What's in a (Business) Name? Treinta y tres

Who wants to do oldalaundry?

Spotted along ML Quezon Ave., Mandaue City

For more amusing business names, please visit Go Random.

Gibbs' Hot Wings

Gibbs' Hot Wings

Holy Family Village II, Banilad, Cebu City

Tuesday to Saturday 11AM-2PM and 530PM to 10PM

Sunday and Monday 530PM to 10PM

What's on the menu? Chicken wings, chicken wings, chicken wings. Chickens rejoice when they hear you order Gibbs' non-chicken-wing items: pasta, potatoes, mozzarella sticks, beer.

 Crummy photos of yummy food

Clockwise from top left: hot wings, spicy honey garlic wings, potato wedges, angel wings.

We were guilty of killing eight chickens that night (there are 10 pieces—5 wings and 5 drumettes—per plate), for we had:

* Hot Wings (Php 175). There are five levels of hotness to choose from and we picked level 3. If we had picked level 5, I think we'd need a crate of beer each. 

* Spicy Honey Garlic Wings (Php 195). Name says it all. Spicy. Honey. Garlic.

* Angel Wings (Php 205). Wings with cream, cheese, and garlic sauce, topped with Parmesan cheese.

* Potato Wedges (Php 75). Served with sweet and spicy dip.

* And a pitcher of Gibbs' house blend juice (Php 125) for our smoldering tongues.

 

 

The pigs invaded the chicken coop: Babe for Food and Baktin Corporation

If we, pigs, could fly, we'd prefer our wings hot or spicy honey and garlic. Angel wings we can do without. Being such gluttons, we wouldn't be admitted into heaven anyway.

Brique by 'Stache Eats Five

6pm, day after Sunday
I do some tasks in a hurry
The smell of hot
squash carrot soup's calling
The cars are crawling
I am starved

Up a step to the restaurant
I am wobbling on my toes
The diners are chowing down dinner
Clipboard menu of good food to choose from
And I read
I see lots of choices
I'm feeling more hungry
Than I ever was before

I'm at Brique and I'm ord'ring slowly
Read each page and I'm going nowhere
I'm at Brique and I'm ord'ring slowly

Last order is at X:30
I call the waiter once again
I get Smoked Fish Dip as a starter
And Truffled Shoestring Potatoes
I can't stop
Fish Provencal I'm dying for
And Bibingka Creme Brulee
I think that's enough for now

I'm at Brique and I'm eating happy
Off the plate and food's headed somewhere
I'm at Brique and I'm eating happy

As dishes go by
It showed that Brique is so fine
I told them, "Brique...congratulations"
Wine cork popped, my button popped
'Cause I was full...bursting

Driving back to my office
For the moment I am woozy
But it's just my stomach
I am too full
And I know it

Ate at Brique and I'm very lucky
Creative Cuisine is growing everywhere
Eat at Brique and you'll be burping loudly 


Brique Modern Kitchen
42 Salinas Drive, Lahug, Cebu City (beside Chikaan)
(032) 414 1720
Weekdays 10AM to 11PM
Weekends 7AM to 11PM

Bring some Good Company for a feast of Good Food.

 

Please read again and sing to the tune of Brick by Ben Folds Five. 

Notes about the song:

Stanza I
I got invited to the day–before–opening–day event. (The invitation made me think Brique was a sandwich shop.) The event was on a Monday and I was running an hour late.

Stanza II and III
When I got to Brique, everyone was already enjoying their food. The server handed me a menu and I was surprised by the options: Brique was more than just a sandwich shop.

Stanza IV
I took my two friends' advice and we had the smoked fish dip (Php 140), truffled shoestring potatoes (Php 250), fish provencal (Php 260), and bibingka creme brulee (Php 60).

Stanza V
I liked the food, especially the truffled shoestring potatoes with sriracha mayo, fish provencal, and bibingka creme brulee. Mozzarella is my favorite cheese so the smoked fish dip was good enough for me.

Stanza VI, VII, VIII
Companions also ordered the squash and carrot soup (Php 140), Arabian salad (Php 275), drunken angus (Php 370), salted caramel chocolate cake (Php 90), and veggie garden juice (Php 90). The starters and salads were good for three to four persons. Soup for one, if really hungry; two, if feeling generous. Entrees and desserts were good for one. The soup and salad were good, though nothing fancy. My friend was raving about the drunken angus. I found the salted caramel of the chocolate cake too salty. The celery in the veggie garden juice was too strong for my taste. All in all, Brique is a good place for a good meal with good company.

The Powerful Maria Cristina Falls

Maria Cristina Falls is so powerful that as I stand on the viewdeck of the hydroelectric plant fronting this 98-meter waterfall, I see billows of mist, even with just one of its drops flowing (on weekends, both drops come rushing down full force at 11AM). The mist reaches me....or maybe it's just the rain. But, believe me, it is very powerful—it provides a large chunk of Mindanao's electricity.

 

I was in the mood to be a nerd that day and would have loved to have a tour of the power plant, but time was limited and, besides, I think a request for a tour would have to be arranged in advance.

Maria Cristina Falls is located within Iligan City's National Power Corporation (NPC) Nature's Park, just 9.3 kilometers from the city center. NPC Nature's Park can be reached by taking a jeepney bound for Buru-un (fare is Php 11).

NPC Nature's Park

Daily 9AM to 4PM

Entrance Fee Php 35

Park Shuttle Php 10

Other things to see/do at the park:

Zipline

Canopy walk

Picnic

Mini zoo

Butterfly garden

Waterfalling Adventure Tour (WAT):

Hats Off to Iligan Bloggers Society

All in a Day's Eat in Iligan

Dodiongan Falls: Expectation and Reality
The Disappearance of Mimbalot Falls
The Powerful Maria Cristina Falls (you're here!)
The Hidden Beauty: Tinago Falls
Nagkalisod Para Limunsudan
WAT 3.0's Last Supper at Villa Sabarre 

Waterfalling Adventure Tour 3.0 by the Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc. would not be possible without the following partners: Iligan City Government, 4th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, IHARRA, and Iligan Chamber, and event sponsors:

 [Jacko's Kan-anan] [Jollibee] [Calda Pizza] [Jasmine Pensionne Home] [Tita Fannie's] [Tatay's Grill]

 

With the support of:

Keepsakes Iligan | Adventist Medical Center- Iligan | NPC Nature's Park | Bob NY USA | The Good Type | Margeuries House of Goodies

The Disappearance of Mimbalot Falls

Be alarmed. Mimbalot Falls has disappeared.

Disappeared behind an eyesore.

Obscured by development in the form of Paradise Resort and Eco Park.

 Paradise Resort and Eco Park has made Mimbalot Falls unparadisiacal

Look beyond the eyesore to see the 90–ft. beauty of Mimbalot Falls.

If you'd rather not donate to the resort's idea of paradise

(read: skip paying the entrance fee of Php 50),

take the little path on the left.

If the rush of water entices you to strip and dip,

then you might have to pay that entrance fee after all.

But some little birds told me that they saw communities, cows, carabaos (water buffaloes), goats...

well, you get the picture.

Mimbalot Falls is in Barangay Buruun, 11 km from the city proper of Iligan. For directions on how to get to Mimbalot Falls, please visit Pinay Travelista's blogpost.

Waterfalling Adventure Tour (WAT):

Hats Off to Iligan Bloggers Society

All in a Day's Eat in Iligan

Dodiongan Falls: Expectation and Reality
The Disappearance of Mimbalot Falls (you're here!)
The Powerful Maria Cristina Falls
The Hidden Beauty: Tinago Falls
Nagkalisod Para Limunsudan
WAT 3.0's Last Supper at Villa Sabarre

Waterfalling Adventure Tour 3.0 by the Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc. would not be possible without the following partners: Iligan City Government, 4th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, IHARRA, and Iligan Chamber, and event sponsors:

 [Jacko's Kan-anan] [Jollibee] [Calda Pizza] [Jasmine Pensionne Home] [Tita Fannie's] [Tatay's Grill]

 

With the support of:

Keepsakes Iligan | Adventist Medical Center- Iligan | NPC Nature's Park | Bob NY USA | The Good Type | Margeuries House of Goodies

Dodiongan Falls: Expectation and Reality

Nice and sunny. That's what I woke up to while aboard Trans–Asia approaching Cagayan de Oro. Nice and sunny on the road to Iligan City from Cagayan de Oro City on a Super Five bus (Php 85, travel time of 2 hours; buses leave every 20 minutes starting 4AM with the last trip at 1045PM from Sunday to Thursday and 1245AM on Friday and Saturday). Nice and sunny as I dumped my bags in Jasmine Pensionne House. Nice and sunny when I entered Jacko's Kan-anan with the members of Iligan Bloggers Society and the participants of the Waterfalling Adventure Tour (WAT). Nice and sunny. Is what we were all expecting the afternoon we were to go to Dodiongan Falls, the first waterfall on this waterfall–choked 3–day itinerary.

Expectation

Dodiongan Falls on a sunny day

Photo by Pinay Travelista

Gray and drizzling as the old white van we were in navigated the road to Dodiongan Falls. Gray and drizzling as we bumped along the uneven dirt road to the jump off for the 20–minute easy hike to Dodiongan Falls. Gray and drizzling as we trudged over rocks and grass. Gray and drizzling as we crossed the river twice.

Brown and raging, the state of Dodiongan Falls was when we reached it after what seemed like more than 20 minutes. Brown and raging it stayed while we took turns taking photographs of Dodiongan Falls under the shelter of somebody's umbrella. Brown and raging still when we heard a lady call to his son, who had been leading our way, to come back. Brown and raging it persisted so we decided to turn back.

Reality

Steady and pouring, the rain was as we slowly traced our way back. Steady and pouring, the rain made the river swell. Rushing and rising, the river swallowed up the trail we had taken just a few minutes ago. Rushing and rising, the river widened and we carefully clung to rocks and plants in the hopes of not falling into the river. Rushing and rising, the river had risen to impassable depths and forced us to take another way up and down the side of the mountain, making the 20–minute easy hike into a 40-minute workout.

Soaked but happy, we all were. To have come back safe. To have seen Dodiongan Falls.

Dodiongan Falls is in Barangay Bonbonon, 14.5 km from the city proper of Iligan. For directions on how to get to Dodiongan Falls, please visit Pinay Travelista's blogpost.

Waterfalling Adventure Tour (WAT):

Hats Off to Iligan Bloggers Society

All in a Day's Eat in Iligan

Dodiongan Falls: Expectation and Reality (you're here!)
The Disappearance of Mimbalot Falls
The Powerful Maria Cristina Falls
The Hidden Beauty: Tinago Falls
Nagkalisod Para Limunsudan
WAT 3.0's Last Supper at Villa Sabarre

Waterfalling Adventure Tour 3.0 by the Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc. would not be possible without the following partners: Iligan City Government, 4th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, IHARRA, and Iligan Chamber, and event sponsors:

 [Jacko's Kan-anan] [Jollibee] [Calda Pizza] [Jasmine Pensionne Home] [Tita Fannie's] [Tatay's Grill]

 

With the support of:

Keepsakes Iligan | Adventist Medical Center- Iligan | NPC Nature's Park | Bob NY USA | The Good Type | Margeuries House of Goodies

All In a Day's Eat in Iligan

Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc., the people who caused me to expose my bald head after I met them, sure thought of everything for the Waterfalling Adventure Tour (WAT). Including food. They made sure the waterfall chasers wouldn't starve before, during, and after the chasing.

Breakfast

Pater Al-Kuwait

La Salle Road, Pala-o, Iligan City

0906 932 8729

Monday to Saturday 8AM to 9PM

 Rice topped with shredded meat (chicken, beef, or tuna) wrapped in banana leaf, add a bit of palapa, and I have a tasty, spicy breakfast for just Php 25. I just wish it had more meat. Warning: Use palapa sparingly, unless you have a fire extinguisher handy.

Lunch

Jacko's Kan-anan

National Highway, Hinaplanon, Iligan City

(063) 222 4610

Monday to Saturday 9AM to 9PM

Sunday 9AM to 730PM

 A huge lunch in preparation for the 20-minute easy hike to Dodiongan Falls? Jacko's Kan-anan generously prepared a feast of vegetables, meat, and seafood, subconsciously knowing the participants, right after lunch, wouldn't be merrily skipping over grass and rocks to get to (and from) Dodiongan Falls.

Dinner

Tatay's Grill

National Highway, Tambo, Brgy. Hinaplonan, Iligan City

(063) 221 1740

Daily 11AM to 10PM

The grill of tatay must have been busy that night that only one grilled item was served for dinner and the rest were cooked off the grill. But no one complained. The food was good and the seafood fresh. Lucky for me, I picked the right seat—right in front of the seafood tinola and adobong bihod (Tatay's specialty).

Nightcap

Brews Almighty
National Highway, Brgy. Tibanga, Iligan City
(063) 221 3836

The group recalled their days of adventure over coffee, desserts, and laughter at Brews Almighty. The recommended nightcap? Durian cappuccino (Php 100)—coffee that not only smelled faintly of durian but had bits of durian in it—paired with suman with latik (Php 20).

Waterfalling Adventure Tour 3.0 (WAT 3.0):

Hats Off to Iligan Bloggers Society

All in a Day's Eat in Iligan (you're here!)

Dodiongan Falls: Expectation and Reality
The Disappearance of Mimbalot Falls
The Powerful Maria Cristina Falls
The Hidden Beauty: Tinago Falls
Nagkalisod Para Limunsudan

WAT 3.0's Last Supper at Villa Sabarre

Waterfalling Adventure Tour 3.0 by the Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc. would not be possible without the following partners: Iligan City Government, 4th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, IHARRA, and Iligan Chamber, and event sponsors:

 [Jacko's Kan-anan] [Jollibee] [Calda Pizza] [Jasmine Pensionne Home] [Tita Fannie's] [Tatay's Grill]

 

With the support of:

Keepsakes Iligan | Adventist Medical Center- Iligan | NPC Nature's Park | Bob NY USA | The Good Type | Margeuries House of Goodies

Wisdom from the Road #18

On stopping hunger up in the air

When flying on a budget airline on a long flight,

don't forget to bring snacks.

Or lots of money.

We all know inflight food and drinks are expensive. And flying on a budget airline means no free snacks. So, I repeat, bring lots of money if you are willing to spend 100 pesos for a cup of instant noodles or bring your own snack stash. And, even if you have a lot of money, it is still better to bring a snack stash (but there are airlines that prohibit passengers from consuming food not bought from the flight, so eat your stash in secret). Especially if your flight is hours long and happens over meal time.

On a four–hour flight, I was so hungry I was willing to spend 200 pesos for a meal. I had my money out, but they had run out of rice meals (third lesson: pre-order your meal through the airline's website). I had to dig through my pasalubong bag (sorry, pasalubong recipient) or else let everyone in the plane suffer the rumblings of my stomach.

For more lessons from the road, please visit Go Learn.