MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan

Amorita On My Mind: Welcome To Bohol, And A Pool With A View

December 27, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 2 Comments

2013 was a year of many firsts for me, and for us as a family. On top of my list of favorite firsts was our trip to Bohol last November. I’ve been to many different places all over the Philippines, but for some reason, never to Bohol. This was a first-time trip for me, and for the boys, too. It was also the first time that we rode a plane together as a family. I have traveled by air before with the little boy, during a family trip to Ozamis, and also with MrC, for our Boracay anniversary trip last year. This flight was the first that the two experienced together, and that made it even more special.

Our trip was loads of fun, despite it being a short one. We were only in Bohol for the weekend, and that meant that we missed out on the tour and other activities outside of the resort that we were staying in. Because we were there for my sister-in-law’s wedding part two (you can read about part one here), which was on the Saturday that we arrived, there really was no leaving the resort. Then on Sunday, our flight was just a little past noon, so we obviously had no more time to go around. That’s okay, though, because it only means that we have a reason to come back!

The fact that we were staying at Amorita, which just happens to be on my life list of places to visit, definitely made the trip more than worthwhile. We were welcomed by the hotel driver at the airport, and I loved that there were bottles of cold water and candies waiting for us in the van. On our way to Panglao, we saw one of the churches in Dauis that was damaged during the recent earthquake. That was about it for our sightseeing outside of the resort.

Check in was quick and easy, particularly because the rest of our group was already there. I noticed at the reception that they had pink and silver decor for the holidays. So pretty! If the boys will let me, I would love to have that color scheme for Christmas at home someday. They also had bottles of really nice-smelling insect repellent, massage oil and a list of available massage services on a small table beside the check in counter. On the desk in the room, there was a welcome note and postcards with beautiful photos of the resort.

It was a short walk from the reception area to our room, which was really cozy and super spacious. Too bad I don’t have any photos. Our roommates had spent two nights there before we arrived, and since they were already settled in, they had their things in place already. Of course, I didn’t want to move anything just so I could take pictures.

As soon as we put away our stuff, the little boy headed straight into the pool. MrC and I, on the other hand, went straight to breakfast. The buffet was actually closed already when we got there, but the servers at the restaurant were nice enough to put together plated meals for us. The food was simple, homey and really yummy. We had rice and fried eggs, bacon, longganisa and a bunch of other things. Saffron restaurant is definitely one of the highlights from our stay at Amorita because everything was just so good!

This kid loves the water. He really enjoyed swimming with his favorites, Tita Minette and Tito Phil

I got to chat a little with with my friend, Martine, after breakfast. Coincidentally, she and her family were also booked at Amorita that weekend. You can check out her posts about their vacation (and her gorgeous photos, too) here, here and here. After catching up, the rest of my morning was spent with the family, enjoying the pool, the beach and the magnificent view.

Before we knew it, it was time to get out of the water, shower and get ready for the wedding ceremony, which was scheduled at 4pm. We had lunch at Saffron while waiting for our turn for hair and makeup, and oh my gosh, I thought breakfast was good, but nothing could have prepared me for lunch. I am not exaggerating! There was a basket of bread with butter and spreads, kinilaw na tuna, chicken barbecue with atchara, grilled stuffed squid, and a unique deep fried kare-kare. I have no words.

Lunch time with Lolo Bach and Tita Minette

Our first few hours in Bohol were unbelievable, and the entire weekend continued on to be completely spectacular. Not only was the place beautiful, it also really felt like home to us during our stay. The staff made sure of that by being as accommodating as they could possibly be, taking care of all of our requests and going all out for the wedding preparations. I swear, I am completely in love with this place.

Sharing more about our Amorita vacation – the beautiful sunset wedding, meeting Sir Chef (Saffron’s Chef Ralph Ongchiong), and the morning after – in my next post. In the meantime, go and check out Amorita Resort’s website, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter to learn more about this spectacular Bohol getaway.

Oh, Christmas, Why Are You So Fattening?

December 26, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

I have a question. Is there anyone out there who doesn’t gain weight during the holidays? If any of you raised your hands, I’d like to challenge you to spend Christmas with my family and then check your weight after. I’m serious. This family likes to celebrate with food, and Christmas is only part one. Part two happens in a week, when we get together to welcome the new year.

Christmas eve is usually spent at home, with my mom in charge of the menu. This year we had lasagna with pepperoni, garlic bread, steaks and Caesar salad. Dessert was a Purple Oven chocolate cake that my sister’s boyfriend gave our family as a gift. We also had fruit salad, which was my special request.

On Christmas day, our usual routine is lunch in San Lorenzo with my dad’s side, then dinner with my mom’s family in BF. As far as I know, December 25 has been spent this way ever since I was born. Christmases in SanLo is always a big deal because my Lola’s birthday falls on the same day. Of course, we continue to celebrate her birth anniversary every year, even though she is no longer with us.

The moms of each family contribute to the meal, but most of the yummy food is prepared in the SanLo kitchen. This year was no different, with macaroni salad coming from our house, and yummy salad, pasta, smashed kamote, baked salmon, chicken galantina, roast pork and an assortment of desserts completing the spread.

At my other Lola’s house in BF, we had the customary holiday lechon, pancit, barbecue, quezo de bola, and a lot of other things, plus more fruit salad and two different kinds of cake. I don’t have any photos from dinner, though. I actually just borrowed all of the photos for this post from my dad (thanks, dad!), who loves to document everything with his trusty camera.

So there you go. I think I might be 10 pounds heavier today than I was yesterday. Have you guys been eating a lot, too, this holiday season? I’d love to know what you guys had on your table for Christmas.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Merry Christmas To All, And To All, A Good Night.

December 24, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

Sinigang, the Way My Mom Does It

December 18, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 5 Comments

My mom is one of those people who “eyeballs” things when she cooks. She hates to measure ingredients, so she bases everything on how the food tastes and smells. Because of this, it’s a bit of a challenge learning how to make her specialty dishes. You either need to watch her and figure out the measurements as you go along, or force her to measure before she adds every ingredient, which actually results in the food not tasting the same. Sounds strange, but I’m sure that if you know someone who cooks the same way my mom does, you would totally understand.

My mom prepares really great, homey dishes that everyone just loves. We always joke that she’s great at making people fat because her food is so good, and well, just take a look at our family photo and you’ll see what I mean. My sister is the only skinny person in this household, and even the usually-skinny MrC is slowly but surely becoming a little more huggable. It’s hard to say no to food that comes out of my mom’s kitchen because she’s really mastered the art of comfort food.

One of the best things to come home to after a long day is a hot bowl of sinigang soup. That’s sour tamarind broth, for those who are unfamiliar with this staple Filipino dish. I recently made a big pot of sinigang with shrimp heads and lots of veggies for my in-laws, but really, my favorite sinigang variant is the pork kind.

For her soup, my mom uses half a kilo of pork, I think she uses thick cuts of liempo (pork belly) or American Ribs from Monterey. She adds lots of kangkong (water spinach), or pechay Tagalog (bokchoy) when my dad requests for it, labanos (radish) and gabi (taro). She also adds some chopped tomatoes for added color and sourness. If you like your sinigang spicy, you can also add green siling haba (finger chili peppers). I prefer my soup to have a bit of a kick, but my mom likes it mild and child-friendly, so we only put a couple of chili peppers in.

The sourness in the soup comes from adding either tamarind, guava or miso. We like to make thing easy for ourselves at home, though, so we use sinigang mix. Mom and I recently discovered how good Maggi Magic Sinigang is, and so we shifted to that from the brand that we used to use. It’s definitely more flavorful than our old mix, and a lot more sour, just the way I like it.

Preparing this hearty dish is easy. Boil the meat in enough water until it’s soft. Add the tomatoes, then the radish and taro.Continue to boil the soup until the vegetables are cooked. Season with sinigang mix, and adjust the saltiness to your liking using patis (fish sauce), then add the chili peppers. At the very last minute, add the kangkong or pechay, turn off the heat and you’re done.

Sinigang is best enjoyed with steamed rice and a cold glass of Coke.

Feeling adventurous? Try preparing your sinigang with lechon manok (roasted chicken) instead of pork. We had that for dinner last night, and it was really good! The soup gets this fabulously yummy, smoky flavor from the chicken. You can also visit the Maggi website for a Bulalo Sinigang recipe, and other yummy dishes that you can easily make at home. Like Maggi on Facebook too, for more recipes and kitchen tips.

Happy eating!

Our Frog-Less Weekend at Villa Escudero Plantations and Resort

December 16, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 5 Comments

Last November, the Cuyugan and de Jesus families came together at Villa Escudero for the grand wedding of Ate Baban and Kuya Cy. Both families had been looking forward to this wedding, and of course for the fun togetherness time we would all be spending with each other. I have been to Villa Escudero several times before, but I’ve never stayed there overnight so I was excited about the experience, but there was something that I was really anxious about. The title of this post is actually a major clue as to what my big hangup was. Lake + plantation/grass/forest = FROGS. Yes, I am admittedly 100% afraid of frogs.

Mine is not your ordinary froggy fear. I would say that mine is rather extreme, and involves a lot of cursing, crying, hyperventilating, and possibly pinching/dragging/slapping/pushing the poor unfortunate soul who is with me whenever a frog makes its presence felt. And this doesn’t just happen when I see a frog. Fear triggers within me whenever I hear the croaks, see them on TV or in photos, even when I am simply made aware that, yes, there are frogs in the area. I actually skipped dissection in school because I freaked out and cried. In case you were wondering, there is actually a long childhood story behind this fear that I will maybe write about eventually.

Back to our weekend vacation, which was, thankfully, frog-free despite our second night there being a rainy one. We arrived late in the afternoon of Friday, after a very easy drive with very little traffic. We stayed for two nights, and our Sunday morning drive home was quick and easy too, thanks to the Pacquiao fight that day. We all really enjoyed our stay, and now I’d like to share with you my five favorite things about our weekend at Villa Escudero Plantations and Resort.

1. The Room

The only time I felt the presence of frogs was in the evenings, when their ribbit-ribbits rang out from the mangroves across the lake. I knew that they were far away, though and I was able to ignore them. We also stayed in an airconditioned room, so I was spared from having to endure an entire evening of froggy serenades. Some might say that staying in an aircon room totally defeats the purpose of being out there, so close to nature, in a place that is naturally beautiful. To an extent, I agree. I also have to say that the non-aircon rooms are equally beautiful as the ones we stayed in. It also is cool and breezy at night, so the large ceiling fans in most of the rooms really do the trick. But for my own peace of mind, I am so glad that we were in an airconditioned suite.

The funny thing is, I just realized that I have only one photo of our room. It’s not a very good picture, and the room was messy and I think it might have been taken accidentally. I’m also walking through the door at that very moment and, well, it’s really an unflattering shot.

We were on the second floor of the Gumamela Suites, a large cottage with a total of four rooms in it. Each room can be booked separately, or you can opt to rent the entire Gumamela house like we did, if you are a big group. All in all, I think we were 9 adults and 2 kids, and we still had enough space to squeeze more people in. The rooms look exactly the same, except that we had a queen bed upstairs, while the downstairs rooms had twin beds. The rooms downstairs had a bigger alfresco space, with a dining area as well as a balcony with a hammock. All rooms also had a daybed with a pullout, and there were additional daybeds out on the balconies.

Here’s little CJ, relaxing on a hammock (This photo belongs to Cy de Jesus)

2. The View

The great thing about having a balcony is that it offered us a magnificent view of the lake. It’s so relaxing, just lounging on the day beds and hammocks, watching people paddle by on bamboo rafts, and just enjoying the stillness. It’s a big, welcome change from the chaos that we face every day in the city.

The Pavilion, as seen from our rooms (This photo belongs to Cy de Jesus)

3. No TV!

No, I’m not crazy. I really did say that one of my favorite things about this place is the absence of TV sets in the rooms. I tend to get annoyed when my companions zone out in front of the screen and lock themselves in the room when we’re on vacation. After all, we are there to spend time with one another, to talk and take photos, build memories and enjoy each others’ company. Without a TV in sight, we had to go and find other things that we could do, and more often than not, those turned out to be things that we did together, like fishing! You can fish from the first floor balcony of the Gumamela Suite, and I think that the adults had more fun doing this than the children did. On the first night, the de Jesus’ caught a small fish, which was thrown back into the water after a quick photo op. If you don’t feel like fishing, you can go swimming, check out the museum, and just explore the grounds. There’s a lot to see at Villa Escudero, and lots of nice places for photo ops, too!

Here’s Little MrC, fishing on our last morning at the resort

Here are Faye and Bubuy de Jesus, rafting down the river (This photo belongs to Cy de Jesus)

4. Yummy Filipino Food

This is a great place to bring balikbayans, if only for the yummy Pinoy dishes they serve buffet style each day. For an overnight stay, you get one meal at the waterfalls, same as the day visitors. Then dinner and breakfast are served in the pavilion, which is the same place where they hold the cultural presentation. Because we arrived late in the afternoon, we missed lunch on the first day. Then on the second day, we joined the pavilion lunch group instead of using our waterfall stubs because we were in the middle of preparing for the wedding, and it seemed like a really silly idea going down to the falls with full makeup on. You can read about lunch at the waterfalls from one of my previous visits here.

Enjoying breakfast with my mom- and dad-in-law

5. Excellent Service and Super Friendly Staff

One thing I look for in any place I visit is hospitality from their staff. This is, after all, part of their jobs, being that they are in the hospitality industry. I hate it when I see restaurant, resort or hotel employees who look so unhappy to be there, and are so unapproachable. The people at Villa Escudero are the complete opposite, always smiling, greeting the guests, and granting our requests. They are eager to answer questions about the food, the resort, and the available activities. The great service that they provided really helped to make our stay there extra pleasant.

The thing about Villa Escudero is that it’s quite pricey. You can check out the published rates on their website here. The package does include full-board buffet meals though, and you have access to the different amenities of the resort, plus you get to experience the carabao cart ride. I think that it’s worth saving up for if this is the sort of weekend escape that you are looking for – outdoorsy, but not all that rural. It’s a perfect retreat for city dwellers like me, who are too attached to certain luxuries and creature comforts to go camping, but would like to spend an evening or two surrounded by nature.

Villa Escudero Plantations and Resort
San Pablo City, Philippines

Manila Office: 1059 Estrada Street, Malate 1004 Metro Manila
Phone: (632) 521-0830 / (632) 523-0392 / (632) 523-2944
Fax: (632) 521-869
E-mail: info@villaescudero.com
Provincial Mailing Address: P.O. Box 4 San Pablo City 400, Philippines

Quality Education?

December 15, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 14 Comments

Earlier today, I was reviewing my little boy for his final exams. As I was going over some of his quizzes from the term, I spotted a grammatical error in one of the questions. It bothered me so much that I took a photo of the test paper and posted it on Instagram.

You might think that I’m making a big deal over this, but honestly, I would probably be able to let it go if this error was not committed by an English teacher. Then again, as a parent who is paying a significant amount of money for the promise of premium, quality education, I think that I have every right to be bothered. At the same time, I chose my son’s school because I graduated from there myself, and so did MrC and all of my siblings. I believe in its educational system and the level of excellence that it promises to deliver. I take pride in being an alumna of this school, and quite frankly, it’s pretty embarrassing to know that a teacher from this school is unable to write a proper sentence in past tense.

Sure, this may just be an error, and maybe she really is qualified to be teaching English. I am more than willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, of course. But I will be watching.