Manila part II

So...this blog is about the Sunday lunch we had outside Manila....at Antonio's and the volcano hike.....

On Sunday my sister organised lunch at Antonio's....it was about a 1.5hr drive...without traffic....so off we went at 11:00....the ride....great scenery but wow.....the driver....he was braking and accelerating like he had never done it before....i got so car sick...wow....i was so glad when we finally arrived...and yes there was traffic so we arrived just before 13:00. The setting was stunning....an old house set among trees and bushes...tropical....beautiful....here is a pic

So at Antonio's it is a set menu....house salad....soup of the day...then you choose your main course...there are about 30 options and then you choose your dessert....there are about 10 options....and the main course determines price of your set menu....interesting concept.....so the house salad was divine...the salad was sprinkled with cranberries, caramalized walnuts, feta and raspberry vinagrette.....delicious.....the soup was a bell pepper and tomato soup.....not my best....mom and Fabienne loved it though.......im just not a soup fan....i guess it makes me a little bias....mains we all chose different....Fabienne chose lamb ribs off the bone, mom chose duck breast and i chose the seafood trio.....we all loved the food....i would def pick my trio again...and the presentation was beautiful...only pity was that not all three dishes came at the same time...we had to wait for my moms almost 5min....and that i find shocking in an up market restaurant.....that DEF should NOT happen....here is a pic of my main course...on the far left, potato bake with a firm white fish, middle pastry basket with shrimps, right scallop on potato mash.....so divine......

Dessert....took us a while to decide we all had like 3 hard choices from which we couldnt decide....in the end Fabienne went with the flourless choc cake....mom with the choc terrine and me with the sugar caramalized pineapple and coconut oil ice cream.....and we all loved our choices....here is a pic of the flourless choc cake my sister took....

The portions were fab....just right...after a relaxed lunch we decided to make our way back because Fabienne had a flight to catch...home to Cebu....it took us 3 hours to get back....there was so much traffic....it was unbelievable....wow....shocking....oh well...enjoy the scenery...chill....cause there is NOTHING you can do......so....a nice Sunday spent in the countryside with great food and company....tomorrow my mom and i are going hiking......

Hiking.....we got fetched at 4AM.....hell of an early...especially when i only managed to fall asleep just before midnight....wow...

So....4am our journey started....not gonna bore you with all details...arrival at the base camp was 7 where we swopped cars...my mom and i got a private guide and a driver...and a car that looked like it was going to fall apart any second...and no...i am not exaggerating...here is a pic....have a look....the foam is coming out of the seats..and our back rest...no leather pillows (and yes, the other jeeps around us did have leather pillows on the back rest)

Oh well...adventure....they asked us whether we wanted the short or the long hike...of course we opted for the long hike...we came to hike..not to be lazy...the jeep ride through the dessert..savana...nature...whatever you wanna call it took a little over an hour.....here some pics...

The scenery was amazing...we also drive through water and we stopped once for 5min to take some pics....then we stopped when we saw the 8km sign and we started our treck...the guide asked us quite a few times whether we were sure we wanted to to the 8km hike and not just the 1km....YES....we are sure....and man it was fun...my mom and i walked it in 1.5hrs....common..round of applause for us...thats excellento...on the webpage they say 2.5hrs...yes...thats prob for the unfit...but man...i felt proud of us...it was a lot of uneven terrain...stones...crossing rivers....so much fun......here some pics....

When we saw the crater with the water....looked like a picture book....amazing...beautiful...stunning...just plain WOW.....and my mom and i took a seat on the ground and just enjoyed the view...really great....yes...some pics....and yes...i was having some fun posing for pics....

After that...treck down...jeep ride back...and made our way back to manila...(almost forgot....with our jeep ride...every 10min we had to stop and refill the bonnet with water cause the car was overheating...water was collected every time we crossed a river....what a fun experience...unbelievable)....when we got to the base camp, our driver was amazed..we made it back to base camp at 12:15....he asked whether we chickened out and did the short walk...no way....he then he said he expected us back between 13:00 and 14:00....so proud of us....drive back was quite fast...slept a bit on the way....evening my mom and i went to eat at a Spanish tapas place...rocket room....and drank some spanish bubbly....amazing food....def going back...fluffy garlic bread (tasted like pizza dough in Naples...no joke), gazpacho salad (yes, salad NOT soup), prawn ratatouille and ceviche.....def going back there....one last pic...the divine garlic bread....tomorrow we fly to Bangkok where we enjoy a last few days before returning to good old South Africa.....cheerio....

 

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