A travel & adventure blog by Kara Santos
I’m always on the lookout for unique places to eat for road trips. These days, with the restrictions because of the pandemic, we’ve been dining mostly at home, or in accessible spots where we can enjoy fresh air and nature views not far from the city. To kick off the new year, we checked out a new place in Antipolo that’s been getting some buzz online for its rustic and romantic look.
Despite being a highly urbanized city, Marikina still manages to retain a sense of history, nature, and culture. The “Shoe Capital of the Philippines” is a bike-friendly city that possesses a quiet, small-town charm. Heritage buildings are preserved, the streets are clean and well-maintained, there are actual designated bike lanes, a number of public recreational spots, and green spaces, and lots of charming homegrown garden restaurants, unique shops, and hidden gems here.
Whenever I bike around Marikina, I feel like I’m biking around a small town in the province. While the rest of Metro Manila feels grimy, congested, and overly developed, you still get the feel of the simple provincial life in some spots here. Marikina feels like a modern-day pueblo where family-run businesses are still the norm and cultural heritage is still present. Here’s a look at some of the fun and unique things you can do in Marikina.
Continue reading “10 Fun & Unique Things to do in Marikina”Craft beer is one of the few things that has kept me sane during this pandemic. While my friends have been filling their homes with indoor plants and collecting every possible BTS merchandise out there, I’ve been quietly drinking beer at home. Dining out and social drinking has not been allowed in the Philippines the months following the lockdown, but thankfully many local brewers have been able to adapt and started offering their beers for home delivery.
We were initially planning to go on the North Loop last March, traversing the provinces of the Northern Luzon by motorcycle. Of course, COVID happened, so that trip didn’t push through and we’ve been living under the lockdown the past few months.
One of the things I look forward to the most during long road trips is the unique food offerings every destination has to offer. But while we can’t go on long road trips right now, thankfully, we can still get a taste of the regions through food. For many of us, ordering food has become the new travel in this age of the pandemic. We try to make our weekend meals more special and try something different to have something new to look forward to.
What is it with nostalgia these days?
I’ve been missing everything about daily life pre-COVID, especially eating out. Who else misses the simple act of dining in at a restaurant and just chilling out with friends over beers at a bar? Part of what makes dining out special is the ambiance of the restaurant, the service, and the company and laughter as you enjoy your meals together with friends and family.
Anyway, this got me thinking of the oldest restaurants and food establishments in the vicinity that I can patronize for delivery/takeout and hopefully revisit when they’re allowed to reopen. It gives me hope to see establishments that remain resilient and have managed to endure through various crises including World War II, fires, typhoons, economic recessions, and currently this global pandemic where the Philippines is facing the world’s longest lockdown.
Continue reading “Oldest & Most Nostalgic Restaurants in Quezon City”Do you miss traveling around the Philippines? Have you started a small business during this quarantine period and are looking for a way to increase your product’s visibility online? Or maybe you just have some free time on your hands and are looking for a way to earn some extra cash for your impulse cravings. If you answered yes to any of the above, you might want to check out the website Pinned.ph, a new digital lifestyle publication that highlights the best of the Philippines, while giving a much-needed boost to local destinations, businesses, and freelancers.
With all the travel restrictions these days, the thought of going on a luxurious hotel staycation in the city and dining on gourmet cuisine is something that a lot of people are looking forward to. Staying in hotels can give you that sense of travel we’re all missing these days and a momentary escape from the quarantine lifestyle of going out just for essentials. But while we still can’t check into hotels for leisure, it’s still possible to get a taste of some hotel’s gourmet offerings through takeaways and delivery services.
Since special events like weddings, birthdays and anniversaries have had to be canceled, a lot of people are turning to food delivery as their main cause for celebration at home.
Continue reading “Sheraton Manila Bay launches gourmet delivery”Pinoys love to eat out. But with many restaurants still closed for dine-in, people are elevating their dining experiences at home. Since times are tough, most people are choosing to find joy in the simple comforts of food. The pandemic has unleashed the creativity of home cooks and brought to light a number of interesting food trends and quarantine cravings. In this time of stress and uncertainty, people are making the most of their pantry staples, going back to traditional homebaked food preparation, and choosing familiar and feel-good comfort food.
With bars closed, chilling out and drinking at home has become the norm. Delivery services are also upping up their Instagram game with DIY meal kits and ready-to-eat meals that look good and taste even better to get repeat customers. Here are some of the most popular food trends in the Philippines that have come out of the quarantine.
Continue reading “10 Quarantine Food Trends in the Philippines”When it comes to natural wonders, there’s a lot to love in Camiguin. But aside from the white sand beaches, springs, and waterfalls and volcanoes, I find the food scene here pretty interesting. There are currently no fast-food joints or malls in the tiny island province because locals really want to preserve homegrown restaurants and cafes.
Here are just a few notable dining destinations in Camiguin where you can grab a bite to eat in between island-hopping, hiking or sightseeing.
Continue reading “Food Trip: Camiguin”A lot of restaurants have come and gone along Maginhawa Street in Quezon City. As a resident, I have top 10 personal favorites that I regularly go to including Friuli, Tomato Kick, Roberta’s Seafood Restaurant and Indonyaki, to name a few. While these days, the area seems saturated with food parks, Samgyupsal and milk tea places catering to the student crowd, some residences have been converted into restaurants ideal for quiet time or small gatherings. Here are some of the relatively newer restaurants (opened from 2017 to 2019) that offer unique food and a cozy homey ambiance in the Maginhawa neighborhood.
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