Malabon Food Trip Special: Malabon's Very First Tricycle Food Tour

When you hear about Malabon, the first thing that pops on your mind is food right?  Then, hold that thought cause I'll be sharing with you my recent Malabon Food Trip Special experience.

For only 600 php per person, you can try the six most prestigious food stops in Malabon.

Food Stop #1: Lugaw Express

Lugaw Express has been around since 1984.  The store opens at 9 pm and closes around 11 pm.  It's a shabby place with a few tables and plastic chairs but customers are dropping by non-stop.  It serves only one dish and that is as the name implies lugaw made with chicken broth.

Lugaw with Kidney and Liver (40 php)

Your coupon can be used to claim 1 bowl of Lugaw with your choice of chicken part: legs, wings, kidney and liver or chicken feet.  Each bowl costs 40 php.  The plain lugaw costs 10 php.  All the chicken parts costs an additional 30 php except for the chicken feet which costs 9 php each.

Food Stop #2: Hazel's Bakery

Hazel's Bakery is the home of the purest white Puto and Puto Pao.

We had the chance to view their squeaky clean kitchen with huge steamers.

Puto (13 php)

Puto Pao (15 php)

We got a single serving Puto and Puto Pao n exchange of our  coupons.

Food Stop #3: Nanay's Pancit Malabon

Nanay's Pancit Malabon has a humble home-like facade.  It has a small almost unnoticeable sign.

 Walking in, you can already smell the enticing smell of Pancit Malabon.

It has a very busy kitchen with big pans and toppings are laid out.

Pancit Malabon

Our coupons entitled us to a single serving of their Pancit Malabon.  Never had I seen a plateful of Pancit Malabon topped generously with so many toppings.  It had slices of egg, shrimp, pork, celery and greens.  While I usually eat Pancit Malabon with a squeeze of calamansi, I found this to be heavenly without it. 

Food Stop #4: Jamico's Restaurant

The highlight of our food tour is Jamico's Restaurant which is the home of Judy Ann Crispy Pata.  

Judy Ann Crispy Pata has won the hearts of diners since 1974. 

While they take pride of the Judy Ann Crispy Pata, they have more to offer.  Our coupons granted us the opportunity to taste a plateful of their best-sellers.  It has sample servings of the Judy Ann Crispy Pata,  Torta Alimasag, Shrimp Embotido, Chicken Pandan and Jamico's Fried Rice.  The Judy Ann Crispy Pata has a sweet coating.  The Torta Alimasag also had a sweet thick sauce that's similar to my favorite Fookien fried rice.  The Shrimp Embotido is so flavorful.  And, lastly, the Chicken Pandan offers a great twist to the usual fried chicken.

Food Stop #5: Dolor's Kakanin

Every since I was young, Dolor's Kakanin Sapin-Sapin has been present in every occasion and on random casual days.

I'm so glad to visit it's original home where I got to capture how it is made.

Check out the video below.

We exchanged our coupons for a small plate of Sapin-Sapin.

I also bought an assorted plate for 65 php.  It has a Bibingkang Malagkit in the center, 3 pieces of Kuchinta, 3 pieces if Pichi-pichi and 3 pieces of Puto.  The family loved the Kuchinta.  The Puto was good enough for me too.

They also had delicious Breadsticks and Macarons that's makes a good gift item.

Food Stop #6: Betsy's Cakes

Our last stop is Betsy's Cakes where we exchanged our coupons for 4 pieces of their specialty Broas.

Broas (17 php) and Ube Macapuno Broas (30 php)

It's not the typical lady fingers that you expect.  The Broas I've been accustomed to is toasted, crunchy and crumby.while this one was soft, moist and fluffy like a mamon.  The classic plain one is good but I prefer the  Ube Macapuno Broas more.  It is a bit more pricey at 30 php for a small size though.  They also have a wide variety of budget-friendly cakes.  But, I found them to be inferior to their Broas.

Overall, we Travel Tripsters had a fun and one-of-a-kind experience in touring around Malabon for interesting food stops in  tricycle.  The serving sizes were just right.  You're sure to get your money's worth and have a belly-filled by the end of the Malabon Food Trip Special.

For more information call the Malabon Tourism Office: 281-4999 Loc. 1003 or call/text the Malabon TODA Association at (0918) 651-7343 | (0922) 950-1500 | (0922) 809-3010

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InfinitePh: Beyond Possibilities For Philippine Booking

InfinitePh is out to make hotel booking socialized!  The first time I heard about InfinitePh, I mixed it up with the Korean K-pop band Infinite. Turns out its actually a very useful hotel booking app that's available in both Apple IOS and Android.


Using InfinitePh
I'll be guiding you on how to maximize the usage of the InfinitePh app.


Step 1: Download
*Will post the download link when the app is released on March 15, 2015.

Step 2: Sign up

This is what you'll see upon installing the app.  You can just simply sign up with Facebook for an easy sign up...

or manually register.

Step 3: Enter Your Destination and Choose Your Hotel

Enter your destination and choose from its extensive hotel listings.

Step 4: Select the Date

Select the arrival and departure date of your stay.

Step 5: Reserve Your Room

Select the room of your liking and the number of person who will stay there.  The description as well as the price is indicated therein.

Payment System
Every convenient payment gateway for the average Filipino.  It accepts Paypal, Asiapay, Globe/Smart, 711 Connect and Bank Payments.

Budget Analysis - Users End

As an end-user, you can view your bookings, discounts  you've accumulated as well as your budget analysis.

Hotel Representative Dashboard

Since the goal of the app is to connect customers and hotels, it also has a Hotel Representative Dashboard that shows them analytics of the users activities.

Social Media Review
By using various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Foursquare and adding hashtags, users can share their reviews, photos, videos of each hotel and transient.

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Kuyba Almoneca: The Holy Face Within the Underground Holy Family Cave in Puerto Princesa Palawan Philippines

After going to Estrella Falls and returning to San Jose Terminal, we took a trike for 150 php to Kuyba Almoneca Meditation Garden and Spiritual Resort.

We came to know about Kuyba Almoneca when we shared our woes with our trike driver Jeremy that our Puerto Princesa Underground River Tour might be cancelled because of the upcoming storm.  We were very fortunate because all the tours where cancelled for on the day before us but the storm calmed and seized on our scheduled date.  But, we're still curious about this alternative destination so we squeezed it on our itinerary.

The place was surprisingly huge.  This is were we paid for our entrance fee of 50 php per person and got our guide.  There's an informational board about "Neil", the autistic son of the owner, who you may encounter wandering around the area.  We saw him but he was pre-occupied.

Our visit to Kuyba Almoneca Meditation Garden is to see The Holy Face within the Holy Family Cave.   Kuyba means cave in Bicolano and Almoneca is the combination of the names of the children of the owners.  Neil being the NE we supposed. 

On our way to the cave, we passed by the chapel were preparations are being made for a wedding.

There's also a banquet area which was lavishly decorated for the occassion.  We're told that they cater to weddings, baptismals, birthdays, debuts, seminars, retreats and other religious activities.

There are Stations of the Cross spread over the wide track of land.  There's a bit of a history about it too.

*All unwatermarked photos credited to Travel Tripsters Kurt

Each station has a narrative.

The stations are well-built.  We could tell that the owner put all his heart and devotion to faith into them.

There's also a Bat's Cave where bats fly out at night and come in before dawn.

Finally, we reached the Holy Family Cave.  It is a 40-meter underground cave that was accidentally discovered when the lot was being surveyed for construction.

It was dug and furnished for the ease and convenience of the visitors.

There are already rails, pathways and displays of saints which were a mix of both bought by and donated to the owner.

You can observe the rock formations up close but of course, you can't touch them or it will deteriorate due to our bodily chemicals.

It's amazing right?

These formations indicate that the area used to be underwater.

Can you see The Holy Face?
 

The Holy Face

In a certain angle, you can see The Holy Face which is they believe to be the face of Jesus Christ.  Do you agree?

There's a giant shell there too.  

Although you can go there when it's raining, it's better if it isn't because the cave has a lot of holes.

More of the statues...

This is the very last past of the cave.  So this is why it is called The Holy Family Cave. 

The cave is said to be more than 40-meters but they didn't explore further anymore since the other areas are filled with junk because locals thought of the holes we saw earlier as instant garbage bins.

Overall, we Travel Tripsters, enjoyed this spiritual adventure.  If you have an extra time in your itinerary, you can squeeze this in as the entrance fee is minimal.

Kuyba Almoneca Meditation Garden and Spiritual Resort
Address	Sitio Masikap, Brgy. San Jose Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines
Budget Per Person	50 php	Kuyba Almoneca Meditation Garden Map
Payment Options	Cash
Operating Hours	Monday to Sunday: (even holidays) 8am-5pm
Reservation Required	No
Contact	(6348) 433-2855 |       (6348)433-3177 |       (6348)723-0295|   Website

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