Best Places and Dining-Ins Where We Bring Love Ones that Visited the Philippines After Migrating to US for Years.

Cousins and Aunt went back to the Philippines after less than a decade since their last visit to the Philippines. The stayed for only 18 days, so our family really spent time with them and make sure they enjoyed the short vacation with us.

I was not with them all the time, but I for a few days with them, I didn't realize that I went out dining too often.. LOL...

One Cousin got married and the chosen venue for small reception is Vikings at Megamall. We occupied their exclusive room, and as usual we needed to roam around to get our food and tried the new ones..

But hey I really like all the Twinnings cold drinks.... Hurray to Vikings for that... I

If you want to have a glimpse of Vikings I am sharing a link below

Tagaytay became my favorite place when I went there with dear cousins. We went there on independence day morning, and they decided to take their breakfast at Bag of Beans. Everyone who loves Tagaytay will never miss this place. I wonder why I always missed the pancake? and only realized it when I am already full.

I always go for the traditional filipino breakfast like fried rice, tapa and fried egg. One auntie also tried the Lugaw or arrozcaldo. Again I did not take much pictures of the food because I know I already have a hub about Bag of Beans which I will share the links below..

Waiting for us at Bag of Beans were another group of cousins with Aunt and Uncle. We went to Calaruega Church, which was so much fun. We followed the lead of cousin Ernie and it was like an adventure crossing a hanging bridge, that was my first hanging bridge adventure. We took photos left and right, until we reached the chapel on top... Aunt was complaining she was wearing high heel shoes. The running and walking were enough to melt what we have eaten at bag of beans, that when they decided to leave for lunch, every one was really very hungry already.

Again we followed Ernie's lead since he was the one treating us.

He brought us to Mer and Ben, and we chose this large cottage that can accommodate the 12 persons.

The open air ambiance is good, it was raining then so the air is cold, triggering our stomach to crave for something yummy..

Cousin ordered typical Filipino food that my cousin and aunt probably craved. We had Bulalo, if you are in Tagaytay you should not miss the Bulalo, in my case I really indulged..We had 1 order of chop suey, grilled liempo, kare kare, mixed grilled seafood, and as a starter we had Crispy kang kong and we all had Buko Juice fresh from the coconut husk..

I like all, especially the Bulalo. My Balikbayan cousin obviously missed the Kare-kare, while Aunt indulged herself with the sea food.

We are so full we decided to proceed to Starbucks, where we enjoyed not only the coffee but also the views and the cool air, which made coffee drinking a real pleasure..

We also went to Manaoag Church in Pangasinan because it was my cousin's wish to visit the place.

We arrived at the Manaoag Church, almost at the break of dawn. Almost 5am. We went upstairs to visit the image of our Lady of Manaog and silently prayed. Not long enough the mass started right away. After the mass we bought candles, lighted it and prayed again. I prayed for my present situation, and thank also the Lord almighty for the strength He is granting me. We went to the church's souvenir shops and my cousin bought the image of Our Lady of Manaog which she will bring in her US residence.

After all our activities at the church, we left for this popular restaurant at the north called Isdaan.

Isdaan Floating Restaurant is a typical view if you are going North. I am familiar with the place but never tried to dine in before. The place is impressive. Lavishly adorned as if there was an occasion going on. Aside from that, you will feel like walking on the bridges because literally, you will be eating above water or fish ponds.

There are so many things visitor can do inside the restaurant. First, the fish feeding, while waiting for the food, visitors can feed the school of fish and watch them as they feast on the food that they threw at the water. The waiters or staff of the restaurant will provide you the fish feeds; Second, visitors can freely roam the place, have their photos taken with the images of President Erap Estrada, President Obama and Wife Michelle, and gigantic images of Dinasaur, a Bhudda and other animals. My aunts had their photos taken with President Estrada, I had photos with the image too plus one more picture with the guard; Third, enjoy the food while being serenaded.

We did not explore much because cousins were already hungry, so we did miss the Tacsiyapo Wall, Tacsiyapo means swear words or bad words for someone. Well instead of cursing the person you hate inside you heart and mind, it's better to express the fury at that wall. What a way to release one's anger.. but I realized we just came from Manaog church and the grace of almighty and our Mother Mary were instilled in us, so there was no need for us to release our anger at the poor wall LOL

Funny, we dined in at a floating restaurant but most of what we ordered were meat or pork, and chicken tinola. We had crabs, and grilled hito or catfish, we ordered for pork adobo, and ribs which I can't see the difference, lechon kawali, Kare kare and tinolang manok.

The food presentation was great... all placed in a very filipino style dining in with the presence of palayok and bamboo. The tinolang manok was cooked in a large bamboo and I found it really very impressive.

I am sorry about the ribs and pork adobo, it didn't pass my taste, and I can't see the difference between the pork ribs adobo (because they didn't have salt and pepper pork ribs at that time) and the plain pork adobo.

The lechon kawali was great, the tinolang manok was impressive but still a no match to my auntie's version. We should have ordered more seafoods, since Isdaan is a floating restaurant, I guess they are better in preparing seafood dishes.

In spite of imperfection I will still recommend this place to friends....

Max's Fried Chicken Restaurant was so popular in the Philippines that I know I don't really need to write much about it anymore. We attended a mass for my Uncle's 40th day, and after the mass we had family dinner at Max's Restaurant near Malacanang Palace. It's impossible to miss the fried chicken when dining in to this restaurant.

The day before they left for US, we had lunch at Gloria Maris, Greenhills, and my cousin called it Yum cha meal. I've been to Gloria Maris at Gateway several times. I love the shabu shabu and some dimsum like siomai... But this time I had a different experience, cousin Bong called our meal Yum Cha, instead of regular rice and full course menu, we ordered for noodles or congee and assorted dimsum.

I always love Congee, probably reminds me of my youth and my father when he took me to this famous old restaurant at Ongpin. I can still remember its yummy taste, but sad to say when I went back to reminisce I was disappointed with their congee, it's no longer as tasty as the previous ... I guess the old chef that my father called "taba" died already. But anyway Congee at Gloria Maris is another story... I really love it and I swear to return anytime...

Most of them ordered for mami, I guess they also have the best mamis, but I always prefer a congee so I was rare at that moment. Aside from Congee and mamis, we had Xiao Long Pao, it looks like siomai but it has sauce inside. Cousin Bong said, the proper way to eat it, is first, put it in the spoon add the special sauce served with it , then eat it whole, and let it break inside your mouth so you can savor the sauce. Interesting and yummy... We also ordered Ho fan, shrimp and asado, and Fried Taro puffs.

I really enjoyed that meal, a pleasant experience after eating at Vikings, at Filipino Restaurants etc... If you love Dimsum, go to Gloria Maris...It's all worth it

After that Yum cha lunch at Gloria Maris, we prepared for dinner with another cousin. First plan was, to have dinner at the paluto restaurant at San Mig Bay... Paluto is the type that you will choose and shop for the main course like prawn, fresh fish or crab etc. and they will cook it for you. But we were surprised that all paluto restaurants at MOA San Mig Bay left the place and transferred at the Macapagal area. Anyway the place was now a buffet restaurant area, Buffet 101 and Vikings started it so now we found Banzai and sorry I forgot the one next to it. Cousin Liza let our guest choose which buffet restaurant she prefers and Cousin Tina chose Banzai.

There was a presentation inside when we arrived.... it's like a history bringing back into life.

I will not write much about Banzai because I want to make a separate hub about it. But yes I will recommend it because my cousins and I agreed that the food is different.and delicious. One of the owner is the actor Marvin Agustin and I think he made a right decision on this one.

This was Saturday, a day before that lunch at Gloria Maris and dinner at Banzai. This is the family celebration of one year death anniversary of our uncle. Still it's different when celebration was done at a residence own by family members. We can enjoy without time limit, we can sing and dance and most of all we can talk about the good old days when my mother and uncles were still alive.

My cousin just hired a favorite caterer, another cousin prepared her best baked macaroni, they also ordered lechon from Elar's and Mango cake by Dulcelene.

At the end this hub is not just about dining-out, good food and experience. It's all about love for my family and how I treasure my moments with them..