Sabado Lafangan

I had brunch with the beautiful Pinays of Bangkok at Minibar Royale in Sukhumvit last Saturday. I don't normally go all the way to that side of town as the distance is tantamount to taking an out of town trip from where I live.

But the treat at Minibar Royale was courtesy of a prize I won from BK Magazine. So off I went with my primera amigas to a four-hour brunch in the warm and elegant atmosphere of the restaurant

They welcomed us with a bottle of champagne, which was infused with orange juice. Well, what better way to start brunch with such a fun company but champagne? Hahahah. Dahling, we don't have this in Surigao! Chozzz

After the champagne, we had some proper brunch consisting of some toast, bacon, and a seafood platter. I honestly could not recall now what those combos were called, but they were simply scrumptious.

About a couple of hours of chikahan later, tea commenced. We asked for some pomegranate tea and later on we had rose tea. They were diviiiine!!! I could actually get used to it. Choz! Tea was accompanied with bits of chocolate balls and a few sandwiches, which were all equally fantastic.

Warm thanks to the staff of BK Magazine and Minbar Royale for making our Saturday pretty special.

Apres brunch we walked to Emporium, one mall I hardly visit as well owing to its location, to watch Sex and the City 2. Every self-respecting bayot and their fag hag need to watch the movie, chai mai? Well, forget about the story of the movie, we were there for the clothes and the fabulousness of the girls anyway.

A short taxi cab later, we found our selves at a Filipino restaurant in Soi Pridi. On the cab, we were quite delighted to see another side of Bangkok, particularly the Sukhumvit side.

Whereas I live in the old part of town whose streets are lined by crumbling shophouses, what I saw in Sukhumvit were tall, glitzy apartment buildings instead (we saw an ad for an apartment costing 90,000 baht per square meter... I don't even own 90,000 baht!). The area was littered with bars, restaurants, and furniture shops, among other expensive venues. The traffic was also horrendous in that part of town ha. Even on a Saturday afternoon. Jing jing!

Having seen some parts of upscale, not to mention chaotic, Sukhumvit, I feel pretty lucky to be living on the side of the old city.

Anyway, on to dinner at the Filipino restaurant, where we were joined by the Pinay bakla contingent living around the area, namely, Miss Georgina Jones, Madame Rexona Gomorrah, and Binibining Martina Negra, whose lives appear in the wildly hilarious blog featuring their debauchery, Gossip Girl TS.

For those unfamiliar with Pinoy food, allow me to give you a lesson, dai mai? Dai!!!

We start of course with the adobo, the de facto national dish of Las Islas Filipinas. Adobo is a common household dish, a great reminder of home-cooked meals for us living away from home. There's a variety of styles for this dish (dry or saucy), but its main ingredients are vinegar, soy sauce, loads of garlic, and bay leaves. Adobo is mostly made of chicken or pork, and honestly, I haven't heard of any other meat used for adobo. It's safe to assume that every Filipino knows how to cook adobo because it's quite simple.

Let's proceed with dinuguan, which in English is called pork blood stew. Yes, dahlings, you read it right... it's made of pig's blood and is one of the best dishes in Las Islas, although of course not a lot of non-Filipinos can grasp the idea of eating pig's blood (despite the fact that many other dishes worldwide involve pig's blood). Swimming in the thick sauce of blood are tiny slices of pork intestines, liver, and heart, among other internal organs or parts of a pig.

 

Next is pancit. Any dish that's made of noodles is called pancit back home. The type we tried yesterday is called pancit bihon that uses thin, transparent noodles. Pancit is the quintessential birthday dish because the long strands of noodles supposedly represent the long life one wishes for the person celebrating his/her birthday. Pancit is usually a mix of sliced vegetables, some tiny bits of meat, mushrooms, and chorizos.

Lastly, we also had this dish of more strips of pork organs... from what I can tell it's made of liver and lungs, but there could be more in it. It's my first time to hear of such a dish, and have forgotten it since then (can someone help me ID this dish?). I guess we don't have this in Surigao yet again. But this is one other divine Filipino dish, which I believe is best eaten as pulutan (or finger food) to beer.

So there, that's my introduction to Filipino food for you, although don't believe everything I say coz food and cooking are the least of my interests. I hope though this somehow piques your interest in Pinoy cooking.