SouthofMetro Goes to Lake Tahoe

It's travel time.

Every year, your Souith of Metro blogger goes somewhere else outside of the metro south or even the country. This time, I'm touring some parts of the United States. Here's one area I went to on a day trip: to far away Lake Tahoe in California.

It's the first day of April and the ice hasn't really melted yet. Last week, snow has fallen again and has almost buried this upscale place --- over 6 feet in many places.

Here are some pics I took of scenic Lake Tahoe:

Snow-covered cafe and restaurant

Still piles of snow everywhere

A kiss over the lake while a jet whizzed by

The blogger with Sweetie

A pine tree towers over an SUV

======================================================
HOMER NIEVERA Business Development. Social Media. Digital Marketing.
 http://homernievera.net/
Follow me on Twitter: bnievera

Hot Pandesal with Reno Liver Spread & Dari Creme

I love Hot Pandesal.

When I was a kid, Hot Pandesal was always paired with Reno Liver Spread or Dari Creme. For the 30-somethings and up, this statement brings back a lot of memories.

I remember waking up at 5 in the morning to jog with my parents along Reposo Street from our small apartment in Taguig Street in Santiago Village, Makati City. My main motivation was not the exercise. It was going to the bakery along Reposo Street and buy Hot Pandesal.

My mom always joked that I'd fill my little hands with all the pandesal I could get hold of. During those times, palaman was a luxury. So if there was Reno, that was heaven. Ah, there will be no other liver spread for me other than Reno! As for the butter or margarine, Dari Creme was considered bootleg. My dad worked for San Miguel Corporation so all products at home had to be. Anchor Butter or Magnolia Butter was our staple. We'd have Dari Creme or Queensland butter once in awhile. :)

Reno and Dari Creme are part of Generation X...the so-called Martial Law babies.

As everyone in my generation would say, life was so simple then. Not much complications. Staying home was boring. Playing out in the streets till the Meralco lamps lit at 6 in the evening was the in-thing. No Internet or cellphones. We'd go to the libraries and study. I'd borrow Hardy Boys books and be part of the detective squad. In school, I'd be playing tex or cops and robbers.

Game-and-Watch or Atari were luxuries for the well-off kids. I'd be out in the basketball courts or in street courts challenging for limahan and win a Litro of Coke. We'd bike all-day or play tumbang-preso, pepsi-seven-up, piko, siyato, or patintero. For me, those days were blissful.

So there. On this lazy Sunday morning, as I have my breakfast with bread spread with Reno, and the other with Dari Creme (now, in Lite), I get happy flashbacks of my childhood. I feel so blessed that I've seen happier days. I may have more money in my pockets today, but I had less worries then. I come to realize that especially today, peace and happiness are priceless.

Thank you, Reno and Dari Creme -- you made my day! :)


(homer nievera)

Baliwag Lechon and KTV: Perfect at Cafe Havana!

Baliwag is lechon manok. Period. Wrong.

There are three Baliwags in in BF Homes Village in Parañaque City. Two sell lechon manok and the other pata. Three are along Aguirre Avenue. One of these is a Baliwag restaurant where besides serving the best lechon manok ever (!), they also run a full-service restaurant. What's more, they have a family KTV called Cafe Havana. I bet many of you didn't know that huh? :)

We have been regular customers of the restaurant for about three years now. But we haven't been to the family KTV until recently when after attending a Friendster rock concert at Festival Supermall in Alabang, the kids and their cousins decided to do some singing themselves.

So there we went to Cafe Havana. The place is like your usual family KTV excpet that it's more cozy and doesn't smell like a "pugon" due to cigarette smoke. I guess the ventilation was really quite good. On weekends, you have to come a bit early since many frequent the place on Fridays and Saturdays. You'd think that the lots of cars parked just go to Baliwag Restaurant to eat. But many would move to Cafe Havana (just right beside the resto) and stay till 2am.

There were 7 of us. We were charged 50 pesos per head per hour, non-consumable. We spent a total of PhP 1,500 for food, drinks (including a pitcher tequila and 2 beers) and tips for a two-hour session. Not bad eh?

So the next time you're thinking of doing some videoke in the area of Parañaque, Las Piñas, or Alabang, try visiting Cafe Havana. Go for a cheap fiesta-type of a dinner at the Baliwag resto first, then belt your heart out after. It's worth the experience.