Jay Lagare

General

Chef Tatung

By on Sunday, January 19, 2014

During one of our grocery runs at the Savemore inside Acacia Estates, Michelle noticed a sign to some restaurant leading to a side street. So we decided to check it out. The restaurant turned out to be Chef Tatung, a restaurant who made its name by utilizing native ingredients and recipes in novel creations. We weren’t feeling very adventurous and just ordered liempo and chicken. Not too many ways to cook those. But they’re good, especially the liempo. We did try the pichi-pichi with queso de bola. Now that was a novel and awesome take on the traditional pichi-pichi! Definitely coming back to try the other items on the menu.

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General

Little Tokyo

By on Saturday, January 18, 2014

Along the traffic-congested Pasong Tamo aka Chino Roces in Makati, near Makati Square and Mile Long Arcade is a place called Little Tokyo. It hosts some of the best Japanese restaurants in the city. No, that’s not based on my not-so-discerning taste buds but rather from the buzz as well as observation: you see more than the usual Japanese diners. With quite a few restaurants, every visit is an adventure. Pricey but, if you like Japanese food, worth it. Today, Jeanne, Michelle tried one of the restaurants that was still open (most close after lunch and then reopen again for dinner). I had zaru soba and Kirin beer while Michelle had mixed sashimi and Jeanne had tuna teppanyaki. Yummy! Till next time, Little Tokyo!

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General

Road Trip

By on Friday, December 27, 2013

Went with the family on a year-ender road trip. James and I drove our cars in probably some of the best places to drive in Luzon.

  1. NLEx, SCTEx, TPLEx – Ripping through the smooth tarmac along the expressways. They sure shaved a lot of travel time and are fun by themselves.
  2. MacArthur, Manila North Road – Relaxed cruising along the roads to Vigan, Laoag, and Pagudpud. There are just the annoying slow trucks and buses that were a chore to pass.
  3. Naguilian Road – We reached Naguilian Road to Baguio at dusk. By the time we were at its twists, turns and uphill grades, it was dark already. Crazy. And fun!
  4. Santo Tomas Road – We missed a turn heading down from Baguio and went into a drive up the clouds. Twists, turns, and uphill grades in the fog. More fun!
  5. Kennon Road – A leisurely and picturesque route down from Baguio. Good thing the weather was good.
  6. Guimba-Victoria Road – Rally Stage! Tried to enter TPLEx at Rosales but it turned out to be still under construction. Instead of going back, we proceeded to Umingan-Rosales Road and then Nueva Ecija-Pangasinan Road all the way to Guimba. The two roads were pretty good. At Guimba, we then took the Guimba-Victoria Road. It felt like a road everyone forgot. There were asphalt, concrete, and dirt sections in various states of disrepair. Wished I had an STI or an Evo.

A good close the year in terms of driving.

 

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General

La Paz Sand Dunes

By on Monday, December 23, 2013

Believe it or not, there are actually sand dunes in the country and they’re in Ilocos. I didn’t know about them until fairly recently. I really should go out more. Activities include sightseeing, 4×4 rides, ATV rides, and sand boarding. We all rode the 4×4 and even Jeanne enjoyed the slow climbs, banks, and fast descents. She didn’t enjoy the sand boarding as much though as she (and I) ate some sand on our first (and her only) run. I gave it a few more gos and stopped as soon as I successfully made a standing run. We then went to La Preciosa at Laoag for dinner. Jack treated us to another round of yummy Ilocano food and one of the best carrot cakes ever. Thanks, Jack!

Ilocos Sand Boarding Adventures – Glenn and Donna Guerrero at  0908-885-3669 / 0910-947-4129 / 0915-456-1133 / [email protected]

 

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General

Pagudpud

By on Monday, December 23, 2013

While we were at Laoag, we made a trip to nearby (not really) tourist spots:

  1. Patapat Viaduct – a long winding coastal bridge in Pagudpud
  2. Maira-ira Beach – also known as Blue Lagoon. It’s not exactly a lagoon but rather a cove. But it does have blue water and white sand. I think it is better than Saud beach but recent development is taking its toll. There’s a zipline over the water! It was also cold and windy when we got there so we ended up just eating at Hannah’s Beach Resort
  3. Windmills at Bangui – these are windmills stretching along the coast and generating electricity for the area. We stopped over at Kang Kang Windmill Cafe which has a good view of the windmills as well as refreshments. While maneuvering for a good photo angle, my car got stuck in the soft sand (yesh). Fortunately, the guys at the cafe we’re familiar with the problem and quickly extricated the car.

We we’re actually planning to visit a few other sites:

  1. Kapurpurawan Rock formation at Burgos
  2. Cape Bojeador Lighthouse also at Burgos
  3. Pasuqin Church
  4. Bacarra Church
  5. Sinking Bell Tower at Laoag

But we were running out of daylight for our 4×4 ride and sandboarding at La Paz. And that we didn’t want to miss!

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