Beach Getaway in Mandaluyong

My title is so misleading, I’m not really writing about a beach in Mandaluyong… how can that city have something close to a beach? Haha! I’m writing about R and J, a bulalohan along Boni Avenue.

So you wonder why beach? Well, if you check out the interiors of this hole in the wall, you’ll literally be confused and think you’re transported to some island in the Visayas. The tables are monoblocs, the walls are made of bamboo, banderitas and Christmas lights are hanging everywhere and they have a 5-peso coin operated videoke machine!

Although the unassuming beach ambience is part of the reason why I always go back to this place, a lot of people know it as the best bulalohan in Mandaluyong. This is testified by a couple of known celebrities who are fans and have posted testimonials all over the walls of the restaurant. It’s amusing how such low profile restaurant can gain such following.

Try it out, food here for two will only cost you 220 pesos. This includes a bowl of bulalo, tilapia, kangkong, 2 cups of rice and 2 glasses of iced tea! Really affordable bulalo. Watch out on the cholesterol, though! 🙂

Diamond in the rough. More fun in the Philippines!

Party Jeepney

If one asks what typical Filipinos do for fun, karaoke probably tops the list. It is very famous in birthday parties, fiestas and even wakes! When the current top songs are being played, chances are, you’ll hear a couple of people singing along. If you’re one of those guys who love to sing the night away, the party jeepney is for you!

The party jeepney is a custom made jeep that can seat 20 people. Unlike the typical public utility jeepney which seats people facing each other in a sideways orientation, this one is bus style with people facing the front and with a center aisle. It is airconditioned, has a tv and two microphones. You can fully customize the tour by asking the driver where you’d like to go. For our trip, we cruised through EDSA and dropped by the Rizal Park, Intramuros and Malate.

I will try to update this with full information on how to book the party jeepney but with 2000 pesos per hour, it’s a bit more expensive than your regular KTV bar, but it’s an experience worth trying.

By the way, we had a cooler with bottles of wine, vodka and whiskey, and if you are drinking in a moving vehicle, it gets to your head faster. Be careful with the booze! 😉

Karaoke. More fun in the Philippines!

Kota Kinabalu: Land Below the Wind

On the day that we were to go to Kota Kinabalu, I had to work even though it was Ninoy Aquino’s holiday. I finished work at around 2:30 PM, and I still had to go home to pack my stuff. I was already panicking because my flight was at 4:40 PM and my iPod was playing Rico Blanco’s Antukin. First line goes, “Iniwan ka na ng eroplano (the plane has already left you)”.  Fortunately everything went smoothly, and I arrived in the airport just before check-in closed.

packed backpack and drove to the airport in less than an hour

The flight was pretty straightforward. There weren’t any turbulence. We arrived in KK at 6:40 PM. Even though the airport was big, it still felt like we were landing in some Philippine province because of all the coconut trees, houses and buildings along the runway.

After immigration, baggage claim and customs, we followed the guy who was holding out my name in a laminated paper saying, “Welcome to Sabah.”  He was the driver of the Lavender Lodge’s free airport transfers. After the 15-minute drive from airport to hostel, we checked in our backpacks and went to a mall called Centerpoint to exchange money. I also bought a Malaysian sim card so that I can contact my couch surfing friends in KK.

steven, the hostel driver, fetching us at the KKIA

Next agenda was to go look for food, we were starving so we asked around for a good restaurant nearby and they led us to this Malacca restaurant. We ordered Beef Rendang and Shrimp Sambal, and they tasted like Chinese cafeteria food -fail.

first taste of teh tarik, the every-meal drink of the trip

I started contacting my friends, and Sam from CS said he’ll be hanging out with some friends in Rumba Bar at Le Meridien. Since it was only a few blocks away, we decided to go and meet them. We all thought that bars in KK were like in Boracay where you can just go in slippers and short pants but apparently they were strict about dress code so we had to make do with what we had… for me it was shirt, pants and a funky pair of orange shoes. The girls had to wear sneakers and rubber shoes., only to find out later on that the dress code only applies to men.

paula is the lead singer of a filipino band in kk

The bar was small and they were alternating between live band and DJ. The band was Filipino, apparently all bands in Sabah are. The drinks inside were expensive. I ordered a pint of Guiness beer at RM 33, equivalent to almost PHP 450. We didn’t stay long not just because of the prices but also because we had a long day the next day. So we started for the hostel and called it a day after arranging our transfers to Kinabalu Park with the hostel travel agency.

To be continued.. Will be posting more of the Sabah trip in the next couple of days.