2016 is MY YEAR!

Dear 2015,




I thank God He gave me you and let me experience a different curve of life. Thank you for such a wonderful year. For all the people I met and encountered, for those who left and for those who stayed. You let me try things I never thought I would ever experience. Took me to places I never imagine I'd be. Thank you for every new milestone of 2015, the new career in the beginning, the marathon that I took, country I've been to and all other blessings I got.

Now that you are about to leave, kindly bring with you all the heart pains, trials and burdens you have given me. Take them away as you fade. I'm ready for another set next year. I know I'll do better because 2015, you thought me to be good in facing them.

I sincerely am sorry of all bad things I've done to my fellows. I ask forgiveness to all my shortcomings and misunderstandings we had. I also would like to say sorry for myself, for being too harsh to my health and sometimes lossing my love for my self. Forgetting that I am a son of God and I am created in His likeness.

As a promise, I will carry with me all the life lessons you impart. Good things and good deeds will surely be continued in the next coming years. Self improvement and growth will always be part of next year's goal. Savings and investments are priority. Most specially to live each day like winners do. Winner who knows how to properly acknowledge winning and recognize his defeat. A winner who pushes himself to be better each day.

Again, to my dearest 2015, Thank you so much!

Greatful,
Mark Respicio Antonio

PS.
Dear 2016,
Welcome!
Indeed, YOU ARE MY YEAR!

posted from Bloggeroid

Take Me To KL -- Chinatown

Just like all Chinatown's in the world, KL's (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) Chinatown looks and feels the same. That famous arch and red hanging lantern signifies that you are now truly in the town of our beloved Chinese friends.

So what's in-store for us in this town? Here's some of the things that catches my interest during my visit.

The busy streets. Many locals and tourists shopping on the array of stores in the street.

Check out knoff off items at a very cheap price. Designers bags like Micheal Kors, LV, Channel, and many more. As they say, if you know how to carry a nice bag, it's hard to notice if its fake or not. Hehehe

There's also 168 restaurant here. I'm not really sure what's the meaning of 168 to Chinese people but those numbers seem to bring luck in businesses. Remember the popular 168 mall in Manila?

Hawkers are also one very good reason to visit Chinatown. This street food restaurants are very popular and commonly visited by foreigners specially Western guys. They love drinking beers and trying local delicacies.

Dried cured ham is very popular in most of south east asian countries.

Skewed meat, vegetables and other street foods are almost everywhere. Nice for grill, deep fried and or shabu shabu style.

Traditional food are also present on the streets like machang --  a sticky with meat wrapped in dried lotus leaf and steamed.

Bouquets of flower also catched my attention. See how they preserve the freshness of each flowers? Reminds me of Fuji Apples... Hehehe

The talent of this artist is really amazing. I badly want to take a photo with him but he seem to be too stressed to be disturb while finishing his masterpiece. The graphics is hand painted but can even beat the digital photo because of its beauty.

Truly the rich culture that embodies the town of Chinese community in every country is admirable... They see to preserve and never fails to built unique identity that every tourist must see..

PS. 2 and 5 signs signifies my road to 25year of age. Glad I had this as I enter a new chapter.

Until my next adventure.

Thanks for visiting.

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Merry Christmas 2015

Indeed every Christmas is Merry. Everyone should be merry for this is the season that our Lord Jesus Christ was born.

Reasons why we should celebrate 'tis Yuletide.

• Christ is Born.
• Christian or not, the birth of the King of Peace signifies hope and unconditional love. His humble birth shows us that different learning in life. The Nativity is a story wherein everyone of us should reflect.
• Family Focus.
• This is also the season of family get together. Catch up with your parents, grand parents, relative and friends whom you haven't talk to for the last 11 months of the year. Big thanks to the long holiday here in the Philippines. To those who still go to work during Christmas, It's okay, you can still catch up with them with the technology that we have now, distance isn't really a hindrance anymore. Cheer up buddy!
• It's Payback Time.
• Admit it or not, every year end we receive plenty of blessings or gifts be it in the form of money or in-kind. It's the season of giving. You who receive more should give more. Be it in the simplest form of gift so long as it came from you humble heat. It will surely make this season more meaningful.. 

From our family, we would like to send our greetings to all of you. May we all feel the spirit of Christmas and continue to spread love even if this holidays are gone. Let's all learn to forgive and ask for forgiveness to those whom we had shortcomings. So that we could always wake up each day with a Christmas feel on our faces.

God Bless everyone and hope we all receive the blessings of His coming...

Again, Merry Christmas!

P.S. Foodie on Duty this Season. I would like to share what we have prepared during our simple Noche Buena.

 We just had meatballs, pesto pasta, chicken macaroni, siomai and ham. Very simple as we are not expecting much guests for the Noche Buena. Also, more to prepare of December 25 because we are not only celebrating Christmas, It's also my father's birthday and wedding anniversary of my parents...


Thanks for paying a visit to my site.

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Thankful for 25 Years and Beyond.

You may call it quarter life crisis, I call it learning.

Here's my 25 Life lesson list I want and I will carry as I enter another chapter of my crazy beautiful life:

1. We are all given 24 hours per day, It's up to us how we use it.

2. It's okay to commit mistakes in a circumstance, repeating it over and over again is not a mistake, it's a habit. Bad habit.

3. Find self-fulfillment in your passion. If you can't get that fulfillment, It's not your passion.

4. Its okay to start back from scratch. Remember, best tasting food are made from scratch day on day.

5. Learn from the experts, they know better.

6. Maintain a high profile personality. I don't know how but i think no.7 will help.

7. Omit cheapness and stupidity in your life.

8. There are love worth fighting for.

9. Leveling up is about willingness.

10. Sad things aren't forever

11.Sleep and get some rest.

12. Know when to stop, pause, and fight again.

13. Know when to stop, that's it. Move forward.

14. Exercises not to have abs, but to live better.

15. Moving forward doesn't really mean forgetting.

16. Moving forward simply means giving up what's not workable and doing what's doable.

17. Good things are for keeps.

18. Never stop dreaming.

19. If one dream dies, dream another dream.

20. Find true happiness within yourself, not by the presence of anyone else.

21. In a failing battle, take two steps backward and gain one step ahead.

22. Do not be afraid to fall down, the most precious treasures are down there.

23. Happiness is a choice.

24. Love your parents.

25. Put God first in your life.

Thank you Lord God for giving me the gift of life... For all the blessing I have received and will be receiving... For all the challenges I am facing... For making me a better person each day I wake up and each year I live.... Thank you so much for my parents and friends...  Forgive me for all my wrong deeds and shortcomings.. Give me more years to live to fulfill my purpose you have designed for me.

Mark My Name.

Thank You for The Love ABS CBN Christmas Station ID

One thing I always look forward every Christmas is ABS CBN's station ID... I don't know but the station never fails to touch my heart with their thematic campaign that is always tailored fit on how we Filipinos celebrate the most important and probably the longest holiday in the world...

This year's theme is "Thank You for the Love"... It's been 2 years that ABS CBN is using "Thank You" as their headline one their campaign and it was no surprise that they wikk use it again this year...

Great! Because most often than not, we tend to focus on all life's distractions and forget to say thank you on thing we have... Especially LOVE...

More than Valentine's day... Christmas is a celebration of Love... When God sent his only begotten son to the world... He showed us incomparable and unconditional Love... Which is the main reason of the celebration... Not the decors, not the feast on the table every Christmas eve... But God's Love that is further celebrated if and only if we can also show our love to everyone around us... Love unconditionally...

posted from Bloggeroid

Imays

Bacolod can be your town of sweet little treats with their wide array of restaurants or pasalubong centers that offers desserts and other indulgence. However, it can also be a place for you to have a really good seafood treats. 

Imay’s for one, is a very nice restaurant that offers local and tasteful seafood dishes. The alfresco sits and its overall ambience would surely complete the beach away from beach experience, via the food of course.

The restaurant’s price range is quite reasonable for a family dine out whenever there’s a celebration. It’s not a good place for convenience eating with friends as serving time can be a bit longer.

Lets start the drill with some appetizers like vegetable tempura. The crisp of the breading perfectly matches its tartar garlic mayo dip. We had crispy kankong and eggplant tempura.

This bulanglang soup will surely kick off your appetite. Level up the usual with its halaan ingredient.

I wished that the eggplant was  grilled and has that smokey flavor , but it doesn’t have that kick.

Butter garlic shrimp is so tasty but limited 😀

These guys are for the bucks. Grilled tuna belly showcased the freshness of their seafood meals.

This is the real deal. Vegetables with crab meat. The oh so real crab meat is truly unforgettable.

Adobong baby squid is also something that you need to try.

Seafood ala pobre has that overpowering buttery gravy taste which I personally don’t like. 

6th Lacson St. Bacolod City

Ratings for Imay’s Restaurant

Taste: 😊😊😊😊🙁

Ambience: 😊😊😊😊🙁

Service: 😊😊😊😊🙁

Value for Money : 😊😊😊😊☹️

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Kinabuch : What Palawan Can Be.

If you've been to Palawan then you have probably visited this famouse restaurant. If you are planning to go here then put Kinabuch in your mist-visit list. I've been to Palawan for numerous number of times (mostly business purpose) and I never fail to visit this restaurant.

This restaurant offers some of your must-try dishes in  the island. From basic home cooked Palawan dishes to the most exotic local cuisine. It's also a nice place to have a couple of beer and relax while breathing the al fresco after a whole day of Island hopping or city tour.

Here's what we had during my visit last August, 2015.

Yang Chow Fried Rice. Umami flavored rice with peas, sausage bits, eggs and lettuce.

Baked Mussels.One of my favorite staple food when it comes to seafood shell dishes.

Lato (Sea Grapes). Another favorite seafood. This sea weed taste really good, specially with tomato and plenty of white onions. Its very common in my hometown as well. Sea grapes is rich in iodine and naturally salty, so no need to dip it to any condiment ( as for me)

Palawan's sea grapes is different from ours (in Isabela), theirs is like a string and a bit long, ours really looks like grapes.

Crocodile Sisig. The chunky meat can no longer be recognized as crocodile. Yes you heard it right! It's made from crocodile meat. Don't worry it's from town's domesticated crocodile. The meat is so chewy and umami.

Tamilok. Another must try delicacy when you go here. Fresh wood from from the trunks of mangroves as explained to me by the locals. It's not accessible as its hard to maintain its freshness so Kinabuch is the place to be when you want to try this.

It takes a whole lots of guts to try this huh! But it's worth it because its reLly delicious. To better describe the taste, it's like eating a fresh oyster.

Guisadong Bihon. The aromatic sesame oil and not so salty taste makes this so delicious.

Leche Flan. For dessert of course. Their version is not that soft as what we are use to... Good thing it's not too sweet as well.

It was once more a fun night at Kinabuch. A place for good food and night out at Puerto Princesa. Thank you for making my visit complete. Yes! City visit will never be complete without visiting this iconic restaurant and trying their dishes of course !

Budget - P150-250/ dish

Here's my ratings for the Kinabuch Grill and Bar Palawan

Taste: JJJJL

Ambience: JJJJL 

Service: JJLLL

Value for Money: JJJLL

Kinabuch Address: Rizal Avenue, Puerto Princesa, Palawan

Visit their facebook page at Kinabuch's Palawan.

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Calea Sweet Treats

After having a sumptuous dinner, you will normally look for desserts right? When in Bacolod, there is just but one name that would actually satisfy your desserts craving. Specially when you are craving for some cakes.

One of Bacolod's pride in terms of delicacies is this sweet dessert hub. Not only it offers a light, enticing, and very sweet ambience, Calea proudly flaunts it huge collection of freshly made cakes that would make your sweet tooth happy...

From cheesecakes, moist cakes, chiffon, carrot cakes, I'm sure they have something that would fit your craving..

Here's what we had during our Sweet Calea experience:

Pistachio cake. Who wouldn't want pistachios right? Hahaha this nuts is insanely delicious and the cake is not as sweet that would crack your teeth... Perfect blend and just the right taste lingers in your mouth.

Imported Chocolate Cake. Take it literally because the chocolates used are from Europe. Usually, when you eat chocolate cake with caramel filling there a sore in your throat caused by too much sweetness of the caramel. But you won't experience that with this one ;)

Mud Pie. This ice cream cake will make you madly crave for more... The almond chips and chocolate pour over perfectly blends with the chocolate ice cream cake.

Truly we left the store with a sweet smile because of the satisfying desserts we had. I normally can't finish a slice because I can't take much sweet but with this I was able to finish it all.

My Calea Experience.

Budget - P90- 150/ slice

Convenience: LLLJJ

Ambience: JJLLL 

Service: JJLLL

Value for Money: JJJLL

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