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For all of y’all that read my last post, you will know that Lita and I met Ted and Gloria Kennedy this past Saturday and they invited us out to eat at the Ciriaco’s Elsa Cafe. Well we were out front waiting on them and they showed up out there, even though they were staying at the Ciriaco. I was wondering what the heck was going on, but I soon found out. They were saying that the service at the Ciriaco was a bit slow and wanted to know if there was someplace else in town that was a good restaurant. Well you know that the first thing that came into my mind was Marcial’s Grille and they agreed to give it a try.
We were debating the best way to get there when Gloria decided to ask the driver of the Ciriaco van if he would take them. Surprise surprise he would. Not only that, but since we were guest of their guests, we got to go along with them. So we piled in the van and headed out. We had to avoid the Rosales bridge area since that bridge is still closed for construction, and the other bridge is really crowded, but since there are only 2 bridges over the river, it was necessary.
When we arrived at Marcial’s Grille, Ted said they they pass by this place almost everyday, remember they have been here since last month, and they had no idea that this place was here. I guess her relatives failed to mention it. The Ciriaco van driver told Gloria that when they are finished to give them a call and they would come pick us up also. Now that’s some first class service.
Although it felt a bit awkward, since I wasn’t paying, the Kennedy’s basically left the ordering up to me. I suppose it’s because I had been there before and I also mentioned the group meals that they have, even though the waiter did not give us the menu for those meals. When I mentioned it, he got us one and we ended up ordering one of those because it had a variety of good items, including the baby back ribs and the spring rolls of course. There were, I think, 7 or 8, maybe 9 different items in that order. Lita and Gloria are the only ones that ate the soup (it was fish soup), but they said it was very good. The meal was said to be for 6-8 people and there were only 4 of us so we could not eat it all, but did get most of it gone. If it would have been all ribs, spring rolls and fruit salad, it would have all been gone. I would have made sure of that. The total price was P1710 ($42.75) and we were all pretty full. All the leftovers were brought home to our house for the relatives and they all thought it was really good. I thought Gloria would take the leftovers with her, but since they were staying at the Ciriaco, they didn’t want to mess with it.
When we got ready to call the Ciriaco to have the van pick us up, Gloria could not find her cell phone. She had the Ciriaco phone number in her cell phone and no one there knew the number for the hotel. Finally one of the waiters found a way to get the number and let Gloria use the phone behind the counter to call. They were there to pick us up in only about 10 minutes. It was a nice night out and we thanked Ted and Gloria for bringing us. We really were not expecting to get such a nice meal that evening.
Another quick note about Ted and Gloria is that Ted says he is able to drink the local water without getting sick, but Gloria cannot. I thought that unusual mainly because I know that neither Lita or I can drink the local water and he is the first American that I have heard about that can. More power to him. Also I never got a picture of them, but I hope to be able to correct that error the next time I see them.
As for our restaurant out front, Lita says that it will for sure officially open on Monday, 4 March 2013. I plan to start up a monthly expat get together and have American style food to eat. Of course we will have to sell the food, but with a meal we will give y’all a 15% discount on that day/night (I don’t know what time I will have it yet) for the drinks, including beer and soft drinks, but not the hard liquor, which you would have to bring yourself if you just have to have it.
The food would all be 1 item like fried chicken, spaghetti, hamburgers or taco salad (and other things) and they will be as close to the American way of making them as we can get around here. Lita makes her own spaghetti sauce so you don’t have to worry about that sweet sauce they serve here or having hot dogs in there. We will try to have a different menu item each month, but, as I said it would only be the 1 item each month because it would get to complicated to have numerous special items. I will find a way to get the information out to y’all about what the food item for that month will be ahead of time because Lita would like to know how many people will be coming so she can make the right amount of food. I’m thinking about making a Facebook page for it, just as soon as we get a name for the restaurant.
Speaking of a name for the restaurant, does anyone have a suggestion? I suggested either Bagacay Cafe, LJ Cafe or LJ Restaurant. The LJ would stand for “Lita” and “Judith”. I’m not too sure if the people here really know what the “Cafe” means though. Do you think they would want to order a lot of coffee? That would be okay though because we will have coffee too. I think Lita is leaning towards one of the cafe ideas, but if you have an outstanding name, I’m sure she would really consider it. Supposedly the shorter the name, the less expensive it is to make the sign for the restaurant. In that case, LJ Cafe would be the winner. The Bagacay Cafe gives you a more exact idea of where the restaurant is located though, so we’ll see what they decide. Judith will get going to get the permit since she is an old hand at such things because of the Joyous Eatery that she use to have in the downtown area.
This post is getting a bit long, but I wanted to mention a couple more things. First of all we have been having several brown outs again recently. This past Sunday we had 2 of them. One was from approximately 0330 to 0810 and the other was 1103 to 1116. With all the businesses coming to the area that brown out problem will for sure have to be taken care of.
The last thing is that I have 3 websites below here that are nice. I put what the link is about as the title so if you are interested or curious about it, check it out. Notice that on the second one it is possible to register for a B & B here via the internet. I plan to located this B & B and put it on my new map that I have been developing. The only way to get accurate information on many of these places is to visit them in person and take notes of the area.
Almira Garden Facebook picture with rates and phone numbers
S & R Bed and Breakfast webpage with phone numbers, e-mail and even registration
That Wow City website seems like a pretty good and well laid out site.
Salamat, Y’all
Good luck on your restaurant opening. So how many expats have you been able to identify in the Calbayog area? I think in the next 5 years, there will be many more.
I have no idea how many are here. I have seen about 10 different white skin guys around that ‘look’ like they know where they are going. I suppose Rick would have a better idea of that than me. I hope that after we start the monthly get togethers the word will get around and then I’ll have a better idea of how many. Yes I’m sure that within the next 5 years there will be plenty more of us here. I know that you will be here before years end too.
I see a lot more foreigners in Calbayog than my first trip there seven years ago. I agree with both Randy and you that we will be seeing a lot more over the next five years or so. The addition of a mall or two makes the city more attractive for retirees but they need to resolve the brownout problem and improve the internet in order to attract large quantities.
LJ Cafe would get my vote. I don’t know how many people know where Bagacay is located. My wife didn’t know and she has lived in Calbayog for most of her life, albeit in San Joaquin. I like the idea of a monthly expat get together.
I checked out the S&R B&B webpage because it sounded familiar to me. It’s located in San Policarpo just before the Sanitarium hospital so I had seen it while driving back and forth from San Joaquin to the city. It looks nice and the rates are good but it is a good distance from the city so that could be a drawback for tourists. It already has a Trip Advisor rating but, since there has only been one rating, I would take that with a grain of salt.
I have a feeling that unless we get a super idea for a name, it will be LJ Cafe, especially since you say that people may not know where Bagacay is. I didn’t even think of such a thing. I’ll pass that on to Lita.
That expat get together we have been planning all along. It’s something that both of us really would like to get started and make successful.
I want to visit S&R B&B myself to get the exact location, but from what I can tell, even though it’s “a good distance from the city”, it seems to be closer than Marju Krisel. Although Marju has an outstanding pool to draw people out there and a restaurant on site. If you want a place that is quiet, maybe this would be a better choice. I’ll check it out and be sure to get some pictures of a lot of it. I saw that rating, in fact that is where I found out about S&R. I have 4 maybe 5 hotels in the area that I need to check out to add and at least 2 others that I have now to get the exact location to put on the map.
It is closer than Marju Krisel but not much. I checked out your map which shows the Marju Krisel and I know from the S&R website where they are located and they are just about 500 meters apart.
Well I don’t know the area well enough to put a pin in a spot until I’ve been there in person to see it.
Of course. I was just letting you know they are close to each other. I would probably choose Marju Krisel over S&R due to the pool and restaurant.
I know you was. I wasn’t implying anything. I too would pick the Marju Krisel, but everyone is not like us. I’m sure there are others that would prefer the more quiet area. I don’t know why, but I’m sure there are.
Yes for sure the brownout and internet problems need to be taken care of. The internet is not so bad for everyday use, but for any business stuff, it’s crap. Of course brownouts affect just about everything. Beside not having lights or appliances the internet and cable can not be used during brownouts. Sometimes when the power comes back on, the internet and cable are still off because something happen to them at or during the brownout.