durbanliving: August 2010

A year of musicals

This is a wonderful year for us in terms of watching of record number of Broadway musicals. You see, for budget considerations we try to limit watching a musicial to two in a year here in Manila. But so far this year, we have exceeded our quota thanks to our trips abroad. It would have been a shame not to watch any Broadway shows there.

The Lion King, Minskoff Theatre

Wicked, The Orpheum Theatre

Aladdin, Disneyland Anaheim

Cats, CCP

and Festival of the Lion King, HK Disneyland.

We love the theatre and hope to see more shows here and abroad.

Craving for empanada

I did not know that there are two kinds of Ilocos empanda: Vigan and Ilocos empanada found in Ilocos Norte. Anyways, eating empanda from Ilocos is a rare treat for us since the ones sold in Manila are poor copycats. Empanadas are made from rice flour wrapper, grated green papaya, longganisa and egg. I particularly like its crispy crust, the runny egg yolk inside and vinegar dip. The yum!

I tried to capture how it is made but I failed to take a photo when the egg is laid in the empanda.

A weekend in Ilocos

J and I brought my mom to Ilocos Sur and Norte two weekends ago. It was a whirlwind tour of the heritage sites. Short but sweet. When I first went to Ilocos years ago, I was immediately enchanted and awed by its architecture, the old houses and churches, food and the old world ambiance, and I'm glad that I still had the same feeling when I went back.

Our travel time was approximately 9 hours from Makati to Ilocos Sur. Our itinerary:

1. Breakfast at Grandpa's Inn, Vigan, 9am

2. Check in at Villa Angela, Vigan

3. Proceed to Juan Luna Shrine, Bagoc (almost an hour away from Vigan)

4. After Bagoc, we went to Paoay to visit Marcos Mausoleum, Photo Gallery, Paoay Church, ate pinakbet and dinuguan pizza at Herencia Cafe, Malacanan of the North

5. Back to Vigan by 7pm, ate Ilocos Empanada at the Plaza

The next day, we went around Vigan, shop at the public market for Abel Iloco, visited 3 museums: Crisologo, Syquia, Father Burgos, photo op at Calle Crisologo, and lunch at Cafe Leona. By 1pm, we were on the road to home, with a quick stop at Santa Maria Church, Ilocos Sur and Agoo Church in La Union.

1. Breakfast at Grandpa's Inn. Their breakfast meal was pricey.Throughout our trip, we were amazed on how "red" the egg yolks were in Ilocos and finally we learned that the said color indicates that the eggs are fresh. Hmm, makes me cringe at the thought here in Manila, all the eggs that I ate have yellowish yolks.