One Sunday evening, I went to the office for some overtime work (yeah, yeah, pathetic me working on a day off). Anyway, Doi and I were talking about different matters until it came to a point when I asked her if she was able to save some money when she was in Bacolod for some training. She told me that it was supposed to be her plan to save; but the food in Bacolod seemed to have sprung out of nowhere. Very affordable establishments were abound that she didn't watch her diet. Then came the topic of the chicken in Manokan Country where we ate when I visited them. My stomach was asking for some grilled chicken, so Doi asked me if I've ever been in Mang Inasal. As usual, I said no; so we headed off to the Mang Inasal branch in SM.

Although the taste of the chicken wasn't as rich as I thought, the size and the unlimited rice they offered compensated for it. I was just hoping that they'd open a branch near IT Park. For sure, there'll be a lot of employees who'll dig in.

 
Mang Inasal, SM City Cebu

 
lights

 
water, tables

 
chicken, rice, soy sauce!

 
unlimited rice!

 
another cup, and another!

 
full

empty

A familiar face walked inside the elevator I was riding. I didn't know I kept staring at her when she nodded her head off to signal that she recognized me as well. The only problem was how, where and when did we meet or at least "saw" each other. We just exchanged a couple of words regarding our work and tenureship.

When I got off the elevator, I was still trying to recall when I had met her. I was at the middle of the street when I later realized that she was a former schoolmate (a batch lower) in high school when I studied in Dumaguete.

All the whole the places circling through my head: Davao? Dumaguete? Bacolod? Cebu? Dumaguete? Manila? golf tees?

and between those cities were schools also juggling in between: Stella Maris? St. Paul? San Agustin? Pleasant Mount? COSCA? San Carlos?

My, my, the hassle of recalling my schoolmates I only recognize by face. The upside (or downside) of having been able to study in different schools. The pressure of stepping up a notch because of newer people coming in. The depressing note of my memory failing me.

While still at Robinsons Bacolod, my friend couldn't wait taking me to this place called Calea which sells cakes and pastries at very, very AFFORDABLE prices!

Honestly at first, I didn't find anything exciting with cake shops. I eat cakes, but not that much, I'm more of an ice cream person. But still I wouldn't really spend much for desserts. I was also able to taste some cheesecakes in Cebu but my desire was still at a normal level. Here are some previous entries about them.

• Cheesecake Etc.

• Dessert Factory

Anyway, Calea is only available in Bacolod; they don't have other branches except in the City of Smiles.

The great thing about this is their slices and prices (ha, didn't think I could make a rhyme). Really, the slices are normal cake slices, I didn't feel that I was ripped off because they were cut just right. Plus the prices! haha. Normally, in some previous cake shops in Cebu, it would usually cost at least 95 pesos for a cake, and sometimes 150 pesos for ones that have much better ingredients. But here in Bacolod, Calea's cake would just range from 60 to 70 pesos! We ate 3 types of cakes, and I was thinking I'd pay around 3oo but it only cost us 190 bucks!

Pardon me if I'm getting too involved with the pricing, but I can't help exclaiming that the cakes are really affordable! Too bad they didn't accept credit cards.
On my last day in Bacolod, we were supposed to go to one of Calea's branches (they have 3 ). However, it rained so hard most of the time that we had a hard time waiting for a cab ride back to the Inn.

CALEA CALEA CALEA. sigh. I can't seem to get over it. hehe.

(click to Enlarge)

Calea inside Robinsons

utensils and display

Calea cakes

a lot to choose from

table

Oreo Cheesecake: 67.50 Php

Vanilla ice cream pie: 58.50 Php

Fruity cheesecake: 63.50 Php

let our powers combine

One last look at Calea

By the way, you might wonder why I still know how much the cakes cost, it's because I still kept the receipt. I still can't get over the prices. hehe

Quantum, I love this place that I had to create an entry just for this.
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When I got back to Bacolod, one of the places I really wanted to see again was Quantum. I spent the first half of my freshman year in high school here, and Robinsons was still the only "mall" available. I didn't mind how small it looked because there were two game arcade establishments there. Worlds of Fun and Quantum, of course I like Quantum better.

I first fell in love with arcade games when I was still a kid, when my cousins and I went to the nearest arcade game during Noche Buena. I was just mesmerized by the lights and the types of games one could play. Fast forward to when we stayed in Manila for 3 months; we visited SM North Edsa and my eyes grew wide open when I saw the arcade games available at Quantum. Nothing can still beat that North Edsa branch; with all the newest games and the hi-tech gadgets available (I remember walking into a small hallway where I was surrounded by television screens with a Marvel game being turned on.

This was my favorite past time when I was a kid; whether it be in Davao, Cebu, Manila, Bacolod, everywhere! I could remember one time in ATU Plaza in Davao where we went to Sonic Boom. I had my hundred bucks allowance exchanged for 33 tokens; that's actually a lot already. But during that time I got so excited since they had a Buy One Take One promo; I was in arcade heaven!

I know I'm sounding too nerdy now that's why I'm going to stop, but I just couldn't help leaving my colleague with her duties when we dropped by Robinsons Bacolod. I just stayed in Quantum for a couple of hours, just to see if I still knew the techniques in the games I used to play.

from the escalator

new look

same games

one of the games I used to play a lot

Quantum

Sonic likes Quantum