Red Red Grass of Home

One late afternoon in school, I saw this beautiful scenery. Tall red grasses were everywhere.

It's amazing how nature gives little surprises even through grasses which are considered as eyesores by some.

So you ask where the buildings are. They are about half a kilometer away from this area. Oh yeah the campus is that wide. How wide? Well, just 156 hectares. :)

 

I'm so happy to be on this side of the world!

Yummy Gensan: Blueberry Cheesecake at Coffee Club 101

Blue. Berry. Cheese. Cake. It's amazing how these four words are so different from each other yet work so wonderfully together. 

Who can go wrong with cakes anyway?

Coffee Club 101's Blueberry Cheesecake

And who can go wrong with frappes too? I adore frappes!

 

And who can go wrong with coffee shops? Though I'm not a coffee drinker, I love coffee shops because I love coffee tables and coffee table books. :)

Coffee Club 101 is one of the first coffee shops in Gensan. Not to mention one of the best, too. I simply love their classy interior and the excellent crew!

This is where my high school friends and I chilled out after Ranchero. This is where the chats continued and the laughters got event crazier. Who can go wrong with hanging out with wonderful people?

Location: Robinson's Place Gensan and Laurel East Avenue at the Ground floor of Grab A Crab

Yummy Gensan: Inihaw Fiesta at Ranchero

Filipinos have a love affair with inihaw. Everything is grilled or barbecued - pork, chicken, squid, shrimps, fish, even banana and corn. The streets are filled with these yummy goodies especially at night. And I must confess, I'm one big fan of inihaw.

One of the famous places in Gensan to have a special inihaw treat is Ranchero. They have this inihaw fiesta platter which literally looks so festive. My personal favorites are first the chicken barbeque and second the squid. inihaw is best with the soy sauce with a little bit of onions and tomatoes. Others prefer the vinegar. And of course, who doesn't want to have the atchara (pickled papaya).  Oooh la la!

The Inihaw Fiesta

  

Meat overload. Is this the baby back ribs? Not quite sure. :)

Desserts and Drinks.

With me on this food trip are my high school friends, a special mention to the balik - bayan Borj and the soon babalik - bayan Harvey (via Skype) for sponsoring this event. :)

Lower left photo: Luv, Me, Borj, Sahara, Loudette. That's Kuya Edgar on the upper right photo and Harvey on Skype.

Location: SM City Gensan

Yummy Gensan: Baby Back Ribs at Bigby's

The Baby Back Ribs - the look of it makes me drool. This is Laiza's meal at Bigby's which I chose as a feature for this post. I cannot say anything about the taste because I don't eat pork, at least the ribs but I was almost tempted to because its glazy appearance is 'seducing' me. 

I first wanted to feature the Cream of Lettuce because it's my first taste of lettuce in a soup and not in a salad. Plus I love anything in cream. Plus I love anything hot and not spicy. But it's not in their menu regularly. It just happens to be the soup of the day.

I then wanted to feature their fried chicken but it would have sounded not so interesting because fried chickens are everywhere. We can even make one at home. But here's the take. Bigby's fried chicken tastes homey unlike the fastfood-y ones, which by the way I also try especially when I'm in a hurry because FASTfoods are served FAST. :)

Now read this. This is really the reason why I featured Laiza's baby back ribs... I was scared... Just look at her... The way she holds her knife makes me tremble. Good she was satisfied with her meal or else all that was left of me were my ribs. Eee... Creepy. Ok, I'm kidding. Mabait talaga yan. Gutom lang. 

I also grabbed these photos from Bents which were taken first day of this year. Their nachos are the best I've had so far. The pastas, fries, chips are all served BIGby's.

Location: Veranza Mall, General Santos City

Life is a Celebration

I love surprises! I especially love doing something special for someone special on a special day. Haha! That's a bunch of specials in there! The gang cooked something up for Ate Doli's 30 something birthday :) We wanted it to be truly a surprise giving her no clue of what was instored for her.

We were in the office earlier that day passing papers for our messages for her, planning who's going to get the flowers, the cake, who's going to bring her to the venue and making sure that she didn't have a plan in the evening. Plans were all set!

Surprise Ate Doli!

Oh boy! She was really surprised! She was crying for a couple of minutes, getting her hanky first before receiving her flowers. Rendon almost looked like a desperate lover following her around. But good she was 'busy' crying because Maam Berl and I were still lighting the 30+ candles so when she was done with her tears of joy, the candles were also ready for the birthday blow. Yey! Happiness!

Ate Doli with her presents

 Trivia: Ate Doli adores red! And pizza! So we gave her a red wallet and took her to a pizza restaurant.

Jypzie, Laiza, Me, Rommel, Rendon, Ate Patty, Maam Berl, Ate Doli, Sir Jay

With the boys

With the girls

Dear Ate Doli,
         You inspire me in many ways especially in being diligent, punctual and organized. :) You're a joyful wife and a loving mother to a beautiful child. You're a happy colleague. You're a fun-loving friend. And you're a person with good heart. You may have grown a year older but you're looking younger :) Maintain the figure. Hehe. Keep up the positive vibes because you radiate from within. You deserve all the great blessings in your life Ate Doli because you are a great person! Happy Birthday!!! :)

Yummy Gensan: Clam Soup at Congo Grille

What's the best way to ease a growling stomach? Yah. That's right. A soup! The moment you look down at the soup and the hot steam hits your face is just priceless! And you slowly take a sip, swallow the hot liquid then you feel it on your throat until it finally reaches your stomach. And you know you just have to slurp again and again until your stomach calms. Ahhhhhh... That feeling of comfort. Actually, it was more than just comfort to me. I felt I was treated big time because I was in deep need for food at that moment. :)

I was patiently waiting for the clam soup still trying to look composed but deep inside, I wanted to be like this monkey on their menu minus the smile. Imagine me with the toque and the ladle going wild. :)





My equally hungry buddies...

Ate Doli, Laiza, Rendon

Finally! Look at these sumptuous dishes at Congo Grille! Yummy treats for a hungry stomach!

Clam soup, Lechong kawali, Chicken sisig, Salted rice, and Kinilaw

Ooppss. We forgot all about table etiquette. Told you. We were hungry!



Location: Al Fresco of SM General Santos

A Night at the Carnival

Who doesn't want to go to a carnival?!? C'mon! It's where absolute fun is! It's where the child in us hops for joy. It's where all our craziness pop up. :) And that's where the gang went on the eve of a local holiday here in Gensan. 

Rommel, Paul, Doli, Jypzie , me, Laiza, Rendon, Jose

On this side of the world, this is how a carnival looks like - pretty simple. :)

The creaky rides and the games of chance.

And the shooting-shooting something. Laiza was a master of this. The last time, she got me a box of my oh-so-favorite Curly Tops. And she did once again. Plus a Nagaraya courtesy of the boys. Yey!

Simple Joys

The ferris wheel was not like those gigantic ones but I was still so chicken to try it because the last time I did, I found my world turning around like crazy. I swore not to do that again. 

But the boys felt they were brave enough. Looking so confident huh!

Before ferris wheel ride

After the ferris wheel ride

They couldn't find their balance after ;) But they wouldn't stop. More dizzy rides please! The two girls found their courage to join this time... while I was still in the process of finding mine. :)

They seemed to enjoy that! Now I wanna ride!!! 

What ride was this again? Was this the caterpillar?

My gosh! I had the loudest scream! That was fun!!! 

Earlier that day we agreed on spending only 50 pesos for an evening of fun and adventure. Everyone was so worried on how to stick on the budget considering the food, the expenses for fun here and fun there. We were half serious on the challenge. Well, we tried! We really tried! Until we got hungry! :) On the first 30 minutes of our evening, we said goodbye to our 50 pesos.

So we just walked around for the next 30 minutes not knowing where else to go but thanks to Paul - our rides sponsor! If not because of him, we wouldn't have taken the rides because we were already out of our budget. :) He was in a different office so he didn't get the memo. Shhhhhhh. (I'm afraid he will have second thoughts of joining us again. Heehee.)

Until the next 50-peso adventure guys! :)  Or maybe let's try a 25-peso adventure. Hmmm... I wonder what we can do with only that. :)

Amazing Monday: A Heart

Look at this photo! This was from my long weekend getaway. Observe it properly especially that something at my feet. :)

You notice it? See that? That perfectly shaped heart at my feet? Isn't that sooooooo amazing! Amazing is an understatement. It feels like a miracle to me! :) It really made my day! No, I did not intentionally draw a heart with my foot. And how could I draw on a rushing water?

Nature's little surprises are my life's simple joys :)

Yummy Gensan: Spaghetti at Mix n Magic

The most famous pasta on this side of the world is spaghetti! (The one in red sauce). A birthday party is not a party unless there is spaghetti. And where to find the most delicious spaghetti in town? In Mix n Magic of course! They have the creamiest and sauciest and cheesiest spaghetti!

My previous posts have been all about my new favorites. Mix n Magic is in my list of old favorites. I can never go wrong in buying their breads or cakes. But I'm more a fan of their spaghetti because I'm such a spaghetti baby! I'm spaghetti's number one fan in the whole wide universe! If only it has a fan page, I'll create a thousand account to like it a thousand times! Heehee.

Here is Laiza (again)! The most common face (after my face) in my Yummy Gensan series. That's because we share the same passion for food. Actually, she's more passionate and she also eats more. Then I take care of  the talking. :)

Apart from the take-out and the catering, Mix n Magic has also a small dining space in their South Osmena branch which I like so much because I need not to order in bulk when I only need to satisfy my little cravings. :)

Beachy Afternoon

It was an exhausting Thursday afternoon. Yes, it wasn't even Friday yet and it was a Thursday after that long weekend (when I went to the beach and Laiza did too) plus afternoon classes that day were cancelled because of a university event. Wait! There's more. We were from a birthday lunch party where there were lots of singing, laughing and a little dancing. 

So how come we were exhausted? I didn't know, too but there was a unanimous need to go and see the beach. This is when I feel so grateful to be on this side of the world where beaches are just 20-minute rides away.

Beaches have a calming effect on a troubled soul. We sat on the shore and let the breeze take away all our thoughts. I found myself lost in the beauty of the dancing coconut trees. 

The water was so cold we were tempted to take a dip. We were not prepared to go for a swim though. I mean, we didn't have extra clothes.

Photos grabbed from Laiza

We stayed for only an hour but it was enough to be recharged. :) Special thanks to our kind on-the-go driver, Jypzie and for Laiza for convincing Jypzie. :)