Sentro 1771 @ Greenbelt 5

 Manila - For lunch, I brought Edmund and Willy to a Sentro 1771; Filipino fine dinning restaurant and the food is exquisite and delicious.

Kare Kare

Kare Kare is a type of Filipino stew with a rich and thick ground peanuts, oxtail, oxfeet, tripe and native vegetables.   The oxtail was so tender and the dish is delicious and fragrant.

Sinigang Na Corned Beef

Sinigang na Corned Beef is so rich in flavours and the tamarind sourness was just perfect.   The beef has been simmered for a long time and it just melted in my mouth with tenderness.

Stir Fried Ampalaya and Malunggay 

Stir-fried Ampalaya (Bitter Gourd) was thinly sliced and cooked with garlic, onions, chicken, pork and shrimp. Malunggay leaves (Moringa)on the other hand comes from a tropical plant grown in Philippines that can reach a height of 9 meters. 

Moringa plant

Moringa is a very nutritious plant and its benefits have been acknowledged by nutritionist, dietitians, and nutrition researchers. Considered a miracle plant, the tea derived from the leaves of this tree has high levels of flavanoids or polyphenols. These are antioxidants that can help detoxify your body and strengthen the immune system.

Rated GG

Galunggong (called Round Scad) fillets fried in garlic oil and topped with browned garlic.  

Maja Blanca

Maja Blanca is a Filipino dessert made from coconut milk, cornstarch, and sugar. Often called Coconut Pudding.

Banana Camote UnCue

Perfectly caramelized saba banana and sweet potato.  

Delicious meal and a definitely revisit each time I am in Manila.

Gerry's Grill restaurant @ SM Mall of Asia

 Manila - The last time I was at Gerry's Grill was with Lesley 6 years ago.   Dinner was at Gerry's Grill and the quality of food still remains very good, Edmund and Willy love it.

Tinomok

Tinomok is ground meat wrapped in Gabi (Taro or Yam) leaves then drizzled with warm coconut milk. It's amazingly delectable and pleasant on the plate.  

Grill Tuna belly steak

Sinigang na Hipon

Sinigang na Hipon is a type of Filipino sour soup, wherein shrimp is used as the main ingredient. This dish also includes a variety of vegetables such as daikon radish, snake beans, okra, and eggplant.  Tamarind makes the soup tasted sour. 

Crispy Pata

Crispy Pata or crispy pork leg is a popular Filipino pork dish. This succulent pork dish goes well with spicy vinegar.  

Enjoying our delicious dinner

Filipino famous Halo Halo

This desert was served with Yam ice cream.  It was a good dinner.  

National Museum of Fine Art

Manila - Since had some time after the walking street food tour of Binondo, we decided to visit the National Museum of Fine Arts  There was already a queue forming when we reach the Museum.   It was a beautifully maintained Museum showcasing the artistic talents of Filipinos.

These Filipino's paintings are works of art usually made from acrylic, oil, or watercolors applied on a support that is usually paper or canvas. The National Museum of the Philippines has numerous paintings in its collection showcasing the country’s rich artistic heritage.

Dr. Jose Rizal was very flexible that he had so many talents. He made various paintings, sketches as well as sculptures.

Rizal wrote a sad message to this newly wedded wife "To my dear and unhappy wife,  Josephine, December 30th 1896"

Stained glasses from a church

An impressive paining along the 3 walls

This is a higher elevation view from the next floor.

We spent about 2 hrs walking around the museum, very tired but a fruitful day.

Binondo Food waking trip

 Manila - After our hearty breakfast, we took a grab to Binondo.  

Binondo is the Chinatown area of Manila. The name comes from the Tagalog word binondoc, which means ‘mountainous’ due to its hilly landscape. Founded by Spanish Governor Luis Perez Dasmarinas in 1594, it was originally meant for Chinese immigrants who converted to Catholicism, making it the world’s oldest Chinatown district.

1st stop:  The grab driver stops us at Binondo church - an ancient Catholic place of worship. This church is also known as Quiapo Church or the Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz, dedicated to the first Filipino saint.

Entrance of the Binondo church

Beautify Binondo Church

I was not able to take a photo of the interior as the church service was on going - at the entrance we were greeted by an usher and spoke to us in Hokkien.  I replied to her - so cool.   

2nd stop was Sincerity Cafe & Restaurant - claimed to have the best chicken in Philippines.    The chicken is considered on an expensive side scaled to Singapore standard and it was bland and lots of flour around the chicken parts.   Singapore prawn paste chicken will beat this 'Sincerity chicken' hands down.

Willy and I outside Sincerity chicken

Sincerity friend chicken

Oyster omelette

chicken and oyster omlette

This oyster omelette taste is also not my liking - it is cooked with carrots and and onions and not the why I am used to eating Hokkien oyster omelette.

Calamansi juice drink

3rd stop - Entrance of Binondo Chinatown welcome gate

Our 4th stop along the famous Ongpin road was the Roman Ongpin memorial 

A short walk was our 5th Stop, Eng Bee Tin - a traditional Chinese delicacies founded in 1912.   So famous in Philippines, you can find their shops around many malls in Manila.  

Pork Floss Hopia

Moon cakes

Our 6th was the most famous Shanghai Fried Siopao, 

There was already a long queue for this delicious siopao - so juicy on the inside.

Our 7th and final Binondo stop, was a Lumpia shop - Binondo Style Fresh Lumpia, or Chinese Style Fresh Spring Roll and is a popular street food in Binondo.  

It’s also a dish common within the South East Asian Region specially in those countries with a heavy Chinese influence. In Singapore it is popiah. Different name but mostly similar in composition where thinly sliced vegetables together with seasonings are wrapped in a thin flour skin wrapper. This dish originated in Fujian province of China and dates back to the 17th century. Popiah, which means “thin snack” or “pancake” in Teochew and that what exactly this dish is.  

holding up our Lumpia 

Unlike the Singapore dish, the Filippino Lumpia tasted bland and had more carrots in the ingredients.   

Lumpia

Seacape Village - seafood paradise near Sofitel Manila hotel

Manila - There was a dampa style seafood market and restaurant - Seascape Village - a short walking distance from Sofitel Manila.   Apart from the fast food, fine dinning and buffet - there is a Filipino style of dinning call Dampa.  

What is Dampa? Dampa is a Filipino word that means “hut.” However, it is most commonly known in Manila as a place where you can get fresh seafood.   You choose your seafood that you want to eat from the market and pay for it.  Then take the purchased seafood to the restaurant to cook it to your taste.  When in Manila, this is an experience to enjoy.

Bought the crabs from this market stall

Seafood galore from this market stall

Then brought it to this restaurant to cook for us

coconut water

coconut store

A very local taste unlike the sweet Thai coconut but still it was refreshing.

Stir fried kangkong with garlic

Half of the prawns were made into tempura

The prawns tasted so fresh and was cooked the Japanese tempura style - the batter was not thick and tasted very good with the soy sauce dip.

Steamed fresh prawns

Grill squid stuffed with tomatoes and onions

Crab cooked with tang hoon

Salted egg crab

It was a delicious meal - this restaurant is worth another visit.  

Post-covid Manila - Sofitel Manila

 Manila - It has been 2 1/2 years since I am back in Manila - with the airports opening up and making travel to Manila easier if you are fully vaccinated with a booster jab.   Prior to my trip, I took a 2nd booster just to be on the safe side.   

I flew Scoot to manila as the price on SQ was more than twice and for the price of SGD 400+, I had meals and a chosen seat closer to the exit door.    My colleagues Willy and Edmund were on the same flight as me.   It was full flight and it was packed and it was minimalist flight.  The seat distance seems shorter than on SQ, there were no inflight entertainment, and the food trolleys were to serve chargeable meals and drinks.   I order food prior to boarding as it is much cheaper and you had a wider selection - it tasted good too.

Beef Kway Teow, chocolate biscuit and a bottle of water

When the plane landed I was taken a back with the utter disorderly the passengers were.   The stewardess were no where in sight, all the passengers were shoving to standup and take their bags.   I am not sure that they know the passengers cannot alight all at once and all the shoving and standing up first does not make difference <sarcasm intended>.

After we exited the plane all the passengers were stopped by airport authorities with no explanation given - I notice that other passengers from other planes were allowed to passed by us.   After waiting for a while, we decided to join the passengers from another plane had overtaken us - we were stopped by airport authorities and asked whether we had e-travel done - we had it completed prior to arrival and we were shown to another queue.   This led us into another queue to verify our vaccination status and after that immigration.   There was no system to simplify the process.

We turned on the e-sim purchased in Singapore and it worked like a breeze and booked our grab to Sofitel Manila.  

Sofitel Manila pool deck

Kid's pool

Chill zone to lie down and relax

Jogging path

There is a jogging path around the Hotel - one round is 500m.  Some mornings, Edmund and I took a morning brisk walk around the hotel many times for exercise.