I've been blogging much about my addictions lately. Facebook, Coffee and now comes yet another addiction that's been troubling me for weeks because of the threat of a more bulging tummy.

I'm not picky when it comes to food and drinks though. I don't even have any allergies unless I tell you so. Like no holds barred, I could eat as much as i want! Eat nearly any food that fills my cravings and screw my weight-loss campaigns. Those gave me the freedom to try out all what is best in town and interestingly to join all the "Food Tours" that's been calling for my presence.Char lang!

In time I may end up having the best job in the World. And that is, to become a food critic. Well, I'm not really sure of that though. Like, I haven't even reviewed a particular food and I don't have a food blog just yet. Not that its necessary to have a food blog but I'll think about that later.

With so much eating happening here and there, rarely do I get faves when it comes to food - how much more get addicted to something? In fact, in all the slam books I've signed on I always leave the "favorite food" blank. Its because I feel like there's still this food out there waiting to claimed a fave - my, fave.

So aside from Facebook and Coffee, what am I into this time??

Illustration Inspired by Homer Simpson.

Just refer to the title and get a hunch! Yes, it's none other than the soft, sweet and chewy donuts!

To date, I know four donut outlets here in Davao (You name it) but my craving for donuts goes to the newest among the bunch. I'm referring to GO NUTS DONUTS! Yeah, the one at Abreeza Mall.

About a month ago Abreeza held a special food tour for the Davao Bloggers and I was lucky enough to obtain a slot. Before that, I've been itching to try out their donuts since I wasn't able to try theirs when I went to Manila last year. So, one night I bought "Rocky Road" and "Boston Bavarian" donuts for take out. And they tasted incredibly good!

During the Abreeza food tour, I was able to try their "Amazing Glaze". Well, I was suppose to get the one called "Chocolate Glaze" since I'm a chocolate-person but someone nabbed it first before me.

And being the last person to choose which donut to try among the five that were presented - (I had no choice) I was left with amazing glaze which tasted, however, great. It has a not too sweet yet tangy taste. But forgive for I could have said much if only I had the chocolate. (Bitter Ocampo.)



Days have passed and I've really been into Go Nuts Donuts. And among their donuts there's this Stuffit I'm really addicted in to - Pastillas de Leche. Just imagine the milky caramel goodness of this Filipino-authentic-dessert-inspired flavor of Gonuts Donuts' Pastillas de Leche donut. Isn't that mouth-watering??


I just love Pastillas de Leche! I also know someone who shares the same addiction for this donut like I do. While writing this, she is currently undergoing a major-major rehabilitation because of donut-addiction. I guess, I needed one too! For the meantime, I gotta go! The donuts are calling for me you know? Hahaha.

Whenever I'm ask to accompany Quenniely, my 10 years old sister, to Church on Saturdays for her art workshop I usually drop by this Chinese food haus called "Sy Bee Tin". It's a small, open food outlet located at Tionko Avenue, Davao City.



It's a favorite place for it plays with my high school memories. I sometimes hangout there with my classmates back then, since it's only a few blocks away from school. Aside from my favorite Pizza Roll, I was able to try their Lechon Lugaw, Palabok, Siopao, Casavva Cake, Toasted Siopao and Mami. But there best-seller is the Garlic Bread which I have yet to try since I rarely eat anything with garlic. Not that I am allergic with garlic but let's just say I'm one of those modern-day vampires whose noses bleed whenever they smell garlic.Haha! What a reason. LOL

Hey, you might be wondering why I'm blogging about this food outlet. Aside from that I passed by their shop awhile ago, and that they have the best Pizza Roll in town, and that I will be there tomorrow because it's Saturday - this post will serve as my entry to this month's Blog Caravan.

This Blog Caravan's topic is meals for P100 or less that you can only find in Davao. It says "meals" but I'm sure I'm not violating the topic since Sy Bee Tin does not only serve tasty snacks but they also specializes with Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner meals.And another thing, it's proudly a Davao Food Haus.

It occurred to me when I spotted two more branches which was near schools. One in DMSF Drive and the other one in Ateneo Jacinto. I'm not quite sure what's there best-seller when it comes to meals but I was able to try their "Fried Siomai with Rice" meal in one of their branches.It's only worth P42.00 which is a win-win if you're on a tight budget.

I was also told that they serve grilled ribs which they sell for only 120 pesos. But that includes the drink so the meal itself might only cost P100 or less. Tomorrow, I'm going back to Sy Bee Tin for lunch  - wanna join with me??

P.S: I'm hoping for a free lunch tomorrow.Joke! (Jokes are half meant! lol) Photo Credits: Sy Bee Tin Facebook Fan Page

So if you want tasty and affordable snacks here in Davao - you might wanna check out Sy Bee Tin! :)

Rarely do I have dreams about dreaming that I'm dreaming on my dream inside a dream. Sound complicated but if there's any simple way to say it – then, I must be dreaming a lot.LOL

This post has nothing to do with the movie you may associate with the image above nor was it influenced by the movie since I the blogger haven't even watched "INCEPTION".

These past few weeks, I sort of have it every another day. I don't know why or how? But it's so strange to see yourself dreaming that you're dreaming. It also feels so unnerving when you try to seek for ways to wake up especially when you know you're in a lucid dream. A false awakening, they mostly call it. It's like you're in a loop DOS Program, repeating certain actions until the condition becomes false.

Certain aspects of life may be dramatized, or out of place in false awakenings but this dream of mine was almost believable that half way through I thought I wasn't in a dream at all.



I was on the living room then, lying comfortably on the couch and was about to sleep. The television was on, so were the lights and the electric fan. My parents and siblings weren't around; they must be downstairs. Suddenly, I heard the sounds of definite footsteps on our bare wooden floors heading to the kitchen. I was about to sleep, when I felt like I had to guess who created those noise. So I turned off the TV and waited for any sign of response. A few seconds later, I heard the pouring of water to a glass. It was so audible except that the electric fan also created some annoying noise that I wanted to turn it off. So when I tried reaching the fan, I couldn't move myself anymore.



Then someone turned it off for me, I only saw the hands and the finger, they look like my Dads so I didn't budge. But I can't move a muscle. I realized, I must have been dreaming all along. Then I stared on the black screen of the TV, and saw myself sleeping. I asked myself, "How can I be sleeping when I had all these things in mind?” Then I thought, maybe if I'd sleep again I'll wake up for real. So it was like I was zapped inside a black hole as I tried to sleep. This time, I tried waking up and then I was awake - "Finally!” I exclaimed.



I tried to move around, turned the TV on and even tried watching a crappy cartoon called "Oggy and the Cockroaches" for a little while before I went downstairs. I looked for everyone but there was no sign of them. Then, I thought I must be in another dream. So I headed back upstairs to do everything again. I was about to set foot on the stairs, when my Mother called my attention.

Char. I almost cried here. . .

I sighed in relief and told her what happened. She comforted me, told me not to do any strange and awkward sleeping positions. Avoid eating before sleep, told me to wiggle my big toe if it ever happens again and all that. Then she handed me an empty glass and told me I should drink some cold water upstairs.

I was feeling a little comfortable then when I was upstairs. Everything seemed to be alright. The TV was still on and so was the fan. I was just so happy I'm finally awake that I was smiling as I headed towards the kitchen. I opened the fridge, took a pitcher of water out and placed it on the table together with my empty glass. The TV show caught my attention.
Oggy was chasing the cockroaches, behind a white background. But things didn't seem alright in the show then; it was like a never ending chase. I waited for a few seconds for the chasing scene to be over. While waiting I started to pour a small amount of water on my glass. Then there was silence, the TV suddenly shut off and I felt like I was on some sort of Déjà vu.


When I poured the water on the glass, it reminded me of the things that happened on my dream earlier. While the crisp sound of the water reverberated inside my head, my heart pumped so hard that it forced me to walk towards the sofa.

In my head, I knew I was going to see myself there trying to turn the electric fan. But to my relief I saw nobody. Gosh! I'm just over-thinking, so freaking paranoid that I almost hated myself. So before going downstairs, I drank my glass of water and turned off the electric fan. Just when I'm about to step right out of the doorway, I tried to check if everything's fine. The lights were on though as usual, the fan was turned off - check! The house seemed clean; the windows are open – check! But when my eyes came across the television, the black screen of the television - I saw myself again, lying on the couch once more.



Now, there's a tension building up inside me and all over the place. Instead of panicking, I managed to calm down and look for another way to get out of my dream. I went downstairs to seek help but halfway downstairs I realized I'm all alone on this dream of mine. I'm inside my dream dreaming that I'm dreaming countless dreams. And the only way to get out of it is *CHING!*  An idea hit my head. I have to force myself to wake up. Okay, that's it!



So, I went in front of my other self who was lying on the couch. I stared closely how I looked when I'm at sleep. I looked really problematic though. I must have been dreaming about the same dream again. In my mind, I have to wake up that "sleeping me"! So I made noises around. I banged the door, destroyed the TV, threw all the kitchenware, amazingly pulled down the cabinet, the dividers, the electric fan and then I snapped and gave up. Everything looked like a disaster from where I stood; if it wasn't only a dream my Mom would have killed me, I thought. I felt so weak and tired, blank and spaced out I gazed again to my "sleeping self". Could this be not a dream at all? What if, this is more than just a dream? What's more than just a dream anyway?



Those things got into my head and another idea hit me! The Internet addict within me arouse that I began searching for my laptop. When I found it, I tried looking for answers via Google but whatever I search - it says "No results found”. I tried thinking of a more concise search keyword but struggled with the ditto of what we used to call here "Bangungot (in Tagalog) / Urom(in Cebuano)". It's good that I've once read a lucid dreaming story not so long ago that my mind was able to recall what it was. Then I typed "Lucid Dreaming" but to no avail, my search did not match any documents. Still, I believed I was in a state of Lucid dreaming.

Now, this is worse than a dream I guess.

"This isn't happening!" I exclaimed.

I couldn't accept that I am a lucid dreamer. This is my first time to experience this kind of dream and I don't know what to do; my knees were shaking, tears brimmed down my face.Then I recalled some scenes on ghost-themed movies and tried getting inside my body. And boy, it worked!

I was awake again, lying on the sofa but there were the sound of footsteps again and all. So I tried sleeping again to see how things are going to change. Things started to become weirder and weirder every time I try to wake up inside the dream. I see different things every time I open my eyes but the footsteps won't stop. Only this time I thought “I'm inside my dream so I can control whatever happens” I controlled my dream and tried dreaming of happy dreams.



In one of those happy dreams I remember myself riding a on cloud while blue birds were all around me. :| Meehh! Wala lang.hehe

It made very happy that when I woke up from that dream the “feel” has totally changed. From the couch, I saw Junior, my baby brother, opened my parents bedroom door and stared at me from where he was standing. His stare weighed really heavy then that it looked like he was mad at me or something.



I got confused that I rubbed my eyes to see if I was just imagining it and all. Then he was out of my sight. There were footsteps again, and I began to panic. I turned around and saw junior standing on the right end of the sofa. He plastered a smile which looked rather bothering. It felt creepy but I tried reaching him with my hands. But I couldn't move again. Just then, he jumped towards me and bit me in the chest.

My heart stopped for so a while and then there was a strong heartbeat which felt I was being kicked back to life! I was awake now! Like for real. I then asked my sister who was just right beside me (watching TV) if she ever heard me scream, talk or move in anyway but she confirmed none. I stood up and went to the sink to wash my face. I looked at the mirror and slapped my face twice to convince myself that I'm back in the real world.

I turned off the TV, and went back to the sofa, opened my laptop and started writing about my first lucid dream experience, my lucid dream story. Of course, I tried searching for lucid dreams just right after that  crazy experience and Google showed me some good results!! ;-p

Is the Dream Real? Apparently NO...but then LUCID DREAMS do exists and I had a vivid one! 

I've been much of a coffee addict lately. Yes, I've been through with that and got over it so as my insomnia won't come back. But when I went to Coffee Dream a month ago I fell in love with coffee again!

To be honest, I've been itching to go back there while writing this. But I had no time because school is getting on the way. You know school stuffs that are so lame I don't even want to attend - but I have to!?



Now, now, it was actually my first time to visit Coffee Dream Davao. Although I once saw their other branch at J.P. Laurel Avenue I never had the chance to stop by and have coffee. But like what I've mentioned earlier, Coffee Dream made me fall in love with Coffee (again!). Although, in the irony, I never even had the chance to embrace the warmth or coolness of their coffee blends! I’ll explain myself later.Haha!

So I was lucky to have been invited to visit the so revamped Coffee Dream at SM City Davao. Unlike most coffee shops, the place felt homey and sprightly. In other words it wasn't dark (which is good) so that you will notice the time. Like, when you're inside a coffee shop with your friends it feels as though time doesn't exist. That happens all the time especially when you really get involve on either some serious business, or baloney. It's like a place where you do talk-all-you-can and have coffee/snack at the same time!

It's also a nice place to hangout because it's located inside a mall. Like you can go shopping, watch movies and play at the arcade anytime of the day. Coffee Dream will serve as your "base" in other words. Only that you will have to pay for your coffee of course. They have WiFi, which is free of charge and that will make your stay cozier. Although I think that they should have more couches than the ordinary table-and-chairs setting so that every set of Barkada's will be very happy! Yey. A friend of mine (who blogs at Davaoisms) relates "Masarap at malambot ba couches dun?? hehehe!! Upuan lang kasi habol ko sa coffee shops."

For shoppers and 'Mallers' alike, what's better than relaxing your inner self under the confines of sugar, caffeine and delectable pastries after a nerve-racking SALE expedition inside a very crowded Mall?

And that reminds me! Sandwiches, cakes, pastas, cold and hot variants of coffee and other chilled blends were generously served to us all for free. Just take a look at the photos below and you'll find yourself drooling like me too.

Ohh! Ha?? Ano ka ngayon?

That should answer why I wasn't able to taste any of their coffee variants. But since I'm a coffee addict, even though I didn't taste any of their coffee I could say that they serve great tasting coffees just because of the smell.

Some coffee shops doesn't feel like coffee shop because of the place's smell.To quote Baldini of La Parfum "The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it."
 What's a coffee shop anyway, without the Coffee aroma molecules travelling through the air? Although my observation sounds vague I care not to argue. Not everyone is as gifted as I am.lols.

It might not be the feel the shop has, the couches or their special blend of Iced Mocha or Capucinno, but one thing's for sure the Coffee Addict within me is BACK! Thanks to Coffee Dream.

Update: I was able to try their coffee, here's Coffee Dream's Frosticinno. .and I must say it's. .

In a Coco-Martini-way!

So it was the first day of DFAT 2011 and I have yet to meet some of the participants - probably the whole DFAT 2011 Team if no one misses out. I'm not sure if it was just that I'm too excited about the food that I didn't eat my breakfast or that home-food didn't seem yummy after last night's dinner at Yellowfin Seafood & Restaurant.Sorry Pa! (I'm just being honest.lol)

Trellis N' Vines

Anyway, Day 1 kicked off with a superb lunch at Trellis N' Vines.

I wasn't feeling well, when I was on my way to Trellis N' Vines. But the scorching heat compelled me to fly away minutes after walking sluggishly under the sun.





It's my first time to eat at Trellis N Vines, but I've been hearing  a lot about the restaurant even before the tour. Trellis N' Vines serves Filipino dishes and a variety of Asian cuisines. We started off with Sinuglaw, my favorite Sunday dish made of grilled pork, tuna ceviche (fish cooked in vinegar), radish, onions, cucumber, green mango, ginger, chili and vinegar.

OH diba! Halatang alam ang ingredients!?

You might be wondering why Sunday? At home we usually have this dish during Sundays because it's the only time when my uncles could all booze together, sing to their lungs with the videoke and Sinuglaw is always their Pulutan. And every time I get to see this on the table I always make sure to take all the grilled pork in it! :p

 Trellis N' Vines version made me feel nostalgic about the past Sundays of my life.Char!

After that, other dishes were served as well.But no matter what dish comes, it's obligatory to save tummy space for Baby Back Ribs.It's a fave! And Trellis' version was really superb. The tender meat, the piquant sauce - well, the mashed potatoes were also good! Trellis' Baby Back was so good that I almost didn't wanna share.



Two other must-try dishes are Chicken Biryani and Crispy Noodles! For dessert we were served banana peanut roll - it looks like the typical turon, only topped with peanut butter and chocolate syrup.It was delicious but it burnt my tongue. Like nobody reminded me desserts can also be hot!

The place looks fine and simple, the warm colors inside made the place very welcoming and alive.The service was great, and their dishes? Hmmm - Worth the wait!

Later on, we went to Coffeecat (a few blocks away from Trellis N'  Vines) to prepare ourselves for a heavy snack at Mam Bebs Bakeshop.It gave us time to talk about blogging related stuff while some took the chance to pamper themselves by taking a nap. *Siesta!* Some ordered cold drinks while others had yogurt.

Mam Bebs Bakeshop



Then came my most awaited snack at Mam Bebs Bakeshop. Joining last year's DFAT Participants, I was able to try Mam Beb's unique pastries by participating in the Google Maps Precinct Mapping Party in Davao City. Just like last year we used the backdoor to get inside.lol.

Nah, I was saying. . Just like last year they served us my mega super duper uber favorite Pancit Luglug, breaded porkchop, the luscious mango squares, sweet potato rolls and *drum rolls please* Mam Beb's magnificent Apple Pies.



Oh, yeah I love the Apple pies so much that I actually had more than three pieces. It had cinnamon on the filling which made a the filling taste stronger and the crust, even though it lack the ideal dense and crisp for a pie, it tasted really great. As far as I could remember the last time I ate a real apple pie was way back my Culinary Arts in High school. Poor me! So most of my eating time were spent over the apple pies.Haha!

But a heavy snack wouldn't be heavy without two heavy Lechon Biik's! Sponsored by Beko's Biik - this is the first time that I've heard of a spicy lechon Biik. That's why I got too excited that on my way to the table. I felt like I'm a meat-hungry zombie about to eat two poor petrified piglets.



Then came a morbid scene - the death of the two  poor piglets, stomach opened, bones were ripped, skins were teared and later was eaten by a mob of hungry pig-craving zombies. . .all rejoicing the death of the two Lechon biiks!



It didn't seemed long before dinner time was ready.So we headed off to Ranch N' Reef for a buffet sponsored by San Miguel Brewery.I was already full when I got to the place so my aim was to eat a little bit of everything.The night was filled with laughter; Brains were teased by the super hyper Sushi Game Master Evanjohnn. He initiated mini word games (Around the World, I'm Going to the Moon, Black Magic..etc) that made everybody's brain work out that night.



The fun didn't end there though for they all went to a coffee shop. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to come with them because I was so tired and sleepy then. I opted to go home, besides I'm afraid it'll rain that night. Nevertheless, on the first day of DFAT it felt like . It's a day like no other, a day devoted only to eating *oh wait* and of course - group shots!

Photo by The Photoblogger.

TRELLIS ‘N VINES
Main Branch: Mc Arthur Highway, Balusong, Matina, Davao City
Contact Number: +6382-297-8463
Mobile Numbers: +63922-8832282 and +63917-7000243
Website: TrellisnVines.com FB Page: Trellis ‘n Vines

MAM BEBS BAKESHOP
Address: CVA Building, CM Recto Street, Davao City (in between Union Drug and Planters Bank)
Contact Number: +6382-2278131

BEKO’S BIIK
Contact Numbers: +6382-2272445, +6382-2863445
Mobile Number: +63922-8381600
Pick up for Davao orders is at Dimsum Diner Guerrero Street, Davao City.