Month: March 2013

  • Filipinotes – Day 5

    ….continued from Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4

    Another lazy day had been unplanned. The only planning as usual were the meal spots. For breakfast, D had identified a crepes joint called Ti Braz nearby, which also had other breakfast options. Though the beach view was awesome, we chose to sit inside, and were served a pretty mediocre breakfast for 820 pesos. Back at the hotel, we asked for a spa session, which had been advertised in the room in the form of a brochure. That was confirmed for later in the day. Since we were to leave early the next day, we also asked them to check with the guys who were supposed to drop us at the airport on when we’d have to leave. We wandered about all morning, tasting a Boracay version of a breezer, (chocolate flavour dominated) shopping, and as per plan dropped in at Mesa (part of the Boracay Regency) which had a ‘modern Filipino’ cuisine….and WiFi 🙂 After sadly learning that the Ostrich meat wasn’t available, we had a Tilapia simmered with mustasa and gata (mustard and coconut) that seemed like a stew, beef cooked two ways (crispy and saucy) and a  laing fried rice. The fish was almost like a stew with mustard leaves and quite good. The crispy beef was bland but the saucy one made up for it. The Laing fried rice has pork in it. Enough said. Washed down with Rum-Coke. A fine meal at 1275 pesos.

    We slowly walked back to the hotel, a short walk away, and got to know that the spa appointment was at 4, and we’d be picked up the next day at 5! :O A nap later, we learnt that the spa would be coming to us! The mobile massage squad did their job in the room itself! Cost us 700 pesos (for two) and worth it! Massage services are the only ones giving food outlets a run for their money in Boracay. Across the beach front, you will be accosted by those advertising massages, or adventure stuff. I slept off and missed the sunset but D managed to catch it, though she said it wasn’t as beautiful as the previous day.

    Dinner was planned at Jony’s, in the extended Station 1 section. We had actually thought of having lunch here, but then flipped the plan. That turned out to be a good idea. This was a quieter area, and we could watch the sea peacefully. We had catfish, a chicken preparation inspired by the Chinese, and plain rice. D ordered a Mango-Pineapple shake that turned out to be better than her ex-favourite Jonah’s! Inspired me to try a mango shake as well, and it was really good. A perfect last meal at Boracay – 1129 pesos. We talked about the shops we’d seen that seemed to have been started in the 80s, and wondered what kind of adventurers had made their way to Philippines then. I remembered reading Alexander Frater’s “Chasing the monsoon” and the feel of India in the late 80s it gave. That’s one of the reasons I blog – years later, I hope someone, from all of this, would be able to get a glimpse of how the world was, and how a life was lived. A page across time. 🙂

    We slowly walked back to the hotel, and received a message that the pick up was at 5.30. I hoped I’d be able to keep a promise to myself to avoid early morning adventures during vacations! Thus ended Day 5.

  • Filipinotes – Day 4

    continued from Days 1, 2, 3..

    For the first time during the vacation, the morning dawned like one! We’d slept listening to live music and woke up after 9! Though Coco Huts gave a 20% off on breakfast at their Army-Navy restaurant in the premises, we decided to explore a bit. Beach facing options were the focus, and we found Cafe del Mar a hundred metres down. D, as usual, managed to pick up an awesome Chef’s special omelette while I got more standard fare! Couldn’t complain though, especially given the awesome view and a bill of 540 pesos. The table number was 21. #youremember We’d been told that since the heater in the room hadn’t been fixed, they’d be shifting us to the family room. They did that soon as we got back from breakfast. This one was spread across 2 levels (and a mezzanine one in between)  and could accommodate about 6 people! We were requested to use only the lower floor and the balcony. Fair request. Like all rooms, this one too was all wood, and had a verandah facing the beach.

    We hadn’t made any specific plans for Boracay in terms of what are called ‘activities’. The only planning we did was figuring out the places to eat at! D Mall featured a lot in our research, and on our way the previous night we’d seen it on the road and thought it was a bit away. But on the beach, it seemed much nearer. It’s just off the beach and the first horizontally spread out mall I’d seen. 🙂 As if the eating options on the beach weren’t enough, this one had many as well, along with shopping options! But D had one destination in mind – Jonah’s Milkshakes, and she claimed to have seen it on the road the previous night. After getting on to the road we ambled a bit before realising that we should probably ask someone. Turned out that it was right after the spot where we’d been dropped the previous night! My turn to look at D accusingly! Our mango and mango-pineapple shakes were delivered in bottles, and proved to be a task to finish, though it was good! We shopped a bit, seeing Gandhi in the strangest of places, and a restaurant called The Hobbit House (turned out that they had one in Manila as well) where they employed midgets as servers, before dropping the stuff at the room and heading out for lunch.

    A Thai option was available in the form of Saneh Thai, where we planned a light lunch of Tom Kha soup and a Chicken Satay (because nothing else was available) I also asked for a ‘Rhum Coke’, (not a spelling error) perfect for a balmy afternoon. Cost us 850 pesos. After another round of trinket shopping, we thought we’d explore the area a bit more. We went further along the beachfront (to the left of our hotel) and marked options for future meals. One of the places that did give that was the Coco Cafe, where we had some nice coffee and great WiFi for 305 pesos. 😉

    Once we got back to the hotel, I also found spots that gave me access to their internet, which had proved elusive the day before. After a brief rest, we got out to catch the sunset. Turned out to be one of the best I’ve ever seen. There were boys doing sand art, and when we clicked pics, they politely asked for money. 🙂

    After some more sunset clicking, we walked to the ‘right side’ of our hotel and were almost deceived that we were at one end. But we could proceed along the beach and discovered there was a quieter area with restaurants beyond. Again, we mistakenly thought this would be Station 2 or 3. Boracay has 3 Stations – 1,2,3 in descending order of ‘happening’ quotient. 🙂 Our hotel was at Station 1 and it turned out that this quieter area was actually an extension of 1. Tito’s, a stone’s throw away from our hotel, where we hadn’t been able to get a table the previous night, was kinder at 7.30 and Absinthe, and Sisig were consumed, along with some great music. Some tummy space had been reserved because we wanted to try out the Mati Chocolate Sin at Zuzuni, right next to our hotel, a dish recommended across the web! The day before we had reached the place pretty late and they had claimed they were about to shut shop. The dish turned out to be quite good (chocolate usually is!) and together, the dinner cost us 980 pesos. I quite cheaply hung around just outside Coco Cafe, and browsed the web even as D browsed fish stalls!

    Back in the room, live music could still be heard, and I slept in the comfort that the next day could be another late start! Thus ended Day 4.

  • Bombay Tiger

    Kamala Markandaya

    A posthumously published work authored by Kamala Markandaya, with an introduction written by Charles Larson that sensitively portrays the life and work of the author. Actually, that turns out to be a story in itself – about an author whose first work was acclaimed, but who was later found hunting for publishers, trying in vain to understand a literary world that seemed to have changed.

    The novel is set in the 80s in Bombay, with a self made industrialist as its protagonist. Much as the author uses him to hold together the story, and drives it forward through his relationships with different characters, she also switches the narrative consistently to show a side of the story from the perspective of these characters.

    Sometimes this causes a deviation, but the author manages to rein it in more often than not. Though she might have wanted her protagonist to epitomise the changing nature of the Bombay (or even Indian) business world, the story rarely explores that frontier and is happy discovering nuances in human relationships. That’s probably what harms the novel, because it vaguely promises a vast canvas but leaves many parts blank. It’s as though the author changed her mind after the first couple of chapters. But it has to be said that the quality of prose and the narrative switches ensure that the reader doesn’t tune out. Honestly, I was more touched by the introduction (the life of the author) and wished that the author had had more successes. Rest in peace, Kamala Markandaya.

    As a birthday present, I got featured in the Top 100 Book Related blogs to follow as well! 🙂 Scroll down to #55 (that happens to be a favourite number as well)

    Top 100 Book related blogs to follow

     

    An infographic by the team at CouponAudit

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  • Filipinotes – Day 3

    ….continued from Day 1, Day 2

    This was another 7 AM starter, but this time we could skip the bath since the plan was to island-hop. This was a custom plan since we had a flight to catch at 3 ish, and typical plans ended later than that. After another hearty breakfast, we waited. One of the hotel boys knocked in a while, and happily announced that he would be the tour guide! It would seem that the original guide had vanished. Instead of the tricycle planned for the drop to the pier, we got a van, and almost reached the boarding point for the Honda Bay tour. Almost, because we took a ‘shortcut’ that got us to a boat that was brand new! I think it probably even hadn’t gotten its permit yet! A tiny patch of paint hadn’t dried on the boat floor. D promptly chose to step on it, and fell. She didn’t show me the bruise then, but the purple spot still hasn’t gone! Nice start! The good part though was that we had the 10 seater boat all to ourselves.

    The plan was to go to 3 islands, an official guide announced. The first was Luli island, which had a nice blue diving board, which we didn’t try. A Japanese group also arrived and were posing away as usual, and obviously chattering incessantly. The cafe there was only just about opening as we left. The next stop was Starfish island, and there was a nice long stretch to walk. Our hotel guide insisted on snapping our pics regularly! By the time we left, the school group from the previous day made their appearance, this time in ‘colour dress’. 🙂 The last stop was Pandan Island, the most touristy of the lot, and with the highest entrance fee as well, which covered a table/cottage charge as well. We chose a table and then proceeded to go swimming, much to the relief of the guide who was afraid that our enjoyment would be incomplete without swimming. Amazing water it was, temperature and colour, and we spent an hour before having the lunch that the Mercedes guys had packed for us. There are also live sea food counters if you’d like those. The place has clean shower areas and cubicles to change.

    The return trip was uneventful, but at the point of unloading, our bag broke and the camera almost fell into the water! Nice end. We had to wait for a few minutes before our pick up van arrived. The hotel owner and his wife, an elderly couple, were in it and they played some great 70s tracks as we drove back. A shower later, we were ready to leave. The entire package without the island entrance fees (750 pesos for 2) but including the tours (Mercedes arranged them for us) cost us 9000 pesos. They were really a friendly bunch of folks, and we’d recommend the place highly.

    After paying an airport fee of 80 pesos, we waited for the Airphil express flight to Manila. It was a short flight, but they gave us nuts and biscuits! 😀 I asked for coffee, and regretted it. Black! At Manila, (Terminal 3 again, so no transfers required) our next flight to Kalibo was delayed! It actually turned out to be the same flight we’d come in. This time, I declined coffee! The flight was half empty and by the time we landed, it was quite dark, though it was only just after 7. The airport had this on-the-decline feel to it. We were met by our transport guys, and after a short wait, led to a bus. D was pissed because she had been promised a van. We had paid 2200 pesos for a 2 way transfer, (Boracay Best Deals, because they got us the room in a place we wanted, but My Boracay Guide might be a good option, I think, though they cost the same) but could see 250 pesos/person (for one-way) signboards, though it wouldn’t cover the last bit of our journey to Boracay. You can get to Boracay from 2 airports – Kalibo and Caticlan. The latter is better and nearer, we chose Kalibo only because it had night flights operating. Caticlan is a smaller airport and dos not have flights that land later in the evening.

    The bus driver seemed to be having an argument with the crowd, but we finally started. After an hour and 45 minutes of twists and turns and dark stretches, we reached the Caticlan jetty. Carrying luggage into the boat was our own headache! Thankfully, the boat fees had been paid! We ‘walked the plank’ into a crowded boat. D got irritated when they dropped a tarpaulin sheet to cover the ‘window’, but the waves that followed soon after made it a wise decision. Some massive rocking and 15 minutes later, we reached the Boracay side. A van was waiting for us…and others. Another ride, during which we dropped off the others, we stopped on the roadside. We were a bit dismayed because we had chosen our hotel Boracay Coco Huts solely for the beach view! But it turned out that the last 100 metres or so had to be walked. The hotel was indeed on the beach, and the room was really cool – small but classy with lots of wood and a balcony, but we learned soon that they had a problem with hot water!

    We wanted a quick dinner before we crashed, so we ignored our list and dropped in at Aria, which looked decent. Italian food – pasta, pizza, and a San Miguel Pale Pilsen (quite solid!) later, (1300 pesos and good food) we were ready to drop. It was around this time that I began noticing that the Philippines’ traditional costume (for women) was hot-pants. With that promising thought, I closed Day 3. 🙂

  • What have I been up to?

    The nice folk at Social Samosa gave me a chance to describe exactly what I do for a living currently. You can read about Myntra’s strategy on social platforms in an interview here. 🙂

    In other news, I just got back from a Philippines vacation. More about that on the other blog.

    PS: Added a Media page since there have been a few quotes happening lately 😉