Week 2-4: Eat Pray Love is #BetterByBicycle (Part 1)

I remember when the film Eat Pray Love came out, the travel sphere in the Philippines was just starting to take off. I mean, sure tourists had been around since time immemorial, but it wasn't too long when traveling by  air became within reach of ordinary Filipinos. The presence of budget carriers made it  feasible for every Juan to go to far flung places. The internet also paved the way to the rapid growth of travel blogs, providing platform to share experiences and tips to enjoy places when on a shoe-string budget. Then all of a sudden, everyone seems to be off to somewhere, flooding the different social media platforms with pictures and videos of sun-kissed faces and bodies, pristine and white sand beaches with crystal blue water, sea of clouds, sophisticated architectures, colorful and sumptuous food! Every freaking evidence that one is in another place but home or work. Traveling for recreation and relaxation has become an essential part of a sane life these days. 

And I love that. I am an explorer myself, and to me, being in another place is an opportunity to experience and learn something new.  In the film Eat, Pray, Love, the protagonist, coming from a failed marriage and rebound relationship, decided to travel in pursuit of self discovery. In other places she found herself enjoying life through food, rekindled spirituality, and  falling in love. In short, some of the most important things in life. It's highly motivating, except that traveling requires funds. There's no free lunch in this world, and soul searching comes with a hefty price too. So what are the options for a third world country citizen with a meager wage? The answer is simple: Go local and travel by bicycle! Yes, it's possible to pull off a Liz Gilbert on two pedal-powered wheels! 

So in this three-part blog post, I will talk about how you can also do an eat-pray-love journey with my favorite transport medium, the bicycle. 

Eat

Grabbing a bite is #BetterByBicycle! 

I don't exactly have a connoisseur's palate, but I naturally love food so every now and then I eat out with family, friends, colleagues and sometimes by myself.  Being a country rich in natural resources, there are plenty of tourist destinations in the Philippines. My hometown, Tanay, is quite a popular quick weekend getaway destination to the Metro Manila peeps. That being said, it's natural to  have plenty of restaurants and cafes in my area. So when there's something to celebrate or I'm feeling lonely and would want to comfort myself with good food, it's easy to hit the road with a bicycle for a full hearted meal. So these are the places that I usually go to eat.

Kainan sa Tabing Lawa

They serve the best sinigang na kanduli (at least in my opinion)
                                                                            

If you ask me a food that is unique to my hometown, Tanay, I wouldn't be able to come up with an answer. All I know is that if you want food cooked Tanay-style, then this is the place I'd take you. I have fond memories of family get togethers in this place for as long as I can remember. Birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and sometimes, when we're just being lazy to cook. It's been here since 1967, balikbayans also frequent this restaurant. Whenever I have friends from the city coming in, this is where I take them and they all liked the food here. For curious out-of-towners, I recommend any sinigang or grilled freshwater fish. My personal favorite is the sinigang na kanduli sa miso. They also serve the best bagoong, you might wanna check that out. 

I have never eaten here alone though. It's always with important people in my life. They would be going by car or tricycle, and I would usually trail with my bicycle.  Sometimes when I'm going through a personal issue and we have a gathering here, I'd excuse myself from going, but my mother would insist that I come, and I would be firm about not going and we'd have a fight. We'd make up in the end anyway. In retrospect, I wish I didn't have to compromise the things that I value just to please other people because the truth is, I love going to these family gatherings. I love eating good food with the people I love, whether there's something to celebrate or none.  I know that one day, I won't be able to do those things anymore even if I wanted to. So never miss an opportunity to be merry. Just remember, it's #betterbybicycle 😁

Takoyaki Express

If you know me, then you'd know that I love all things Japanese. Hai! That includes food. Before the pandemic, the nearest Japanese food outlet would be Anitpolo City, but at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, while various businesses closed down, some new ones opened up.  Restaurants and eateries were among those businesses that flourished in my area. There was an existing Takoyaki stand in Tanay Town Center, but it never made a lasting impression on me. When I tried the Takoyaki Express, I knew I found a great Takoyaki! They also serve other Japanese meals like ramen and gyoza. The Ramen's not  bad either. And if you want to eat the Japanese way, they have a tatami-like area with low tables so you can sit on the floor and dine in traditional Japanese style. Another great thing about this eatery is they play anime music. Yosh! I would recommend going here to nourish your playful soul.

Sawasdee Tanay Thai Restaurant

 

From Japan, let's go to Thailand. Southeast Asian food are known to be spicy, except the Philippines. Our food is designed to satisfy our sweet tooth! The owner of this restaurant lived in Thailand for 25 years so you can expect an authentic Thai taste with their food. But the owner had also infused stuff that would make it appealing to ordinary Filipinos like me. I've only been to Thailand once, in Aranyaprathet and I only stayed there for like four hours (it was just a side trip when I traveled to Cambodia),  so you have to take what I said with a grain of salt ok? But I love their chicken Pad Thai, I once brought a bilao to school (in my bicycle of course) for one of our faculty meetings and my colleagues enjoyed it. Their Thai milk tea is also a delight. 

Daily Beans and Vista Barista

 

Now these are two cafes. I put them together in one section because I would pretty much say the same thing about them. They are both located in Manila East road but Vista Barista is in Tanay while Daily Beans is in Pililla. After a main course meal, I'd usually want to finish with a dessert or sweet drinks or coffee. Vista Barista have the best cakes while Daily Beans have the best smoothies and coffee. Now of course these two cafes are also serving full size meals, so they both make an ideal place to date or hang out with your friends or meet clients for a business meeting and even just be with yourself. I spent a lot of my time in my 20s in coffee shops, ALONE, after work, drowning my frustrations with coffee and sweet pastries 😅 so no judgement there ok? The thing about sweets consumption is that it's guilt ridden because too much sugar is not good for our health. But going there in bicycle sort of offsets that excess glucose right? I'm kidding, keep the sugar intake in moderation so we can enjoy a better quality of life during old age.

Now this post just made me hungry 😅

(to be continued)

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Food Photo credits:

https://www.facebook.com/KTLSince1967 

https://www.facebook.com/takoyakiexpress.pililla 

https://www.facebook.com/SawasdeeTanay

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063715397305

https://www.facebook.com/vistabarista