Dining at Dillingers 1903

We earlier bought a voucher for P1000 worth of food at 50% off at Dillingers, a restaurant you can easily miss if you don't ask around or know where it is actually located. Found at one  end of level 3 of Greenbelt 3 beside Red Box, the exterior is very nondescript that you would at first think it was an abandoned place.

Being a Sunday, the place is not really crowded. I guess its more of a watering hole during regular days than a family restaurant. In fact, tables are small and so are the plates, which may be appropriate for finger foods and some alcoholic beverages to down them.

As you enter, one can see on one side of the establishment a long bar where beers, wines or cocktails are prepared and served, while the other side has both the regular and high chairs and tables. There is also an inner room which I supposed are for smoking patrons.

Johnny Chow: We had returned

With our last voucher for Johnny Chow about to expire, we decided to use and have dinner there after our daughter's school's Family Day yesterday. We got there before 7 PM and found the place less crowded than the first time we went there. We were quickly taken to our table and handed the menu.

Zark's - Burger from Hell

We finally had a chance to try Zark's Burger which is just across the De La Salle University and near my daughter's school. Since yesterday was family day at their school, we decided to try it out instead of the usual food being sold in their school.

Zark's is about 2 blocks away but since it was a little bit cloudy it was not that hot to walk to the restaurant. It is located on the second floor, on top of the Army Navy Restaurant. Being a Sunday, I guess the clients would be a lot less than usual.

 Seated and with the menu on hand, we start to pick out what to order. I originally ordered the burger from hell while my wife wanted a buffalo wings. However, they didn't have them. Wanting something spicy, I asked for the El Loko Baka instead which the menu said was Zark's version of tex-mex burger with home-made salsa and cheese. My wife ordered the Stone Cold Stunner, a double cheeseburger with bacon, lettuce and tomato, plus onion and mushrooms. The latter came with fries and bottomless iced tea, while I had to add P60 for a serving of fries and iced tea.

The Travel Bug: In the beginning

The bug has bitten me later in life than most travllers. Sure, my family usually go out of town during summer vacations: baguio, bicol, batangas and laguna. But I think it started when I was already working and became financially independent (well sort of, ha ha ha).

Aside from the official travels I had, my officemates and I usually go out of town during those long weekends: Hundred Islands in Alaminos, Iba, Zambales and Sinait, Ilocos Sur, were some of them.

Then I resigned from work and found myself having less and less time going on vacation, during the early days of my self-employment, as I discovered that having one's business took up more of my time than being employed. I did have some out of town trips with friends though: Boracay and Iloilo via the Superferry, and tagging along with a friend's family going to Manaoag in Pangasinan and Iguig in Cagayan.

Surprisingly, being employed again gave me more time to travel than ever before. When we were given a one week centennial leave in 1998, I decided to go on solo by visting our Regional Office in Cagayan. And from there, I met a friend in Tuguegarao who told me about a place in Ilocos Norte called Pagudpupd. With only a map and some information where I can take a bus going to the place, I was able to visit and stay at Terra Rika (the viewty and the beach), which was not yet fully developed then.

Travel Expo: Looking for a bargain

Our visit to the 19th Travel Expo held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City was a last minute decision and in fact we were able to go there after lunch of the last day of the expo.

Since we were going to Singapore and Malaysia in December, we thought it best to check out what ever information we can get about those places.

There was an entrance fee of P50 per person and good for one day (just have your hand stamped so that you can get back to the expo if ever you decide to go out).

The place was huge and although it was the last day, there were still a lot of people trying to get a good bargain.

I've noticed that the airline companies, both Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines, had the longest queues. Most probably, visitors looking for promo fares which the local airlines normally offer. We didn't bother checking these booths as we had already booked our flights over the internet.