Fried Halo-Halo ++

I had late lunch at Canlubang Golf few days back. We were prepared an array of delectable and gourmet cuisine from the club’s menu, which is all well thought of by no less than the Executive Chef himself who is incidentally my season’s host together with his family.

Food great! As usual, panalo! Lagi naman. Saan ka pa, lalo na’t libre! Before the main course, let me share with you one very interesting dessert served. Most often, when you strike the balance between opposites, like in this case, hot and cold, something good may always come out. It was presented as turon and so I thought it was the same turon from a previous lunch, but it was not. What I thought was an ordinary turon with banana and langka inside came with more friends in company! Banana and langka came with all other ingredients of the ordinary halo-halo that we know (sans ice and milk kaya!), rolled in lumpia wrapper, fried and topped with ice crème. Hence, the “fried halo-halo!”

When I was told about it before it was served, I was thinking more fried ingredients of halo-halo over church ice but it was presented like…turoooon! I thought of turon halo-halo as its name but the Chef calls it otherwise. Sya! The softness of the halo-halo ingredients inside burst with mixed sweetness, complemented by the thin-crunch of the wrapper in the outside. It’s good even without ice crème. The desired sweetness it already achieved as it is.

My Christmas away from Home

I wasn’t able to go home to the province for Christmas, though this is not the first time. If I don’t spend it in the province, I usually stay in my abode in Manila, especially when some of my friends still lived in the same street.

This year, it was difficult to spend it in the province because I have my dog and birds to look after. Moreover, it’s no longer convenient to ask someone to look after my place or attend to my pets while away.

So, the plan was simple – to stay home. But it was just a plan. . .

Luckily, I was invited to spend Christmas in Sta. Rosa, Laguna and with the promise to go back to Manila every now and then, I thought it was a good idea to spend the holidays with my friends and still able to attend whatever is back home.

Christmas Dinner

If I had a good plan to spend the holidays without compromising “my home companies”, my friends had a better plan, and so it was…

Baguio, Strawberry Taho, Atbp.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Whatever the reasons are for what appears to have been a hiatus in this blog, I am sharing with you now my latest Baguio trip with friend Chef Anton and his family last Halloween.

If you have not tasted Baguio’s Strawberry Taho yet, try having some on your next trip. I don’t know it its available elsewhere but I was able to get one at Mine’s View Park. It’s a nice, brief and great deviation of the palate from the usual taste of taho in Manila. You might be thinking that that taho itself is strawberry flavor, hence, appearing pale red. It’s the usual white taho that we all know but in lieu of the the “arnibal” is fresh strawberry syrup that gave it a distinct taste and flavor. It complemented well to the warm taho over cold Baguio!

However, it comes with a price triple than the usual ten-peso taho in lowland Manila. When asked if it was a tourist price, the Magtataho replied with a “no valued added po!” Whether or not it was true, I had two cups!

We stayed in a budget hotel inside Camp John Hay and for the longest time, I did not know that there is this cozy Chocolate de Batirol Garden Resto within