wednesday wramblings (conclusion)

finally... haven't i told you wednesday was a loooooong day for me? well, it just got longer. if there is a misadventure to end all misadventures, this certainly takes the cake.

somwhere between PNU and binondo, h excitedly suggested we take the pasig river ferry going home. and since i like inconveniencing myself most of the time, i agreed. i mean, i could have gotten home the fast way (g. liner bus) or the faster way (lrt 2), right? but noooo siree. an opportunity to ride the pasig river is always considered a treat. and so the ferry wins hands down.

after buying some treats at eng bee tin over at ongpin, we walked back to escolta to the ferry station. the ferry was already there as we were buying our tickets for guadalupe so at least we didn't have to wait for it anymore. it was 7pm at the time already so there's no point in trying to take a look at the view. so h and i engaged in an intense girl talk all the way to guadalupe... or so we thought.

so deep in conversation were we that the announcement that we were in guadalupe just flew over our heads. the only thing that brought us back to earth--with a big bump, i may add-- was the rumbling of the engines, signalling that we were leaving guadalupe station. we were in utter and total shock that we actually couldn't speak for a few seconds. then...

"where are we going?"

unconsciously we were waiting for all the passengers to disembark as we fully understood that guadalupe was the last station. apparently our memory of the route was still stuck in last year's. so as the ferry rumbled on towards the next unknown destination, we sat there, quietly losing our minds and bashing ourselves in our minds for being so heedless. for what seemed like hours (which was actually just 10 or 15 minutes), we finally docked to the next station which is san joaquin (pasig). imagine our shock as we got out of the station and into a street basketball game in a quiet neighborhood (thank God for that).

well, needless to say, we got out of that scrape by asking the old man who sat a few rows in front of us in the ferry where to go and walking alongside the river until we got to the main road.

we had an uneventful taxi ride home.

so, okay! here's a list of the stations along the pasig river ferry route:

Plaza Mexico (operational)

Escolta (operational)

Quiapo/Quezon Bridge (operational)

PUP (operational)

Sta. Ana (operational)

Lambingan (operational)

Valenzuela

Hulo (operational)

Guadalupe (operational)

San Joaquin (operational)

Napindan

Marcos Bridge

Riverbanks Mall

Sta. Elena

ps. most probably napindan is operational as well as there were still passengers after we disembarked. i was still in a state of shock then so i didn't even remember to ask what the latest operational station is. if there's anyone here who knows, well, let me know. ^________^

wednesday wramblings part 2

after heidz was done, we left PNU with growling stomachs. so where were we to go? if you have read our minds, you would know where we went: binondo. ;p

here's a little un-secret of mine. whenever i'm in someplace whether familiar or unfamiliar and i'm not... familiar with the how-to's to get to my destination by public transportation especially by jeepney, i walk. i don't care how long it will take me as long as i arrive at my destination provided i'm going at my own leisurely speed. more often than not i get to my desired destination albeit a bit walked-out and sorta smoked like an eagle with all those jeepney fumes everywhere. if someone's with me, it's important that he or she would not mind walking. another thing that i like about walking is that i get to experience new things, which, in this case, leads us now to--

a new food trip without images. bow.

we originally planned to try out polland bakery along escolta, but discovered to our dismay that there was no place to rest our weary feet. what else can we do but to leave and continue walking down nueva (now yuchengco) street. when we reached the corner of dasmarinas street a strange yet wonderful sight filled our eyes: dimsum containers are stacked by the dozen on a counter along the sidewalk of dasmarinas street, and beside the counter of dimsum containers sat a steamer. ladies and gentlemen, the newest food stop in binondo is called ying ying tea house, and it just opened last week, at the corner of dasmarinas and yuchengco streets. judging from the number of people eating there we decided to try it out as well. with all that walking, who wouldn't go hungry?

the interior of the tea house is cozy though it's a bit warm on the ground floor. fortunately it has three levels though i have reason to believe it goes up to the 4th floor of the building. the second level is simply a room for large private parties (it can sit up to 15 pax at most from what i saw, with a large round table and a lazy susan) while the third floor is more spacious with another area set off for large parties as well. we got a table on the third level where we were the only customers until it filled up after about an hour.

here's what we ordered:

moi: wanton noodle soup (P80) and shrimp cheong fan (P60, 3 pcs. per order)
heidz: lemon chicken with rice (P90)

let me start with the lemon chicken. presentation was so-so, with the breaded chicken placed beside the rather large cup of rice and watery lemon sauce that was obviously poured over the chicken just before serving. and because the sauce was a bit watery, most of it was soaked up by the rice. maybe it would look better if they mixed the sauce and chicken up a bit so the white bits of cornstarch wouldn't show, and it would look more glossy. the portion of rice and chicken were at par with each other though and it's filling. in addition, the taste makes up for the presentation.

the wanton noodle soup is a different story. the soup was steaming hot, which means it came from a continuously simmering pot because if it didn't, it would have turned cold much faster. the five pieces of wanton that top the soup were quite surprising as they were packed solid with meat which, for me, took two bites unlike other wanton which i could pop whole into my mouth and still manage not to look like a chipmunk. ;-) the kind of noodles they used is my favorite kind, the long, thin egg noodles same as what le ching in greenhills uses. don't be deceived by the medium-sized bowl. the serving might just look little but i tell you the noodle soup can be good for two--i was just halfway through the meal when i already felt full--and i haven't even started on my share of the cheong fan yet.

i first tried cheong fan in a dimsum resto in texas last year. it was so good that i was happy when i also found it on the menu of some chinese restos here, and i couldn't wait to try it. at ying ying tea house i chose the shrimp cheong fan. each cheong fan only has two shrimps apiece and i only tasted more of the semi-sweet (at least, to my taste) wrapper as it was kinda thick. to me it seemed like a salty-sweet kind of dessert.

the prices at ying ying tea house are very affordable, which ranges from P55 (mostly dimsum, dessert, drinks) to P400 (mostly for the short orders and takeout).

heidz and i were so full afterwards, we needed another round of walking. i will definitely come back to this resto to try more of their food.

stay tuned for part 3... :-)

wednesday wramblings part 1

yesterday afternoon brought me once more to the manila area when my friend heidz texted me if i could come with her to Philippine Normal University (PNU) as she was planning to apply for their 18 unit teaching course. well, who am i to say no, especially when i've always wanted to go there? it was an uneventful bus ride to PNU from robinson's galleria which cost us P20.50. i don't know, but the prospect of going to PNU got me really excited. maybe because it was of the really old structures which i longingly stared at every time i pass it going to intramuros, maybe because of the fact that my lola studied there in the late 1930's, or maybe both. either way, i was like some giggly teenage girl silently freaking out (in a good way) when heidz and i entered the main building. and so while heidz was agonizing over the computations in her transcript, i amused myself by going around the campus--erm, i mean just around the main building, and just as far as the culture and arts building. going around wasn't any problem at all as i could easily pass for a student (naks!). from the looks of the campus grounds, there was a cultural festival courtesy of the PNU Lopez, Quezon campus although there's no program at the time except for a band practicing the philippine national anthem. inside the auditorium in the main building, however, a contest called battle of the chem masters was going on. chemistry. hrrmmph. aside from that, the whole atmosphere in the school was quite relaxing if you ask me.

PNU fast facts:

- it is the university that specializes in teacher education. it opened on september 1, 1901 as Philippine Normal School (PNS) by the americans.

- PNS was converted to Philippine Normal College (PNC) in 1949 and along with it came the introduction of new four-year courses such as bs elementary education, bse with specialization in elementary education and bse major in home economics.

- the graduate school was established in 1953.

- the school was elevated into university status on december 26, 1991, 90 years after it first opened.

- it celebrated its centennial year on september 1, 2001.

- there are four other PNU campuses around the country--in agusan, cadiz city, isabela and quezon.

(source: PNU website)

more ramblings to come later. it has been a loooong day yesterday... ;-)

love-hate relationships

one of the tags-in-waiting by pusang maganda =)

I love to eat: double bacon cheeseburger, pizza, and any dessert that's very creamy =)
I hate to eat: innards at most, but i can still change me mind
I love to go: anywhere that's far from the madding crowd--like the beach--anywhere as long as it's quiet
I hate to go: to shopping malls
I love it when: something unexpected and exciting happens
I hate it when: i get rudely interrupted when i'm very busy doing something.
I love to see: new sceneries
I hate to see: tv commercials that pander to every woman's vanity ;p
I love to hear: wind, crash of waves on the shore; music as long as it ain't metal or hiphop.
I hate to hear: unearthly noises coming from the nearby police station--police singing on the videoke at night...!

=)