My mom had plenty of stories about her recent trips, family that she met and places that she dined in. Maybe because of mom's stories, our feet got a bit itchy and we took an improptu trip to Nuvali in Santa Rosa so that the kids can feed the Koi and ride the water taxi.
It was hot afternoon but the kids (and me also) enjoyed ourselves immensely at Nuvali. We bought tons of feed from the vendor to feed the Koi. Each cup sells for just P15. Nuvali prides itself for having thousands of Koi in their man-made river. I even saw baby Kois joining the feeding frenzy.
The river taxi ride was a short one but it was fun for the kids nonetheless. Nuvali charges P30 per head for the river taxi. The river taxi ride lasts about ten minutes (maybe less) in a slow and pleasant speed.
It was such a hot afternoon, if felt like we were in the middle of summer. Ice cream was in order. We drove to Cliffhouse in Tagaytay to get some fresh cool mountain air and some ice cream and a rootbeer float from Cafe Breton. I also tried Fling, a frozen youghurt shop just beside Cafe Breton. I like it. Quite perfect after a hot afternoon baking under the sun.
We spent some time also at the viewing deck of Cliffhouse to look at Taal Volano and the surrounding mountains. The kids never rao out of questions about when the lava will come out, why can't we go to the volcano. Things like that. Kids are quite curious.
Come dinnertime, we decided to head back and eat somewhere close to home. We had dinner at Kanin Club in Westgate, Alabang. "kanin" means "rice" in Tagalog. kanin Club, as the name suggests, specializes in fried rice dishes. You can have different kinds of rice.
Kanin Club's best seller is the Fully Loaded fried rice which includes, pork bits, ham, egg. This is very rich and tasty. I also like the tinapa rice. The rice dihes at Kanin Club actually can stand on their own even without "ulam" or viand, the combination of the rice and it's other ingredients make them complete meals in themselves.
We also had Dilis Salad. Crispy fried "dilis" or anchovies with tomatoes, cilantro and vinegar. JJ liked this one. The fresh cilantro provides a nice "freshness" to an otherwise salty dish.
We've eaten at Kanin Club several times but both hubby and I never tried the Fried Dinuguan and it got us very curios. My brother highly recommends that. My brother being the spawn of my mom is genenetically predisposed to liking pork :-) The Fried Dinuguan is highly recommended BUT, the recommendation comes with a warning. This is a very fatty, cholesterol-rich and high on the list of "eat this often and you will die young" list. Let me explain why. Dinuguan, traditionally is made with pork innards (lamang loob in Tagalog), that in itself is already an artery blocker. After the pork innards are deep fried, the little crunchy bits are topped with the dinuguan sauce. Dinuguan, is a "blood stew". The black sauce that you see is pig's blood cooked with vinegar and other secret spices. I've never actually cooked this in my kitchen, but I've been informed that after making Dinuguan, your kitchen would probably look like a murder scene. So, I never made it at home :-)
Oh, we had other dishes too like, Crispy Tadyang (Beef Ribs), Fried Chicken (for the kiddies) and Binukadkad na Tilapia (butterflied fried Tilapia).
The taste of oil and cholesterol still lingers in my mouth. I've ingested too much pork and fried food today. Over quota for the week!
I think I'm gonna have to steal from hubby's Buko Sherbet stash in the freezer to cool wash down everything. He he he.
