Buhay Bahay-Bahayan

Magandang Huwebes muli mga ka-litratista! Oras na naman para sa Litratong Pinoy.

Kung proteksyon din naman ang pag-uusapan, may tatalo pa ba sa proteksyon ng Safeguard? Ooops, medyo sablay yata nun! Sa totoo lang, wala na akong hahanapin pang iba dahil alam kong walang makapapantay sa proteksyon na galing sa Kanya.

Pero syempre, kahit papaano eh dapat binibigyan proteksyon ko rin ang sarili ko. Kaya nga tayo binigyan ng utak para gamitin, hindi ba? Kaya’t kung may gagawin medyo delikado, nararapat lang na gumamit ng tamang mga gamit. Sa larawang nasa itaas, nagsuot kami ng life vest at helmet para sa white water rafting na aming ginawa noon sa Cagayan de Oro.

Bukod sa atin, may iba pang nilikha ang Diyos (oo, hindi tayo nag-iisa), tulad ng mga lamok at iba pang insekto. Nilikha sila upang kagatin tayo! Kaya’t bilang proteksyon sa mga makakati at minsan ay masasakit nilang mga kagat ay gumagamit kami ng Sting-less mula sa Ilog Maria. Gawa ito sa natural na citronella na nagtataboy sa mga insekto.

Ito ang aking mga lahok para sa linggong ito ng Litratong Pinoy na may tema na Proteksyon. Tayo na at tignan ang iba pang mga lahok ng mga partisipante dito.

Last Sunday afternoon, despite the heavy rains and the floods that inevitably follow a few minutes after, we went out to attend Vien’s first birthday party. If you can remember, my wife and her friend J. set up the event for Vien’s christening. In addition to decorating the place, she also made the cupcakes.

This time, though, she was just asked to make a whole cake made of fondant. Thank goodness! Making one cake proved to be quite a challenge. We stayed up until 4 AM. I was busy playing Warcraft in the bedroom, and she was making a mess in the kitchen! I did help cut out the stars though, which ate about 5 minutes of my game time. And from time to time, she would ask my opinion on something, so this is pretty much my thing too!

And what kind of good husband would I be if I wouldn’t feature her work here, right? So join me in gawking at these delicious cakes!

We brought Yuan with us. And he got to meet T2rad’s eight-month-old son Zach and of course the birthday boy, muscle-man Vien. As you can see, we weren’t able to get any decent picture of the boys together.

Trisha’s months old son Phoenix was there too. Michelin Man cute! What is with the babies these days? They’re so big!

Anyway, Yuan had fun, as most of the kids did I’m sure. And that’s all that matters. It was very, very tiring looking out for a kid who just learned how to walk. But he had such a great time. Braving that rain was all worth it!

Baguio now offers tons of food choices to choose from. A foodie’s paradise, I say, what with all the fresh produce within easy access. So after sampling the food at Cook’s Inn, we’re off to a new restaurant the next morning. We tried this restaurant called Cafe by the Ruins. I’ve read mixed reviews about this restaurant, all in the extremes. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

I think we ordered almost everything on their menu. The fiber-rich kamote (sweet potato) bread loaf was served warm. Tear a piece and slather with butter and strawberry jam. Sarap! I can’t really tell how this bread differs from any regular flour bread, but it was really good.

In addition to beef sinigang and lumpia (above pic), the infamous Cordilleran broth pinikpikan and the mechado, which came with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, and buttered vegetables and looked more like slices of pot roast and is very different from the usual mechado we’ve had, were quite good.

I played safe and ordered the adobo sa manga, and my wife had Tita Susie’s Crispy Tapa, which was actually shredded tapa fried to perfection. This was served with a slaw of chopped tomatoes and onions on a lettuce bed. This is a definite must try. As you all know, I’m not a beef eater, but I’d definitely have this anytime. It was that good. A Sinamak vigegar dip would have made this dish even better. I even finished it all off when my wife was full. Also, the restaurant uses red organic(?) mountain rice, which to me looked more like purple, but good nonetheless.

All in all, this is one of those must try restaurants in Baguio. Good food and good ambience. We’ll be coming back to try their Pan au Chocolat, Chocolate de Agua, champorado with tinapa, and the glorious thick bacon. A nice siesta at Pineridge was inevitable.

Cafe by the Ruins
25 Chuntug Street, Baguio City, Philippines