Day 2, 3, 4 & 5 in Bohol – eating our way through the island
What can I say? What an absolutely bizarre trip so far, and I am certain more to come because of our mate Covid-19. My Mum could not come in. the end due to having a chest infection so bounced her Singapore trip. That trip also included us all coming to the Philippines so she could meet the family here and also see and stay at the house. With no Mum and no need to await someone getting over their jet-lag, we brought forward our flights to spend another 2 days here in Paradise. How those additional 2 days have impacted our short-term life? I felt the need to document this section in detail. Let’s have a further read on of Day 2, 3, 4 & 5 in Bohol – eating our way through the island.
It goes like this – could become a film-script – happy to discuss with anyone interested haha;
We were leaving on 16th – but left today on 14th (the 2 days earlier flight). That was also 2 days before Singapore declared a ‘soft-ban’ on all non-essential flights. So we exited easy-breezy and with smiles from Singapore ICA, and entered Cebu with smiles from their immigration. Remember the Dave Kennett passport blog, yep they were all happily playing along with that as we said goodbye and hello. NO ISSUES AT ALL!!!
Had Mum still been coming we would not have been allowed to leave probably on 16th. Funny how things happen.
We have one night in Cebu at Radisson Blu Hotel which was really nice, despite being completely empty of people. A nice family meal, a night of nice sleep and a lovely breakfast the next day. Off to Pier 1, we go on 15th, with again no issue at all from Immigration as we say goodbye to Cebu and travel off to Bohol on the fast ferry. We land and go to the house. We have a lovely lunch @ Fiesta Bolanon and welcome to Jimboy @ Galleria, then back to the house, unpack, and then dinner @ Sepo. A cracking 1st day, as always here – just very quiet everywhere.
Then the 16th kicks in. Completely out-of-the-blue Cebu bans all domestic flights and ferries. Bohol then cancels all ferries to Cebu for a month. It is official we cannot get to Cebu on 21st for our return flight. Now starts the ringing round and emailing of every airline and ferry, even evaluating could we hire a private jet from Bohol to Cebu. All roads hit a dead-end – we cannot get to Cebu. Also, Singapore then announces invoking the mandatory Stay @ Home Notice for all travellers from a number of different countries returning to Singapore, including ASEAN. Yep, that’s us living at home for a mandatory 2 weeks when/if we get back.
17th we have a yummy breakfast cooked by yours truly. We have a lovely lunch at one of our favourites, Gerarda’s and then pop to ICM to get some supplies and also meet Jhea & Mamang. Back to the house we go and order a takeaway from Shakey’s Pizza. It’s weird, blind panic happening all over the World but Bohol seems to have some sense of normality.
On 17th we then see a flight available on 22nd but now from Panglao via Manila to Singapore. We decide to cancel our Scoot and look to book that flight but will go to the Panglao airport tomorrow to double-check if that flight will actually fly. On the 18th we look online and that flight on 22nd has gone/cancelled. Philippines Airlines respond finally to a message and give some confidence and we book the next available flight now on 29th.
And then from the 18th onwards, the world goes madder and madder. We just sit back and look at all the updates being pinged on Govt Apps, Airlines, Insurance Co’s, Facebook etc… We’re still having a fun holiday though #fuckthevirus. It’s lovely to see the family all together. It’s lovely to be in an empty paradise in our beautiful house.
It was absolutely wonderful to do the very first ChillaxBBQ with wifey for the family in the Philippines at the house too.
I will be working from our Philipines home next week from 23rd until we try to depart on 29th (fingers crossed). It just goes to prove home-working can be done from anywhere in the World. All you need is Wifi and the wherewithal to make it work. Absolutely zero face to face meetings happening with clients and total flight ban anyway so what’s the difference? None in my reckoning.
Day 2, 3, 4 & 5 in Bohol – eating our way through the island – #fuckthevirus, let’s have a look, shall we?
Day #2
We are at Galleria Shopping Centre to visit a family favourite for lunch and await the arrival of our JimBoy. Yep, schools in Bohol also got closed today for a month. We have both JimBoy and Jhea with us for as long as this nonsense keeps us here. And I don’t mind the pain of having this view to do some work from here when the need starts next week…Not many foodie photos as we have done them before for this place. But this one always deserves a mention and a photo. This is Fiesta Bolanon’s Beef Strips. Now ChillaxBBQ has our new SCANPAN deep-frying for the BBQ I will be adding these to our menu options with a squirt of home-made Native Sauce. Imagine a little strip of wagyu, in some egg-wash, and rolled in seasoned sweet potato starch and then fried until golden brown and super-crispy. Shit yes! ChillaxBBQ Deep-Fried Filipino Wagyu Beef Strips ‘w’ Native Sauce = WINNER!!!Here’s the gang. Back together again. Love it. United Colours of Benetton unite!!!Off to SEPO which is a new gig for us in Tagbilaran. Sadly, we find out this closes next week due to lock-downs, and as you can see it was bloody empty anyways. Such a shame. Great concept though and seriously good food too. You select what you want from these viewing cabinets, order your drinks, pay and then sit down. When you sit you then get entertained by live music. Whilst being entertained your food choices get taken behind that blue-ish screen above Wifey’s head for BBQ‘ing over colas. Yeah, this is foodie heaven. This is great. This is family food fun.Also, there is Al la Carte. I did spot one thing here that caught my eye and made ne do a double-take. My Grandad always said; “Have some backbone!” and I was always confused by what he meant. Now I get it… Although having seen it raw sat in the cabinet I don’t think it will be on my Xmas card list. It looked rather too medical for my liking.
Time to get some Vlogging and video out of the way. In fact, I am changing from doing Vlogging to a new name that was suggested by #1 and I love it. For Day 2, 3, 4 & 5 in Bohol – eating our way through the island I have done some FLOGGING. Yes, they are video blogs about food. Genius #1, Genius! We are a Flogging from now on. So CLICK HERE to watch some Flogs of our first few days and foodie times.
Damned fine these were. Cheesy hot-dog balls with a gravy dipping sauce. So bloody good. A lovely smoky char made these just wonderful.Seaweed Salad with Native Vinegar dipping sauce. This is so fresh, with little popping swim bladders for a great texture experience too. Really nice – and how good does that look plated up? Look at the colours. Lato by another name.A family favourite of Lechon Kawali. Basically slow roast pork belly that is then deep-fried until super-crispy. Served with Native Sauce and some Calamansi to sour that bab boy up. Super-delicious. So good.Wow is this one assorted platter or what? From chargrilled chicken intestines to BBQ chicken, hotdogs and Native Chorizo. It’s a Jamboree bag and it was bloody brilliant. Full. of flavours and textures. Man, I love Filipino BBQ and roasts. Just off-the-charts good.This is ‘just’ a huge pork belly strip that has been Charred to perfection on the BBQ, sliced to bite-sized pieces and drizzled in special BBQ sauce. Yeah, this is beer food and just heavenly. Dip that is some Native Sauce and you’re a level above heaven if there is such a place. WOW!!!Wifey goes for the very good and very fresh (as she always says – not exactly the best food critic on the planet) Grilled Bangus – AKA Milk Fish. I really do wish I could eat fish sometimes as this looks just stunning. Perfectly cooked, superly moist, charred to bloody perfection and then topped with such colour. Amaze-balls, Great work SEPO. I’d be proud of cooking this one!!!All served up on banana leaves. We are all SO HAPPY with dinner tonight and the incredible singing to accompany it. #1 looking rather pleased with himself and our choice tonight!!! We grazed hard at SEPO – hoping they open again soon.Also, Small World’s colliding. The lovely lady next to Wifey is one of the lead singers of the acoustic band here. Roan is her name. So what’s the Small World? She is Wifey’s cousin. She is also a singer on the Loboc River Cruises which we have been on about 5 times. But, the incredibly sad thing is that Covid-19 wins again as sadly SEPO is closing its doors until it is all over and also the Loboc River Cruises has closed – poor old Roan is out of work. Thanks, Covid-19 – NOT!!!
Day #3
My turn for cooking now – pushing the boundaries of our little kitchen and cooking for 5 for brekkie and trying to be all Filipina-like. So this my own version of Filipina-style Corned Beef ‘w’ Steamed Rice.And 2nd option for breakfast today was again my version of Filipina-style Corned Beef ‘w’ Garlic Egg-Fried Rice ‘w’ Savoury Fried Egg. Yeah, I am very happy with these.Next day is a new day and we take a trip into town. Lunch is at an old family favourite of Gerarda’s and their die die must-try dried and deep-fried beef short-ribs. These are worth coming here for. Just for these, I keep returning and returning. They are just the very best short-ribs ‘snack’. Crunchy, beefy, juicy, salty all-in-one and then dip dip in Native Sauce and OMG you hit a new level. These really are one of my all-time-favourite Tagbilaran dishes, especially with an icy cold Pilsen. OMG. I love these. In the menu look out for Beef Tadyang. You MUST have this if you visit Bohol!!!We meet Mamang and Jhea at ICM after and transfer to home for a family takeaway of Shakey’s Pizza (not bad). Nice to have the house brimming with family – but such a shame my Mum was not here to complete the family gathering. So very sad.
Day #4
Breakfast day #2 now cooking for 6. Jude ordered Crispy Bacon and Egg Sandwich. So he got what he ordered, just an open sandwich with Bacon Fat Fried Bread. Double-Yummy!Amy and Jhea ordered Soft Bacon ‘w’ Egg-Fried Garlic Rice and Over Easy Seasoned Egg. Hey presto my daughters, Dad delivers.BFFs and room-buddies. Love seeing the girls together and just having fun all day long. Literally, all. day long. Smiles everywhere and Wifey and I love to. see that. Worth the risk of our mate the Virus without a doubt. No-brainer.No #1 as the big-lug doesn’t surface until like 11 am. This picture is something like 7 am, breakfasts cooked and family chow-down a happening under our beautiful Gazebo at the house. All meals are eaten outside come rain or shine. How good is that? It’s like the Philippines version of Darling Buds of May. Where’s my Mum??? Bugger!!!Next day we’re very late for lunch as we were awaiting the drop-off of our family hire-car for the next few days. That arrives and we all pile in and off we go to The Original AA BBQ for a monster-feast. It is so damned good here and so very reasonable too. Absolutely quality food and they are our closest foodie joint to the house!!! How good is that!
Just a couple of photos as we have already blogged about these guys and have them featured in our Top 10 eateries of Bohol.
Tochero a close cousin to Bulalo. Super soft slow-braised beef soup. Incredibly flavourful. Almost like a Vietnamese Pho broth, look at how clear it is and no fat residue despite it having been going for something like eight hours. Constant attention, and constant skimming. All for a couple of $. A simple but stunning dish. Well done AA BBQ.Their Lechon Kawali is just off-the-charts. These are like 2″ square cubes of the moistest but crunchiest and perfectly seasoned pork belly. Come on just look at that. This is a major family favourite for here. We all love this in a big way. Again get that dipped in some Native Sauce and the Angels start to sing. It really is a WOW food moment.This dish is insanely good. For this, I look at Veggies and almost start to sympathise and think yeah I get you! But then a steak rocks up and all that nonsense is forgotten. But this dish is just insanely good as I have said. Believe it or not, this is a plane and simple eggplant. Cooked and skinned and then fried in egg, onion and other secret stuff to create this almost Filipina Tempura dish. This is called Tortang Talong, and I wholeheartedly recommend you try this whenever you visit the Philippines, especially if you happen to be on Bohol and therefore close to AA BBQ. This is sweet and savoury, crunchy and soft, it’s fried but not oily, believe me, it’s complex. Alone it is a stunner but again give a little vinegar and soy lift from some Native Sauce and OMG!!!
Have the car so off to town we go to Alturas Shopping Centre, to get some mobile top-ups, some swimmers for the kids for our trip to Bellevue Resort and also to buy some food supplies – as tonight folks we are doing our very 1st Philippines ChillaxBBQ. Let’s go shopping.
I have done pig’s trotters before, but holy cow (literally) never a cow foot. Imagine if you like biting your nails, you’d be there all day with these bad boys. According to Wifey, her Dad used to cook this low and slow with black-bean sauce and then saw it up into individual pieces. Sounds very Ox-tail like. I think my Papang was a leg-man clearly1Kg of these bad-boys please lovely lady. This is local Chorizo, it’s super-sweet and savoury. Individual balls all tied into 3 string-pieces, and 1Kg of this is a BIG bag and. cost less than $8. Best sausages ever.Just to call out, no stock-piling/panic-buying in Bohol. Plenty of shit-rags. And very sensible locals unlike Singapore for the 2nd iteration of being fuck-tards due to the Malaysia lockdown. It’s for people not produce & cargo you idiots.Here comes our 1st Filipina ChillaxBBQ. A small affair just for the family, well we have to honour social distancing, don’t we? Up first my very own home-made Native Sauce. Filipina Vinegar, Soy, Calamansi, Green Tomatoes and some Red Onion. Stunning!!!Another stunning thing is my BBQ Bitch tonight, AKA Wifey. She did an amazing job getting our little BBQ lit and ready to rock. I think because she was desperate to get her MilkFish on and cooked. I love our little BBQ. Now we have used it once there are so many ideas I am having of what next… This. got to SUPERHOT and lasted ages – I am really impressed for something that we shipped in via Lazada at supercheap. Love it!!!The family is getting assembled – covered head to toe in mosquito spray as we are eating outside again. Ibiza tunes wafting away thr9ugh the warm night air, only interrupted by the occasional ZAP of a stoopid mosquito being lured to the light and its fond farewell as it hits the electric bars. Also accompanied by me shouting; “YES, HAVE IT!!!”Here is the MilkFish and my Beef Tenderloin getting a charring. Check out those coals – like the surface of the sun hot. I had watched Ray The Cooking Guy (excellent foodie viewing on his YouTube Channel – thanks Ranners) on how to clean up a tenderloin. So, I treated myself to a couple of new knives – some pretty good sharp ones (we will be hiding them from AirBnB’ers). I did also try to follow ChillaxBBQ reverse searing technique which was tough in our wee little oven – but it was a success according to the ‘guest’ feedback upon eating it.We’re nearly all here now, eagerly awaiting a good feed and graze. Just awaiting our guests of honour – our YanYan and Mae. But, I’ll say it again, missing my Mum. She would have LOVED this night. Big family dinner with everyone chatting and eating.Yes, I was there, thank you #1 for the photo memory.Tenderloin being carved at table-side all ChillaxBBQ like. I’d give this a medium-well, but done on purpose as 80% of the guests would only it it that way. I had stabbed this all over to tenderize the steak and it really worked. It really was rather tender and the reverse-searing did too. Although I did have to reverse-sear far too quickly and far too high temperature. Needs must with a very hungry family waiting.A little more seasoning and we’re ready to go. Mental note to self – I need to get some wooden chopping boards and platters – especially as we are here another 2 weeks minimum.Must get some serving platters. Plastic chopping board = shit. Anyway, here is the slow-roast pork belly and that medium-well tenderloin. I am fairly happy with this for the 1st time in our oven and 1st time on our new little BBQ.Saving the best to the last though. I got some really nice spuds and par-boiled them in salt-water. Boil these until you can stick a fork in them and the potato won’t stick to the fork. Pop them in a roasting tray and bash them up a little to rough up the surfaces. Then throw in about half of those 3-string Chorizos. A good drizzle all over with Palm Oil and a good sprinkle of salt and cracked black pepper. Get them in the oven and roast them away at 220 degrees until those potatoes are crispy and the chorizo is charring. I did turn them all over once and re-drizzled with oil. I plated these in a serving bowl and gave another sprinkling of salt & cracked black pepper. The potatoes had soaked up all the Chorizo oil like a sponge. The most amazing roast-dish I think I have ever done.The final ensemble is seated and grazing. #itsmorefuninthephilippines Our little house is officially a party house and ChillaxBBQ was a success in enabling that. Thanks, Wifey for the Sous-help…I have no idea why. He saw this cake on a TV advert and decided he wanted to have it – so for dessert today we have a fake-birthday cake and we even had to sing; “Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear no-one, Happy Birthday to you…”
Day #5
And. the final photo for the first five days is a net-new breakfast. The remainder of the pork loin that I bought the day before, that I had marinated overnight in Worcestershire Sauce, a little Palm Oil and some garlic. Slow fried until puffed up and then thinly sliced atop some noodles. Not bad, not bad at all.
Day #5 of Day 2, 3, 4 & 5 in Bohol – eating our way through the islandwill get more individual write-ups and Flogs as that is about our stay at Bellevue Resort on Panglao. A rather sad Covid-19 = 1 ‘v’ Bellevue Resort = 0. It has been a crazy first 4 days since leaving Singapore. I have never seen the World in such panic and change by a 12-hour timeframe. Decisions are being made, policies are being changed literally by the 12-hour slot. We left on the 14th and everything was pretty much OK, but by the 16th we are on an island in complete isolation due to lock-down. This is the 1st in my 51 years on this planet. But we are making it still a wonderful family reunion and having fun this week, in between trying to secure new flights, new ferries, our 2-week SAH, work of course, and dealing with ICA, MOM, MOE, MOD, Schools x2 and the list goes on. So far we are absolutely making sure we focus on family this week and just – ENJOY!!!
