Secret Garden

There was a time when Gerard wanted to eat a really good meal at a garden restaurant with (name of future girlfriend insert here) or his group of friends.

Gerard's food cravings came true a few weeks ago when he was invited by his homo sapien friends for a dinner at Isabelo Garden Restaurant in Marikina City. Gerard calls it "The Secret Garden," a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. He even got lost getting there, so that's how secret it was. Yet, it was worth all the trouble! 

This little secret garden took us back in time: Isabelo is an ancestral house-turned-garden/outdoor cafe, which shelters decades-old (or perhaps centuries-old) trees, retro-themed floor tiles, and colorful lights, details which Gerard instantly loved.

The food was just as fantastic; Gerard gave it a Capital D for Delicious! The Spinach Artichoke Dip nearly bought metal tears to Gerard... it was amaze-balls! He also finished an entire plate of Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Pesto all by himself. His metal tum-tum was so full. Capital G for Gluttony! *food coma

Gerard was impressed with the whole dining experience that he won't leave the restaurant without meeting the wonderful chef behind it—Portia Baluyut. 

Chef Portia grew up seeing her grandmother cook, and since then, like her lola, she prepares and cooks the food with the secret ingredient: love. Yeah, yeah, that statement is oozing and dripping with cheese. 

Gerard can't wait to have a romantic dinner at Isabelo with (name of future girlfriend insert here) soon!

P.S.

This is a food blog, right? But WHERE ARE THE PHOTOS OF THE FOOD? Well, the food was really really good that Gerard ate all of it and forgot to take photos. Ooops! Check out their website: http://www.isabelogarden.com/gallery.html

Website Makeover

Hey, Gerard's blog got a new spankin' look! It looks way better than before.

But Gerard never had a problem with how his old site looked. Since he had an oil change last weekend, might as well change the look of his site, too.

First, Gerard changed the logo. He asked his friend Wilver Alquino to draw Gerard's logo in exchange for a cold bottle of beer. Nice, right? It's very sketchy and rough and cute all at the same time. Gerard loves the green, red, blue and yellow colors, because those are the only colors he knows. Haha!

Second, changing the font to COURIER. The logic behind it: Gerard=Courier. It's the standard font for all robots and computers. Gerard loves Courier since he was a little sprocket. Courier suits him because it's more robot-ish and mechanical.

Last step, Gerard trimmed the fat. His idea of "trimming the fat" came from the movie Horrible Bosses, he needs to remove unnecessary stuff on his site. Just like he trashed the search button, because he hated that button and there's nothing to search about.

So, whaddya think?

En Route: Bangkok, Thailand

Gerard couldn't wait to go with Nimu's friends, Bevs and Eric, to Bangkok last October! He, like Eric, has never been to Thailand. Bevs told Gerard of what to expect from Thailand. "The city is hot like Manila. And the food is spicy!" 

Gerard, Eric and Bevs at the airport.

Goodbye, Manila. Sawatdee Khrab, Bangkok!

Gerard knew what Bevs meant when she said the word "hot." But spicy? He has never heard of such a word.

"What is spicy?" he asked Bevs. 

"Well, spicy means it's hot on the tongue." she answered.

"Hot. Spicy." Gerard said it again. He was confused. Hot hurts the skin. And if spicy and hot are the same, does that mean spicy can hurt the tongue, too? 

"You'll taste the word soon," Bevs told him.

Bevs wanted Gerard to have a true Thai gastronomic experience so she ordered popular Thai dishes during the trip. 

Gerard went along for the ride with Bevs and Eric.

Their first stop was a quaint restaurant in one of Bangkok's big malls. Bevs told Gerard that Thais really love herbs and spices, and even fish sauce! Gerard had a whiff of the spices infront of him. "Mmmm..."

Eric ordered Korean beef noodle soup and Bevs ordered spicy seafood noodle soup to share with Gerard. As soon as he had a taste of the red broth, Gerard felt a burning sensation on his metal tongue and screamed, "Oil! Oil, please!" And Bevs also screamed, "Water! Water, please!" But nonetheless, it was the yummiest spicy seafood noodle soup they ever tasted!

Next stop was Feuang Nara restaurant. Bevs and Eric loved this restaurant so much! They ordered breaded pork which came with a spicy dip and Glory Morning vegetables (which is probably Thai's local version of Kangkong) in oyster sauce. Gerard was very happy with this meal and it wasn't that spicy, too!

Along the way, Gerard made a few friends, too! Meet Captain Quack and the seven duckies! They were inviting him for a bubble bath as it was a really hot day. But Gerard didn't want to miss the next gastronomic adventures of Bevs and Eric so he politely declined. 

For dessert, Bevs and Eric ordered sago and cantaloupe served with shaved ice, mixed with coconut milk. "Thais love coconut milk just as much as Filipinos," Bevs mentioned to Gerard. What's nice about the dessert was that it was served in a Margarita glass. Three small scoops of cantaloupe sat on top of the shaved ice and underneath it were the gummy sago.

On their last day, Bevs and Eric wanted to make it special for Gerard so they ordered the famous Tom Yum soup. The Tom Yum is a potent combination of herbs and spices mixed with mushrooms and prawns. They also ordered a plate of stir-fried rice noodles with vegetables and chicken. Gerard was couldn't get over how yummy the Tom Yum soup was. "It's really Tom Yummy!" he said.

The three capped of the trip with a traditional Thai dessert:

sticky rice with coconut milk and mangoes! 

"What a food trip!" Gerard said as he thanked Bevs and Eric.

Jericho Rosales

Gerard met a lot of new friends in Baler—musicians, local surfers and tourists. But the highlight of his social life in Baler was when he met the coolest, most humble, and the most good-looking guy he ever met, Jericho Rosales. Ummmkay…that's so gay.

"Hi, Jericho! I'm Gerard."

"Just call me Echo, bro."

"Cool shirt!" Gerard said.

And they did the secret brutha-hood handshake.

Echo is an actor known for his humble beginnings and worked his way to the top. He is really cool and very humble. He has really perfected being the everyman. Gerard feels like he knows him since forever, and he's like a buddy.

Echo and Gerard took their bromance to the next level and talked about a lot of stuff like movies, music, girls, cars, beach, girls, and…girls. The conversation was frequently interrupted by fans who want to have a picture with Echo, and most of the time, these fans asked Gerard to take the picture for them. Gerard didn't mind.

Echo loves the beach and surfing is his past time when he's on vacation. Waves relaxes him and makes him feel energized. "Surfing ignites my inner being and surfing gives me a kind of calm that relaxes my mind," Echo said. He invited Gerard for a surfing session, it'll be cool if both of of them could be surfing buddies.

En Route: Baler, Aurora

"What is surfing again?" Gerard asked NiMu while packing his things in his metal backpack. "The word "surf," as far as  I know, is when you visit the world wide web. Why go all the way to Baler just to check out websites?"

"You'll see when we get to Baler," NiMu quickly answered, looking so busy preparing her own stuff. "Don't forget your sunblock, okay?" Gerard rolled his eyes as he got up and looked for a bottle of sunblock.

It was a Friday night. Gerard, together with NiMu and her boyfriend, Jake, and their two other friends, are going to the Surf and Music Festival 2011 in Baler, Aurora, for the long weekend. "3 days of surfing?! Crazy, crazy people," Gerard said to himself. 

They hopped in the bus and took their seats. Gerard made sure he sat beside the window. NiMu told him to sleep because it will be a looooooooooooong ride. "Besides, you will need plenty of energy for tomorrow's surfing lessons," NiMu said.

Gerard didn't realize that he slept for almost 9 hours straight until NiMu woke him up. Gerard couldn't believe his eyes what he saw outside the bus window, "BEACH!!!!!!!" he shouted.

This is the beach of Sabang, Baler. Fine sand, waves, amazing scenery… This is the LIFE! 

Gerard: So that's why you said to bring sunblock!!

NiMu: DUH!

Gerard: Okaaaaay, okaaaay, sorry! So, what's our game plan?

NiMu: SURF!!!

Gerard's metal jaw dropped when saw some guys standing on a board in the middle of the sea. "Ooooh, so that's surfing. It's like skateboarding, but on water." he said. Nimu gave a FREE SURFING stub to Gerard. 

A lot of people go to Baler to enjoy the beach and surf. Gerard made new surfer friends!

Gerard couldn't wait to surf. Local surfers told him to choose a surfboard. Gerard chose the yellow surfboard with skull logo. He wanted to be a bad-ass surfer.

SURFING 101:

Arvin is Gerard's surfing instructor. Arvin is a local in Baler and he's a very good surfer. He even won surfing competitions.

Before the actual surfing, Arvin enumerated the parts of the surfboard, how to paddle, how to stand on a surfboard, and safety measures when surfing. Gerard was listening intently to Arvin's lessons and instructions. He even helped Arvin put some wax onto the board.

Arvin: Tara na sa dagat!

Gerard: *gulp* Um…okay!

*SPLASH*

*PADDLE*

*WAVE*

*STAND*

*SWIIIIIIISH*

*SPLAAAASH*

At first, Gerard failed to stood on the surfboard because of the strong waves and his knees were shaking. After a few attempts, he finally did it! Gerard robo-surfed! His surfing experience went on for about 40 minutes until Gerard and Arvin got out of the ocean.

Gerard cant really explain the feeling. He was stoked! After his surfing experience, Gerard now wants to be the first robot surfer instructor and show off his washboard abs! He wants to go back to Baler soon!

Gerard left a mark...

Special thanks to Travel Factor.

absoluteLEE awesome

Have you ever had to convince someone that your partner is not a robot?


I have.


A couple of weeks ago I was having a drink with Gerard, Nimu, and Nimu's boyfriend Jake. It was one of those "biglaan" meetups we have every once in a while. And while Nimu and Jake were busy making googly-eyes at each other, Gerard and I used that time to catch up a bit.


Gerard: Are we waiting for someone?
Me: Yes.
Gerard: Who?
Me: My girlfriend? She'll be here in a bit.
Gerard: Girlfriend??


At this point our conversation stopped for a bit because Gerard kinda rambled on about how love is love, and how it should not be limited by stuff like gender, age, or even biological make up.


Gerard: So, how is she like?
Me: You'll see later.
Gerard: Come on! Tell me nooow!
Me: Well, she's weird.
Gerard: Is she a robot?
Me: What? No! She's just.. different.
Gerard: I bet she's a robot.
Me: Will you cut it out!


The "she's a robot" argument went on for about 20 very disturbing minutes until around the time Lee, my girlfriend, got there.


Gerard: *whispering* Hey dude, I have good news and bad news for you.
Me: What?
Gerard: Good news is that your girl is pretty. The good news is that she's a robot.
Me: What makes you say that?? Wait what's the bad news?
Gerard: What? Uhh. I forgot.
Me: *What the f**k face*
Gerard: Don't look at me like that. It's you who's got a girlfriend who's a robot!
Me: How can you possibly prove that??
Gerard: She's good-looking.
Me: Yeah. So?
Gerard: Robots are good-looking. She's cool too, right?
Me: Definitely, but that doesn't mean--
Gerard: Typical robot!!! And lemme guess, she's nice too huh? And awesome?
Me: Yeah but--
Gerard: She's a robot, man. That's what being a robot is all about. Trust me.
Me: You need an oil change, Gerard.

After that he asked to have a picture with her taken, to which I agreed to, but only after Gerard promised not to try to sync with my girlfriend through her "USB port". Up until now it scares me just trying to think of what he meant by that.


Thinking about what Gerard told me, I'm convinced his logic circuits need some checking. But on the other hand, one thing I know about Gerard is that he knows everything about what being a robot is all about. And if being good-looking, cool, nice, and awesome, is what being a robot is all about, then maybe my girlfriend is a robot. And because of that, I feel fortunate. ;)




Happy, sleepyhead!