Renzie Visits Mandarin Oriental's Club Lounge

more from the Food and Travel notes of Renzie Baluyut.

My good friend Sasa flew in from out-of-town last week, and so we took time out to meet up and do some catching up. While we've met up already for a good round of tale-swapping and general chit-chat the Sunday before, we thought we still had some more stories left, so she invited me over for cocktails at the Mandarin Oriental.

Turns out that the Club Lounge at the 17th floor is such a great place to hang out. But only if you're checked in at Mandarin's 15th to 18th floors. So anyway they have these comfy sofas and seats all over- you can go ahead and pick a spot- and quite an interesting selection of cocktails going on.

Sasa and I had some of these canapes, as well as some waldorf salad, and these appetizers of chicken breast and air-dried beef. You can get pretty much whatever drink that was laid out on the counter as well- local beers, juices, soda drinks, bottled water. I got me a Sprite Lite and a couple of glasses of wine.

On another table there was some pork satay, some breaded shrimp, and some Spanish chorizo sausages. You also had an assortment of sliced fruit, and some bowls of cold Japanese soba noodles if you wanted some.

Upon request, the attendants could also bring in chips or nuts to munch on (which would have been great with beer), but I think we had enough to last us the rest of the evening. I did, however, get myself another plate of food, some of the cold soba and some fruit.

All in all, it was a fine evening. Also managed to get some photos as you can see.

The Mandarin Oriental is located right along Makati Avenue. If you need to check it out, you could visit their website right here.

The Mandarin Oriental, Manila
Makati Avenue 1226 Makati City, Philippines
Tel (+632) 750.8888 / Fax (+632) 817.2472
www.mandarinoriental.com

Cheers, everyone!

Lunch at Bamboo Beach

Me and a whole bunch of bloggers had the pleasure of checking out Kawayan Cove- this sweet little exclusive seaside community being developed by Edge Properties on a forested shoreline down in Nasugbu, Batangas.

Before I get down to the delicious details of the amazing lunch they had prepared for us down in Kawayan Cove's very own Bamboo Beach, allow me to just fill you in on what was in store for us for our visit that day.

It's a property worth checking out, particularly if you're seriously into real estate, and even more so if you're looking to get a piece of tranquil beachfront property for yourself. Check out Kawayan Cove's official website here.

It was a fun visit with fellow bloggers; the Puyat family was there to give us the grand tour of the place, joined by food and travel blogger Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet who was also there to give us useful tips and pointers on taking better pictures for our blogs.

Despite the light rains, we managed to get a good look at Kawayan Cove, and were able to take quite a lot of pictures. As for me, well, I took a lot of pics of one of the most awesome lunches I've had in a while.

The Bamboo Beach Beachside Banquet

Well, at least that's what I thought I'd call it- even as Anton was doing his talk on Food & Travel Photography, the staff of Kawayan Cove were already whipping up a storm. Right behind us, they were roasting seafood and chicken over some hot coals. Fortunately, it wasn't long until we had lunch going on.

There was plenty for everybody- so much food that you didn't know where to start. It's hard to miss the lechon- pig roasted Philippine-style- ready for carving right next to the grill.

And even as we were going around taking pictures of the food (bloggers that we all were!), the Kawayan Cove staff was serving us these crabs in garlic and coconut right next to our individual plates.

Right after taking a lot of these sweet pics, a lot of us started off at the grill, where there were skewers of shrimp and squid, as well as some grilled tilapia and these huge fish they were serving up as they came out of the coals. I took a few of the skewers and a tilapia for myself before hopping on to the next table, where some bloggers were helping themselves to some tinola- a chicken ginger stew with vegetables.

This particular tinola had a special twist, as it some coconut juice and fruit mixed instead of the usual green papaya or chayote. Needless to say, it tasted great, and made for a good start for our hearty lunch.

It seems everyone had some of the roasted chicken- I had two pieces myself. And on the serving table right next to it, were a variety of side-dishes that go well with either the chicken, roast pig or the crabs.

We had these green mango slices, which you usually eat with bagoong- a potent salty-sweet shrimp paste Filipinos use on a lot of dishes. There was also a pot of achara- Philippine pickled vegetables, and a salad of salted eggs and tomatoes.

There were a couple of kangkong (Philippine water spinach) dishes, one served as a salad with sliced onions and tomatoes, and then there was my favorite- kangkong stalks stir-fried in a light coconut milk sauce.

Naturally, there was lots of rice to go with all that food- but I skipped on it, opting to go low-carb for the day. I also skipped out on most of this huge roasted fish that graced the table- only getting a small slice from its side.

While there was dessert served after the meal, I was so stuffed that I decided to pass on it. Also, my fingers had crab-juice all over them, so I couldn't take any more pictures until I washed my hands. I helped myself to this very welcoming bowl of fruit right after that heavy lunch.

Now that was a good lunch, made even better as we were bonding with fellow bloggers, as well as with the Puyat family, who were even showing us old pictures of them when they were young and hanging out at this very same beach.

Needless to say, the food was great. The staff of Kawayan Cove were on hand to clear out the plates, keep the drinks coming, and hand out warm towels right after we were done with the fish and crabs. Excellent service on their end, and you have to give them props for that.

Special thanks to Mr. Joey Puyat and everyone in the Puyat family who joined us that day for being such gracious hosts; they were all there to welcome us, show us around Kawayan Cove, and pretty much made us feel right at home.

Also, thanks and shout-out to fellow blogger Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet- for giving us some tips on how to be better photo-bloggers. Last but not least, thanks to our friends from Geiser-Maclang for making it all happen.

Cheers, everyone!

Welcome To My Personal Food Blog

Now this is a blog that I should have been writing about from the very beginning- a personal food blog.

After all, I love eating, I love cooking, I love sharing stories about eating out and cooking at home, I love recommending restaurants, I love discovering new out-of-the-way food places- you get the idea.

I suppose it all made sense when I got me a new DSLR- a Canon EOS 400D Digital Rebel XTi. I bought the camera in Los Angeles, during my second visit last June, and pretty much everywhere we went, there I was snapping pictures- and a big part of those pictures were food pics!

I thought it was a great way to immerse yourself in the culture of the place. While I was in Los Angeles- I always wanted to try out all these different not-so-commercial neighborhood food spots- to see what Southern California had to offer. So my sister would take me around to her favorite food places, and tell me a little about the restaurant, and the more popular food items on the menu- it was all fun.

So when I got back from my trip, I realized I had all these great food photos while I was sorting out my stuff. Shortly after doing some editing, uploading and sharing, I thought a food blog would be just the thing to talk about all my various food adventures during my travels, and to share photos as well as stories about the places I've visited, and plan to visit.

I also skimmed through my other, more established blogs, and decided to throw in all my various food-related posts in here as well. The result is pretty much what you have here in front of you- a labor of love, a reminder of how we should appreciate the simple joys of life, a journal I dedicate to all food enthusiasts, professionals, entrepreneurs and artists.

So what's there to see in this blog?

• Restaurant Recommendations. From food establishments of all kinds all over Metro Manila and the Philippines (it's where I'm from!) as well as from other places I've visited- such as in Los Angeles and Singapore- but there will definitely be more as I add more stories from my future travels.
  
• Easy-to-do Recipes. I like cooking from the comfort of my own home, but I ain't no top chef. If it's something a regular schlub like me could cook, then you could do it too.
• Food Preparation Tips and Kitchen Ideas. "Eat better, live better", I always say.
• Food Stories from my Friends. A lot of em do a fair bit of traveling as well, and also appreciate a great food establishment when they see one. It's always interesting what they have to share!
• Lots of Food Photos and Pics of Food Places. Still learning how to take better pictures. I'd love to hear from you guys on tips and all that.

So there you have it. I hope you enjoy reading this blog as much as I put it together. Leave a comment, join in on the discussion, and share whatever food stories you have. I'd sure love to hear from you.

Cheers, everyone!