Let's have food trip at TIPULO !

     Nestled inside the campus First Pacific Leadership Academy is another spot for gastronomers and I think it is named after the place where it is located, Tipulo.

     It was a fine sunny Sunday after mass and my family and I we're looking for new place to dine for just a quick snack when we passed by the area of FPLA and saw their signage.  Unsure if we can get through the gate of the Academy, we asked the guard on duty the location of this restaurant and the friendly "kuya-guard" happily exclaimed, "ay, Mam, sa loob po!"
We were so excited to the idea of getting inside the academy that instead of thinking what to eat we ended up taking pictures within the vicinity before deciding what snack to order. Some of our captured moments are here:

I got fascinated with the lighting and
their ceiling fan

Our table is facing this pool 

He wanted to take a plunge but remembered
he doesn't have some clothes to change to.

The Restaurant from Outside

I am not so much in art and I don't know what or how they
call this, but it got my attention because of its uniqueness.

 

 

After taking a "field-trip" on the academy's campus we now headed back to the restaurant and ordered some snack.

Their version of Pancit... it is a mix of glass noodles, egg noddles and yellow noodles
topped with meat, vegetables, shrimps and hard boiled egg.

Potato Fritters - my son is a very picky eater and he ended up ordering "french fries" and
Tipulo's counterpart for it are these potato wedges.

To refresh us with the warm weather for that day, we quench
our thirst with this very tasty and delicious watermelon
smoothie.

Tipulo, also serve sandwiches, lunch meals and desserts such as cheesecakes, chocolate cakes, suman, leche flan and the like.  You can try and visit their restaurant which is located along Kilometer 27, Sumulong Highway, Santa Cruz, Antipolo City.

Silantro... Perfecto!

From the word Cilantro, which is a special kind of leaf or young leaves of coriander plant. Silantro is restaurant we found in Pasig City.  It is located within the stretch of East Capitol Drive just before you reach Holy Family Church.

Silantro is a Filipino - Mexican inspired restaurant (cantina / canteen) that serves nachos, chicken wings, chops and ribs.  This signage below will welcome you as you park your car.

as the signage says Fil-Mex Cantina

 Our family's favorite is their nachos, with a mix of melted cheese (I think it is more than one variety of cheese) and beef toppings together with their salsa, guacamole and their own version of spicy dip, you'll sure won't stop until the last piece of that crunchy and tasty nacho.

The famous nachos

 Meet their version of barbecued baby back rib.  I forgot how they called it, but my daughter had two thumbs up for this one.

barbecued baby back rib

 I am a big fun of pork chop, so I did try their own version and It did not disappoint me, the meat was tender and flavorful.

Grilled Pork Chops

These Chicken Skewers are my hubby and little boy's choice.  Although is was chicken meat, which usually are bland in taste, these chicken bits are really yummy, nice to dip in guacamole and their spicy concoction that add flavor to this menu.

Chicken Skewer

 One of the most famous dish in their menu is this sweet and spicy chicken wings topped with vegetable garnishing they called as Caliente Wings.

Caliente Wings

Silantro, as I have stated above, is budget friendly that your family or friends (group of 4-5 persons) can fill their tummy with around P1500 - 2000.  I think now they have different branches aside from the Pasig area where we usually dine.

La,la, la, la, la, la, la LA UNION… I love you!

It is known as the gateway to Ilocos province and the surfing capital of the north, LA UNION.  This province is around 5-6 hours away from Manila and one of the favorite destination of beach lovers, specially surfers.

La Union beaches, though not the usually white sand most people are running after to, offers fine silvery to grey sand that is best for making sand castles and a good venue to play outdoor games such as frisbee, volleyball, or just simply runnning around. 

slippers, flip flops and crocs

surf boards and life guards

frisbee

beach volleyball

the fine silver to greyish sand

San Juan La Union beach is well-known with its waves that locals and foreigners come back to play with it.

early morning 

wave with the waves

surfing with locals and foreigners

Another good thing about this beach are the rock formation along the shoreline, sunset shows a spectacular view as the day turns into night.

rock formation with urbiztondo surf like signage

on top of another rock formation

Sunset by the beach

sunset with the sexy ladies back

When it comes to food and drinks, San Juan, La Union offers a lot of restaurant and bars along the beach, and the night is always awake.

Kahuna Beach Resort (www.kahunaresort.com / 0917-8856566) - the top of the line
among the resorts in san juan, la union.  

Hacienda Peter Beach Resort (0920-4334221) 

The Fatwave Surf Resort (0917-8855764)

Sebay Surf Resort (0910-7395698)

Sea Nymph 

At Kahuna Beach Resort, my kids enjoyed the facilities and amenities it offers… here are some of the captured moments.

billiards

the lobby

We also visited old church, plaza and their municipal hall.

San Juan Municipal Hall

Park in front of the Church

St JOhn the Baptist Church, San Juan, La Union

we end our weekend trip here before heading back to manila

Revisiting Patar Beach of Bolinao Pangasinan\

 The first time we visited Patar Beach of Bolinao was just a "side-trip" since we were really there to check in at Rock Garden Resort that I just saw in an internet site.  It was already a bit late in the afternoon, so we just took some snapshots of the area, but we promised to ourselves that we need to come back and take a dip in the clear water of its beach and play in its soft, powdery, beige-to-pinkish sand under the heat of the sun.

Patar Beach seemed to be (as I look at it) the end beach of the Philippine in its west side. Travel from Manila to Bolinao is around 5 and a half to 7 hours depending on traffic and/or if your taking a private car or a bus.  ( If taking Bus from Cubao-Victory Liner going Bolinao, then ask the friendly natives there on how to reach Patar Beach).  You can find a lot of resorts and beach houses along the way going this Patar Beach but we prefer to stay in the end where we only rented open nipa hut since we are there for a day trip only, but there are also some developed resorts in the area, aside from nipa huts that can be rented if you want to say for overnight or few days. One of them are a row of "kubos" of Kuya Benjie's… You can bring your own packed food, marinated for grilling barbeques and the like or you can also choose to buy newly cooked dishes (as per order) in the nearby eatery/carinderia/store (kuya benjie's kubo also have their paluto). You can play beach volleyball, boomerang or simply play in the sand (making sand castle/sand sculpture or just bury yourself/your companion in the fine sand) but bonfire/camp fire are not allowed as per tourism authority of Bolinao.

This beach is very good for family bonding/ get together, relaxation, self meditation but if your a night person who loves to party, there's no night life in this part of the beach (not so sure for those other developed resort in the area).  During the time we went here, cellphone signal for smart is much stronger than globe, with also a weak signal for 3g, LTE or other data plan service that telecommunication networks are offering, but I think it helps so family, friends, lovers or honeymooners can really have time for one another minus the disturbance from internet and other online activities.

We reached Patar Beach, early enough that we can buy fresh from the ocean fishes that were caught by small boat fishermen.

I don't really know, what type of fishes are these but I tell you it tasted good after
we grilled it with only salt, pepper and a bit of kalamansi juice as seasoning.

The beauty of the beach was so inviting that even under the scorching heat of the sun, you'd love to run into the water withour even thinking of getting sun-burned.

The shoreline of Patar Beach, Bolinao, Pangasinan

area where small fishermen pull their fishing net

Kids will really love to hide their legs or even their body under the sand and according to them it is cold  even the sun is very warm.

love letter in the sand

sun bathing while half of his body is buried in the sand

this view shows how fine the sand of this beach

crystal clear water and the temperature is cold on a warm day

got a photo bomber behind us… hehehe

closer shot of my kids enjoying the beach

the view where you can see some of the developed resorts in the area

this is a lighthouse near the beach

family picture with the scenic view of Bolinao Beach

By the way, Patar Beach as I said earlier is the farthest part of Bolinao Shoreline, but before reaching this beautiful public beach there are also quite a number of developed resorts that offers facilities and amenities for those staying longer and wanting more comfortable place to sleep in.  Some are listed below: 

Puerto del Sol -

Villa Soledad

Treasures of Bolinao

Punta Riviera

Cocos Beach Resort

Kuya Benjie's Kubo

Bing's Beach Resort