gadammet, i won’t be able to stop describing the food there DIVINE.

puffs & tarts

inside puffs & tarts

we retired to our room feeling all swelled up and groggy from all food, and even vowed not to touch sweets or chicken for the rest of the journey lol. but of course, being the fatass lards that we are, i’m going to post more food pics later lol.

TO DUMAGUETE

we checked out early in the morning hoping to catch an early (and airconditioned) ceres bus trip to dumaguete, but when we got there, we were notified that the airconditioned bus leaves at 11:30am. i didn’t want to arrive late in dumaguete so we took the non-airconditioned bus and paid P211 per person. riding the non-airconditioned bus is not that bad since the air is cool, you won’t even smell smoked 5 hours later.

OTHER DETAILS

L’FISHER HOTEL
14th-15th Lacson St., Bacolod City
Tel. No.: (034) 433-3730-39
Fax: (034)-433-0951

TINDALO PENSION
Tindalo St., Bacolod City
Tel.#: (034) 7090006

KUPPA COFFEE AND TEA
Hilado & Tindalo Street corner

PUFFS & TARTS
Lopue’s Annex Bldg.
Mandalagan, Bacolod City 6100
Tel.#: (034) 708-8719, 4410027

EL IDEAL BAKESHOP
#118 Rizal Street, Silay City, Negros Occidental
(034) 495 4430, 495 4144

P150 for a bilao of 35 california makis :p

Napoleones

one of bacolod’s raved sweets. who needs krispy kreme when you can have one of these? : ) no need to fly over to bacolod to get some. there’s a booth in sm west’s the Block, it’s beside the 2nd floor escalator, it think.

French Macaroon

pastry is my friend gerald’s specialty, and this is one of his yummy products. this is the same as the ones you find at bizu, but he sells them WAAAAAY cheaper. these are available in a variety of flavors, and of course i chose coffee. tastes like coffee and vanilla cream, feels like melting meringue. yummilicious!

since my sister posted a simple sandwich recipe for those on a diet, i’m going to post a salad recipe i’ve “copied” from oliver’s sandwich. hehe. it’s an attempt, but hey, it’s edible.

chicken and mango salad

2 grilled chicken breast, shredded (or whatever u call it)
cubed mangoes (if it’s huge, then half of it will suffice)
diced red bell pepper
spring onion, sliced thinly
chopped lettuce (to your liking)
coriander (optional, but better if you have it)
olive oil, enough to drizzle over the salad
parmesan cheese (just a little to taste)

mix mix mix, and voila! a decent balanced salad!

for a fee of P800, you can:
1) go river rafting
2) have buffet lunch AT the waterfalls
3) tour the museum
4) get a short carabao ride to the resort proper
5) swim
6) watch some cultural shows (weekends & holidays only)

most of their structures were built with high ceiling adorned with native chandelier. the high ceiling might be the reason why it’s very cool inside albeit the warm weather.MUSEUM

even though this looks like a church, i don’t think they’re having mass here. the place is just full of religious relics and several archaeological finds. we were not supposed to take pictures, but since nobody was watching us, we decided to take a few stolen shots.

TO THE RESORT

owner’s house. trespassers will be shot.

you’d be riding this and wonder how a fat carabao can pull all of you effortlessly.

there are several creepy looking statues all over the hacienda, but i don’t think this belonged here.

THE LAKE

we were complaining why we weren’t able to catch tilapia. now we know why.

the fish bait

WATERFALL BUFFET

yep, take off your shoes and eat with your feet soaked in cool water. it is pretty slippery, tho.

ETC

one of the many pathways of the resort.

by the pool overlooking the lake

* * * * * * * * * *

KUSINA SALUD

after spending the whole day at villa escudero, we decided to have dinner at kusina salud which was located 10 mins away. i would highly recommend this place– the ambiance is very native with a touch of other asian artifacts, and the food is affordably yummy!

some bangus dish. i never liked eggplants, but after having tasted this, i think i’d reconsider.

squid salad. yummy!!

ah, chicken teriyaki… mmm mmmm mmmmm!

*photos were taken using a 6630.

cafe benissimo’s retro lights

smoked pork pasta Mmm Mmm Mmm!!

want some tea? *burp*

WEEKEND MENU: siomai. lots of them.

two days ago, i bought a kilo of ground pork—or at least i THOUGHT it was; the card read ‘GROUND MEAT’ and it was beside a tray of pork tenderloins. (YES, i know perfectly well what a tenderloin looks like. hehe.. defensive ba?) i was wondering why the meat was reddish and finer than usual. ah well, i thought, maybe it’s a fresh healthy pig!

so this morning i was getting ready to make some siomai, had the frozen chunk thaw a bit and began kneading the chilly meat. the meat began to turn really sticky as expected, but what i wasn’t sure of was the meat’s texture which reminded me of corned beef.

i smelled it closer, it didn’t smell like pork.
i sampled a teeny bit of it… WTH!! it DOESN’T taste like pork!

nevertheless, i continued to wrap the small chunks into siomais, placed them neatly in a steamer and waited for it to cook. 20 minutes has passed, i opened the lid to check if it’s ready. lo, and behold! dark colored siomai.

the horror. it was only then that i concluded that it’s really beef and not healthy fresh pig. -__-o

it’s not so bad, actually, but i think these would go best with red spaghetti sauce. hehehe.