Torch!

I don't know why it's called Torch, by the way. I never asked and maybe I should have because it has become my number one go-to place for awesome steaks.

Before everything else, has your mother ever told you that in order to gauge the overall cleanliness of a house/resto/whatever, just look at their comfort room?
Well.. Let me just say.. Torch is squeaky clean. What I loved about Torch is that they have this 'bitch fit button' that you can press and it will magically clean the bathroom.

Oh noes! There's a drop of water on the sink.

Commencing...... the Bitch Fit.

Drop is now gone.

Clap clap.

WARNING!! Drool inducing visuals up ahead.

 My very pink drink. Pink lemonade!!

 Potato shoestrings. Yummy paired with the soup!

 The soup! Mushroom and probably something else soup.

 They are also vegetarian friendly. See that smile on Anagon's face? Yeah. Just happy with her green green grass of home pizza.

 Shrimp pizza

 Steak pizza which you put veggies on and roll like Dear Darla.

Salmon and cream cheese

 Shrimp and scallops and mounds of cheese

 With blogger table mates!

Meltic Steak Fondue. Ohhh myyy God. Where do I even begin? I barely chewed the thing. It was love at first chew (and ONLY chew apparently).

 Just freakin' tasty Pork Medallions. It's wrapped in bacon and put on a stone hot plate. I almost cried.

 Torch kitchen

 I dunno what this is called but I asked St. Peter what killed me and sent me to heaven. He gave me this picture. It is a layer of brazo de mercedes on top, yema and ice cream. Then there's this creamy mousse with fruits.

Well the story was.. Marge (really pretty girl) asked Aisa (my pretty girl) to bring me to that food event (technically not a plus one here anymore. ahem.) Sat with awesome people. Ate a few pounds of melt-in-your-mouth goodness. Proceeded to Nick Automatic anniversary to support our good friend Niche. Got a free shirt from Niche. Went home floating in good vibes. Great food + Awesome company often does that to people.

Finished the night off with beer, Tanduay light and some good music. Chill people!

Here we go! : Cambodia itinerary

Let's get our RockZ on! Get it? 'Coz we're gonna be staring at rocks? .. No? Ok.

For people who aren't easily awed by history and stuff, staring at rocks for three days might not be such a good idea. If you leave us in places like Angkor Wat, you might find us open mouthed and drooling. The Sanga and I would always wonder who walked those walls, where they slept, what they did for fun.. those sort of things.

Since this is a vacation after all, I built a 'chill' itinerary. More time for ourselves and to discover the place on our own. No pressure at all. I didn't want to have to drag Aisa out of bed. She's really really not a morning person.


Day 1:

- Angkor National Museum ($12 each for the entrance + $3 for audio guide)
I would suggest going here first before going to the temples. You won't need a tour guide once you've been here. They'll explain pretty much everything about the temples.

- War Museum ($5 each. Gave additional for donation)
The tour guide is actually a war veteran. He joined the army when he was 14. Lost more than his limbs.  He lost friends and family in that war.

- Old Market, Pubstreet and Night Market
Just chilled out here at night. Exploration galore.

Day 2:

This day was dedicated to temple oggling.

- Small tour :: 5 temples tour (1Day tour option)
Cost breakdown :
- Tuktuk fare was $20 + tip.
- 1Day pass is $20 each

- Tour guide is $25 for the whole day (since we went to the museum, we didn't really need one)

Day 3:
Tuktuk $15 + tip. Airport fare $4
There are 'short tour' options. Just ask your concierge. For our short tour, the tuktuk rental was $15

- Silk farm (free entrance)
The silk farm was nothing new. It was cute though and it's for free so you might as well go there. We learned a thing or two.

- Cultural Village ($15 entrance per person)
I would suggest going here. It's a huge place and it's fun to poke your head into replicas of 'villages'.

There are also some shows you can watch while exploring the place. Shows start at 2:00pm and there's a billboard where you can plan around the shows you want to watch.

Things to remember and try out :
- Don't forget your umbrella and sunblock. Death by roasting.
- Most menu prices are around $5 per dish. But there are some restos that have food at $3 or lower.
- Tuktuk fare is just $2 per way. Some drivers would ask for $3. Don't give in. Parang plus 50php lang yan sa mga cab drivers naten dito.

- Try out Blue Pumpkin. Their food is awesome.

- Red Piano in PubStreet is owned by Angelina Jolie. Yep.

- Try out the Cambodian BBQ places. The meat is very tasty!

- Eat at those street carts that sell $1 Khmer noodles! (That's if you're not very picky) We got addicted to it. Hmmm.. Now my craving is killing me. FML. Gotta google how to make those things.

Over all, I love Cambodia. I love how laid back it is. The kind of laid back where you can actually fall asleep mid-chew at any restaurant. Oh, which reminds me, don't order soup. Face planting into a soup is painful. I love the feel of the place. The people. The food. The sights. The oggling. The wow factors.

I will be reposting Aisa's very detailed version of the trip here. He he he. 'Til next time!

Here we go! : Cambodia Arrival

Soooo.. Yay!

Airport shots.

I wasn't able to blog last night because The Ipac was stuck to computer again. Well, I do understand how attached she is to the damned thing. Anyway, lemme tell you about the details first
.
Airfare was 5,520php each by Cebu Pacific. Not bad actually. Considering it's usually at 6kphp one way. Their airport looks like a mini temple. Cute!

We're staying at Golden Mango Inn. I do like how cute and quaint it is. It doesn't hurt that it's cheap too! Check out their website. It's pretty detailed and it ranks number 4 on TripAdvisor!

What I don't like about it is that we have to go barefoot inside. I have a thing against it. I can eat fried crickets and other weird stuff but I hate going barefoot. My skin just crawls. I dunno why. I had to hold my pee for 30 minutes while they sorted out the paperwork because I didn't want to go barefoot in their common bathroom. I'd rather drown in my own pee and die of kidney failure. Of course I couldn't tell them that so I just sucked it up and tiptoed everywhere.

Our room was pretty good though. Very spacious huh! Plus I got a hold of my slippers so its back to being a happy camper/tourist.

Anyway, we got hungry and decided to explore the world outside. I don't think they've ever seen a lesbo before because the guys at the next table kept staring at me. Heh. Bleh.

I'm waiting for The Ipac to wake up. I want her to have enough rest. I don't want to have to carry her if she faints. And then we're off to do touristy stuff.
Let's see how our first day in Cambodia goes. So far, the morning has been a delight and a bit painful (for me). A grasshopper decided it was fun to poke me in the eye at 8 in the morning.

Nolita!

Quickie post before we head out to the airport for Cambodia! I'm so excite to get my "Lara Croft" groove on. Hmm. That sounded weird. Anywayyyyy..

I was going to talk about Nolita! It's a (relatively) new restaurant at the Fort BGC. The food is actually pretty good. No shivers! Except for the price. It might be a bit pricey but still worth trying out.

Spinach and Artichoke pizza 210php. Huge as a mothafucka. It probably feed two unless you're extremely hungry.

Bowl of Chili 240php. Looks small but it's really filling. I had a hard time finishing it by myself. Yummm...

Will talk about our trip soon! :D Will probably give a blow by blow thingy if I'm not to mushed out with temple exploring.

Soya Bar

I can't stop shivering. Oh God. Help me.

It was another of Aisa's events so I decided to stay some place and read my books. I was looking for a place to hangout in at SM North, The Block. I checked out Soya Bar's menu and was immediately attracted to their green tea cheese mousse and rock salt product. Everybody has this on their menu these days.

 Green tea shit. 70php

So I took out my phone (Ebooks. No more bulky books. But, sometimes, I do miss the smell of new books.). Appreciated the view of my chosen seat. And settled in for a pretty good afternoon in another place created by the author's imagination.

It looked okay. I took a tentative sip. And shivered. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak. Seriously.
I tried my best to drink at least half (kc sayang ang pera ko dibaaa) but I can't. I just can't. I couldn't touch it again. My skin crawls at the thought of it touching my lips. No. NO! Not even with someone pointing a gun at my head. It is a fate worse than death. Mixing green tea and soya milk should be punishable by law. It's a crime against humanity and my taste buds.

I'm sure their 'taho' products are pretty good. The kids there seemed to like it. They even demanded for seconds!

But please. Do not order this one. Ever. Unless you like to be tortured.

So, I crawled to Sugarhouse while having my twitch fest. Epileptic seizures. I had to eat 6 yema balls to stop twitching.

These on the other hand were lifesavers. Over priced at 15 each (130 for 8pcs) but a lifesaver.

*twitch twitch shiver shiver   o_O

Oh sweet sweet Thai Bistro

I have never met another person more attracted to Thai cuisine than the Sanga. If 'Thai cuisine' were human, I think they would actually already have been married with little thai's running around.

When Thai Bistro opened at Robinsons Magnolia, naturally Aisa had to drag me there. The first time we ate there, we spent 2,500php and filled 2 tables with food. Yeah. Kami lang dalawa. It feels like a mini fiesta whenever I dine with her.

Here's what we ate the second time around,

 

Tom Yum Kung 145php

If you love your life and would like to keep on living, you will not order the spicy option. Go for the mild one. Please. Just trust me on this. I love spicy foods but I almost exhaled my tonsils. Very YUMmy though :)

 Mieng Kham 180php

This is the traditional thai appetizer. Everybody should try this out. Did you know that the leaves are grown by the owner herself? These leaves are native to Thailand and she had to cultivate them here.

Kha 260php Caramelized fish fillet in ginger chili sauce

This is Aisa's favorite fish dish. Normally, I couldn't get her to finish her food. I always had to negotiate with her but there's no need for force this time around.

 Kaffir garlic rice 180php

I really like their rice options. Kahit walang ulam, pwede na nga e. Very malasa huh.

See? Simot sarap!! Such a matakaw person :)

After dinner, shempre we would never miss eating icecream from that Magnolia place. It was a trip down Aisa's memory lane. Her grandfather used to bring them here and treat them to Peach Melba.

See that smile? I love that smile.

Over all, Robinsons Magnolia is a nice date place. You guys should check out what they have to offer. We will definitely be coming back more often.