Pandoraspace

Lion’s Rice at Rose Bowl

Although many things in Baguio have change, my Rose Bowl Lion’s Rice is a constant and a part of the Baguio I remember.

While I was growing up, my parents took me to eat at Rose Bowl countless times. Rose Bowl is a restaurant located along Harrison Road and facing Burnham Park in Baguio City.

I vividly recall being brought to Rose Bowl past my bedtime and falling a sleep several times before the soup arrived. I remember my parents having long discussions about things I could not understand while I sat and stared at the paintings of daisies on meadows in Rose Bowl and waited for the food to come. And, as far back as I can remember, I have always had Lion’s Rice.

Lion’s rice is a dish with lechon kawali (deep fried pork chop), chop suey (sautéed vegetables of fresh button mushroom, cauliflower, carrots, fresh peas and brocolli) and a cup of steamed rice. Sometimes, I asked for a sunny-side up egg to go with my Lion’s rice.  To this day, my parents give me perplexed funny looks when I order Lion’s Rice, which I eat alone, while everyone else gets to eat “family style”, i.e., everyone shares all the dishes ordered.

The thing about Lion’s Rice is that its taste has never changes since I was a child.  Its familiar taste not only gives me comfort, it reminds me of my wonderful childhood in Baguio.

Dear John,

Sorry it took me forever to write you about Bali.  For some reason, thinking about Bali makes me feel lazy.

While I spent some time looking around Bali and shopping, I realized that the best thing to do in Bali is to veg-out.  If I had all the time in the world, I would just bum around in the beach the whole day to watch the the Balinese people make their early morning offering of flowers to the gods of the sea, the surfers ride the waves or Gunung Agung and Gunung Batur.  I do not mind bumming around in Kuta beach even if it is crowded but I am sure that you would prefer to take your wife and kids to the more private beaches in Nusa Dua.

Nusa Dua is where most of the exclusive resorts are located. The resorts are locate along side each other and the area is well guarded and isolated from the rest of Bali.  Tito L and Tita D took us to see one of the resorts to give us an idea of what they are like and I was amazed by the size of it.  In that resort, there are about ten buildings that surround a man-made lagoon and the swimming pools.  The guest rooms are located in those buildings.  It also took me more than five minutes to walk from the reception area to the beach.  There are hotel staff everywhere to cater to the guests’ needs.  Tito L and Tita D told us that the other resorts in Nusa Dua are more or less similar to the resort we visited.  I notice too that the sand in Nusa Dua is golden but not as fine as the sand in Boracay while the sand in Kuta is grey because the grains are made up of crushed lava.

You once asked me if Bali is a place for children.  I would say that it is.  I noticed that there were many people bringing along their young children.  The kids looked like they were having fun too.  If you are not bringing along your kids to Bali, Kuta is probably the best place to hang out.  It is where the shops and bars are located.  The place is teeming with activity.  I could sit in the public beach the whole day and just watch people.  It is very interesting.

LS and I wanted to go to Ubud, which people say is similar to Baguio and is the center of Balinese culture and arts.  Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to visit the place.

So, yes John, I would recommend that you take your family to Bali.  You will not regret it.

Pandora

Even if he knew I was extremely busy, my friend Monk provoked me into doing research about a place I came across sometime ago. To get back at him, I am writing this article to prove Monk wrong.

It all started when I posted pictures about a monument I accidentally stumbled upon. I had absolutely no idea of the significance of the monument or the place where it was located. At that time, I thought it would be interesting to find out how many people actually knew of the monument.

My little sister knew about the place where the monument is located because she is a nerd. Monk knew about the monument and the place as he lives in the area.  According to Monk, the monument, which stands in Pinaglabanan, San Juan, “[i]s a story of a death match between three men for the love and loin of a woman. Unfortunately for the woman, the man she loved was one of the vanquished men.” Of course, the unsuspecting me thought this was all true. I later realized that Monk was pulling my leg when I asked him this question: “What does this monument have to do with Pinaglabanan?” and his answer was this – “Referring to the woman, ‘Pinaglabanan’ siya ng tatlong lalake. (Three men fought over her.) Duh!” As Monk refused to tell me the real story of the place and the monument, I had to find out about it on my own. (Thanks, Monk. Some friend you are.) (more…)

Today and in the following days, I will be posting Siem Reap travel tips.

Tip No. 1: Bring a camera. This tip needs no further explanation.

I regret that these are all the photos I could take with, and store on, my phone -

Tip No. 2: Study flight routes, canvass travel fares and book flights in advance.

For any trip, you should find the best way to get there. In our case, I learned that there are no direct flights from the Philippines to Cambodia.  You need to take a flight from the Philippines to Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore and from there to Cambodia.  This could make traveling to Cambodia expensive.  After studying flight routes, I found several budget airlines that offer affordable fares.   (more…)