Chateau Hestia

While driving around Tagaytay, Cy and I were feeling a little spontaneous and wanted to randomly try a restaurant that we've never tried before. This is how we discovered Chateau Hestia. A couple of friends have mentioned it before and all we had to do was do a Google search from our Samsung Star phone, then the site as well as Anton Diaz' blog about it popped up. While Cy called the resto and we began our search for the hidden restaurant, we read a couple of stuff about it such as how the owners promise really good food, a homey ambiance, and a peaceful experience.

We loved the fact that Chateau Hestia felt really private and laid back. Like you could read a good book and lounge in their backyard the whole day. We also loved that the place sort of feels like you are in a scene from The Secret Garden.

We were also impressed with the fact that the staff was very knowledgeable, very friendly, and accommodating, considering that they were pretty much on their own when we went there.

We decided to order the set menu of the day plus an order of their Ossobuco

We enjoyed the freshly baked bread and their special spread. The Lentil Soup was not so bad either

The salad was a little too basic, while my crusted fish was a bit inconsistent depending on which part of the fish you were eating. 

Cy was excited to try their Ossobuco as it is the specialty of the house but he said it was just okay. The dessert was very delightful and we enjoyed it a lot. 

AT the end of our dinner, we were given a taste of their homemade wine, which was pretty strong like sweet Absinthe. It was very warm but a little scary as it had super high alcohol content. 

Though we weren't totally impressed with the food, we still enjoyed our dinner at Chateau Hestia. We appreciate that the place and the food are thoughtful and that the overall experience was pretty relaxing and peaceful. According to our friends, we should have tried Bawai instead, but we still opted for Chateau Hestia because Cy and I are not too fond of Vietnamese food but a lot of people really rave about Bawai so we want to try it the next time we are in Tagaytay. What are your secret discoveries in Tagaytay? I would really love to know. Best comment could get you GCs at Qasa 61 :)

XOXO,

Kai :)

Ancient Temples in Ayutthaya

Head Buddha - Banyan Tree, Wat Maha That

I am now at the last leg of my 3-part feature of our Ayutthaya by River Sun Cruise tour. For those of you who actually followed the stories, I started this off with the cruise part of the tour from Ayutthaya back to Bangkok, then the second part was our visit to the Summer Palace, and now the third part is when we explored some of the ancient temples/ruins of this war-ravaged former capital of Thailand. Since this trip was in essence, a birthday gift for Cy, it was really all about what he wanted to see and explore. He's already been to the other tourist attractions (ie. The Grand Palace) and was not too keen on going to those places again and he made it pretty clear that he was more interested to see the better, well-preserved, rustic ruins off the beaten track so this was really the main reason why we opted for the Ayutthaya tour.

The first temple we went to was called Wat Maha That. Wat Maha That is a Buddhist temple in Ayutthaya, said to be part of the 6 royal temples of the highest class.  It used to be the spiritual center of the city. It experienced collapse and several restoration attempts at various intervals but now, only  a few important pieces remain. 

While Cy and I were exploring the ruins on our own, we saw a lot of beheaded Buddha statues and a lot of really majestic structures that we wished we knew more of its real stories--stories not of the tour-guide kind but really the in-depth, uncut versions, the likes of a Carlos Celdran would have known. Just being there felt strange, sad, and wonderful all at the same time--imagine how it would feel to know what these ruins have gone through years, and years ago.

The next temple we went to was the Wat Na Phra Mane Royal Temple. The temple is pretty small but apparently special because of two things--first, it was one of places that played a key role during the war with Burma and second, it is apparently one of the most expensive and one of the most intricate temples in Thailand. With its all red-gold, perfectly crafted interiors, I'm sure why it is said to be one of the most expensive and intricate. There are also two more personal interesting things about this place. First, according to my best friend, the lined-up Buddhas you see above actually represent which day of the week you were born and you should pray and keep a little version of your Buddha with you at all times as your guardian. Another interesting to note here is that outside of the temple are ladies selling simple gold bracelet and ring bands that apparently have blessed gold threads inside which brings luck.

The last temple we went to was pretty interesting but I unfortunately don't have my own picture of it because I was a little tired at this point in the tour, so I'll just lift one from another site (Photo from: Tiger Temple Thailand)


Wat Lokaya Sutharam is a HUGE reclining Buddha, symbolizing the posture of enlightenment or nirvana. It is believed that before Buddha attained nirvana and died, he lay on his right side, his right hand supporting his head, and the left hand resting over his body. The reclining Buddha is prone to discolor and have been restored several times, and may need another one soon.

This ends my 3-part feature of our Ayutthaya by River Sun Cruise tour. As mentioned before, this particular Ayuttahaya tour has been ranked as one of the top tours in Thailand and that's the main reason why I chose this for me and Cy. It was definitely an interesting visit, but could have been a lot more insightful and less stressful if it were more personal and less structured. I am not sure if there are tours in Bangkok similar to how Carlos Celdran does it but if you can research on that, then I think that would be an even cooler version of an Ayutthaya trip. I guess the more important thing about this post is that you guys try to do more interesting dates together. Ayutthaya is one of the oldest, Asian capitals in the world and it has a beautiful charm about it. Maybe not your usual date idea but so much richer don't you think? Have you guys been to Ayutthaya before? I'd love to know your story. Don't forget, best comment could get you GCs at Qasa 61 :)

XOXO,

Kai :)   

Cy takes me to see RENT ;)

In 2007, when Cy and I were still "friends", I gave him 3 gifts for Christmas -- one of which was the DVD of Rent, and it had a post-it that said "Here's something life changing". In 2008, when we got together, as a surprise birthday gift, Cy got all my friends to perform "Seasons of Love" for me at the Fully Booked theater and he made a little speech that said something like the DVD wasn't life changing...."Kai is life changing". 

In other words I am a renthead. I'm just passionate about it and I used to be super proud that the Original Philippine Rent cast was fantastic. I have everything of Rent I swear. When Rent gave the final curtain call in Broadway a couple of years ago, I thought I would never hear of any Rent show to be produced ever again--so when I found out that there was gonna be another one in Manila I was just super excited. 

Cy was asked if Chateau could come in as a food sponsor for Rent's gala night for ABS-CBN foundation and I'm pretty sure the only reason he really agreed to it was so I could be one of the first to see it haha. The day of the gala night I couldn't wait for the day to end. Then finally it was showtime!

I loved that they were true to what Rent was all about by starting and ending the show w/ a tribute to Jonathan Larson. The opening act seemed promising and it gave me goosebumps. However I though Act 1 seemed a little shaky but the cast redeemed itself in Act 2. Gian and Carla, as expected were amazing! I thought the chorus was pretty powerful and I love that the chorus was given the chance to shine. However I don't know who did the casting for this but it was obviously off with the selection of Mimi and Benny. I don't mean that the actors were not good because they are...but they were just not right for the roles. Mimi is one of the most likable characters of Rent and it just didn't work for me. I am not going to give my blow-by-blow account of this one in the interest of encouraging everyone to watch but I'll have to say that this was a bit of a showbiz version of Rent (and I'm not referring to the showbiz personalities in the cast). I am watching again on Feb. 27 and I am hopeful and positive that the show will just get even better.

After watching the show, I let Cy watch the Rent Documentary (I sort of force everyone close to me to watch this I swear I'm that psycho hehe). Cuz I just want Cy to fully appreciate every angle of Rent and show him what makes Jonathan Larson and his story so brilliant and life changing (He had a last-play syndrome after this)

Rent is one of the most creative and raw musicals of our time. For those who have not had the chance to watch or even hear about it, I urge you to try and get a ticket to go see Rent this month.

Thank you, Jonathan Larson.

XOXO,

Kai :)

"Eat Me"

No, I am not trying to be cheeky with my blog entry. "Eat Me" really is the name of the restaurant in Silom, Bangkok that I've been meaning to blog about a few weeks now. And this Thai-Australian owned fab resto has got to be one of the most refreshing, unexpected, and enjoyable dining discoveries Cy and I had in Bangkok.

The night we had dinner in Eat Me, we were a bit behind our schedule cuz we did a lot of shopping and some last-minute photo ops the same Saturday that there were various celebrations for the King's birthday so we were pretty busy and had time to squeeze in our dinner super late. Restaurants were already closing and Eat Me was one of the few that were still open at that time. I guess everything fell into place because without planning it, we ended up eating there and we were glad to have done so.

I guess the best way to describe Eat Me is that it's really where style and substance perfectly goes so well together. How many restaurants have you tried where you felt like they focused too much on making the place pretty and cool that they fell flat when it came to the food itself? And how many restaurants have you tried where they tried so hard to be "fusion" and creative that it just turned out really terrible?

 

 

In Eat Me, everything was unique, stylish, yet functional from the walls to the stairs, from the utensils to the restrooms. And in Eat Me, the menu is quite intriguing from the dishes, the flavors, and the texture.  The fact that it's actually a 12-year old restaurant (it opened in 1998) and yet it feels so innovative and fresh, proves that it's really ahead of everybody else

For starters, we were treated to some overflowing bread (we were starving!) and Cy tried a Laotian beer which was a little robust and heavy for Cy's taste but it was okay.

For our starter, we had the Roasted Parsnip & Apple Soup. Then for our main dishes, Cy and I shared the Baked Fish and the Fig & Blue Cheese Ravioli w/ Walnuts, Rosemary, & Brown Butter while my bestfriend Ken had the Black Cod w/ Saffron, Honey, Pinenuts, & Preserved Lemon. 

I know my photos don't give the dishes enough justice (it was pretty dark in our area), but you've got to trust me with this, when I say that the food is just absolutely delightful. I was particularly surprised (in a good way) with the Apple Soup and the Fig & Blue Cheese Ravioli. These were the kind of dishes that could have easily been horrible for being too ambitious but the flavors just really worked so wonderfully! 

Everything in Eat Me was just conceptual. Each floor was different, and in each floor, no two nook was the same. The restaurant housed as much creative food as it did with creative paintings that were both on display and for sale.  It just oozed with coolness and we really, truly enjoyed every sight and bite of it. 

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I think I've proven my point by now that there's so much more to experience in Bangkok beyond the touristy part of it all. I know that the markets and the street food sound more exotic and authentic but really...there's so much more in Bangkok to appreciate and discover.

XOXO,

Kai :)