A year ago,  a good friend of mine chanced upon a list of the best ramen houses in Manila. I blogged about each ramen experience but seeing that there wasn't much of a story to tell (We go there. we eat ramen. Ramen very good. The End) and how I suck at food blogging (Ramen is yum yum. Broth is salty. Pork is yes.), I decided to ditch that and just put everything on a master blog post. So here it is, a year worth of ramen experience, all condensed in one giant post. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I am not a food expert. I am simply a young earthling from the south who ventured to the city in hopes of a good bowl of ramen.

BTW, except for Wrong Ramen and Hanamaruken, Shio was the base I went for.

Wrong Ramen Forbestown Rd, Taguig, Metro Manila

What stuck on me about the time we ate at Wrong Ramen was the heavy traffic I had to go through to get there. My friends' workplace were just a couple of meters away and I was coming from Cavite, which was a loooot further away. But I survived that damnable traffic flow and was able to enjoy a bowl of FU Ramen.

I have never seen such a beauty before

You'd think that the FU Ramen is one salty disaster waiting to happen what with all that bacon, spam, fried egg, and pepper broth, but no. Everything that makes this ramen "wrong",  comes together in a harmony of savor that will make your taste buds sing. Just thinking about it now makes me want to go there right this instant.

Noodles ✮✮✮☆☆
Broth ✮✮✮✮☆
Ambiance ✮✮✮✮☆
Overall ✮✮✮✮☆

Shinjuku Ramen 7853 Corner Hercules & Makati Avenue, Makati

The interior of this ramen house is very beautiful. It is so very japanese-y what with all the banners and cherry blossoms.

Irrashai!

A plate of gyoza on the side

The ramen isn't bad but it isn't a favourite of mine. As my friend said after the meal, their ramen was oh-so-oh-so, which in his vocabulary, meant average.

Noodles ✮✮✮☆☆
Broth ✮✮✮☆☆
Ambiance ✮✮✮✮☆
Overall ✮✮✮☆☆

Hanamaruken Ramen 2/F Alabang Town Center, The Garden, Alabang Zapote Rd Alabang, Muntinlupa Metro Manila

Hanamaruken Ramen was a pleasant surprise. There we were, trying to figure out where should we have dinner, when Hanamarukan Ramen called out to us from across the Herschel boutique at Alabang Town Center. Why was there a ramen house right smack in the middle of boutiques?
It turns out there was a reason people were lining up for Hanamaruken's Ramen. The place was small but I loved the interior! And the ramen, it was very good. I kept sipping on the broth, I forgot to leave some space for the noodles and that scrumptious slab of pork . My friend on the other hand, gulped down everything! And I love how this was her first ramen ever and I, on the other hand, have been eating bowls of ramen for quite some time now and I've never licked clean a bowl before.

Their ebi tempura is yummy! And not to mention, consistently huge!

The interior is creative and lovely!

Hanamaruken should be on the top lists I see online! It's really good!

Noodles ✮✮✮✮☆
Broth ✮✮✮✮☆
Ambiance ✮✮✮✮☆
Overall ✮✮✮✮☆

Santouka Casual Ramen Dining 1F Ayala Mall Serin, Aguinaldo Highway, Tagaytay

It was the first time I've seen sizes to choose from. But I was more surprised at how even the large bowl was not really large compared to the other ramen houses I've been to. I guess the "casual" in Santouka Casual Ramen Dining really means casual.

A ball of sticky rice for the umay, I guess?

I fell in love with their salmon onigiri

Their ramen is good but not good enough to knock out some of my favourites off the list. Although, I think I could come back for more.  If you need a quick ramen fix, consider Santouka Casual Ramen Dining.

Noodles ✮✮✮☆☆
Broth ✮✮✮☆☆
Ambiance ✮✮✮✮☆
Overall ✮✮✮☆☆

Asahikawa Ramen Bangaichi The River Park, Festival Supermall, Muntinlupa, Metro Manila

The name of this establishment is a mouthful for some. And I'm afraid the name is the only thing notable to me.

My friend always orders the miso ramen

That teaset is so cute, I want to bring it home

I like the place but the ramen did not reach up to my standard. It's fine for filling the stomach but it's not my go-to place if I wanted some rich ramen experience.

Noodles ✮✮☆☆☆
Broth ✮✮✮☆☆
Ambiance ✮✮✮☆☆
Overall ✮✮☆☆☆

Ramen Yushoken Alabang - Zapote Rd, Muntinlupa, Metro Manila

One day, the gods were feeling very gracious and decided to bestow upon us mortals the ramen house that is Ramen Yushoken.

A plate of the best gyoza my stomach has ever digested

So these are what cold noodles look like

I can never imagine a world without Ramen Yushoken. Their's is a broth that is thick with flavour, accompanied with noodles that is equipped with the delightful amount of firmness, and the pork, oh dear goodness, the pork. Don't get me started on that piece of heavenly meat that melts in your unworthy mouth in each bite. How is it possible that a bowl of ramen such as that of Ramen Yushoken could exist?

Noodles ✮✮✮✮✮
Broth ✮✮✮✮✮
Ambiance ✮✮✮✮☆
Overall ✮✮✮✮✮

Ukkokei Ramen Ron G/F Paseo Tesoro Bldg., 822 A. Arnaiz Ave, Makati, Metro Manila

"What was the name again? Ukko...ryu?"
"Ukko...kei? Hahaha!"
"Hahaha!" *Looks at our left*
"Oh wait, it really is Ukkokei..."

Our conversation while walking along Pasay road. And that was after I complained about how my friends who have been working in Bonifacio Global City for years should have a car by now so that we wouldn't be walking like this when we have our Ramen excursions.

Ukkokei's Shio Ramen

Well, the gyoza is quite good. I'll give them that.

To be very blunt, nothing in this establishment left a mark on me. The noodles is nothing special. The broth, even more so. The place isn't impressive either. And to think we walked quite a distance for this one. I'm not quite sure why ratings for this place is very good. Perhaps, I should've ordered some other kind of ramen?

Noodles ✮✮✮☆☆
Broth ✮✮☆☆☆
Ambiance ✮✮☆☆☆
Overall ✮✮☆☆☆

Kenji Tei Ramen House Ground Floor, Alabang Town Centre, Service Road, Filinvest City, Muntinlupa, 1781 Metro Manila

Noodles ✮✮✮☆☆
Broth ✮✮☆☆☆
Ambiance ✮✮✮☆☆
Overall ✮✮☆☆☆

We arrived at Vista Playa around 7. After breakfast at a carinderia nearby, we changed into our swimwear and got into the boats. 

The group getting off the van

The view from Vista Playa

Walking on the shallow shores towards the boats

The gang is ready for some sand and sun! Off we go!

After a couple of minutes, we found ourselves in Borawan.

Borawan

Whoever named this beach Borawan must never have gone to Boracay nor Palawan (since the name Borawan is coined from these two places) When one of our travel agents asked if we were amazed by the beach, all I could say is that it was okay.I didn't even take a dip because the water was full of things I couldn't identify. There were some activities like rappelling but I didn't feel like it. After walking for a bit, we sat and listened to some music, all while taking photos.

beach time baby!

You can do some rock climbing

Climb that rock to your heart's content

You can rent kayaks and pedal boats. None of which we tried.

the most fun part of being in Borawan is the photo taking

Or you can stare into the ocean. That's fun too.

A little while later, we went back into the boat and headed to the next beach, Puting Buhangin.

Puting Buhangin

It would have made more sense to name this beach Borawan, although still not at par with the two favourite tourist spots. The water was clean and clear and the sand, not as powdery as Boracay or Palawan's, but is more white and more grainy than Borawan's.

Welcome to Puting Buhangin, guys!

They've got enough huts for everyone

The ladies' toilet. You'll have to bring your own light when you go because it's so darn dark in there

The men's toilet

The grill

Shower rooms

A jug of water for bathing costs php50. Yes, you have to pay for the water

A variety store. An item costs an arm or a leg

Rented tents will fit three persons. Just be as still as a log when you sleep.

We had a great time swimming here. Unfortunately, that's about the only thing we could do at Puting Buhangin. That, and exploring Kwebang Lampas.

The rocks are spikey so you have to be very careful

The other end of the cave

When the tide is high you can swim inside the cave

There was this tiny moving thing

We were there already by 10am so you can imagine how bored we got after swimming and talking and more swimming. When night time came, all we did was play some tunes and read our social media feeds. The reception here is very good. There is no power source though so you might want to bring your power banks. Bonfires aren't allowed so some groups lit some candles instead. If we have known it would be like this, we could've at least brought some entertainment. 

Morning came and our backs and necks were complaining. None of us had thought to bring any sort of mat or pillow. If you're going, you should bring one just in case your tour agent doesn't, that is, if you hired any.

We woke up like this

All ready for a swim after breakfast

We had to do a bajillion tries before finally landing the perfect shot

Nothing beats swimming in the beach with fraaaands!

We strolled a bit on the beach, took more photos, had our breakfast, and packed up. When our boats arrived, we had to stuff all our things in it quickly because it began to rain hard. It was still raining when we got to Dampalitan Island.

Dampalitan Island

We didn't opt to swim here in Dampalitan Island because the water was very low and the it was already bordering on the rocks and corals and thingamajigs and I have no idea who would want to swim in the midst of all that. So we walked along the shore and yes, we took a lot of photos.

Hurrah! Time to abuse that SLR

Did I mention that the water was really shallow?

I have never seen such long sea weeds before

The short visit ended and we all headed back to Vista Playa. The weekend vacation was over. It was time for us to go home.

Time to head back to our exciting lives, people

On our way home, we got to visit Kamay ni Jesus and Nagcarlan Underground Cemetary.

Kamay ni Hesus

Nagcarlan Underground Cemetary

And that concludes our two-day getaway at Quezon! You can check out this site for the tour package we availed.

Photo credits: Rem Calumba, Allaine Adriano, Wendy Fraginal