In Dracula's Lair

I saw a link about a new resaturant in Mall of Asia while I was busy surfing the net instead of being driven nuts by work. The restaurant was called Bucharest and I was intrigued what Romanian food taste like after all the classes I used to complete for Romania and the really nice chats I had with my former counterpart.

So the main concept of the restaurant itself seems to have won me over and I really wanted to try it. One sunday night, I watched a movie with my sisters and desperately looked for a dress for my friend's wedding, we decided to eat at Bucharest after we saw their add in the escalator and ignored our Chinese food craving.

When we got there, it seemed a bit quiet since it was sunday and the dinner rush seems to be over. The waitress was kind enough to show us to our seats right away. We did not know that a band was about to perform. I am not really a fan of live bands performing while I eat (except at weddings). Or I was not in the mood for a live band that night and prefer talking since it was bonding night.

When I saw the menu, I did not know which were Romanian food or if they have any difference with the food in the other European countries as I saw hummus, Ceasar salad and pasta.

We ordered their hummus since we were big fans of hummus and we were trying to determine where in Manila can we find the best tasting hummus. I could say that it was definitely not at Bucharest. They did a better job with the presentation and I like the fact that there are olives but I've had better. The bread that comes with the hummus though tastes good but it wouldn't really make top much sense if you have a just fine hummus.

We also ordered their Insalata Cezare. The romaine lettuce was fresh and crunchy but the serving seems pretty small for its price and there doesn't seem to be enough dressing. It would have been better if the have already tossed the dressing into the salad.

We also had their seafood pesto pasta. The noodles was not really al dente and the dish itself was nothing extraordinary. The pasta was served with bread, the very same bread that came with the hummus.

Lastly we had the whole roasted chicken. This is the only dish that I would recommend. The blending flavors of citrus and rosemary can really make you get second and third servings for this dish. The chicken was also very tender and the sidings of mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables perfectly complimented this dish.

I was not able to try the drinks there but the bar list seems promising. The prices of beer and cocktails were reasonable and they serve Mojitos! The interior was quite weird because the restaurant seems to have a whole lot of space but very few tables. It reminds you of a dance studio. One thing I liked though was the Dracula and Romania trivia that they have on their placemats.

If I come back to Bucharest, I would probably for the drinks but I would rather have dinner somewhere else.

Ranting on missing and what I want

When I sit and ponder what my life was like a year ago, I could not believe it was different and similar as to what I have now. I have that same longing of searching what I wanted to do, who I wanted to be and where I wanted to go. The endless questions of who are my friends keep flowing in my head. It is a familiar feeling that you are surrounded by people yet you feel so alone because the ones you wanted to be beside you cannot be with you.

They cannot be a part of your life and current experience because they may be somewhere else or they simply cannot be you because they choose not to or don't want to at all. I miss my travel buddy who is miles away. I am once again about to pack my bags but this time with people I will be travelling with for the first time. I am not so sure if what they like to do is the same as what I wanted to do or how I do things. I miss my best friend. I just wanted to talk to her for hours about everything that I have to go through. All the extreme mood swings get tiring and there are things that I know she will be the only one to understand. There are other things that I wanted to do but I can no longer ask that person to accompany me. I miss greeting someone good night or good morning or ask how his day is. I miss just bugging someone to just go on a food trip or do whatever feel like doing and he wouldn't get mad because all that matters is spending time with you. It's funny because I miss these things but not the person. I keep telling myself that it has to end because someone better is coming. When I come to think of it though, will it ever come? I know I deserve better. I should be treated with kindness, respect and understanding. I keep crossing my fingers that whoever comes is faithful and not judgemental.
I just hope that he will appreciate the child in me and not hate me for it. Someone who can accept my past wholeheartedly and who I am now. Someone willing to go on an adventure and would also like to see the world and try so many things the world can offer. Obviously I will say applicants are welcome haha. If I think about it, everything I mentioned are things that I am not willing to compromise along with other factors.

I am at a cross road once again just as I have felt a year ago and also two years ago. I could not figure out what is the one thing that I really wanted to do for the rest of my life. I can do so many but I cannot pick one. What I have now is something I accept while I figure things out but I can no longer stay in this limbo. I talked with a friend last weekend and we were discussing when will our quarter life crisis end. Yeah...when will it end? What's weird though is that there was one thing we would like to do but if we do it, society and our culture judges us to be irresponsible. I would be glad to just pack my bags and live in a beach in Thailand and take a month to a year off. I envy how many Europeans and Americans can do it but as a Filipino, I feel I will be judged as irresponsible and stupid. Why can't we live a carefree life? Why can't we live a life where we can't be judged with our decission on what we wanted to do?

So much for freedom...Whether they amend the never ending issue with the constitution, it's not exactly a free country because we are judged by society, culture and most especially religion.

This may be a reason why I desperately wanted to move to Europe. They wouldn't exactly care how you wanted to live your life.

Why can't things be simple? All we wanted is just simple but everything around us just wanted to complicate it. The question is, if you find the courage to make it simple and go for it, will it be satisfying enough with everything that you have to go through?

One crazy food trip to Dasmariñas Cavite

The idea of an instant trip to Dasmariñas came when I saw online that there was an Arabic restaurant in Robinsons Dasmariñas. Since everyone was free and Sans and I need German and French tutorials badly from Shai so we had an instant road trip to Dasma.

Tom toured us around De La Salle University Dasmariñas. I admire how La Salle thinks about the structure of its school buildings. As a student in Taft for a little more than 3 years, the white Greek columns that graced LS building and Yuchengco has given La Salle an iconic image through its buildings. In La Salle Bacolod, I remember a great touch of Filipino while I stayed in Balay Kalinungan. La Salle Dasma seems like its in another world...well more like Intramuros. I just liked that there are so many trees around. I loved the fact that they have a lagoon and a like with real fish in it.

The church though was just lovely. Here's a photo I took of it.

The museum's structure would also remind you of the traditional bahay na bato. Manong guard was kind enough to let us see the ground floor even if the museum was closed. There one can find things that were dug up in Pampanga after Mount Pinatubo errupted.

As darkness falls in Cavite, everything seemed peaceful. We also went to the track oval and passed by the other buildings. Too bad it was already too dark for me to post right beneath the soccer goal. Sans was reminiscing in the granstand the gig she had before with her band Kastigo.

Here are more pictures of DLSU-D:

The cafeteria

A structure beside the church paterned after Aguinaldo's house in Kawit

Lake

Museo La Salle

We then went to Robinsons to eat at Souk Kafe. The place seems really warm and cozy. I love the details they placed around the restaurant for that Arabic feel. We were so hungry by the time we got there that we felt we could gobble anything up. We ordered their Iced tea. I think it was called Anantya iced tea. The tea even came from Dubai and it tastes so good, not like the sugary iced teas we get from fastfood places in the metro. Tom got the mint-pineapply drink, not really my type but he likes it.

We ordered the Souk Specialite pizza with sausages, mushrooms and veggies. It was thin and soft and you feel like you want the whole plate just for you. The pizza are called Manqoush

We also had the seafood curry and biryani as well. The curry taste of both dishes was just right. Although I would have preferred seeing real crabmeat instead of just kani. The proportion was just right for one person and the price quite reasonable.

I loved their Vigan platter. Since I'm a huge fan of longganisa from Ilocos and missed it so much, I really enjoyed this dish. You get slices of garlicky Vigan Longganis paired with Salted egg and tomato. Just perfect.

We also oredered the Crummbed Dory that comes with rice and potato salad. The batter was crunchy and the fish was really tender. The sauce was also light tasting which neutralizes the taste of the curry dishes.

We then ordered dessert Helwa Mango. These are flambed mango slices with white chocolate chips, syrup and cream on the side. The sweetness of the mango was just right and the fruit was really tender. The chocolate chips added the sweet kick to the dessert as well.

As a way to stay awake for the long ride back to Manila, we ordered their Turkish coffee and Cafe Latte, both coffees have a nice rich aroma with a nutty taste. Both were pretty strong as well. It was a good way to end our big meal.

Escape to Taj

After a weekend outing in Anilao Batangas with my old team, some of us decided to head to Tagaytay to have some Indian food. It's a first for some of us to eat at Taj, an Indian and Asian fusion restaurant. Josh drove us to Tagaytay. We had a short stop over at Rowena's to get goodies for those who can't join us. Sans, Tom, Shai and I were just excited to experience this new gastronomic feast.

As we walked in, I was awed by the Indian decoration all over the place. What really caught my attention was the wall mural of Shiva right beside our table. The rich colors of that mural made me realize that it can produce a great picture. We had crazy photos amidst a great back drop. I made my friends pose right in front of it where I can eventually edit the photograph and make us look like models. I had to have my own pose too as this was too good to pass.

But this really made me feel the Indian culture as we were waiting for our food. Aside from the decors, the music adds to the charm of the place. It is not just the Jai Ho song we get to hear a lot lately but really good Bollywood music.

The food was great. We had beef and mutton biryani. The meat of both dishes were really tender and tasty. The basmati rice in the dish perfectly compliments the taste of the meat.

Beef/Mutton Biryani

We also had Chicken curry for our non-beef eating friend. The chicken was really tender and the sauce was really tasty.

Chicken Curry

We ordered Rogan Josh, for two reasons: 1st its a mutton dish that Sans wanted since she loved mutton, 2nd its because of the name of the dish which Sans and Josh wanted to order because Josh is in the name of the dish. The mutton was really tender and the sauce was great for dipping the two kinds of bread we ordered.

Rogan Josh

The 2 kinds of bread that we ordered were Roti Cannai and Buttered Naan. The Roti was really soft contrasting to the Naan which was a bit chewy. The Roti was also a bit sweet and I just loved dipping it in the curry. The butter in the Naan gave it a different kick.

Buttered Naan

I got to experience a unique kind of drink, the Rose flavored Lassi. Lassi is a yoghurt based shake but what made it interesting is the Rose flavor. It's sweet and light tasting at the same time. The pink color just made it really appetizing.

Rose Lassi

The decorations of the place was unique and it added to the Indian flair of the restaurant. The also have a hotel called Andanita and the rates was really reasonable when we asked. Rooms come with free breakfast and a free massage. Taj is definitely one place I would like to visit again. Here are more photos from Taj.

Wall Decor

Tile details on the table

Ceiling Drapings

Decor made of grains of rice