Choco-late de Batirol November 9, 2007

I have low tolerance for caffeine that even a bottle of Mountain Dew makes me palpitate. So when the need for the warm comfort of a hot drink arises, I opt for a hot cup of chocolate instead.

Finding myself cold, wet and alone during a recent wanderlust to Camp John Hay on one rainy September afternoon, seeing Choco-late de Batirol’s sign is like mirage in a desert. Except everything’s the other way around and oh yeah, the only dry thing I can account for are my undies.

Wooden seats amidst a flourishing garden, the place is indeed relaxing. Checking out the menu, I can only muse as how fast other cities outside Manila catch up, especially the prices. A cup of their choco-late does a P70-P90 damage on the pocket.

 

Stirring hot chocolate using a Batirol, a local wooden or brass stirrer, is an age-old tradition dating back from the Spanish. I order their Traditional Blend and oddly enough, the taste is as old as the recipe itself. The drink’s too thick and texture so course I might have been drinking ground cardboard.

 

I wish if ever next time I happen to be around the place and decide to drop by, it’ll be a more pleasurable experience.

Choco-late de Batirol is located at Scout Hill, Camp John Hay, Baguio City.

 

 

Cemetery of Negativism and Tales from the Graveyard November 9, 2007

Of all the cemeteries in the country, there’s one place you probably didn’t see any relatives visiting last All Soul’s Day. A very interesting sight at Camp John Hay in Baguio City, Cemetery of Negativism is a graveyard for negative thoughts that looks inconspicuously like a pet cemetery.

 

The animal figures on the epitaphs (about 15 of them in all) make Cemetery of Negativism seem like a pet cemetery.

Just makes me wonder, when a person is laid to rest, where do his hopes and dreams go? Unfulfilled and cut off from their dreamers, are they put into eternal slumber 6 feet on the ground just as people would like to believe about their dead loved ones?

As death comes, the sudden absence of life and its irrevocability gives us so many questions we cannot seem to have the answers for even after we cease to exist.

But even the living has lots of regrets in their emotional baggage. Sometimes as simple as saying what you feel is so hard. You have so much to say to a person but you choose to walk away. You act with the finality death brings. And then at some point in your life, you say, “Why didn’t I? It might have been..”

Living the rest of your life wondering is no way to live life at all. But honesty is so damn overrated. Yes, Oprah, sometimes words are better left unsaid. Feel broken, pick up yourself, dust off your negative thoughts and move on. But always learn from your experiences.

If you trust yourself, just think of it that in the future, you might even thank yourself. And hopefully, if you’re lucky enough, as you light your last ciggie and reminisce, your memories will bring a nice little smile to your lips.

Jugno’s Monster Pizza November 1, 2007

Just in time for our little family graveyard get-togethers is a monster you wouldn’t mind popping out in the middle of the night.

A Jugno’s pizza, in all its 20” monstrosity, is anything but ugly. On a thin crust is a gorgeous helping of toppings that promises not to scare even the conscious eaters out there who hate oily.

And the price is not as shocking as its size. For a 20” pizza that serves 6-8 people, they charge P400-500.

Our pizzas have two flavors each, both of them sliced in 42 square pieces. Another good thing about Jugno’s is that they give you a choice whether you want your pizza sliced into 8, 16, or 42 slices.

Pizza #1 is a Pepperoni and Beef n’ Mushroom Monster.

Pizza #2 is a Spicy Taco and Cheez Garlic Monster.

Personally, I like the Spicy Taco and Beef n’ Mushroom Monster. Sorry for who like their spice hot, but unfortunately, it’s not. But it’s still good though.

The pizzas also come with dips. Ours are garlic, salsa, and I don’t know what the other two are.

From the flyer, Jugno’s has been around since 2000. A friend who discovered it says it’s somewhere in Mandaluyong but she also says they don’t have space for dine-in customers so they only deliver.

Just like any good monster, Jugno’s is open 24 hours. So anytime you have a gigantic appetite to satisfy, call up 531-3756 or 534-0573.