Friday, September 10, 2010

Zamboanga del Sur: Around Pagadian


Pagadian is the capital of Zamboanga del Sur and regional capital of Zamboanga Peninsula. The first thing you'll notice when you arrive in the city are its unusual tricycles which are inclined at about 30 to 40 degrees. The unique design of Pagadian's iconic tricycles add stability given the city's hilly terrain. It's quite amusing seeing 6 to 7 people (including the driver) jam-packed in this peculiar-looking tricycle.


Hoping on the tricycle is quite an experience. Getting on, especially the top level, is quite a challenge. Make sure to ride on one of these tricycles when in Pagadian.

The main attractions of Pagadian are beaches (Dao Dao Islands and White Beach), waterfalls (Lourdes, Lison Valley, Manga and Ditoray Falls) and caves (Twin Caves and Kendis Cave). This is one trip where I chose not to do research hoping to rely purely on the locals. Unfortunately, the hotel frontliners could not answer my queries about Pagadian's tourist attractions and I ended up seeing nothing major. The tourism office should train people on how to answer these queries.


They ended up pointing me to a beach resort in the town of Tukuran, which was a 45-minute jeep ride north of Pagadian. Baguio's Beach Resort was a bit too rocky. While Serena Beach Resort didn't have much of a beach and had a really noisy videoke! While videoke is an important national pastime, I've always advocated that it be kept in a contained area of a resort so as not to disturb other visitors who may have wanted to visit a beach for some peace and quiet.

Being regional capital, there are a good number of decent hotels in the city. Anyway, I decided to rest early instead since people had suggested I visit the town of Lakewood, Zamboanga del Sur. So my plan was to visit the town on the way back to Zamboanga City.

Zamboanga: Satti at Pilar Street and Canelar Street


Satti is an early morning dish sold in Zamboanga City. It's actually from Jolo, Sulu but was made popular in Zamboanga City. It was a good thing satti restaurants open as early as 4 a.m. in Pilar Street. So as soon as I arrived from Jolo, I went straight there for breakfast.


For an affordable Php50, you get eight sticks of beef satti and puso (rice) floating in a generous serving of the sweet and spicy sauce that accompanies the satti. There's also chicken satti and you can pick which chicken part you want. In one corner of the restaurant, one of the staff was slicing puso into small pieces preparing them in bowls where the satti and sauce would be added later.


Pilar Street has a lot of satti restaurants. But there's actually another satti place in Canelar Street if you're staying in a hotel near the airport. It's very close to Jollibee. Just make sure you visit in the morning since supply doesn't last until the evening.

Now I'm craving for satti! Does anyone know where to get satti in Metro Manila?

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Nestlé Fruit Selection yogurt with Jelly, a new twist to my favorite yogurt snack


The other night, my mom was talking about this new yogurt product which my niece really liked. She's quite hard to please and has only a few snacks in her list of things to eat. So I checked the fridge to try out some. It turns out, it's the Nestlé Fruit Selection yogurt with jelly added!

I've always been a fan of yogurt because it's both good and healthy (with live microorganisms). And it was good Nestlé introduced a new twist to snacking by adding jelly to its already yummy yogurt. We always have Nestlé Fruit Selection yogurt stocked in the fridge. So this will be a new addition to our snacks at home.


It's actually jelly on top and Nestlé Fruit Selection yogurt at the bottom. Right now, it's available in Strawberry and Buco Pandan flavors. I personally liked the Buco Pandan flavor since it reminded me of one of my favorite desserts which has buko, pandan jelly and cream.


But I hope they add more flavors and include my favorite Berry Mix Medley in their Nestlé Fruit Selection yogurt with Jelly line-up. I saw my niece liked the strawberry flavor a lot and she always asks for some every afternoon.

Looks like I'll stock up on Nestlé Fruit Selection yogurt with Jelly, perfect for a snack when I get really hungry! And it will be a very important ally as I try to move towards more healthy eating.

JellyGurt Bounce Game
Now here's something I also found out. There's this amusing game called the JellyGurt Bounce Game which went live yesterday, September 6, 2010. I actually got to try it and it's a good distraction in moments of stress. It's integrated with the NFSY Facebook fan page.

For the next 8 weeks, five weekly winners will get prizes like two movie passes per winner, Sodexho and Adidas P500 gift certificates. So click that like button on the NFSY FB fan page since this is where you can play the game and join the contest. Good luck!

Sulu: Visiting Jolo, Bud Datu in Indanan and Quezon Beach in Patikul


Sulu is indeed an island paradise. It's so unfortunate that the security situation there won't allow tourist arrivals for the meantime. But my curiosity pushed me to visit the island and see what was there. You can get to Jolo, Sulu from Zamboanga City since ferries leave Zamboanga Port every evening and arrive in Jolo at about four in the morning.

I spent Php620 for a cabin room bed (a cabin room accommodates four people). The regular aircon beds are Php470 which are all in one hallway. The cabin rooms have doors which you could lock. There are also flights to Jolo available from Zamboanga. Read Day-trip to Jolo for Part 1 of this trip.


After my quick nap, we proceeded to explore Jolo and the neighboring towns of Patikul and Indanan. We first dropped by the Sulu Provincial Capitol in Jolo. I noticed the centuries-old trees that lined the avenue that led to the Sulu Capitol. How I wish many of our old cities were able to preserve their trees.

You could also see the vernacular architecture hidden under the urban chaos of Jolo. If only the politicians there had the political will to clean up the city and preserve its character, Jolo would have been an even more fascinating town.

It's the gold domes that stand out in the Sulu Provincial Capitol. Beside the Sulu Capitol is the National Museum Sulu Branch which houses historical and cultural artifacts and exhibits on Sulu including the Sultanate of Sulu, as well as the Tausug and Badjao among others.



Outside the main building are statues of local heroes Panglima Unaid and Abduhalim Imao, as well as a century-old Bajau houseboat called a lepa.



I also got to taste the local Sulu variety of durian which was really good. And the prices shocked me. A basket of lansones (which looked like almost 8 kilos) was just Php70 or less than Php10 a kilo! The durian was just Php30 a piece or roughly Php15 a kilo. A bundle of mangosteen was just Php20 and my host told me that when in season, you could buy mangosteen for as low as Php5 a kilo!


We then visited the Central Mosque in Jolo. Unfortunately, I could only take a photo from the outside. There were a lot of people exiting the mosque since Friday prayers had just finished.


Lunch and the early afternoon was spent indoors since it started raining really hard. I walked to the nearby Jolo Cathedral when the rain stopped. In front of it was a Rizal Monument.



Later in the afternoon, we motored to the town of Indanan to visit Bud Datu where the grave of Raja Baginda, the first Muslim ruler of Sulu, is located. You'll have to enter a military camp to reach it. And since it's in a military camp, it's relatively well-maintained. But I'm sure the Raja Baginda Shrine can be improved to highlight the prominence of this Sulu pioneer in our nation's history. In fact, I'm surprised the National Historical Commission hasn't placed a marker there yet.

You can also see a nice panoramic view of Jolo from Bud Datu. But unfortunately, as we were walking from the Rajah Baginda Shrine to our vehicle, the sun disappeared again and it started to rain. So we ditched the view.


We had to wait the rain out again before proceeding to our last stop, said to be one of the best beaches in the Philippines with a wide expanse of white sand that could rival that of Boracay. It was about twelve kilometers from Jolo in the town of Patikul. Quezon Beach was highly-recommended with a caveat though: that I may need a security escort to visit.

My hosts didn't mention any of that so we proceeded to Quezon Beach. We passed by several military camps and check points along the road that went deeper into Patikul. I noticed the houses, very fine examples of vernacular architecture. They rarely used hollow blocks in Patikul. And I felt I entered a time warp as we drove through since these could have been the architecture of Maynilad when the Spaniards arrived there almost five centuries ago. Most of the wooden houses were elevated on stilts with covered porches on two sides. An elevated walkway connected the main house to another structure behind the house which served as a kitchen and cleaning area.


We finally reached Barangay Igasan and parked by the beach. There wasn't too much sun. But I could see that the beach was stunning even with the overcast skies. The beach was wide and the water was baby blue. I was told that further down the road, the sand was even finer, powder fine in fact to rival the best beaches of the country. But I had to save it for another day. I did not want to push my luck any further since it was starting to get dark. The sun and sand would have been an impeccable combination. But I guess I'll have to wait for another trip, hopefully when the situation is a bit better.

What I liked about the beach was that the houses were all made of native materials. So it really gave you that tropical feel. At least for now, it will stay that way. But I wonder how they would manage development there if the situation gets better.



Back in Jolo, we had dinner and I got to try more local meat dishes like pastir and pyesak. Relatives of my host, curious as to where I went, asked which places I visited. When I told them we came from Quezon Beach, I got startled reactions. One even asked my host if they really brought me there and said I was brave to even visit. It was only then that I found out that the area was where many of the kidnappings this year occurred.

After dinner, I was brought to the Jolo Port to catch the 8 p.m. ferry back to Zamboanga. It was the M.V. Kristel Jane 3 again and I got myself the same cabin room. I was back in Zamboanga City at 4 a.m. just in time for another satti breakfast. As soon as I was done, I rushed to the transport terminal in Guiwan to catch a bus to Pagadian.

Monday, September 06, 2010

Have you tried KFC BBQ Rods?


KFC fried chicken has always been on my list of favorites. The good thing about KFC is that they continue to innovate and add more selections to the chicken offerings. There were the KFC Pasta Bowls (chicken with noodles such as Kung Pao Chicken and Chicken Alfredo), KFC Supreme Bowls (chicken and rice such as Italian Roma and Chinese Imperial) and KFC Twister Toasted (pizza in a wrap).

When I visited KFC last night, I asked for something new on their menu. Aside from the new wraps, they mentioned the KFC BBQ Rods which I didn’t notice on their overhead menu. So I tried out their new KFC BBQ Rods and was very satisfied.


Inspired by the success of KFC Chicken Barbecue, KFC launched the new KFC BBQ Rods which are KFC’s crispy chicken bites with a really yummy barbecue sauce, served with java rice. I got the three-stick KFC BBQ Rods meal which includes java rice and a drink for Php95.

This new and innovative lunch offering from KFC is the same finger lickin’ chicken they are known for, only in a stick. And the price is quite affordable for a rice meal. They also have the two-stick meal if you don’t have too much of an appetite.

If you do visit KFC, I suggest you try out the KFC BBQ Rods.
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