Tropical Hut hamburgers

     Why is the Tropical Hut fastfood restaurant in Paseo de Sta. Rosa still open? It can get totally empty some days. When we remember it's there (at the far end of the strip facing the highway), next to Razon's, we remember we like Tropical hut burgers and we would rather have these most of the time than Jollibee's.  I also love their chicken sandwiches, and each time we remember to go to Tropical for a snack, I remember how much I love them.

      The only other Tropical Hut I know of is the one in BF, Paranaque, attached to the only other Tropical Hut grocery I know.  If you are my age and if you grew up in Metro Manila like I did, then you would relate.  You would recall the Tropical Hut (original one?) at the corner of Ortigas and EDSA, across the POEA building. 

       I usually couple my sandwich with their mais con hielo.  I do wish they had sundaes like the other joints.  

       Who is the market?  Well, they were tuned into that FM station that plays annoying insane canned laughter, and this was playing. So figure it out.  What fun, though!

        Eva Eugenio! "Kay rami nang, winasak na tahanan...kay rami nang matang, pinaluha, kay rami nang pusong sinugatan...o tukso, layuan mo ako!"

      As classic as their burgers, I guess haha.  Kind of hokey but I like it this way.   

John Bamboo in Nuvali Solenad

    This is not a blog about restaurants nor food, so I am not prepared with photos of John Bamboo's offerings. I am just prepared to say, it is good, it exists.  An Indonesian friend let me know this when this was newly-opened, and it had her seal of approval.  Enak! (Delicious in Bahasa Indonesia) Masarap nga, even if it was just the "Martabak telor" we had for merienda. Authentic. I forgot to take a photo of it, the presentation was more hotel-like than street-food like.  

    We met the chef, imported from Jakarta. A very friendly guy, he said he was employed at the Hotel Intercontinental Jakarta for seven years before coming here (no wonder the martabak was pretty). As we knew Indonesian dishes from a past life in Jakarta, he talked to us about how John Bamboo was originally supposed to be just a sate house.  The owners, he claimed, didn't know about the 300+ Indonesian students at the Adventist University of the Philippines!  I found that hard to believe.  The Red Crab, which owns this, is a major company, which I'm sure, planned this carefully with research. Within the first two weeks of opening, they were also raided by expats--Singaporean, Indonesian, and Europeans who were previously living in the region.  With many Filipinos also having experienced the region's cuisine, missing it, and purchasing property in  the area, the timing is good.  The chef had to change the menu, which now includes favorites as bakso (soup that can be had in the streets of Jakarta in warungs or streetside cafes).  He has also done special requests such as a huge, party-sized "nasi kuning" (yellow rice formed into a cone) for an expat's surprise party.

    I am sorry I don't get the name John Bamboo, and seeing Rambo up there in the mural. I like the red furniture, but really, the place could have had bare walls and it wouldn't have mattered--the food was good.  They also have drinks such as Markisa 7-Up, and passionfruit syrup mixed with 7-up that is an Indonesian thing.  We had their "STMJ--susu telor madu jahe" or milk, egg, honey and ginger.  It was warm but so energizing.  They have "es cendol" I don't remember seeing any apulkat shake in their menu though. Apulkat is avocado, and this drink usually has lines of chocolate syrup dripping into the avocado green. It's something I miss. 

   The prices are very reasonable in this place. Really. Good value for money.  It is owned by the Red Crab group. Ah basta, try it already.  I'm so happy it's there. There is nowhere else in that Solenad I'd rather eat so far.

Jesus is not dead

     Close to midnight, the sound of struggling English by both Filipina (because yes, there are foreign ones living large in Manila, I hear) prostitute and Korean man, the sounds of their moaning, giggling too, again.

     I tried to ignore it all, while working by the window again.  I felt different this time, empowered by today's service at church.  It is Good Friday,and today from 1:00-3:00pm we heard the "7 last words".  Afterwards, there was a mass, people kissed Jesus' feet, and many of us went on trying to have a reflective, meditative day.  Tonight I remembered what the priest said about battling the devil. We are confident, because we have God with us.  Did Jesus say don't get mad?

     I shut off my lights, lifted my window blinds noisily, and banged the windows shut.  This made the girl jump off the bed. Then, the man peered out, standing at the window's side. Ha! I banged the window with my palm hard. This time I felt cooler and calmer.

    What I really wanted to do was yell "Do you know what DAY this is????" and "YOU turn your aircon off, hang curtains, and shut YOUR windows, not me".
I realized I was the one suffering the stuffy room, I was the one getting upset. SO against my conscience's pleading, I checked again. They were gone!  I looked down and their car was gone too!  Hurray! I don't care if they were really due to leave anyway, I scared them off. They got the message.  And I didn't have to say a word.

     Thank you Jesus, I prayed.  Talking this way about Jesus is not something I do often.  I keep my faith to myself and I have my conversations privately.  But tonight I just felt its true power.

     I just met an old friend, who also longed for the very quiet, restful Good Fridays of the '70s and '80s..when we were kids.  Now, many shops and services remain open, people go swimming (forbidden by our mothers), make noise at 3pm (we had to be quiet and praying). All in the name of respecting that not everyone is Catholic or practicing.  I do feel winds blowing back to the time of veils and Latin mass...I'm not sure I would like that extreme, but how do we compromise? In Bali, there is one day in the year reserved for a celebration (which I forget) where EVERYTHING is shut down.  Regardless of the presence of tourists, there is no work, people stay indoors, and it gets dark as well.  The tourists are expected to respect this. I wonder if they do to this day.  I don't even want to think of the wasteland that is Boracay at this time.

    In Sta. Rosa, Mercury Drug was open, most other shops were closed.  There was still the usual traffic on the highway, though I did not venture further out to really check.

    That's because it's Good Friday, and I had planned on (not even going online) meditating and reflecting on the Passion of Christ.

Happy Earth Day!

    My bell peppers whose seeds I simply scattered from a store-bought one.

Good Friday, good morning, bad neighbors

     So I saw them leave....three girls, one strangely wearing a huge I.D. card around her neck. Obviously not regular girlfriends, seemingly unfamiliar with the place, in movement and behavior. Carrying a garment shop's paper shopping bag (typical of those who spend one night?--I'd seen this in Malaysia, a young girl who had a one-night stand with a Filipino yuppie in town for a project. Another disgusting story...he was married).  Driven in the car by the Foreign Asian. The old foreign Asian saw them off. After this, men came and went, presumably for golf. It's just strange how they drove another black van, with plates, and the suv, back and forth to the parking area and another house...carrying a black golf bag--just one, back and forth from car to car and then finally to the house.  What's inside? Is it really golf clubs? Anyway, at least they've vacated the street, having parked away. 

   I should stop. Blogging has helped me deal with this disturbance but this is definitely NOT what I had wanted this blog to be about.  It is like the honeymoon with this place is over, and I am seeing its flaws.  I should stop lest I attract the very evil I am trying to conquer.

  Really need to pray to God, reflect, and find peace. 

Westgrove is not in Sta. Rosa

...but it is mainly accessed from the Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay national highway and the Laguna Blvd.  This billboard and intersection has been my landmark for the area from way back when Westgrove was starting to sell and the lots cost Php 8,000. per sqm.  It's still there, and recently, got a new image on it.  One with people. Lots of people of all ages. The previous one showed the view of a grove from a porch. With an empty chair.  This one is warm like the summer...but I don't know if the red pigment was really done on purpose. You know, to project warmth, passion, life and because red is quick to reach the eye. It could, but then it just looks like bad printing(to little old me).  Anyway, it says "We Live". 
    
     I wonder if the megastar is aware that many think "Sharon" aside from "Sta. Rosa" when you say "Westgrove".  I am not a fan, but I like her enough, and I hope she gets the peace she enjoys in here.  Once I saw her children and husband at the Rustan's express.  I let him be (rather than start chatting with him about mutual friends), seeing how he was enjoying doing the ordinary with his kids.

   I like Westgrove for its green hills too. I won't survive though. You see, I actually am not fond of having or taking charge of household staff. To survive in Westgrove, assuming the house would be huge,  I would need more than two helpers. Can someone from Westgrove tell me--is there a shuttle for staff to get to the gate? Besides the helpers, I would need a driver, and while I could enjoy being driven, I can't really put up with everything you need to when dealing with staff. Unless you're really lucky and have efficient and good staff.  Then again, from this billboard to a house inside Westgrove is a long drive. I may reconsider the driver. 

Houses by the Church

   Houses by the town plaza, the church and the town hall were owned by the town's prominent citizens.  In the Philippines, we can still see many such houses, made of stone, with wide windows and imagine veiled women walking toward the parish at dawn on a Sunday. Having grown up in Metro Manila, and with no province of my own to visit, I do not have the sense of daily living in a provincial town that some friends and relatives enjoyed.  Maybe this is why I have been making a big deal of Sta. Rosa being actually a beautiful, historically and culturally wealthy old town. 

     I do prefer this "new" side to live in, that is to say, the barangays Santo Domingo and Don Jose. Sometimes though, the noveau nature of life here, fast surrounded by the usual food and services franchises can feel...boring.  I mean,  at Paseo de Santa Rosa, with its Kanin Club, Poquito Mas, Umenoya and Ippon Yari in the beginning, I thought this place would have its own charm.  Now there's no stopping its yearning to become a Makati Commercial Center. Even Alabang Town Center has its own atmosphere. Still, the Paseo area probably retains its own ambience (like that of its lone strip of an arcade with the bike shop and Safari car rental over a decade ago), somehow.

    The bayan has these old homes, with one structure, the Casa Zavalla open for visitors. It is a short walk from the church and close to its mortuary. They host some sort of "pulungan" sessions weekly.  There is a cafe as well.  With our luck, again, it was closed. This time, with chains and a padlock.  It seemed empty, most likely for the Holy Week.  Sayang, the museum security man excitedly told us we could have a snack and view antiques at the same time. 

 The wooden plaque says 1888-1997.

 The casa sits on a corner (of Zavalla St. I think). This is the casa from the corner. Why is there a bell tower?

 Interesting fish carving there.Must return to ask about it.

 The front entrance

 View of the church from the casa. See the Lipat-bahay ad on the electric post? Where's the "Tubero" signage? So like the Philippines :-) 

 structure next to (or part of?) the museum

 Note the Z on the grillwork. This house is a clinic.

 A huge, seemingly vacant house

He stands across the town plaza, in front of a tiangee, in front of Mercury Drug (which was, curiously, closed).  I'm sorry I do not know who he is and I was in the car at the busy intersection, being rushed by a traffic aide to go.