IN RANDOM VIEWS of a city-bred and a promdi.

Arriving Ilocos is my most awaited time of the year (other than my birthday and x’mas season).  I can only come home when there is schoolbreak since I started studying in Manila  in year 1999. Manila has taught me about diverse cultures, being a melting pot of people
from different places. It has also opened my mind to religious and
political differences in society. And ofcourse, what my alma mater U.P.
taught me — which is not what to believe in but rather how I can
defend my own chosen beliefs.

But most of all, (and allow me to digress )
what I love most about Manila is the colorful lifestyle and the wide
array of of entertainment and activity – from the movies, to theater,
to sports and most of all… food . Hahaha.

However, despite the many different restos and wide selection of food that Manila  has to offer – there is always a longing to be home. Like what my friends from Ilocos who studied in Manila  say, “There is no place like home… especially when it comes to food.” (Right fwends?) The first time I registered as a user in friendster, the first thing I wrote for interest/hobby category is eating Ilocano food –
which is why my kindergarten classmate Dannah Rubio, a fellow Ilocana
from Batac and my neighbor in the province was able to locate me in the
friendster network. She told me via email that when she typed the term
ILOCANO in friendster’s search engine, I was the only user who appeared
in the search results for the phrase I wrote for hobbies/interests: I
LOVE TO EAT ILOCANO FOOD.

And indeed I do. Not only my mom and dad would attest, but also our
cook Nana Sepa who has been with us for more than 30 years that among
the 4 siblings ako ang hindi mahirap pakainin for I literally eat anything served to me.

If you care to know a list of my faves, read below:

My favorinate hard snack – is empanada and isaw

My favorite soup snack – miki

My favorite breakfast – (other than longganisa) is imbaliktad and singkutsar of Nana Sepa

My favorite salad – pakpako (with freshly sliced tomatoes, bagoong, kalamansi juice and ginger)

My favorite ilocano dish – always and forever Ilocano Pinakbet

My favorite food places – turo-turo and carinderia

Now why am I writing this? I, being a woman who is expected to be slim, coy and must NOT eat too much? My bestfriend Myra  told me that she liked my pics with family and friends in my friendster but said, “Naomi, halatang matakaw ka,” regarding the pictures of the food also posted in my profile. E di shempre sinabi ko sa sarili ko, “Eh ano ngayon kung may pagkain sa photos ng friendster ko? Hindi lang naman sceneries o tao ang magandang kunan ah… pati pagkain din!” Hindi ba mga ka-berks kong kasama at kadamay ko sa kainan at kagutuman? And one more thing, not because there are pictures of food in one’s account it doesn’t mean matakaw siya (all the time). And I keep myself fit by working out in the gym, engaging in sports and making sure that I have a balanced diet – that is kung may karne at taba, kailangan may prutas at gulay din. Kaya niyo ba ang 104 lbs? Yup – this is my current weight despite
eating good food most of the time (but in small quantities - which is
my secret; if in large quantities – which must be seldom and incase you
ate a lot for 2 or 3 consecutive days – you can lose the calories by
doing cardio exercises such as walking or running on a treadmill and
using the stationery bike even only for 1 hour. Incase matakaw ka talaga and
you crave for midnight snack while working or studying late nights–
instead of chocolates or carbo food - -try shifting to apples and
grapes.. basta sa prutas hindi ka tataba kahit midnight snack pa yan. So, alam niyo na sikreto ko?

Shempre intro ko lang yan
why I am writing this article.  One of the main reasons is to share the
food places I and my friends frequent to have a taste of these Ilocano
food when I am home that even fellow Ilocanos might not know about:

1. My favorite hard snack – is empanada and isaw

WHERE: BATAC’S  GLORY’S EMPANADAHAN

at
Batac Crossing (along the highway) turn left (if you are from Laoag) on
Marcos Highway.  Go Straight until you reach the Batac Catholic
Church.  Facing the church, the Batac Empanadahan is on its right
beside the bridge.

I’ve been here countless times with my family, barkada and some friends from Batac and Manila:

friends from Batac (usually with Odie in yellow and Genny who’s not in the pic)

Celia (one of my 12 UPM kabarkada who have been there once except Cel who has been there twice in two separate visits)

Nothing can beat the original empanada of Batac particularly Glory’s empanada. Though
some have tried serving the Ilocos empanada in Manila (along Katipunan,
QC and Market Market)… Batac still has the best tasting empanada, far
better than other parts in Ilocos Norte and  Ilocos Sur.  Empanada has
its origins in Spain and actually from the Spanish word empanar which
means  to wrap or coat in bread.  If you google the word empanada, the
first search result would be the definition provided by wikipedia which describes the empanada from the northern part of Ilocos region to be uniquely different:

… empanadas in the northern Ilocos region are very different.

…These empanadas are made of a savory filling of green papaya

…and, upon request, chopped Ilocano sausage (longganisa) and/or an egg yolk.

…Rather than the soft, sweet dough favored in the Tagalog region, the dough used to enclose the filling is thin and crisp, mostly because Ilocano empanada uses rice flour

…and is deep-fried rather than baked.

Wikipedia failed to mention though that our empanada may also include hotdog and the secret sauce of batac’s empanadahan — that is mixing ketchup and sukang iloko
–> try it guys, and I swear you will make use of this sauce for
your other food.  Special empanada is for P25 while ordinary (plain -
without longganisa or hotdog) is for P20.  Other than the empanada are
so many other tinuno that you will enjoy eating with the secret sauce.  These are the:

crunchy isaw of Glory’s like no other!

Glory’s longganisa on stick

Squid on stick

Kwek-kwek (wrapped quail eggs)

For other food in Glory’s menu with prices, see below:

2. My favorite soup snack – miki

WHERE: LAOAG’S CHRISTINE’S

at Paco Roman
St., Laoag City.  From N.Corpuz Paco Roman Branch, go straight and
after 2 blocks you will see the signage “Christine’s.”

at my fatter times with Kitz (an old pic)

eating with a smile

Though Batac
is also well-known for its miki, the best miki in my opinion, same as
my highschool friends’ is Christine’s Miki Haus in Laoag.

For some reason the soup of the miki is better plus
the boiled egg compared to the miki in Batac (P28).
Nadurog din ang chicharon kaya masarap.

To my non-Ilocano friends — the miki’s sauce is always
the Sukang Iloko with sili as an option.

Other than miki they also serve asadong siopao (P25)

siomai (P15 per 3 pcs.)
& fried lumpia stuffed with potatoes (P6/pc)

3. My favorite food places – turo-turo and carinderia

WHERE: BATAC’S DAYO
others:
LAOAG’S DAWANG’S (to write about in the future)
LAOAG’S IVAN DOMINIC’S (to write about in the future)

DAYO
From
Manila - before reaching Batac’s main crossing is the huge Globe’s
antenna located at the facade of Batac cemetery.  Across is a cockpit
where the turo-turo of Batac, popularly known as Dayo is located. (Open
only on Sundays)
Other Branches: in Napu, Badoc near the market (Open on Wednesdays)
in Sinait, Ilocos Sur fronting the market (Open everyday)

It has a very spacious parking lot…

& from afar you will see waitresses with their red checkered aprons.

carabao meat for kilawen (raw meat)

I have been asking around the precise definition of the Ilocano term Dayo since it its an ambiguous word - which could mean stranger or let’s go/pumunta tayo but I didn’t know that it could also mean a place where cattle is sold according to my Dad.  Tin, a good friend and fellow law student from Piddig informed me that it can also mean an event where cattle owners convene at a certain day, at an early hour, at a given venue where they trade cattle; they check out, buy, sell, barter cows or carabaos usually tapos may nagbebenta na dun ng paksiw, imbaliktad and the like na usually masarap.

I always eat in Laoag’s turo-turos for genuine Ilocano dishes until I was first introduced to Dayo ti Batac
by Genny and Odie, (my two neighborhood childhood friends) a few years
ago which I never knew existed.  The first time I went here was at an
early Sunday morning, around 830am and I was able to taste for the
first time the reddish carabao meat for kilawen.  Usually I eat goat’s
meat for kilawen but never carabao’s meat and when I tasted the latter
for the first time, I told myself that I will be back to Dayo for this!

Unfortunately when my Dad and I went here last Sunday for lunch, there wasn’t red carabao meat available anymore .  Darn. Darn.  The women in-charge told us, “Sapay ngamin itatta lang kayo Sir ket alasais adut mangmanganen.”
(Why did you arrive late?  Many people are already coming to eat as
early as 6am).  So lesson no. 1, don’t arrive late like lunch time dahil mauubusan kayo. So we ended up eating other Ilocano dishes:

We had Insarabasab (tinuno with freshly sliced tomatoes), Igado (which is our favorite among those we ordered.  It is the best Igado I’ve tried — manamis-namis), Dinuguan (but
Laoag’s Dawang’s is better and crunchy while this isn’t.  And I still
like our Nana Sepa’s Dinuguan better than this.  It was too oily). Each
dish is P35. Rice is P5. Softdrinks is P10 each.

Ofcourse. in any carinderia or turo-turo — the singkutsar or pinapaitan will always be available. P35 each. This tastes better with sukang iloko.

So there you have it.  I hope you can visit these food places yourselves when you have the chance to be in the two cities of Ilocos Norte, Batac & Laoag.  Happy Halloween!!!

   
Last night, October 15, my mom told us to come along with her to
Emerald Garden Resto along Roxas Boulevard.  She was invited to attend
a birthday party of Benito Sy, an agent of Advance Paper Products who
is one of our suppliers in our family business.

 

    It isn’t my first time to visit Emerald.  We always eat there for lunch as a family every time we
process our visas since we were little.  It’s been a long time since I
came here for renewal of visas doesn’t require us anymore to go to the
U.S. Embassy.  My brother and I didn’t hesitate to tag along though it
is quite a travel from QC.  And besides, we want to eat good food.

 With
the birth of more and more restos here in manila, I was expecting that
Emerald might have changed a bit… but I  was wrong.  It is still the
same old resto.  Simple and ordinary interiors but extraordinary food
and service which keep people coming here, especially the Chinese.  The
resto is always full especially at lunch, and at dinner it wasn’t as
many but I’d still say 2/3 of the space was still occupied.  Benito
Sy’s guests were already around 50-60 people and there were still many
walk-ins.

   
I brought my canon camera with me but it had low battery after taking
the picture of the first food served which is why pictures of the other
food are a little dim using my cellphone camera.   However despite the
dim pictures, the food is worth to blog about and I encourage people to
come and dine in this Chinese Resto with its reasonable prices.

     After the    Shredded duck w/ Fish Maw soup one of my faves in   Emerald is their Classic pancit.  Emerald still has the best pancit among all chinese restos.    Look at the red quial eggs.   Delicious!  In a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the highest, I  give it a 5.   

 
  Next came the hot and cold cuts.  The squid ball is the best among the 4 selections in the large platter.  It is the softest and tastiest squid ball.  Yummylicous! I give this a 3.

 
 
 Next in line is the  Shrimp Salad which is usually available in any Chinese resto.  This is the fave of my mom (and my friend Emz when we went to Superbowl China). The only difference is that in Emerald, they are generous with the cream.  The picture speaks for itself.  I give this a 4.  

    
    Then came the Stuffed Chicken partnered with the chicharap crackers.  The malagkit rice in the chicken is sooo good.  Parang malapot na brown arroz caldo.  I  give this a 4 .  The Crab with Sesame Oil was okay.  I  think it would be better if its Chili Crabs like the one featured in another’s blog.     I only give it a 3.

  
    My favorite dish served for the night is the Pata with Steamed Bread.
I thought these dishes are to be eaten separately but we were told by
our chinese friends seated beside us at the  round table that the pata
goes with the bread.  So guys.. look at the substitute of BUUURRRGGGEEER! ! !  :

 

 It is better if you choose the fats of the pata to go with it.  It is tastier that way.  This is my favorite among all the dishes. The pata is soft, juicy and easy to eat.  The next time I am in Manila, I will visit  Emerald and have this as my merienda.  I give this a perfect 5 .
  

      
    This is the Mushroom with Brocollie, Young Corn &    Asparagus.     Good for momsies and popsies wary of their cholesterol levels.  I give this a 4.
  
    My next fave after the pata with bread is the Steamed Lapu-    Lapu.    This may be a common dish, but my mom and   I  both agree that it is the one of the best Lapu- Lapu dishes we’ve tried.  Iniisp namin may aquarium sila at kapapatay lang.. sobrang presko at tamis! I give this a 5.

    The dessert was okay… Honey Taro and Almond Jelly with   Peaches.    I  think the typical  Black    Gulaman Chinese dessert is still better.

      Happy Birthday Mr.  Benito Sy.  Thank you to you and your family! 

  Emerald Garden
1170  Roxas  Blvd,  Manila
across the US Embassy
Tel. 5238510
Fax. 5223457
(Emeral Garden can fax their menu, birthday packages with prices ) 

  For other dishes not featured in my blog, check the blog of Bryan.  Click here.

This prayer was sent to me
via text by a law student friend from San Beda.  Then I’ve been seeing
blog posts on exam anxiety by people lately… I thought this is a good
prayer to share to everyone, not just to law students now that it is
examination week  (To make you smile ).

This prayer was sent to me
via text by a law student friend from San Beda.  Then I’ve been seeing
blog posts on exam anxiety by people lately… I thought this is a good
prayer to share to everyone, not just to law students now that it is
examination week  (To make you smile ).

    Yesterday, a saturday, a family day.

    So here it is …

     Trinoma, owned by the  Ayalas is Quad/Glorietta and Greenbelt
combined.  Or should I say it is a mini-Glorietta+Greenbelt.
Mini-Glorietta because it has the same architecture as Quad’s.  They also
have the same open center stage inside the mall for event promos and mini-concerts.  What’s even better, it has some stores and restos not in Glorietta - like Taco Bell and Mizuno.  For high-end shopping, dito mejo matatalo and SM North Edsa, even if the latter has built the SM Block right across Trinoma for the class A and B crowd.  Trinoma is more complete from sporting goods, to clothes, shoes, all coffee shops - even Max Brenner best known for its chocolates!  A store only for Tag Heuer watches, and a store only for Rolex watches…  You name it.  Ang lalaki rin ng mga stores - spacious.  Nagulat ako may isang malaking store for sport clothes lang for all the nice brands like North Face with a wide variety of clothing - jackets, pants, shoes - wider collection than the small North Face store in MOA. I tried fitting a 7 thou North Face pink jacket - hanggang fit lang.  Natutuwa ako na may sizes sila for me, because I have a hard time looking for sport jackets
for my small frame.  North face has sizes for kids:  GIRLS AND BOYS and
adults: MEN AND WOMEN.  My size is GIRL LARGE how lucky!   For a list of stores and restos, click here.
    National Bookstore and Mercury Drug had a face lift in Trinoma.  Big and spacious.  Parang Fullybooked na rin ang style ng National and Mercury is like a huge grocery store.

   I ordered it and had it split into 2 for me and my dad since I was
not very hungry.  My dad finds it too fatty but I find it just right.
It is not recommended to those who are avoiding high cholesterol food.
It is the best steak I’ve tried after a long time.  We had it
medium-well, at sobrang lambot at juicy.  It is the most expensive in their menu though, P995 per 100 grams… yikes!
Nickrome on the other hand enjoyed his T-bone steak, that my dad liked
more since it’s pure lean meat and a lot cheaper than the Wagyu beef.
It is between P200-P300 per 100 grams.

   
For their juices, we had grape juice and apple carrot, for P120 each.
It was okay.  I wanted it to taste more natural and fresh sana since grapes is my fave fruit but I guess they have a different style with their juices mixing it with other ingredients.

   
    It is well-lit at masarap maglakad.  Compare this to Trinoma: