30 Sep, 2008
A friend of ours had warned us NOT TO MISS the cistern, and she was absolutely right! This amazing ancient water tank is impressive not just because of its planning, engineering and implementation, but also because it has lasted some 1,500 years! Built around 500 AD, this was meant to store water…
30 Sep, 2008
Here is an ultra-easy recipe for chocolate crinkles from the book “The Essence of Chocolate” by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg. I don’t think I have ever made chocolate crinkles before, and I wasn’t a great fan of most chocolate crinkles as I often found them to be airy and overly sweet. …
29 Sep, 2008
It’s bazaar season again in Manila, and despite my panning the bazaar at the tent at the Fort last weekend, here are two bazaars which may be of interest to you… many thanks to reader Alexie for reminding me about these…
The Negros Fair at the Rockwell Tent. I rarely miss this bazaar which…
29 Sep, 2008
A Southeast Asian based television food program is thinking of doing an episode on Manila and street food, and they asked me to identify particular dishes and places to eat them. I told them I wasn’t a huge consumer of street food, more of a market person, so I thought I should put…
29 Sep, 2008
Going out on a Sunday “paseo” with Dad at the wheel of the car was considered a huge treat for us as kids. Maybe we would drive down Dewey Boulevard and end up eating lunch in Chinatown, or up “Highway 54″ and watch with fascination as chefs prepared pizza dough at the Village…
28 Sep, 2008
The stunning, architectural quality of the roses at the foyer of the Four Seasons in Istanbul, in this earlier post, is classic Jeff Leatham style. Mr. Leatham shot up to floral fame when he became the head florist at the George V Hotel in Paris and later, the Four Seasons Group of Hotels…
28 Sep, 2008
The Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul, at Sultanahmet, to distinguish it from their newer and possibly more sumptuous property at the Bosphorous, is one of the most highly rated hotels in Europe. Ever since it opened some 10 plus years ago, I promised myself that when we finally got to Turkey, we would splurge…
26 Sep, 2008
Adobo is often quoted as being the national dish of the Philippines, at its most basic, it is almost a pork confit with fatty pork, salt, pepper, bay leaves, vinegar, and garlic. But there are probably hundreds of variations of adobo across the archipelago and each home has their own preferred concoction. …