I spent Philippine Independence Day 2019 day revisiting sites that have to do with my Chinese Filipino heritage.
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I spent Philippine Independence Day 2019 day revisiting sites that have to do with my Chinese Filipino heritage.
Read moreChef Yana Gilbuena is behind the Salo Series, where she spent 50 weeks traversing all 50 US States, whipping up a Filipino feast in each one. She was in the Philippines last June, originally for research, vacation, and to visit the school she’s sponsoring in Capiz, Panay. She got to do two out of three. […]
Read moreFeliza Taverna y Cafe is named after Feliza Dionko, private secretary to Emilio Aguinaldo, and former owner of the home which now houses the B&B. The house is filled with furniture and memorabilia that evoke genteel life in the 1800s, at the cusp of the country’s independence.
Read moreWe met Irene at the ruins of a crypt that dated back to the Spanish era. Our hosts had brought me and my friend there to catch a glimpse of the Taal not yet accessible to tourists. The structure was discovered last year. Irene’s father, Mang Bernard, was the first to explore its depths, lowering […]
Read moreThe Appetite and Carnation Family Food Trip was fun and educational, but we had to head back to Manila. Before we left, we has breakfast, where I once again had champorado. They offered tapa and tocino, but since for some reason they didn’t offer eggs, I decided to skip that. Strangely enough, their coffee wasn’t […]
Read moreAfter a cultural tour of Taal townfor the Appetite and Carnation Family Food Trip, we checked into the beautiful Club Balai Isabel, where we got to try out their newest rooms, all of which face Taal Lake. And then we had dinner, which consisted of Fish Fillet in Capsicum Sauce, where the fish was marinated in […]
Read moreHere are some of the things you can see in Taal. Admittedly, these are the things most people will go to when visiting the historic town. Our tight schedule means we didn’t have time to explore, but that doesn’t mean that we didn’t have fun. Taal is known for many things, including: Ancestral houses, in the […]
Read moreHere’s part two of the Carnation Family Food Trip, hosted in cooperation with Appetite magazine. We visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay (which means kingfisher) and the miraculous Sta. Lucia Well. We said hello to the penguin that stands outside the shrine (What the statue of an Antarctic bird is doing in a tropical […]
Read moreThis is a picture of the original statue of Our Lady of Caysasay, which can be found in the town of Caysasay (which means kingfisher) in Taal, Batangas. I originally went there as part of the Carnation Family Food Trip ’09 (in cooperation with Appetite magazine), but I got hooked on the historical aspects of […]
Read moreAs published in my GMA column: The next day, we were treated to a Manor breakfast. This was your typical hotel breakfast, a buffet with everything from bacon and eggs to pancakes and waffles to breakfast congee with different toppings, all kinds of cereal, and champorado. I gravitated towards the fresh yogurt, which I had […]
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