Celebrate joy!

Our Day 1 in Bangkok was pretty laid back. We arrived early in the morning so after leaving our bags at the hotel, we ate brunch at this casual joint (aka carinderia) named "Im Chan"   which boasts of "very good and very cheap food". Their words, not mine. IM CHAN True to its tagline, it was a great and affordable meal! We made sure we ordered the signature Thai dishes such as Pad Thai, Shrimp Curry and Fried Oyster Pancakes. Win!

Friends sometimes tease me on my "Oriental palate" because I really do like the taste of tea. While others would cringe on its somewhat bitter aftertaste, I would take delight as I hold a cup in my hands and take a sip. It's probably the clean taste and the health benefits of the drink that I have grown to love over the years. Thus being a tea person, it's no surprise that the idea of authentic tea landing in the country tickled my taste buds. :) These folks from TenRen just opened their first branch in Manila last Saturday and what they promise is a tea experience like you've never had before.

Here are our other eats during the event... Yes, there's more! While Crisp on 28th Crisp Street was there offering grilled corn and burritos, Pink Panda was there to represent Asian Cuisine and Bait's was there with their sliders.

Just as the name implies, Eat Street is a stretch of gustatory delights that range from the streetfood crunchy belly to  the Italian classic cannoli (no this is not the pasta we eat at Amici, which was my initial thought! :P). Bettina was gracious enough to tag me along to this event 2 Fridays ago and what ensued was a cycle of eating, sitting and taking photos of the food and the scene.

Eating desserts is always an excellent way to cap off a meal... so it's delightful to find new shops selling sweets that offers both classics and modern twists to this meal staple. Out comes Kat Sia, of Sweet Bites, carrying a tray full of goodies fresh from the oven. Don't these just look delicious???

Breakfast is love and these guys from Pi Breakfast & Pies are sure taking that truth to heart... because they have curated a breakfast menu that is both delectable and pleasing to the eyes. Ja and I met up last Friday for breakfast (at 9:30am! Hello sunshine!) and she suggested we try this joint. Being the kind of people who want to make sure that we get the best items on the menu, we searched for it online.. we chanced upon this one review, and saw that every dish the writer ordered seemed to be really good... lol! #takawtingin Since there were just the 2 of us though, we ordered 2 dishes for sharing... that's why I've also included here dishes from the restaurant's FB page which you may also want to try when you go here :)

Home of the delicious mango torte, Dulcelin Gourmet has an extensive menu that will not only satisfy your sweet cravings but also your love for home-cooked meals. We celebrated my sister's birthday last Thursday and everything we ordered was pretty good! And the great thing about this place? ...Is it's reasonable price -- making this restaurant a place worth going back to :) 

I'm sure most of you have already visited the stretch of restaurants along Maginhawa and its neighboring streets... but as for me, it was my first time to dine in the area last week. :) Last Saturday, my clubhouse friends and I decided to eat at Wicked Kitchen. When we got there around 12pm, it was only us. But after about half an hour, the place was packed!

Gone are the days when our energetic selves would be awake til dawn. Hitting our mid-20s means this: late night episodes would have us yawning by 11pm and Saturdays will be bumped off by Sunday brunches and early dinner catch ups on weekdays. :) For all the mid-20s in the house, can you relate? Lol! Is it just us? Whether this is a sign of aging or just a phase that we will soon get over with, there's beauty in the quiet stillness of Sundays and the ho-hum of Makati that doesn't look like it at all on a weekday. So it was set: drop by Rosa Clara for our friend's wedding gown fitting, then have late lunch at Simply Thai in Greenbelt 5. :)

Hey lovelies! How about some sweet fix in the name of tea and french macarons? Milk tea has taken the country by storm years ago and has proven to the tea cynics that this previously-coined foodie trend is here to stay... But while french macarons are somewhat dessert newbies in the local scene, they have gained quite a following with the dessert-loving crowd with its sweet+salty balance and crunch+chewy texture.

Ramen and katsu are all the rave these days, and with so many restaurants setting up shops with these two fares, Tampopo is nothing short of brave to set up their first branch here in Manila just last December.

Time for a time warp post! :) I'm going back to making desserts lately -- but just the quick ones -- like the mango float and I'm experimenting in making something chocolate-y too... I love it, sometimes I get too excited in tasting whatever it is I whipped up that the kitchen area becomes a helluva mess. Lol! Sorry! I hope my dad sees the passion behind all the cartons of cream, wafer crumbs and condensed milk drips on the table. :P Anyway, my love affair for dessert experiments dates back to almost 4 years ago when I started selling my sister's chockies. Yes. chockies. Guess what those are?   

October weekends are turning out to be really fun J Like two Saturdays ago, we threw a bridal shower for my college friend, Cathy. Her requests were just 3 things: (1) No stripper (was that a disappointed grunt I just heard from you? Lol!) (2) Sabaw fun! (3) and reminiscent of our college days (so I guess this one was already referring to #2) So what her maid of honor, Steph, planned was a girls day out/sleepover that constituted stuffing our faces with all things yummy and sweet, a little naughty sexy trip at La Senza to pick up something naughty and sexy (jeez, that was redundant), and a pamper me fix at St. Nails, for a halo-ed experience at their branch in Makati.

Hi there! Have you guys heard of Pino Resto Bar? I've heard about it a couple of times and had always been curious as to what their gustatory fare looks like.

When I came in La Creperie Boheme to have my brunch fix two Saturdays ago, I was quick to smile at the table of yuppies who smiled at my direction. I thought they were friends with Christine, the co-owner of this lovely resto, so I armed myself with an easy smile that seemed a little awkward at first, but was nonetheless sincere. That was the first sign that this was going to be a different-sort of dining experience. :)

Oh! The glee that a 3-day weekend brings! :) Honestly though, I would've wanted to have a weekend getaway, but I wasn't able to plan on time :( So I am soooo looking forward to doing one of my favorite things in the next few months: travel! So for this long weekend, I spent it balancing exercising, eating, sleeping and catching up on new movies and tv series. In short, chillllaaaaax lang muna tayo . :P

...says the wall at the Early Bird Breakfast Club, one of the newest restaurants at the Fort, BGC.

Our third day at Bora was spent lazing around the beach, wolfing down two breakfasts within one-hour interval (not a good idea to do this before hitting the beach :P), crashing at somebody else's pool and finally getting our seafood fest at dampa for dinner! Wheeee!

If there was one foodie place that I was so ecstatic to have tried out on my most recent trip to Bora, it would be Kasbah! Kasbah: It's time to go Moroccan! Kasbah is located at Station 1 -- they serve Moroccan cuisine and has been the object of raves of many celebrities. That's why when our friend Jona asked for a recommended restaurant where she will throw a mini surprise dinner for her bf, Victor, my friend was quick to suggest Kasbah. And when we saw photos of the place, we were all quick to chime in with our resounding "Let's!"

Every night before going to sleep, I do a short exercise: think about at least 3 things that I'm thankful for the day. So no matter how tiring the day may have been, I'll be reminded to count my blessings because there is always something to be thankful for. :) I can almost hear you say, "Eh ikaw na ang positib!" haha! But it's actually quite the opposite, because that is precisely why I do this daily exercise -- because it is not automatic for me. It's always so much easier to call it a day and slump my face on my pillow as I brace myself for the amount of work that awaits me the next day. I am no walking sunshine or Ms. Bright-Eyed-Wonder, so this is what I do to keep it together and to smile before going to sleep. So here are 6 things that I am thankful for this week...