Final Dine Out

This is a solemn post.

Short and brief.

I am compelled to express my grief on the passing of a person I look up to, a man that is very much admired and respected in his field.
We are not related, and never met in person but his stories and adventures validated my belief that the appreciation of food can bridge cultural gap, he convinced me not to be ashamed to love food and it should be the first thing to try when visiting a new place. Because of him, there is When Emily Goes Out!

Anthony Bourdain, thank you very much for opening my eyes to the beauty in the unsophisticated and joy of savouring the bizarre. I am sending your family my love and healing thoughts, hope that peace and joy will find you in your next destination.

When Emily Dined in Manila

(Disclaimer: Not safe for Dieters!)

Isn't it sweet when the love of your life visits your country of birth to get to know more about you and the world that shaped your views? 

The plan to visit Manila was already set a few years back, after our week-long New York trip, the traveler in us felt that we found a true travel buddy with each other, the next country should be out of the continent. I suggested to my 🐻 that he should visit the Philippines, and without hesitation at all, he excitedly agreed.

Metro Manila doesn't have an ideal "beauty" to boast about when it comes to the international stage. My country is still trying to work with her insecurities, the capital region reflects that. The Philippines is lovely, but she needs to learn how to respect herself more, be refined, and project herself gracefully. 

But the thing is I love Metro Manila, she's open to many cultures---food-wise, my home introduced me to different cuisines from Chinese, Spanish, American, Japanese, Arab, Korean, and many more. I believe this was what I inherited from her, being the daughter of Manila (and born on Manila Day too), and the love of exploring the cuisine of different countries.

"Paluto"  

One of the most memorable dining experiences in Metro Manila I've shared with my 🐻is the "Paluto / Dampa style dining".
The main characteristics of dampa / paluto places are the presence of wet markets that sell fresh (usually) seafood and vegetables, then different restaurants nearby where you can go and request to cook (paluto) your catch according to the restaurant's style or your preference for a fee.
Several places in the Philippines offer this kind of dining experience, one of the most well-known in Seaside Dampa in Macapagal Boulevard. Depending on who you ask, visiting this place has mixed negative but generally positive experiences,  one must take their haggling skills to the next level with a touch of friendliness--a key to success in any dampa dining.

The result of our wet market shopping effort was unforgettable, we enjoyed our "paluto" from Royal Kitchen. Though my 🐻 is not a big fan of seafood, he enjoyed the whole experience!



Dampa- a term loosely used that describe a roughly built hut - signifies a humble home, not fancy but comfortable and welcoming.
Paluto - request to be cooked.

Day Trip in Naritasan

Our 2017 Philippine vacation had at least 30 hours of layover in Japan, a country that fascinates me for a long time. To make our brief visit to the anime land worthwhile we really did our research thoroughly and worked around from our hectic flight schedule. 

First glimpse of Mt. Fuji

Airport lockers in Narita International Airport

Coming from Oyama Station heading to Narita Airport; we woke up early to avoid the rush hour of Tokyo's transits. It was a hectic ride; several transfers and relying on transit workers for directions. 
Once we arrived in the airport, we placed our luggage in a locker, had a quick Starbucks breakfast and waited our tour guide from Narita Rainbow Tours in the designated meeting place.

Few hours in Narita Airport and want to do something cultural?

Akane showed on-time, warm greetings were exchanged, she gave us a brief information about our trip was about, and we hopped in to our train heading to Downtown Narita.

Naritasan Omotesando -- a charming shopping spot

Lines of shops on the way the temple

The road leading to the historic Naritasan Temple (Omotesando) was filled with rows of shops and restaurants, according to our guide that the road has been busy for centuries; the pilgrims would stop by these shops on their way to the temple and later on tourists came as well. 

The side street of Omotesando is decorated with sculptures of Oriental zodiac, i regret that i was not able to take photos at least one of them 😒. Some shops were setting up, some were closed. Akane was enthusiastic introducing us to the shops' products: from rice crackers, bbq eel (the area's specialty), pickled vegetables and interesting kitchen gadgets; she was very informative about which shop offers samples and which one are popular.
We saw a stand that sells dorayaki--- a small pancake filled with red bean! My 🐻 bought one for us to share; for someone who is used to having sweet bean for a treat, this one is has a subtle sweetness into it and i can taste more of the red bean—it’s soo yummy!

Red bean dorayaki

The entrance to the temple was quite busy with both worshippers and tourists; crowds filled the cleansing stations. 

First cleansing station 

As we walked along Akane explained everything from the rituals of the believers and the brief history of some of the buildings. 


She pointed at the thick piles of wood plaques and explained those are the wishes of the devotees, it ranges from finding significant others, luck in employment, financial and health improvement and passing an exam!

devotees's wishes

Three storied Pagoda

The building that caught my eye was the Three-storied Pagoda, built in 1712 the bright colours of the pagoda were eye catching, we took a closer look, our guide pointed that the pagoda's ceilings were not just painted, it was painstakingly carved, It created a cool 3-D effect! 

Three storied Pagoda's 3-D ceiling

Avoiding the crowd for a little while we walked along the Naritasan garden park, where we fed the healthy inhabitants of the pond---the Kois, it seems that they know what to do when there's human presence nearby, they all swim fast beside the bridge because food will be automatically provided! 





We left the kois satisfied with the crackers, and went to climbed the stairs leading to the Great Pagoda of Peace which housed several historical relics, from old calligraphies, several Buddhist statues, a grand altar, and a time capsule that was signed by several world leaders during the early 80's. It's scheduled to be opened on 2034. 

Great Main Hall

Goma Ritual

Akane informed us it was time to go to the Great Main Hall; following the crowd to witness the Goma Ritual. When we reached the door of the Main Hall, we were instructed to keep our phones and any instruments that could take videos and photographs and remove our footwear. 
Respecting the temple's ettiquette, we joined the crowd who were all kneeling and getting ready for the ceremony; we knelt down and quietly observed what was happening. 
When the ceremony started, we listened to the solemn chanting of the monks, a large drum beaten as they chanted, wood being thrown and burnt, and later on there were monks who collected handbags and purses to wave over the smoke. Must be their way of asking the deities for prosperity and luck.

It was a great honour to be able to experience such a solemn event and learn a bit of history, 

Naritasan Compound

As we were heading out of the Naritasan compound, I was looking forward to seeing the shops along Omotesando once more and planned to take a look inside some shops that were closed when we arrived earlier. Along the way, she showed me more interesting goodies from the other shops.

Chestnuts

Treats in Omotesando

Various flavoured peanuts!

We checked a shop that specialised in desserts and tea ceremony treats and also checked out some of the souvenir shops, I was considering grabbing a Daruma doll but bought myself a kokeshi doll instead and magnet masks for me and my sister. Our tour guide told us to show our transit ticket to the vendor so we can get a discount.
With so much great memories from our day trip, and quite satisfied with our souvenirs; it was time to head back to Narita airport, Akane rode with us going to the airport and we exchange our goodbyes (or till we meet again) when we reached the airport's entrance; the next time i visit Japan for vacation, i will be booking my day trip with Narita Rainbow Tours again.

More of my 2017 Japan Trip check my Facebook Page!

Escape to Nacpan Beach

Most girls dream of a romantic proposal. Imagine yourself being on a quiet beach, with white sand, and clear blue waters somewhere in a faraway exotic land.

That's Nacpan Beach where we spent our Valentine's Day 2017 away from the busy El Nido town.

Nacpan Beach

Going to Nacpan Beach?

One must have to endure one hell of a bumpy ride going to Nacpan. During that time there were few modes of transportation to reach it:

Beach bum for a day with my fresh coconut water

• renting a scooter (lucky if you have one)
• tricycle which will wait for you as long as you want to stay there  (Philippine Tuk-tuk)
• book a tour van
• and part of the Tour E-package (Inland Tour)

Half of the road going there was not paved as Palawan Island, in general, is still undeveloped, so there's limited accessibility going around.

Sounds like another adventure to us,ᕕ༼⌐■-■༽ᕗ We decided to be beach bums for a day after the action-packed Tour-A Island hopping package the day before.

I highly recommend that you do your research when you decide to use the service of tricycles for their pricing is quite odd, if you can haggle for a better price, good, we paid P1,500.

The commute was quite rocky, it's a uniquely interesting experience for someone who has never been had a tricycle ride, the uncomfortable ride is semi-compensated by several views of the charming sight of rice paddies, they're so nice to look at that few tourists would stop their scooters to take photos, for sure the carabaos and the farmers were having a celebrity moment!

Entrance fee to Nacpan

After the long bumpy and dusty tricycle ride, we were greeted with a long stretch of white sand, clear blue waters, and less crowd, there are few small business establishments so it's quite peaceful. Perfect for a laid-back Valentine's celebration.

According to my research online, walk a bit farther from the crowd as there are more huts that can be rented, so we walked away from the Twin Beach part of Nacpan; eventually, we found ourselves on the quieter side of the beach.

I asked the lady who seems to be the person in charge of the huts, I explained that I am not staying overnight but for a few hours, to my surprise, she allowed me to use one empty hut's patio for free! She also cooks lunch for P180.00, and sells fresh coconut water for P60.00.

Being so grateful for letting me use one of her huts for free, there's not much shade along the way and there are no other places to grab food nearby, I decided to give her our business, or else me and 🐻 would be having so much of that unwanted painful tan.

Now the Proposal

We've been talking about weddings, and having a family for quite some time and I have expressed to my dear 🐻 that I don't really like the sudden and public proposal. I feel more empowered when I am involved in this life-changing event. I came from a culture where couples decide together when they want to get married (though some couples are catching up with popping the question style).

Our view when he popped the question

While sitting on our lounge chairs, in front of our hut enjoying the breeze, talking about how lucky we were to find a spot on a long beach, then my Dear Teddy Bear held my hand and asked me, if I want to marry him.

I guess the North American in him still wants to pop the question...

"Of course, I will marry you! We've been talking about it!"---my unromantic but elated reply!

On Valentine's day, we were in one of the most beautiful places in the world, a semi-empty long beach, while enjoying fresh coconut juice, we were engaged.

Our first meal as an engaged couple, for less than $5.00 (Cad):

Ginisang Hipon (Sauteed Shrimps) and Inihaw na Puisit (Grilled Squid) with rice

And this is our view:

Chilling in our hut while enjoying our lunch

Aside from the mysterious pricing system of the tricycle drivers, other things to watch out for when you decide to visit Nacpan Beach:

• When the strong wind blows, sand hits you, so better protect your eyes!
• Not that much shade, be generous when you apply sunblock lotion
• It can get really hot, bring water
• The current can be unpredictable, stay near the shore
• Other tourists reported sandflies, though we were not bitten, just be aware of it, bring insect repellent.

Planning for the wedding began when we got back in Vancouver. Stay tuned for the next posts as I blog about my busy 2017!

My beautiful pink sapphire engagement ring from Minichiello Jewellers

-Life is great! ヽ(⌐■_■)ノ♪♬