Pinoy Food

If you were wondering what Filipino food is, The Gastronomer covered Pinoy food from our trip on her blog. I don't think Pinoy food is a very well known cuisine. We had a chance to have some authentic food and it was great! Check it out: Pinoy Food on Gastronomy.

Philippines: Sabang (July 6-9)

On Monday morning, C2 and I headed out to Sabang, two hours north of Puerto Princessa by car. On our way to Sabang, we passed by Vietville, a village with only 7 remaining Vietnamese families, refugees from the war; most have either emigrated to North America or been sent back to Vietnam. Sabang’s main attraction, the Subterranean River, is renowned to be the longest river-traversed tunnel in the world.


On our way to Sabang we encountered this bus/jeepney. Talk about full capacity!

The whole tour of the river only takes 45 minutes but it is very unique. It is pitch black except for one flashlight in the front. The tour guide/navigator is in the back. He is very entertaining. He screams out where to point the flashlight and what the stalactite and stalagmite formations resemble such as bacon, mushroom, a sexy Sharon Stone and obviously, different people from the Bible. The cave was full of bats and I tried to shelter my camera from drops of water (or maybe they were bat droppings…). I’m not sure the pictures really capture the experience but here goes.


All decked out in safety equipment to go underground. Behind me is the entry to the cave.

Bats were flying everywhere and I was lucky to catch one with my camera.

Formation from the top is stalactite (and bottom is stalagmite - sometimes they meet to form columns).

I don’t remember what this was supposed to look like but it’s cool anyway.

This resembles a bird.

Outside of the cave were wild monkeys that were very much accustomed to humans. One tried to whack my camera away when I tried to take its picture. They do not like paparazzi! Supposedly they also like to grab plastic bags. I was lucky enough to spot atop a tree a baby monkey and its mother.

In Sabang, we met up with The Gastronomer and The Astronomer, who fell in love with the beach there. Who wouldn’t fall for the beautiful turquoise water? The sand was also perfectly fine and soft. The water was clear very far out. So we decided to stay in Sabang for the remainder of our stay in Palawan. We stayed at Michi’s but went swimming to the nicer beach at Mary’s next doors. The two owners are cousins.

The huts we stayed in had very basic amenities: electricity from 6-10 pm (run by a generator) and cold water. This is definitely not what I’m used to. I usually have the AC turned on all night in HCMC! As well, this meant we had to walk in the dark in the evening; C2 would light our path with her cell phone to avoid buffalo excrement on our path to our hut! The up side to this was that the sky was so clear, we could see millions of stars!

Michi’s “Cottages”.

This was our simple hut.

Beautiful palm trees by the beach.

View of the beach from my lounge chair.

Local kids taking a dip.

I tried to catch the sunset but it was behind the mountain.

Some pink morning colours.

On our last full day in the Philippines, we decided to hike to the Subterranean River because The Gastronomer and The Astronomer had not seen it. However, we realized we had to cross a section of water before starting the hike. Not wanting to get wet and then having to hike (ok! I’m wimpy! I also had an injured ankle from our volcano hike!), I backed out and spent my day by the beach. Supposedly, the hike was a two hour affair; I’m glad I didn’t go!

Last glimpse at the beach by Mary’s before we left.

The day of our departure, we were told that the bus back to Puerto Princessa was leaving at 10 am but we should be there at 9 am because it would just leave when it was full. We obviously did not know how Philippino time works!! We arrived at 9 am and it was confirmed that the bus would leave at 10 am. We sat in the bus well past 11 am; that's when we realized that this bus might not leave on time for us to make our flight! Supposedly, there was an issue with a lack of driver?! We finally got out to make alternate plans to rent a minivan. The Gastronomer and The Astronomer ordered breakfast. At 12: 15 pm, the bus decides to leave and we hopped on. The bus ride was over 2.5 hours, stopping for everything: people threw nipa on the roof, a tire,… Our two hour window for lunch diminished to no window but at least we made our flight!

All in all, I had a lovely time in the Philippines. I think it is an underrated destination and should be considered when in South East Asia.

The bus that would not leave...

The Gastronomer has her breakfast to go.

Philippines: Island Hopping in Palawan (July 5)

On Saturday afternoon, we flew out to Puerto Princessa, the capital of Palawan. Palawan is an island southwest of Manila. It is regarded as The Last Frontier and so we selected Palawan over Boracay. Although Boracay has beautiful beaches, it is known as a party town. Palawan is supposed to be more untouched.


The baggage carrousel was outside!


Pristine Beach. After inquiring whether there was a beach nearby at the hotel, we were told there was Pristine Beach. Unfortunately, it did not look too pristine!


C2 and I walked by a seaside village and this little boy followed us. He was very intrigued by the camera. He didn’t speak any English though. So cute!


We hit a Philippino restaurant to taste some of their specialties, including Crispy Pata, fried pork knuckles. The Gastronomer is enjoying every last bit of it. She’s not The Gastronomer for nothing!

On our second day in Palawan, C2 and I decided to go island hopping and snorkelling in Honda Bay (or Hunda Bay – Hunda meaning deep sea in Spanish). The Gastronomer and The Astronomer decided to head north to Sabang, having already experienced snorkelling in Nha Trang.

On our tour was our tour guide Aissa and two native Philippino from Manila: Ariel and Lai. We visited three islands. We spent the morning and had lunch on Pandan Island, its name stemming from the pandan trees. The beautiful island was small enough to walk around the perimeter in an hour. In the afternoon, we went to Snake Island where there was a dedicated space for snorkelling. Surprisingly, there were a lot of fish, especially if you fed them bread. On Starfish Island was an area with corals that was also great for snorkelling.

Most of the islands in Honda Bay are privately owned and visitors must pay a fee to visit. What’s amazing is that most Palawans don’t even know about these islands. Unfortunately, it’s a case of tourists getting to enjoy attractions rather than locals.


On our way to Pandan Island.


Our lovely guide Aissa!


Pandan Island from afar. The pandan trees are on the other side of the island!

Here are the pandan trees. The fruit looks like a warped pineapple!

I don’t know what this fruit is but its colour really popped in the background of beach colours.

The water was a beautiful turquoise. I wish I was there now!

Lunch comprised of rice, vegetables (eggplant was my favourite dish), chicken, squid and grilled tuna. There was a salad of tomatoes and salted eggs. Philippinos love salted eggs! All this for four people! We asked the tour guide to join us but she was shy about it and just picked at her food. After we finished, what was left went to the boat men (they wouldn’t join us either) and finally, their leftovers went to the dogs!

Our boat hit a shallow area where there were tons of starfish! These ones were by the beach. I tried to “rescue” them by throwing them farther into the water, but people kept picking them up and taking pictures with them over their heads. Don’t they realize they are living creatures!

Starfish Island.

I invited Ariel, Lai and Aissa for dinner. We went to Badjao Seafront restaurant which was close to Pristine Beach. Our new Philippino friends were lovely people and even insisted on paying for dinner (how embarrassing… I invited them!)

After dinner all five of us jumped into one tricycle because the restaurant was rather remote. Although the tricycles here are a bit roomier than in Manila, it was still a tight squeeze!

Philippines: Intramuros and Randomness in Manila (July 5)

On Saturday morning, we parted ways to explore different areas in Manila: The Gastronomer and The Astronomer went to a food market, C2 went to visit the Chinese cemetery and I went to Intramuros. Intramuros is a walled city that was founded in the 16th century. I figured I could see some interesting Spanish influenced architecture. This area actually reminded me of the French Quarters in New Orleans.

Here are some of my favourite pictures.

I usually would never go in a horse drawn carriage but I twisted my ankle on my way down from the hike the previous day so I wanted to take it easy. I swear I'm not one of those people!

San Augustin Church, the oldest church in the Philippines.

Manila Cathedral.

Lions in front of the Cathedral seem to be an Asian influence?

Old buildings are resurfaced to look nice but maintain their original architecture.

Casa Manila.

An old convent.

Supposedly the Japanese held prisoners shackled down here. The prisoners would drown when water from the nearby River Pasig submerged it.

A section of the wall.

There’s even a McDonald’s within the walled city…!

City Hall outside the walls.

Here are more pictures of Manila’s unique types of transportations: the jeepney and tricycle. Not only are these unique, but each is also uniquely decorated to express the owner’s passions or hobbies.

Jeepney (mix between a bus and a jeep) is Philippines' most popular mode of public transportation. Originally, they were made from US military jeeps. When you get on, you just pay the driver if you're next to him; if not, you just give your money to the customer next to you, the money is passed on to the driver and any change is passed back the same way! The red one is my favourite one! Totalled decked out.

View of a jeepney from a jeepney.

Tricycle. People ride in the side car and behind the driver when the car is full. I guess it would be equivalent to Vietnam’s xe om.

Finally, most Philippino's are extremely devoted to Christianity. This could be seen everywhere. Every taxi had a few statues of Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. There were also Christian idols in the shopping malls. The jeepneys' names usually sounded Christian too, such as Almighty God above!

Enough said.

I got a glimpse of Jesus Christ at the intersection.

Lonely Planet said there were not many vegetarian options in the Philippines, but they do have Great Lenten specials!