Tea 101

Tea 101 in California Gardens, Libertad Ave., is one of my new favorite spots. Their milk tea comes in two humongous sizes and both equally affordable, just Php75 (tall) and Php85 (skyscraper). I enjoy all their tea flavors, with wintermelon milk tea as my most ordered drink.

And like all my fave spots, they have free stable wifi and outlets to plug into which make Tea 101 a convenient place to hang out and work a little.

Size Matters

My friends and I found this burger place called Size Matters in Shaw Zentrum. They make really good burgers and buffalo wings. And true to their name, their drinks come in gargantuan mugs.

But what I like about them most are their decent-speed free wifi and availability of sockets to plug into. It's a haven for those who wanna have a burger and work on the side.

Pasig Palengke vs Puregold Grocery

Veggies at Pasig Palengke

I overheard helpers talking in the elevator about the price of kangkong a few days ago. According to the ate who was holding the vegetable up to her friend's face, water cabbage had only cost her 10 pesos the week before but this one was 20 pesos. Grabe, double the price!  She got it from Robinson's supermarket. Her friend seemed to wonder at the ate's naivete. Of course, everybody knows that items in Robinson's are gold.

My curiosity and concern for my wallet piqued, I decided to compare food prices of the two places I usually go to: Puregold (along Shaw Blvd), which before this blog post I thought had reasonable prices, and Pasig Palengke (Pasig Public Market), which is known for cheap prices.  (Commuting to both places costs me the same so fare doesn't really have any bearing on this comparison.)





ITEMS               PUREGOLD (Sept 1, 2012)               PASIG PALENGKE (Sept 2, 2012)
1. Papaya           28 pesos / kilogram                             20 pesos / kilogram
2. Tomato          58 pesos / kilogram                             35 pesos / kilogram
3. Potato            90 pesos / kilogram                             60 pesos / kilogram
4. Garlic            105 pesos / kilogram                           70 pesos / kilogram
5. Onions (red)  117 pesos / kilogram                           80 pesos / kilogram
6. Cabbage        95 pesos / kilogram                             60 pesos / kilogram
7. Cucumber     75 pesos / kilogram                              25 pesos / kilogram
8. Carrots          117 pesos / kilogram                            60 pesos / kilogram
9. Lettuce          208 pesos / kilogram                            160 pesos / kilogram
10. Snow Cabbage  157 pesos / kilogram                      60 pesos / kilogram
11. Green beans    95 pesos / kilogram                          48 pesos / kilogram
12. Apple            122 pesos / kilogram                          20 pesos / piece

Fruits at Pasig Palengke

To be honest, I don't know which items in these markets were imported but they look similar in quality, size, and color.  Needless to say, I won't be buying fruits and vegetables from Puregold, unless Pasig market gets flooded again.

Bohol Tropics Resort Review

For my post-holiday break, I stayed at Bohol Tropics Resort's Deluxe room with an expansive view of the sea for two nights.  Aside from the fantastic view, the resort also had 3 pools (a kiddie pool, an adult pool, and a night pool) that were a lot of fun! We couldn't really get into the sea and swim because there was no easy access to it -- well maybe it was possible but the only entry was through the dive shops which means that the water would be immediately deep (and I cant swim!).

We were supposed to stay at one of the Terrace Garden rooms (we got it for free from Astoria) but I had our room upgraded to a Deluxe and just paid Php800 for a night to make up for the difference. Not bad!



Breakfast was a set meal of the usual American/Filipino fare of eggs, bacon, beef tapa, juice, etc., which cost Php100 per person. I kind of regret having breakfast in the hotel. It would have been better if breakfast had been at Caingit Fish grill, a quick 5-min tricycle ride away.  I heard that place had fresh seafood especially in the morning.  And well, when in Bohol, it's seafoods and fruitshakes galore.

It was good that Bohol Tropics was a short distance from everything in Tagbilaran.  We used it more as a base for our comings and goings in the city and the nearby municipalities. However, it wouldnt be a good base anymore if more of the trips are in the northern part of Bohol.  It took us 3 hours to commute on public transpo to Danao EAT from Bohol Tropics.

More People than Fish

Oceanarium
Originally uploaded by catblox

Shoving, pushing, hundreds of people crowding into a small entrance - it's not an MRT rush hour scenario, but a Manila Ocean Park holiday madness. But I'm not one to complain since I got there on a free ride ^^

It would be nice to go there again, but on a non-holiday so there would be more time to look around and appreciate the marine life on display because it was amazing. The fishes and corals were so pretty, colorful and very much alive! Corals are not at all white. They're white only when they're dead.

With hundreds of people pouring in and millions of pesos in holiday ticket sales, I hope the Ocean Park management are taking steps to more actively preserve our marine resources. There's an area near the ocenarium's exit that has displays on how to save marine life - a great idea! The owners can even take it a step further though. Maybe make another huge aquarium that looks currently like the underwater of Manila Bay and put it beside one of the aquariums brimming with life, with nothing but glass separating them. This will make the contrast more evident, graphic and poignant. And then for no fee at all, arrange for a 30 minute trip to Manila Bay and have guests pick up garbage. I heard something on the news that Greenpeace had done that before. So maybe the two of them can strike up a deal?

After the Oceanarium trip, we queued for the Musical Fountain Show, but there was no queue at all! Sardines in a can have much better space than us as the whole crowd squeezed through the entrance. The management should do something about that. Put some ropes or something to guide the queue, even hire a bouncer. It was horrible.

The show was short, just 30 minutes, but very entertaining. I could do without seeing the starfish-costumed performances again though. I heard comments like " Starfishes again?" all around when the starfishes entered for their 3rd performance. By the 5th performance, people were groaning.

All in all, the P500 spent for the Oceanarium and the Musical Fountain Show was worth it. But I wouldn't pay higher than that, well at least not on a holiday.

The other side of Boracay

I was thankful that Al-Jazeera covered this issue. I hope the local media would too because the plight of the original Boracay residents is just heart-breaking.

Sugbutel

This is where I am staying right now in Cebu. It's ridiculously cheap at P350 ($8) a night, and i hope their fees stay that way for a long time.

Sugbutel is the first i've seen in Cebu and in Manila that offers a hostel type of lodging. Rooms have bunks, and there is one common toilet for females and another for males. It's not crowded because they can only accommodate a maximum of 50 people. And so far today, i've only seen 4. 

The only problem here is the noise the traffic makes outside. My bunk is right by the window so I hear everything making it difficult to get some needed shut eye.

I think I'll stay here for the rest of my short visit.

Check out their website for more details: http://www.sugbutel.com/