Dak dinner

After Zaldy and his son Aimiel left last night, Dak arrived.

That's not his real name. :) His real name is Nonoy but his Second Life (tm) name is Dakila, which is the Tagalog word for "heroic". Sometimes, I'm tempted to call him "Dak Dak Goose". :D

Anyway, one of his coworkers recommended a seafood restaurant called Marina which is just walking distance from my hotel. Walking along the streets of Manila is a bit of an experience. People don't use the sidewalks. And no wonder, because cars are parked on them. So pedestrians take up the outer lanes of a four-lane street, or share them with cars and bikes and tricycles.

Marina Restaurant on Jupiter Street was like any other restaurant in the Philippines. The downstairs was about 70-80% full and smoky. The upper floor is the non-smoking area and was empty, but had no airconditioning. So we sat outside where there was a fan blowing.

I ordered the ginataang alimusan (catfish with coconut milk). Dak ordered swordfish; fried, I think. The waiter even came out with a tray with the raw fish on it to get our approval. :D When it arrived, the alimusan was actually curried, and oh-so-yummy! With garlic rice and sago at gulaman, mmmmm-mmm! I was stuffed!

When we were done, I was so sleepy (it was probably 10pm), I wasn't sure if I would make the trek back to my hotel. But I did. The walk back was much shorter than the walk to the restaurant. Dak begged me not to blog that we got lost on the way there, so I'm not blogging why the walk back was shorter. ;D