Our two day hopia quest

“Hopia is a popular Filipino bean filled pastry originally introduced by Fujianese immigrants in urban centres of the Philippines around the start of the American civil occupation. It is a widely-available inexpensive treat and a favoured gift for friends and relatives.” - Wikipedia

Monday, Abhie and I had a sudden craving for the diced hopia of Baker’s Fair, I cannot actually remember how and what triggered our sudden craving for the sweet filling and crunchy crust of the diced hopia from Baker’s Fair. All I remember is that we suddenly started talking about how good it was and how we want to eat it. Abhie want it hot and freshly cooked, and so do I, but I also want to eat it cold from the fridge because it becomes less sweet. On one sitting I can eat almost ten hopias so when I eat it hot, every additional piece I eat becomes sweeter than the last piece that I ate. This is the reason why I sometimes like it cold.

The only Baker’s Fair outlet I know is the one in Viramall in Greenhills. But it turns out that there is one near Abhie’s place. Instead of going to Greenhills, we decided to go to the Baker’s Fair in Puregold Tayuman. We were very excited when we left the office, our taste buds were likewise excited for the sweet hopia we were craving for the whole day. Finally, we arrived in Baker’s Fair, but to our disappointment there was only one piece of hopia left. One piece would not satisfy two people so we decided that we would just try on another day by going there earlier. Instead of going there empty handed, we just sought for alternatives, which were squid balls (Abhie calls them bola-bola), kikiam and gulaman.

Wednesday, the craving is still there. Now, we made sure to leave the office earlier. We left the office at 6:00 p.m. and arrived at Puregold an hour after. Finally! Freshly cooked hopia galore!

Abhie waiting for our hopia

She got shy when she saw the camera

Moulding the hopia into a dice shape

Packing our hopia

Hopia!

We bought one pack that contains 20 hopias for Php 75.00. At last, the craving for the sweet monggo filling and crunchy crust of the Baker’s Fair hopia has been satisfied.

Have gas, will travel: Laguna

This was the first "have gas, will travel" trip which I did March of this year. However, I was not able to post this before. Succeeding "have gas, will travel" trips were at Cebu and Bohol. I will post my adventures from these escapes when I get the time to leisurely write about them.

After watching the movie Elizabethtown, I decided to take the advice of Kirsten Dunst, to go on a road-trip alone. For my first “have gas, will travel” trip, I decided to go around Laguna since my family would be at Pansol, Laguna for the Holy Week and it would be a great take-off point for the towns in the circumference of Laguna de Bay. Supposedly, I’ll be taking the trip alone. But when my cousins learned of my plan, one-by-one, they decided to tag along. It then turned out that I’d become the tour guide for three couples who’ll go on a date around Laguna.

These were our stops: a.) Pila, Laguna, b.) Paete, Laguna, c.) Exotik Restaurant, d.) Japanese Garden, e.) Lake Caliraya, f.) Nagcarlan, Laguna.

Pila, Municipal Hall

Paete wood carvings

Adobong Sawa (python)

Japanese Garden

Lake Caliraya

Underground Cemetery

One thing I realized after this trip was that a road-trip would not be a road-trip until you get lost. =)

A Fat Michael's dinner

If there is a hobby that Abhie and I share, that would be eating. The other day, we were talking on what our plans for Saturday would be, we did not reach a decision, so I ended up saying, “if ever we don’t decide on what we would do, or where we would go to, I am definite that our Saturday would somehow involve eating”. We laughed and asked ourselves, were we really that fond of eating? Driven by my taste buds, I promised Abhie that I will bring her to restaurants that she have not yet been to. She has already introduced me to several restaurants in Malate and Binondo, so this is also a way for me to return the favor.

Tuesday night, I decided to surprise her by bringing her to Fat Michael’s. I gave her my car keys and told her to just drive following the directions I gave. She had no clue where we were going until we got lost. Apparently we just missed a turn; we should have turned right before the Makati View Apartelle and not to the street after. We both have not yet been to Fat Michael’s but I was familiar of the place because I have read it in Anton Diaz’s blog. Her brother has been to the place so Abhie was hearing me and her brother talking of the place.




We had the Fruit and Walnut salad for starters and their Seafood Paella, Beef Salpicao and Seared fish for our main course. After I have placed our order, Abhie asked the owner how long it would take for the food to be served. Hearing her ask the owner made me worry that she may already be hungry so I immediately apologized and asked her if she is hungry. Contrary to what I thought, Abhie asked how long it would take to cook the food because she saw on Fat Michael’s sign outside and at the back of the menu that says “we cook slow”. Just found her funny and cute when she asked the question. =)

Have gas, will travel: San Juan, Batangas

a spontaneous 'have gas, will travel' trip to the beach despite the threat of tropical depression gener. fortunately for us, it did not rain. though the waves were a bit rough when we swam at the beach. the morning drive to san juan could have been more relaxing if it was not for the mas que nada song that kept playing over and over; i really have to get a new radio for my car. we have nothing against bep but it came to a point that the song is already irritating.. haha. we arrived a few minutes before 11 a.m. and upon registering, one of the staff pointed to us where lunch would be served. i saw several people already in the eating area but i thought that they were probably just staying there to have a chat with their peers. we did not know that they were already being served lunch. tired from the drive, i took a nap first until i was woken up by one of the staff inviting us to eat lunch. since we were the last to have lunch, they have already separated food for us.

for lunch, they served us grilled fish, menudo, chopsuey and chicken. after our filling lunch they served sweetened bananas with sago for dessert






the staff were very accomodating and the reception to the place was very warm so i commend the service of la luz. overall, i had a fun relaxing time, even if it was just a day trip, and would definitely go back to this place.