Frenz Fries

Choose to see the world through optimistic eyes

2012-02-01T00:57:00.000-08:00

Love yourself first and
everything else falls into line.

The 7 Stones of Boracay

2012-01-31T02:19:00.000-08:00

Finding true love could take some time
but finding stones could take just a day.

That’s what I learned from my recent holiday vacation in this new and beguiling resort in Bulabog. Unbeknown to everybody, there are seven stones scattered all over the place. The quest is easy - you just have to find and gather them one by one.

The first stone I found is the stone of opulence. A Fuego boutique hotel and resort simply implies luxury. The villas, the pool, and the Jacuzzi are all exquisite and of immense beauty. Each villa actually costs more than my annual salary for the next 20 years of my life.

The second stone I found is the stone of seclusion. Away from the overcrowded White Beach, the resort offers privacy and solitude far from the madding crowd.

The third stone I found is the stone of adventure. For its consistent strong wind and shallow water all-year round, the Bulabog beachfront is always a busy action scene of wind surfing and kite boarding adventure.

The fourth stone I found is the stone of sweetness. The food of 7th Note Cafe is delectable. And explosion is nothing to be feared of especially if it is their must-try sweet “Chocolate Eruption”.

The fifth stone I found is the stone of love. Even in isolation, with their free wi-fi, you can stay connected with loved ones anywhere in the world.

The sixth stone I found is the stone of quality service. The staffs are friendly, attentive and always wear a smile, more than enough to compensate for the rain.

The seventh stone I found is the stone of luck. The resort’s badge which is inukshuk (an Inuit word for stone structure in the likeness of man) traditionally served as guideposts for travelers letting them know that they were on the right path. True enough, the road leading to the resort is a less travelled but worthwhile one. The number 7 is a lucky number and by sheer luck and a matter of connection, lunch was on them.

Different guests visiting the resort may find different kinds of stones. One may either choose to throw them away or build something special out of them. In my experience, I put them all together like an inukshuk and the outcome is what truly defines 7 Stones – a posh and beautiful home away from home.

It’s good to feel like seven again.

7 Stones Boracay Suites
Bulabog Beach, Balabag, Boracay
Tel. No.: (036) 288-1601

Katre

2012-01-30T01:22:00.000-08:00

“Joy and sorrow are inseparable… together they come and when one sits alone with you… remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.”

- Khalil Gibran

Foie gras with green salad

Grilled mahi-mahi

Vegetarian pizza

Linguine ala catalan

Carrot cake

Right after dinner, I assure… you’re going to bed happy.

Katre Mediterranean Fusion Cuisine

103 Dr. Lascano St., Brgy. Laging Handa

Quezon City

Tel. No.: 373-4705

I think even Greek gods wouldn’t approve of building casitas in Santorini

2012-01-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

A hotel with an identity crisis.

But beautiful still.

Estancia Resort Hotel

Zone II, Brgy. San Jose

Tagaytay, Cavite

Pan de Amerikana: The first upside down-theme restaurant in South East Asia

2012-01-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

Nakakatakot sigurong mahulugan ng grand piano.
Pero sa pagkain, hindi nakakatakot ang kanilang presyo.
High 5!

Caesar’s salad

T-bone steak, Everlasting and Bicol laing

Pinaputok na tilapia

Halo-halo, watermelon and mango shakes

Pan de Amerikana
118 Katipunan Ave., White Plains
Katipunan, Quezon City

Abe’s Farm

2012-01-24T20:49:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time in a not so far away town of Magalang, a boy first saw the light of day and the majestic beauty of Mt. Arayat. He would become the famed writer, artist and bon vivant Emilio Aguilar Cruz, more popularly known as Abe, a Kapampangan term for a friend.

This is his four-hectare country home farm, a repository of his artworks and memorabilia, a gourmet’s haven and a place so peaceful and verdant it feels like coming home to an old friend.

E. Aguilar Cruz Museum

Arobung kamaru

Binukadkad na pla-pla with balo-balo and mustasa

Claude's dream and Sikreto ni Maria

Spa Village

Abe’s Farm

98 Livestock Village, Brgy. Ayala

Magalang, Pampanga

Tel. No.: 0917-8085187

Joy is a choice but it isn’t an easy choice

2012-01-24T02:34:00.000-08:00

“I’m getting married,” she said.

Those words are usually uttered with excitement and supreme happiness. After all, she already found the one she wants to spend forever with. The “one” everybody is searching for but only a few have really found in their lifetime.

“You don’t sound happy,” I said.

We both know the back story. She’s in love with someone else. But she’s not willing to take risks. She’s afraid of leaving her comfort zone for an exciting but precarious territory.

“What should I do?” she asked.

I have walked with her in this predicament, hoping in the end she would choose the one she really wants to be with for the rest of her life. I’ve asked her once who the first person she thinks about before going to sleep and after waking up, the one she sees herself getting old with. The answer was not her fiancé.

“You already made a choice and you are old enough to make the right decision,” I answered.

The answers to her problem are given. Executing them is another matter. And the way the heart works oh well it is one of the strangest riddles in the world.

Kamana Sanctuary, Subic

2012-01-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

Thou art to me a delicious torment.

Centris Walk

2012-01-19T18:11:00.000-08:00

“Sharing one umbrella, we have to hold each other,
round the waist to keep together, you ask me why I’m smiling-
it’s because I’m thinking, I want it to rain forever.”
- Vicki Feaver

Balaisdaan

2012-01-18T00:23:00.000-08:00

Peace is like finding home amidst a palaisdaan.

Balai sa San Juan Resort
Abung, San Juan, Batangas
Tel. No.: 240-2927

8 Suites by Fat Jimmy’s, Tagaytay

2012-01-16T17:36:00.000-08:00

No matter how hard you try, you can’t make people around you happy all the time. Stressful ayt?

Better than a hundred meaningless places are eight suites that will let you de-stress, experience honeymoon the way it should be or soothe a heart so jet-lagged.

You don’t need someone to complete you

2012-01-11T23:29:00.000-08:00

You only need someone to accept you completely.

Silya + Sili = Art house of spice and comfort

2012-01-09T00:21:00.000-08:00

"When fortune calls, offer her a chair."

- Yiddish proverb

Green salad

Crispy binagoongan

Savory sirloin flakes

Creamy water chestnut balls

Silya’t Sili
#52 Katipunan, Whiteplains
Quezon City
Tel. No.: 439-9294

Villa Crisanta

2012-01-06T02:10:00.000-08:00

“You have succeeded in life when all you really want

is only what you really need.”

- Vernon Howard

I take relish in simple but abundant blessings of nature – the mahogany trees remaining sturdy, the flowers in full bloom, and the butterflies hovering over them.

Though I ought to be somewhere, I let myself silently drawn by the stronger gravitational pull of what I really want. And in this serene garden place, I discovered that at night the moon shines the brightest and when I woke up the next morning to the birds’ happy chirping I’m glad to know that in this world of chaos and madness, love actually is still around.

Villa Crisanta

Brgy. Sta. Cruz, Rosario, Batangas

Tel. No.: 0917-8398821, 0932-1544797

There is nothing wrong in showing care for someone

2012-01-04T02:15:00.000-08:00

What’s wrong is expecting them to do the same.

Any damsel will fall for the White Knight

2012-01-02T00:18:00.000-08:00

Pasta waffle with bacon

Spicy shrimp pasta

Norwegian salmon in lemon butter

Floating mango crepes swirled chocolate on top

Coco Bango Café
White Knight Hotel Intramuros
Plaza San Luis Complex, General Luna St.
cor. Urdaneta St., Intramuros, Manila
Tel. No.: 526-6536, 526-6181

Monaco Suites de Boracay

2011-12-30T08:27:00.000-08:00

You think I’m happy because there are so many emotions I choose not to show.

Nonetheless, I was a happy pauper who found sanctuary in contemporary Mediterranean-inspired villas with a dolphin-shaped pool and a live cinema of water sports adventure fit for a prince.

Happy New Year!

Pangihan Cave

2011-12-28T08:03:00.000-08:00

“They know where happiness lies, not in a cave,
but in love and the freedom to give and take
what has been there all along.”
- Amy Tan

With stalactites, stalagmites, crystals and a plethora of bats, every chamber of Pangihan is a world of wonder.

From Caticlan airport or jetty port, Pangihan in Malay, Aklan could be reached via 15 minute tryke ride (P100). Entrance fee is P50 and hiring of tour guide costs P150. Spelunking in Pangihan makes a good prelude to your Boracay escapade.

Tourne by Chef Sandralyn Hataway

2011-12-26T06:47:00.000-08:00

Tournée (pronounced tour-nay) is French for the word "turned." The term refers to a method of cutting and peeling root vegetables into oblong, seven-sided football-like shapes. Aside from its aesthetic element, the classic French technique helps vegetables to cook evenly.

Soyami chips with salsa

Tourne house salad

Ostrich pesto pasta

Red velvet cake

Dear Chef Sandra,

Most of the time, I use carrots and potatoes as main ingredients whenever I cook, but I never tournee-d them.

I love the whimsical feel of your place, the eye-candy writings on the wall, and the clean open kitchen. I love how you and your team painstakingly prepare and arrange the food; they not only made my palate merry but my eyes, as well. But above all, I love how you unabashedly showed love to your staff. I was secretly watching when you gave them presents and I saw how such small gesture made them feel happy.

I was there a day before Christmas. And I didn’t regret that a few hours before my flight for my holiday break, I chose to spend it at Tourne.

They say money can’t buy happiness. But it can buy your red velvet cake and that is like happiness.

Frenz Fries

Tourne

Fort Strip, 7th Ave. cor. 26th St.

Bonifacio High, Taguig City

Tel. No.: 555-0267

Sometimes, you need to forget people you love just so you can go on living

2011-12-24T16:27:00.000-08:00

“To live in this world, you must be able to do three things – to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and when the time comes to let it go, to let it go.”

- Mary Oliver

Balay Dionisia

2011-12-23T00:30:00.000-08:00

A cozy place with crystal clear swimming pool, jacuzzi, and amoy-simoy ng Pasko na hangin, Balay Dionisa is ideal for romantic get-away or intimate private party like our traditional PPRD Christmas Party.

In behalf of PPRD, we thank the generosity of our hosts, Nicole, and Mr. and Ms. Pangilinan. The place is cute and the food (especially alimango, hipon, tionalang manok, chicken inasal, tinapa, buko pandan with lychee and Tequilla Rose) made us all merry-full. Happy holidays!

Balay Dionisia Private Resort

Cecilia De Montagna Exclusive, Purok 1

Pansol, Calamba City, Laguna

By reservation only

Tel. No.: 0915-8675705, 0919-3342213 or (046) 437 2916

2011 Month of Overseas Filipinos

2011-12-19T21:34:00.000-08:00

Maraming dahilan kung bakit umaalis ang isang tao. Pero marahil, may malaking kinalaman dito ang pagmamahal.

Para sa aking tatay, sa aking mga kamag-anak, mga malalapit na kaibigan, at sa lahat ng mahigit siyam na milyong Pilipinong nag-sakripisyo maging dayuhan sa ibang bansa dahil sa responsibilidad, pangarap, at pagmamahal, maligayang pagbati dahil ang buwan ng Disyembre ay buwan ng mga Pilipino na nasa ibayong dagat.

This year, the Inter-Agency Committee on the Celebration on the MOF, chaired by Philippine Migrants Rights Watch and co-chaired by Commission on Filipinos Overseas, prepared five major activities for migrants and their families:

Free one-time screening of Emir in SM Cinemas courtesy of

Film Development Council of the Philippines and SM Global Pinoy

Mini-concert featuring UP Singing Ambassadors

First Migration Advocacy and Media Awards Ceremony

Forum on Climate Change and Arab Springs

Fun Run sponsored by PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG and SSS

Note: Sa lahat ng tumulong, especially kay Arianne and Nicole, thanks. Some photos courtesy of Rod.

Manila American Cemetery and Memorial

2011-12-13T21:06:00.000-08:00

Most everything you think

you know about me

is nothing more

than memories.

PS.

Ngayong Disyembre, andaming taong ang sarap ilibing ng buhay sa sementeryo.

Casa Roces

2011-12-09T02:22:00.000-08:00

No matter how rich you are, you can never buy back the past.

But if you have a little money, you can always step back in time as you enter the almost one hundred year-old ancestral home (turned café and gallery) of the Roces clan, the country’s print media mogul who built their empire on La Vanguardia, Tribune, Liwayway, Daily Mirror, and the Manila Times.

Warm breaded goat cheese salad

Oven baked salmon Wellington

Pan fried sole ala beure noisette

Bulalo steak ala pobre

Basque apple tart

Casa Roces

1153 J.P. Laurel corner Aguado Sts.

San Miguel, Manila

Tel. No.: 735-5896, 708-4020

Sometimes, the best way not to get your heart broken is to pretend you don’t have one

2011-12-08T01:08:00.000-08:00

Remember, no one can make you feel
inferior or useless, without your consent.

The Sierra Madre Country Club

2011-12-05T20:04:00.000-08:00

If you love me still,
will you love me moving?

The Sierra Madre Country Club
Km. 56 Marcos Highway
Mayagay, Tanay, Rizal
Tel. No.: 913-2001, 911-3759

Yutaka Izakaya

2011-12-02T21:31:00.000-08:00

Sushi, bento and green tea ice cream made all our taste buds happy.

Because it was Lance’s birthday treat. Masarap talaga basta libre.

Yutaka Izakaya

Madison Building 2574 Taft Ave.

Malate, Manila

2011 Ayala Triangle Christmas Lights and Sound Show

2011-11-25T01:49:00.000-08:00

People often change for two reasons:
Either they have learned enough that they want to change
or they have been hurt enough that they need to.

This Christmas, let the Ayala lights change you.

The End... is a Start of New Beginning Exhibit

2011-11-20T07:11:00.000-08:00

You know that an end signals a new beginning right?

Neil Arvin Jarvin Solo Exhibit

Secret Fresh Gallery

Ronac Art Center, Ortigas Ave.

Greenhills, Manila

If you get a chance, take it; if it changes your life, let it

2011-11-18T03:47:00.000-08:00

“The more people I meet, the more I realize it’s only you I want to get lost with.”

- musing of a non-executive from the LandBank Executive Lounge

Restaurant 101, Enderun

2011-11-14T03:08:00.000-08:00

It's not who you want to spend Friday night with,

it's who you want to spend Sunday-brunch with.

Restaurant 101

Enderun Colleges, 1100 Campus Ave.

McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City

Tel. No.: 856 5000 loc. 101

Baloy Beach

2011-11-13T18:43:00.000-08:00

Kokomo's

Wild Orchid Beach Resort

If you don’t chase your dreams, you’ll never have it.

If you don’t step forward, you’ll always be stuck in the same place.

Love is the beauty of the soul

2011-11-09T06:07:00.000-08:00

Having a place to go is home.
Having someone to love is family.
Having both is a blessing.

Bulalacao

2011-11-05T06:25:00.000-07:00

Uncover the secret comet of Mindoro.

Target Island

Silad Beach

Aslom Island

Felipa Beach Resort

How to get to Bulalacao, including some tips:

1. From Manila take a bus at Buendia station bound for Batangas pier.

2. From the pier, take a ferry bound for Calapan, Mindoro. Fast craft would take 1 hour while roro would take 2 hours.

3. From Calapan, take a van or bus bound for San Jose Jose. Get off at Bulalacao town proper or barangay Guiob. If yo get off at the town proper, rent a habal-habal going to barangay Guiob. Travel time would be 3 ½ to 4 hours.

4. From barangay Guiob, boats can be rented to take you to Aslom, Target and Silad Islands. It usually costs P500.

5. Or the easiest route to get to Bulalacao would be to take a plane bound for San Jose, Mindoro. From San Jose, it would be about an hour bus or van ride to Bulalacao.

6. You may opt to stay at Felipa Lodge (mainland) or at Tambaron Island Resort.

7. Bulalacao is the southernmost town of Oriental Mindoro. It’s laid-back and rural. Enjoy the very scenic view of verdant mountains and blue seas.

9 Spoons, Bayleaf

2011-11-02T03:46:00.000-07:00

Rediscover the beauty of Intramuros from your dining table.

Mt. Malarayat Golf and Country Club

2011-10-31T18:41:00.000-07:00

I look at the sky and I see how the clouds make it less lonely. When the wind blows, I look at the trees and I see how the world dances naturally.

I look at the people playing golf and I wonder if their actions brought them to the right trajectory of consequences just like the way they hit the balls. And every time they get to shoot a ball in the hole, I wonder if the satisfaction they feel measures to the happiness they get in real life.

Well, I hope so. I really hope so. Because once your heart knows happiness, you wish others could have it too.

Little Quiapo

2011-10-24T04:37:00.000-07:00

One of Manila’s oldest restaurants, Little Quiapo was built as a cool soda oasis in 1949. I wasn’t born then, but I always love to picture out couples in those golden years courting, dating, and eating the sweetest halo-halo in town.

Little Quiapo
90 Malakas St. Brgy. Piñahan
Quezon City

Mt. Manabu

2011-10-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

On the summit of Manabu (Mataas na Bundok), two mountain climbers revalidated two simple facts I learned from life: that you can’t always force the people you love to love what you love, and that if you wait for others to join you in the adventures you want to take in life, you will probably miss a lot of things.

But still, I wish you were here.

Jak en Poy: Bato, Gunting Papel, Atbp.

2011-10-09T21:44:00.000-07:00

They say that the first requirement in having a home is an edifice.
But I say, ‘all I need is to be in your arms’.

Cafe Noriter: Playground of Dreams

2011-10-08T07:06:00.000-07:00

Hope is a dream that never sleep.

Collect Memories, Not Things

2011-10-07T01:44:00.000-07:00

I never wanted anything in my life that I could stand losing.
But I guess, it's too late for that.

D2D Global Summit… the fruit of CFO’s sweat and blood

2011-10-03T00:13:00.000-07:00

“We have to shame those who rob us without shame.”
- Heidi Mendoza

US Ambassador Harry Thomas, Jr.

Heidi Mendoza

Sam Milby

with Loida Nicolas-Lewis, the Julia Roberts in my migration world

Manga Realities: Exploring the Art of Japanese Comics Today Exhibit

2011-09-30T02:03:00.000-07:00

Even if the time comes when we can no longer see this kind of scene, I will be happy if I can just be with everyone I’ve been with up until now.

That’s the way I feel today.

By ourselves we can enjoy life, but to truly appreciate life we must find companionship

2011-09-28T05:55:00.000-07:00

"One must learn to love, and go through a good deal of suffering to get to it, and the journey is always towards the other soul."

- D.H. Lawrence

Purple Feet

2011-09-27T05:24:00.000-07:00

The ultimate happiness of life is the principle that we are loved – loved for ourselves, or rather, love in spite of ourselves…

even if our feet have turned purple from too much dancing on the bed of grapes.

Purple Feet (Wine Depot)

217 Nicanor Garcia St.
Bel-Air, Makati City

Momarco Resort, Tanay

2011-09-22T21:46:00.000-07:00

According to Johnny Depp, there are four questions of value in life... What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for? And what is worth dying for? The answer to each is same. Only love.

Don't you just love Momarco?

Myths of our own Making Exhibit

2011-09-14T03:33:00.000-07:00

“I want to know your story. And then I will tell it back to you in a new way. Tell you back in such a way that it has become mine, my own. Re-writing you, I write myself anew.”

- Bell Hooks

Hilantagaan

2011-09-08T01:41:00.000-07:00

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

- Albert Einstein

Tell you I set you apart

2011-09-03T02:02:00.000-07:00

Give or take, we have the tendency to fall in love a hundred times in this lifetime.

The first person I ever loved was someone I met 14 years ago. I thought I would never love someone else. But I was proven wrong. The last person I might love, maybe I haven’t even met yet. But doesn’t everybody wish their first would be their last, or their present their tomorrow and the rest of their lives? I do. But no matter how many times you fall, they all matter like a dot that will eventually form a clearer and bigger picture.

But there are quite a few people you love who will change everything the way you look on how love should be. They are the people who gave you courage to give your heart away, hoping they would take care of it and praying they would never rip it apart. Probably you’ll meet two of them. Three perhaps or four at the most. I don’t know. But most likely, more often than not, among all of them, there will be that one person who becomes that definition.

A someone who will make you realize that all the songs no matter how terrible their lyrics, suddenly make sense. A someone who will set the standards of how you should love other people. A someone who defines your comprehension about love that it isn’t a bed of roses all the time… that at times, it could be irrational and self-destructive. A someone who gives you one of the many reasons to live. A someone maybe you’re not searching for but a someone who was there at the right place and the right time. A someone who came into your life the first time you are ready and really, really want to love someone.

And in this game, be prepared to accept defeat. Because that someone always win. And you lose. Big time. Because for the rest of your life, they hold the control buttons on how you will love everyone else.

Yogita

2011-09-02T05:27:00.000-07:00

The point is we can’t help who we fall in love with.

Siya na. Siya na talaga.

Submarine Garden Resort

2011-09-02T05:11:00.000-07:00

"There are many things worth living for,
a few things worth dying for,
and nothing worth killing for."

- Tom Robbins

Punta Malabrigo, Lobo

2011-08-31T03:49:00.000-07:00

"There's a quote I heard a long time ago, something my Dad told me. Its about how you're like a lighthouse, always searching far into the distance. But the thing you're looking for is usually close to you and always has been. That's why you have to look within yourself to find answers instead of searching beyond."

- Susane Colasanti

Likha Diwa sa Gulod

2011-08-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

So I guess I have to thank people who didn’t keep their promises to me, people who said yes that eventually became no, people who sent rejection notices, and people who cancelled on the very last minute. Because if not for them, I wouldn’t have gotten used to pain. I wouldn’t have fully accepted the simple truth that you can’t always get what you want. And I wouldn’t have mustered enough courage to face Today.

And Today never happened…

before.

Di ako badtrip. I’m happy.

PS.

Before the worst, before we met before our hearts decide it’s time to love again... durian coffee had me at first sip.

Likha Diwa sa Gulod

C.P. Garcia, Krus na Ligas

Quezon City

Simala: Mama Mary Capital of the Philippines

2011-08-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

"In trial or difficulty, I have recourse to Mother Mary,

whose glance alone is enough to dissipate every fear."

- St. Therese of Lisieux

My Sky Experience Adventure

2011-08-26T03:50:00.000-07:00

"He who has overcome his fears will truly be free."
- Aristotle

The Skywalk Extreme
Crown Regency Hotel and Towers
Tower 1, Fuente Towers
Fuente Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City

Black Soup Café + Artspace

2011-08-26T01:02:00.000-07:00

Kryptonite doesn’t weaken me because I’m not Superman. I’m just an ordinary boy. I even cried once on my birthday.

You won't be single for long

Twice-cooked adobo

Turon ala mode

But for the first time in my life I found out why the word ‘happy’ is always attached with the word ‘birthday’.

Black Soup Café + Artspace

Unit G, Maginhawa Bldg., 154 Maginhawa St.

Sikatuna Village, Quezon City

Tel. No.: 435-2549

Virgin Island, Bantayan

2011-08-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

I remained a virgin for you.

I have this joke that anyone who sets foot on this island is re-virginized.

Aling Tonya’s Seafood Palutuan, Dampa

2011-08-24T22:50:00.000-07:00

"Once in an age, God sends to some of us a friend who loves in us, not a false-imagining, an unreal character, but looking through the rubbish of our imperfections, loves in us the divine ideal of our nature, - loves, not the man that we are, but the angel that we may be.”

- Harriet Beecher Stowe

Dear you,

I’ve always wondered what everyone feels. You are not me. I am not you. Yet somehow, we’re basically the same.

We want to feel needed and significant. We constantly crave attention. Though sometimes we deny it, we love a hug or a pat on the back. We love stealing a glance at that one person we want but can never have. At night, we wish we are sleeping next to someone who means the world to us.

We hate it when we are not appreciated. We get hurt if we can’t obtain what we desire. We feel worthless when the people we love, walk out on us. And though we have a heart that never gets exhausted of loving, we also have the same heart that gets weary from waiting and expecting.

We want to know someone else has felt all of these, too.

I don’t have my own pad yet. I still haven’t been to Machu Picchu. But I’m happy with what I have right now. And whoever you are, in case you chance upon this, would you do this small favor for me - embrace life, wear a smile often, listen to a Yiruma song, tell someone you love that they matter, say thank you, if you hurt someone say you’re sorry, do the things that scare you and don’t be afraid to follow your heart sometimes.

That’s my only birthday wish… that you find happiness too.

Take care.

Frenz Fries

PS.

Joint birthday treat namin ni Manay.

Bantayan Island, Cebu

2011-08-23T23:06:00.000-07:00

"To those who have given up on love
I say 'trust life a little bit'..."
- Maya Angelou

Sta. Fe Beach Club

Omagieca Mangrove

Kota Beach Resort

Bantayan Church

Sugar Beach

Virgin Island Fish Sanctuary

Madridejos

Bontay Baywalk

Ogtong Cave

Even if I’m not a good boy, even if it’s still not Christmas, I feel like Santa Clause surprised me with a wonderful present on my birthday.

Cocina Juan

2011-08-17T23:53:00.000-07:00

Inspiration de Centro America,
Plato para La Filipino.

Pasta pollo adobo con pesto

Chicken cheese chimichurri

Libre ni bespren kapalit ng "International Health Accreditation" paper na ginawa ko several years ago. Sabi ko nga e, madali lang ako i-bribe J.

Cocina Juan
100 Maginhawa St.
UP Teacher’s Village
Diliman, Quezon City

The best proof of love is trust

2011-08-16T00:39:00.000-07:00

Realization no. 2
Nothing could be more liberating
than being with someone who knows
the real you and still accepts you.
For who you are, for who you are not.

Valentino Spa and Resort - A Beautiful Retreat

2011-08-14T02:47:00.000-07:00

I will try to forget my past
to make my present unforgettable.

It already is.

PS.

I'm humming this song I sang while walking to the resort last night.

Wake up everyday with the spirit you had known in your childhood

2011-08-12T01:19:00.000-07:00

That spirit of enthusiasm, determination and adventure.

Yakimix - Greenbelt 3

2011-08-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

Peace begins when the hungry are fed.

Our very late graduation treat for Nics.

Baby Alive

2011-08-03T07:39:00.000-07:00

Tanya: Kuya gusto ko ng Baby Alive!

Me: Ano yun?

Iya: Yung baby na kumakain, umiihi at tumatae.

Me: Yuck!

Sometimes, someone says something so small and

it just fits right into this empty place in your heart.

If Café Mesa were a flicker of light, it still shines the most in Stotsenberg darkness

2011-07-30T07:45:00.000-07:00

Hazelnut coffee

Dory fish with tomato and olives

Heart brownie

While having soda and coffee, Carla tells me that every time she passes by the café at dawn or at night, she feels drawn to its quaintness and exquisite light. Who wouldn’t? Just the sight of a charming wooden house surrounded by verdant trees and grasses somehow tells a phase in life when romance was only make-believe and magic was real.

But I told her “Maybe you just associate this place with your longing for something or someone.” She just laughed it off.

Even if change is necessary, there are times that I still want constancy. If you look at the café’s glass window, you don’t just see your reflection, you see the most constant thing in your life - home.

Cafe Mesa

Building 2078, Cardinal Santos Ave.

Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga

Plaridel (Quinga) Church

2011-07-25T07:03:00.000-07:00

Do you know how many times have I asked God to slay a part of me that harbours resentment towards others? How many times I prayed to possess a heart that could love everyone? How many times I just wanted to cry?

You think I’m okay but sometimes I feel turbulent inside.

I went to church today. I feel at peace now.

Buddy’s

2011-07-21T21:28:00.000-07:00

For everything you have missed, you have gained something else. And for everything you gain, you lose something else. It is about your outlook towards life that matters. You can either regret or rejoice.

And keep in mind, if you can’t go to Lucban, you can go to Buddy’s. Anytime.

Buddy’s Pancit Lucban and Longanisa

Timog Ave. cor. Sct. Ybardolaza

Quezon City

Music can magnify happiness and loneliness

2011-07-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

Often, the heart is a happy-go-lucky person with no common sense.

L’Eau Vive in Asia

2011-07-19T21:29:00.000-07:00

“There are people in the world so hungry,

that God cannot appear to them

except in the form of bread.”

- Mahatma Gandhi

Salmon aux aspergus

Poulet aux herbs

Profiteroles

L’Eau Vive (the living water) is being run by the Missionary Workers of the Immaculate of Donum-Dei. The missionaries operate the restaurant as one of their means to generate funds to finance their religious and social works.

L’Eau Vive in Asia

1499 P. Guanzon Ave.

Paco, Manila

Tel. No.: 563-8559

It’s sad to be just a footnote in someone else’s love story

2011-07-18T22:22:00.000-07:00

“You simply can’t make someone love you if they don’t. If you choose someone who does not love you, this is the sort of love you must want.”

- Israel Horovitz

Villa Antonina, Baliti

2011-07-17T04:47:00.000-07:00

Do I cause happiness

wherever I go or

whenever I go?

But I could have told you Vincent

2011-07-15T01:41:00.000-07:00

“What is done with love is well done.”
- Vincent van Gogh

Jet said that “Every gift comes with a curse, and every curse comes with a gift. I have Bipolar. But it doesn’t define me, and I don’t let it control me.” But could it really be that simple? Sometimes, I wish I could just control everything, including what I feel.

Van Gogh is Bipolar

#154 Maginhawa St., Sikatuna Village

Quezon City

Chloe

2011-07-15T00:18:00.000-07:00

You were never in my vocabulary
until one day you just became a word.

Cafe 1771

2011-07-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

Organic chicken in potato crust

Sauteed sea bream

Strawberry cheesecake

Experience delicious dose of serendipity.

Café 1771

El Pueblo, Ortigas Center

Pasig City

Café Ysabel

2011-07-03T07:06:00.000-07:00

Complimentary house bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Napa Ceasar's

Truffle pizza

Polly's pasta

Norwegian salmon steak

Crepes Ysabel

Modified Physiologie du Gout:
He who receives his family and gives no personal attention
to the meal which is prepared for them
isn't worthy of having a family.

San Agustin Church

2011-06-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

“You have made flowers grow where I cultivated dust and stones. Remember this, on this journey you insist on making. If you die, I will not survive you long.”

- Robert Jordon

Built from 1587-1607, San Agustin has weathered war, earthquake, and fire, and is the oldest surviving stone church in the Philippines.

No one ever gets tired of loving

2011-06-24T01:35:00.000-07:00

But everyone gets tired of waiting, assuming,
hearing promises, saying sorry and all the hurting.