Holy week, after watching the holy procession in town, we have decided to dine in at BAIP’s Coffee Yard located in the nearby barangay. The coffee yard is famous with their appetizing food and colorful milk shakes.

When we came in at the front area where there are about two-three tables, there was no server around and it seems the place is a bit full (they still have room at their inner side, but you can’t fully see it from the hallway),  someone who knew my father offer their table since he said they are about to finish. We don’t  know if we should just barge in without the servers knowing, because we might not be seen right away when the place is busy.

In most restaurants I have been too locally and abroad, most restaurant has an usherette who welcome and guide their customers where to sit (which is very helpful for first time customers who doesn’t know how the restaurant works like), and even if they doesn’t have one there is someone from the counter/servers who will do the job or very smarty to do so but I guess everyone is busy. Gladly, one server tending/bringing food into a customer’s table went out and she saw us stalling, she guided us to a vacant table which is just vacated at the back yard.  There are other two other families waiting for their meal when we arrived, we are given their huge menu board, when my mother saw the prices she feels like walking out (hahaha).

We ordered the BAIP’s Group Meal which consists of six rices, six pieces fried chicken, one sisig platter, one pancit and a mason drink for ₱795 (this group meal is actually good for six persons) and three jars of milkshakes (Chocoloco, Rocky Road and Oreo) for ₱145 each and since sweet drinks isn’t allowed for my mother she got Cherry Frozen Iced Tea ₱90 for herself.

The food was served in about thirty minutes right after our neighbor table got their food, as we can hear from them, they have been there for so long and their food wasn’t served yet too. Anyway, their food was great, the chicken were juicy and the pancit was flavorful, but their sisig is just in between and their milkshakes were worth trying for, they’re very stylish and decorative. We are quite full on our meal that my mother has to takeout out the leftover chicken, I guess the milkshakes made us full.

If you are looking for a good place which is out of Odiongan town, BAIP’s Coffee Yard is must visit. It is  located at Brgy. Poctoy, Odiongan Romblon just beside Poctoy Elementary School and Bracelli School. It started as a simple coffee shop in a yard, but as of today their coffee shop/restaurant  has been upgraded to bigger and larger food place that can accommodate more people, when we visited the second floor wasn’t in used.

BAIP’s Coffee Yard
Coffee Shop · Restaurant
Brgy. Poctoy, Odiongan, Romblon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coffeeyardpoctoy/
Call 0936 968 0409
Hours Open: 2:00PM to 11:30PM

Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post. Above written post was my own personal experience and might be different from yours.

The town parade for Kanidugan Festival is one of the must see during Odiongan Town Fiesta and as expected many Odionganons flocked to town to see it. When we arrived in town there were already many people waiting for the parade and the main road wasn’t passable anymore. The parade have already started so we decided to see it where we are rather than finding a new spot.

Anyway, instead of watching the ground demonstration we have decided to eat lunch first because our grandma who is with us to watch the festival was already feeling dizzy, I think she was overwhelmed by the noise and the number of people around her.

Compare to last year where we ate at Laszaji Grill on Town Fiesta we decided to try the food at Mac’s Chicken & Barbecue Haus. This Barbecue house wasn’t a new one in town, it was been here for a few years already but we never tried their restaurant thinking their food is expensive just by looking how the place looks like.

When we came in, there were not many people around there are many vacant tables. The servers who are standing welcoming the group ahead of us just looked at us as we enter, and since maybe we are adamant where to sit someone finally asked if we are not included the group, we replied no and that was the only time we are given attention.

We seated on the table at the front corner near the bar since there was fan in there and it is spacious for us. We are given their menu and contrary to our belief that food is expensive on this restaurant it was actually cheaper than we could imagine.  We ordered their five orders of their chicken barbecue, a bowl of shrimp sour soup, a platter of chopsuey and fruit salads for dessert. The service is a bit slow, it took forty five minutes before our food was served, well at least the bottled water I have ordered were given first.

As we are waiting for our order, one server asked us to move to a new table (we are currently seated in a six or eight person table) saying that there might be other people who will come in. I was very disappointed, we are five people and she moved us to four person table when there are plenty of vacant table around since the place was spacious.

As what was expected when our orders arrived after waiting it for so long the table was too small to hold our food, our movement when eating is limited.  What’s more ironic there was only two group who came until we finishes eating our food and the table we are asked to be vacated has been empty until we finished eating and left the restaurant, so imagine how bad I feel being kicked out to a smaller table (lol).

Anyway, it was a good thing that their food wasn’t bad at all just  a little burn because if it was bad I’ll be sulking until we went out and I will never come back at this restaurant again. Their chicken barbecue was only for ₱99 with rice, coleslaw, sauce and with a bottle of small coke.

Unlike, many other restaurants you have to pay at the counter when you asked for your bill.  My sister pointed out the tip jar since she knew I have the habit of doing it but since I was disappointed I didn’t bother at all.

Well, if you are looking for a silent and spacious place to dine in with your family you can try Mac’s Chicken & Barbecue Haus and yes they have wide selection of food other than the chicken barbecue.  They also have “Eat all You Can” event during Sunday evening for only ₱199.

Mac’s Chicken & Barbecue Haus
Barangay Liwayway, Odiongan, Romblon
Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/MACSHaus
Mobile No. – 0920 925 7284

Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post. Above written post was my own personal experience and might be different from yours.

It was been a month since I have an update over here, it just came to the point I felt tired writing. Anyway, I will probably post backdated post for Sundays I’ve missed to post. My sister and I went to the town market today, we bought a kilo of fish at the wet market and pieces of bread at the bakery, for our father’s snacks at work.  Nearby the wet market there are two carts of street food, we usually buy to go street food when my sister and I have extra shackles for it.

Tonight they have plenty of lumpiang gulay (vegetable rolls), isaw (chicken’s intestine) and what they called dynamite, a stuffed green chilli peppers like the street food in Korea (gochu twikim) and since it is mouth watering I can’t let it passed. These street foods are always sold out every day and it is rare that they are still available.

Street foods are very popular in the street of Philippines and aside from the food I mentioned above fishballs, kikiam,  siomai, calamares, chicken and meat barbecue were very popular street food too among Filipinos.

A famous fast food chain “Jollibee” is soon to open in our province mainly in our town, the construction was rush that they’re working until night so they could be opened next month.  They’ve already hired employees, my sister applied but didn’t return on the orientation since there are some papers that are needed the next day and we didn’t let her as well since working in the fast food chain will not boost her resume in the future.

The other day, some staff from Jollibee are visiting house to house offering their opening promo which is you can reserved a ticket costing 650 pesos abou $15 and you’ll get a bucket of fried chicken (6 pieces) and throw pillows which are the fast food chains character, I have heard the chicken has also accompanied with rice and drinks.

I initially didn’t reserved since I don’t think I could pay them the money in a few days time but the second time they’ve returned which is just a few days ago to collect payments from the people who reserved slots I’ve decided to take one reservation, it will be my father and sister’s birthday in June so I guess their opening is in a timely manner so I could treat them on their birthdays, isn’t it?

The other day my father’s eldest brother and his wife went back to Manila after attending our aunt’s wake and burial. We invited them for dinner the night before their departure it almost didn’t happened since my older aunt also scheduled a dinner to their house but since it was figured a bit earlier they prepared lunch instead.

[Laszaji grilled chicken in an ice cream plastic container]

My father offered them a viand for their dinner in the ferry since there’s a piece of chicken in our fridge so my sister fried the piece of chicken the next day and let it cool down in our table, I put food cover in them but without my knowing the stray cat I adopted took one piece of chicken, which mean there is only three pieces left for two persons which doesn’t look good at all and since there is still one hour and half left before my uncle and his wife go to the port I have asked my mother and sister to just buy some cooked chicken at Laszaji grill their grilled chicken thighs was the best in town.  I have thought they would take long but they arrived home earlier than expected, the chickens were still on stick and wrap in banana leaves but since they will be brought as packed dinner we moved them in a plastic container were two of them will fit, a sole chicken without rice and drinks cost ₱60 per piece.

It is a tradition/custom in the Philippines to eat lunch in someone else house during fiesta, it was only the time that someone else house is open for visitors without needing an invitation. After watching the ground demonstration in school ground instead of going to my father’s contractor we went to Laszaji grill.

Laszaji was a newly opened grill house in town and since it opened they already catered many “chicken inasal” lovers in Romblon. When we arrived inside we sit in the table a bit but there was no food server coming to our table so we concluded we have to order at the counter so we did. They have a variety of menu to order from chicken to fried pork, vegetable dishes. desserts and etc but since Laszaji is well know for their mouth watering “chicken inasal” we ordered four orders of chicken inasal with bottomless ice tea and unlimited rice for ₱89 each and a plate of chopsuey.

It is a customary in any restaurant to a serve drink first before the main dish but that was not the case when we had our order, the chicken arrived first in our table, it was served late actually since we’ve waited for more than 15 minutes before it was served in our table maybe because there was plenty of people at that moment since it was town fiesta and it’s lunch time. What’s disappointing was I have already finished my food but there was no drinks coming yet and it turns out there was no clean glass to use. Since it was unlimited rice we asked for another servings, the chopsuey wasn’t served yet at that time but the drinks finally arrived in glasses, chopsuey was only served the second time we have asked for another servings of rice and since we almost choked from thirst the drinks didn’t last so we have to asked for refill since we’ve seen that they personally refill the glasses of our neighbor table instead of giving a pitcher of drinks for tables with bottomless drinks.

Travelling and eating at different places I have learned to leave something in the table for the server, according to J’s standard if the service is slow it doesn’t deserve any but since it’s town fiesta and the food servers are probably dead tired from walking in and out the kitchen I did. Actually, my parent’s at first doesn’t agreed with it since they both work in a restaurant on their younger years and they knew when a food server deserve something. The food server who was busy cleaning the table behind us was very apologetic of the poor service when my mother handed something to him, it was my mother’s idea to hand it over to him if I do insists on leaving something in the table since he was the one who frequently served in our table, she thought if we just leave it on the table somebody else would take it. LOL

Laszaji grill won’t disappoint you when it comes to their food, they’re one of the best in town and their food are in very affordable prices too. Maybe if you went on a different day without a town affair where almost everybody are out of their comfort zone, the service will be different since it won’t be so freaking busy. The grill was made of bamboo and pretty ventilated with wall fans so eating during warmer days won’t be a problem. Laszaji grill also offered catering service on birthdays and any other occasions for affordable rate just contact them at –

LASZAJI GRILL
Gen. Luna St. Cor. Rosales St. Odiongan, Romblon
Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/laszajigrill
Mobile No. – 0929 853 2973

Disclosure: This is NOT a sponsored post. Above written post was my own personal experience and might be different from yours.

Yesterday afternoon we are invited by  a relative to their house which is just a few meters away from us, the son of my aunt’s brother in-law is celebrating his second birthday. Her brother in-law just came home from abroad and he went home in the province with her wife and two older siblings living in the city to visit my aunt’s husband and family and celebrated his son’s birthday as well in their hometown.

The food was catered, there’s plenty of food for everyone and after eating there are some games for children administered by my older cousin. The kids enjoyed the loots and the food as well as the cash price for the games that were played.

Since my aunt’s backyard was a bit pebbled the kids move in the open field to play sack race and relay, dunno who win since we went home after eating like the most of the invited guests since the catering also packed their things after everyone ate.

The other day we made sumang kamoteng kahoy (cassava wrapped in banana leaves) since the suman we made more than a week ago was a hit. Some of our relatives who dropped by enjoyed it and since cassava are plenty and sold cheaply in the market because they were in season, we decided to make cassava suman again for snacks.

My sister peels the cassava and grated them while I manually grated the coconut and our mother was the one who mixed the grated cassava, sugar and coconut.  Unlike the previous one we boiled the suman using grated coconut milk since there’s plenty of grated coconut left.

Ingredients

• grated cassava
• 1/2 kg brown sugar
• wilted banana leaves for wrapping the suman

Cooking Procedure

1. By using a cheesecloth, squeeze the grated cassava to remove the juice from it and after combine the grated cassava, brown sugar and grated coconut in large mixing bowl.
2. Get a portion and put over the wilted banana leaves then roll and wrap properly.
3. Arrange them in a  pot, and boil them with water or coconut milk until done.

Children’s birthday are well celebrated over here when parents are can afford to held a party. My older cousin’s G youngest daughter celebrated her 2^nd birthday today and they have a celebration at home where relatives and neighbors were invited for dinner, there is a separate place for my cousin’s visitors and friends, and they’re drinking while singing at the videoke machine they’ve rented.

Well, we just ate and left. We didn’t stay any longer because nobody is left in our home; our father is at relative house, my older cousin G’s father exactly they are having their own drinking session. I have went home twice while everybody is still eating, the first one when I brought my left over food. I didn’t eat all of the food in my plate; I am saving it for rainy days I mean for tomorrow. I have thought if I ate a lot tonight it will be hard for me to digest all the food overnight, I am starting to gain weight again these past few days since I ate a lot of rice again.

The second time when I get ice packs, my older cousin G’s wife requested for an ice pack and I volunteer to get it since my sister is still busy with her food. When I went home our cats were following me in the street especially the three little kittens we found in a garbage pit, it looks like they were already hungry. I have to pick them and brought them home before leaving the house, older cousin G’s house is just across the street.

Anyway, to cut the story short after steaming the rice in the pot I have decided to feed the kittens and I throw a chicken bone to our dog I had from the birthday party but without my knowing the smallest kitten went directly to our dog making it angry so she bit the kitten leaving me shocked by surprised.

Well, while blogging right now I can hear the visitors singing in the videoke machine and I felt like crying hearing the older love songs, I am an old soul.

Today is our mother’s birthday, we have no plans to prepare something because we are financially lacking since my father’s a week salary was used to pay the farmer who harvested the grains and plowed the rice field, and our father wasn’t around too because he works out of town. But when they went to town in the morning, instead of buying fish for our viand, my sister suggested buying rice noodles so we could try something new and then it will look like a pancit too for our mother’s birthday.

My sister cooked it, and after lunch we went to town to buy cake since I have a little savings but before doing so, we went to the surplus shop, they were on huge sale again. We just look around and buy few shirts since we have no extra funds for them. The clothes too were bigger; I am quite thin now a days that I have to wear belt even on my daily shorts, after it, we bought the almost $8 chocolate cake roll for my mother’s birthday.

Well, at home I teased my mother that since she is already 50 years old, she should get matured now and stop being a child to us, that even a little thing she will ask us to do it for her. There are times I felt like I am the eldest of three daughters, and I have two younger sisters, my mother and my younger sister.  We always end up fighting because we don’t agree with each other, we have different perception and likes and to avoid it I learned not to middle on their business and insists what I think is right. I guess, I have grow so much and get tired of our little fights.