Down the Rabbit Hole

The last time I saw two lakes in one day was when I went to Pandin Lake and hiked to see the view of Yambo Lake . That is, until I went to Switzerland. And on my first afternoon there, no less.  After I've checked in the hotel, I caught the train to visit Pogs in Zurich. All I knew then was that it would take about two hours to get there by train from Lausanne. The train ride proved to be a picturesque trip on its own because I saw a bit of the landscape of this side of Switzerland. Plus, I was amazed to hear the language switch from French to Swiss German as the train traveled further north. For instance, I kept hearing the next-stop announcement say prochain arrêt when I was still close to Lausanne Gare; but as the train approached the Zürich Hauptbahnhof, the words became different. Anyway, back to the landscape... For this scenic tour of Switzerland, the first lake I passed by (that I noticed) was Lac de Neuchâtel. It was memorable for me because the train passed by a ...

It looks like 2015 will be a year of exploring new places and going for new experiences (as if 2014 wasn't, right?). I have, so far, gone snowboarding , golfing , and hanging out on the beach and it's only been the second quarter! Unfortunately, I'm benched for most of this year's wakeboarding season... And I won't be playing sports maybe til the third quarter of the year. So, I sit back, relax, and explore. :) Yongpyong, South Korea Nasugbu, Philippines Lipa, Philippines Silang, Philippines Changi International Airport, Singapore

Three months to the day since I fractured my wrist, I went to the orthopaedic doctor for yet another check-up. I have a trip coming up so I had to adjust my doctor's visit schedule just in case I need to start therapy. Anyway, I received the best news so far, health-wise: I no longer have a fractured wrist! Based on the x-ray shots, my arm has recovered pretty well. And so the doctor told me that I could remove the brace and start working on flexibility and strengthening exercises to get my left hand up to speed. The main issue, so far, is my weak grip.  Guess who's excited to be back on a board and in a pool. Hihihi. :D

I've been eating my way through Batangas for quite some time now and so I list some of the restaurants I am planning to revisit at some point. L'Atelier at La Chevrerie, Mabini A one-Michelin star gem in a most unexpected place, I stumbled upon a review of this restaurant while I was searching for good places to eat. And to think that I've been in Anilao a lot for the past year! The food was high quality thanks to the man behind the kitchen, Chef Larry. Because the restaurant is quite popular to people in the know, it's kind of difficult to reserve a table to eat there; the restaurant is always full! When I ate there the first (and only, so far) time, I had steak with mashed potatoes... and the dish tasted so good!  Anilao Beach Club, Mabini I am starting to feel at home in this resort. The food is a major contributing factor to why I'll return time and time again. My favourites are the chicken cordon bleu (with mashed potatoes) and the chilli con carne (...

A few weeks since we found out that we were listening to Push the Feeling On by the Nightcrawlers , I still didn't have a clue about what the singers were singing. And so on another road trip, the discussion went back to the mysterious lyrics of this song, a piece of music I wouldn't even mull over if not for (1) Matty's hilarious interpretation, (2) the effort it took us to find out what it is (including a desperate call to Belgium when he got stumped), (3) and the curiosity about what the lyrics really are. This song has become legend. We definitely knew one thing, moving forward: the song was NOT about Eliza pulling spoons or of her making fools of us. I had recorded Matty's singing and asked Siri to identify the song, only to be told that he (in a fit of sassiness) couldn't recognise it. But Siri was no JARVIS , so I think this inability to answer was forgivable. Googling my way through the web, I realised that there were people thinking about this song...

On a fine Friday morning, IRRI was transformed into a tv show set. Kris Aquino went to the Institute to shoot two episodes of her show "Kris TV" at IRRI. I was asked to come, despite the holiday, to cook heirloom rice for the shoot. There were four varieties for me to prepare: Ominio, Ingudpul, Kotinaw, and Minaangan. All of them were of different colours and were known to have different nutritive properties from white rice. I worked mostly in the background, which is why I am not in any of the footages. I did, however, had the privilege to do some mise-en-place work for Amy Besa and her team of chefs soon after Madrid Fusion Manila . She prepared bibingka and the Ominio fried rice (so yummy!). I also met Chef JP Anglo (Liberation Shawarma) as he was the featured chef in one of the episodes... his delicious liempo barbecue was the dish he prepared on-cam. The shoot was an exciting and surprising change in routine because instead of cooking where I normally cooked...