BBM Photo Contest

Dear Friends, I would appreciate your support here. I bumped into this Facebook Page - Blackberry Pilipinas because I tried to explore every inch on Blackberry since I got myself a Blackberry phone. 

Blacberry Pilipinas is hosting a BBM photo contest. Current Category is First in on the Action with BBM. The photo entry with the highest votes will win one of the 18 Blackberry smart phones to be given away!

Please vote for my photo entry! 

Here's the link: BBM Photo Entry

 Help me out will you? ^_^

Remembering Lola

Yesterday, our family celebrated the 92nd birthday of our beloved Lola Sylvia (Lola Bebing as we - her grandchildren call her) at Balingasag. It was the first birthday where we celebrated without her. She passed away last year. 

 

Lola on her 90th birthday

I went inside her room to relax a bit before traveling back home with my mother and brother. I saw her stuff toys and doll collection on the hanging cabinets - gifts given by friends, sons and daughters, and grandchildren, her photo albums with family pictures from decades ago up to the present, and photo frames of her children and grandchildren - I saw the little me on that picture frame. Those things reflected the things my lola valued the most - her family and friends.

I've had great memories with Lola:

- A great story teller. I always get hooked when it was time for her to tell stories. My favorite was that of a prince who's love for a maiden was tested against all odds (thanks to my poor memory, I can no longer recall the title of that story).

- A thoughtful grandma. She never failed to give us presents on birthdays and on Christmas. She would even secretly put bills or coins on our pockets (when the elders were not looking) every time we visit her. She would cook meals and prepare snacks for us when we were around. She always treated us like her little princes and princesses - even when we were already grown ups.

- A proud lola. She would always mention to her kumares the achievements of her grandchildren.

- A secret keeper. I share my crushes with her. I show her the pictures and she would always say I had good taste!

I simply miss her.

me and lola

with her grandchildren and great grandchildren

I miss you Lola. We all do.

Thank you for the genuine love you exuded to all of us.

Aiza's Sweets

A colleague and fellow blogger Randy came back from a business trip in Manila the other day and brought us this: Aiza's Sweets Assorted Pastillas (Chewy Milk Candy). Aiza's Sweets is manufactured in Pampanga, Philippines. Flavors inside: Carrot, Ube, Buko Pandan, Ube Macapuno, and Langka. 

Funny because the taste seemed very familiar. That is because Aiza's Sweets IS Sasmuan (familiar with the yummy Pastillas booth in the malls?). And how was I able to discover it? I Checked the label. ^_^ 

My personal favorites are Langka and Ube Pastillas. What's yours?

Little Bangkok: Salted Pumpkin

Found this great bargain from Little Bangkok - a store located a Velez street. I failed for the second time to get the exact address. What I was sure of is it sits beside Sentro 1850 and across Tilt.

My stomach was already rumbling. So to survive a little more before reaching home, i made a pit stop at Little Bangkok. I initially planned to by the Salted Sunflower but then I saw this. So I said I'd give it a try.

Tong Garden Salted Pumpkin at Php25.00 buy one, take one!

Tastes like..oh yeah, pumpkin. There's an after taste which I cannot distinguish. But overall,taste is acceptable. Try it!

Getting more and more curious with Little Bangkok? 

I promise to take a picture of the store and what's inside the next time I do a pit stop. I'll take note of that.

The Quest is On!

Finally! After announcing our plans of having the Chicken Inasal Project: the quest for the best Chicken Inasal in Town (our hometown - Cagayan de Oro City), we finally had our first ever restaurant visit last Friday (by accident!).

Dear Friends, thanks in advance to also find time to read my second blog - especially to my fellow kagay-anons: 

http://thechickeninasalproject.blogspot.com/

The quest is finally on!

Cheers to more food trips to come!

Now I'm hungry.

Whipped Cream Episodes

My two girl friends and I decided to bond on a Friday night. After having our first ever Chicken Inasal Project at Honey Tree (yet again another food discovery; I'm loving the place more), we headed for Bo's Coffee at Divisoria to sit down, relax, and have a girl talk (after our failed attempt to visit a milk tea shop; closed for the day).

We ordered our Froccino choices and chatted all the way. But before we fast forward to our unending chatters, Ingrid jokingly asked the cashier if there's free cake and the cashier responded "whipped cream only ma'am" and smiled. And Ingrid answered, "Okay, put it on a plate huh?". So after having our own servings of Froccino, the cashier delivered 1 platito of whipped cream to our surprise. That's customer service! We had a big laugh then. And I couldn't get over it yet until now.

Ingrid

Maybelle

Me

  Inside Bo's Coffee

The whipped cream hyped up our mood to discuss future plans, adventures, events, and quotable quotes!

To mention a few topics:

- Wi-Fi password trouble

- If _ is _ I'd rather _ than _ ~ ingrid (fill in the blanks!)

- You always make time for what you want ~ maybelle 

- A surprise to a friend

- Hotel hopping

- Chain Chan Chu!

- Chainsaw massacre?!?

- Evening with Vice: the Annabelle Rama episode

- BBM (my status: alone in BBM!) 

- Online business ventures (this is the most productive part of our discussion, and we decided to go for it so watch out and make way for us!)

If not for our Cinderella nature to head home before the clock strikes 12. we would have stayed longer. I had a great night. 

Thanks Ingrid and Maybelle for the great company!

 

Change of Heart

I quoted this post title from a friend. Last night we had this conversation on "change of heart". perhaps it was a 360 degrees turn of events. And I blamed it for being really impulsive! Whatever happened to my hormones at that moment that I decided to have a Blackberry phone. A qwerty! To think I mentioned in my earlier post that I prefer the abc?!?

Now here's the 12th random thing about me - I suffer from impulsive attack from time to time. 

Allow me to justify why the sudden "change of heart". I was about to renew my consumable plan from globe when i realized I payed too much for what I availed two years ago. Better get an all uni plan then, huh? And there was globe repeatedly flashing its plan 599 on my face. Unli Call and Text? Great deal! Blackberry, Samsung, or Nokia? Yes there's Nokia but I was not attracted to the unit introduced. I thought about Blackberry then. And I needed a sign...

The day after, a colleague flashed before me his new Blackberry phone! and another colleague wanted it too. Everything seemed to push me to do the same!?! A sign? Aha! I was encouraged.

So I went to Globe, signed up for a new plan and.. yeah there you go. I got my Blackberry. And " there's always a first time". 

I've read a couple of reviews on Blackberry - mostly positive (good to know). And I had to admit when I got hold of the phone and tried to navigate its features, I found them nice (for lack of a better word). I just had to get used to the qwerty - yes! make friends with the enemy.

Here's to a new chapter.

Goodbye abc, Hello qwerty!

Am i going to sustain this impulse??

Little Bangkok: Salted Sunflower

I went home early from work this afternoon and I happened to pass by a cute little store in Velez street named "Little Bangkok". They sell imported assorted items (accessories, food, ref magnets, etc.) from Bangkok, Thailand and some local food items too. 

I will give an inside scoop on this the next time I visit this cute little store.

For now, I wanna share this new snack discovery: Tong Garden Salted Sunflower. Sold at Php20.00 only, this sure tastes good!  

I'm not sure if this product is sold in the malls (I haven't noticed). Anyhow, this discovery makes me want to visit the  store again. 

See you soon Little Bangkok!

I've been Tagged!

Oh wow! Thanks Yinyin for including me in the loop. I feel privileged really! Call me crazy but this is a dream come true. When I first started blogging, I've read in random blogs some chain blogs like this, and I've been wondering when I get to be a part of it! 

So here's my share: 

- Post these rules

- Post 11 random things about yourself

- Answer the questions that the tagger set for you in their post

- Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer

11 Random Things about Me:

1. I love collecting monkey stuff toys, stickers, items - whatever. So long as there's a monkey on the label. My favorite monkey character is Yoyo monkey.

2. I prefer buying shirts from Ukay-Ukay stalls. They have cuter designs - and gives you that Koreana fashionista look.

3. My trick for waking up on time is advancing the alarm 1 hour before the time I want to wake up. By the time the alarm sounds, I'm half awake. Then I keep snoozing the alarm for about 3-4 times before I'm really wide awake.

4. Once a year, I buy planners but after a while, they're left unnoticed in my office drawer. Because I'm lazy writing.

5. I don't like beans except monggo beans. When I order halo-halo , I always remove the beans.

6. Currently, I'm addicted to playing CastleVille on Facebook.

7. I have an Angry Bird keychain - the King Pig.

8. I love vintage pictures.

9. I wish to own a DSLR camera.

10. I'm not a fan of qwerty and touch phones. I prefer the ABC type. It's more convenient for me.

11. I don't know how to ride the bike. Gees.

11 Questions from  Yinyin:

1. Where do you want to go on vacation?

( For this summer, I want to go to Dakak or Bohol. Next year, attend Sinulog in Cebu. I have a really long list of conquering the famous spots in the Philippines. And my ultimate vacation is in Disneyland and Hello Kitty World! (¯hey daydreamer¯)

2. What are you most passionate about?

( Dancing. I'm a self-confessed frustrated dancer. That's why I grab any chance I get to enhancing whatever dancing skills I have. And I'm having a really hard time with Contemporary dancing! 

3. Name one of your favorite books.
( Omerta by Mario Puzo

4. What food are you craving right now?

( Right now, Doritos.

5. What's your favorite quote?
( Think Positive!

6. Who's your celebrity crush for the moment?
( Xian Lim - ever since My Binondo Girl. I just love the team up of Xian and Kim Chiu(jologs mode).

7. What's the first song that entered your mind after reading this question?
( ¯hey daydreamer¯

8. Did you chew Tarzan bubble gum in kindergarten?
( Definitely! I even collect the different colored wrappers (reminiscing childhood memories).

9. What was your favorite recess snack back in grade school?
( If my memory serves me right, peanut butter or chiz whiz sandwiches. My mother prepares them for me. I normally have a baon. 

10. What would you regret not having tried?
( Let's scroll back to Question No. 1. 

11. If money and time were not in your vocabulary, what would you be doing?
( I'd start backpacking right this very moment.

11 Questions from Pritsininni:

1. What is your daily ritual?

2. Do you have a collection?

3. What is your comfort food?

4. What is your favorite feel-good movie?

5. What piece of advice was the one of the best you’ve ever received?

6. What grosses you out?

7. What is your favorite item to wear?

8. What was the last thing you bought?

9. Do you color your hair?

10. Who is your favorite music icon?

11. What did you do for your last birthday?

There you go!

Time to pass this on to 

momo,jahnavi,anney,jam,wildrose,and elena.

You've been tagged!   

The Sweet Life by Ange

Early today I woke up with a sweet surprise from a colleague who came back from a Manila business trip (door to door delivery!).

She gave me a small box of dessert with a very cute packaging. The box indicated Cassava w/ Queso de Bola from "The Sweet Life by Ange". It was a double surprised since I never expected it to look like cupcakes! I shared the sweet treat with my mother and brother. 

A packaging can be deceiving, but this? 

Sweetness inside and out.

I searched for their Facebook page and voila:

 http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Sweet-Life-by-Ange

More mouth-watering masterpieces!

Thanks Only for this sweet treat!

Honey Tree

So we headed out to Honey Tree (formerly Honey Baked) at Velez st. (just a walking distance from Mindy's) for my brother's "birthday cake".

What I love about Honey Tree? 

More than fulfilling my sweet tooth, the interior is candy to my eyes. The place is cozy, space is small but not cramped, and the food is yum yum. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner aside from sandwiches, salads, and desserts. I personally love their mango float only at Php65.00 (can be shared by two).

seated near the entrance

the menu

looking for big little brother's mini birthday cake

no candles just make a wish

candy-colored interior

my favorite: mango float

function room available

view from inside

busog!

And that ends our birthday food trip.

Mindy's CDO

We decided to dine out for my brother's birthday. He's a big eater so a buffet dinner would be just right. I also had an inkling of visiting this eat-all-you-can restaurant that serves crabs!

So we headed for Mindy's restaurant located at Yacapin st. When we went inside, the place was almost empty except for two separate tables where eldery men sat and ate and drank alcohol.

Mindy's CDO

the birthday boy

The place was gloomy. The last time I visited - years ago, I found it classy. Now, the place was not that well-maintained. The pictures on the wall frames were already fading. And there was a Britney Spears wallframe amidst the 50s and 70s icons?!? The menu was not presentable. Oh well, we came for the buffet dinner. But the place would have been more attractive if it was properly maintained - perhaps some renovations in some areas. 

water markings on the menu

Two nice things though were that they played classic songs - soothing to the ears. "Dream, Dream, Dream...Dreeeeaaaam". Made me want to go to dreamland while deciding to wait for the kinilaw to be served or grab a plate already and the start the food marathon. And the comfort room was clean and spacious.  

The eat all you can was at Php220.00 per person with bottomless iced tea. And an extra charge for left overs.

We had no competition on the buffet table. Only after 30 minutes were there other groups that came.

Chibog time!

Kare-Kare among others

Craaaabs!!!

Nom Nom Nom

My 1st serving

I just looove crabs

From left: jiemar, me, mother, and birthday boy

Busog na!

Mom and Big Little Brother

My lips were slightly swelling.. oh yeah, I'm allergic to crabs

How did the food taste? It was on an average - even the crabs (but I still grabbed a second serving of crabs!). From the menu, I tried the Kare-Kare(there were small lumps of peanut butter-not entirely mixed with the sauce),Fried Tilapia (a little salty and was not served hot), Pork Adobo (or Humba? Gee..I was not able to distinguish what it was), Kinilaw (big chunks-this I liked) and of course Crabs (I simply couldn't resist them - I didn't mind to having an allergy attack)! 

Anyhow, we were still full at that but not entirely satisfied with the meal. But the birthday boy ate all the way - with only  minor complaints. Good thing! 

Oops!

That's Mindy's.

So where was the dessert part?