Old Vine, Eastwood Mall, Manila

We checked out Old Vine in Eastwood Mall today. What drew me in was the Tessie Tomas salad title! It has been a while since I heard that name!

Tessie Tomas Salad - combination of roasted prawns, marinated salmon and grilled shiitake mushrooms with mesclun salad in a creamy balsamic dressing for Php 295

I loved the mix of the dressing but the crisp succulent prawn clinches the thumbs up.

Stir- fried seafood paella for Php 250

Marinated Duck Confit - marinated in lemon - orange sauce served with roasted potatoes and salad for Php 430. It looked LARGE when they set it in front of me. The duck was a bit dry tho, but otherwise it would be worth every peso.

Old Vine

G/F, Eastwood Mall Veranda,

E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., Bagumbayan, Libis

Quezon City, Metro Manila

Philippines

Culinary Conquests in Columbus Adventure Travel

Our entries on the Pinta Gold Cruiser were featured on Columbus Adventure Travel!

RennThai, Clark Quay

Bernice and I dropped by RennThai for dinner, in search for a new Asian dish.

The interesting platter we had was some sort of mix of savouries. I just had to note the beautiful plating which couldn't be captured by B's cam.

Adventure was lost by the time I got to the last page of the menu, so I opted for my usuals: Phad Thai and Avocado shake.

Pad Thai is thought to have been brought to the ancient Thai capital of Ayuthaya by Vietnamese traders – it was first made popular as a national dish by Luang Phibunsongkhram when he was prime minister during the 1930s and 1940s, partly as an element of his campaign for Thai nationalism and centralization, and partly for a campaign to reduce rice consumption in Thailand. - Source

I lost the receipt and was not able to keep track of the prices. But they should be at an affordable > SGD 30 per person.

Later on that night, Bernice and our friend Raslyn, Dust, Lizzie and Vikram headed to Pump Room room for open mic night, where I sang the embarrassing rendition of Dancing Queen.

Renn Thai

3D River Valley Road

#01-05 Clarke Quay

Singapore

Tel: 65 6338 7200

Noki-Nooks,Puerto Princesa, Palawan

Their tagline was that they have the best Halo-Halo in town, and they were right! Up there with Razon's.

Halo halo for Php 85

Bye Palawan! We will see you again.

Kalui, Palawan

We waited for almost an hour for seats in the busy Kalui. What pushed me to hang on to the promise of seats was the charming decor and arrangement in the restaurant.

They made us keep our slippers our of the area because they had a "pambahay" (for the home...) policy

Who could say no to this larger version of Bahay Kubo?

Tres Marias at the side

The best drink in my opinion: Green Mango - Ginger Combo for Php 55

Second best: Wheatgrass in coco juice with Palawan Honey for Php 55

Stingray in Coco Cream Php 150

Shrimps Halabos or in Garlic Butter for Php 170

Palawan Seafood Sisig for Php 170

The best dish! Tubbataha Salad - Fresh Tuna Strips, bits of fruits in season with Palawan Dressing for Php 165

Free fruits! I love creative plating.

Kalui

369 Rizal Avenue

Puerto Princesa City, Palawan

Philippines

Tel: 6348 433 2580

Summer love in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines

I had dreamt of going to Palawan since I was a child. Palawan has the most biodiverse cluster of islands in the world and it was perfect for a nature junkie like me.

Catered food by the beach. True blue (red) alimasag, we meet again! After years.

The life.

We visited the famous 8km+ Underground River. Beyond words.

It took thousands of years and tons of water from tree roots (above is a mountain) to form this.

The factor that kept areas like this pristine is the discipline of the locals to keep it that way. Hats off to Hagedorn!

Din Tai Fung, Singapore

Din Tai Fung was one of my favourite places if only for the deliciously addictive Xiao Long Bao (dim sum). I tried out DanDan Mian that was supposed to be spicy but its more of peanut butter soup. It's a carb plate but the sauce was indescribably great!

DanDan Mian for SGD 9

I found out that Din Tai Fung was rated a 1 Michelin star. This would suffice until I have a taste of Four Seasons' Caprice and Lung King Heen.

Din Tai Fung

The Paragon

290 Orchard Rd

Singapore 238859

Tel: 65 6836 8336