Salcedo Market

It's been a while since I checked out Salcedo Market. I craved for lechon and its the only nearest place I knew where to find one. I already don't know what to buy from Salcedo Market these days and I would welcome any suggestions. As it started to rain hard, I only got to buy the usual stuff - Cebu Lechon, bread made out of Hershey's Chocolate and Ineng's barbecue.. I should be more adventurous next time and try out the great stuff!

School Experience

I had a chance to observe a school event as support to our colleagues and a glimpse on how school activities are done these days. Initially had to wake up early as I thought meeting time was 7:15. Fortunately for me it was filipino time thus I had a chance to eat breakfast. I was unaware that I violated the dress code by wearing the prescribed polo shirt with jeans until the team lead told me that maong is prohibited for us to wear during the event.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to read the email note yesterday afternoon not to wear maong and the news/reminder of not to wear maong did not reach me as I was swamped with meetings yesterday and got little time to check on emails. I wished the events team would have texted or at least have placed the dress code during their first invite (as that one I got to read well as I arrived on time!).

Out of respect, I willingly forced myself to change into slacks. Gladly, our house is near the office thus I was able to go back and change. I was about to bring my car to the school event but when we went back to the office at around 8ish, the van is still there since it got lost along the way thus we managed to ride with the team going to the school.

The public school that we went was a great place. Though there were a little glitches observed - it was a great event in total. The snacks served was quite yummy! I cannot remember who the caterer was. I commend the agency organizing the event. I also appreciated governor's magnificent people and oratorical skills.

Profractional Laser Treatment

Been a delinquent patient with my dermatologist for quite some time now. I only go to her whenever there is a case of emergency - big pimples and many pimples due for cleaning and kenacort. This year, part of my resolution was to take good care of my skin. Albeit late, I visited her last July and the last time I visited her was about 2 years ago. I asked what could be done to improve my skin texture due to acne scars, she recommended that I take the Profractional Laser Treatment after a month.

Since I trust my dermatologist so much, I was very confident to take the treatment. I was worried on the day of my scheduled procedure since I had lots of little pimple. I asked if it is alright to clean my face first prior to undergoing the treatment. She agreed and I went to the dermatology center after she cleaned my face in her clinic.

I was prepped and a topical anesthesia was applied in my face. I was asked to wait for 45 minutes for the medicine to take effect. After which the procedure began. This was my first time to undergo laser treatment. The first time it touched my face, I let out a shrill cry. I thought it hurt but it didn't. I only felt a few stinging sensation.

After the procedure, there was a few burning sensation but what relieved it was the cool air placed near my face to ease the redness. I was told to apply a few ointment for the pain, moisturizer and sunblock afterwards. I was also advised that redness in the face might occur for 3-5 days. I became a little conscious of my face but was also delighted that I haven't gotten any curious stares from strangers yet.

Longganisa Pasta

My aunt went to Ilocos lately and she brought with her a box full of vigan longganisa. I tried bringing some back to our hometown but my package was held at the airport. I also warned my aunt about it as her flight was supposedly on the following day. What she did was to cook some and bring it back to her place down south while she left a few bags of longganisa here in manila.

We had no choice but to cook it and eat it these past few days.. I previously loved vigan longganisa but there came a time that we were already "sawa" with it. What I did was to use longganisa as an ingredient of something loved by the entire household especially my little girl.

One lazy afternoon, I checked the refrigerator and noticed there were a lot of cooked longganisa leftover so I decided to use it as the main ingredient for my pasta. Instead of ground meat, I had diced longganisa minus the wrap of course!

Here's the recipe I came up with as far as I could remember:

Ingredients:
vigan longganisa (about 12 pieces), diced
garlic chopped
onion diced
tomatoes cubed
cooking oil
olive oil
del monte tomato and cheese gourmet pasta sauce
maggi magic sarap

Cooking Instructions:
1. Take out wrapper from vigan longganisa.
2. Heat few drops of cooking oil and olive oil.
3. Saute garlic, onion and tomato with longganisa
4. put a few drops of maggi magic sarap and heat for 5 minutes
5. pour del monte tomato and cheese gourmet pasta sauce. heat for 5 minutes
6. pour sauce over cooked spaghetti noodles and serve!

Surprisingly my little girl loved this recipe.

Shoe and Bag Savior: Besa's

I was so disappointed with a newly bought pair of shoes from Nine West that got slightly damaged after a few weeks of using it. I asked Nine West store in Powerplant if they can repair it for me but they mentioned they don't do repairs. They referred me to Besa's instead.

Few days after, I went to Besa's corner secretly tucked in Glorietta and was so amazed that they can repair almost anything of your prized shoe/bag possession. I was even elated that repaired item can be claimed within the day if brought in the morning.

After being satisfied with my shoe repair, the following week, I brought a bag for repair as it needs some restoration after my KL trip with the girls. The bag has a sentimental value to me since it was given by my husband. Lo and behold! It looks brand new after they restored it!

Video Check

As a mom, I make it a choice to find out what my kids eat especially what's in their milk. Quite surprisingly when I learned about this commercial in TV on sugar levels of milk. Such a shocking and interesting revelation. I try to check the label every now and then.

Not all milks are made the same, some have more sugar than others. To find out how much sugar there is in your child's milk, check the carbohydrates content. Generally in milk, high carbohyrdates could mean high sugar. It pays to check the label.

PAL Website: Dummy or Real?

This is my third time to book an online flight with PAL's website but unfortunately after every payment transactions entering card number and verification, it always states: "your transaction has been cancelled...."

Oh well...i guess something's wrong with their server. I've been wanting to go back to our home province soon so I took the risk of double payment in my credit card and did the transaction again delivering frustrating results. Same scenario occurred. Something is wrong with their site I guess. Maybe it was just a dummy site.

I also tried booking online few weeks back when they had their Real Deal Promo on cheaper international flights which turned out to be not so real after all since same dilemma occurred. Please go and check out their site at www.philippineairlines.com and see if same scenario applies to you.

Let me know if it works for you so that I could try it out again.

TV Musings: Tayong Dalawa, May Bukas Pa

Some primetime TV shows are gaining lots of raves because scenarios in the teleserye bare semblance to situations faced by the majority. I watched Tayong Dalawa and was intrigued on everyday semblance in the workplace. Here are a few of my personal observations:

Most of the time, people are not what they seem to be.
Some people seem to dress well and keep a clean image on the outside but is totally opposite on the inside.
Some people would resort to all means to destroy another.
People would often times talk behind your back but there are also times that they will indirectly destroy you in front of others.

Some willingly abuse their authority oftentimes use their power for their own personal gain and to the detriment of others.
Some tend to be jealous while in fact there is nothing to be jealous of.
Some people are not satisfied with what they have that they want what others covet.
Some people are scared of the consequences

Some people are scared to be on the good side
Some people tend to do things against their will since they need to cling to someone and cannot stand by themselves

I do hope that a lot would have the attitude of Santino in May Bukas Pa.. To see the beauty despite the negativity. To continue to count blessings whether big or small.

Mother's Day Celebration

This year's Mother's Day celebration was quite unusual than before for various reasons.

For the first time since I became a mother, I celebrated mother's day without my husband and toddlers (ages 3 and 2 respectively). Detailed reasons why we are separated for the moment entails another post. Although physically separated, we are emotionally and spiritually together as we try to communicate as much as we can and I always make it an effort to contact and check through modern means of communication to see how my children are. I also exert effort to visit them as much as I can in the province.

For the first time, I was working while celebrating Mother's Day. My current work enables moms to see the difference, let their child grow and make their child number 1. This mother's day, we did our best to give back to all the moms out there and make them feel they are also number 1.

For the first time my husband's greeting was one of the last that I got in the morning. It was quite ironic that I had to prompt my greeting for the people whom matters to me most - my husband and kids. My kids are still toddlers thus I rely heavily on my husband to prompt them to greet me Happy Mother's Day. For the first 3 hours in the morning, I received Mother's Day greetings from my parents, siblings, in-laws,relatives,friends,colleagues and an unexpected greeting from my ex-boyfriend! After hours of eagerly waiting for my husband's message, I got impatient thus I managed to text him how bad I felt.

I got a quick reply from my husband after my text. He even called me up to apologize and greeted me. It was quite ironic that I felt my motherly efforts were unnoticed by my own family but acknowledged by those who surrounded me. My Emotional Quotient managed to fall below expectations when I was already waiting for 3 hours - eagerly anticipating, wishing and hoping that the next text, email or wall post that I receive will already be from my husband. I was expecting that he would text early because my text messages to ask how they were and attempted calls yesterday were left unreplied nor responded to. It was quite unusual for my husband not to respond to me. Either he would respond late that same night or call you up as soon as he gets home or reply early in the morning. He managed to text me and call me after expressing to him how I felt through a text message as I was unable to control myself to keep my feelings on my own.

Despite the feeling of being unappreciated by your own family, I managed not to let it ruin my day and tried my best to understand that my husband had to wake up late for Sunday and would greet me later than expected. I managed to brush it off and told myself not to be too sensitive as who knows I might need to prepare myself - maybe next time it might be my birthday or my kids' birthday that he might forget - hahaha! Seriously I hope not.. I feel I'm just super sensitive today. Maybe if this happens to him, he might not react that much.

I watched ASAP09- one of the top Sunday noontime variety show and was mesmerized by all the beautiful celebrities that graced the show! It was my first time to watch a TV show live and I surprisingly enjoyed it. I felt drained when the show ended and tried to have group photos with my colleagues on various celebrities passing by the studio corridors. I realized that it must be difficult for these celebrities to pretend to show to the world that they are doing super great even if reality is otherwise.

I celebrated Mother's Day with an early dinner by myself in Red Ribbon Jupiter. One of my comfort place in the city. Being alone allows you to contemplate on various matters in life. I realized that no matter what happens even if sometimes you are left unappreciated, you need to be stronger for yourself and for your family. A mother cannot deny the fact that she loves her kids and husband no matter what happens. The difficulties that arise are part of the challenging yet fulfilling profession of being a mother. One needs to be more understanding, be more forgiving and be more loving.

On Child Intelligence and IQ Points

Can milk make my child intelligent? I believe it alone, cannot.

Intelligence is a combination of genes, proper nutrition and the environment (situations and encouragement from parents,school and others in the community experienced by the child).

I happen to chance upon an advertisement on + 7IQ points. It created interest in me. As a mom, I always wish for my child to be successful in life. I have always believed that high IQ Points is a nice to have. When I saw the advertisement on it, I started asking myself if it is a must have.

I inquired with a pediatrician what the +7IQ Points was all about. Doctor was accommodating enough and told me that the study mentioned on the possibility that your child may increase his IQ Points while drinking a specific formula milk fortified with DHA. What most failed to look and inquired at was the comparison of its control group (vs the group which drank the formula fortified with DHA). When I asked from what group was it compared to, what I understood from what has been explained was apparently the control group used was a milk not fortified with DHA. I think case will not be true here in the Philippines as most of the milk brands found in our country is already fortified with DHA.

DHA's best source would be breast milk and breast milk is free of charge. Even if milk products are highly competitive on each other with their product offerings and claims, I totally agree on the saying, "breast milk is still best for babies".

I cannot afford to pay a huge amount of money to buy a milk highly fortified with DHA but is substandard in terms of other nutrients important for a child's development. I hope milk companies would be more responsible in their advertising. As a mother, I fervently hope one day that one or all of them would have a genuine interest to help moms rather than to mislead them in their advertising claims.

Davao's Best Dining Places II

I was quite fortunate to be back in my hometown for a few days despite my busy work schedule. We were able to go to a few dining places and I suddenly remembered I used to write about Davao's best dining places. Here's a few more venues of gastronomic delight that the Durian Republic offers:

1. Ahfat - I am always delighted with my meal in Ahfat. Whether it be any of their seafood offering or their pancit or their spareribs. Ahfat is one of the dining places where we frequent bringing along our visitors in the city. Proof that Davaoenos and visitors alike love to eat in Ahfat: the place is always full even if there is already an extension of Ahfat's dining area nearby. One should not miss eating in Ahfat especially if it is their first time in Davao City.

2. Lisa's - Offers a wide array of fresh seafood delight at an affordable price. Located near Time's Beach, the place is always full at lunchtime and dinner time. I always love their crispy fried hito! I was so delighted that I need not to drive far in Tugbok whenever I crave for crispy hito as it is already available in Lisa's. It is best to go to Lisa's in the afternoon almost dawn as lunch heat can be quite scorching. After going to SM, you can drive along the Times Beach area. Once you hit the place, you will never miss Lisa's as it is the one with most cars parked in front. Parking sometimes a hassle especially during peak hours but don't worry as it will also lead you to nearby alternative seafood dining places.

3. Miggy's - In case there's no more parking space available at Lisa's try Miggy's also along Times Beach area.

4. Roadhouse/Antonio's - If you happen to be in SM, try dining either at Roadhouse or Antonio's. My family always take us either to these 2 places for Sunday lunch.

5. Bigbys - A great place to dine with family and friends in case you need to chat and catch up with each other's lives.

6. Colasa's - Their chicken barbecue is one of the best that I've ever tasted.

7. Picobello - For great pasta and pizza!

8. Cecil's - For afternoon snack, we love best their dinuguan and pancit luglug.. Try also their caramel cake.

9. Bistro Rosario - If you love cakes, drive along Torres Street and you will never miss the white building facade of Bistro Rosario. Choose a slice or a box that you can take home to. A family friend used to bring Bistro Rosario cakes back to Manila whenever they are here in Davao for a visit.

10. Sutukil - it's near the Central Bank and food is great and affordable for working professionals. A lot of sales people dine here during lunch or dinner.

Fashion Makeover

I don't know what got into me but I immediately obliged when someone asked me if I'm willing to be one of the subjects for a magazine's fashion makeover. I almost chickened out to do such thing as I have always been a fashionista introvert. I asked for a sign that if my sister in law will accompany me to the shoot the moment I ask her to, then it was meant to be. 

Surprisingly, she said yes and so I tried to be an extrovert for a day and went to the studio for the makeover.

My wish list: to look more polished at work.

My dilemma: I tend to dress casually at the office previously but now with the bigger responsibilities that I handle, I feel I need to establish more credibility in terms of how I look relative to my function. 

The solution: office dresses that I absolutely loved! I am planning to buy exactly the same dress that I wore to my first fashion shoot. 

I was glad I took this challenge. I got a few clothing style solutions and tricks for my body type. Not only that, I recently discovered that I look better in a new hairdo: curls.

I'm still contemplating though if I would change my previously straightened hair to a more natural curly look. Maybe in the future, I will go out again of my comfort zone to have a hairstyle makeover. For the meantime, I still need to gather enough courage to do so.

Kaleidoscope World

One of the Philippine music icons died around lunch time today. As the entire country mourns over his death, one of my favorite songs written by him kept on playing on my mind. As a tribute to Master Rapper - Francis M.. 

Here are a few of my favorite lines from his composition - Kaleidoscope world:

every color every hue is represented by me and you

take a slide in the slope,  take a look in the kaleidoscope

spinnin round, make it twirl, in this kaleidoscope world

 

--different voices, different choices

--some are mad, while others laugh

--some live alone with no better half

--some stand out while others blend

--some are friends and some are foes

--some have some, while some have most..

--some are great and some are few

--some can swim while some will sink

--and some will find their minds and think

Thank you Francis for these great lines and for your wonderful music!

Work in Times of Crisis

At times, work brings you challenges.. to make you stronger and better as a professional and as a person. Despite the challenges, I've always been thankful that I have a good paying job in times of crisis where redundancy, lay-offs, closing down of firms are common situations. 

I hear common gripes from others on how they are currently "overworked but underpaid". If only they realize how lucky they are compared to others who are still struggling to find a decent job to feed their family. I've been almost tempted to tell those who complain on their current state and compensation to go ahead and feel free to seek work outside the company but resisted myself to do so as I know it will be difficult to find a better paying job these days. 

Hope everyone would see the other side and appreciate their current job at the same time work hard for them to reap the benefits sooner or later than expected. 

The Need to Choose Wellness

I was shocked to receive a note that one of my fellow retreat attendee died of a heart attack last night. He was survived by his wife and his kid. May eternal rest grant on his soul! I can't even remember his face since I attended the retreat four years ago and have not been active in the community since but the thought of having someone died of a heart attack almost near my age disturbed me.

Lots of people are dying young these days - due to cancer, heart attack, aneurysm mostly due perhaps to poor lifestyle quality. Although there are some physical conditions that may be attributed to genes, a lot are now due to improper lifestyle or eating habits, no exercise, stressful work conditions and polluted environment.

I would definitely not want to be one of them. My kids are still young and I feel I still have a lot to accomplish in life. The sudden news made me think for a while, re-assess my priorities and I've just decided to change a few of my bad lifestyle habits. One of them is working myself of too hard to the point of having no exercise at all.  Tomorrow, I will have to start on hitting the gym or at the very least run within the community. I will have to start on choosing wellness very soon- for myself, for my family and for my children's future. 

The Search for the Next Supermarket

Shopwise Makati is undergoing some renovation these days which makes it inconvenient for shoppers like me.. They've rearranged again their shelves. It's one of their strategies to maximize space for the store - to occupy previously dead spots and encourage shoppers to go through all the aisles/spots as much as possible.

For now, I am in a search for the next supermarket place where I will religiously do my groceries. I passed by Cash and Carry this afternoon after we drove near the area to find a shop who does sofa re-upholstery. I was shocked that parking space for Cash and Carry already have a fee!  I was also shocked to see an almost full parking. I parked near the exit area already. We managed to get a good exercise walking from the parking to the entrance.

Cash and Carry transformed from your neighborhood supermarket to your nearby mall. Inside was bright and I found it manageable to stroll around the mall. I managed to buy an office blouse and found a great bed to our liking since I was also canvassing for a good bed frame for my toddler.

We did our groceries and I realized that there are a lot of choices in Cash and Carry compared to Shopwise. Imported goods where everywhere to be found. Prices were relatively cheaper for most of the products compared to Shopwise although I found the quality of meat in Cash and Carry almost similar to Shopwise's but relatively expensive compared to the latter.

I still want to try how it is to do groceries in nearby supermarkets such as Puregold, Waltermart, Landmark and SM. Until I find the next supermarket where I can comfortably do my groceries. 

29 Things to do in 2009!

Happy New Year! Better late than never.. Albeit late, it's time to draft my 2009 New Year's Resolution:

1. Go back to yoga class to combat stress and disturbance around me.
2. Hit the gym at least 3x a week. I can only do 1 so far!!! Hope work doesn't get into my way of going to the gym. 
3. Visit at least 2 places that I've never been to this year. I'm hoping to visit a local and international destination. Places in mind are Dumaguete and Macau!
4. Have more time for my children.. Implement again the 1x a month exclusive date with my kids.
5. Call my parents at least 1x a week and ask how they've been. 
6. Pray the rosary everyday.
7. Have a hearty lunch with my friends at least 1x month.
8. Chat every so often whenever I get a chance to have a friend who is online.
9. Stop buying pirated DVDs until I've seen all the remaining DVDs here at home.
10. Eat less of bad foods - oily ones, fried ones..
11. Have a "me" day at least 1x month either for massage, hot oil, spa, pedicure or window shopping!
12. Go home to Davao at least 1x a quarter.
13. Continue my guitar lessons.
14. Take voice lessons after I finish my guitar lessons.
15. Learn how to run. Join ARETE challenge!
16. Visit new places to eat around the Metro!
17. Explore Makati by foot during weekends.
18. Shop for clothes worth P1000 up only when they are on sale! This is my personal challenge.
19. Leave the office before 8 pm. If I happen to leave past 8, I need to deposit P1K for my kids' savings account.
20. Stop calling others Boss, Mr X.. Will start calling them by their first names!
21. Go to the derma at least 1x quarter.
22. Clean the entire house and get rid of things not used for 6 months!
23. Do 5S in the workplace.
24. Visit my relatives here in Metro Manila!
25. Get SSS and Philhealth for yaya since she has been a good yaya for my daughter.
26. Sing a song everyday.
27. Sleep before 11pm.
28. Give 10% of my salary to charity.
29. Finish reading a good book at least 1x a month.

Rice Saver

There are plenty of hungry people in the world thus it always make me consider not to waste any food most especially rice.

Few years ago, I got a simple but useful tip on how to maintain freshness of cooked rice: wipe out moisture in the rice cooker! When I tried this trick, the extra cooked rice lasted for the next 2-3 meals! depending on how much extra rice we've got! Another practice that we've gotten used to when we have extra rice after dinner is to place it in a container and put it in the refrigerator. We use this when we cook breakfast as our main ingredient for fried rice!

AHA Moments

We had a day away to do maintenance check amongst the team members. New year, new team, new challenges..Had a great session with our core generating demand team today. Lots of AHA Moments emerged within the team which allowed us to understand each other fully. 

Teambuilding activities provided by Convergent Team our HR Consultant was so apt given our unique team dynamics. They showed great examples through videos, wonderful team exercises which in effect translated to positive reactions amongst team members. I was glad that the team members were so open, accepted and gave necessary feedback. I am confident that this will gradually translate on how we work and run the business as a team.

We are ready to face as one team the business challenges that will come our way. We are all set to make a difference sooner or later within the team, within the business unit, within the company and hopefully within the nation.

Tikoy Festival Recipe

As Chinese New Year draws near, I received lots of Tikoy (Glutinous Rice Cake) from my Chinese friends for good fortune.

My favorite is the one from Salazar - brown and heavy!=) I'm the only one in the household who is a Tikoy fanatic. My husband doesn't eat it, my daughter ate a few and found it too sticky for her taste. Yaya takes a few bite every so often.

 

The first time I received Tikoy was about 7 years ago and I thought it was eaten raw as it is. I found it too hard and gummy then. I was told the following day that it was supposed to be fried in cooking oil, with an option to dip it in scrambled egg before frying. 

I received a fabulous tip lately from a Chinese colleague that it can be wrapped with lumpia wrapper before frying it.

I tried the recipe the minute I got home and I instantly loved it! Tastes like Turon in fact! Yaya also tried it and liked Tikoy in lumpia wraps. My daughter who rejected Tikoy not cooked this way considered trying Tikoy once more since she found it crispy to the bite.

Crispy! Sticky! Lovely! Yummy! Looking forward to my next Tikoy fest!

Questions for Moms

Do you really know how much of the important nutrients your child gets from his milk?

Do you really know what's in your child's milk?

Do you know how much you are really paying for?

Do you check the label?

Some intriguing questions I've been meaning to ask all of my mommy friends.. Answers would most likely be a "yes" or "no" or "I think so". 

For moms, who answers either of the last 2, it's time to check the label!  

Comfort Food

Food for the Soul list:

• Ice Cream - Yum! Yum! There's a new product from Nestle - Heaven's ice cream that enables me to indulge some more! My Old Time favorite is Nestle's Double Dutch flavor.
• Chocolate Cake - always put a smile on my face regardless of the source - may it be the one in our office canteen, at Red Ribbon, Starbucks, Pepper Lunch or homemade.
  
• Mr Chips - I'm not much fond of junk food but I cannot resist Mr Chips whenever wherever I see a bag of it!
• Green Mango with bagoong - If bagoong is not available, soy sauce with sugar will do.
• Yogurt - There's something about yogurt especially the Strawberry variant made by Nestle that simply relaxes me. For the past 10 years now, I've added yogurt as one of my comfort food.

List of food above always give me a certain high whenever I have a chance to savor them!

Davao's Best Dining Places

During the holidays we were able to go around Davao and discovered a few great dining places mostly with families..Some are quaint while most of them are ideal for families.. Here are a few of my favorite dining places in random order:

• Paparazzi - A great pizza place near Mabini St. I loved Papa's Pizza! I was disappointed when they closed down their Ilustre branch but was ultimately pleased when I found out that makers of Paparazzi pizzas are one and the same of Papa's Pizza. I loved their Prego Pizza so much!
• Sugarmunch - A great dessert place tucked in Marfori Subdivision. You won't miss the gold and white stripes beside Gigz party shop. Most coffee shops in the city serve Sugarmunch delicacies. I would recommend to try their Dark Moist Chocolate Cake. Its super delicious and easy on the pocket!
• Papa Ching's - If you loved Molave's Chicken recipe, then you would definitely love Papa Ching's greaseless chicken. I couldn't believe I finished an order of half-sized chicken by myself!
• Aseya - A door away Humberto's place, one would love their own version of fusion dining of Thai, Indian and Malay cuisine. Check out their Aseya salad and their version of spring rolls and Pad Thai. Their chocolate cake is a must try in which my lovely guess would come from Sugarmunch.
• Hola Espana - Finally, an authentic Spanish cuisine in Davao City! One should try their Paella dishes and steak! Be prepared to shell out some money though.
• Tadakuma - It used to be situated at the back of Chowking Bajada. I loved how fresh their makis and sashimis are! I frequent their place near Central Bank. I recently learned that they opened a site in Damosa.
  
• Harana - a nostalgic place for me! We used to spend our childhood playing in their big playground. Now, its our children's turn to play. We never got tired of playing that we dined out here twice during the holidays.
  
• Sarung Banggi - we normally have dinner at this place to celebrate my parents wedding anniversary. This time around we had lunch here during my birthday. I loved all their steaks - Pepper Steak, A la Pobre, Porterhouse are a few of my favorites.
• Banoks - We are Colasa's lovers but when I observed that Banoks almost became ubiquitous in the city, I got curious and tried out their Chicken Barbecue. We dined in their Torres branch. Loved the chicken (but not as much as Colasa's) and downed it with fresh buko juice. I got extra curious with Allegro' s ice cream freezer standing nearby and tried out the Durian Ice Cream. Yummy for a non-durian lover like me.

There are still a lot of great places to dine out in Davao. The list will continue hopefully in my next visit!