Hi, hello, Renxkyoko Iglesias here
I was in the Philippines in 2014, with my cousin and Mom, and stayed there for one month. So it was kind of strange that I did only 3 posts on my one – month vacation in the Philippines. I think I was side-tracked by politics………..
Well, never mind . Better late then never, right ?
So, okay, we had lunch at this restaurant that was so popular for its jaw-dropping tacky decorations. It is located in the province of Laguna, about a 2 – hour drive from Manila, the capital city of the Philippines.
I was at a loss for words as soon as I got off our vehicle and saw these humungous statues…. well, just look at the pictures and be amazed. LOL ! By the way, don’t get me wrong….. my cousin and I loved, loved, loved the place ! ! ! And please, have mercy on me… it took me 4 hours to finish this post.
The restaurant’s frontage
The entrance
LOL ! A calculator was actually provided by the waiter.
Yours truly and my cousin in the pic
Cozying up to former Philippine President Corazon Aquino. * Oooh , I love my tan *
Having a tete -a – tete with President Obama and Michelle. * How’s it goin’, Mr. President . *
The sign on the wall says ,” For 25 pesos, ( about US 50 cents ) you can throw a plate against the wall, but please refrain from using vulgar words. ” Ha ha ha !
Can you see the huge white statue of Buddha in the distance ?
Even Superman and Mickey Mouse weren”t spared.
There’s some serenading going on here….. oh, and those are the hands of KingKong\ It’s a full statue. You can just imagine how big that is..
” Native ” plates covered with banana leaves. And that’s a pitcher of so delicious and refreshing ice cold coconut juice….. unbeatable ! !
Rice, roast chicken, grilled pork ribs, fish in miso soup
That brown blob is laing ( lah- ing )…. it doesn’t look appetizing, but that’s one of my most favorite Filipino dish. It’s taro leaves and shrimp cooked in coconut cream. I wish I could cook that here in the US, but taro leaves are not sold here.
I wonder who did those huge statues , and how much it cost to build this restaurant.
It was jampacked with tourists when we were there. It really pays to be different and unique. And the foods were delicious !
Okay, this is all for now. Thank you for reading . Bye !
Am a Molecular Microbiology student, love to read books, and I play the violin. 
dreamsending
renxkyoko
renxkyoko's space 
Posted by Tony Burgess on September 17, 2017 at 1:15 pm
Wow, having to use ones own calculator to figure up a restaurant bill, I have never seen that before.
Posted by renxkyoko on September 17, 2017 at 2:22 pm
The restaurant provided the calculator, ha ha ha.
Posted by Steve.... on September 17, 2017 at 2:18 pm
Nice to see of you in back dates…… Philippines is indeed a beautiful place, and so are Philippinos….. Love watching your pictures, which look so different from each time and each year……
Posted by renxkyoko on September 17, 2017 at 2:29 pm
It was so humid and hot my sweat dripped all over, and it showed. lol
Posted by Steve.... on September 18, 2017 at 9:45 am
Is it….. Philippines is a hot place and so are you….. sweat has to drip in any case…….
Posted by VictorsCorner on September 17, 2017 at 2:27 pm
That sitting with Obama/Michel picture, so cute! Thanks for sharing.
Posted by renxkyoko on September 17, 2017 at 2:30 pm
You’re welcome.
yes, I love that picture, as well ! * though it’s a bit blurry *
Posted by RV John on September 17, 2017 at 2:40 pm
Looks like a fun and interesting place, with good food. Sounds like you had fun 🙂
Posted by renxkyoko on September 17, 2017 at 3:17 pm
Yes, it was fun ! The place is amazing ! The owner of the restaurant really went all out, ha ha ha.
Posted by Sarca on September 17, 2017 at 3:27 pm
Lol, they gave you a calculator at the table…
Posted by renxkyoko on September 17, 2017 at 3:31 pm
They did ! ( although it was my aunt’s treat…. and she just looked at the total and paid. It was so tacky…. but that was the point, right ? He he he
Posted by Rebecca Dawn on September 17, 2017 at 4:26 pm
A restaurant? It looks like a museum or something!😂 Lots of fun though!
Posted by renxkyoko on September 22, 2017 at 5:18 pm
Maybe because of the statues ? ^__^ Buddha , KingKong, Superman, and yep, Pres. Obama !
Posted by Rebecca Dawn on September 22, 2017 at 6:25 pm
Yes lol
Posted by joey on September 17, 2017 at 5:18 pm
Fun! Thanks for sharing!
Your tan does look great! 🙂
I love taro flavored anything. I get upset when my bubble tea place is all out of taro. I’ve a friend who lives in Hawaii, and she tells me taro is everywhere. She said they even have taro pie at the McDonald’s! I really wish we saw more of it here.
Posted by renxkyoko on September 22, 2017 at 5:17 pm
I got the tan from our one week beachcombing at Boracay Island . Taro leaves are used in laing….. Filipinos eat a lot of the root ( a rootcrop ) of the taro plant, although I haven’t seen a taro pie. It’s a main ingredient in one of Filipinos’ favorite soup dish, called ” sinigang “, a sour soup with pork, taro root, radish and any green veggie. The souring ingredient is either lemon , but more commonly , tamarind fruit. We eat this at least 2x a month.
As you can see from the pics, the place is awesomely weird. Ha ha.
Posted by raistlin0903 on September 18, 2017 at 3:58 am
I wish we had a restaurant like that over here. This looks so awesome. Thank you for sharing all these wonderful pictures 😀
Posted by renxkyoko on September 22, 2017 at 4:55 pm
It does look awesome, raistlin ! And quite unique ( and strange ! )
Posted by Bebekoh on September 18, 2017 at 6:35 am
looks like a fun place. Would love to try the food. 🙂
BTW, My mom cooked laing with spinach, instead of taro… it may not be the same but it still taste good. 🙂
Love the pics. 🙂
Posted by renxkyoko on September 22, 2017 at 4:52 pm
Thanks for the tip, Bebekoh ! It’s not actually the taro leaves, right ? Any veggie will do…. it’s the other ingredients that make it so delicious. Although folks from the South , ( like my mother ) cook it differently ….. and taro leaves are the right veggie for that. A taro leaf is huuuuuge !
Posted by Tom Schultz on September 18, 2017 at 1:19 pm
A creative marketing approach, indeed. From the Buddha to King Kong! I certainly hope they’ve kept the Obamas, rather than replacing them with the current first couple. I’m sure you’ll have more to chat about with Barack and Michelle on your next visit!
Posted by renxkyoko on September 18, 2017 at 3:52 pm
I certainly am going to go back to that place. Its awesomely weird. We didn’t really get to check out the rest of the area because we were very hungry . We didn’t think it was that far from our house. It was almost 1 PM when we got there, way past our lunchtime.
I hope they don’t replace the Obamas with those 2 whose names I cannot utter.
Posted by Tom Schultz on September 18, 2017 at 4:16 pm
Although perhaps a statue of Alec Baldwin? 🙂
Posted by renxkyoko on September 21, 2017 at 4:27 pm
Maybe, but as what ?? I like Alec Baldwin.
Posted by Tom Schultz on September 21, 2017 at 11:56 pm
as the donald on sat night live.
Posted by renxkyoko on September 22, 2017 at 3:34 am
Ha ha ha !! I don’t think get SNL over there and even if they do, I don’t think they get it. ^^
Posted by Mischenko on September 18, 2017 at 5:02 pm
Such beautiful pics! Fun! ❤ Thanks so much for sharing. 😉
Posted by renxkyoko on September 20, 2017 at 12:18 pm
You’re welcome. It really is such an interesting place.
Posted by disperser on September 18, 2017 at 11:12 pm
Very nice . . . I probably would have passed on the food in favor of just taking photos.
Posted by renxkyoko on September 19, 2017 at 3:35 pm
We left the house at 11 AM. We didn’t know it was that far. We got there at around 1 PM… by 2 PM, I was so hungry I could eat anything. ( We had to wait a bit to get seated )
Posted by Ankur Mithal on September 19, 2017 at 8:39 am
Looks like a cool place! Wonder who all didn’t make it there 🙂
Posted by D K Powell on September 19, 2017 at 2:40 pm
Great post! Jealous muchly! Also good to see you’re still blogging and haven’t closed it down yet 😀
Posted by renxkyoko on September 19, 2017 at 3:13 pm
They haven’t notified me yet. I don’t think I got the job. Still hoping though.
Oh, that restaurant is awesomely weird. ^__^
Posted by D K Powell on September 19, 2017 at 8:26 pm
Yeah it seems very weird. On the job, their loss, our gain 😉
Posted by renxkyoko on September 21, 2017 at 4:23 pm
I love my current job, too. Thankfully. And my co – workers are nice. Id be very sad and regretful if I had to leave my job.
Posted by Fine Video on September 20, 2017 at 4:22 pm
Beautiful Lady And Beautiful Pictures … ❤️❤️❤️
Posted by John on September 21, 2017 at 6:36 pm
You mentioned that you cannot buy Taro leaves in The United States. You CAN purchase 4 ounces of Philippine-Grown Taro Leaf from AMAZON for about $8 USD if you are interested. The product from “Amazon” (The website shopping site) is dried and is a fat free foodl.
Posted by renxkyoko on September 22, 2017 at 3:37 am
Okay, I’ll check it out. Some Filipino restaurants have laing in their menu ( we buy it to go ) so I ‘m sure there’s a source somewhere.
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Posted by Thys on September 27, 2017 at 9:49 am
Such a cool post! Indeed!~ You have a GREAT tan! 😀
Posted by jkaybay on September 28, 2017 at 5:34 am
I keep seeing images of Obama this week – how I wish he was still in charge!
Posted by passionatelybored on September 28, 2017 at 2:16 pm
Lovely pictures with beautiful people and delicious food. Miss ko na yan! 😊😋😉
Posted by punjetry on October 4, 2017 at 5:35 am
You went home pala!
Posted by hughcurtler on October 15, 2017 at 10:53 am
The food seems almost like an after-thought! Terrific place! Thanks for the visit.
Posted by bhavyascreativecorner on June 3, 2019 at 6:37 pm
Seems you’d a great time! It’s such an iconic place! And the statues of presidents … Well amazing!😁