Cameron Highlands

Panoramic view atop Gunang Brinchang!

Dates of Travel: 5-7 June 2015

Mode of Transportation: 9 hours bus ride from Golden Mile Towers, Singapore to Brinchang, Cameron Highlands.
We departed SG at about 10.30pm on Thursday night and arrived at about 8am on Friday morning.

Because it was so last minute (our initial plan was to travel to Penang with four others, but I couldn't confirm my leave until the week before and they had other plans that popped up), everything was mad expensive. We looked at airfares to Langkawi, to Borocay, to even Krabi. We wanted something quiet and cheap. Thus, we looked to Genting (too noisy), Kuala Lumpur (too similar to SG) and even random islands off the East Coast of Malaysia (tedious to get to).

We're so difficult right?

Suddenly, G exclaimed "CAMERON HIGHLANDS!"

He's never been and I went when I was about 8 or 10 years old. I remember NOTHING and it probably changed a hell lot since.

-----------------------------------------

what a beautiful day!

Gerard's Place 

Address: Block Carnation C9 & C10,  Tanah Rata, 39000,  Malaysia (Located within Heritage Hotel compound) 

Tel: +60125885454

Website: http://fathers.cameronhighlands.com/gerards/

Room Type: Queen sized bed with shared bathroom

Price: S$45 per night for two person

We chanced upon this guesthouse by chance on hotels.com. We were searching for a nice accommodation/resort like establishment as we both needed a much deserved quiet weekend. It was a hellish few months for the both of us with our own respective burden of work.

We were looking at Lakehouse Resort, Cameron Highlands Resort and Heritage Hotel. Ex. Ex. Scary stories.

Scrolling up and down, we saw Father's Guesthouse and Gerard's Place (in the end we realized they're actually own by the same family). We chose Gerard's Place in the end because it was cheap-er (in terms of SG$), quieter and looks like a cozy place to just wind down the day. Gerard's Place only have eight rooms in total and out of the eight, only two are en-suite.

We tried desperately to book the ensuite rooms, but someone else was faster! :(

We stayed in a queen sized bed room. The room has a ceiling fan (there is no need for one because the nights are so cold!) and the windows have screens which are drilled into the frame so anyone from outside is not able to open it (G says, there's a trick and I wonder why he knows this). There's a cozy living room and the sofa looks quite beaten up, but still sooo soft and cozy nonetheless. Oh, they have cable with enough channels (Discovery, Nat Geo and even SEA Games!) to keep you entertained and on one night we were watching lions fight.

There's also a beautiful garden behind the guesthouse where I enjoyed many cups of tea, coffee and toasts (on the house)! Because of the cool climate, there are hardly any mosquitoes or flies. The grass feels lovely to step on barefooted. It was so lovely to be sitting out in the sun and basking in its warmth. The last time I enjoyed sitting out in the sun drinking a cup of HOT tea was three years ago when I visited San Francisco.

sipping my tea!

My only complain was that every time after I shower, I smell and felt like I swam 10 laps in the swimming pool. The water contained so much chlorine that our eyes turned red after every shower and the smell lingered on our skin for quite some time. Well, at least I'm comforted to know that the water is treated and safe to shower in!

I'm sure this is nothing Gerard's Place can control! Hey, at least it's safe right?

Oh! Due to our unlucky-ness, there was a family who moved in the same afternoon as us to the next apartment/block. Do take note that they are in no way affiliated or stayed in Gerard's Place & I just wanted to complain a little. They had about 5-6 little children who started screaming their heads off once they stepped in. Because we shared the same backyard/garden, they would come up to their balcony, stared at us, run off screaming and chase each other and than back to the balcony. We could hear them from our room because our window was facing the same garden and is just beside their apartment.

I was complaining to G that how can kids have so much energy to laugh, run, and scream for so many hours! He just told me to let them scream now in the afternoon because by nightfall they should be really tired and sleep.

Hell no. After dinner, showering and some TV, they were still running around and screaming (I kid you not) till about 1-2am. At about 6.30am, the kid will wake up and start crying for a good 45mins. Than at about 7.45-8am, the adults will wake up and chat and laugh and SING really loudly. It was almost noisy 24hours.

Oh Em Geeeeee...

Be warned! This is what you get when you stay in a guesthouse! If you stay in a resort/hotel, you can call the reception and complain. The hotel will do something about it.

Otherwise, the stay was fantastic! We were well taken care of by Anna who helped us book our trekking tour and took care of us! Also, special thanks to Jay and team who actually called me at 10pm the night I booked the room to let me know that ensuite is actually being booked by someone else so that we will not be too disappointed. I am so sorry to make you guys work till so late! They let me know that I am welcome to visit Father's Guesthouse if I arrived too early as Father's has larger facilities and more showers if that was what we wanted to do. They have more staff and a proper tour counter too. They also explained how Tanah Rata is a small place and that we could easily find our way around without getting too lost. They also warned me that it was the weekends + school holidays + public holiday (King's birthday I think), so it WILL be crowded and busy.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for pre-amping us, letting us know that we're already well taken care of even before arrival. It's truly #malaysianhospitality at it's finest.

Stuff You Can Do In Cameron Highlands!

Trekking through the Mossy Forest

Anna from the guesthouse booked a tour for us with Eco Cameron for the Mossy Forest tour. We were picked up at about 8.45am on Saturday morning in a jeep. The tour consists of visiting BOH Tea Plantation, heading to the peak of Gunang Brinchang & a trek through the Mossy Forest. The entire tour should last around 4.5 hours, provided there is no traffic. 

One reason to join a tour is that you do not need to navigate through the narrow and intimidating road filled with all sorts of bumps and portholes which leads up to the Mossy Forest. Also, with a guide, they are able to avoid the crowds and guide you off the beaten path. Of course, there's plenty of tours that brings you to the board walk which even ladies are able to navigate with their high heels.

Our guide, Raju, brought us into the forest and explained how Mossy Forests only exists at an altitude of 2,000m above sea level. That's the height where clouds gather and causes lots of condensation. The rocks, trees, basically, everything was covered in moss. 

pitcher plant

Raju taught us how the pitcher plant evolved, why the ground was so springy and how the whole eco system works. He was so passionate about the forest and you could see his main objective was always education. Educating tourists, education children, creating awareness about how fragile Mother Nature is.

On top of the world!

The whole trail probably lasted about an hour. It's a short trail, but we stopped frequently to take photos of pitcher plants, wild orchids and all sorts of plants and insects. It can get quite muddy if it is the monsoon season or if it rains. Raju said sometimes the mud gets as high as the knee. Be prepared to get dirty!

BOH Tea Plantation

BOH Tea Plantation

We next went to the Sungei Palas BOH Tea Plantation! Did you know all teas (black, oolong, green) come from the same species of tea plant? The way it is processed and treated is how the different types of teas are created!

rolling hills of tea plants

 There were no workers working on the tea plants as it was a public holiday. BOH tea is the largest black tea manufacturer in Malaysia! Also, another reason to join a tour (Eco Cameron for a fact) is that all visitors and coaches have to park their cars below the tea center and walk up a long flight of stairs to the factory and tea center! With the Jeep, we were allowed to drive right up to the tea center. NO walking or climbing at all! Besides the climbing, you have to navigate (yet again) through a narrow, bumpy and meandering road to reach the tea center. I would be so stressed if I had to drive up myself!

There's a factory (with tours available if you're early), tea shop, theater showing the BOH history and even a cafe! The view from the cafe is spectacular! Side note: The tea center closes on MONDAYS!

View from the cafe!

 As you can see, the cafe actually sits on the ledge of the hill, overlooking rolling hills of the tea plantations! You're able to enjoy a nice, hot pot of tea, cakes and cookies! As it was a public holiday, the cafe was crowded and we had a difficult time looking for a place to sit.

Tea plantation at the background

I had vanilla tea with raspberry cheesecake! The tea leaves are loose and they'd give you a small sieve to filter out the tea leaves. It would look more appealing for sure if the tea pot has its own built in filter.

tea time!

  Photo below taken with Raju, our awesome guide who has a wealth of knowledge. Also, our trusty jeep who brought us safely from each location and endured every bump, porthole and branch that Raju made it go over!

Raju, our fantastic guide!

Strawberry Picking

We visited the Big Red Strawberry Farm in Brinchang. We went to this place because it was the biggest strawberry farm on Cameron Highlands. What guidebooks and TripAdvisor don't mention is that, it is also the most commercialized!

strawberries everywhere!

 There's ample parking and the grounds are humongous! Besides having a strawberry farm, they also grow vegetables (butter head lettuce as big as my head), grapes, and all sorts of flowers. They also sell anything and everything strawberry.

enormous! 

trying to act cute

 I've never picked strawberries before and was SOOO excited. However, after we arrived, we were disappointed to know that they've stopped allowing visitors to pick them for the day. For a good reason I suppose. What strawberries we could see were so measly small and scarce. It felt like everyone on Cameron Highlands went to the Big Red Strawberry Farm, picked strawberries and left none for me. :(

fried ice cream!

Of course, I did the next best thing. EAT! At the cafeteria, they sell all sorts of strawberry dishes. From fried ice cream, to fresh strawberries with cream, to strawberry coffee, to strawberry pies and milk! Just WOW! I was a little overwhelmed initially as I wanted one of each item! I chose the fried ice cream (my childhood favourite) and fresh strawberries with fresh cream.

cutting into my fried ice cream

My word of advice, don't get the fried ice cream. It was such a disappointment. I haven't had fried ice cream in 10 years and was really looking forward to eating it up! The ice cream they used tastes so cheap that even the cheapest ice cream I can find in Singapore don't taste as bad as this strawberry ice cream. Doesn't take a genius to know that they don't make their own ice cream! I couldn't finish it and pushed it all to G for him to finish.

strawberries with fresh cream

 Now, the strawberries with fresh cream was not as disappointing though. The fresh cream actually tasted nicer as compared to the sucky strawberry ice cream in the fried ice cream. It is probably not in season, but the strawberries were not sweet and were rather sour.

I suggest that you ask a local where would be a better strawberry farm to visit. There are plenty around Tanah Rata and Brinchang with actual strawberries for you to pick! Sadly, we just didn't have the time to actually visit a small and cozier farm.

Cactus/Flower Farm

Within the same compound, there is a large area where they sell all sorts of flowers and cactus! We bought the small cactus as souvenirs at six pots for RM10!

so pretty!

My colleagues were so intrigued by the cactus that they actually named them. "Charlie the Cactus" keeps us entertained in a way no other plant can. We work in a stressful environment and it is nice to have cute cactus in the office to look at when we're irritated or stressed.

fluffy cactus!

too pretty!

sunflowers

Trekking in the many trails

Trails in Cameron Highlands

There are many trails around Cameron Highlands. One of the shortest and easiest trails actually leads to Parit Falls.

Parit Falls

 To get to the falls, you follow signs from Tanah Rata towards the bus interchange. Behind the interchange there's a road which leads you to the sign. After turning left, you'll see the markings of a trail and a river. It actually looks like the monsoon drains we have in Singapore.

The trail is very easy to walk to follow. Some parts of the trail will be covered in moss and it get slippery. We eventually reached the "Falls" after about 15mins walk which was absolutely gross. 

The water were all brown and there were trash everywhere! It looks more like "Teh Tarik" Falls because of the colour! It's really sad to see something which was meant to be beautiful turned so disgusting.

I really do not recommend going to the Parit Falls unless you want to continue the trail which will eventually lead you to Brinchang. To continue, cross the suspension bridge (which looks like it will fall apart soon) and up the trail.

suspension bridge over the river

Eating Steamboat

Another highlight about Cameron Highlands is eating steamboat! There this novelty of cooking your own food in a pot of boiling soup in the cool weather.

We went to Ferm Nyonya Steamboat Restaurant as it was the only restaurant in Tanah Rata with reviews on TripAdvisor. When we asked Anna from the guest house she also mentioned this restaurant. 

steamboat!

 We had two soups - Spicy tom yum & chicken broth. The set menu comes with Chicken, fish, seafood, other typical frozen steamboat dishes and tons of vegetables! The restaurant was jam packed with people and they had to sit us right outside their shop in a little corner. I swear everyone who walked past stared at our food.

The steamboat was so-so only. I've had better quality steamboats in Singapore (Hai Di Lao for example). Even though it is a Nonya restaurant and serve nonya food, I was looking through their list of Nonya dishes and they do not serve the iconic Ayam Bakuala!

Indian Food

Indians and Chinese are amongst the majority on Cameron Highlands. Thus, it is no surprise to find a plethora of Indian restaurants along the streets. We stopped at Restaurant Kumar which is located along the main road because the smell of tandoori and naan wafting through the air is too irresistible.

Restaurant Kumar

This restaurant is one of the most crowded as compared to the other Indian restaurant in the vicinity and it's no wonder why.

Teh Halia and Teh Tarik

The naan is made from scratch by hand and cooked in an urn by charcoal fire. The naan is soft and chewy.

making of naan

The tandoori is cooked in the same urn as the naan. It is juicy and tender as it is cooked using charcoals. It was truly one of the best tandoori I've eaten.

Tandoori

I forgot to take a photo of the naan before I tore into it. They give you a curry, dahl and the green chili thing which I didn't really like. The curry was really good though!!

Garlic naan with curry

We also ordered Butter chicken masala to go with the naan. The chicken is so tender and soft, like they've been stewing it for 4 hours or something. I used my naan to wipe the plate clean because it was so yummy!!

Butter Chicken Masala

Pasar Malam (Night Market)

Pasar Malam is a popular place to go to in Cameron Highlands. This Pasar Malam is located at Brinchang and is about 10 mins walking distance from the Big Red Strawberry Farm. It's basically stores in tents built on dirt roads.

This Pasar Malam is not be to reckon with though. It is huge! They sell more or less repetitive things like toys and souvenirs to fresh flowers and honey! One section at the bottom sells goods, while the top sells food. Behind the food section, is the clothing section. So imagine how huge this Pasar Malam is!

Nasi Goreng!

We were not that interested in the souvenirs though. I only bought flowers and honey. We were so excited when we arrived at the food section though! We got Ramly, pancakes, fried mushrooms, and goodness knows what else.

Roasting of chicken

Tips: Campervanning in New Zealand

Choose Your Campervan

There are many types of campervans out there in the market. There's really elaborate ones which are huge, comes with a spacious shower, kitchenette and sitting area. There's also really simple ones, very much like the one we rented, which is basically just a simple car with a bed at the back.

Types of Camervans

It really depends on your budget, driving skills and need for luxury. For us, we choose Spaceships which is basically a seven-seater car with all the back seats removed. A bed and a mini fridge are placed in instead.

Despite having a license and driven a car with manual transmission, we were not experienced driving a manual car on steep mountainous slopes. We live in a city where everything is almost flat and we drive an Automatic car. We wanted something which will be easy to drive while navigating foreign land.

Camper with side awning.

Also, we've heard stories on how windy (and now experienced) New Zealand can be. We didn't want to drive a vehicle which is too high (and catches the win) and difficult for us to handle, on top of the mountain pass no less.

Besides, there were only two of us, and we felt Spaceship has sufficient space for us!

This being said, we were unable to freedom camp because we do not have a toilet attached to our camper.


Electricity

If you decide to get the luxurious camper, you will not have a problem charging your electronics. There are multiple electrical outlets for you to plug in and use! However, if like us, you decide on getting a simpler camper, there will be no electrical outlet.

Electrical outlets

You possibly could get those phone charges where you can plug into your cigarette lighter compartment, however, I had a camera to charge almost every night and no car mart had anything of that sort.

We rented an external power cord (240 volt mains plug) for NZ$60 for the duration of our trip. Park  in a powered campsite and you're good to go! As we had quite a few electronics, we stopped at the nearest DIY store and bought an extension cord so we could charge four electronics at once.

I didn't take a photo of our electrical cord so I grabbed this from online. *Sorry* As you can see, the power cord is the orange wire.

Cooking

The Spaceship rental comes with a portable stove, gas canister, pots and a kettle. As we had to park in a Camper Park every night, we had the luxury of a proper and clean toilet as well as well equipped kitchens to cook breakfasts and dinners. G insisted on getting an extra gas canisters as he was afraid that we'd run out of gas to cook our food eventually. We never used the second gas canister and barely finished the first one.

Cooking our dinner

If like us, you plan on staying in a Camper Park, forget about the second canister! You have proper kitchen facilities to use and wash up! We only used the gas canister and portable stove at the Camper Park at Lake Wanaka and Franz Josef because the kitchen was quite a distance to our camp lot (and also because we wanted to use the stove).

Also, we saved a lot on cooking our breakfasts and dinners! We grocery shopped about every two days, or if we felt like we were pigs and finished all the food the night before. We bought meat, fish, vegetables, lots of perishables! Don't be afraid that you can't find a supermarket. There are at least a well stocked one in every city!

Travel time

Because we basically lived in our car, our travel time is flexible. We could take a break anytime we were tired. We also didn't go through the hassle of packing a small bag every night, if we were to rent a normal car and stay in motels. The car was our home and it was so fun!

Looking for Campsites

If you get a camper without a toilet, you're not allowed to freedom camp. Obviously, there will be no place for you to shower and do your business. Such acts in public are highly frowned upon by locals and even the police!

Campers of all shapes and sized

You’ll also see signs stating ‘No overnight camping’. Some of these are situated in places that only very disrespectful people would attempt to park up for the night (and sadly have attempted), such as outside someone’s beachfront house on a private road.

Also, at the rental office, you will be able to pick up a guide book on the various campsites around the country where you can park for the night. It will include the location, address, phone numbers and prices. On occasions, we were undecided on which campsite to choose from, we just drove right up to the campsite, checked it out and just choose our favourite!

Manila: Pearl of the Orient

Salamat Po!

War Memorial

Dates of Travel: 4th - 8th February 2015

I jumped at the opportunity when G had to travel to Manila, Philippines, for work. I've wanted to visit Manila for quite some time as some of my colleagues are Filipinos and the talk of their home just got me really curious. Also took this opportunity to visit some of my ex-colleagues!

I really have to apologize for the bad quality photos. I actually packed my camera chargers, accessories, etc etc, and I forgot to bring the camera itself. I only realized I left my camera on the dining table at home when I was on the plane to Manila. All the photos were taken using my iPhone 5. *insert sad face*

(Note: I'm just gonna start clearing my backlog of posts that I'm supposed to write, but got too lazy..)

Manila American Cemetery & Memorial

Address: Taguig City, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines 

Website: http://www.abmc.gov/

The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines occupies 152 acres on a prominent plateau, visible at a distance from the east, south and west. It contains the largest number of graves of our military dead of World War II, a total of 17,201, most of whom lost their lives in operations in New Guinea and the Philippines. The headstones are aligned in 11 plots forming a generally circular pattern, set among masses of a wide variety of tropical trees and shrubbery.

War Memorial

It is sincerely one of the most beautiful cemetery/memorial I've ever visited (not that I've been to a lot, but I've been to my fair share of cemeteries and memorial parks). It was a bright and beautiful day when we arrived. Bus loads of students were lined up at the bus bay and throngs of Filipinos were unloading their cars with snacks and children. 

students roaming the grounds

Despite the sun shining brightly, the wind was cool and we just wandered around aimlessly. Reading all the poems and messages engraved on the marble walls made me quite emotional. It brought back memories of movies like Pearl Harbour, Saving Private Ryan and other war movies. So many sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers lost due to the war.

There were marble pillars and columns after columns of which perished soldiers names were engraved on. It was such a shock to the system as there were SO MANY names, and I knew this was only just a handful, a small picture to what war is like.

Rizal Park

Rizal Monument 

Rizal Park (Filipino: Liwasang Rizal) also known as Luneta Park or colloquially Luneta, is a historical urban park located along Roxas Boulevard, City of Manila, Philippines, adjacent to the old walled city of Intramuros. Since the Spanish Colonial Era, Being one of the largest urban park in Asia, It has been a favourite leisure spot, and is frequented on Sundays and national holidays. It is one of the major tourist attractions of the City of Manila.  

Situated by Manila Bay, Luneta is also an important site in Philippine history. The execution of national hero José Rizal on December 30, 1896, fanned the flames of the 1896 Philippine Revolution against the Kingdom of Spain. The area was officially renamed Rizal Park in his honor, and the monument enshrining his remains serves as the park's symbolic focal point. The Declaration of Philippine Independence from the American Occupation was held here on July 4, 1946 as were later political rallies including those of Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino in 1986 that culminated in the EDSA Revolution.

It is basically just an open air park with benches and a monument. If you visit without the history knowledge of the park, you'd just dismiss it as just another park to have a picnic. As you can see in the blurry picture above, the flags on the right are Philippines and on the left is Indonesia. We asked a guide on why Indonesia's flag was up and they said that foreign ministers who visit Manila are usually brought to Rizal Park to pay their respects and the respective country's flag will be flown for that few days together with the Filipino flag.

Intramuros

Intramuros

Intramuros (Latin, "within the walls") is the oldest district and historic core of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Also called the Walled City, it was the original city of Manila and was the seat of government when the Philippines was a component realm of the Spanish Empire. Districts beyond the walls were referred as the extramuros of Manila, meaning "outside the walls".

Construction of the defensive walls was started by Spanish colonial government in the late 16th century to protect the city from foreign invasions. The 0.67-square-kilometre (0.26 sq mi) walled city was originally located along the shores of the Manila Bay, south of the entrance to Pasig River. Guarding the old city is Fort Santiago, its citadel located at the mouth of the river. Land reclamations during the early 20th-century subsequently obscured the walls and fort from the bay.  

Intramuros was heavily damaged during the battle to recapture the city from the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War. Reconstruction of the walls was started in 1951 when Intramuros was declared a National Historical Monument, which is continued to this day by the Intramuros Administration (IA).  The Global Heritage Fund identified Intramuros as one of the 12 worldwide sites "on the verge" of irreparable loss and destruction on its 2010 report titled Saving Our Vanishing Heritage, citing its insufficient management and development pressures.

What stark difference it was once you stepped past the thick stone walls into Intramuros. I felt like I time traveled into the past! Intramuros is so huge that there are a few schools and universities located inside Intramuros. There used to be seven churches, but five were destroyed during the Japanese Occupation.

snacking on dried mangoes

Despite it being the same day as when we visited the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, the heat was unbearable! It would have been lovely to just wander around the grounds and a really incredible place for photos, but my skin was burning from the sun rays and we were sweating buckets. I think the closed up stone walls played a part in scorching us. We were basically dodging from museum to museum to art galleries. We saw some Filipino families having picnics on the grass and I really have utmost respect for them. Unless the weather is like San Francisco's (office workers come out and play frisbee in office wear during their lunch), there's no way you'd see me sitting in the sun enjoying a picnic.

Manila Cathedral 

inside the cathedral

 The Manila Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica (Filipino: Metropolitanong Katedral Basílika ng Maynilà; Spanish: Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de Manila), informally known as Manila Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic basilica located in Manila, Philippines, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, the Principal Patroness of the Philippines. The cathedral serves as the see of the Archbishop of Manila, the de facto Primate of the Philippines.  

Located at Plaza de Roma in the Intramuros district of the City of Manila, the cathedral was originally a parish church owned and governed by the Archdiocese of Mexico in 1571, until it became a separate diocese on 6 February 1579 upon the issuance of the papal bull, Illius Fulti Praesido by Pope Gregory XIII. The cathedral was damaged and destroyed several times since the original structure was built in 1581 while the eighth and current incarnation of the cathedral was finally completed in 1958.

beautiful stained glass

We wandered into the cathedral as the shade looked so inviting. Having studied in a Catholic school for 11 years, I could appreciate all the beautiful statues of Mother Mary & Jesus. The stained glass is a work of art. Not only does it provide shade from the glaring heat and rays outside, it adds a nice touch to the whole ambiance. I spent a good twenty minutes just walking around and looking at all the stained glass windows.

stained glass windows

Each window depicts a different story in the Bible. One window would be about Mother Mary spreading the gospel, another is about the Holy Spirit.

Fort Bonifacio High Street

gah, so grainy

 Bonifacio High Street is a shopping mall in Bonifacio Global City, Metro Manila, Philippines located just near Serendra, Market! Market! and SM Aura. It is owned by Ayala Malls, a real-estate subsidiary of Ayala Land, which is an affiliate of Ayala Corporation. It opened in the 2007 and it is one of Ayala Corporation's flagship projects. The mall offers a mix of high-end retail shops, restaurants, amenities, leisure and entertainment in the Philippines. Currently, the mall has four sections, the first and second blocks are an open-air shopping, while the third block is a mixture of open-air and indoor commercial buildings dubbed as the Bonifacio High Street Central and the fourth block which was named Bonifacio High Street South or simply High Street South in which is a mixture of open-air and indoor commercial-residential buildings.

Thanks Ritzelle!

Many international brands are located at High Street. However, those brands there are what we could find in Singapore, we didn't shop much. We did visit lots of cupcake and dessert shops though! The whole area of Fort Bonifacio felt very safe (as compared to other parts of Manila) as there are a lot of police officers patrolling the area with police dogs, riffles or just patrolling in their cars. You could actually see people jogging or walking their dogs along the streets at night which is a very uncommon sight in Manila.

Abe Restaurant

Address: Mcarthur Avenue, Bonifacio Global, Taguig, 1630 Metro Manila, Philippines
Phone: +63 2 856 0526
Website: http://ljcrestaurants.com.ph/abe/

Klassik Kare Kare 

Klassik Kare Kare - Traditional tender oxtail stew cooked with tripe and vegetables in a creamy, rich peanut-base sauce

Chicharong bulaklak

Chicharong bulaklak - Deep fried pork intestines with special garlic sauce.

Abe's Knockout Knuckles 

Abe's Knockout Knuckles - Need I say more? Crispy pork knuckles!

Binukadkad na Crispy Pla-Pla

Binukadkad na Crispy Pla-Pla - Large tilapia, butterflied and fried to crispy tenderness.

Banchetto at A Venue Makati

street BBQ Food

 I'm sorry I had to use other people's photos. I was too engrossed in eating and ordering food and gawking at a whole piglet roasting over charcoals before my very eyes that I forgot to take photos. And when I remembered, it was so dark my photos turned out like crap.

Thanks Rose!

 So, Banchetto is like a huge Pasar Malam of sorts selling a lot of local street food. They had stuff like sisig, chicken intestines (still prefer pork though), pork knuckles, adobo, BBQ seafood skewers, you name it. The whole atmosphere was so lively and.. oily. I LOVE IT! There's even a live band playing.

sausages and roasted pork 

chicken intestines