Wooden Spoon: Wonder Foods

Reyna Blanca:

Stuffed Pechay:

Current hit among food lovers is Wooden Spoon on Katipunan Avenue in Loyola Heights Quezon City. Prices are reasonable with most dishes priced below P200 although servings are not really generous. But the good thing is that their food is great! The place is owned by Sandy Daza who has a column of course about food and restaurants in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

I have tried a number of dishes in this restaurant which specializes in Filipino cuisine. Lumpiang sotanghan (P95), wansoy shrimp balls (P95), binagoongan (P195) lemon grass chicken (P185) are good. A disappointment is the new addition to their menu, crispy fish which is actually a seafood take on crispy pata but this time using tuna. The fish skin with meat came out tough instead of the crispy skin and tender meat of the really good crispy patas.

What stands out is their stuffed pechay(P155) which is smokey tinapa wrapped in pechay and swimming in really flavorful spicy sauce. You can end your meal with the delightful reyna blanca (P65) which is a milk gelatin topped with pinipig and milk cream.

There are a number of dishes which I heard are also great so another visit to this restaurant is in my To Do list.

La Boca Colors My World

La Boca in Buenos Aires is famous for its houses and establishments painted in bold and bright colors. This used to be meat-packing plants, warehouses, and houses which the dwellers painted with leftover paint on the corrugated metal sidings of these structures. As a result, a charming community came about where you now have coffee shops, restaurants, art galleries and souvenir shops, and has become a favorite of tourists.

Puerto Madero: Modern Buenos Aires

Puerto Madero was Buenos Aires major port in the 19th century. Today, this old waterfront is a modern barrio hosts to gourmet restaurants, residential apartment lofts, and offices. It is the most expensive real estate in Buenos Aires.

You can spend a lazy afternoon here strolling by the river and having coffee, snack or dinner in the numerous restaurants in the area.

Cementerio de la Recoleta: 5 Star Resting Place

Recoleta is home to the wealthiest people of Buenos Aires. This is also where you will find one of the city's famous attractions the Cementerio de la Recoleta, final resting place of dead rich and famous of Buenos Aires.

Impressive are the tombs and sarcophagi with statues and elaborate carvings and ornaments. Argentina's most famous citizen, Evita Peron is buried here and her grave is the cementery's top crowd drawer.

Classic Buenos Aires

Teatro Colon

Ave 9 de Julio and the Obelisco

Evita Peron's Casa Rosada

Inside Galerias Pacifico Mall

Palacio del Congreso

Tango in San Telmo

Buenos Aires is a big city but with a classic European flavor with its colonial architecture, old world cafes and wide avenues. Its Ave 9 de Julio (which is the widest street in the world with 16 lanes) will remind you of the wide streets of Paris.

Interesting to see in this bustling city are bookstore ( named Ateneo) housed in what used to be a theater and the Galerias Pacifico which is a beautiful French style shopping center. There are a number of other prime attractions in Buenos Aires and these includes the Teatro Colon, Casa Rosada, Palacio del Congreso, and the charming old world of San Telmo.

It is easy and cheap to go around Buenos Aires with its bus system and the old but still reliable, Subte subway.

Beagle Channel: Black Beauty

It is easy to cruise the Beagle Channel as there are numerous tour operators who offer 4 hour day or afternoon tours for a cost of around US$60.

The boat tour will bring you around the almost black waters of the channel to see sea lions, penguins, rocky isles, lighthouse, and may include a stop on one or two islands. The channel offers scenic views of the surrounding snow capped mountains and many small islands, and as a bonus for afternoon tours is the stunning sunset at the end of the world!

Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego: Natural High!

What turns me on during my holidays are breathtaking natural sceneries. This is precisely what happened when I visited the Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego in Argentina. This is a coastal park with a dense forests and offers scenic walks and hikes along bays, rivers and through the forests. I came in autumn and this was the best time as there was a burst of colors in the trees.

It is easy to go to this national park as there are vans in the center of Ushuaia that will bring you to the park and back to the town. This transport operates on a hop on hop off system wherein you to get off at designated stops and then get on again. This allows you to truly enjoy the park at leisure.

Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego was truly one of the highlights of my holiday in Argentina. A natural high!