Recalculating: Robinsons Ermita

*All photos taken with Globe's iPhone 5c and edited with an iPhone app*

They say that when one falls into pieces, one is actually falling into place. A good ol' habit of mine, when I'm down, is getting lost. Literally getting lost somewhere in the busy streets of anywhere. Most of you would say "Oh no, Zoe! That's dangerous!"

Honey, I'm a blackbelter in Taekwondo who is also trained in 3 other martial arts. I bring a taser with me ALWAYS and I've got the street smarts of a serial killer. I am perfectly aware of the situations that I put myself in. I am a risk taker but I am not asinine. 

I walked (IN BRIGHT OPEN AREAS) from my house to Robinsons Ermita one random day (DAY. NOT NIGHT) with just my wallet and my phone. Random brisk walking laa dee daa. I suddenly felt my stomach kicking and screaming so I decided to go grab lunch. In the spirit of "kuripotity" (Being cheap. And yes I made that up. I wanted to make it up) I looked for a cheap place to eat that was at least mildly interesting. And guess what I found... Hohoho

The place is called CHA-a. At first, I thought it was some tea place (Get it? Cha-a? Chaa? Tea? Plus the fact that there were leaves on the logo...) until I saw this sign (below)

A set meal worth P85.00? Hmmm. Interesting....

It looks like this very classy "turo-turo" (Eng translation: "Point point". To point at the food to tell the server what you want to order)

Everything seems normal. You've got your drinks cabinet...

Then your actual "turo-turo"...

The desserts part with your sodas

The food looks lovely, may I add.

My order. Barbeque and veggies.

But something wasn't right...

The meat was absolutely delicious but the taste was weird. Something was wrong yet so right. That was until I saw this sign... (below)

HOLY SHIT.

ITS A VEGETARIAN TURO TURO RESTAURANT.

WOW. SO AMAZE. MUCH GULAY.

THIS PLACE IS A VEGETARIAN KURIPOT'S DREAM. The food was good. It was cheap. AND ITS HEALTHY.

Okay enough about CHA-a, back to my roaming.

I went out of the mall to smoke and saw this weird looking bell. To my surprise, it had Ateneo's emblem on it. Apparenlt, Robinsons Ermita used to be one of Ateneo's campuses.

Tis a pretty awesome thing if you ask me. Kudos to Robinsons for keeping the memories alive *tententennnn*

After my smoking session with myself *loner* I decided that it was time to go home. Unfortunately, my flats broke and it was impossible for me to go back home in the said worn out shoes.

So much for a cheap adventure. I bought new rubber shoes (Thank Jesus for credit cards) and walked back home.

So, have you ever gotten yourself lost in the city? Tell me about it!

Instagram me (@zoesandejas2012) or Dae (@daelee) with the hastags #ChalenG and #TaraG

Annyeonghasae-yo.

Dae and I are here at Balanga, Bataan right now.

Recalculating: Baguio (Day 1)

By the way, guys. Almost all of the photos that you see here we're taken by the Globe iPhone 5c. Its a pretty handy dandy gadget. Add no, this is not an advertorial (Advertorial- advertisement tutorial as pegged by Top Singaporean blogger Wendy Cheng/ Xiaxue http://xiaxue.blogspot.com )

Anywayyy. I went up to Baguio recently. It wasn't at all random because I was told that there was going to be a screening at YMCA for the students of St. Louis University. What was random was my trip going there though. Normally, I take a car going up to Benguet, but since it was so unplanned, I took a bus instead.

My ticket at Victory was for the express bus to Baguio at 1am in the morning. It was a 3 1/2-4 hour ride. The ticket was P750 so it was worth the price. The only hassle part about it was the fact that the inside of the bus was much colder than Baguio itself, which ranged from 18-4 degrees Celsius. I swear I'm not lying when I say that I wore 4 layers of clothes in that bus, plus a blanket.

Look. Its me. suffering. /wrist

I don't wear scarves but on this occasion, I had no choice. I had to borrow from my grandmother 2 nights before I left town.

Dat face of total disappointment at oneself. Asinine Zoe. Why did you pack only 2 jackets. Why...

It's been an age old tradition for my family to always eat in O'Mai Kahn.

Who is O'Mai Kahn? Please refer to the photo below.

Credits to Our Awesome Planet for the photo (http://www.ourawesomeplanet.com/)

Where is O'Mai Kahn? Its located at Upper Session Road (Engineer's Hill), Rizal Park, Baguio. Its open daily but the Mongolian is only open from 11:00 am to 2:00pm and 6:00pm to 9:00pm (You may call them at +63 74 422 5885) 

Its amazing how dedicated they are to their concept. They even made a portrait of  O'Mai Kahn.

Despite the large parking lot, finding a space is a huge problem especially during peak hours.

The smoking area which, by the way, is a gem in Baguio. Smoking in public isn't allowed. Since this restaurant is considered a "private" area (as per management), they have their own smoking area for you. Smokers, like me, are indubitably eternally grateful.

My mix of veggies and egg (no rice) of their mongolian area. It actually looks better in this photo (way to go iPhone). Doesn't matter how absurd your concoction is, it always seems to taste amazing. Its like they add some magic powder to it or something. Here's the thing, they don't add anything to it. The owner is a family friend (we're there more than 20 times a year for the past 20 years, the owners know our whole clan already) so they agreed to let me watch them cook. Nothing is added, nothing is removed. 

A fisheye version (because the close up one looks like disgusting mush) of my mongolian meal. Pretttyyy appetizing, yes?

After eating at O'Mai Kahn, we headed straight to YMCA *insert dance moves here* for the sceening of Dinig Sana Kita (organized by St. Louis University).

Look at dem adorabellez faces.

Look at how fucking full that convention room is...

LOOK AT HOW CUTE THIS KID IS *he sang after the screening*

There were 2 sets of screenings that day (estimated 1,500 people) so while the second set watched the movie (I only come out after they watch it), my aunt, uncle, and I (Yes. Those two children are my mom's first cousins...) decided to go to SM Baguio to get a drink (libre courtesy of Achi Zoe).

Then the most tiring but most fun part  o f the screening comes. The "Zoe-comes-to-socialize-with-DSK-fans". The picture taking. The AUtographs. The mini interviews. The screams that people do after I hug them or kiss them on the cheek. Honestly, I absolutely love it when I make people happy.

Btw, SLU. You were one of the best crowds EVER.

Yes we had selfies too. :)

This girl  is so cute I swear. And I absolutely love the photo that she posted. Hi jamvhillle! 

Here's another instagram post from nikkobwoy. Sorry if I abused my right to selfie in your cell, man. :|

That was Day one of Baguio. Day 2 will be posted soon!