Thursday, June 16, 2011

out-of-the-ordinary balaw balaw experience

This one I'm very excited to blog about. Please ask me why. Haha! You asking me now? Because just recently I was able to tick off two items from my bucket list. Now tell me you're excited to hear my story too. :D

After 15 loooong months of not seeing each other, my best friend and I finally saw each other again. And no, don't think we're worlds apart. We actually live one jeepney ride {minimum fare even} away from each other. It's just that, I dunno, sometimes when you're no longer used to something, it's so difficult to make it happen again. Lack of effort, lots of excuses.

Anyhoo, I guess we felt obliged to see each other again {because we're best friends, for crying out loud}, and we ran out of excuses finally. So, June 5, 2011 {mark that milestone in your calendars please} we finally met again.

Days before our planned meet-up {but honestly without it in mind}, I was surfing the net for restos serving exotic food. I thought all of them are situated in far provinces. Fortunately I found one in Angono, Rizal, Balaw Balaw Folk Food Folk Art. A restaurant and museum in one, pretty interesting. The next thing I know, I was dragging my best friend, along with my sister, to Angono.

It was such a disaster going there, blame it on me. I thought I had the brightest idea - I'll research, the best friend will drive. Surprise, surprise! I left my laptop's battery. I got stressed asking for directions. We arrived in Balaw Balaw a little late for lunch.

welcome to Angono :D

finally, Balaw Balaw

One mistake after another. We could have given our orders first before roaming around the place but we didn't. We went around the three-storey creepy museum for roughly about an hour. And what did we see there? Lots of paintings, sculptures {I didn't see Machete though}, antique household furniture and some stuff related to the Higantes Festival. And can I just emphasize it is creepy there? If in case I'll visit the place again, I swear it'll only be for eating.

didn't I tell you it's creepy?

Speaking of eating, we all had Minaluto, mix of seafoods served with yellow rice. Nothing really different with how they were prepared but still worth the price just because they're seafoods. :D We also had Nilasing na Palaka and Adobong Baboy Ramo. The frog tasted like chicken, while the wild boar tasted like sour Christmas ham. I prefer the former, hindi ko ma-take ang baboy ramo. :( We also tried their Balaw Balaw, which by the way means fermented shrimp. I didn't like it as it tasted like vinegar.

waiting in vain, antagal ng food

Minaluto, 235php

Man vs Frog
Nilasing na Palaka, 220php

Adobong Baboy Ramo, 385php

We were in Balaw Balaw for about 4 hours. 1 hour roaming around the museum, 1 hour waiting for the food {good thing we were allowed to charge our cellphones, cameras and laptop, abusado much}, and 2 hours eating. And since we didn't want to part ways as early as 5pm, we went straight to Megamall. We played shooting and racing at Worlds of Fun. Yes I know, not enough to burn the calories! Haha! Before calling it a night, we also had Ice Scrambles. Perfect way to cool down.

and the winner is.. yours truly! :P

And as I was saying, I was able to tick off two items from my list again -

Goal #9. Eat anything strange/exotic. - CHECK!
 
9. EAT ANYTHING STRANGE/EXOTIC 
I have always been gutless to try eating anything strange. Don't think I'm picky with what I eat. In fact, I eat ALMOST anything common to human, well make that Filipino, taste buds. I'm just scared to try different cuisines and weird dishes. I remember not trying the tamilok {wood worm} in Puerto Princesa because it's so disgusting. It looks raw.. and slimy.. and.. ulk! IT'S JUST SO GROSS. Even with this list in mind, I think I still can't eat that. haha! daya.. but I might consider. Next time I go out of town {or country, ayiee} I swear I'll try to eat anything uncommon. Just no worms, puhlease.

Goal #18. Reconnect with old friends.  - CHECK! 

18. RECONNECT WITH OLD FRIENDS 
In case you still don't know, I am the laziest person in keeping in touch with old acquaintances {oops, do I sound proud? I am not.} I rarely call or text friends people I know to ask how they are, or if they are still good, or what's keeping their sanity. I am online most of the time during weekends {that is if I don't have commitments}  but I am always on invisible mode so that I'll only talk to people I really want to talk to. Aside from that, my Facebook is also defaulted to 'Go Offline'. And oh! As much as possible I avoid bumping to ex-classmates or old friends in the mall. You know the part I hate the most? The kamustahan. Like 'Oh, kamusta ka na?', 'San ka na nagwowork?', 'Si ganito nakikita mo pa?' Come on, talk to the hand. Hahaha! Stone to death that anti-social. Enough of the stories, the whole point is not to change the anti-social in me. It's just that there are few people out there who doesn't deserve to be completely forgotten. I won't wait for fate to bring them back to me. I will do something. If not now {because it's hella late at 2am}, at least soon.

Happiness. ♥


ELSEWHERE

17 comments:

Unknown said...

Awww..exotic food. I can't get myself to eat that. My father loves exotic food. The sight of raw frog legs, bayawak meat and karne ng usa are not foreign to me because I can see a lot of them on our fridge. My father forced me several times to taste it but i can't it's just eww.. hehe..you are so brave to eat frog.

I also have a best who I haven't seen forever even though she lives in the same city like I do. i wish I could reconnect with her soon. I love your bucket list. Maybe I should do the same. :)

Janel said...

Wow! Mukhang masarap lahat yan ah. Di ko pa nasubukang kumain ng frog, siguro kung ganyan pagkaluto... kakainin ko. Hehe

Anonymous said...

Wow. Congratulations on completing 2items from your bucketlist! yung sa akin, ewan.. stagnant. LOL.

Those antique sculptures do look kinda creepy.. that painting looks intereting, though. What is that.. what's on it, btw?

Waaah!! Exotic food! I've eaten fried "nilasing" frogs.. but I wanna try snake. Sabi nila, it tastes like chicken! And eee! Baboy ramo? Is it good? lol

Anonymous said...

Angono pala ay artist paradise.. now i know..

mukhang masarap ang Minaluto.. ang nilasing na frog? ouch.. hehe!

Jodie-Ann Muckler said...

That place looks really interesting :) And yay for getting goals done!! =D

Sarah said...

The food seems great! What a nice blogpost, made me smile a lot girl :). Great style I must say. X, SArah

www.ethnicspring.blogspot.com

Aiza said...

Awww, I can relate to the bliss of striking through your list! Congrats, apple! Mukhang masaya yung ginawa niyo. Gusto ko din ng mga ganyang experience. HEhe. And adventurous mu kaya. Ok lang yun na naiwan mu yung laptop battery mu.

Exotic food is a slight no. Hehe. I don't wanna eat them. :x Pero, if for fun, I can try a tiny parcel. Hehe

Kristeta  (kalokang Pinay) said...

I really love the bucket list =)
Your post reminded me of my bestfriend. We don't see much of each other kahit nung asa pinas pa ako (busy with work & the distance) but when we do see each other we make the most of it. May mga times pa nga before na we're together from breakfast to midnight coffee, hehehe (adik!)

Re the resto, wala ata akong planong tikman sa lahat ng inorder nyo, hehe. But the menu is interesting... Pero bakitdaw inabot ng 1 hour bagi dumating mga order nyo?

Diane said...

Nice blog!
new follower here! Hope you check out my blog,
if you like it follow me back..hihi..

Thank you
Diane
http://whatsrealityallabout.blogspot.com

Apple Borbon said...

@mayen. thanks! try to create your own bucket list. it's fun! you'll discover new things you never thought you'd enjoy. ;)

@janel. masarap yung minaluto. and yep, hindi naman scary kainin yung frog. fried nman eh. :D

@leah. i told you they're creepy! they sent me goosebumps. and i didn't like the baboy ramo, tastes like sour ham.

@mommy-razz. okay lng nman po ang nilasing na frog. hehe. parang chicken lang.

@jodie-ann. thanks! it's indeed interesting. there were foreigners when we visited the place.

Apple Borbon said...

@sarah. thanks so much for visiting. i have yet to visit your site. :)

@miss 'chievous. thanks! love adventures. <3

@kalokang pinay. with bestfriends, you just start again where you left off. super fun pa rin even after a long time.

and the food took them around an hour because it was lunch time and the place was jam-packed. they warned us about it though.

@diane cmp. thanks for following. i'll definitely follow you back. ;)

Gellie Abogado said...

i wanna try eating exotic foods as well! :D

much love,
http://gelleesh.blogspot.com

Pinch of thoughts said...

wow! nagutom ako sa mga foods

Apple Borbon said...

@gellie and mathea. thanks for dropping by. i followed you both. :D

avatarlady said...

LOL I can't stomach those frog legs... but that baboy ramo sounds like a delight. Geez I'm starving.

anney said...

Di ko na yata kayang kumain ng palaka. hehehe! maliit pa ako nung una ko syang natikman lasang manok. How nice naman at nag meet uli kayo ng bestfriend mo. I'm sure dami naipong tsika. Thanks for following my blog. Followd too!

Apple Borbon said...

@avatarlady. i like the frogs better. teeheee. ;)

@anney. yep, daming chika! :D at lasang manok nga ang palaka. kering keri naman kainin. thanks sa pag-follow. :)