Authentic Lebanese Fare at Meshwe

My cousin Ate Essel has been craving for Lebanese food so she drove all the way from Pampanga with her three sons to satisfy this. Lucky for me, she invited me to try the Lebanese fare at Meshwe.

Meshwe is located at Z Compound 33 Malingap Street, Teacher’s Village Quezon City that serves authentic Lebanese dishes and other Middle Eastern fare. They are open from 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Z Compound by the way is like an open food court. There are many food stalls that offer different cuisines so I’m sure there is something that would tickle your palate.

Here’s what we had:

Chicken Tenders with Rice - Chicken Tenders, Bukhari Rice, tomato slices served with yogurt mint sauce and chili garlic sauce

Meshwe Platter - Pita chips, Sambousak and Arabic Fries with three types of dipping sauce: garlic sauce, harissa and chili garlic

Chicken Shawarma Rice - Chicken Shawarma, Bukhari Rice, tomato slices served with yogurt mint sauce and spicy tomato salsa

Beef Shawarma Platter - Pita bread, Arabic fries, Beef Shawarma, tomato slices served with yogurt mint sauce and tahini

Everything tastes delicious. I especially liked the garlic sauce and the yogurt mint sauce. Now I don't know if the dishes served were really authentic because it was my first time to try Lebanese food. If this is how good Lebanese food are then I can't wait to try other Lebanese dishes.

Monasterio De Santa Clara

Monasterio De Santa Clara, Saint Clare Monastery or Monasteryo ni Santa Clara in Katipunan is one of my favorite places of worship. I have been attending Sunday mass here religiously for almost two years but I haven’t blog about this beautiful place yet.

I love hearing mass here because the place is peaceful and solemn, Father Andres Ranoa who regularly celebrates the mass give thought provoking homilies and because every week I get to hear the  nuns in brown habit sing beautiful old Tagalog songs that are no longer sang in other churches during the mass. 

A lot of people flock to Saint Clare Monastery to offer eggs and prayers. Many came to her to ask her intercession for good weather, to be able to conceive, to pass board exams and other various petitions.

But why are eggs offered to Saint Clare? Clare means "clear'' so it only fitting that we asked for her intercession for clear skies, clear mind and clear conscience.Others add that “clara” in Spanish refers to egg white while in Castillian it means having a short interval of a fair weather in a rainy day so an egg is offered for a good weather. Eggs are associated with fertility and the egg whites are clear hence it symbolizes a clear mind.

Saint Clare (also spelled as Clair or Claire) of Assisi is a good friend and one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. They both came from noble and well-off families but both turn their backs from wealth and lead a life of prayer and sacrifice. She founded a religious order known as the Order of the Poor Ladies. Saint Clare’s mother, Ortolina, also entered this religious order as well as her sisters Beatrix and Agnes (who is also declared as saint). Her feast day is every August 11.

The Order of the Poor Ladies led by Sor Jerónima de la Asunción and other nuns

came to the Philippines in 1621 and established the Real Monasterio de la Inmaculada Concepción de la Madre de Dios de las Monjas de Sta. Clara (Royal Monastery of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God of the Nuns of Sta. Clara) in Intramuros, Manila. The monastery in Intramuros was destroyed in World War II when American soldier heavily bombed Manila to liberate it from the Japanese invaders. Because no structure was left standing in Intramuros except for the San Agustin Church after 300 years in Intramuros, the monastery transferred to Aurora Boulevard, Cubao, Quezon City. In the 1990s the monastery transferred again to the lot opposite the Aurora Boulevard site which is Katipunan Avenue because the monastery has to give way for the construction of C5.

Schedule of Masses

Masses are said at the Monastery everyday at 6:00 a.m. except for Sunday which is at 6:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Special blessings are said for birthday celebrants of that particular month every first Sunday of the month and special blessings of healings for the sick are prayed by the priest every second Sunday of the month before the mass ends. The intention for the successful board examination of a particular profession for that particular week is also prayed for during the Prayers of the Faithful part of the mass. During the feast day of Saint Clare masses are said every hour throughout the day.

The monastery is open every day from 5:30 am to 7:00 pm.

After the mass you can proceed to the area adjacent to the church to drop off your petitions and eggs, have your religious materials and board examination paraphernalia like pencils, calculators, etc. bless and kiss the relic of Saint Clare.

The area where people write down their petitions for Saint Clare

It is here where the eggs, prayer petitions are offered, where materials are blessed and where you can find the relic of Saint Clare

Picture taking of the relic is not allowed.

How to go to Monasterio de Santa Clara

1. Hop on LRT line 2 and alight on Katipunan Station South Wing. From there walk  towards Katipunan Avenue and turn right once you see the C5 fly over then you can see the monastery from there.

2. Ride a jeep in Cubao and look for those with Katipunan or Parang, SSS signboard and tell the driver that you want to get off at Santa Clara.

3. If you have your own car, drive along Aurora boulevard towards Marikina when you reach the Katipunan intersection turn right. The convent is at the left so turn left towards the first U-turn slot.

Other facts about Monasterio de Santa Clara and Saint Clare

In Jose Rizal's novel "El Filibusterismo" it was the Monasterio de Santa Clara that Maria Clara entered to become a nun.

Saint Clare of Assisi is the same patroness of Obando, Bulacan  that people go to to perform fertility rites.

Leona's Art Restaurant

Leona’s Art Restaurant offers Mexican Italian dishes. It is located at # 45 Matimtiman Street Quezon City.  This restaurant is not easy to find since it is not found along Maginhawa Street and their signage outside the restaurant is not that big and visible. We’re glad that the tricycle driver who brought us to Leona was familiar with the restaurant. We just told the driver that we wanted to eat at the restaurant that offers pizza all you can promo.

The place is small which is similar to most of the restaurants in the Maginhawa area. It can sit 20 to 30 people.  There are also some tables and chairs outside the restaurant but we opted to dine it because it was a hot summer night. I like the homey and cozy feel of this restaurant.

My siblings wanted to try the pizza all you can promo of Leona’s; sadly it ended a few days before our visit. We wanted to really have the pizza all you can promo because we wanted to know how many pizza slices we can eat. Hehehe. Sobrang takaw. The food attendant then offered their other promo which was the 3 pizza promo for 499 – 14’’ three cheese pizza, pepperoni pizza and  a choice of any of their other pizza.

So we had the 3 pizza promo. For our third pizza we ordered the ham and mushroom pizza.  Aside from our pizza order we also had the roasted chicken promo for 499 – roasted chicken with its salsa and gravy sauce, Mexican rice and a pitcher of Coke.

Everything served to us was delicious. But I like the three cheese pizza the most because I love cheese. It was cheesy and crunchy.  With the roasted chicken I hope they can cut down on the herbs they put into it because a few hours after our dinner I can still taste the herb.

The waitresses at Leona’s were attentive to us and they offered to take our group pictures when they saw us clicking the camera.

I would love to go back to Leona's and try the other dishes in their menu.

Saint Ursula Parish and Kalbaryo at Binangonan Rizal

Last April 19, 2014, my brother, his wife and another brother’s girlfriend and I went to Binangonan, Rizal.

How to Travel to Binangonan?
From Aurora Boulevard, we took a jeepney ride to Sta. Lucia Mall and from Sta. Lucia Mall we hailed a jeep with a Binangonan signboard. Aurora to Sta. Lucia Mall fare was P10.00 and then from Sta. Lucia to Binangonan was P35.00. Judging from the fare we paid going to Binangonan we knew it was a long ride.

We passed by the towns of Taytay and Angono. I wonder why the main road, Manila East Road, that the jeepney took became narrower and narrower as we approached the town of Binangonan? 

The image of Saint Ursula by the belfry tower, she is the Patron saint of orphans and students and her feast day is celebrated  every October 21

Our first stop was the Saint Ursula Parish Church. This 200-year-old church is one of the oldest churches in Rizal. Construction of the church started in 1792 and was completed in 1800.

St. Ursula Parish is located at Paterno Extension, Barangay Libid, Binangonan, Rizal and the parish office number is 625-3413.

How to reach Saint Ursula Parish
The narrow streets of Barangay Libid can be confusing so asked the jeepney driver to drop you off at Paterno Street and the church is just a short walking distance.

It was sad that the church was closed during our time of visit. We were not able to see the church’s interior. 

How to go to Kalbaryo
From Saint Ursula Parish we took a short tricycle ride to Kalbaryo or Calvary Hill. Kalbaryo is a popular religious place for locals to visit especially during Holy Week. There are Stations of the Cross along the hill where you can stop and recite a prayer. There is also a ruin of an old chapel half way through the top of the hill.

entrance to Kalbaryo

the chapel ruins

more steps to conquer

just a few more steps to take 

On top of the hill are the 15 feet big white cross, the statue of the Virgin Mary and the breathtaking view of the town of Binangonan and of the Laguna Bay. There were about 275 steps to climb to reach the top.

light a candle and say a prayer by the image of Our Lady

the scenic view of Laguna de Bay and of the town of Binangonan

Revisiting Noah's Park in Rodriguez Rizal

My siblings and I were planning to go to one of the popular resorts in Antipolo for our Labor Day outing, but my boyfriend told me that we should go instead to Noah's Park in Rodriguez, Rizal.  He said that there have been a lot of improvements in the said resort since our visit to Noah's Park in 2010(Here's my previous post about Noah's Park).

Since we've been to the popular resort in Antipolo many times, my siblings, their respective partners and I agreed that will be going instead to Noah's Park.

Our second visit was a lot pleasurable and joyful than the first because of two reasons!

1. I was complaining before that there weren't enough swimming pools in Noah's Park; that the pool can get really crowded on a hot summer day. When we got back, the once fishing pond and the area for the lakeside view cottages were converted into two large swimming pools. These pools were finished only last April.

This was supposedly the wave pool (I wonder why they didn't turned on the waves when we were there) which was huge and inviting.

The next one was the kiddie pool which really looks cute with the blue paint and drawings of the dolphins. But what we really love about this pool was that we got splashed with the cold water collected from the pail on top of the pool. This was a refreshing way to cool ourselves that scorching hot day! It truly beats the summer heat.

There's another newly constructed pool which we were not able to go to because that was exclusive to those who are billeted to their hotel or mini condominium.  By the way Noah's Park is now called Noah's Leisure Park and Hotel.

2. We loved the 300 meter long and 30 feet high hanging bridge that we got to cross in Noah's Park.  It afforded as the chance to see the beautiful sights this place has to offer.

Aside from the hanging bridge and the new swimming pools, the other things that's new at Noah's Park are:

Trampoline and other obstacle course perfect for team building

And the  newly constructed chapel

Entrance fee for day swimming at Noah's is now at P180.00 for adults, P130 for children below 4 feet. Their cottages ranges from P250 to P1900.

Burger Project at Maginhawa Quezon City

While waiting for our orders to be served at Sancho Churreria my cousins and I went to Burger Project which was just adjacent to Sancho

.

At Burger Project you can customize your burger – what type of bun, patty and toppings for your burger.  But they also offer different designer burgers if you don’t want to make your own burger. Their designer burgers are on their menu board.

I just hope that Burger Project is a little bigger. It can accommodate around 20 to 30 persons. I think it could get really crowded during weekends.

To create your own bigger, you are given a piece of paper which contains all the choices available for your burger and then just tick the ingredients of the burger that you fancy.

My burger is nothing fancy – I wanted it to be 100% beef patty on a sesame seed bun with bleu cheese, sun dried tomatoes, lettuce with Burger Project's special sauce. The total bill for my burger is P205.00

Since we were dining at Sanchos’ we opted to have our burgers for takeout.

Unwrapping my burger – it is bigger in size compared to fast food burgers, the patty is thick and flavorful. I love my burger but I would remove the sun dried tomatoes next time because it is a little sour for my taste.

I’ll definitely be back at Burger Project but this time I’ll try their designer burgers plus their shakes and onion rings.

Burger Project is located at 122 Maginhawa Street Teacher's Village, Quezon City. Open daily from 11 am to 12 mn.