bloggingcaloy: Club Balai Isabel weekend @ Talisay, Batangas....

http://cly088.blogspot.com/2010/03/club-balai-isabel-weekend-talisay.html

Club Balai Isabel weekend @ Talisay, Batangas....

For those who were born in the sign of water and its there that you do your best, and the albatross and the whale they are your brother. When you have that beach urge but the suf is just too far away, the next best thing would be the lake, and the cleanest one near Manila is Taal lake. located at the foothills of Tagaytay in Batangas province,  Taal is famous not only for its lake and island volcano but also for its delicious seafood that abound in the area. I can attest to taals' tilapia as among the best there is. Then there is tawilis and the maliputo, arguably some of the best tasting fresh water fish around.

The nearest jump off point to the lake is the town of Talisay. At first glance, Taal seems like a typical rural town but then first impressions could be decieving. Hidden behind the facade are resorts a-plenty offering some of  the best the lake can offer. Club Balai Isabel is one of the newest resorts in Talisay. It as a membership/time sharing leisure club that is also open to the public (albeit at a higher price I suppose). It offers first class accomodations. The room at the lakeside villa that we stayed in had a 48 " lcd tv w/cable, kitchenette, hot and cold shower, 2 double beds, a/c and a prepaid wifi connection (cards available at the business center).

It has an infinity pool that has a splendid view of the lake.

It also has a lakeside area that is great for outdoor events and perfect for weddings.

The resort also offers amenities such as shuttle service within the sprawling grounds, water sports, lake tours and boasts of a floating restaurant which it calls the moby deep. Unfortunately during our stay, it was under maintenance. 

 During our stay, we opted to sample the local cuisine and found this little restaurant that offers fine food. Milan Restaurant along the national hi- way proved to be a wonderful discovery. This  plus the relaxing ambiance of the resort truly made for a relaxing weekend.

How to get there:

A.) take the south luzon expressway, exit at farthest point and take the Batangas exit. follow the road to star toll way, exit at Tanauan, turn right  then follow the signs along the national hi-way.

B. ) From Tagaytay, right at the talisay-tagaytay road (zig-zag and steep road), at the end of the road turn left to Talisay town proper.  

gastronomic detour

We were on our way to Club Balai Isabel at Talisay, Batangas, but traffic at south luzon expresswat being the way it is turned what was supposed to be a 2 hour drive into a 3 hour marathon of sorts. So instead of going straight to our destination we stopped by Paseo Sta. Rosa for a much needed pitstop. The time being close to lunch hour, we decided to have lunch at KANIN CLUB.. But before that we explored the environs of the place. above is a picture of my three girls posing by the SPEEDO outlet shop there.

by some stroke of luck, we got to kanin club just after they opened, I think we were the third batch of  customers, because by 11:30, the place was already beggining to get packed.  The place must be doing something well in order to get that many customers. We ordered the house specialty, Crispy Dinuguan. This is a take on the classice filipino dish but with a speacial twist, instead of regular pork, they used crunchy lechon kawali as the main ingredient. The texture of the meal changed dramatically although i found the dish to be a a little on the bland side. next time i'll ask for some fish sauce to go with it.
Another of our order was the crispy liempo strips. this makes for a wonderful appetizer or better yet pica pica food. there are 3 different dip choices to cater to one's tastes

The hands down favorite  was the crab omellete. although i  would have preferred it to be a little bit more over easy, it had the perfect sweet and salty combination that makes it perfect partner for a steaming bowl of rice!

Now who says that manila has a monopoly of fine dining to offer.And at around P 850 (hey its not fastfood!)for 3 viands, 3 iced tea (big serving!) and rice. It's not too heavy on the wallet The Kanin Club @ Paseo ( I think they already have a branch at UP Technohub) by itself makes the drive worthwile.

My Windows 7 experience...

I have been test driving Microsoft Windows 7 beta on a MSI wind netbook for a couple of weeks now and so far, Ivé got no major complaints. This operating system is still in the testing (beta ) stage and as such not all software driver components are bundled with it, the most noticeable of which is the camera drivers. I have been using the OS on a netbook with a built in camera and so far, have not been able to make the camera work. The same thing has been experienced by a friend who uses a Lenovo S10 netbook. But heck, what do you expect with a free test version..
Now, in my work environment, We are Windows XP lovers. Up to our latest hardware acquisitions, we specify that the OS should be XP pro. We prefer to be safe, so we did not really cross over to Windows Vista. Prior to XP, we were (and still are using) Microsoft NT. Test runs with Vista showed it to be a cumbersome OS with its user access controls (UAC) which prompts the user to confirm almost any action done with the PC. Good thing the guys at stopped at making the OS omnipresent, imagine being prompted by your pc "are you sure you want to use the toilet now" or "please confirm if you want to flush now"... Now that would freak me out!
So one of the greatest reliefs of W7 is that these UAC's have been minimized to the most important of functions such as software installation. Another good thing about W7 is that it is not as resource intensive as Vista. I think V has a minimum 2 GB ram requirement. Use lower ram and run the risk of a sluggish OS. So fat chance that it can run on netbooks. As previously mentioned, I'm doing this on a standard netbook with 1 GB ram and it works like a well oiled machine. Even the desktop graphic interface offers a seamless transition (wow, that was geeky! when in fact what i mean is when you hover the cursor over an icon the cursor shows active applications in bold while inactive ones appears in opaqe).
I have tried W7 on 2 types of HP printers and so far has not been embarrased with W7's plug and play capabilities. This is a plus point for Microsoft since similar efforts with Ubuntu operating systems , problems with the plug n play capabilities with HP printers were encountered by me ( but hey again, Ubuntu is free).
I think my test drive have not been exhaustive enough as to give a thorough review of the OS, but so far it has been an enjoyable ride. The shift has been a pleasant one, more like upgrading from a bare standard sedan to one with all power options. Same familiar ride but with a more classy drive...Hopefully as i explore further, i can share more of my experience with Windows 7.

At least the food was great...pacman delight!

Everything was planned out. Wev'e been looking forward to this for a long time. Rare is the chance to see a person ascend to greatness. And an entire nation, was looking forward to this ascent. Pinning our hopes to his gloves, proud to be part of his race. So groceries were done the day before, went to the market early to get the freshest catch. Anticipating a victory, a feast was planned. Charbroiled spare ribs and shrimp kebabs to go with carbonara pasta! truly preparing something as if pacman himself would drop by for lunch! And since its against my Philosopy to imbide spirits before noon, the plan was to get some (siyempre san miguel pale pilsen, ice cooled not frozen) as soon as the food was partaken. But alas, the best laid plans of mice & men are not meant to be! The spoiler in this case, as the case always is in apartment compounds, was the neighbors radio blaring the news as i was grilling! As iv'e posted in my fb, the ribs were done almost at the same time as the Hitman was! sure, there was never any doubt that manny would win, but Iv'e never expected him to win this way. After the long wait, it was almost anti climactic to hear and later see the much ballyhooed manchester mauler topple like that after 6 mins. It would have been perfect if it lasted till about 3rounds of beer, he he. But we take our blessing where we get them. That punch was perfect...knockout of the year! The Lord moves in mysterious ways, maybe it was His way of sparing Hatton from more damage. Imagine if Manny was able to unleash that punch after having been subject to pacmans barrage for a few more rounds...It would have taken Mayweather's mouth to mouth resucitation to revive Hatton! ow man, that would scar someone for life!

Short as it may be, it was a great show and also gave us the reason to prepare great food which we know call Pacmans delight!

returning....

It's great to find the time to post again. It has been ages since I last posted. Though the urge was always there to share, this thing called life always found a way to keep one busy. But when I replay the happenings these past months, although during those times it may not seem like it, Life has been really great! Got the chance to visit Palawan with my fam,visited my bro in bacolod, went on a roadtrip with friends, attended several IT training sessions, got to meet great people, injured my ac collarbone, got to play football again, watched Manny become a ring legend, renovated my toilet and kitchen, caught up with old friends...Whew! the list is endless. Hopefully i'll be able to write about these adventures and along the way, someone will be able to gain insight from these experiences...

So again, bear with me as I share my humble experiences in life!

weekend market @ the lung center complex

It has been said that in order to learn the culture of a place, one needs only to visit the local market/bazaar. This melting pot of society provides a glimpse not only of the food but also the customs and history of its people. In the provinces, it is sometimes called the "baratillo" which in my limited vocabulary translates to a place you can make "barat" or tawad. there are such places in Manila which hold such weekly activities. One is the organic market every sunday at the lung center of the Philippines compound. For those who have not tried this yet, this is a must go to experience. By food tripping alone, the trip is surely worth it. Cooked and uncooked, Filipino or imported gourmet food can be had dine in or take out at reasonable prizes. From crunchy turons to homemade paella, the choices are really plenty and the combinations sometimes weird (as you'll see later). I would recommend this to tourists and specially balikbayans inorder for them to rediscover what they left behind. The country is always not about airconditioned malls and fastfood joints. The Philippines has a rich and diverse culture and going here affords one a sneak peak at it.

Weekend Organic market @ the lung center: Operating hours 6-12 am every sunday

How to get there: From Manila, take Quezon Avenue going to Fairview, a few hundred meters before QC circle is the entrance to the Lung Center compound (entrance 20) parking is terrible if you come in late but it sure is worth it.

ADVISORY!! come early (7 am) in order to beat the sun ,park properly and choose the freshest goods. wear comfortable & loose clothing. HAGGLE!

Rating: for the food alone, this is worth it. for the dry goods, it is on the pricey side but if you are a good haggler.... Variety of goods is awesome. From produce, seafood, meats, deli's, pets... On a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the highest, I'd give this place a 4.

enjoy!!!!