Archive for the ‘Market’ Category

Weekend at Tagaytay Ü (Part 2)

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

So come October 10th, we woke up at 430 am to prepare. By 530 am, we hit the road.

When we entered SLEX the sky was still cloudy and the sun seemed hiding. So we stopped at Petron SLEX for tire check, ice cubes and a quick morning snack… Yup, quick snack not breakfast! hehehe since we want to eat breakfast at Tagaytay.

Our PJ is heavily tinted and we were so confused with the road signs of SLEX we missed Sta. Rosa exit. It’s a good thing that there’s a new exit called Greenfield, so we tried it and we landed at Paseo (A commercial complex at Sta. Rosa that houses a lot of Outlet stores).

By this time,  it was raining heavily.

When we reached Tagaytay, we were supposed to eat breakfast at Bag of beans — since we got a lot of good reviews — but we needed to go down the slippery stairs to get to the dining area.  So we decided to look for another cafe… and we saw their menu and breakfast sets are priced about Php 300 per person! (yikes… too expensive for breakfast :P ) … This lead us to RSM.

Still breakfast meals are priced at an average of Php 180… Oh well, this is more reasonable than the Php 300 per plate eh? plus they have a very nice view of the Taal Volcano. So our verdict? Pwede na! hehehe

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(Beef Tapa – too salty hehehe :P )

After breakfast we tried our luck to go to Paradizoo despite the rainy morning.

When we reached the zoo, the sun was up and we were recommended to use rubber slippers since it’s muddy. The golf cart was being occupied by the students who were  having their educational trip so we had to walk.

They have a couple of animals, a small bee farm, a flower farm and a very friendly staff who toured us around the Zoo.  The entrance fee was Php 190 for adults and free for our 2 year old.

Honestly, it was nothing spectacular but our baby had soooo much fun talking with the goats.  Since she had fun, well we guess it’s worth the trip. :P

After Paradizoo, we have no choice but to go directly to our hotel and have an early check-in since the it was a rainy and super foggy morning.

T-house was very accomodating and allowed us to do an early check-in. Here are some pictures of our room:

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We were supposed to eat lunch at Hawaiian Bar-b-que but were too lazy to move around since the floors were wet. So we decided to eat lunch in the hotel’s restaurant.

After lunch, we had our siesta and decided to eat dinner around 630pm. We went to La Boutique (Hawaiian Bar-b-que) for dinner and had dessert at Cafe Breton in Cliffhouse.

The next day, after check-out. We bought ube and ube macapuno (it was our first time to try this product and we loved it). Then we had lunch at Sancturio and beef shopping at Mahogany.

Since it was only 2pm and the temperature in Tagaytay was hot and just like Manila, we decided to head home and go to Paseo in Sta. Rosa for some shopping.

How do we rate our weekend roadtrip? A certified stress buster but not a certified Barat trip! hehehe since we did not look for Barat places this time but pure indulgence on whatever we want! hehehe

Valentine’s Day Flower Bouquets Barat Tips – Dangwa and Kanlaon(Del Monte) market’s bulaklakan

Friday, January 25th, 2008

Valentine’s day is fast approaching and is merely 20 days to go! [Hey Mr. Baratmode, remember to treat me on this day! hehehe - Mrs. Baratmode]

Anyway, during valentine’s flowers are really really expensive. So if you are on a budget, you may want to get them straight from the “bagsakan“… where locally grown flowers are delivered in bulk from the different provinces like Baguio and Tagaytay … where your neighborhood flower shops usually get their flowers wholesale… Interesting place huh? You want to know this place? … It famously called Dangwa or the bulaklakan area of Manila.

It is very near UST. If you are coming from Espana (going towards Quiapo) turn right at Forbes (now Lacson) then trun right at Laong-laan. Dangwa is along Dos Castillas street — First Street from Lacson. (A full street stretch of Flower shops… whow!)… Or if you’re taking Public transportation, ride a jeepny from Quiapo that will passby “Dapitan.

Bouquet of flowers is usually at Php 200 to Php 250 only. A bunch of roses (about 2 dozens) is around Php120. But as the Valentine’s day approaches prices usually goes up. Oh one tip, we don’t usually buy the pre-arranged bouquets because it looks too generic… you may opt to pick the flowers that you like and ask the flower shop to have it arranged for you the way you wanted it to look :) you may bring a picture of desired arrangment to make transactions faster :)

Barat Tips:

1.) Remember to haggle and haggle :) They usually take advantage of the season ;P
2.) Wear comfy clothes and dress down :)
3.) Be careful with your belongings.
4.) Deliveries usually arrive around 9pm-12nn. Untrimmed/uncleaned flowers are normally cheaper during this time, if you opt to arrange your own bouquet. Day old flowers are sometimes sold at this time much much cheaper :)
5.) Parking is a little challenging, it’s more convenient if you’ll ask somebody to drive for you.

However, if you want a lesser crowd you may want to check out the Bulaklakan in Kanlaon Market (along Del Monte Avenue corner Kanlaon St. and very near A. Bonifacio avenue and Mayon).

This place is not as famous as Dangwa, but you’ll also get the same quality local flowers. :) Sometimes, it’s flowers here are cheaper than Dangwa’s since people don’t go here as much.

Barat Tips:

1.) Same as Dangwa’s but they have ample parking space :)

Christmas List #5: Dapitan Arcade

Monday, December 17th, 2007

We pass by dapitan everyday… since this is very near our office. This has been our secret store for decorative boxes that would range around Php 25-40 each, native boxes for files around php 200, Unique Christmas and home decors at very low prices. Most of the items here are native and are for export.

When we were decorating our new home back in 2005, we have Zen as theme. Daptian arcade was one of our some sort of “home depot”. We bought native blinds here for an average of Php200/blind, gold napkin rings Php 5 each, hanging lamps Php 120 each, wooden tray Php 70 each and a whole lot more that compliments our crib. :)

This is a good Christmas shopping destination if you’re looking for Christmas inspired serving plates, gift baskets/boxes, and other home decor. Your Php 1,000 budget would go a long way. Just make sure you haggle :)

Tips in going to Dapitan Arcade:

1. Go on a weekday (No Holiday Shopping – if you want to get good prices and to avoid the crowd)
2. They’re open as early as 7am and closes around 7pm. Go there either 7-9am or 4-7pm if you don’t want to get all sweaty.
3. Bring a fan.
4. Wear something comfortable because it’s sooo hot here. If you’ve been to Chatuchak Market in BKK they have similar shopping conditions :)
5. Dress down so you could make “tawad”. :)
6. Prepare to carry big bulky stuff, since this is a place for home decors. :)

Happy Shopping!

How to get there?

From Quezon Avenue (going towards Welcome Rotonda), turn right at Kanlaon (Burger King).
Straight ahead, dapitan would be the 3rd st from Quezon Ave.

If you’re going there by Public Transport, go down at Burger King then take the jeep (Kanlaon – Del Monte)

Barat goes to Baguio (Day Two) – Ibay’s Silver shop, Baguio Market, & Petron Service Station

Monday, March 26th, 2007

Day TWO – Ibay’s Silver Shop

We visited Ibay’s Main branch and bought some silverworks. Being a certified barat, we went straight to their discounted rack and checked out for good finds. Lucky us, we were able to spot a heart shaped earrings with zirconian stones originally priced at Php 450 but since it’s discounted we only paid Php 270. You may also request them to replace your “pakaw” with a bigger one at a minimal fee, additional Php 20.

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Barat tip: It’s better to drop by at their main branch because it’s cheaper compared to their other branches.

Ibay’s Main Branch:
2/F Lions Club Bldg., Gov. Pack Road, Baguio City

Day TWO – Baguio Market

Baguio market is the perfect place to go to, when it comes to buying your pasalubongs. From food items, foot rags for your home, crochet clothing, to blankets even ukay stuff it’s all available here.

When we arrived at the market, we first visited Tamtanco’s booth. This is our favorite UBE brand (Php 110/medium sized bottle), we love this over good sheperd’s version of Ube jam — not just because it’s way cheaper but because of it’s consistency and taste. Tamtanco’s also sells good peanut brittle (Php 75/medium sized bottle) and lengua.

We also grabbed a couple of bottles of Romana’s peanut brittle (Php 75/365g bottle; Php 110/530g bottle) and Mika’san’s chocoflakes (Php 70/bottle).

Strawberries were all over the place at Php 60-Php 80 per kilo. But for us, we opted to buy the Php 80/kilo since it’s of better quality. Pre-packed strawberries were also available — wise buyers don’t usually buy these, because often you don’t get your money’s worth. ;P

Barat Tip: Buy your strawberries on the day you’ll leave Baguio.

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After buying all the food items that we want, we went up to the market’s second floor, a not so familiar place for tourists and bakasyonistas. This is the cheapest place to buy crochet items, foot rags and blankets. Single sized blankets for only Php 90, receiving blankets for babies at Php 50, plain queen sized blankets at Php 120 and printed queen sized blankets at Php 145 only.

Of course, our trip in Baguio wouldn’t be complete if we’ll not take home a couple of Baguio “walis tambo.

Day TWO – Petron Service Station

Baguio is not a very big city but we noticed 3 Petron stations in the area and all jam packed. You might be wondering what’s so special about Petron stations to put it in our Baguio experience?

Well, at first there’s nothing special but after seeing a tarp posted inside one of these stations stating “Baguio Country Club (BCC) breads available here” changed everything!

We love BBC’s raisin and banana breads, although to buy those requires us to drag our relative to accompany us inside the country club. So, being able to get these breads in a gas station is so convenient for us!

Banana bread Php 135/loaf
Raisin bread Php 135/loaf and Php 65/half loaf

Barat tip: In buying your raisin bread, it’s actually cheaper to get 2 half loaves rather than getting 1 whole loaf. ;P

To get there:
D’ Motorists Pitstop, Inc. (Petron Service Station)
#146 Kisad rd. cor. Marcos Highway, Baguio City

Barat goes to Baguio (Day One)

Tuesday, March 20th, 2007

Its been 5 years or so since we last visited Baguio City. So this weekend, the whole family went up to Baguio and enjoyed its climate, food and scenery.

At 630am we left the house for our weekend get a way, lucky us after an hour of travel our aircon died down and we can’t do anything but bare with the scourging heat and go on with our trip.

Our daughter can no longer take the heat and she started to be irritable, so we transfered her to the other car — where they enjoyed their aircon while we are starting our early penitence for the holy week. Hay, how lucky can we get?!

On our way to Baguio, we payed Our Lady of Manaog a visit.

Our Lady of Manaoag

Then we went straight to Baguio where we stayed in a transient home. The rent is way cheaper compared to hotel rates. The place we got was pretty spacious. It was able to accomodate all of us — 12 adults, 2 kids, 1 toddler & 1 baby. It has 4 rooms, sala, dining area, 2 toilet and bath with heater, kitchen and garage. We only paid Php 5,000 for 2 days. Not bad huh!?

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