Here’s what I got…

Here’s some the clips:

The above picture is not from the Philippines. Yes you read that right. After weeks of figuring out someone different to do in the city, we came to the conclusion that there’s pretty much nothing to do in Manila that doesn’t involve malls. Manila has no real culture to speak of that’s been really preserved and well taken care of. This is the sad truth. Outdoor activities are somewhat limited because you’d be more concerned with the belongings that someone might part you with them.

Cultural development is also at its all time low. When was the last time you heard someone going to a museum? The last time culture and arts had any formal development was during the time of the late President Ferdinand Marcos; where the First Lady Imelda Marcos (love her or hate her) pushed for the building of theaters, and museums. I shall not go on with the failures that succeeded them as this is not a political blog.

When will ever get to walk in the city that offers us spectacular views like this that offers safety and the true smell of nature and not of garbage?

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to leave. I just wish we had real places to go that makes us appreciate the real world created for us.

Well a little bit exaggerated was the flying part. About a month before leaving for our honeymoon, my wife told me that U2 was playing in some of the cities we’d be visiting. Since we haven’t seen a concert together, how much more awesome could it get than to see U2? A band who would probably never find their way to the Philippines. So after a bit of deliberation, I was finally convinced (still a bit hesitant) to cough up a significant amount for tickets on the second level (We did get the front now at the very least). So yeah, we did fly to California, but not just for the concert.

The arena was filled early on as Lenny Kravitz opened for them. Yes you read it right, The Lenny Kravitz as opening act for U2! Opening acts are usually up-and-comers, but I guess U2 deserved no less than Lenny Kravitz. Too bad traffic cut up most of our time and we only caught three songs before he ended his performance. The picture above is after Lenny Kravitz left and more people finally arrived after braving the traffic and long walk.

It took about a couple of hours of waiting until maybe almost 10pm before they (U2) finally came out running up the stage sending the crowd literally roaring! Then the seemingly lifeless Claw (a reportedly $750,000 to set-up and transport according to Perez Hilton) lit up and turned into the most incredible spectacle of bright blinding lights I have ever seen. I don’t even know if my words and pictures can describe the experience enough.

Here’s a snap of Bono on screen. And get this, they performed 20 songs straight with no intermissions at all. Being big supporters of Amnesty International, they also showed on the screen speeches by Bishop Desmond Tutu, Aung San Suu Kyi (who is a U2 fan as well).

But the best surprise of all was Commander Mark Kelly (husband of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords) making a cameo in a recorded video from the Space Shuttle Endeavor greeting fans from space and eventually introducing Beautiful Day. The song was dedicated to Giffords who was a victim of a nearly fatal shooting in Tucson, Arizona few months back and was inspired by the song while recovering. She specifically chose it as the wake-up song for the shuttle mission of her husband.

On a later part of the song, Commander Kelly appeared again to recite the bridge of the song, with a little variation.

See the world in green and blue
Wall of China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by clouds
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
and See the bird with the leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out

Beautiful Day is actually one of our favorite U2 songs and we chose it to be played on our wedding day as our exit song from the church. Unfortunately the stupid fucks or the San Sebastian Church’s so-called “coordinators” messed up our schedules and the song wasn’t played anymore. So a big fuck you goes to those assholes once again.

Here’s a video from YouTube taken by user thernand01.

It was a truly amazing experience for both of us truly a memorable first concert together. We might not have enjoyed as much as the guy in the picture above. He was dancing with his shirt off on field for pretty much the whole concert and it was about 10-12 degrees celsius that night.

This has got to be one of the best poster messages I’ve ever seen. I just took this with a tight crop to capture the message.

There were some who were a little bit more serious than others though. These guys actually went through all the trouble to put a cage on the back of their truck and caged a bear (representing the Bruins) inside it.

It was a good thing the Canucks won that game, as we were downtown that time.

Canadians are naturally friendly and mild-mannered people, however some may have taken their passion for the game too far or some just wanted to cause trouble. As they turned the loss into a massive riot on the street on the last game of the series where the Canucks lost to the Bruins. The hooligans broke into stores and looted them, set cars on fire and lit up stuff and made bonfires in the middle of the road.

They caused a lot of chaos and destruction that made things like these…

This rioter got what he deserved…

This store here was one of the aftermaths of the riots.

Situated in the already busy Connecticut street which has several restaurants already,  Lugang Café  by the famed Bellagio Group (based in Shanghai) opened its doors late last year serving savory Taiwanese dishes. The restaurant is housed in a three-storey tastefully designed neo-classical Chinese building.

Taiwanese Cuisine is a version of Chinese which uses less ginger and leaves a sweeter note. This was actually my second visit to Lugang and it turned out to be a more delightful experience compared to my first one. This time it was for my brother’s birthday. And I would like to start off with applauding their improved Xiao Long Bao which is far better than the bland tasting one during their soft opening period. The soup inside the dumpling is tastier and more flavorful now with the wrapper still being soft and thin.

First up for us was the Cold Tofu with Preserved Egg appetizer. It was topped with a sweet soy sauce, pork floss, peanuts and finished off with spring onions. The smooth textured tofu blended well with the toppings and the egg (commonly known as century egg) as the flavors combine for a very unique flavor in your mouth.

Who would order such an ordinary dish such as fried chicken in this nice restaurant you might say? Mind you this was a very delicious plate of Crispy Chicken with juicy chicken meat inside covered by crunchy skin and seasoned just right.

Roasted Layer Pork – this dish is a favorite of mine in nearby Choi Garden. Talesfromthetummy has been raving about Lugang’s version which is uniquely served with sugar in addition to mustard on the side. I have to admit, Lugang’s version is tastier but the sugar was quite weird.

Stewed Beef, Tendon, Turnip in Clay Pot or simply known as Chinese Beef Stew is a favorite dish of mine since I was a kid. It is really hard to come by a really good version of this dish and I have to say, Lugang did a very good job!

This Stewed Pork dish was another winner. The tender melt in your mouth pork tasted very well with a generous amount of the savory sauce that it came served with.

Marked as House Specialty, the renowned “sanbei ji” Three-cup Chicken of Lugang was to die for. The dish is basically chopped chicken reduced in a cup each of rice wine, sesame oil and soy sauce.

The Stir Fried String Beans was a good addition but nothing much to comment about.

The Pineapple Fried Rice was again topped with pork floss (a favorite garnish of the chef). It was just okay for me, nothing fantastic. It did come out nicely presented though. Although I’d rather have steamed white rice with my beef stew!

And you never thought something would go wrong in the sea of great dishes. But this one has to be the odd one in the bunch. Presentation looked like a bunch of worms topped with sauce laid over green onions. It didn’t taste nice either. Well they can’t perfect right?

For dessert I chose Mango, Coconut Sorbet topped with Fresh Fruits, Grass Jelly and Coconut Jelly. It was like a fruity version of our local Halo-Halo.

Overall it was a pleasant dining experience at Lugang Café and the prices offer really good value for the food quality and serving size. I’d really love to go back, problem is it is usually if not always full. So best to call and reserve a table if you’re planning to go there. Otherwise, you might find yourself eating elsewhere.

It is just sad that a lot of people in the Philippines cannot spell. This is just one of many examples. Spotted this one along the highway in Palawan.

There are times that you gotta love the Panasonic Lumix LX-5 or even the LX-3 for shots like these which would otherwise be impossible with normal point and shoots. You’d normally have to be on the other side of the street to take a full photo of the towers. The hotshoe helped with the light as I was able to trigger a flash wirelessly to light us up. Of course I had our van driver take the photo.