Manila: UP's Mommy Thai reopens at Ortigas Home Depot

During my freshman year in U.P. Diliman, we enjoyed exploring its many culinary secrets. In the International Center, the U.P. dormitory for foreign students, was an unassuming carinderia which served authentic Thai food at very affordable student prices. It was authentic because the cook and owner was a Thai lady whom we all called Mommy Thai.

The stall later on moved to Balara and moved a second time before closing shop in 2006. Many were saddened when Mommy Thai disappeared. And in fact, many U.P. students and alumni think Mommy Thai was closed for good.

The good news is that Mommy Thai reemerged last year in a different location, the Ortigas Home Depot, as Khao Pad. It went unnoticed even by many of their old U.P. patrons until they placed the sign "formerly U.P. Thai Canteen" on its glass window. Now text messages have been going around from the many excited U.P. students who got to savor her tasty Thai lutong-bahay.

While she serves the Thai dishes we are familiar with such as pad thai, tom yum and bagoong rice, her former patrons can still order the dishes she served in U.P. (take note that these are not in the menu but she'll gladly prepare them for you). And arguably the most popular is a dish she calls Mixed (some call it mixed seafood but it's really mixed beef, chicken, squid, vegetables and egg).

Each dish costs PHP120 and is good for 2 to 3 people. In fact, I ordered Mixed a while ago and it was a lot! The U.P. version was a rice topping dish good for one. I'm going back there next week with my college barkada!

Sorsogon: Bulusan, Sorsogon residents demand halt to construction of gas station beside church belfry

I got an SOS e-mail from Bulusan, Sorsogon. Now it's a gas station being built beside an old bell tower! It seems the Roman Catholic Church, Inc. is unstoppable! This is absurd!

Abraham G. Tan writes me, "We have an online group currently working on putting a stop to the construction of a gasoline station in a parcel of land which was originally a portion of the church's outer patio. The gasoline station, once finished, would superimpose itself on the ancient belfry and could only be but an eyesore. Yes, we were told that it indeed was all our current bishop's idea. Thus, we're not really expecting an easy fight. We already sent him a letter, for which we are yet to receive any response."

If you want more details, check out the nine page letter the group sent to Most Rev. Arturo M. Bastes, S.V.D., D.D., Bishop of Sorsogon.

On the Bulusan belfry, Tan writes in Flickr, "Its original pyramidal dome had been removed and replaced with a new one, the same period (early 1970s) that the old stone church was torn down (don't know if such destruction was really necessary), so I was told. Still, this belfry, the largest of the four baluartes de piedra dotting Punta Diamante in Bulusan, the Moro piracy days defense muralla, the stone fort that encloses the church complex of the Parish of St. James the Greater (one of the oldest in the province, founded in 1630), remains grand in its antiquity."

Learning about this development in Sorsogon is very frustrating. When will this ever stop? When will they ever learn?!

Ilocos Norte: Pinakbet Pizza, Dinuguan Pizza, Poque-Poque Pizza and more Ilocano pizzas

Pinakbet Pizza, ever heard of that? After the Kapampangan pizza at the Camalig (Doy's Delight is topped with longaniza, salted eggs and pickle relish), comes an even longer list of Ilocano pizzas. And we got to taste several of them at two restaurants in Ilocos Norte.

In front of the Paoay Church is Herencia Cafe which first served the Pinakbet Pizza, topped with your usual pinakbet vegetables. We also got to try the Bagnet Pizza which is crispy bagnet or lechon kawali (chicharon as they sometimes refer to it in Ilocos) on a pizza, and the Dinuguan Pizza (dinuguan with crispy bagnet).

Further north is Saramsam Restaurant in Laoag. Their specialty is the Poque-Poque Pizza which is topped with poque-poque or poki-poki, an Ilocano eggplant dish (combination of eggplant, tomatoes, onions ang egg). This is really good!

We also got to try Dinardaraan Pizza, their version of the Dinuguan Pizza, which is dinuguan topped with green chili peppers. Another of my favorites is the Longaniza Pizza topped with the local Laoag longaniza. They also have Carbonara Pizza topped with Currimao oysters. But I was not able to try that out.

There are actually more pizzas to choose from but of foreign influence. So you could just try them out when you're there. These Ilocano pizzas are superb!