Back at Breakthrough for lunch

We just had to go to Arevalo to eat at either Breakthrough or Tatoy's. Breakthrough's menu has more items though and we didn't feel like eating chicken so we went to Breakthrough for a heartly lunch.

Diwal or angel wing clam is popular in the region. The best are supposed to be from Capiz, in Roxas City. This is supposed to be abundant in clean waters so if there is no or few diwal, then that means the waters are polluted. Its actually a good example of how we can gauge cleanliness in nature.

More diwal in another basket. 

Other live fish in the aquariums include lapu-lapu varieties and tilapia

Other food available and on display include grilled pork, vegetables, shrimps, etc. Of course, you can also order other items including pancit (noodles), drinks and dessert.

Variety of fish for 'paluto' including tangigue and managat.

A view of the beach, waters and Guimaras Island. Surprisingly, the weather was fair despite the approaching storm.

Another view of the beach. Noticeable is the cleanliness of both sands and water - a testament to Iloilo's commitment to clean-up. You can observe the same at Tatoy's, which is not far from Breakthrough.

Grilled tangigue, which is a variety of mackerel.

We saw that they had mangoes available at the counter. These are supposedly from Guimaras, which is famous for its mangoes. They are recognized to be of the highest quality among Philippine mangoes.

Halaan or clam soup just the way we like it. Perfect for rainy days.

My friends ordered crabs. You can select live ones from the tank at the restaurant and ask them to cook it the way you like them.

 

There's an FIC stand inside the restaurant for those who was some ice cream for dessert. Payment is separate from the restaurant bill. Its actually a good dessert for those who feel "umay" after eating a lot of tasteful food.

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Dinner at Ponsyon by Breakthrough at Plazuela

What to do at a city renowned for gastronomy but enjoy the food. Due to the inclement weather (there was a storm the past days), we decided to eat at a familiar place at Plazuela. Ponsyon by Breakthrough is conveniently located near where we are staying and serves items on the menu of its mother restaurant in Villa. They just don't have live seafood that you can choose from.

Baked scallops

Halaan soup as we like it

Grilled managat is something we regularly order. Managat is a variety of snapper that can be cooked in a variety of ways including sinigang (with soup) or steamed.

This was a really good dinner for our first night in Iloilo during this quick trip. 

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Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Church, Miag-ao, Iloilo

I am back in Iloilo. While this trip is mainly work-related, we were planning to have a side trip during our free time. Unfortunately though, a storm is arriving soon in this area. Tropical storm Basyang is currently inundating provinces in Mindanao and Visayas, and is expected to bring heavy rains to Iloilo today. We might just be content on doing indoor activities then.

Meanwhile, I am content in posting (late post) some photos of Miag-ao Church that I took during my travel here last November. 

Church facade 

UNESCO market recognizing the church as a World Heritage Site

The church as seen from the grounds

 

The main altar features a retablo with key figures such as the crucified Christ and the Sto. Nino.

The church features a long main aisle, which is preferred by many for church weddings (i.e., the bridal march is longer and somewhat more dramatic).

Another view of the church interior

More on Iloilo later! 

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Ovalteenies at the convenience store

I found another item that took me back decades ago. I had always preferred Ovaltine over Milo as a morning drink (though for a time I also drank Enervon to start my day). The makers of Ovaltine made a candy shaped like tablets, and me and my siblings enjoyed eating them as snacks. Mama used to buy these at the supermarket and I had one as baon. I remember I didn't consume one pack in one sitting. I made it a point to eat them gradually so I could enjoy them the whole day.

Spotted in a convenience store, it wasn't a hard decision to get a pack.

The candies were the same tablet form

I think the taste was basically the same. And that is why it brought me back to my younger days. There are tastes that have a lot of memory in them. This is an example of that.

 

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Serg's chocolate - Revival of a childhood favorite?

I've been seeing posts on my social media feed about a childhood favorite. Serg's chocolates was very much part of my childhood as they produced what I thought was the best chocolates at the time. Of course, when I was a child, I didn't have easy access to other chocolates including imported ones. M&M's, Hersheys, Snickers, etc. were luxuries that you can only get via balikbayan relatives or friends, or the PX stores that sell imported goods mainly from the US. I heard then that there were stores near the US bases (Clark and Subic) where you can get imported goods including chocolates. We got ours in the 1980s when my father returned from a couple of overseas trips.

So the choices in terms of branded chocolates were few. These include Goya and Ricoa chocolates. The best to me was Serg's with their chocolate bars that in my memory were the best of what was generally available. My thoughts now is that their chocolates are comparable to the Meiji chocolates we enjoy - only cheaper.

This is the design for the chocolate's 

The Serg's chocolate factory was actually located in Cainta, along Ortigas Avenue Extension where there are now warehouses beside the BF Construction lot. I still remember the pleasant smell of chocolate every-time we passed the factory.

The news is that Serg's is looking to reviving its business and coming back later this year. I'm sure looking forwards to this. And I hope the taste is the same if not better than what I remembered the last time I had some. 

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VAT 69 - A familiar whiskey from a TV Series

I was paying for some items I got at a nearby convenience store when I spotted among the liquor a familiar bottle of whisky.

A bottle of VAT 69 blended scotch whisky

VAT 69 came under my radar when I first saw the whisky in a series that I have watched so many times - Band of Brothers. This was the favorite of one Capt. Nixon who was one of the main characters of the series. I didn't buy a bottle but I am curious and probably would get one just to taste. Or perhaps have one for my small collection. 

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Kaimito in season again

The kaimito trees in our village started flowering in December. At our office, we have several kaimito trees around our buildings. They are also flowering and there are many fruits already hanging from the branches. The staff knows I love kaimito so they were already telling me they were protecting and reserving the fruits so I can eat some from the first harvest.

Kaimito on one of the trees at our office compound

Low hanging fruit - Several branches are already heavy with fruit and drooping low enough for us to touch the fruits and check if they ready for picking.

Its been a couple of weeks now since I took the photo holding one of the kaimito. Its only a matter of time now before we pick the fruits and enjoy eating them.

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Welcome distractions - Gundam from a Gashapon

My daughter gifted me with one of the items she got from the Bandai Gashapon in the nearby mall. We sort of hit the jackpot when we realized that the capsule contained a miniature Gundam for assembly. My daughter was more interested in the kawai items than stuff like this. I think she just remembered I like Gundam so she got a capsule for me.

Close-up of the Gundam to be assembled. I enlarged the photo for me to refer to as I assembled the toy.

The components were compressed inside the capsule and there was no guide or instruction so I had to figure out how to put everything together. Fortunately, I've done this before with other models that I collected while I was a student in Japan.

The almost finished product - I still have to assemble the wings and weapons. 

For some reason, I want to try our luck again soon. Maybe we'll be lucky again to get another Gundam? Meanwhile, these projects are a welcome distraction from the usually busy schedule.

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Lunch at Bob Marlin, Naga City

I have a backlog of drafts from various trips last year. I wanted to finish and post this one before another probably trip to Bicol this year. One draft stood out among the restaurant and cafe write-ups - the one on Bob Marlin in Naga City. We were invited for a late lunch by our hosts and they took us to the restaurant for a hearty meal and lots of kwento. Nothing serious or business, mostly about life and everyday things. Its good to have these conversations over a meal with people we work with who we consider as friends.

Bob Marlin is one of the more popular restaurants in Naga City. Many customers are groups (families, friends, officemates, etc.).

The inspiration for the restaurant's name is none other than the artist himself. They have a cafe bearing his likeness.

The waiting area includes an old rocking chair, a bicycle and some vintage posters.

Sinigang na salmon

Their take on the Pinakbet of Ilocos

Grilled cuttlefish (more commonly called grilled squid)

Tangigue steak

We had a great meal and look forward to the next one there. We have a continuing cooperative work with the city so there's sure to be one or more trips to Naga this year. A tip though to consider going there early or late for lunch. The place gets quite crowded during the lunch period. I assume its the same for dinner time. 

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Rose Bowl Restaurant - Comfort Food in Baguio City

I was supposed to write this last year right after we returned from a trip to Baguio City. Somehow, I never got to finish this article about a sentimental trip to the Summer Capital of the Philippines. Here are a few photos from January 2025. Since it had been years since the last trip to Baguio, we just had to go back to Rose Bowl. My first time to eat there was in 1995, for my first project out of grad school. That was a traffic study for the Bokawkan Flyover.

Fast forward to 2025 and we just wanted to go to familiar places we've gone to before. One of these was Rose Bowl. We were so hungry when we arrived at the restaurant that I was not able to take many photos. But we did have a great lunch there. The food is still good! The staff were also quite familiar as many have been employed there for a long time now. The kitchen and the staff are very efficient and our food was served soon after we ordered.

I have always eaten at Rose Bowl since my first time in Baguio in 1995.

Fish fillet and tofu

Fried rice

Rose Bowl's version of chop suey

The familiar sign along the road

I am already looking forward to the next trip to Baguio. Hopefully, that will happen sooner than later. Will I be going to Rose Bowl again? Likely, if it was a family trip. If I will be traveling there for work, then probably we'll try out other restaurants, too. Baguio, after all, has so much to offer in terms of food.

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On historical dramas - a short review of "Quezon"

I seldom write about movies but I have stated on many occasions here that I am a history buff. The last local historical drama I watched was "Luna." The film was on the life of Gen. Antonio Luna and it certainly contained many of what I've read about him from various sources. That includes the events leading to Luna's assassination. These supposed to have involved then Pres. Emilio Aguinaldo who is depicted to have approved of the assassination.

Fast forward to the more recent film about Pres. Manual L. Quezon, which I watched with my daughter. While I noticed a lot of details from the articles written by Ambeth Ocampo (I have read his books.), there seems to have been a lot of fiction injected in the story such as those concerning major characters in the film who are not actual people in history. I am referring to the persons depicted as Quezon's friend and the latter's daughter who was a film maker in the movie. An 'about face' from the Luna movie (note that Quezon is by the same director as Luna.) are parts that appear to be sympathetic towards Aguinaldo. Quezon is the villain here and not Aguinaldo. 

I thought the film was thought provoking in that it managed to ruffle some feathers. Quezon is portrayed as scheming, unfaithful and power-hungry. Whether this is true or false is left for the audience to decide. Unfortunately, most people in the audiences of theaters may have scarce information on the characters most especially Quezon prior to watching the film so it is likely that many would consider what's being narrated as truth. That is where the problem lies in such manner of storytelling. It is a form of sensationalism, even misinformation along the lines of "fake news". Hopefully, the more trustworthy people doing work on our history will be able to explain these and people will listen and believe the experts rather than rely on the movie for facts.

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Chocolates for baking and "Dubai-style" chocolate

Our daughter's been making her own "Dubai-style" chocolates since she first tasted the one from Lindt her mom got from a trip last year.

Berul's gourmet chocolate is from Malaysia. There are several variants of this that can be used for baking or making chocolate bars. 

Dutche is a local brand that's relatively inexpensive yet can be used to produce good chocolate bars as well as ingredients for cakes.

Fuji is also a locally produced chocolate. It's a little more expensive than Dutche but in my opinion leads to a better dark chocolate bar.

Because we wanted to stick to a budget, we usually settled for Fuji or Dutche. The cakes and bars from these were already good. The Beryl chocolate is reserved for special occasions like the cake and bars made last Christmas. What we have never bought are the Malagos chocolates from Davao, which, among local chocolates, seem to be the most expensive ones. When we do, I will probably write about how it compares to the cakes and bars made using the other chocolates. 

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Chocolate review: Lindt Dubai Style Chocolate

Trending these days is what is generally referred to as "Dubai Chocolate." I won't be writing about this in detail and will just share some photos of Lindt's version of the chocolate, which has pistachio and kadayif as the most prominent ingredients.

Lindt Dubai Style Chocolate Pistachio & Kadayif is Made in Germany

Details on the chocolate at the back of the packaging

Nutrition information and ingredients

Information on the manufacturer and expiration date

 

The chocolate retails for about 250 pesos at duty free shops in Singapore. I was surprised to see bars being sold at 1,250 pesos at a local supermarket!

My daughter's experimented on making her version of the chocolate and I will be writing about that in another article. Again, the main ingredients are pistachios, kadayif and chocolate. The latter. I think, can be selected from different manufacturers including really high quality local ones like Malagos from Davao.  

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Christmas 2025 grilling

We were once again hosts for our family Christmas lunch. And Christmas lunch will always involve grilled food. 

Pork barbecue and tuna belly

Close-up of the tuna belly

Pork barbecue with home made sauce used also for grilling

We acquired this grill back in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was already in decline. The first major use was during Christmas 2020 when we celebrated our survival from what was the probably the worst health scare of our lives.

We usually have grilled prawn and I always got these from my suki at the Antipolo Market.

Close-up of the prawns being grilled

The finished product - tender pork barbecue

Grilled tuna belly the way our family likes it.

We had a hearty lunch and celebrated life, love and health in 2025. Afterwards, we had our traditional photo shoot around our Christmas Tree. 

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