A few months ago, making our way around Kapitolyo in Pasig looking for the inconspicuous Kanto Freestyle Breakfast, we asked a random trike driver if he was familiar with the restaurant. Without batting an eyelash, he pointed us the block at the corner of the intersection. We thought he was taking "Kanto" as kanto. You know, the Filipino term for street corner. Since all cities in the metro...

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Established in 1594 and once home to converted sangleys (people of pure Chinese ancestry), Binondo is the oldest China town in the world. Even before the onset of Spanish colonization in the 16th century, it was already a center of Chinese commerce. Today, the district still remains a hub of trade for all kinds of businesses, most notably restaurants and food establishments run by Filipino-Chinese merchants. It has...

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El Nido is love at first sight. After seeing and experiencing some of its islands, I fell irrevocably in love with it. It's one of those places that I'd gladly come back time and time again. The fact that I went there twice within a relatively short interval speaks volume of how much I love it. You see, I spent my birthday in El Nido in January of...

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"COME ON, MACH, YOU CAN DO IT!" They cheered, all nine of them, my friends and camp mates - my companions on this fun weekend climb. They were encouraging me to go on. I was sitting on a rather comfortable rock jutting conveniently beside the trail (a deus ex machina!), eyeing the summit from afar, silently cursing myself for being a wimp. "We're almost there!" They shouted back...

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Sagada, Mountain Province I'm not going back to Sagada again anytime soon, that's for sure. Let me set the record straight though that I absolutely love Sagada - it's one of the best places I've been to. It's nothing short of awesome to say the least. It's got a perpetually cold weather, enchanting caves and stunning mountain panoramas. But getting there can be a painful ordeal especially for...

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