Wanderlust Diary

I am a blog follower, and certainly a lot of respectable foodie blogs can make your travel so worth while. Seouleats.com became my virtual tour guide for the best of the best in Seoul.

Time was my enemy and if I can stomach a lot of cuisines as much as I want, I think my trips are complete. Great pictures, lovely weather, spicy kimchi and smooth soju..this is Korea after all!

A sneak peak of the appetizers being served: Kimchis of all kinds, sauteed vegetables, fried potatoes, eggs etc. It’s almost

I easily plotted the dream food trip thru Daniel’s blog:

Hakatabunkko in Seoul
Best ramen I tried so far..made me want to go in Japan for the authentic thing. Thick flavorful broth with endless noodles…on a chilly day. YUMMY!

Long queue and small cramp place was all worth it.

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Intramuros is called the “Walled City” early on when the Philippines was under the Spanish rule. Only the aristocrats and government officials can live inside this small area. It’s one of the things that can bring you back to the 18th century as some of the landmark are still preserved and yet seeing cars along the small streets can seem quite ironic to reminisce with.

I love how I can still remember my grade school field trip here at the Fort Santiago. Fort Santiago was actually a prison hall which the famous Jose Rizal was detained before he was executed. You can see his golden last footsteps on the cement floor of entering the fort.

There are not much tourists around here that time I visited..so it feels cold around. Maybe this is comparable to Tower of London where some prisoners must have been tortured. Under a colony, I bet there are a lot of rebels around.

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I’m a typical self conscious girl, often guilt-ridden with the thought of food trips. I still cannot get over my six-month Beijing “study/tour” which had the most impact on my weight. I’m not so gifted with a faster metabolism, so I try to eat less at my hometown…BUT whenever I travel, I get to splurge on shopping and restaurant hopping.

I love trying out great restaurants in Cebu…the obvious reason..way cheaper!!!!

I happen to LOVE the local version of Binakol…it’s a heavenly treat of the good old chicken soup with buco juice. You can order this at one of the famous local restaurant called Laguna Garden Cafe at Terraces Ayala. My only comment about this, a little less salt please.

The area in Ayala is quite big and cozy, my only complain was the early closing. Fair enough…people here don’t often hang out after dining.

I also love their Scallop topped with creamy cheese as appetizer.

Our other orders were the usual Grilled squid, Crispy pata, Laing..nothing special here. But their Sizzling Bangus is quite interesting, with a lovely creamy garlic sauce on top. With all these orders and a bit more, usually our bill will just sum up between P1800 – P2000!

The other cheaper alternative for Filipino cuisine is Chikaan..a more straightforward choice of entrees usually suiting bigger groups. I saw a bigger branch in Parkmall and along a street (hmm not sure what street though). This is way better than Manila’s Gerry’s Grill or the likes. Way cheaper also!

I also can’t forget the Spanish restaurant just across Shangrila Mactan, called Hola España. I’m more of an Italian food lover but this restaurant’s paella was an unforgettable piece of work. I can’t get over their Paella Negra (Black Paella).
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Philippines has much untamed beautiful beaches waiting to be loved. Some of them lingers in the islands of Coron, Palawan. My friends booked a roundtrip ticket costing less than 2000 pesos from Manila (one from Philippine Airline, one from Cebu Pacific), making this travel budget friendly!

Knowing that Coron has not much luxurious resorts around yet (hint: Banyan Tree will be opening an integrated resort by 2012, and also Two Seasons) I’m sure in the next two years, people from all parts of the world will be flocking beaches in Palawan. Despite the bad publicity from the hostage crisis a couple of months back, I believe it’s still pretty safe here.

We booked a more upscale hotel called Coron Gateway hotel. This boutique resort has better rooms although clean water maybe scarce at point of your vacation. (I think they have scheduled delivery) The front part of our hotel is still under construction. You can practically walk around the some town. Aside from this hotel mishap, I strongly recommend this for tourist…until the big resorts starts to operate.

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