(Isdaan crosses the thin line from simple restaurant to a “place”. It’s not just a place to find food –it’s a restaurant slash fun park and all galore. While it lacks gourmet food and a cubic meter empty of people, Isdaan makes more than enough for it with an abundance of “barrio fiesta” food, color and LIFE.)

Place: Isdaan (with the tagline “Isdaan truly fiesta”)
Date: Busy Saturday

From the view of passing cars, Isdaan shines like a beacon and screams with the noise of hundreds of people. 

What can you find in Isdaan/Why should you go there?

 There’s no shortage of entertainment in Isdaan. To provide thrilling and heart-stopping features, cooks, waiters and other workers shed their aprons in exchange of flashy costumes and impossible stunts.

Isdaan boasts a variety of environments to eat in. This is where we ate. There are other places to eat in, like those beside the Crocodile Lagoon, Golden Buddha, et cetera. 

This is the view near the place we ate. Free boat rides under the tunnels are offered  (though “free” is a very loose term). My cousins rode on such a trip, which passed under that bridge and went around a scenic (well, I assume) route. 

As you can see here, Isdaan (indiscriminate of affiliation -DC, Marvel, Disney, you name it) acquired statues of different well known characters. I’ve seen people pose beside the Angry Birds, Goofy, Cory Aquino, Superman, Barack and Michelle Obama. There’s a gigantic figure of King Kong –or at least a giant gorilla, as well as a statue of Spiderman ready to launch off the top of a building. 

“Tacsiyapo” is a feature that’s pretty well known. There are others in the country (I think), and though I haven’t tried it, I’m sure it’s fun and/or effective, judging by the number of broken ceramics. (They even have small TV sets for sale). 

Oh, well. Here’s “King Kong”. We took pictures up there (the bridge by the big hands).

 As I was saying –you could eat in “floating” huts. While waiting for food, you could feed the fishes floating around. 

Our last trip to Isdaan was the first time I ate someplace which wasn’t like these huts. I think it has something to do with the categories and waiting lists. You could request to be seated beside a certain attraction or in a specific kind of setting, though there are longer lines for the more famous options.

While the decor seems largely an amalgam of different cultures and themes, there are some features that are recurring. We have this theory that the owner (or chief designer) of the place went on an Asian tour. There are figures of Buddha, roosters and the like everywhere. 

This is the “Golden Buddha”. There are four (or was it three?) other Buddha decks (coming in a variety of colors – red Buddha, White Buddha…) scattered across Isdaan. There is a sign that says the likes of  “Hold the Buddha, Make a Wish, and Ring the Bell Joyously”. 

This is all part of the decor. There are also gorilla astronauts, dinosaur and dinosaur eggs and so on.

The caption says “Mama Chit” – Mother (or something) of Barrio Fiesta. I honestly don’t know who she is. I just wanted to take a picture. 

End.

These were all taken with a camera phone. :) My sister and cousins have better pictures with their shiny cameras.