Thursday, June 14, 2012

Gear Up for Water

I may not be a very very good swimmer or athlete in terms of water sports, but I'll always be in love in doing it. Since I've already tried snorkeling and island hopping, I found out that aqua shoes are really a good gear instead of using flip flops or rubber shoes specially in snorkeling. This is used to protect our feet whenever we go through rocky sands and even under the sea. If you're the stylish type of person, aqua shoes comes with different styles and colors too, just check out stores that offers sports-related stuff.
The aqua shoes was a gift for me. Yay! I've been wanting this and asked my aunt a couple of months ago to buy me this from the U.S. (though you can also find it here in the Philippines). Finally, wish granted and I'm really excited to use this on my adventure! :)

Monday, June 11, 2012

Cafe Marivent

We went to Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar (blog post here) this May and had a day tour with set lunch and mirienda. The package was P 1200 per person and I can say that the food was really worth it. I like the ambiance of their restaurant though there were a couple of flies going around. The people there were really polite and accommodating. They consistently greets the incoming guests with a happy face.
 Cafe Marivent at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar
 Binakol - Their specialty dish. It's basically like a sweet Tinola. Why? Binakol has Coconut meat and juice to make it sweet. No more sayote or papaya. Though it was my first time to eat this dish, I can say that the sweetness of the coconut is enough for the dish to make it good.
 Bulalo Soup - This comes with the set meal for the day. Worth it. It has greens, potato, and meat. Usually, bulalo soup from a set meal don't have much vegetables or even the meat, but this one's different. This soup was good. 
 Barbeque Porkchop - I think the serving was enough for me. Usually, the first thing I taste in a dish that comes with a sauce is that sauce. The barbeque sauce was just awesome. The blending of sweet and spicy tomato sauce with such good spices was really good! The meat was tender. The vegetables were fine, I was amazed that the veggies has sliced tomatoes. 
  Fish FIllet - The fish was good. I forgot what fish they used, but I'm sure it's not cream dory. All I can say is cream dory fillet tasted better for me than this fish. I thought that the fillet lacked spices to make it  more appetizing.
 Leche Flan - Just fine. They said they used pure egg yolk but I'm really not sure with that. It was not that compact as I slice it. Gaaah. Parang kulang pa sa halo o parang may hangin pa sa loob pag hiniwa -- ganung effect. But, the taste was good, I just don't like the texture.
 Cafe Marivent Menu (page 1) - Their dishes is a bit pricy, but based on our meal, I think that will do. :)
  Cafe Marivent Menu (page 2)
  Cafe Marivent Menu (page 3)


Our mirienda was Pansit Bihon with Bread and softdrinks. I forgot to take a picture of it. The pancit was also good! We asked if they have calamansi, and they told us they ran out of calamansi and gave us sliced lemons instead. Haha! :)
 Philippine-Japan Friendship Tower, Bagac, Bataan. Located at the junction triangle in Bagac before Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar. In front of this tower is the terminal for Balanga, Bataan. This is a Buddhist bell that serves as the sign of friendship between Philippines and Japan. 


Bo. Pag-asa, Bagac, Bataan

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar

There were a couple of rain showers this past few days so I was a bit hesitant on our Bataan day trip. That midnight on the day we were supposed to leave, it was really raining hard. However, God is really good that by the time I was going to the bus terminal, the rain stopped. We rode Genesis Bus going to Balanga, Bataan and left Manila by around 4:30 AM. We arrived at Bataan Terminal around 6:30 AM, then at 7:30 AM (1 hour waiting time for passengers), the bus left going to Bagac. Basically, around 4 hours travel time to get there by commute. Finally we arrived at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar around 8:30 AM. We strolled around the place and took some pictures before we joined the tour at 10:30 AM. They have tours every hour, which starts at 8:30 AM. I just love their welcome drinks, sago't gulaman - very refreshing!

With more or less 27 houses, Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar is a museum of vintage houses from the 18th and 19th century. These houses were stored as it is, and reconstructed some parts. Each house comes with a historical role in it. Houses here came from different parts of Luzon like Quiapo. The feeling of nostalgia comes when you roam around the vicinity. Aside from the tour, you can feel the 19th century era by using their facilities (rooms for overnight, classic Filipino games), and the 'Photo Corner' of Las Casas which lends you Filipiniana clothes and have a couple of minute pictorial around the place. Of course, you have to pay for it. Las Casas also has a 'batis-ispired' pool which the children can enjoy. Aside from that, they offer kayak to their 'gondola-like' river. They also have beach, though it's grayish.
Meet our adjustable tripod! This was so cute and awesooome! :) A big help for taking good pictures of us!

More photos on my Facebook page here.

Changed my watermark! Like it? Haha! There were so many good photos I wanna share so I put these on a collage. :)
*PS. Food photos will be on my next blog! ;)

Bo. Pag-asa, Bagac, Bataan