Author: Rochelle Sy Chua

My Thoughts about Typhoon Ondoy

Over 2 weeks ago, we experienced one of the strongest rainfall ever in Manila.  Our country called the typhoon, Ondoy (Internationally known as Ketsana).

I think this is the first time, in a long time, that the whole of Metro Manila was affected badly by a typhoon. Even I, can’t deny that my house was flooded too!

The water was shoulder deep at our village.   It was a good thing there’s a ramp going to our townhouse that the flood was only knee deep outside my house.  Still it wasn’t enough to stop the water from entering the first floor of my house.   I was really afraid that the flood would have damaged the refrigerator that i just bought & other important stuff at the 1st floor. They are just too heavy to be brought upstairs, so i just prayed that it won’t be damaged.

Thank God, there wasn’t much damage. Unfortunately, people especially those who live in Marikina, Pasig and Rizal were greatly affected. It is saddening. This time, the victims are people we know, who are close to our hearts.

Sagip Kapamilya, an initiative by the Lopez Group of Companies was one of the 1st to extend help to the victims of Ondoy.

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ABS-CBN Kapamilya at the Sagip Kapamilya Telethon.  Photo by Lopez Link.

Their dedication to reach out and extend a helping hand is overwhelming. They even encouraged their talents to join the cause. That, is ubercool! The stars led by Kris Aquino urged the companies who own the products they endorse to help the victims of Ondoy. This resulted in a huge amount collected in such a short time and the effect was the ability to help thousands of families who lost a lot during the typhoon.

As I write this post, Sagip Kapamilya has already collected Php 118.1M in cash and Php 124.7M in kind. Three hundred eighty nine thousand five hundred thirty families have been helped.

Wow! Look at how compassionate Filipinos are! 🙂

I can’t help but comment at this forum at the Lopez site. The topic is named “Unang sumagip ang Sagip Kapamilya“.  I wanted them to know how I appreciate their efforts to help fellow Filipinos during this time of trial.

Today, while I watched Umagang Kay Ganda, a morning show by ABS-CBN, I found out that Ted Failon had a great idea that was turned into reality today. The idea was to have a portable shower for all the victims of Ondoy. It took Failon’s radio show, “Tambalang Failon at Sanchez”, 2 hours to gather Php 700,000 worth of cash donation for this initiative. Totally genius and useful!

I suggest you join the Facebook fan page of Lopez Link and be updated on their activities.  I too became a fan! 🙂

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Taiwan’s Ever-Famous Pork Stew Rice (燉肉飯)

You have to sample this!

When you visit taiwan, definitely, this dish must be on your must try. Taiwan is famous for their pork stew rice. My aunt kept mentioning this everyday while she was there, hoping we could order that on all the restaurants we’ve eaten.

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On my Aunt’s last day in Taiwan, my mom brought us to XiMenDing market. One of the restaurants there is famous for Pork Stew Rice.

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For just 75 NT, we were able to eat Pork Stew Rice (燉肉飯) (with free soup) and it was heavenly.

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Isn’t it obvious?

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More pictures here.

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至善園 (Garden of Perfected Benevolence)

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至善園 (Garden of Perfected Benevolence)
台北市士林區至善路二段221號
221 Zhishan Rd., Sec. 2, Shilin, Taipei, 11143 Taiwan

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After visiting National Palace Museum, do not forget to drop by 至善園 (Garden of Perfected Benevolence).  You don’t have to pay the entrance fee if you still have your ticket to the National Palace Museum (at the same day of course).  Otherwise, you’d have to pay 20NT as entrance fee.

Before you enter the garden, you will be able to see the site map by the entrance. Here are the attractions that we saw during our 15 minute visit 😛

Here is a video of the Dragon Pond. You’ll be able to see a lot of fishes and ducks swimming in the pond. The intertwining dragons in the pond symbolizes the omnipotence and magical benevolence of the Dragon..

The Pine Wind Pavilion has two floors. If you go up the second floor, you will be able to have a view of this beautiful garden. One interesting thing to note is the wooden pillars are carved with phoenixes and dragons.

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The West Bridge Pavillon stands by the water. It has a bridge that connects opposite sides of the shore.

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Chang Chi of the Eastern Han Dynasty wrote by a pond and washed his brush by it.  This is where the Brush Washing Pond is named after.

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If you happen to be visiting during rainy season, you won’t see any flowers. We were in such a hurry that we were not able to visit the whole area. I would really loved to have visited when flowers were in season.

Other pictures here.

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Daifu Noodle House

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Daifu Noodle House
886-B Banawe Street, Quezon City
(02) 412-2846

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Had lunch here while waiting for apple (my car) to be fixed.

I’ve been wanting to try this restaurant for the longest time.  I’m glad I did finally!  The food is so affordable and decently good!

Their dessert menu is just outstanding, if only we’re not out of time, we could have tried the desserts.  I promise myself, I’ll try next time.  I’ll blog again once I do 🙂

Here are what we ordered:

  • Beef Noodles (Php 105)
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I like their version of beef noodle soup though I still preferred the one served at Shanghai Hand-Pulled Noodles.  I guess it’s because there’s more flexibility like the choice of noodles there. Still, Daifu’s version is something we can’t neglect.

  • Fried Siomai – 8 pieces (Php 60)
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At Daifu Noodle House, was also the first place I’ve tried fried siomai. Yummy!!! You can easily mistake this as fried dumpling, but this is different. It’s really siomai deepfried. I especially liked that they added more skin w/c makes it crispier. The sauce is perfect for the dish as well!

  • KiamPong (Php 35)
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I missed eating kiampong for the longest time!  The last time I was able to eat one was when my mom cooked this for me a few years ago when she visited me here in the Philippines.  I can’t say that Daifu’s version is better than what my mom cooked because obviously mom knows best!  Her kimapong is to die for.

Daifu provides good serving so if you’re not much of a rice eater, you can share between 2 people 🙂

  • Deep-Fried Tofu (Php 40)
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They made a different twist to the usual fried tofu that we ate. Instead of having soy sauce, they opted for salt and pepper. I think it also had suger in it.

  • Special Iced Tea (Php 45)
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We ordered special iced tea. I do not recommend this!!! Well, it could be (we have different taste), but as far as I’m concerned, I didn’t like it at all. They used black tea instead of the usual tea. I guess black tea didn’t really blend with the other ingredients.

If you live near Banawe, this is a must try.  I’m just sad that I didn’t see too many people dining there. Hopefully people will start to discover it. I still want to try their desserts soon! 🙂

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Another Car-Related Matter

Here I am, just a little over a month.  Car trouble, again!  Poor apple (my car’s name hehe!). :'(

My car’s engine stopped working last friday. I ended up leaving my car near our office, while I hitched a ride with a colleague on the way home.

I consulted with several people, They had various suspicions on why apple failed me:

  • water entered fuel pump thus making it unclean.
  • overheat
  • spark plugs

All false alarms!  We finally saw that the problem was w/ the radiator!  It was cracked!!!

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That’s the reason why water kept leaking out & apple kept overheating.  Boom!  Apple broken 🙁  *sniff sniff*

Bought a new radiator for apple today (installation at Php 350).  I learned that there are 3 kinds of radiator we can buy:

  • metal radiator (Php 7,500)
  • plastic radiator (Php 3,200)
  • surplus radiator (Php 2,500)

I got the plastic radiator as the metal radiator is wayyyyyyyy over my budget.  Actually I never really had a budget for this, another unplanned expenses for me 🙁

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Hopefully, apple will not fail for me again this year.

Before I end my post, I would like to thank the ff. people.:

  • Echo for checking on my car last friday morning and shared several theories about car parts.  Found me a parking space as well that day.
  • Benj for helping me leave my car at the Caltex station & giving me a ride home last friday.
  • Jeff for accompanying me almost the whole saturday.  I really appreciate the time you spent helping me fix apple.
  • Alex, though currently in the province, helped me find good deals on radiator.  If not for him, I could have spent much more money.
  • my friends, colleagues, online friends who checked on me through text, YM, FB, giving me advice on what to do, offering help, etc.  

Allow me to send my greatest gratitude and appreciation for all the help & concern you’ve given me.  I’ll never forget this and you can surely count on me when you need help 🙂  Thanks friends!

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