Weekend escape in Antipolo - Balai Tawhay

I just wanted to share some photos from a weekend escape as we belatedly celebrated the 9th birthday of our daughter. We rented Balai Tawhay in Grand Heights Subdivision in Antipolo City. It is practically a stone's throw away from Pinto Art Museum. It is actually across from our home at the other side of the narrow valley split by a creek. Balai translates to house or home while Tawhay translates to tranquility, peace or relaxation depending on the language or dialect. I know though that the 'tawhay' here is from the Hiligaynon or Ilonggo as many refer to the language. It is the mother tongue of my father though Tatay speaks the dialect that is Kiniray-a.

An image of Our Lady looking towards the splendid view of the trees outside

Outdoors is a pool and jacuzzi. The jacuzzi is heated so it's perfect if you just want a relaxing dip.

The living, dining and kitchen area is open and spacious. We hosted 30 people yesterday, including family and friends from our daughter's school.

There's a garden with a fire pit where people can gather or children can play around the area.

There's a common area between the rooms where people can hang out to chill. I like the old chairs and the vintage decor and accents our friends placed here.

The solihiya chairs are comfy.

Waiting for spring - while the surrounding areas are still lush with evergreen trees and other flora, the larger trees like this fire tree are still in hibernation.

We can see the Balai Tawhay from our home and during the springtime, it is part of what seems to be a mountain on fire with the fire trees in full bloom. For now they seem to be asleep though I could see the young leaves starting to come out. Various birds fly around and perch on the trees. While there, we saw kingfishers, sparrows and crows. The wife said she spotted an eagle on one of the fire trees. You can also see squirrels scampering about and jumping from tree to tree.

Balai Tawhay's owners are friends from way back. They are my kababata or childhood friends in Cainta. Their parents are long time friends of my parents (our Tatays are both from Iloilo and played tennis on weekends when we were younger). I'm looking forward to just go there again maybe for a more relaxed time with family.

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Back for lunch at ABCT Izakaya, Sakura Circle, Circumferential Road, Antipolo

We were back at ABCT for lunch and ordered some comfort food (i.e., salmon sashimi and cold soba). Sharing some photos here of a recent lunch.

The salmon sashimi (shake sashimi) was perfect.

Another photo of the sashimi this time with the sauce and wasabi

My favorite tenzaru soba (cold soba with tempura)

Spicy maki - It's not 'dynamite' maki but its delightfully hot

There are so many items on their menu so it will take more posts in the future to feature them. So more photos to be shared in the next posts...

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The other ramen shop at the mall - Ramen Daisho

We learned about a new ramen shop that opened at the nearby mall recently. It is located where Adobo Republic used to be (beside Shrimp Shack and near the ATMs) at the outdoor ground level of Robinsons Antipolo. It is not a familiar name to us considering we've tried so many of the more established ramen shops like Ippudo, Ikkoryu, Kuroda, Mendokoro, Nagi, Hokkaido, Hanamaruken, etc.

Their version of tonkotsu ramen was on the lighter side including the broth.

The egg was not the marinated version and the chashu was evidently not prepared and cooked the way it's supposed to be as you can experience it in the ramen restaurants I mentioned earlier. Still, overall the meal was satisfying (quality-wise) and the quantity was just right (you won't feel so full after eating a bowl of ramen). Their ramen still is better than many that claim to be ramen shops but are closer to the mami house types than the Japanese versions. The price also won't hurt or set you back so there is value for money here. The staff are also attentive and the food didn't take so much time to arrive at our table. Will we eat here again? Likely and especially we're in a hurry and there are seats available.

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On mask filtration - abaca face masks

Perhaps almost everyone is now used to wearing masks. The most common would be the surgical masks that are supposed to be one time (perhaps per day) use only. Then there are the KN94 masks that allow for more protection (filtration-wise) and are more comfortable to wear as it does not smother the face like many of the non medical masks manufactured and sold during the first months of the pandemic (e.g., cloth masks). During the pandemic, we discovered abaca face masks that were manufactured under the auspices of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). I had not had the chance to open the mask and dissect it to see what it looks like including the layers it claimed to have.

Inside the mask are layers of fiber that made for effective filtration.

A close-up of the fiber layers inside the mask

The abaca mask before I cut it up and disposed of it - the color has faded after so many washings but I thought that it still gave good enough protection. I wore this when I drove or when taking walks in our village.

The masks offered a snug fit to the face without smothering you. These are also washable and so can be reused many times before they are finally disposed. We still have a few of these on stock at home and I still wear then whenever I am driving or doing some outdoor home activities.

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Seiko 8T63-01E0 "Dr. Yellow" chronograph Limited Edition

My chronograph collection currently includes a couple of commemorative pieces featuring the shinkansen (bullet train). Dr. Yellow refers to the inspection train that Japan Railways (JR) uses for its bullet train lines. The first Dr. Yellow was a Series 0 shinkansen with the signature bullet-shaped nose on the train.

Bright yellow box indicating that the watch commemorates the 20th anniversary of the JR inspection and maintenance train for its shinkansen

The watch is presented well with its bright yellow dial standing out vs the royal blue interior of the box. There is also a photo of one of the Dr. Yellow's.

There are three registers or sub-dials. One for the chronograph (left), one for the second (bottom), and one for the hour of the day (right).

Close-up of the dial showing the blue chrono hand and the yellow hands on the chrono and hour sub-dials. Other features are lumed headlights below the Seiko brand, the date display and the Dr. Yellow emblem at 11 o'clock.

The watch is powered by a Cal. 8T63 quartz movement

The colors are similar to the packaging of White Flower embrocation and Fibisco's Chocolate Crunchies.

Looking back at this shot with the onions in the background before last year's elections.

This model is part of a series collab with Japan Railways (JR). I have another model commemorating the Hayabusa shinkansen model. While I would like to have the others, it is a very expensive collecting endeavor that I will have to pass on. :)

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Another golden puppy

We have a new dog in our home. Her name was Sierra but our daughter renamed her She-ra (no intention to have the name after the cartoon character), which sounds the same but easier to pronounce.

Whether on the floor or on the couch, one of her preferred positions is lying on her back.

If someone's beside her, she will lie on her side facing that person (in this photo, that's me).

She seems to be the cuddling kind

She's basically like a baby or a toddler who does nothing except eat, play and sleep. We're house-training her so she may stay inside our home. Not surprisingly, she's easier to train especially as she appears to take the cue of the other dogs allowed in our house. She-ra's our second golden retriever. Mocha is the older one at more than 8 years old. Mokey as we fondly call her quickly took She-ra in as if the latter was her own. We like to think the older one talks to the pup and is 'teaching' her about the ways of their kind. :)

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Breakfast at The Taverna, Antipolo City

After having a nice dinner of Greek food, we expected to also have a Greek breakfast. The menu though contains items that are quite familiar including pancakes and a silog (rice and egg) meal.

Sausage with egg and rice - something like a Greek version of the popular Filipino 'silog' breakfast

Pancakes with honey, butter and jam

We spotted these lamps at the restaurant

Close-up of the bulb showing the filaments

We'll probably be back at The Taverna but for lunch or dinner rather than breakfast. I think it's a good restaurant and a good addition to the choices in Antipolo City. However, the location limits its potential. It would have been better if the restaurant was located in a more accessible place like a mall or closer to the city center. I think there will be more customers if they were more strategically located.

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Potato snack - Potpots

There's a new kiosk at the mall near us where we could get some good potato fries. These would either be the typical french fries or what the store calls potpots - what looks like Shakey's Mojos. I got some of the potpots and had some small talk with the vendors who said the potatoes are sourced from the company's farm and not imported. They proceeded to show me their supply of large potatoes as one of them got some to cook.

Fries or potpots?

I got barbecue and cheese flavored potpots to take home. They were an instant hit with the kids, especially the barbecue flavored potatoes.

While we also enjoy fries from Potato Corner,  we thought that Potpot provides a nice alternative for cravings for fries or mojos.

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Creature of habit - my 3-year planner

One thing I got from when I lived in Japan that I still do now is maintain a planner. It actually functions both as a planner and a diary for me as I also include notes. We usually got free one year planners at our laboratory care of the various companies sending planners and calendars (those were really nice) to our senseis. The senseis collect the planners and calendars, and send them to the students for us to get one or more that we fancy. And so I have several pocket calendars from Japan as I also continued to receive some after I returned to the Philippines thanks to visiting professors who bring them to the office as omiyage. Later, while I was visiting Tokyo and Yokohama for a project, I found a nice 3-year diary from Nolty at a book shop at the Landmark Tower in Yokohama. I've acquired this planner ever since, purchasing one myself if I am in Japan or asking friends to get one for me. I only get one every three years so I can "plan" on getting the next one. I wondered if the newly opened Kinokuniya at BGC will have this for sale but then one friend already read my mind and got one for me when she was in Tokyo recently.

My planner/diary for 2023-2025

I got many planners from UP the past so many years but I have not used them. They are still in mint condition and I will feature them in a future post. I also have other planners given to me as gifts that I have not used even as notebooks. Most of them have no year indicated so I can use them for my notes for subjects I teach, for administrative work, and for projects ( I maintain one for each major project I'm involved in and another for smaller projects. ).

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An antique Omega Estrella del Norte, Levy Hermanos pocket watch

We begin the year 2023 with a watch. It is the only pocket watch in my collection and my personal Christmas gift (i.e., gift to myself).  This is an antique Omega issued by Estrella del Norte, which was the exclusive seller of Omega watches in the Philippines during the Spanish period until the American period. I had learned about this prior to the pandemic but could not find good, working specimen of this pocket watch until a couple of weeks before Christmas 2022.

I took this photo the first time I got hold of the watch, which I acquired via eBay from a local seller.

The watch features a sub dial and roman numeral hour markers.

The features spade hour and minute hands.

Close-up of the dial showing the cracks and stains. There's a noticeable damage between the 7 and 8 o'clock markers. Estrella del Norte was a jewelry store in Escolta that was owned and operated by the Levy brothers (Levy Hermanos). I read somewhere that they were the distributors of Omega in the Philippines.

The case back is quite pristine. Others will have a dedication or name etched on this.

Inside, there is another protective case for the movement. The watch also functions as a locket and you can have a photo here.

Inside the back cover, there is the Omega mark, a serial number and 11K (indicating this to be 11K silver). The serial number indicates this to have been manufactured between 1906 - 1909, making this watch easily more than 100 years old. This makes the watch an antique and not just a vintage piece.

A view of the movement under 2 covers. Beside the watch is a tool I use that is from my Swiss knife.

The inside cover of the watch that protected the movement bears the same serial number as the main cover. This is also made of 11K silver.

I have to research on the caliber of this movement.

Close-up of the movement

Close-up of the crown

The watch works well for something that's about 115 years old. I've timed it several times and recorded 20 to 21 hours on a full wind. Not bad at all for an antique! I now have to find a nice chain for the watch.

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