Any given weekend offers an abundance of farmer’s markets to go to, and distance is not a problem for me. In my ongoing quest to stray from my geographical comfort zones, I venture off to Market at the Hills along Temple Drive. It’s the weekend star of the Corinthian Hills area that includes Santis, Rustan’s Fresh, Starbucks, and Gran Caffè Casanova Ristorante Italiano, which, unfortunately, has lost its luster for me.

I’m trying to get out of my comfort zone in terms of areas that I visit. I want to get out of the Makati-Ortigas- Tomas Morato sphere that I’m comfortable in and familiarize myself with Manila, Mandaluyong, and the farther-flung areas of Quezon City. One of those areas is Dapitan Arcade.

“I’m not sure I need it,” I hesitantly tell my friend Pat, eyeing the medieval looking item with its ominous, pointy tip. “I don’t really make apple pies all that often.” “Lori, you don’t make apple pies all that often exactly because you don’t have that thing!” Patty replies, rolling her eyes dramatically.

As a food writer, I have a rule about not eating in newly-opened restaurants. Countless bloggers compete with each other in trumpeting the arrival of a new eating place and rendering their verdicts. I, on the other hand, am more interested in how a place is doing three to six months after opening. Sustainability is key. But rules are meant to be broken, and so it is that I find myself at AzuThai with my sister, Tricia, and her husband, Jude, barely three weeks after it’s opened. The restaurant is another place that attempts to satisfy the Filipinos’ never-ending love affair with Thai food. Run by the Gamboas of Milky Way, Cirkulo, and Tsukiji fame, it was only a matter of time before the family turned their attention to Asia’s most famous (perhaps after Chinese) cuisine.

I’ve always belabored the fact that there are hardly any pies to be found in Manila. Cakes are constant, but sometimes there’s nothing like the cover of crust protecting its precious treasure within. Whether sweet or savory – and no, I hardly think empanadas count – pies are my idea of what to eat whatever my mood or whatever the weather.

Note: This piece is not so much a feature (on the restaurant), as it is a personal reflection. Excuse the dreadful photos - it was very dark, and these are not up to par. It starts out as an assignment to feature “…hole-in-the-wall places that are great for a Friday night gimmick.” I’d heard about Lime 88, even met the chef, Archie Juanta, a few times. His place does riffs on local street food, thus the tag, “Street food with a twist.” Now, I’ve had my share of street food, even consider myself quite the adventurous eater but as I’m soon to find out, there’s a difference between putting food in my mouth and actually enjoying it.

When it comes to sightseeing, I’m the more-markets-than-monuments type of tourist. It’s not really my thing to be shuttled around in a tour bus blindly following a guide whose hand is perennially attached to that “follow me” pink (or yellow or what have you) flag. But in Cambodia, I had to visit Angkor Wat…

“Cambodia seems so far…” reads the text from my friend, Kaie, as I leave the hotel room on my first day here. I chuckle and have to agree. But from the little I’ve seen of this place, I’m enchanted. Truly enchanted with Siem (pronounced as one syllable) Reap.