Travelogue around Asia Pacific Part II

Manila - A distance from our hotel via Grab but it was worth the trip to this Mexican restaurant.   Cash only restaurant but the good food is reasonably price. Lesley and I in this restaurant We had to queue to order our food, paid in cash and waitress will deliver the food quite fast.  Water is complimentary and reviews mentioned that there are many students come to this cheap Mexican place.    We ordered minced beef Quesadillas and it was one of the best I have tasted - very delicious. This was cut into 4 slices - tender and the cheese just melted in my mouth at Php 190 for 4 pieces that is about SGD4.75 for 4. Soft Tacos - Chicken Chopotle 2 pieces for Php 200 - the vegetables tasted very fresh and the side sauces added some spicy to this Tacos. Quesabirria Tacos beef Fried tacos and it was a bit oily due to the frying of the Tacos but the fillings were very delicious.  Really worth coming again to this Mexican restaurant and they have Boritos and much m...

Manila -  This will be my 3rd time eating at this seafood restaurant and the style of cooking is still very good.  The only drawback is that they do not accept credit cards. After choosing our seafood - we went to this restaurant for them to cook up a delicious meal for us. Vegetables with 3 types of eggs Sze chuan chicken This is the only dish that was not up to standard - further more this was chosen from off the menu.   Donny wanted to try their Szechuan style chicken. steam prawns Steam Red Snapper The prawns and Red snapper was very fresh and delicious.  The prawns was cooked with lots of garlic and spring onions. BBQ Cuttlefish Squid are longer and more cylindrical; cuttlefish are smaller and sort of spoon-shaped; octopus have very round heads and larger tentacles. BBQ tiger prawns Super fresh and deliciously BBQ done. 

 Manila - A highly rated restaurant on google and many magazines too.  The food was on par with the reviews of many critics and it was good.  The restaurant is located in a bungalow nestled around many government offices and the Malacanang Palace. Squid Ink Paella  It was a nice dish with the squid ink soaked nicely into the rice and topped with calamaries.  Crispy Pata This is a crispy pork knuckle Pinakbet

Manila - We took a grab to Gloriata Mall for this famous and popular restaurant Manam .   This year is their 10th year in business and their food can be considered Filippino comfort food and almost always crowded.   We had to wait for 30 mins before we were served. Donny and I @ Manam Their signature sisig small dish of Sigsig A very crispy pig face full of pig's skin and lard, extremely unhealthy dish but ordered a dish for Donny to have a taste of Filippino favourite dish.   one bowl of garlic rice Kare-kare Oxtail Kare-kare is a Philippine stew that features a thick savory peanut sauce.    BBQ pork A tender pork loin BBQ and tasted good.   There was no smoky taste and was a bit sweet to the taste. Pork Sinigang Sinigang is a Filipino soup or stew characterised by its sour and savory taste. It is most often associated with tamarind and this dish was no different - nice to the taste with a good mixture of vegetables and pork. This meal ...

 Manila - One of the few coffee roastry in Manila.   Blue Wonder Coffee opened on 2017, and started to present their premium blended bean and outstanding single origin beans from different countries, which gives very complex aroma and flavour to the cup.    Blue Wonder roast their beans always to make it fresh and pack it in one-way valve, which is the best way to preserve the beans. It differentiate the bean from usual smoky and bitter coffee, you can experience and feel the smooth fragrance of coffee in Blue Wonder Coffee. Blue Wonder Coffee has 2 branches for the present. One along C5, Pasig, and 1 in Cartimar.   We went to the Pasig branch for our caffeine  experience. Coffees from all over the world Nice cozy environment for coffee

Manila - Another iconic dish - Lechon (roast suckling pig).   Elar's Lechon has a very high ratings on google and so we went to this restaurant - quite a distance of 45 mins through traffic to reach this place.    Elar's entrance There were at least 4 stores under this Elar's restaurant and only one in Manila.  They closed early and by 5-6pm - their roasted pork is sold out.    Lechon and vegetables When we entered the restaurant we did not know where to order as the waiters were busy tendering to orders and customers.   I asked one of the patron and told that we had to queue and order to this Chinese cashier man sitting at this pigeon hole.  Cash only transaction.   We order 1/4 Lechon, Chinese stir fried vegetable and Lumpia (fresh spring rolls).  Similar to Singapore Popiah - I liked Singapore Popiah better. The Lechon did not taste like the ones we had in Cebu and also many Filippinos have mentioned Cebu is still the b...

Manila -  SM Malls of Asia is the largest mall in Phiippines and the 6th largest mall in the world.  It is insanely huge and you can spend hours in this mall.  They even have a rifle and gun shop in the mall. Rifle shop  As Chinese New Year is approaching, this SM Mall is celebrating too as the owners are the Sy family - one of the richest Chinese Filippinos.

Manila - Philippines has a crazy number of casinos in Manila - a total of 20 casinos.   Local Filipinos are allowed into the casino to gamble without restrictions.    inside Okada casino I never gamble nor like casino because of the smoke and smell but it was a good experience to visit one here in Manila.  Okada is a casino resort and hotel complex located on the Entertainment City gaming strip in Parañaque, Metro Manila, Philippines. In 2007, with a total construction cost about ¥250 billion and spending seven years, Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada established and managed Okada Manila. Dark chocolate sundae

Manila - I brought Donny to experience Philippines seafood - first to pick out the fresh seafood and then choose the restaurant to cook our dishes.    We pick out one medium size mud crab, 2 large mantis prawns and 4 tiger prawns - worth P450.   Dampa seafood area There were rows of fishmongers selling their fresh seafood.  So, we choose which seafood we want and just pay for them.  Bring this seafood to the restaurant and they will cook it to the style we like and pay for the cooking only. We have to bargain with the fishmongers.  The Mantis prawns were kept in separate plastic water bottles as they tend to very aggressive and fight with each other. There were many restaurants at this place and we choose Huey Ying restaurant - a Filippino Chinese restaurant.    Huey Ying restaurant Stir-fried kangkong with Garlic BBQ prawns The prawns was so succulent and delicious and 2 each was a perfect portion for us. Sweet sour crabs Mantis prawns fried...

Manila - We took a grab from our hotel to St Augustin Church.  A beautiful church but there was a wedding and was not allowed to enter the church surrounded by numerous friends and relatives of the wedding couple dressed in fancy dresses.   St Augustin Church fancy Starbucks Beautiful cobblestones road Time flies, the last time I was walking around Intramuros was 2013 (10 years ago).   The last time, we took a Calesa - a horse driven cart but now it was an electric scooter and a young boy (16 years old) at the driver seat.  This young boy was an enthusiastic tour guide too, explaining the places along the way.   From Php 350 it came down to Php 200 for both of us - we kept saying not interested and price kept dropping. Pintong Real  Pintong Real (Royal Gate) this is one of the historical markers around the Intramuros city.   This was a prison used by the Spanish to incarcerate people. Pintong Real entrance Baluarte San Andres This ...