3 weeks after Earth Day, I am still a vegetarian. Yay! or maybe Nooo!
Luckily my parents are also vegetarians (all three of us are lacto-ovo veg, meaning we still eat eggs and dairy products) so I have a lot of support in terms of my food choices and also receive pieces of advice on how to have a complete and nutritious diet.
My meals normally include the following:
a piece of fruit, cereals with unsweetened soy bean milk, and a cup of coffee in the morning
fruits both for my mid morning and afternoon snacks
rice with a mix of beans and some leafy veg for lunch (normally for lunch I eat until I'm full)
beans and some leafy veg for dinner
I still enjoy dining with my friends although I noticed that some of those who know I am a vegetarian feel obliged to adjust to my necessities as one. While finding restaurants that serve purely vegetarian dishes is still a challenge, I have noticed that more and more places include vegetarian dishes in their selections. In many sit-down places, it can also be requested to have the meat taken out of some vegetable dishes.
Towards the end of my first week as a vegetarian, my friend JT came up with the crazy idea to go away on an impromptu weekend trip. It was a last minute plan; we discussed the trip at 10pm on Friday night and booked our room on Saturday morning before leaving. All the nice resorts along Batangas were already fully booked, so we went to 88 Resort (www.88resort.com) in Calamba, Laguna. 88 Resort is a hot spring resort with standard pools, hot springs, huts, villas, and a Korean restaurant. Thankfully, it rained on Saturday (initially to our dismay) so we were able to enjoy the different hot springs during the cold weather.
88 Resort is a nice and cheap weekend getaway for city dwellers. The villa where we stayed is spacious and clean and can fit up to 6 persons. The place is quiet and big and still undergoing more development. The Korean restaurant is acceptable but not special. Our total bill per person including food and dining was Php 1,950--a very reasonable rate for me. An option many of the resort-goers take is the day tour for only Php 500 per head.
With 2 days to go before my first and initially only vegetarian week was up, I was determined to stay on course. Before we checked in at 88 Resort, we made a detour to Rose and Grace, a restaurant in Sta. Rosa famous for its bulalo (cow bone marrow) soup. I had broccoli cooked in butter which was sadly too sweet and overcooked.
In 88 Resort, I had a huge bowl of Bibimbap (mixed vegetable and beef rice in a stone pot) with the meat taken out. Yum! The idea of a Bibimbap is simply genius--rice and veggies all mixed together with a special sweet and spicy Korean sauce. It is mixed rice without the greasiness of fried rice.
The next day after checking out, the rain prevented us from making a trip to Pagsanjan Falls as the current will be too strong for a peaceful ride on a bamboo raft. So instead we set off for a late lunch in The Cliffhouse in Tagaytay. It was my first time there and the view of Taal Lake and Taal Volcano was simply breathtaking.
We late-lunched at Buon Giorno, unfortunately my risotto was undercooked. I was happy though that the Cafe Au Lait in Cafe Breton was perfect! Note: a Double Cafe Au Lait simply means a large cup of Cafe Au Lait not a Cafe Au Lait with a double espresso shot. Hmm kinda the same effect though I guess.
Dinner at Las Paellas in Promenade, Greenhills. The waiter addressed us as "Senyoritas" which JT and I found very cute. The mozarella cheese sticks were good when eaten right away. The salsa that came with it complemented the cheese sticks well. The Paella Valenciana was filled with seafood and sausages. I ate the rice which I found quite greasy but good anyway.
Another breakfast in Bizu! I ordered the mushroom omelette with a special cream sauce and a croissant. Wowowow! I need to find out what they put in that special cream sauce. However, as a returning customer (many times over), I was disappointed to almost be denied the refillable coffee that comes with the breakfast meal, only because we ordered 5 minutes late. In our defense, we arrived at exactly 11am before breakfast was officially over. I'm grateful that with a little cajoling, I was able to get my refillable coffee for free. Yay!
Dinner at Happy Veggie Health Food along Masangkay in Binondo on typhoon night 07 May 2008. I hate travelling to Binondo and I particularly hated it on this rainy day. The normal travelling time of 1 hour on a weekday afternoon already normally leaves me drained even though I only sit at the back of the car. The additional 30 minutes each of going to and coming back from there left me dead tired that night. At least I was able to try HVHF, although it does have a branch in Gilmore. Tee hee I loved their sizzling Taupo, which is fried beancurd sheets filled with mixed chopped veggies served in a sizzling plate with a special soy sauce. Be careful though and don't get too excited upon seeing this dish as it is served very hot.
Afternoon snack at Amici in Don Bosco. Amici is a fast food type authentic Italian food much like Sbarro's, one of my favorites as a kid. We shared the Mushroom Pizza (originally mushroom and prosciutto with the prosciutto taken out for my sake) cooked in woodfire. Hmm, given the price of Php 290, I think that Taste of LA's woodfire pizza is much more yummy. Loved their Cafe Au Lait though.
Dinner at Fely J's. Fely J's is a sister company of Abe and also serves Filipino food. JT's J insists that FJ is way better than Abe. Hmm I'm not a good judge though because I was only able to try the Ginataang Kangkong (leaves sauteed in coconut milk), some atsara (radish and carrot strips preserved in vinegar) and a pasty risotto-like rice. My friend DJ loved the risotto because the rice was almost suman (sticky rice)-like making the dish quite unique.
Midnight snack at Cafe Breton. Vanilla Milkshake...heaven!
Farewell (in more ways than one!) breakfast in Cyma. It's the best way to say goodbye. H and I shared the Spinach and Artichoke dip served with garlic bread and pita bread. The S&A in Italianni's is nothing compared to Cyma's! I's is all cream and very little spinach. Cyma's is full of spinach and crushed artichoke topped with feta cheese. It was great and also very filling. I was full before my main dish arrived. I ordered the vegetarian souvlaki with an extra side order of roasted potatoes. I was impressed to see that my grilled vegetables were juicy. The marinade was a little bit spicy which I loved. The roasted potatoes were sprinkled with crushed black pepper and roasted just right. Finally, the serving size of the dishes was fantastically huge. Mmmm...
Coffee bought from Hobbes, particularly Lavazza Cafe Americano was terrible. It was bitter in an undrinkable way. Thanks to H who hates throwing stuff away, he put me out of my misery and drank it anyway. I had another cheaper and more tolerable cup of coffee from Figaro. Okay but I still couldn't drink it straight black.
Finally, a Mother's Day dinner at Basix in Dusit Thani in Makati. I had been warned beforehand that this buffet is not any good. True enough, the food was nothing spectacular, verging on bad. (hence the name: Basix = basic; not special) The service was worse. Dusit Thani was giving away a set of 3 gift bags to all moms in celebration of Mother's Day but Mom and her friend weren't given any (Maybe it's actually a compliment; they look young enough to pass as single yuppies hmm). When we asked for their gift bags though, we were told all bags had already been given away. Hmm.. But we were amongst the first guests to arrive and there were 2 moms on our table. Fortunately, our complaints weren't ignored. Before we left, 2 sets of bags were sent our way.
Seeing my current post, I must say even vegetarians can still enjoy eating out given the right restaurants.
