Insanely Mad

"People who love to eat are always the best people." - Julia Child

My sister and I love searching and dining at less-crowded and underrated restaurants not only because of the ambiance but most of the time, they have big servings at affordable prices. So, my sister and her boyfriend, Kuya Arvin, being their forever third wheel asked me to join them in trying out this restaurant called Mad Mark's Creamery  & Good Eats in Glorietta 5. They also have branches in Bonifacio High Street, Kapitolyo and their newest in UP Town Center. This restaurant is famous for their delicious and very tasty grilled entrees and their "made from scratch honest ice cream".

We went there before lunch time so there were no people just yet so we had a good place to seat and the atmosphere was really quiet. Their restaurant's theme is black and red so there is always a touch of any of these colors on their wooden interiors and furniture. There were also different photos and quotes of food posted on their walls. The waiter warmly welcomed us and gave us the menu. Since it was only our first time to eat there, he explained and described to us what were in the menu especially their best-sellers.

For appetizer, we tried their Cheese Steak Tip Fries for P160. When it was served, we were so excited to devour it because of its mouth-watering look and its big serving but first things first, we took a snap of it for Instagram purposes. It was definitely crispy and its cheese and bacon were really sticking on the fries so it was a lot more enjoyable eating it. You can also taste the spices they put in it. A very must try!

Cheese Steak Tip Fries

For the meals, Kuya Arvin and I ordered the Creolo Grilled Chicken for P245. I picked the Ragin' Cajun sauce and mashed potato for my side dish. My sauce was a barbeque flavor with mild sweetness and it is really recommendable to try it especially if you want spiciness on your food. But there are other sauces that you can choose from their menu just ask your waiter/waitress what the particular sauce tastes like. The mashed potato was the bomb! It was really soft and moist but still firm and it really tasted great. It had touch of spiciness on its sauce that made it more appetizing. On the other hand, Kuya Arvin chose cream mushroom sauce and bacon potato salad for his side dish. He let us tried his sauce and the salad and both of them were creamy and flavorful. My sister ordered Steak Nuggets and the photo here appears like it had small serving but believe me it will make you full maybe because of the spicy sauce that was paired with it. It was a little bit crunchy on the outside but really soft in the inside.

Creolo Grilled Chicken with Ragin' Cajun and mashed potato side dish

Creolo Grilled Chicken with cream mushroom sauce and bacon potato salad side dish

Steak Nuggets

I am giving my first dining experience here a 4.5 out of 5 because my tummy was stuffed with great and very yummy food. Their different grilling sauces are really the secret of why their food are more delicious because these really add to the pleasure of eating their grilled meal offerings. This restaurant is a match for my taste buds and I consider this as one of my favorite restaurants and I definitely keep on coming back. The next time I am going to try their ice cream because many say it is a two thumbs up. Overall, this place is absolutely worth the try and penny.

Let's Go Extreme

"We live for the days that spontaneous decisions become awesome adventures."

Part of my summer last year was spending it with my high school friends. Since we always want adventures and spontaneous trips, we decided to go to X-Treme Sports Adventure Park in Pansol, Laguna which is a smaller version of their branch in Puerto Galera. The place offers exciting and very fun activities such as mud karts, go-karts, ATV's and paintball. You can just choose what particular activity you are going to try but if you want to try some or all of them, they have package deals that have lesser price than when you acquire them individually. In our case, we each picked the P749 package. 

PACKAGE DEALS:

• P549 package - 3 big laps with mud kart and 3 big laps with ATV
• P749 package - 3 big laps with mud kart, 3 big laps with ATV, paintball game with 50 paintballs
• P999 package - 3 big laps with mud kart, 3 big laps with ATV, paintball game with 100 paintballs

When we arrived in the place, we were asked to register and pay first and then the staff accompanied us going to the field. It was basically an obstacle course surrounded by trees, mud scattered around the place, up and down roads and there were even pigs playing in the mud and that I did not understand why but they were too cute to watch. The field was really not big compared to its Puerto Galera branch and there were only few equipment that we could use and some were already close to being broken so we had to took turns on riding the mud karts and ATV's.

Part of the trail

Before every activity, the staff explained to us what we must and not do, how the activity must be done and how to drive the karts and ATVs. Mud-kart ride was our first activity and it was good that we were six because we were grouped in pairs. Joan and I were the first one to try the mud-kart and I chose to be in the shotgun. Joan's first attempt in driving was really smooth except for the parts where she had to accelerate hard so we could pass the terrains and it felt like we were going to be thrown at the cliff. It was very fun because we were splashed by mud a lot! When it was my turn to drive the kart, I was excited but a little bit anxious I might bumped it onto something. Well, I guessed my mind won because I kept on bumping on the old tires and I almost even hit a tree. I also accelerate very fast whenever there was a terrain and we were kinda literally flying and when it hit the ground we were really full of mud from top to bottom. Joan said she was terrified of me driving because I was really a reckless one. Haha! Our friends also did the mud-kart and the karts kept on stopping either it run out of gas or it malfunctioned. The two "kuyas" kept on saying to us that we must not hit the accelerator hard if there were no terrains yet but we were really stubborn and kept on driving really fast. Good thing they were really patient with us. Haha. 

With my favorite people

 

   

Our second activity was ATV ride and it was really extreme because it was much faster than the mud-kart and it was heavier to control and drive. We each had 3 lapses and definitely a great first time for me. I cannot wait to try it again!

Paintball was our last activity and we were given 50 paintballs each. We were also given the gears that we must wear and equipment that we were going to use. We were grouped into two and the staff explained to us the game, its mechanics, and how we would use our paintball guns. They also given us warning to be careful in handling the gun and it must not be pointed downwards because the paintballs would fall.  Another warning was to not hit anyone on her bare skin because it could be really painful. Since there are only three members in each group, they decided the game to just use and fire all the paintballs and the team who had the highest number of paintballs hit on the opponent wins. After orienting us, each team were given time to game plan and then we proceeded to our respective areas. I felt like a soldier in a battle during that time and it was really nerve-wracking because it was so quiet and everyone had the same goal of hitting her opponents. We were really focused, everyone firing and switching areas just to have a vantage point that would give us a good aim. It was totally a thrilling and adrenaline-charged moment!

Black vs Red

This headgear would really sweat your face but it looked cool right?

      

The great thing about that day was we were the only customers during that time so we had the place all to ourselves so despite the delays and the defects of their equipment, we still enjoyed it very much. We should had stayed only for two hours there but because of the malfunction of their equipment that the two "kuyas" kept on fixing, it got us five hours to finish all of the activities so it was still satisfying because they did not anymore counted how many laps we had maybe to compensate to their old facilities. But overall, it was an experience full of laughter, good vibes and intense positive emotions brought by my amazing friends, the countless stops of the karts and ATV's, the nervousness and excitement brought by the paintball game, and the very accommodating, friendly, patient and helpful staff they have that made this adventure very spontaneous and extraordinary. 

Where hearts melted and souls were saved

"We keep this love in a photograph 

We made this memories for ourselves

Where our eyes are never closing

Our hearts were never broken

And time's forever frozen, still"

March 12, 2015 - the day I sang all my heart out, danced through his music's rhythm and let my emotions consumed me along with the crowd as he performed his every song perfectly like it was going to be his last. 

Ed Sheeran is an English singer-songwriter famous for his songs Lego House, The A-Team and Thinking Out Loud. Ed have won numerous awards from different music awards show such as Grammy's, MTV Video Music Awards and Billboards Music Awards. He became really popular to people because of his songs that all can relate to and all may experience.

Ed Sheeran is my favorite artist of all time. His music makes me fall in love, makes me feel excited, makes me ecstatic, makes me calm down, makes me feel lonely and even makes me feel nostalgic. That is what he does - he puts me on a roller coaster of emotions. He strikes me right in the middle of my heart and I cannot do anything but to surrender to his music.

Credits to owner 

Ed played almost 20 songs from his new album "X" and from his former album "+". He played continuously for almost two hours without any big production, backup singers and band. Just him, only him. He was a one-man band and that made his concert really different. He owned the stage and gave everything he could just to make his fans beyond contented and we all felt that. We felt his great passion and love for what he was doing and that made me admire him so much more.

Being able to experience his Multiply concert was one of the best things that happened in my life that while writing this, all the feels from the concert goes back to me all at once. It was something very special and unforgettable. From the moment he stepped on the stage, I knew that it was real that my dream of seeing and listening to him already came to life and I knew that the entire night was going to be so wonderfully amazing and he did not fail me. He gave me more than what I expected and that I am grateful.

The stage

Too much emotions

"Should this be the last thing I see, I want you to know it's enough for me." 

One-man band

Thank you very much, Ed for a very beautiful night that I am going to cherish for the rest of my life. Your music gives everyone hope and makes everyone feel that they have someone to count on especially during their rough times. Your music saves and this world is very blessed to have you. You are definitely an inspiration.

Caramoan Islands: A Newly Discovered Gem

Sometimes, all you need is an adventure once in a while. To escape, to forget, to learn, and to make you realize what you have. 

A part of my Region V adventure was travelling to Caramoan Islands in Camarines Sur. Today, Caramoan has become one of the top tourist spot destinations in the Philippines but I really hope that it will not be like Boracay or other beaches that have become commercialized and become very crowded. 

We left Tabaco, Albay at around 4:30 in the morning and it took us two hours going to Sabang Port and another two-hour trip to Caramoan Port via motorized boat. We rode a boat again and yet another one hour and a half trip going to the island where we stayed. It was definitely a long commute by water but the incredible attractions that I saw made myself calm and at peace. 

Mr. Sun getting ready to start the day 

View going to the Sabang Port

Meet Harry, our boat. And Harry has a motto -> "Sa MV Harry, walang palakasan" Haha ☺

The human "salbabidas" 

I had the most intense and I can really say death-defying experience with this trip. With our last boat ride going to the place we were staying, we had no life jackets (thank you to the relative of Ate Miera, my sister in law, because he said he forgot our life jackets) and the boat was kinda overloaded. Despite these things, we still went on. We expected that the ride would just be for 30 minutes because the boatman said that it was near but lesson learned because I realized that when you are in a province and someone tells you an island or a place is "MALAPIT LANG", 90% of the time, it would take you at least an hour or more to get there.We were very giddy and excited during the first 30 minutes of the ride seeing the Mayon Volcano from afar, the small islands or islets, mountains, trees, fluffy clouds and of course the clear blue water. But when we felt like it was taking a bit quite long to get to the place and the waves were becoming very strong and sometimes were already splashing on our faces and we were the only one literally in the middle of the ocean, that was when we panicked. Panic in a way that we were just so quiet for the rest of the trip but we all know we were all nervous. Again, we got no life jackets and my dilemma of not knowing how to swim. Amidst all of it, we still reached our destination. Thanks be to God! 

The calm before the storm 

Very very very blue water...

....which means it's really very very deep

We were welcomed very warmly by Ate Miera's relatives in the island. We were taken great care of by them from the delicious meals, the comfortable place to sleep, accompanying us at our island hopping and making us sure that we were safe and their unlimited stories of the place and how they live everyday. These small things are what truly matter and will always have an impact to me whenever I get to visit a new place so I am wonderfully grateful for this experience.

Exclusively made for us 

Survivor Philippines: The Caramoan Edition ☺

The boat we were stuck on in the middle of the ocean 

Island hopping

I am blessed to have seen this real kind of beauty that we can always find in our own home, the Philippines.

Thank you, Caramoan. Until we meet again!