MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan

The Out-Of-Towners: Pampanga’s Best Brunch

May 20, 2012 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

On our road trip last Mother’s Day weekend, we only made one stopover en route to Zambales. I expected we would stop for coffee or breakfast somewhere along NLEX, but since my dad wanted to make good time, and my mom brought a box full of baked goodies from Red Ribbon for us to snack on, we made it all the way to San Fernando, Pampanga without taking a break from driving. That was a first. It was amazing too that no one asked to stop at a gas station for a bathroom break. Yes, we all have small/weak bladders.

Excited travelers – Koko, Rocky, Mel, Boyong and Me

It was a little before 10 in the morning when my dad realized he was hungry and wanted a proper breakfast. The only place I know if in San Fernando is Everybody’s Cafe, thanks to my ex-office mates. I just thought that it was too early to eat anything exotic, so we decided to save that dining experience for another day. Luckily, we chanced upon the Pampanga’s Best Tocino store, which also served meals!

At Pampanga’s Best – Yes we want to eat here!

It was early in the day and the store had just opened so there was a limited selection of food available. Good thing all we really wanted was tocino and longaniza. Tocino is sweet cured pork, and is best eaten with rice, salted egg and tomatoes in my honest opinion. Longaniza is a native sausage, with many different varieties from different provinces.

Our breakfast options (sorry for the ugly photo)
We picked Tocino (top shelf), and Skinless longaniza (bottom left)

While waiting for our food to be served, we took a look around the store to see what other goodies we could buy for our trip. They had shelves and shelves of yummy pasalubong, stuff to bring home, from the province. There was an assortment of things – biscuits and cookies, peanuts and cashews, bottled sardines and crab fat, among other grocery items.

They also had big freezers with all sorts of Pampanga’s Best products. I would have definitely bought some if we had been on our way home. I was seeing some of the frozen food for the first time, like the Beef Skewers and Premium Corned beef, and I wish I could have taken some home to try.

Mom and Me from behind packs of Chicharon

Meanwhile, the little boy was content just sitting at the table playing video games until the food arrived. Why am I not surprised?

Little Boy playing games on his dad’s phone

Tocino with tomato slices
This plus the Longaniza, steamed white rice, salted duck egg and sauteed crab fat made for a really good, albeit high calorie brunch

The drink of choice for the morning, along with 3-in-1 coffee

Here’s the full menu

After our meal, we went back on the road again, eager to reach our beach destination. But of course, before leaving the store, we took a few more photos, this time of each other.

First group photo of the trip

Mel and Boyong

Mr C and Me

Kiddo and Koko

Back in the van

With my siblings

My mom and the Kiddo kept themselves occupied by playing rock-paper-scissors
Doesn’t mom look so excited about the game hahaha!

Eventually, as expected, we all fell asleep. Happy tummies = Happy passengers. I think I slept the longest among everyone in the van. And since his grandma snoozed on him, the little guy just went back to playing his video game. This little one is not a sleepyhead at all!

I guess rock-paper-scissors wore Lola out

Zzzzz

Just the beginning of a great weekend getaway

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Pampanga’s Best
Barangay dela Paz Norte
City of San Fernando, Pampanga
+63917 8100530
http://pampangasbest.com.ph
Date of Visit: May 12, 2012

Thursdate at Heaven and Eggs

May 19, 2012 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

Why is it that every time I visit Heaven and Eggs in Glorietta, the place looks different?

I remember in the early years of the restaurant, they had a very heaven-like interior, with blue walls and painted white clouds. Back then, the name Heaven and Eggs made sense. Unfortunately, during this time, I wasn’t coming to Makati often, and so I never got to try their original menu.

Image borrowed from http://neilrizo.livejournal.com/

Then all of a sudden, in 2008 when I finally got to eat at Heaven and Eggs with my teammates from Smart, I saw that it had become sort of like a glam rock, underground UK pub looking place.

Ancient photo with my Smart office mates JC and Joyce ant H&E in 2008
I know you can’t really see the rocker decor, but I just really wanted to
use this photo

The rock star haven was what I was expecting when I asked Mr C if we could have dinner at Heaven and Eggs the other night. To my surprise, it changed it’s entire look again! I’m not sure what theme they were aiming for this time, but the place felt to me like a bright and summery beach house. Or maybe that’s just me nursing a beach hangover from last weekend?

Heaven and Eggs’ “New Look”

I was extremely thirsty after an entire afternoon spent standing up, and after our quick run to the toy store to buy the little guy’s Tooth Fairy gift, so we ordered drinks first while we decided what to eat. I asked for the Signature Iced Tea, although I’m not entirely sure what was “signature” about it. It tasted like regular powdered iced tea to me.

H&E Menu

Sprite for Mr C, Signature Iced Tea for me

I was intitally thinking of having either the Lucban longaniza meal or a plate of pancakes. In the end, I went with Roast Beefin’ on the Edge. Mr C, who was set on having some form of steak, ordered Rock U Like a Hurricane, which was what I had eaten at H&E during it’s rock era.

After asking the waiter if they had WiFi, we took a few photos while waiting for our food to arrive.

Connecting…

Look at how big my face is! Dear me, must really stop eating so much.

The usual table condiments

Hungry Mr C

My food arrived first, and I thought that the guitar-shaped sizzling plate that my food was served in was really cute. I’m guessing this is one of the remnants of the schizophrenic Heaven and Eggs’ rocker days.

Cute guitar-shaped sizzling plate. I want one at home!

Roast Beefin’ on the Edge (295.00)
Slow roasted beef slices, served with mashed potato,
buttered vegetables and thick gravy

I wasn’t all that happy with my roast beef. The cut of the meat was more like a thin liempo, or thick bacon, and was almost 50% fat. I ended up finishing everything on my plate anyway because I was raised to be part of the Clean Plate Gang, thus explains the current size of my face. The vegetables and mashed potatoes were good. Then again, you can’t really go wrong with steamed veggies and mashed potatoes anyway.

I gave up one piece of roast beef in exchange for a piece of Mr C’s food. He had his steak done medium well, which is a bit too cooked for me, but who am I to complain. After all, it was his meal not mine. I found the meat to be a little charred on the outside, and rather tough overall. The cuts weren’t that big, and I’d imagine they would end up completely rubbery if cooked any longer than they were.

Rock U Like A Hurricane (PHP365.00)

Grilled, bacon wrapped beef tenderloin, served with whipped potatoes, miniature sunny side ups, mushrooms and roasted red bell pepper hollandaise sauce

On both visits to Heaven & Eggs, I wasn’t that impressed by the food. I guess maybe I should just order pancakes next time, or some other form of breakfast food. That is, if I do decide to come back.

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Heaven and Eggs, Glorietta 4
Unit 104 G/F, Glorietta 4, Ayala Center
Makati City, Metro Manila
(+632) 818-2792
Date of Visit: May 17, 2012

Mother’s Day Weekend – Sneak Peek!

May 14, 2012 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 2 Comments

Just got back from a weekend trip with the entire family for Mother’s Day. I’ll be posting about it soon.

In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek of what went on over the last 3 days.

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The Out-Of-Towners: Discovering Cafeño

May 7, 2012 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 6 Comments

I’ve often said on this blog that our family likes to go out on trips together. Vacationing is one of the things that our family does well, and some of my fondest memories are from the many out of town trips that we have taken as a group. I consider myself lucky to have parents like mine, who have been planning day-trips, weekend getaways, and sometimes even week-long adventures for us since we were little. Over the years, my dad has made it a point to take time out from his busy schedule to take us someplace nice for the summer, or during Christmas season, New Year’s, and even just on an ordinary weekend. There were also times when he would take us all with him whenever he’d have out of town lectures or conventions. Because of this, my siblings and I have been able to see quite a lot of the Philippines already. On the photos on our foyer wall, you will see images of our younger selves on the San Juanico Bridge, at the Maria Cristina Falls, in Dapitan where Rizal was exiled, and on many other beaches and mountains all over the country.

These days, the vacations have become even more exciting with the addition of new members to our out of town crew. What was once a family of five has expanded to include MrC and my Little Kiddo, my brother’s girlfriend, my sister’s boyfriend, and occasionally my sister-in-law, her boyfriend, and her roommate Phil, who is practically our adoptive sibling already. As expected, my parents have become even more excited about travelling now that the little guy is part of the group. The nice thing about it is he is so appreciative of new sights and new experiences, and he truly enjoys sharing these moments with his grandparents. At the age of five, he’s already been able to take a plane to Ozamis, see Baguio twice, play on the beaches of Dagupan and Batangas, and hang out in Tagaytay at least five times. He is now eagerly anticipating our 2012 summer outing, which is coming up soon. Actually, we’re all really excited for three whole days of fun in the sun at a private resort owned by one of my dad’s doctor friends in Zambales. We were told that they will eventually be open to the public, and from what I hear, their beachfront is really nice. I’ll definitely be sharing photos and recommendations after the trip.

Speaking of vacation photos, I just realized that the year is almost halfway done, and I still have not been able to post much about our 2012 family outings. Promise that you will soon be able to read about our Chinese New Year weekend at Virgin Beach Resort, our first ever Hot Air Balloon Festival experience, my birthday weekend at Discovery Country Suites, the little guy’s birthday weekend at Hotel H2O, and all the fabulous food we’ve had along the way. Promise.

In the meantime, let me share this wonderful little place we discovered en route to Laiya called Cafeño. If you ever find yourself on our way to the many beach resorts in the area, I suggest you stop by this quaint cafe and restaurant for some coffee, homemade ice cream and other treats.

We chanced upon the place on our way to Virgin Beach Resort last January. We happened to leave the house much later than we’d originally planned, and so, at a little past noon, we found ourselves too hungry to keep driving, but too close to the resort (and a proper lunch) to risk spoiling our appetites by eating a big meal somewhere else. Plus we all needed to take a bathroom break, and so it was decided that we would stop at Cafeño. The building is actually an old house, one of many in the area, and sits at the corner of General Luna and Rizal Streets in Poblacion, San Juan, Batangas.

The first thing you see when you enter is the counter and display case filled with yummy pastries. It took some time before we all decided on what we would be having. While waiting for the rest of the family to order, I took a quick look around to see what the rest of the place looked like, and since it is a relatively small restaurant, it didn’t take me long to survey the entire area.

The brightly colored perimeter wall of Cafeño showcases many cute illustrations like this one (Lolo and Kiddo not included)

The decor inside Cafeño is mostly made up of vintage items and old photographs. I thought I was able to take a photo of the table next to us, which was made of the base of an old Singer sewing machine, but the photo is probably in my sister’s camera. The place being designed this way makes it very homey and cozy.

There’s also an alfresco dining area labelled Cafeño Annex, but we opted to stay inside on this very hot day

An old ice shaver sits on top of the counter

Shelves of merchandise and framed photographs line the walls

I finally decided to order churros and Spanish chocolate, but was disappointed to learn that the churros were not available. I ended up just getting the chocolate, while mom and my sister ordered coffee floats. Dad and MrC had barako coffee, and my brother and my son went for the crispy waffles.

Cream and chocolate-filled crispy waffles

Looking back, hot chocolate was a pretty odd choice for me on such a warm day. Oh well, I enjoyed it anyway. The crispy waffles were really good too, and were a good enough substitute for churros, dipped into my chocolate.

Crispy waffle ice cream sandwich made with home-made vanilla ice cream

My sister Rocky with her coffee float, which actually is cold Kapeng Barako with a scoop of ice cream on top

Coffee + Crispy Waffles + Homemade Ice Cream + Dad

It was a good start to what would be a totally enjoyable Batangas weekend for us all. As always, the little guy cozied up to his grandparents for most of the trip. He even chose to ride in their car because he found my dad’s GPS completely fascinating.

I’m sure that we will pass by Cafeño again on our next trip South. Hopefully when I get to go back, I’ll finally get to try those churros.

Cafeño
No.9 Cor General Luna and Rizal St.
San Juan, Batangas
(043) 575-5161
cafeno.cafe@gmail.com
#/cafeno.batangas

C’ Thru The Lens of Mr. C

May 4, 2012 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

I’m lucky to have a husband who enjoys taking photos, because that means I get my fair share of being in front of the camera. In my previous post about C’ Italian Dining in Angeles, Pampanga, I shared some pictures of the really yummy food we had for lunch. I wasn’t able to take any shots of the restaurant because to be honest, I was feeling lazy. So when I discovered that Mr C had some photos of C’ stored in his camera, I got really excited, and decided to share them.

Family photo!

Rocky and Koko

Look at me, so pale!

Among the interesting things about C’ are the plates hung on the walls with messages from satisfied customers. Mr C told me that he only took photos of the plates signed by celebrities whose names he recognized.

Jericho Rosales

Mikee Cojuangco

Judy Ann Santos

Mylene Dizon

Francine Prieto

The Eat Bulaga Cast

After our very satisfying meal, Mr C, the Kiddo, and I took a short walk around the restaurant. Mr C wanted me to see the autographed plates, and I needed to go to the bathroom, so I had to set my laziness aside and get off my seat. The restroom was outside the main dining area, at the al fresco portion behind the building. The outdoor dining section was setup like a pretty garden, and it would’ve been nice to eat there had the weather been less summer-y. Due to insistent public demand (or rather, because the little boy wanted to shoot a few photos himself), we stayed a bit for some pictures in the garden.

I wanted a photo in front of the wall of plates

Photo by the little boy

Mommy + Kiddo

Lunch at C’s was an enjoyable, but expensive experience. At least the next time we visit, I already know what to expect. When that will be, no one knows. Maybe in February for the next Hot Air Balloon Festival.

Lola, Mommy, Kiddo. Burp.

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C’ Italian Dining
1210 Don Juico Ave. Clarkview, Balibago
Angeles City, Pampanga
(045) 892-4059
Date of Visit: February 11, 2012

Tagaytay Weekend: Shopping at Ilog Maria Honeybee Farm

May 3, 2012 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 8 Comments

Welcome to the third of my birthday weekend posts! Yes, my birthday was last February, and yes this post is long overdue. I actually am amazingly backlogged as far as my blog posts are concerned, which only means you’ve got a lot to look forward to from me in the coming weeks. Always look at the bright side of life, right? So my birthday celebration started with a Friday night dinner date with Mr C at Cafe d’Asie in the Bellevue Hotel. The night of my birthday was spent with friends, watching Razorback live at SanMig Alabang.

The next day, Mr C, the kiddo and I went off on a sunny Sunday Tagaytay adventure. Our first stop was the Ilog Maria Honeybee Farm for my supply of soap. I have very sensitive skin with a dash of eczema, and so commercial bath stuff don’t really agree with me. I discovered Ilog Maria soaps through my former boss who swears by it, and after my first few bars, which she gave me as a present, I was hooked. Apparently my dad is familiar with their products too, and has often visited the farm on his Tagaytay motorcycle escapades. He keeps a bottle of their liniment in his bathroom.