Food Trip: Firuz Mediterranean Cuisine

To start the year, my friends and I went on our supposed to be year-end Jologs day which involves going to the Perya, watching a jologs movie and eating. So on January 2, we did it. And first thing was the food trip, and I was again the one who suggested the place - it's Firuz, a small restaurant along JP Rizal near 7-11 and the marikina bridge, and I was eager to try it out since my first attempt with my family didn't happen because they weren't open that time. Good thing was I was prepared for this food trip, I got the cellphone number of the restaurant from Roni's blog and I texted the number a week before just to make sure they're open on January 2, and the answer was "yes, happy new year!", wow so courteous of them hihi :) And then when I was about to meet my firends at 7-11, I walked along JP Rizal and saw that Firuz was CLOSED, and I seriously panicked since we were all excited about the food experience, I even thought of just bringing my friends to Mama Chit's if Firuz is really closed, and then I texted the hotline number HAHA, and they did open at 5pm (store hours: 5pm to 12 midnight), and so we waited outside the resto :)) So there. 

We looked at the menu, and almost everything's not familiar except for the shawarma and kebab :)) we even asked the waitress to explain the dishes to us, although it was nice that they gave a short description of the food in the menu. We really didn't know what to order except for the Hummus which I googled when I first read it in Roni's blog HAHA. So we ordered Hummus and Moutabal for our starters. My friend ordered the shawarma with pita meal, another friend ordered the Lebanese yogurt pasta, I ordered the chicken souvlaki, and we ordered the moussaka for sharing, and lastly, the homemade yogurt ice cream which was ordered by another friend. So here's goes the food..

First was the Hummus and Moutabal. Hummus is made from pureed chicken pea and the likes, while Moutabal is pureed eggplant which are like palaman to the pita. I personally liked Hummus more than Moutabal, I like that it's spicy and had a garlic taste. 

Hummus and Moutabal P85

Shawarma pita P110

Then the shawarma with pita was served. It was like any other shawarma around, nothing really special though I only tried it once, so maybe I missed out the special part hehehe! And now, my chicken souvlaki. It was full of vegetables, which was consistent with the picture in the menu HAHA! The sauce (?) was the thing that's different, it was like milk with tahini and spiced up with some green thing haha! It was fairly good for my taste though the onions were overflowing which I didn't eat. It was different for my taste buds and I liked it. 

Chicken souvlaki P140

The Moussaka made all the difference! It was creamy and quite spicy and very good! We all liked it! Except  the fact that it was very oily that made us not wanting more (nakakasawa e!). And the serving was more than enough for us. And the waitress said that it's usually eaten with rice or pita so maybe that's the thing that'll counter the nakakasawang lasa haha!. The lebanese yogurt pasta was..bland. I think if they served it with parmesan cheese, it'll be okay. Maybe because it's just yogurt in a pasta though I think they could have experimented with it and added some spices just so it wouldn't be bland. The blandness made it difficult for my friend (and for the rest of us) to finish it since the serving was large (maybe good for 2 or 3 if not that hungry), but then again, maybe the recipe's just like that haha! so yeah, at least we got to try it :))

Moussaka P160-P180 i think :P

Lebanese yogurt pasta 

 As for the dessert, the waitress got my friend's order wrong, she ordered the flavored ice cream but the waitress heard it wrong so she served the plain one which again was bland since it's only yogurt hehe. But the texture was good for a homemade ice cream, enough smoothness :))

plain homemade yogurt ice cream P90

 What I like about Firuz besides the 'gastronomically challenging' yet good food was the place itself, even though the tables and chairs were simple, the lights (lamps?) were nice, with intricate designs and the colors were very eye-catching. They also had a magic carpet HAHA! and I like the comfort room (the tiles and the plant hihi). Also, the food prices were okay, not that expensive, and with that kind of serving, it's worth more than what you paid for :))

Food Trip: Casa Feliz

Last October 31, before the enrollment start again, my friend and I went to another food tripping adventure in Marikina. Since I wanted to try out the different food places in Marikina based on Roni's blog (I'm such a fan! haha!), we went to Casa Feliz which at first I thought was just near (walking distance near) our house, but I was dead wrong. It was far. VERY FAR! haha! My friend went on her own which was surprising because she's like an ipis with no sense of direction, anyway we both had a hard time looking for the place, and seriously it was tiring because of the weather and the fact that I walked from our house HAHA! 

Anyhoo, the place looked tired or not that maintained anymore, I was looking forward to a Spanish themed cafe (which was the case) although it didn't beat my expectations, and it was an open restaurant, but still it was cozy, we were asked to sit at the couch thing. And then the menu came which looked good, there's a variety of food but we were mostly excited by the pastries that we ordered it first rather than the meals. The prices were I think so-so, since the serving was enough (or more than enough if you're not that hungry). So we ordered a pasta whose name I forgot HAHA! It was like a garlic pasta thing, which I think has a similar taste with TOSH's vietnamese pasta (again I'm not sure with the name haha). The parmesan cheese made everything different, the saltiness gave a twist in the seemingly simple pasta dish. It's good for those who are not a fan of red or creamy pasta sauces. 

garlic pasta, I think it's around P115

And of course we ordered pizza, the cheapest HAHA! I think it's the meaty pizza - what I like is the pizza bread, so soft and rightly thin, and they were generous with the cheese as you can see haha! What I didn't like was that it was too oily maybe because of the overflowing cheese! 

pizza! around P200

Then the desserts! We ordered the famous Vida verde and a chocolate cake whose name again I cannot remember. The vida verde was delicious! It's like sansrival sprinkled with pistachios. It was supposed to taste like green tea but it didn't, we thought maybe it was overpowered by the pistachios or the cream of the sansrival. I like that it wasn't that sweet, just enough to take away the oilyness and the garlic-y taste in your mouth. The chocolate cake was also good! With the right level of sweetness, and it was very moist!!

Vida verde, around P95

chocolate cake! around P90

So there! Our food trip ended with us having a full stomach though our wallets weren't. HAHA! Still looking forward to more food trips around Marikina! yey! 

Goodbye, year when the world was supposed to end :)

It's the last day of the year 2012, and guess what, we're still alive!! The Mayans were..wrong. Soooo I looked at my Project 365+1 album just so I could remember what the hell happened to my 2012. And what surprised me is that I've been to a lot of places this year, and what didn't surprise me was the number of food photos I have posted, well hey I like to eat and make lakwatsa hihi :) It really is a dream for me to travel, I mean it's everyone's dream - to go out and see the world and try out the adventures that life has to offer. And I'm really glad that that dream is slowly coming into life (wut?). I would like to sincerely thank DOST for the allowance that's keeping me alive and financing my food trips and other trips HAHAHA! Besides traveling and eating, I did learn a lot this year mostly about myself...for the purpose of self-improvement, and of course I also learned school stuff HAHA! A lot of first-times, a lot of experiences, a lot of lessons, a lot of heartaches, but the joy was beyond compare :)

Here's a list of the memorable things I did this year:
1. Paintball at La Mesa Eco Park with orgmates - great experience! what could be more satisfying than being able to shoot people HAHA!

2. 17th International Hot air balloon festival in Pampanga with orgmates again! ~ first time!
3. The Rebelution camp in Rizal re-creation center in Laguna ~ God taught me a lot of things mostly about my personality. I was broken and redeemed at the same time.
4. Team One 2012 - JZONE nationwide leadership conference in CCT Tagaytay ~ Learned a lot about leadership, ministry, and service. And I was able to socialize a little..define little!
5. Family adventure in Bicol last April! It wasn't my first time but the adventures we had was worth remembering and the fact that we went as a whole family! I saw the beauty of the Mayon volcano for the nth time, I was able to try making a flower vase at a pottery house in Tiwi, and even though we didn't get to meet the Butandings in Donsol (for some unknown reason), I did experience snorkeling - the coral reefs and the school of fish was just....awesome!!! Besides the adventure, the food trips! We tried the sili and malunggay ice cream! The pansit bato for only 10pesos hihihi!
6. Intramuros semi-photoshoot! ~ there was a similar place in Cebu, the plaza independencia if I remember right
7. Tagaytay with the new Jcore Leaders  - it was our first planning getaway! God had given me a task I didn't think I was capable of doing, but then again He gives me the reason to JUST DO IT and have faith in Him.
8. Cinemalaya goes to UP 8 ~ I was able to watch most of the films and it was a great experience. I felt like I was really from UP, I mean my friend and I, we were making assessments every time the movie ends and we were using our imagination, we were using our brains for crying out loud.. just to analyze what the hell was the movie about (ehem diablo ehem)
9. Aly Siopao turned one! Time flies so fast! she's dalaga naaaaa~
10. My first ever musical! (yak feeling cast??) - Phantom of the Opera in Manila ~ SOOOOO AMAZING!!!! Goosebumps all over! my student discounted ticket was so worth it!! *kilig*
11. 30th SPP Physics Congress ~ first time to attend, first paper to submit for a national conference - and by God's amazing grace, that paper was chosen for the parallel sessions (oral presentation)
12. Binondo Food trip with Chem friends! ~ not the first time in Binondo, the fooooooooood waaaa
13. ARCHERY!!!!! 'nuff said.
14. Fellowship with Churchmates. Seriously, that's a big deal for such an introverted person like me. SERIOUSLY. Give it some credit!
15. Dgroup <3 ~ I have cried a thousand (nabilang?) tears for the people in my group. I learned a lot from these girls, and I learned a lot about myself. I did realize I have a lot to work on for myself for me to be able to help these girls with their walk with God. And until now, I still don't know what God wants me to do or maybe I'm just scared.
16. THESIS! even though I haven't started HAHA! I mean the journey from choosing the adviser wherein God specifically told me in a dream and confirmed it through His word (a true revelation that God really is awesome!), up until the sudden change of thesis topic which I seriously think is ..... err very difficult for me to understand HAHAHA! And I thank God for my very funny and very mabait na thesis adviser :)
17. BAKING! was able to try making blueberry cheesecake, blueberry muffins, and the most recent violet velvet cake which is our version of red velvet cake..we only had the violet food coloring that's why :P I am seriously considering this as a hobby and I want to invest in the baking tools etc... hihi
18. Citipointe Live concert in Manila! one of my favorite Christian bands! And we were upgraded to a better seat! we went down to the lower box from the gen ad section hihi
19. Purity series <3 wait to date contract <3
20. Food trips: barbara's resto in Intramuros (buffet), Cafe Lidia, Cafe via angelo, Bubba lab, casa feliz, mama chit's, chinatown buffet, binondo food trips, leona art unlimited pizza, TOSH unlimited pizza and pasta,  burger king, tamagoya, strawberry taho, yellow halo, pinkpikan, and many moooore
21. Ice skating with chem friends! after more that 15 years, I'm back in the skating rink and still don't know how to skate properly HAHA
22. Checked out some of the things in my bucket list! HOORAY! ~ watched a movie alone, finish the Bible,   learn how to bake, archery, paintball, some of the places in my travel list :)
23. SAGADA ultimate adventure! A DREAM COME TRUE INDEED! Thank you Lord for Your provision! and for letting me have such adventurous friends to accompany me haha! and for making our trip very safe though tiring! Extreme adventure it is! Cave spelunking for 4 freaking hours! very fulfilling huhu! And the death defying hike to the Pongas falls, seriously it's more scary than the spelunking haha!
24. BAGUIO! side trip after our sagada escapade! strawberry taho <3
25. Almost done with MS! except for thesis which is 0/10 haha! and thank you Lord for the miracle grades you have given me :)

Sagada adventure! (c) Jay-el Esguerra

2012 in a glimpse! incomplete pictures :(

There's a lot of things that are worth remembering during my 2012. And I thank everyone who became part of it. My family, my friends most especially LBT and chem friends, churchmates, Dgroupmates, MSE classmates..everyone thank you! Most grateful to my Lord and savior Jesus for everything, for the everyday experiences, for the heartaches and the lessons behind..and the joys, for my redemption, for Your unending love and amazing grace. It was a great year because You made it great. It was awesome because You are the awesome-est! I did get to know You more, and I want to know You more..for our relationship to continue til eternity! Love you Lord. You are my one and only <3