The food of Frazzled Cook

My food posts are always late. Goes to show you that although I enjoy eating, I am not a foodie. Either that or I'm just really tamad. Anyway, this particular visit happened months ago. As in months ago. But, late though it may be, here it is.

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After the great success of Marcia Adams, which was followed by a smaller, purpose-driven ocular in Tagaytay that led to Breakfast at Antonio's, I once more coerced Joe into joining me on another food adventure. Although he really got the raw end of the deal because I made him take responsibility on where we would go. Again. *cue evil laugh*

That night the trip led us along the twists and turns of the side streets of Mandaluyong where, hidden like a true treasure, was the cuisine of (a) Frazzled Cook.

the sign

I'm not sure why a restaurant would name itself like that. It conjures up images of a kitchen in disarray and harried attempts to feed hungry mouths. Not very appetizing. But name aside, The Frazzled Cook wasn't frazzled at all. In fact, when you step inside, you instantly feel a relaxed, homey welcome. The interiors takes off from that same design philosophy you see in so many restaurants now: the coordinated mismatch (not the official term, I made that up. hahaha), where furnitures don't match but seem to still artistically blend together. Personally, I find this kind of decorating very hard to do since it's way too easy to turn the place into a holy mess. Thankfully, the execution here was quite tasteful.

an actual dining area (the owners had dinner there that night)

the main dining area

We were seated by the corner of the restaurant which also happened to house the most ridiculously large collection of fortune cats I'd ever seen! Shelf upon shelf of golden, waving cats. Hahahaha.. It was quite a site to behold. Especially because a great majority of them were actually in motion! Not quite in unison, but definitely enough for you to notice. And to make you laugh.

meow to the nth power

if I wave my arm, will I be lucky too?

Joe had the foresight of calling the restaurant ahead to pre-order one of their best-seller pizzas, the Pizza Caprese, to minimize our waiting time, as well as to serve as an appetizer. Forgive my poor memory, but I think it came with a side of garlic chili oil which you would drizzle on the pizza for added flavor. But either way, I remember the pizza being delicious. I will  have to say that it was my favorite for the night.

lovely thin, crunchy crust with delicious cheese

the cute little pitcher contained the garlic chili oil

For the main dish I decided to splurge and went for the rack of lamb. I was a little disappointed though that it turned out a bit tough and was difficult to slice off the bone. I can be very thorough when I eat, leaving a very clean bone behind. But I couldn't do that with this one and I found that very frustrating. The meat was tasty though, but I didn't quite enjoy the eating experience as I would have wanted to. When I come back, I'm likely going to try something else off their menu. Just for variety.

rack of lamb with cottage potatoes and mint & herb reduction

(nadadala ako sa ganda ng title. hahaha!)

A really cute touch I found was their cutlery. It had Hello Kitty on it! Hahahaha.. I'm honestly not a Hello Kitty fan, but it was cute to suddenly discover your spoon had a design etched on it. You could hardly tell, unless the spoon is hit by the light properly. But when we discovered it Joe and I spent quite a bit of time trying to capture the image with our cameras. Thank goodness for macro focus.

can you see the kitty?

kitty up close

After dinner I decided to walk around the restaurant and try to capture some of the more interesting knick knacks that constituted their decor. Since the place was quite full I couldn't really get to some of the better spots and had to make do with where I could reach, without annoying some innocent patron.

they've got whoozits and whatzits galore

you want, thingamabobs? they've got plenty

postcards and things

Then, as with all things and all places, we took pictures of ourselves. :)

Yo! Joe!

people who like to eat

picture permutation #1

picture permutation #2

I suppose dessert at Frazzled Cook would have been great too, but we wanted to live up to being food trippers that night. So, on our way home, we detoured off into Bicutan stop at The Cake Planet and Cafe. I don't remember what I ate, but this is what the cakes looked like:

I took so long taking this picture Francis got mad at me na

A perfectly delicious, tho imperfect cake

enjoying the cake

 And guess who followed us to dessert!!!

the cat waves again!

All eating done on location at The Frazzled Cook, 916 Luna Mencias St., Bgy Addition Hills, Mandaluyong City. Tel No. (632)7825980 or (632) 7253354,  http://www.thefrazzledcook.com/ and The Cake Planet and Cafe at #91 Don Soledad Ave., Better Living Subd., Paranaque. Tel No. (632) 6212857. You can find The Cake Planet on Facebook.

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Hotel Hopping - 1st of a series

I'm very fortunate that my line of work requires me to travel. As far as I can remember, I have been obssessed with travelling. My earliest memories are of those boarding a Pantranco bus (that wasn't even aircon yet!) from Dagupan and traversing the long highway heading to Manila. Together with my brother and my mother, we would squeeze ourselves into those old barely 3-seater seats that didn't even recline. Since my brother and I both wanted to sit by the window, we employed a democratic process of sharing. One would have the window seat first, then after the stop over, we would switch. Admittedly, as the youngest and only girl, I got the window seat a lot more than my brother did.

When I was about 4 or 5, I remember telling my dad that my greatest dream was to board a plane. I'm not even sure what was it about travelling that excited me. At that age I don't think it was about the destination, but more about the journey. Even now, I think it still is.

That said, I thought it would be a good idea to share with you one of the best things about travelling: the hotel. Yes, I enjoy staying in hotel rooms. Although they can be very impersonal and often poorly-lit (didn't you ever notice? the never have lights in the center of the room. it's always just by the side, and it's always a dim yellow.) I love the fact that whatever state I leave my room, when I return it would have 'magically' righted itself. When you've lived on your own for 15 years, coming home to a cleaned up room and a made-up bed becomes one of life's true joys.

And I love having hot water in the shower. In my normal life, I live by the time-honored tradition of pinakulong tubig na binuhos sa balde. The tabo is my friend. But hotels bathrooms have temperature control, thick fluffy towels, a well-lit mirror and it is also 'self-cleaning'. hahahaha...

This entry is the first in what I hope is a series of posts about the different hotels I've stayed in during my trips. I'm a little hesitant to call it a review, but I'll try to put in as much useful information about the hotel as I can. But mostly, I hope to share the fun, funny and spectacular things that travel can bring.

Let's start with the funny...

My most recent business trip needed me to fly to southern Thailand, to a small provincial town called Satun. I arrived at the Hat Yai airport late in the evening but still had to take a 1-hr land trip to get to Satun. The trip itself was uneventful, except for the fact that for some reason, the van hired by the agency to pick me up, was also carrying with it two lolas. One sat at the back of the van, while another sat in front with the driver. Given they were already at retirement age, they probably weren't representatives of the agency I was working with. I thought they might have been fellow travelers who were hitching a ride home, but they rode with me all the way to the hotel, where they smilingly dropped me off as if to wish me a pleasant stay.

I had been pre-warned that the hotel we were staying in wasn't in the greatest condition, but was the best option in the area. Not a fussy one, it didn't really bother me. Having arrived at 11pm, the hotel was dark and the lobby was empty. It had a built-in-the-80's-and-stayed-in-the-80's feel to it. The furniture was all dark wood, giving it a very old atmosphere. And taking the elevator felt like you could probably have beaten it to the top floor if you took the stairs.

The room I got was spacious and functional, though it too had seen better times. But since I only needed it to spend the night, it would serve its purpose. I was afraid that the bed would be hard and the pillows would have no support, but to be fair, they turned out to be quite comfortable. As I could not control the temperature of the aircon, I was thankful that the blankets were thick enough to offer warmth. Over-all, I had a good night's sleep, all 5hrs of it.

twin beds for just one me

I initially took this bed, but moved when I realized the aircon was hitting it directly

The bathroom left much to be desired. But the water was clean and I could take a hot shower. That would do.

a very unflattering flourescent lighting

close up of the sink

Another thing to be thankful for was the strong water pressure. At least I didn't have to press myself up against the wall to catch the water from the showerhead.

the showerhead

the shower controls, which worked. so that was a good thing

But the best part of that stay were two discoveries I made about my room. Thank you Lord for a sense of humor and for throwing life's little laughs along my way.

First, when I opened the room cabinet, I found this, tastefully provided for the convenience of the guest, to service their needs:

 a balde in the cabinet because.. you know.. you might need it

Then, as I looked down, I discovered this post-modernist expression of art:

a plantsa-shaped hole on the carpet!!!

wahahahahahaha!!!

Can someone please explain to me how an iron-shaped hole got on the carpet. Please? Anybody?

Hahahahaha!!!

Pinnacle Wangmai Satun Hotel is located at 43 Satuntani Road, Piman, Muang, Satun 91000 Thailand. Tel no. (66-74) 711-607-8. Website: http://www.pinnaclehotels.com/. My accommodations were at 650Bht/night (approx. USD21/night).

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day off

On most holidays I'm more than happy to spend it assuming a catatonic state. Lots of sleep, lots of mind-numbing tv, lots of eating. On occassion, I will be inspired to get off my lazy bum and pursue the adventurous, active image I have of myself and do something new.

Then there are the days where you do a little bit of both.

For the 4-day long weekend we decided that the regular repertoire of DVD and/or movie-marathon needed spicing up. There is nothing wrong with watching 4 movies in 2 days or staying indoors to re-live the Star Wars saga. But I had just finished re-living Lord of the Rings so for the sake of my sanity, I needed to balance out all that sitting down with some standing up.

There were a few options thrown around: a food trip, a day trip, a hike or a walk around a garden trail. But one thing was for sure, it needed to be outdoors. If you've ever seen me, then you'd know that there is nothing about me that says, "outdoor-sy". I am squeamish about bugs and dirt and stuff that goes "squish" when you step on them. But when I have the chance, I can get down and dirty with the best of them. I am not a primadonna.

That said, we finally settled on visiting a forest reserve with the idea of having a picnic there. In my head I had images of flat ground, maybe a picnic table, and some trees for shade.

I got a waterfall, mossy rocks and a ceiling of leaves.

nature's touch

The falls was just a short hike up from where the trail started. Management was considerate enough to create a stairway for visitors to get to the top. The falls weren't steep but just gradually sloped down, with the water collecting in a pool at the base of the rock face. Halfway up we realized we weren't the only ones with the idea of visiting nature that day. A little off to the side we spotted a couple doing their pre-nuptial photo shoot and by the mouth of the falls, we could hear a large group of students (probably on a fieldtrip as they were all in uniform) frolicking in the water.

Not really in the mood to jostle for space, we opted to set up our picnic table by the foot of the falls, where the view was infinitely better anyway. Here, we could dip our feet in the water while enjoying the sound of rushing water.

what lay before me

our picnic table

Having packed sandwiches for lunch it was easy to sit back and enjoy the day. My only worry for the day was actually how to finish the gigantic club sandwich that was my share. It felt like no matter how many bites I took, it wasn't getting any smaller. Hahahaha...

starting on the sandwich

siksik, liglig at umaapaw

Being outdoors was quite comfortable even though we were out at the height of noon. Surrounded by foilage and water, the air was refreshing, albeit moderately humid.

loving the color green

After lunch we decided to make like monkeys and clamber up the rocks just to enjoy the scenery. The water was pretty clean and almost ice-cold, which made it a treat to walk through. The water wasn't very strong so it's not like we were in any danger of getting swept away. Besides, it was just fun.

go upstream like the salmon

falls up close and from the top

the obligatory cam-whoring shot

(you can see at the back where we set up our picnic)

Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

foot spa

Shot on location at the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), 52109 Kepong, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. Tel. No. 603-62797000

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