Tag: Blog

Blog, My Thoughts, Travels

TRAVEL: Boracay, Philippines. Love To Eat.

One of the best parts of beach life is to surrender to all the delicacies and cuisines that surrounds you. I am always looking for the type of food I can hold in my hand while walking around or even sit by the beach and sip on something cool and refreshing.

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The beach life. It’s like no other feeling. I realize now that I make every effort to visit Boracay for one or some of several reasons. You may have some of your own perhaps.

You worked hard for that beach body.

You had a stressful year and need to unwind.

You haven’t been to the beach for the longest time.

You just need to get away. Period.

For me, it’s not just the beach life but it’s for the food with the beach life. So I say to myself, “Throw everything out the window and let my appetite take it’s course because this is my vacation and I earned it.”

This is how I feel when I’m in Boracay. I want to explore. I want to enjoy. I don’t want anything to hold me back. Well, as long as I’m not overdoing it.

I start off with a little bit of coffee in the morning. Beach view. Clear mind. Calm weather. Bright. Beautiful.

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After a few sips and staring out into the view, I completely lose track of time. Some time later my breakfast arrives. I’m not even thinking about how hungry I am until I look down at the most appetizing meal. A cup of garlic rice, marinated pork tocino, sunny-side up egg, with a little garnish of lettuce and cherry tomatoes. Delicious!

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As the morning passes on slowly, there are a few places I frequently visit every time I travel here. The first place I usually hit is a place called “Aria Cucina Italiana”. Like most places that have a beach view, I prefer to eat indoors because people like to sit around the outside seating area and smoke vigorously. I love the food here! Pastas and pizzas are such comfort food at the beach.

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Aglio Olio
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Al Fume
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Gnocci
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Margherita Pizza

Soon after our fulfilling meal, we walk on over next door to “Aria Gelato” for some cold, refreshing, yup-you-guessed-it, GELATO.

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We like to switch up the afternoon snack between a couple of places. There is this small café called “Ti Braz” that had gone through some renovations. They specialized in serving light breakfast and snacks but now added power shakes and alcohol drinks to their two other businesses just inside their café. I highly recommend choosing any of their crepes. Any type of fruit inside a heated pastry then topped with a scoop of ice cream makes for an amazing afternoon snack.

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Take a look at how this delicious crepe was made by clicking on both links below. I can watch this all day.

Part 1: Crepe Making in Boracay, Philippines

Part 2: Crepe Making in Boracay, Philippines

During our last visit to Boracay we decided to try a place called Halowich.  They make fruit sundaes and chilled desserts. It is so refreshing to have a cold dessert melt in my mouth! Tropical fruits mix so well in a dessert. If you don’t believe me, look at the size of the bowl that some kids next to us ordered. Stuffed with loads of mangoes and papaya. It was bigger than my hand!

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At night, there are so many choices where to eat. You can eat at one of your favourite restaurants and sit alongside the walkway closer to the beach side. Sip on a cool drink while looking at the breathtaking night views.

Sometimes we ate indoors and enjoyed the convenience of air conditioning with less chances of being bothered by beach vendors and insects.

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To be honest with you, I enjoyed eating both indoors and outdoors.

Taking part in the foodie life is such a wonderful experience. If you ever find your way into Boracay, you must have a taste of every type of food it has to offer. Writing this food blog now is making me daydream about my next trip to Boracay. When I find more things to eat there, I will definitely blog about it.

Check out my other blogs on visiting Boracay, Philippines.

TRAVEL: Boracay, Philippines. Road Trip To Vacation Is Part Of The Vacation

TRAVEL: Boracay, Philippines – Relax, Shop, Enjoy.

TRAVEL: Boracay, Philippines. Road Trip To Vacation Is Part Of The Vacation

Blog, Restaurants

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Big Smoke Burger – Square One Shopping Centre, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Worth the wait if you’re hankering for a cheeseburger!

Check out my review on Big Smoke Burger.

Click here:   Yelp  |  Google Maps  | Tripadvisor

Blog, My Thoughts

Chinese Fortune Cookie Story

Imagine yourself finishing off a really good meal at your favourite Chinese buffet restaurant. You take a deep breathe after you manage to squeeze in the last bit of food on your plate.

You feel satisfied.

You are content.

You are just absolutely stuffed.

That’s how I felt the last time I had lunch at my favourite Chinese buffet restaurant.

Sitting in front of me was the treat that I’ve been waiting for. The fortune cookie. After all, I ate my heart’s desire and paid my server with a nice tip. I slowly peeled off the plastic wrapping. It’s just at my fingertips now – that crispy, crunchy sweet cookie.

Ah that’s it. I got it! I broke it in half to reveal the white rectangular paper. Popped in the cookie half I broke off and threw it in my mouth. I started to crunch away. The paper read my Lucky Lotto numbers but I didn’t care about that really. I wanted to know what everyone wants to know. My fortune.

So I quickly turned the paper around to read my fortune.

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Happy Friday everyone!

Blog, Restaurants

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Scaddabush – Square One Shopping Centre, Mississauga, Canada

Fettuccine Capri

Large scale Italian restaurant serving up small and large scale food.

Check out my review on Scaddabush – Square One Shopping Mall

Click here: Yelp  | Google Maps | Tripadvisor

Blog, Restaurants

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Jamie’s Italian – Square One Shopping Centre, Mississauga, Canada

inside3.jpgCelebrity Chef Jamie Oliver and his huge restaurant at Square One Shopping Centre.

Check out my review on Jamie’s Italian!

Click here:  Yelp  | Google Maps |  Tripadvisor

Blog, My Thoughts

How I Am Achieving My Goals

I have been told many times in my college years that in order to achieve any goals, I must write them down (smartphones weren’t available back in my day). They said any goals, whether personal or professional, is worthy of picking up a pen and spelling out exactly how I could reach the most successful result.

Career. Financials. Business. Even a meal plan.

My teachers have often tried to teach me the thinking process on how to write it down. But it’s hard to describe why I couldn’t catch onto what they tried to teach me. I mean, I could hear them but it just wasn’t sinking in.

I failed a lot of courses in school because I became so immersed into pleasing my parents rather than doing what I wanted to do. That sort of roadblock became such an obstacle that I later realized I have to think and do things differently just to get to where I need to go in life.

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We all experience different events and stages in our lives. Now that I’m much older and wiser from my college years, I learned that the only way I’m going to achieve my goals is to prioritize the things that matter to me the most. This is how I’m getting there by doing a combination of all of these four points:

  • Making a list and checking it twice. Either with your phone or pen and paper. It’s shorter, achievable and realistic, and to the point. Like a shopping list, it helps us make a plan for a recipe. When I’m grocery shopping, I easily pick up things along the way and once I start cooking with all of my purchased ingredients, I end up enjoying what I’ve created. I go back to that list and see if there is anything that I can tweak to see if it can be done better, unless it somehow magically comes out perfect in the end.
  • Watch, think, and do. I’m more of a visual person than a writer. I know, I know, I’m writing a food blog. But most of my achievements (and writing) comes from what I see or what I envision. It might be the whole thing about foresight that triggers my thinking process: “I like what I see now how do I get there?” or “This is what I think I want and this is what I need to do?” mentality. Sometimes my life schedule becomes pretty hectic so I take photos or draw a picture to help me remember what I need to do. Then I write a list of what I need to get it done.

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  • Tools and Support. You need both to get things done. I couldn’t write a food blog without my Iphone, MacBook, and my wife. I need my Iphone and MacBook to take photos, make quick notes, and research and post on social media and my blog. My wife offers me a vast amount of suggestions on photo-taking, restaurant reviews, and blogging ideas. She provides me with nothing but love and support for what this food blog has done for me.
  • It’s a about finding and achieving realistic goals. Larger goals required writing down everything in stages. I have been able to get most things done with the satisfaction of knowing that I got there. Even when it’s at a snail’s pace.

When I first started this blog several months ago, I really had no clue what to share. I didn’t know what I wanted to write about. Looking back, I wrote down that I wanted to upload at least 3 posts a week, whether it be restaurant reviews, pictures, or even an actual blog such as this one. Somehow I managed to exceed that amount and write 5 posts a week. I think I’m getting there with my blog.

Now I need to start writing things down again and begin renovating my home.

Blog, My Thoughts

Focus

Living in the suburbs without a vehicle can be very difficult especially if you need to run errands. My car has been with my mechanic for the past couple of days and if anyone knows how it feels like to be without the luxury of a vehicle, walking to your destination tests a person’s patience.

I’ve discovered that the time I spend walking to my destination has given me some time of reflection. I think about what my next blog post would be or what direction I want my food blog to be about.

Then I realized that my recent traveling methods is no different than how I write my next food blog post. Walking is a slower place to reach my destination much like writing with a pen and paper. I have more time to think. I see more with my own eyes rather than looking at my phone all the time. I talk more with the people around me. Driving gets me to my destination quicker but I think less and I only see what’s ahead of me rather than being aware of what’s around me. Sometimes I talk less because I’m looking at the road and I’m rushing to reach my destination.

It’s a lesson I have learned that sometimes the slower pace will help me focus not just with blogging but in life in general.