Month: January 2022

1. Seeing Bebe in the house– Who wouldn’t miss our daily routine in Cabanatuan City for the past 5 months? We spent most of our days in the house during these months, but as we established our regular schedule from the morning until night, it became a habit and I got used to it, I felt like I don’t want to return back to work anymore, haha. This is not just about being able to spend 24 hours a day with my toddler without worrying about going to sleep early to be able to wake up early morning the next day to prepare for work, there’s more to it! Being jobless for months (Annual leave turned sick leave) means having the opportunity to prepare meals outside and eat a very slow breakfast while watching my son in the stairs playing with his ball, playing with the old telephone turned to a toy, running and jumping around all morning, going up and down the three-step staircase to the garden before he takes a bath. Who else won’t miss our scheduled lunch at exactly 12PM, then our nap time from 1-4PM and snack time afterward, play with the computer or watch Netflix until dinner time and then, sleep time again, then repeat the next day and the next day after. I really miss just being at HOME with Bebe.

2. Weekend Lunch with Family– So my sister and her son would always come regularly on Saturday lunch every week and we will set a table outside to eat with my mother and the pets. Some Saturdays we will come up with grilled pork chop and fish with buro, or pork sinigang or monggo, or mussels, or adobo, or spicy chicken neck adobo, and then some Saturdays we will have kare kare and langgonisa or pan-fry vegetable among others- whatever we crave to eat and then nap time afterward!

3. Waltermart– Our weekly trip to the Supermarket became a regular routine for us. I just love Waltermart among the other supermarkets we have in Cabanatuan (we almost have everything, Savemore, Robinson, Puregold, NE) as I got familiar with the stalls and I already know where to get something without rounding much, not only that they have everything on my list. It became a routine I always wait for the Grocery day and fill my cupboards with full groceries and stuff! Haha, this has become one of my simple happiness during our vacation. (Photo not mine)

4. SM- Who doesn’t love SM Mall? Shopping is never a problem if you have SM City in your place. Although we do not go much that time due to restrictions and all plus my condition, we also do once in a while particularly if there is an upcoming occasion. I started wearing my boot cast sometime in October 2021 and it took me quite some time to practice wearing those but still, I had the chance to go once before my son’s 2nd birthday party to buy him an outfit for his Safari Themed birthday. And the next visits are a few times in November and then a few other times for Christmas shopping in December 2021. 

5. Shakeys– And of course, I also missed my favorite restaurant in SM. I even got their Shakeys discount card as I really love their bunch of lunch meal package with a soup and salad, mojos, 2 pieces fried chicken thighs ( can’t figure out what is the secret recipe for this yummy chicken), and pizza for only Php300.

6. Traffic– Cabanatuan City, also known as the Tricycle Capital of the Philippines. It’s a little annoying seeing these tricycles racing with each other one after the other on the highways but fun at the same time knowing you are in Cabanatuan City! Also, one good thing about it is you will never ran-out of a vehicle even in the middle of the night anywhere else in the City as there is always a tricycle near you.

7. Christmas Celebration in Cabanatuan City– Not only in Cabanatuan City but Christmas in the Philippines is super fun. Celebrating Christmas at home with all members of your family is always something to look forward to. And this year, I got the chance to celebrate it with them. Who wouldn’t be merry walking in the mall with Christmas songs playing out loud in the speakers, looking at the toys and clothes, people walking wearing genuine smiles on their faces, buying Christmas presents, traditional Christmas carolling, preparing Noche Buenas, and waiting for 12midnight to eat, and most especially, exchange gifts! When you have a toddler, the Christmas season is extraordinary special.

The saddest part is, Life must go on and I can’t always sit idle and relax every day, I have to go back to work and earn money for our expenses. It isn’t always party time. I know it’s convenient and relaxing to be idle doing nothing but eat and sleep and then eat and sleep again and repeat but we have other obligations to fulfill so whether I like it or not, we have to travel back to Bahrain. Can’t say anything but looking forward to our next vacation next year- hoping for good if we get the best opportunity. But for now, all I can do is to keep these good memories in my heart.

Time to fly, see you again soon, Philippines- See you soon, Cabanatuan City!

Where to eat in Clark,Pampanga?

So, as soon as I finished my travel-related errands in Clark Pampanga, we drove around the area trying to find a different place to eat. We do not want to eat the same old fast food in the mall or just another usual restaurant we have gone a couple times already whenever we are traveling to any City. We were trying to find some kind of Authentic Kapampangan food. It’s known that the Kapampangans are very good cooks that most of them usually succeed in the food/restaurant business as it is also called the Culinary Capital of the Philippines.

As we are roaming around the busy streets of Clark, we have passed some restaurants my mother has gone to before but most of them are already closed- probably due to pandemics, Corona V. (This Blog was posted on December 2021), that online food business became more safe and convenient as people will just order online and it will be delivered right in front of your doorstep.

In this current World situation, many restaurants wouldn’t be able to survive with overhead expenses to run and maintain a physical store without regular customers or to compete with a much cheaper on-call ready to deliver food business.

Back to the story, And then they have come up with an idea to go to a place they’ve also been to before, (but not me, I’m a first timer here) a restaurant in the heart of Clark called Matam-Ih Authentic Kapampangan Cusine.

It’s a Pavilion-type Victorian-style indoor and outdoor dining with a Filipino/Hispanic-themed design that offers Kapampangan food in Clark. I have researched that Matam-Ih is an Aeta dialect which means “delicious”. So the name really complements the food although it’s a little bit pricey as the food is great particularly for the first-timer like me who always wants to try something different.

I didn’t ask for the best sellers as I already have my order in mind but here is the menu;

I have seen a lot of unfamiliar food on the menu and what interests me is the Bistek Kalabaw among others-I just made fun by joking around that I will order this exciting food but we ended up ordering the usual familiar food we know.

So we had grilled chicken ass and chicharon bulaklak for the starter. Kare kare, Crispy pata, and grilled fish with buro for the main meal.

The steamed rice in the banana leaves is really cute to see.

The food is good though it’s a little bit pricey as I’ve said previously (as the servings are also small with the small bowl of kare kare that is good for 1-2 person only is the same price for the 3-5 person from the other restaurants I have been to) and if you are just eating on a budget, this place is not for you, but since it is my first time to eat here I just went with the flow and ordered what I want to eat. We noticed that the crispy pata isn’t cooked very well when served as it is still soft on the inside and the skin is not crunchy so we had to ask the server to cook it again. But all in everything went fine.

We paid around Php2300k something for the full meal less the 2 senior citizen discounts we have.

I would still suggest this Restaurant if you happen to pass by Clark Pampanga- Philippines less aside the minor comments I have noticed.

See you there!

A day on the farm.

La Fortuna Farm is an Eco Farm Resort located in Buliwao, Quezon Nueva Vizcaya.

For everyone’s info, Nueva Vizcaya is well known as one of the popular eco-tourism destinations in the country. Eco-tourism means people that are traveling to see undisturbed natural areas, knowing more about conserving the environment while enjoying the beautiful untouched scenery at the same time. Having participated in the eco-tours, you will not only be educated about the importance of the eco-systems,  but this will also make the economy grow that provide income to local people without harming our natural resources and La Fortuna Farm is one of them!

We’ve been there once during our Philippine vacation a day before I got into a very serious accident. At least, I had the chance to visit the place right before I spent months recovering from my surgery and took a bunch of nice snaps for keepsake.

It’s just bad that we were not able to see and use the pool which was still under construction at that time but I have seen that it is already operating recently and offers a very nice tropical meal in floating trays to dine while enjoying the sun, and the weather. They only offer a light snack during our visit so we had a nice Filipino snack- Halo-Halo, it’s mixed of cubed/diced assorted fresh fruits in crushed ice and milk.

My son didn’t enjoy walking in the garden that much but the thing that has gotten his full attention is the small lake/ falls with water flowing from the mountain and he got very irate to jump in  – which is not intended for swimming- and of course, just like the previous tantrums- he cried for almost an hour not getting what he wants.

He really thought he could swim in that small lake and is not contented to just dip his foot and play with water, as usual. I wish we could go back again sometime in the future and take advantage of the pool.

Bongabon is another Municipality in Nueva Ecija. It’s just another place in Nueva Ecija with numerous Resorts and staycations. If you love nature, fresh air, and silence, you can find loads of them in Bongabon.

Unfortunately, we tried to walk into any available resort to spend the night on Christmas day 2021 but we didn’t find any as most of them are fully booked! We ended up just taking photos in the mountainside and spend the Christmas day just driving around until the evening.

Carron Dream Park is the biggest Amusement Theme Park of the North located in San Isidro, Nueva Ecija which is fortunately just an hour drive in Cabanatuan City. Yes, we also have it here in Nueva Ecija, you don’t have to travel to Pampanga or Tagaytay or Cavite if you want to take the kids to the Theme park. It’s like a smaller version of Enchanted Kingdom or Sky Ranch but it also offers a wide range of fun rides for children and adults as well.

The entrance fee is Php100 and Php350 if you want to avail the Ride all you can and opens daily at 4-9 PM (that was before when we go, I think they extended it from 3-10 pm afterward.)

We’ve been there on 13th December 2021, and it was fully packed. I never thought my toddler would truly enjoy the big real rides- we only used to take him to kids arcade here in BH and he would only ride the kiddie car/ horse/train or carousel. But in Carron, he even tried the Gondola Ferris Wheel and didn’t even feel a thing.

It’s actually rotating slow but having to be lifted up in the sky is a little bit scary for the toddlers but no, he is not!

He tried almost all of the rides (that are allowed for toddlers) in there and really enjoyed it- and he doesn’t want to go home, either! He may only look bored in the pictures (no reaction as always haha) but whenever we will take him out of the ride he will surely cry/shout in disapproval.

More so, there are so many food stalls to choose from in case you get hungry inside. From street food, to snacks, to sandwiches, all lined up in a row, and food tables to sit or wait for convenience.

Needless to say, he really cried for about an hour and it took quite some time to calm him down when we went back home in the evening.

What are you waiting for? Take your kids to Carron and they will surely have fun!

Is there any other better than spending your Christmas Holidays home with your core family?

Since, we stayed a little bit longer in the Philippines, from August- to December 2021, we had the chance to spend the holidays, once again with my family!

This is just one of the small advantages I got from extending my annual vacation turned- sick leaves 🙂

I know Christmases in our second home, Bahrain with our extended families would be as enjoyable as we are in the Philippines, but it’s still glad to be able to refresh yourself and have it celebrated here in my own native country where I was born and raised up.

These are just some of the photos taken on 24.12.2021. My son surely enjoyed the second time he spent Christmas in the Philippines- once in December of 2019 and 2021.

Longing for Nature?

Trying to find a place like a home away from home? Do you wanna relax and enjoy God’s beautiful creation and yet you don’t wanna endure the long traffic and leave far from Nueva Ecija, or to book so much ahead of time not to mention that you have a budget to look after and getting a hotel room/villa/resort in the other known vacation cities like Tagaytay/Baguio/La Union/Cebu/Palawan/and all- would be very costly?

If you do, then you have to start browsing and search for nice places to visit in Nueva Ecija! And yes, whatever you prefer, we all have it here in our Hometown, Nueva Ecija!

I know that there are a lot of beautiful places to go for a staycation/nature trip in Nueva Ecija but I had only visited a few as we always choose a place that is long drive from our city way back then.

This is the only vacation we had that we tried and explore our very own “Byaheng Nueva Ecija” for a change. We do not have to go that far to enjoy the same nature tripping I’ve always wanted to see since we live in the desert and enjoying the serenity of being close to nature is really heartwarming. This pandemic vacation made me travel near and enjoy the beauty that my hometown can offer, and yes, I do not regret it and I plan to visit more places nearby in the future.

We have tried checking a lot of resorts nearby as we planned an out of town get away from the City and as we found a lot of options, we decided to book in a place called Rea Bamboo Resort located in Gabaldon Nueva Ecija not only for the beauty of the place as seen on photos, but also, it has one thing different from the others- they offer pick and drop service for their guests which is very very much convenient for all of us.

Rea Bamboo Resort is set in a big garden overlooking the beautiful mountain of Sierra madre. Just nature. No other recreation but just to enjoy the nice crisp weather, go and sit outside and look at the stars (too bad it is a cloudy night that time as the rain just stopped in the afternoon) eat whatever you prefer and they will cook it for you and enjoy the night sleeping in these typical Filipino traditional houses called “Bahay Kubo” with no AC and only fresh air!

On 18th December 2021, My family and I rented three kubos at the same time, we are total of 9 person and a baby plus our nanny and one house helper and then two other friends of the kids joined in. They picked us up at around 11am as agreed, and from there we drove at about an hour and half from Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija to Gabaldon.

We had the biggest kubo with private toilet and hot/cold shower, and the other two smaller kubos with common bathroom. It is not far anyways as the toilet is just in between of the two other kubos we rented.

I brought my child to stay here so he could enjoy nature before we travel back to the desert and from all of our travel adventures, I would say that this is one of the most memorable events as it made me feel closer to nature.

The place is well maintained and clean, they provided us a nice and clean complete beddings and towels. We asked for a nice lunch, and they offered us Sinigang pork (Pork in tamarind soup) and vegetable.

We rested for a while inside the kubo and prepared to go for a swim in a nearby resort but unfortunately, it rained. We went back to the kubo and used the steel pool instead and rest again (which I love the most) and prepared ourselves for a super heavy dinner of grilled liempo and fish as we requested.

We stayed outside after dinner for a while, had pictures in the garden set before we bound to bed- I super enjoy the “sleeping in the kubo” feel with just a fan and nature. I worried for a while my son wouldn’t sleep well without AC but to my surprise, he slept comfortably and soundly and so am I!

I woke up the next day with the sound of rain falling on the roof. It’s raining hard and that itself made me feel lazier I wanted to sleep more. I don’t want to get up and if I could extend for another night, probably I would.

We had a nice breakfast in one of the cottage-like kubo outside with fried dried fish, egg, sardines, and fried rice.

Then later we had pancit and pakbet for lunch before we pack our stuff to go home.

One night is not enough if you really want to rest but as the holidays are coming, we still have a lot more other preparations to do so an extension wouldn’t be beneficial, and some other guests for the same kubo we rented will also check-in.

I don’t have any other things to say for the resort as it fulfilled our expectations as what they informed us prior, the owners are very polite and approachable as well as the staff. Homely and comfy. But then, if they will have a real pool someday, it would be more relaxing!

So if you prefer a place to get away with just you, silence and the nature, in Nueva Ecija, I would highly recommend you to stay in Rhea Bamboo House.

Worth every peso.

Clark is a modern City in Pampanga. It is also known as Clark Freeport Zone.

Have been several times to Pampanga, different cities like San Fernando etc, and I could say that Clark is one of a kind, it’s a modern city and at the same time rich with natural resources- resorts, waterfalls, and others – but we had no chance to visit them as we were only there for a day.

Just a day visit to Clark will take you to a lot of places- a variety of fine restaurants to choose from, we tried the Pampanga’s best native local restaurant for a change, shopping hubs and recreations, supermarkets- Oh I love the Puregold Duty Free so much, I bought some imported items-kitchen stuff at a very reasonable price not to mention rows of hotels/staycations if you want to spend the night, you would actually see rows of them while driving around the vicinity.

We went to Clark recently (December 2021) not for travel and leisure but for some work-related purpose so we had not much time to roam around as we spent almost half the day for my errands.

We finished at almost lunchtime, while trying to find a place to eat, we passed by and stopped at several places I found good for photography and had some 🙂

We tried “Authentic Kapampangan Cuisine” restaurant named Matam-ih for a change- and had the usual, Chicharon Bulaklak and grilled chicken ass for starter, Crispy pata, Kare kare, inihaw na hito (grilled) for the main course. I like the way they served the steamed rice wrapped in banana leaf.

The food is good, a little bit expensive for those eating on a budget but quite reasonable for people who are food spenders – we paid around Php2k + less the two senior card discount for that sumptuous meal.

We didn’t stay for the night as I’m in a rush to go home to see my little one, – that’s it- a day in Clark.