Zalora Blouses

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  Christmas is very very near...just 3 more days.  The thing I love about Christmas is the feeling of joy and being with family and friends.  I remember when I was young, my parents used to bring us to Makati (to Fairmart/SM...mapaghahalataan ang edad ko sa pagbanggit ko ng Fairmart...if you can relate...well,well,well...hello generation X) to buy new clothes.  One new dress for Christmas and another one for New Year.  Back then, everyone dressed to the nines when attending Christmas mass and New Year mass, hence the need to purchase new clothes.  And you get to wear your new clothes when accompanying the parents to their multitude of Christmas parties (well, maybe just 3-4 parties, exag naman ang multitude).  Sulit ang mga bagong damit!  Ha ha ha... I have stopped buying a set of new clothes for Christmas and New Year ever since I moved out of my parents' house.  But this year, I bought 2 new blouses, in anticipation of the parties and get-togethers that I will be attending.  These are the 2 blouses I bought at Zalora:

The black and white printed one is size small while the white one is a size medium.  There was no available small size for the white blouse, hence I got the bigger size.  I'm not so in-love with them but they are okay.  I think they are overpriced at Php 995 each.

If you're like me (32-28-34 -- secret lang natin, ha...), go for the small size.  The medium is around 1/2 to 1 inch bigger than the small.  I tried the printed blouse already and wore a white camisole inside.  It looks much better than wearing black inside the blouse.  The big problem with this blouse is that the zipper is exposed at the back.  It doesn't look bad but it snags my hair.  I may have lost close to 10 pieces of hair because of the constant pull/snag of the zipper to my hair.  Note to self (and to readers as well), when wearing blouses with exposed zippers, tie long hair or put it up in a bun.  Lesson learned.  I'm sure the 10 pieces of hair that I lost that day would grow back (keeping my fingers crossed).

I have yet to wear the white blouse.  All in all, I like the blouses and I think it's versatile.  The downside, in my opinion, is that they are overpriced.

Thanks for reading!  Happy holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Have a great one guys!  :-)

J. Co

Hi everyone!  Welcome to another food review.  A few weeks ago, I passed by a J. Co store with less than 10 people (6 people in front of me, to be exact) on the line.  This was my time to get hold of the elusive J. Co donuts.  I say elusive because I have been passing this store but not venturing to buy just because the line was always long.  But I passed by the store on a Monday evening, and luck was smiling at me...the line that night was short.

I have been hearing from friends that the donuts from J. Co are really good.  Some say it's better than Krispy Kreme, although, die-hard Krispy Kreme addicts disagree.  I'm really not a donut girl.  I don't like the extreme sweetness of donuts.  I actually don't like Krispy Kreme (don't hate me for this) because their donuts are really sweet.  So, anyways, back to J. Co...I don't know what to order and I don't want to make small talk with the server (there were 10 people in line behind me).  So, I ordered what I thought were appetizing donuts (and the donuts that are the last few in the batch...fewer donuts in the plate means they are so good that many people order/get them...that was my line of thought).

Picture of the box

Here is my selection (pardon the bites on half of the donuts...I was really excited to taste them that I forgot to take pictures before biting into them):

Alcapone donuts: White with nuts
Tiramisu donuts: donuts with filling (they are the ones without the hole in the middle)
Oreology: dark brown with thin white stripes

Let me just tell you, all the donuts that I picked were really very yummy and very very soft.  Hands down, these are the best donuts I have tried in my entire life.  I got so addicted to them that I tried to visit their shop multiple times after my first visit, but alas, the line was always long.  So, one day, I was lucky enough to have someone line up for me (I won a bet and lining up at J. Co was the task of the loser...hehehe).

Let's review the donuts that I got one by one.  First off is the Tiramisu donut.  It's good, yummy and soft.  The not-so-good thing about this donut is that the filling is a tad too sweet.  But I can live with that since all the rest of the Tiramisu donut is really really good.

Tiramisu donut

The next donut up for review is the Oreology.  Again, this donut is very yummy and oh so soft.  The sweetness is just right.  Yum, yum, yummy!

Oreology

Last is the Alcapone.  Again, another yummy and soft donut.  Haaaay....heaven...

Alcapone donut

If you don't have diabetes, I suggest you drop by the nearest J. Co store and get yourself one of their very yummy and super soft donuts.  I highly recommend it.

Thanks for dropping by!

Drinks Review

Hi friends!  Today's review is all about drinks.  I tried 2 drinks the past few days and I would like to share with you my thoughts on these 2.  First off, the Christams Tea Frost from Serenites.  This Christmas season, Serenitea has launched 4 new drinks they call Chocolateas.  These drinks have different chocolate products in them.  The 4 drinks are: MILO Dino, Mocha Macchiato Frost with BABY RUTH, Cocoa Frost with BUTTERFINGER and the Christmas Tea Frost with KITKAT.  I tried the last one, the Christmas Tea Frost.  It has a minty taste and it's very thick.  You can taste the small morsels of KitKat in the drink.  I didn't really like it (I wasn't able to finish the whole drink...I drank maybe 1/3 of it).  It was very creamy and very sweet.  Not my cup of tea.

Poster from Serenitea

Christmas Tea Frost (top view)

Christmas Tea Frost (side view)

The second drink is from the Big Chill.  There's a Big Chill branch located within the premises of my place of work, so it's easy for me to buy from them.  I usually buy their Power Breakfast since I don't get to eat breakfast at home (I usually don't have time to eat at home).  However, for the past few months, they ran out of wheat germ (which was part of the Power Breakfast drink) so I wasn't able to buy the Power Breakfast.  I then found another drink that could replace my beloved Power Breakfast...it's the Supercharger.  The drink is made of blended mango, strawberry, grape, low-fat yogurt, non-fat milk and spirulina.  Spirulina is a type of blue-green algae that is rich in protein, minerals, vitamins and antioxidants.  This is responsible for the drink's greenish color.  The drink doesn't really look appetizing (because of the color) but it's really delicious and nutritious too.  If you have Big Chill in your area, be sure to try this drink and the Power Breakfast too.  I'll post a separate review for the Power Breakfast and their other drinks in the future.

Bottom line...I still like Serenitea, but I will stick with their milk teas.  As for Big Chill, I would definitely be coming back for more and trying their other drinks.  The best part about Big Chill is that they use fresh fruits and vegetables.  Just ask the server to prepare your drink with just a little bit of their sugar syrup (or none at all) to make the drink ultra-healthy.

That's it for today.  Talk to you next time.  Thank you very much for dropping by!

Cafe D' Asie

Hi everyone!  Let me share with you my buffet breakfast experience at Cafe D' Asie at the Bellevue Hotel in Alabang.  As you have read from my previous post (read it here), I stayed at the Bellevue Hotel a few days ago.  Breakfast was included in my overnight stay.  And the breakfast was at Cafe D' Asie.  I had tried this restaurant before (for lunch and dinner) but this is the first time I tried their breakfast buffet.

Cafe D' Asie

The spread was nice.  It had the usual eggs, bacon and other breakfast regulars.  It also had an array of sweets and pastries.  The food was decent but nothing great about it.  Comparing the set-up with the breakfast buffet at Heat, I would still pick Heat, hands down.

Food selection

If you are in the south of Manila (Alabang, to be exact), you may want to try the buffet of Cafe D' Asie at Bellevue Hotel.  I've seen discounted prices up for grabs at ensogo.com.  It usually isn't crowded even on a weekend.  Less customers, more food.  Yummm....

Bread station on the right and the drinks section in the middle

Thank you very much for dropping by!

Christmas gifts 2012

It's Christmas time once again.  It's the time of the year when all traffic gets jammed, parties abound, and gifts are shared to everyone.  I just finished my Christmas shopping.  Whew!  What about you? Half of my presents were bought online and half were bought during the past 4-6 months (that's how early I shop for Christmas...beats the Christmas rush).

The past few days have been very busy.  I was busy with organizing, wrapping and labeling the gifts to be given starting tomorrow.  I have too many people to give presents to in my line of work.  Including family, friends and co-workers, the total for all their gifts is a staggering 162.  I asked the help of 2 other people to complete my wrapping and labeling of the gifts.  Now the next step is delivering the gifts to them.  And for that, I need my car.  My car now looks like Santa's sleigh.

Front passenger's foot area (filled with gifts and wines for giving)

The trunk of my car.

Still more gifts at the back of the car

Gifts...gifts...gifts!

For this year, I bought half of my gifts from Human Nature.  I really like their products and what their company believes in.  They are pro-poor, pro-Philippines and pro-environment.  I want to spread their advocacies, hence the gift packs from them.  Besides, their price range is just right.  For next year, I'm thinking of buying from Messy Bessy, another environment-friendly line that's made in the Philippines.

Half of my presents came from Human Nature

To depart from the usual run-of-the-mill Christmas wrapping paper, I decided to buy a few packs of pattern paper (manila paper with pin-stripes) to use as wrapping paper.  A roll of thick red ribbon did the trick in making the paper become Christmas-y.

Pattern paper, roll of shiny red ribbon and tape

The finsihed product

For shirts and other items that cannot be wrapped without a box, I just bought a couple of colored boxes from National Bookstore and just tied a ribbon around it.

These are the things that have kept me busy for the past few days (well, aside from work).  I hope you're enjoying the Christmas season so far.  Talk to you guys later.  Thank you very much for reading!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in advance...Happy holidays and Season's greetings too!

Dinner and movie night

Hi guys!  We had a dinner and movie night last Sunday.  I have been craving for Shakey's thin crust pizza for some time now.  But everytime I have the craving, there's a long line waiting outside the restaurant.  This time, there was a short line, so we gave in to the craving.

I ordered the personal size of the pepperoni thin crust pizza.  It was just right for 2 people.  The pizza was yuuuummmy!  I really like Shakey's thin crust pizzas.  They have the best thin crust pizzas ever!

Pepperoni Thin-crust pizza

The others ordered chicken with moos.  The chicken skin was crispy but the meat inside was a little dry.  But my companions seemed to enjoy the chicken, though.  The mojos are soft and salty.  Just right.

Chicken and mojos

All in all, my Shakey's experience last Sunday was good.  The food satisfied my craving and the service was fast and efficient despite the large number of people eating in the restaurant.

As for the movie, well that went okay, I guess.  I've watched better films though.  We watched Rise of the Guardians and it was a so-so film.  I still like Wreck It Ralph better than this film.  But, that's just me.  The characters from Wreck It Ralph are more relatable than the characters from the Guardians.  If they were real actors, Wreck It Ralph actors had better acting skills than the Guardians, which is probably because the writing/script is better in Wreck It Ralph than the Guardians.  So, why am I comparing these 2 films?  Well, it's just because these are the 2 most recent animated films I've watched.

Image taken from the web

Anyways, that was my Sunday dinner and movie night.  Not bad, actually.  In the end, I had a good time.  See you next time!  Thanks for reading.

Vue Bar

I haven't gone to a bar in a very long time.  So, when a free meal came my way (in the form of all you can eat and drink in a bar...paid by a most generous sponsor), I grabbed it.  This happened a few days back in the Vue Bar.  The Vue Bar is located at the 22nd floor of the Bellevue Manila Hotel, Tower Wing.  It has a 360-degree view of the South (mainly Alabang, Makati, Las Pinas and Muntinlupa areas).  That night, the entertainment consisted of a lone female singer and her accompaniment is a lone guitar player.  She sang mostly songs from the 80's and 90's, although she sang 1 song of Adele.

As for my drink...

In my 33 years of existence, I have not drank pure unadulterated beer.  Why, you say?  Well, it's because I don't like the taste of beer.  The few times I have drank beer was when San Miguel introduced their flavored beers (Apple and Lemon).  These are the only beers I can drink.  Fast forward to a few months ago...I was out with my sister and surprisingly, I discovered another way of drinking beer.  She taught me the Cerveza Negra + Coke mix and the San Miguel draft beer + Sprite (which tastes a lot like Cali Shandy).  These mixes are surprisingly good and masks the bitter taste of beer.  Hence, another drink option for me.  Oh, goody!  I can now drink beer (mixed with something else, of course).  :-)

I saw these nice LED lights.  It looked like a candle inside a candle holder (it even flickers, mimicking the flickering light of a candle).  But, lo and behold, it was an LED light.  Galing!

I just had 1 bottle of beer with 1 can of soda.  I turned in early (coz it was a weekday and I had work the next day) and left before midnight.  I did not care much for the entertainment.  The girl had a "birit-like" quality of singing.  She wasn't bad, just so-so.

I wouldn't actually recommend the Vue Bar as a must-see place.  But if you are in the South and someone will treat you, then you can try the Vue Bar (that's the thrifty me talking).

Talk to you guys!  Thanks for dropping by!