What used to serve as home for a neurologist was turned into a home for local artists and the lovers of art. Perhaps, luck was not on my side when I embarked on a Tuesday trip to the east, one moment it was sunny and the next moment you know, raindrops started to flow in the windshield. If there is one thing I love about going to Antipolo, that’s giving the rain enough time to pour out everything until I reach my destination. Silangan Gardens and Pinto Art Museum contain all sorts of beautiful and unusual things, hidden in a 1.2 hectare property inside Grand Heights. Every spot, every corner and every scene is Instagram worthy, more photogenic than a human being if you ask me. The whitewashed cubicle museum reminded me of Santorini where each door and window open up to a refreshing picturesque. I was literally out of words when I saw this hidden beauty. The photos will do the talking and forgive my phone's quality of photos.

Each fragment gave an artistic connection (something I invented haha) even if I am no art specialist, just a small girl who appreciates visual portrayals of the mind and soul crafted through different medium.

How I got there: I rode an FX from Cubao (right under the MRT station) to Antipolo, dropped somewhere near Ynares Center (Php50) and then rode a tricycle (Php40) to Pinto Art Museum. The place is so popular now so you don't need to worry a thing. For "athletic" people like me and you want to exercise, you can actually walk from Ynares Center going to the museum inside the subdivision. Haha!

In Greek Mythology,Ἔλεος or Eleos is the personification of mercy. 

It is no surprise to see cafe and restaurants sprout anywhere in the city, Iloilo is getting better and better and more people are starting to invest on food. I make it a point to go out every week and search for places I can recommend to my foodie friends. At the same time, whenever a friend spots an interesting place to dine in, they have to report it to me. Haha! Just like this newly opened restaurant in Molo called Ἔλεος.

 

They also have a bigger dining space on the second floor, where I think the ambiance is the perfect place to have a cup of coffee and cheesecake. Ἔλεος has cakes and sweets, time to chill.

The Greek Cuisine is known to use one basic element in most dishes, the olive oil. They are mostly with vegetables, herbs and spices. Unfortunately, Ἔλεος doesn't serve Greek food. They have a variety of dishes like pasta, Filipino main courses and desserts. But what caught my attention was the names in the menu- all aligned to Greek gods and goddesses.

Poseidon's Adventure (Php159)

I was suppose to order Aphrodite's Romance but it was not available. Poseidon consists of Beef Stroganoff, your choice of Pasta Deleciosa and Garlic Bread. The Beef Stroganoff was creamy and beef was tender. They are best paired with pasta or noodles so I chose Fideo in Bacon and Olive Oil to complement it.

Hades' Triumph (Php159)

Lechon Kawali, your choice of Pasta Delicioso and Garlic Bread. In this combo, the Fettucine Tuna Carbonara was chosen. Out of the three pastas that we had, this one is my favorite and you can choose this if you are not sure of what to order.

Zeus' Delight (Php159)

Zeus consists of Baby Back Ribs, your choice of Pasta Delicioso and Garlic Bread. Sorry I was not able to taste this combo but my friend said it was good, maybe average- paired with Seafood Pasta.

They also have affordable rice meals, just plain rice, main course of your choice and side dish.

Beef Stroganoff (Php85)

If you love vegetables and conscious about your health or weight (like a dear friend of mine) Haha! you can have their Olympus' Garden dishes.

Eddieble's Pride (Php65)

This is tofu with garlic and mushroom. There are times when we eat Tokwa't Baboy at home and I always eat the pork part and disregard all the tofu part because I never really liked it. It's like eating a big lump of tasteless flour. But this Edidieble's Pride lessened my hate for tofu. This is a must try. Anyway, do you know what Eddieble is?

They have desserts like cakes and pies. More dishes in their menu:

Ἔλεος is located at Avanceña Street in Molo, blocks after Molo Plaza and before Asilo de Molo. Landmark near it is the Far Eastern Hardware. When commuting, you can ride a Villa Arevalo/ Oton jeepney from Iloilo City proper and look on the right side of the rode. They are open from Monday- Saturday at 10AM-9PM.

A few months ago, a lot of people asked me if I have already tried Matthew's Burger Cafe and they raved about how good their burgers are. Well, I have and I agree. Though they are a bit pricey compared to all the other bigger burgers in the city, the taste of Matthew's burgers can make up for the price.

Then again, I had the chance to go back after my blockmates went home from Manila. We were strolling at Esplanade when I thought of dropping by at Matthew's Burger Cafe as I was dreaming of burgers and pasta right after coming from Maasin's Town Fiesta. (I have a manly appetite I tell you) The place was dim and only half of the lights were turned on. We arrived late and they were almost closing, BUT thank God they still accepted us to dine in.

They serve burgers from around the world! It's your chance to taste tidbits of each country through Matthew's special burgers in Iloilo City. They have American, Italian, Mexican, Indian and Oriental Burgers. I always end up choosing what to eat from the menu (and because I was the only girl). So I ordered American and Italian Burgers, since these are the kind of burgers they are used to eating.

Italian Burger (Php150)

We improvised the lighting because it was dim. I asked the boys to turn on their phone's flashlights so I can take photos of our food. Basically, this Italian Burger has a ground beef patty, cheese, onion and lettuce. I love the soft bun of Matthew's burgers and the full and tasty patty.

American Burger (Php150)

I apologize, it isn't suppose to look like that. My buddy was almost going to cut the burger already when I told him I'm not done taking a photo of it yet. :) This American Burger is almost the same as the Italian only that it has strips of bacon in it.

Pesto Cream (Php130)

I wanted to eat this with chicken but to my surprise, it tastes good with the patty. It has the perfect blend of pesto cream (not too "liquidy") topped with basil and cheese. And I must say, this is my favorite!

Italian Pasta Ratatouille (Php130)

So far this is one of the best Ratatouille pastas I had, close to how the French prepared it. It has slices of zucchini, eggplant and some other vegetables I didn't look at. It also has a patty and topped with cheese.

Potato Wedges (Php100)

The potato wedges were okay but not too crispy. Nevertheless, I always love munching on side dishes while engaging in a good conversation with friends.

Red Iced Tea (Php60)

What can I say about this? It's a red tea! A friend got this while the three of us opted to have sodas in can. Matthew's Burger Cafe also serve iced drinks, frappes and smoothies.

No doubt, we were full after the chitchats and our pasta-burger-potato dinner.

Matthew's Burger Cafe is located at Cischo Building, Brgy. Mabolo, Delgado Street. It's near UP Visayas and Iloilo Doctor's College and they open at 9AM-9PM on Mon-Sat and 11AM-8PM on Sundays.

This month was full of get- together events, parties and catching up. Too funny that everyday since the 16th, I had an event or gathering to attend to. Aside from being tagged as The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, December is also known as The Busiest Time of the Year, the reason for the lack of posts lately. For the past weeks, I took a break from projects and I spent, most days with friends and family. I have never felt that happy- to personally talk and see people and not just over the internet conversations, to share about our experiences spontaneously without checking each other's smartphones or tablets and to enjoy every moment while inspiring each other's outlook in life and the future. Nothing can beat going out and seeing the world with your bare eyes than staying at home, face to face with your laptop.

My HS classmates and I thought of having a get-together a.k.a Christmas Party at Smallville 21. It was a chicken, pasta and pizza night. Though everyone barely made it, we still had fun for sure! They are always my favorite companions because we can get crazy, crazier or craziest without minding what they think. Isn't that a great comfort to have such people exist in your life? We sang at the top of our lungs and even made an epic music video. :)

We went home to Dumangas to spend time with the whole family (papa's side). Though I am a city girl by heart, I love the rural vibes too. I've had so many childhood memories in Dumangas. I remembered walking in the rice fields, picking flowers I have never seen before and pretend to fish in the lake. The inner foodie in me runs in the blood. :)

Once in December every year, my course mates and I go out together and talk about many things- usually work and technology (chos!) Most of them came from Manila so yeah, it happens seldom. Although when I was in Manila, this happened most of the time. Haha :) We had dinner at Giligan's in Smallville. I'm so happy that Giligan's decided to have a chain in Iloilo. While waiting for a vacant ktv room at Club21, we had our all time favorite Mojitos Tequila and played games. We always always choose this. We also feel very blessed to have a teacher/friend/buddy like Sir Bernie and today is his birthday. :) He is probably the coolest and funniest teacher because he goes out with us.

Another time was going out with my block mates who just returned from Manila too. Isn't Iloilo too lovely? I mean, I tell them most of the time that I never regret coming up with the decision to return home. These people know me too well. Imagine being together for five years in Engineering, including summer classes, field trips and Manila adventures.

And of course, not to forget the people who survived the wrath of Typhoon Yolanda. We had our third leg of Medical-Optical and Relief Operations at Ajuy through UC. The first two were in Lemery and Concepcion. I had my own Rated K moment, just kidding! The kids were given slippers and school supplies. They underwent stress debriefing and I must say they are slowly able to cope up. The survivors were also given medical and optical assistance and medicine, clothing and food.

We visited Northern Iloilo and the traces of destruction that Yolanda left are still there. Although most news were diverted to political issues, I hope we have not forgotten about what has happened to our brothers and sisters and we still have the momentum to help, in any way that we can. 

In Nepal, Masu refers to meat with curry, gravy and rice- which pretty much sums up what this Nepalese restaurant offers. Most of the Nepalese dishes is a variation of the Indian cuisine, the reason why I called it Indian at first. Indian- Nepalese. Since we love trying out something new, we had lunch at Masu Cafe in order to taste the level of their dishes' spices.

Beryani or Biryani Rice (Php170)

Biryani is a rice dish cooked with curry and chicken. It may look just like a standard cup of rice in the photo but it's really huge, good for 3-4 people. In our case, good for two people only. :) So we had two orders for this. The bottom part is surrounded with curry, stuffed with chunks of spicy chicken inside. And garnished with thinly sliced fried onions and maybe a yellow coloring. This dish isn't too spicy yet.

Chicken Curry Masala (Php180)

We didn't notice we were chicken filled. Basically, it looks the same like the yellow chicken curry that we have, only that the chicken curry masala powder (which is orange) is used for this. The sauce of this dish was best paired with the Tandoori Nan that we also ordered.

Chicken Pakoda or Pakora without Sauce (Php120)

Deep fried chicken with herbs and spices within. This one is also spicy but not very spicy so you can still eat this even without a glass of water beside you. It's crunchy and what I love about this is you won't notice you're actually eating vegetables.

Tandoori Naan (Php25)

A round leavened oven baked flat bread that we dipped in the chicken curry. :) I guess experiencing this cuisine wouldn't be complete without eating a pinch of flat bread.

Going to their interiors, the place has yellow walls, orange mats, wooden chairs and tables and there was a huge mirror on the side. Christmas is in the air! There was a mistletoe and snowman figures on the wall already.

If you are new to this cuisine, you can order what we've ordered. I assure you, you won't regret. Haha!

I tried to locate Masu Cafe through google map. When you pass by Jalandoni St., you'll see a carwash with flags and it has Masu Cafe on it. Also, it's across Magsaysay Road- the way to Sports Complex. :) I've been asked many times where exactly it is and I had a hard time explaining, so here you go:

There are, undoubtedly, mornings when I wake up- mornings when I have the strong urge of visiting a place by all means. I've had many failed attempts of going to Sagada in Mountain Province or dropping by Betis Church in Guagua, Pampanga in order to cross out items in my bucketlist before. But what's holding me from pursuing those travels was either the lack of time to go or the lack of security and boldness to protect my wee self.

 And just like any other mornings, I woke up and it just popped in my head that I wanted to see Miag-ao Church. I have never seen Miag-ao Church (that's what I can remember) and I have never commuted to Miag-ao, Iloilo. I remembered having a field trip in UPV Miag-ao but that was when I was still in 3rd grade, I barely remember how everything looked like. Miag-ao is an hour drive from the Iloilo City proper. I chose to go on a weekday in order to avoid being caught up in a fully loaded jeepney. And thank God, there were only eight of us. So I had the chance to occupy a large space sitting on the side and perfectly overlooking where we will pass through.

Miag-ao Church is listed as one of UNESCO's World Heritage Site, meaning that this structure is with cultural significance. The unique architectural style of this Baroque church captured the attention of tourists worldwide. (Yes my photos did not give justice as to how beautiful it is)

On my way to Miag-ao, I passed through Guimbal Bridge and I saw leafless trees, indeed very dramatic. They remind me of my childhood years- how "dark leafless trees under the sunset" were always my masterpiece during Art classes. I don't know if there is a psychological explanation for that.

Can't believe we studied about this structure in Engineering Mechanics classes. :) Summation of forces upward is equal to summation of forces downward. That's what I was taught.

The trees make me nostalgic, as if they want to tell a story behind how they became like that. It was a really lovely sight to look at. The only thing that's making me worried that time was the bridge. I was standing on the far side of the bridge and everytime a truck or some big car passes by, the bridge shakes as if it's going to collapse. lol

I know I could have taken better photos but I wasn't able to nail it. Haha. Most of the moment was spent standing in awe and being joyful that such beautiful places exist in Iloilo.