Travel Tour Expo 2015

Hooray for tourism! It's my first time to visit an expo that has nothing to do with cosplay or food or consumer products, which is why it was very interesting to go to this year's Travel Tour Expo. The moment you step into SMX you know they mean serious business because they booked all of the function halls of the first and second floor. I have no concrete quotations of SMX, but based from what I know, to be able to rent all of those function halls, it will probably be at 10-20 million pesos depending on other terms and conditions. But well, that's not a 100% sure quotation, but for sure it does not come cheap. 

I understand why they do this though. Last year, I saw that they earned 500 million pesos in the span of three days! THREEEE DAYSSS! 

That's because of a few factors probably. One is that the people who go here are ready to travel and come armed with their credit cards and dream vacations in their mind. Another is that travel agencies and airlines give crazily cheap rates for their services. And the last and most important reason is because you can only avail of all those aforementioned crazy discounts when you go to the expo. 

My Beloved Mang Larry's

Whenever I'm tired, down, or weary. There is only one answer to any problem, and that is Mang Larry's 

To be honest, prior to entering university, I had no idea what isaw was, how it was prepared, what it tasted like, or even the mere idea of even wanting to try it. The only mental image I had back then related to isaw was hepatitis, so yeah, you kinda get the picture. 

But well, things kinda changed when there was this day when I just wanted to try isaw and find out for myself. I tried the fried isaw at Mang Ramon's stall in UP (yes their fried isaw is also very good, especially during dusk as that's when they prepare fresh batches of them). I ended up getting smitten. It was a gamey, sweet, but umami-full taste that I knew that it was definitely not going to be my last time to get isaw for myself. 

La Preciosa's Carrot Cake

You know a place's carrot cake is special when it's the reason why people come back to Ilocos. Or that in the menu, they have the guts to call theirs 'the best.' 

Such is he charm, or maybe the greatness, of La Preciosa's carrot cake. If I'm not mistaken, these are made using the late Madame Preciosa's recipe which she has passed onto her children. I've already tasted great carrot cakes before, and I know that this is great in its own way. 

The last time I had a carrot cake as good was when I munched on Everyday Mom's carrot cake. The cake was moist, had a thick and velvety red velvet frosting on top, and was tasty. This cake, while different in some aspects, tastes great anyways.