Three cheers and kisses for the cook

Weeks before today dawned, there was talk around the dining table on where we'll celebrate someone's turning a new leaf or another year older. No consensus was reached despite lobbying on one side for Japanese food, pizza and pasta on the other.

The impasse was broken when I declared, "Let's just stay home and enjoy a home-cooked meal by Tatay." I requested that we have grilled fish and a salad. If there was anymore leftover fish, let it be cooked into a sour paksiw. Kimi volunteered to prepare the long-life pasta dish.

Tatay Rolly was assigned marketing and cooking chores, and he rose to the challenge. At 5 a.m. today, just as my phone pinged to announce the first text of the day, Rolly bent over me to pinch my cheek by way of greeting me. It was still dark and my eyes were reluctant to open, but I could hear him getting dressed to leave for the market. Before he did, I managed to utter a word: "Champorado!"

So he cooked the family's favorite breakfast fare before heading out to catch a fish or two. Sweet!

Not steak, not lechon manok either. It's grilled yellowfin tuna. Comes with a dipping sauce of soy, vinegar and small red chilies.

Salad of pomelo (too much of it, in my opinion) and wansoy

He didn't forget the cake, walking from the Baguio public market to his office to put down the market basket, then another walk to Vizco's on Session Road for its famed strawberry shortcake before heading home.

Our food and family portrait photographer, Kimi, catches us right before we dig in.

Kai made me a rainbow necklace from her blocks, but I found it too heavy to wear so she did. By the way, it's also Pride Month so here's to our LGBT friends and relatives!

Canto y Carmen

You can't miss the new home of Canto on Kisad Road, Baguio City. The large windows look out to stands of pine trees that surround the city library. Since the restaurant reopened this month, the queues have been long, a lesson on patience that gets more than adequately rewarded when a table becomes available. Behind the structure is more parking space plus a couple of swings for the children who can't stand queuing up.

Speaking for myself, I love the refreshing aftertaste of the lychee and almond slush served in a Mason jar. I always begin my Canto meals with this. My daughter Kimi has taken a liking to it, too. Kai took a sip once and made a face. Maybe after a couple of visits, the Not So Little One will have adjusted her taste buds.

Kimi's fave are the tacos richly topped with grated cheese which Kai adores. If you have this for starters, it's hard to move on to a main course. But you must try the famed, fall-off-the-bones Lomo Ribs, Rolly's favorite paired with mashed potatoes.

The Carmen's Best line of ice cream is agreeably pure indulgence, but I cannot say "No" to Kai who loves it and can finish a cup. No sharing, please. Proudly Philippine made.

Kai can't finish the Marshmallow Fluff and needs our assisting appetite. If you dig and eat through the marshmallow and vanilla ice cream in the first two layers, you'll hit gold mine at the bottom of the glass--a chunk of brownie.

Photos by Kimi Fernandez

Enamored with ElYu

Our bodies are here already in Baguio, but our hearts and minds are still somewhere on the gray sand of San Juan, La Union.

As her 32nd birthday approached, my eldest child Kimi suggested we spend the Independence Day weekend at the beach. Who were we to say no? She was picking up the tab, another reminder that she was more than a full-fledged adult already.

For our soundtrack going down Naguilian Road to La Union (or ElYu in hipster language), we had the voices of the Four Seasons from the musical Jersey Boys.

Happy road trippers

Kai, the Not So Little One, came armed with her dark glasses and thrilled smile.

After repeated queries of "Are we there yet?" from the most junior in the group, we found our home for a night and two days--Villas Buenavista. It looked like a white castle from a distance because it's almost entirely made of marble. Of the weekend crowd, we were among the first to arrive with famished appetites. We had the restaurant to ourselves as we ate soothing sinigang na malaga and pinakbet with warm rice.

But Kimi told us ElYu is also a foodie's paradise so we shouldn't be eating resort food at all times. There were restaurants and hole-in-the-wall eateries to explore just a few kilometers down the highway, with Waze ensuring we didn't get lost.

Meanwhile, the Not So Little One made like she was to the resort life born.

Time for a "groupie," minus our younger child, Singapore-based Ida. Photos like this one are rare so when we remember we're almost complete as a family, we take time to commemorate the moment.

Kimi recommended we either go Mexican or Greek for our early supper. She and Kai had tried the Mexican in a past visit so Greek it was, together with waitresses dressed like acolytes of Aphrodite. We liked the view from where we sat. It looked out to the beach where groups of youngsters were throwing frisbees or volleyballs. Out in the sea, others swam or paddled with surfboards although there were no surfing-worthy waves.

Tres personas sin burritos

Just look for the blue and white building and you're in the Greek sanctuary.

Interiors of Gefseis Greek Grill are cool and open to the sea breeze.

While waiting for our orders, time for another three-generation "groupie."

I had the prawns and rice.

He (Rolly) had the grilled squid.

Next morning was playtime by the seashore for Kimi and Kai--they came equipped with bucket and shovels. The day before, Kai dug up a shell which she adopted as a pet and named Shelton.

Protected by sunscreen

Back to the pool we go.

Before noon we had checked out and decided on trying out the Independence Day turo-turo at Flotsam and Jetsam, another open-air resto by the beach. I loved it for its bohemian ambience--the hanging dream catchers, the parasols and lamps, the banana leaves topping the plates, the young girls and guys who stumble in from the beach for early beers or rum and Coke, etc.

Kimi recalled how in her college days she and friends would take the bus to San Juan. There weren't these many food places and bed and breakfast places. Sometimes they would just camp out on the beach. I'm happy I discovered San Juan and the ElYu vibe at this point in time.

At Flotsam and Jetsam, it feels like being thrown back to a hippie paradise.

Last stopover in Sablan, Benguet, before the climb to Baguio

Photos by Kimi and Rolly Fernandez