Gril Ranca, Julija

Zdravo! Our 4th annual European Christmas market vacation brought us to the picturesque country of sLOVEnia. Once part of the former Yugoslavia and homeland of our current FLOTUS. It's a small and beautiful country with rich history and great architecture.

We stayed in Ljubljana, the capital. It's my first Eastern European country visit, but hopefully not my last. It's a walkable city, with good public transportation and has great restaurants, museums, architecture, bridges and the locals seemed friendly. It was foggy most days, but we were still able to admire the sights and learn as much as we could.

Our good and longtime friend, Stoyan, who lives here in Maribor, the second largest city in Slovenia, was our gracious host during our stay. He showed us what Slovenia had to offer and it was enriching and insightful. Hvala, Stoyan.

Stoyan did an awesome job of driving us around, translating and highlighting his country. We spent the night in Maribor, but not before stopping at the famous Lake Bled in Slovenia and Zagreb, Croatia to visit the #1 ranked 2017 & 2018 European Christmas market known as Advent in Zagreb.

Lake Bled

Zagreb, Croatia

I collected the first menu in Maribor, Stoyan's hometown. I was so excited to finally see where he is from and where he lives. He has been to NYC many times and stayed with us for the past 15 years, so it was finally his turn to show us his Slovenian hospitality, and he was excited about it. We saw where he lived, worked, went to school, and met his dad. Maribor isn't as big or populated as the capital but it certainly had its own city charm.

Stoyan took us to a laidback restaurant Gril Ranca that offered traditional Slovenian and local food. He pretty much had to order for us as the menu was in Slovenian, but he did not disappoint. We ate a local fav lepinji, which I believe is like flatbread with a pocket in the middle that you can stuff with meats, cheese and whatever else. The bread was unbelievable! It was almost like eating a giant English muffin but light, fluffly and can taste good on its own.

Since there were menus on all the tables, I was able to grab one from another table and put it in my jacket.

Gril Ranca, Dravska Ulica 10
Maribor, Slovenia
Website

Gril Ranca

The second menu I collected was from FLOTUS Melania Trump's hometown Sevnica located in central Slovenia and about an hour drive from the capital. Although she was born in Novo Mesto in Southeastern Slovenia, she grew up in Sevnica. It felt like a very small and rural community surrounded by farm lands, hills and valleys. It's majestic.

Stoyan was horribly embarrassed to take us there because it has become somewhat of a tourist destination thanks to FLOTUS. We were trying to find shops and restaurants that sell sustenance, sweets and souvenirs dedicated to FLOTUS and POTUS, but online research wasn't helpful so Stoyan had to reach out to the locals. Sorry, Stoyan. We came all the way from America, so when in Sevnica, right?

Our first stop was a cute little cafe called Julija. They sold Melania cake. It was pretty good. Don't ask me what was in it, though. The menus were on every table so I was able to collect the menu from our table and put it in my jacket. I thought the name of the cafe was Cenik, but when I Googled it it means pricing.

Julija, Trg Svobode 1
Sevnica, Slovenia
Website

Julija

Our second stop was at Kruhek, a bakery known for selling the now famous First Lady apple pies. It has an American flag on top with the Slovenian words "Prva Dama", which means First Lady. The apples are from the Sevnica region and it tasted good.

Despite wearing the same clothes for the first 3 days because the airline lost our luggage, we had a really great time and learned a lot about sLOVEnia. Hopefully, when we return, it will be during the warm summer months. Na zdravje! Cheers!

New York New York

A restaurant in Cannes, France that delivers the feeling of being in a New York steakhouse with a French twist. Does it deliver? Well, the decor and ambiance doesn't, but you're in Cannes, so who cares? What it lacks in New York vibe, it certainly makes up for it in the food and flavor.

Funny item on the menu: Jewish burger. I know Jews do love their pickles. Not so sure about tuna steak, though. I should've order the truffle burger but I ordered healthy and got the tuna and avocado salad. It was really really good. Wasn't a fan of the pizza.

The menu was large and made from flimsy paper, so I was able to fold it in half and stick it in my bag.

New York New York, 1 Avenue of Liberty Charles de Gaulle
Cannes, France
Website

New York New York

Park Avenue Winter | Spring | Summer | Fall

The restaurant changes its menu and decor depending on the season of the year. We came during the spring time, but I would like to come back during the other seasons to see how the menu and the decor differs. The restaurant smelled of beautiful spring flowers that were hanging throughout the restaurant.

The food is farm-to-table and it was fresh and delicious. The service was professional. The desserts and its presentation was spectacular, creative and divine. It was the real winner.

I wasn't able to collect the main menu because it was too large and hard to hide, but I'm optimistic and up for the challenge next time. I was, however, able to collect the drink menu, which fit perfectly into my jacket pocket. Can you guess which drink I had?

Park Avenue, Park Ave. South @26th St.
New York, NY
Website

Park Avenue Spring

Sentro 1771, Cafe Breton, Barcino, Kabila, All Nippon Airways

Mabuhay, bitches!

Remember my menu collecting partner, Maria? She offered us to join her in the Philippines on her previous trips, and we haven't been able to go, until now. I was super excited to go back to my homeland and get a feel for my roots. While I was born in Olongapo City, which is located about 2 hours and 40 minutes north of Manila, I left there when I was 2 years old, so I don't have any memories of my birthplace. I do have family in Olongapo City, but I wasn't able to connect with them on this trip. Definitely next time. However, I did get to witness Maria in full menu collecting mode as she made it her mission to collect as many as she could and it was quite an adventure watching her do so. Salamat, Maria!

Warning: this post is going to be lengthy.

We stayed at the Peninsula Hotel in Makati City, Manila. Fabulous hotel! I don't know why I thought the Philippines would be full on third world. The slum areas do exist, but for the most part it's safe. It's a bustling, cosmopolitan and modern city that has a vibrant food scene, great museums and historic sites and lots of shopping malls. Lots. Seriously! The traffic, though, was horrible depending on the time of day and day of the week. The weekends seemed to be lighter. The weather was hot and humid the whole time because we arrived during the start of summer, but it was a nice welcome from the East Coast cold.

Visiting my birthplace Olongapo City was inspiring and enriching. While it wasn't as rural or country as I imagined, it definitely was a small community with a small town feel.

Before entering downtown, where City Hall, the Public Market, the statue of Ulo ng Apo and many shops are located, there was a sign that said, "Welcome. You are now entering Olongapo City. Transparency & Good Governance. Home of the most beautiful women in the world." I love that!

Olongapo is located near Subic Bay, which used to be a U.S. Naval Base. It closed in the early 90's and is now a very touristy destination. The city is a coastal town but there are parts of Olongapo that are in the mountains. Mount Pinatubo, which erupted in 1991, is also in the same region.

Now on to food. I love me some Filipino food. As a child, I was definitely more adventurous eating balut and dinuguan, but as I got older and realized what I was eating, well... I don't eat it anymore. I never really cared for pinakbet or bagoong, both of which smells and I can't stand the taste. A few of my other favorite Filipino foods include: lumpia, kare-kare, pancit, adobo, ube anything and tons of Filipino desserts and junk food.

Our first dinner with Maria, her husband, Errol, and their friend, Val, was at Sentro 1771 located in a huge shopping complex called Greenbelt. I was super excited to eat kare-kare and lumpia and all the foods I grew up eating in the States in the Philippines. I was not disappointed. Errol wanted to come here because they prepared this stew a certain way and they even brought it out for him to taste before serving it to him. I'm not sure of all the foods we got, but it was pretty damn tasty!

As I've mentioned before, it's easier to collect menus when there's a large group of people. Thanks to Maria and her big red bag (I think she brought it for the occasion), she was able to stuff all the menu from table to bag.

After a filling dinner, we decided to explore more of Greenbelt and find dessert. And drinks. And more food. Seriously!

Sentro 1771, Greenbelt 3
Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines
Website

Sentro 1771

For dessert, we went to Cafe Breton and ordered dessert crepes, which was good. Maria was trying to be slick in collecting the menu and after several close calls, my girl slipped it in her bag. Way to go, Maria!

While feasting on our dessert crepes, our guys were able to find drinks nearby for all of us and smoke their cigars. We sat there, took in the Manila nightlife, and tried to figure out if some of the females were actually 'ladyboys!' It was really hard to tell.

Cafe Breton, Greenbelt 3
Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines
Website

Cafe Breton

Our final stop on our Greenbelt food and drink exploration because stores and restaurants were closing was Barcino, a bar/restaurant that was still open, but barely. And as if eating crepes for dessert wasn't enough, we decided to have churros y chocolate and more drinks, of course!

At this point, it was amazing how Maria was able to stuff another menu in her bag, but she did! She managed a total of 3 menus in one night. Way to go, Maria! Salamat.

Barcino, Greenbelt 2

Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines

Website

Barcino

Our last night in Manila, we reconnected with Maria and Val and went to dinner at Mesa, a modern Filipino restaurant. No menu collected here-- boo! However, we did go for dessert at nearby Kabila, a Filipino bistro located next to the Ayala Museum. I'm so glad we went and ate desserts here because it was so good having traditional Filipino desserts: halo-halo and turon. So delicious!

Maria was determined to collect one final menu for me, and Val, who recently learned about my menu collecting, decided he was going to get in on the action and tried his hardest to stuff the menu under his shirt on his backside. After much giggling and shuffling, and with a little help from Maria, they managed to hide it. Oh boy, it was hilarious. What a way to end the trip and collect the final menu. Salamat, Val and Maria!

Kabila, Ayala Museum Complex

Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines

Website

Kabila

We flew All Nippon Airways (ANA) from Manila to Narita, Japan. This was my first time flying ANA. It's the largest airline in Japan. It was OK. One interesting feature of the flight was being able to send/receive email messages to/from anyone on the plane via the TV screen, so I sent one to Mark. Another interesting note about the plane was in the bathroom. They don't recommend you stand on the toilet seat. 

Sadly, I slept the entire 4+ hour flight so I didn't receive any food, but I kept the menu.

All Nippon Airways

Website 

This was such a memorable and meaningful trip. I'm so glad I was able to go with Mark. I can't wait to go back and visit some of the other islands next time. Mabuhay!