Maginhawa Street Food Trip Part 1: Blacksoup Cafe + Artspace

I went back to the Philippines last May to attend a friend's wedding and to spend some time with my family, my friends, and my (*blushes*) boyfriend. Only had one week to kill so I had to make the most of it.

A and I made plans to food trip around Maginhawa Street on the 11th. I was staying around that area for the weekend and, since we're both into creative stuff, we both wanted to explore the artsy-fartsy sections of that neighborhood.

We ended up having lunch at Blacksoup Cafe + Artspace:  

"San mo gustong kumain?" (Where do you want to eat?)

"Sa ano... sa B-something and artspace. Nakalimutan ko na yung pangalan, basta may artspace." (In... in B-something and artspace. I forgot the name but I know that it has an artspace.)

Destiny and intuitive hunches led us there and we had a good feast for our eyes and for our tummies.

I really should take note of the stuff that I eat. That's one of my weak points. I'm not good at remembering the names of the new dishes that I order. I think I had the creamy spinach pasta though. It was good - somewhat like a cross between pesto and carbonara.

Well, we enjoyed the art - there were lots of pieces hanging on the walls, lots of pieces decorating the tabletops - the place is really cool and cozy. And they had suspended coffee, too. You get to order a meal or a cup of coffee for an unknown underprivileged person who could go to that cafe and claim that order at a later time. Unclaimed suspended items are meanwhile distributed to street children and their families.

Unfortunately, I only got to know about the suspended coffee details after doing post-blacksoup research - let's just say I was a bit pre-occupied that day to really absorb what the suspended coffee sign was all about.

I had my back to the sign. A took this picture as well as the other Blacksoup pics.

I'd love to order some suspended items though, the next time I pay that place a visit. Oh yes, there shall be a next time. :D Well, until that time comes, here are a few more pictures for us to enjoy:

Pretty cool wall clock, eh? Only realized it was a clock just now.

Cozy. No aircon, but cozy.

I love the colors!

Art on the wall. Art on the tables. 

Blacksoup Cafe + Artspace is open from Mondays to Saturdays at 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM - 11:00 PM. I wish I had taken note of that schedule - would have saved me from a lot of bloopers that day, but oh well. That's another story.

Visit the place and order some suspended coffee, maybe?

Sosyal Climbing

9 June 2013

Oh Best Beloved,

Because I am so sosyal and all, I (together with my more down to earth friends) hiked up a canopy trail wearing a - would you believe it - dress. Yes, a dress. I felt like Pocahontas. I kept singing "Colors of the Wind" on our way up, just to stay in character.

Seriously, I didn't expect us to be climbing up a trail that rugged. I thought the canopy walk was just accessible via a ladder or staircase of some sort. But no. We had to hike up a rather steep and rocky trail.

Wa poise.

But really. It was nice to get in touch with nature. It was nice to get some exercise too. Just in case you are wondering, the canopy walkway where we went to is the one located in FRIM (Forest Research Institute Malaysia), Kepong. There were some waterfalls there too and it's a nice place to bring kids to (minus the 50,000-step-or-what-felt-like-it hike).

So there. Pictures here. Enjoy!

Sosyal kuno,

Mari

500 m. What does 500 m mean???

Dare to cross over?

Pocahontas? Tiger Lily?

Howwwww hiiiiigggghhh does the sycamore growwwwwww...

Pour it out...

The end. Bow.

Kuantan Shenanigans

3 June 2013

Oh Best Beloved,

We went on a Kuantan adventure last week. Well, it was more like a "misadventure", to tell you the truth. It was a fun, enjoyable time but we learned a few lessons along the way. Charge it to experience, so they say.

Lesson 1. It's not advisable to do hotel walk-ins when it's a long weekend and when you're going to what is apparently a popular beach destination.

Lesson 2. When doing an online guest house booking, don't do it after 8:00 PM. And don't check in at 11:00 PM. If you do, make sure you know the reception's number hours beforehand.

Lesson 3. Kuantan people are actually friendly folks. They're good help when all important signs are written in Mandarin.

Lesson 4. The GPS is your best friend.

Lesson 5. A child's - particularly a toddler's - health is very erratic. So blessed are the flexible because they will be flexed.

Long story short, we drove 4 hours from KL without a booking, hoping to do a walk-in. All hotels were fully booked so we turned to a guest house near the city. Unfortunately the receptionists were out. Or we just got there too late. 

Hence lessons two to three.

The rooms were nice though. At least we know what we're supposed to do the next time we go there.

And the beach was awesome. We only got to enjoy it for an hour or so because our baby was sick and we decided to go home earlier than planned.

But we still got to take a lot of pretty pictures. So here you go. Pictures from our little adventure-slash-misadventure: 

Teluk Cempedak.

Sand. Sea. Summer.

My little friend.

Why, it's a selfie! Haha.

Bye, Kuantan.

Till next time,

Mari