The Real Thing Diner

Went to Quezon City last Friday for a change.

Ended up in this novelty restaurant called "The Real Thing Diner".

Food was excellent and affordable. Place was really cool.

If you're a Coke fan, you'd love this place :)

Akalain mo nga naman may ganito pala sa Il Terrazo.

Cheers!

Banapple Fanboy

Perhaps reading from a number of previous entries you can easily decipher my constant interest in Banapple. Ever since the days it only had one branch right up there in Katipunan extension, I've been a big fan of the cafe/restaurant. More than just the desserts and the courses they serve there, the ambiance, the homey-feel and the service the provide definitely makes lining up for seats worth it.

I actually discovered Banapple around 3 or 4 years ago via Dessert Comes First. Been a fan of this blog for quite a while actually - constantly looking for unique places to eat. :) Just last week, when I stumbled upon the blog, the author, Lori Baltazar was conducting an online contest with a dinner for two at Banapple as the prize. Being both fan of the brand and a believer in digital PR, I jumped right in and joined the contest. :) haha! Well, I didn't win the dinner for two but I won a consolation prize of a keychain + umbrella. :) For a fan, that's not baaad at all.

Next thing you know, I went to newest branch at the Ayala Triangle Gardens with my friend Tina to claim my prize. So much for having it as "consolation". Because apparently, the keychain gives me 5% discount across all Banapple branches! :) Yes, panalo! :D

Oo na, mababaw na. haha. Ganun talaga minsan pag fan. :)

Thanks Banapple! Thank you to the owners, GJ and Maricel! More power!

Foooood Trippppp :D

Pat and I left the victory party last friday a bit early 'cause we've been curious about Banchetto for the past week. If you guys didn't know (don't worry, I had no idea about this too until Ms. Fatima Han told me about it last week), every saturday at 12 midnight until 11 in the morning, a part of Emerald Ave. closes to make way for this one-of-a-kind food fair/bazaar/whatever you want to call it, called Banchetto.

The variety and value for money of the food there were definitely over the top. Oh-so-giant burgers for P150 pesos, pizza and pasta galore, huge isaw's, diverse rice meals and of course, desserts!!! Sobrang daming tao. and to think that it had just rained hard that night. Too bad I was full that night. Only ate isaw. HAHA. Looooser.

It was a great night (well morning i guess). Also went there with college friends Tina, Fatima and Mikko. Question of the night, "Pat, kilala mo ba si Stef Han?" HAHAHA.

Definitely coming back there! :) and magpapagutom ako! :)

Chocolaaaaate Fiiirrre

Last monday, since the rest of the MRM team was out for meetings, my officemate Pat and I decided to take a little adventure for lunch. Having Chocolate Fire in mind for dessert, we walked towards Rufino St. and looked for a place to eat lunch. We ended up at this restaurant coinciding with Bento Box, called I love BBQ. After the meal, we went straight to Chocolate Fiiiiire. HAHA

I have got to admit, the place they have right there was just awesome for a dessert cafe. As I have been briefed, the stuff they offer there were pretty expensive for most people so I guess the ambiance and the interiors made up for the high cost.

Their beverage bar

where they lay all the chocolate out

extreme left - their gourmet counter

very cool comfort room doors

We ordered a chocolate milkshake each and a little banoffee. The chocolate milkshake was served in a tall glass and was goooooooood. The little banoffee on the other hand, was pretty bland and not really that awesome which I can forgive since it isn't really their specialty of some sorts.

milkshakes + little banoffee

PatCorr = addict sa chocolate fire

I think Chocolate Fire has a totally great concept and an amazing set of products. Imagine almost everything on their menu has chocolates! They even have Pringles covered with chocolate!!! They also have one heck of a place. Too bad I didn't get to take pictures of the rest of the place. Nevertheless, kudos to the brains/investors behind Chocolate Fire. Looking forward to going back there and try the rest of the products, once I load my wallet with more chocolate covered bills.

Panalo! :) haha

They have a website by the way: http://chocolatefire.com/

on turning 22 :)

I have to admit, my parents leaving abroad right before my birthday made me feel a bit down. I'm not mad at them or anything. Maybe I just really got used to them laying things out for me on my birthday these past few years. Well I guess it comes with the fact that I already am working and they really don't need to worry about things like these anymore. Nevertheless, before bringing my mom to the airport, I hinted to her that I wanted to meet up with my friends that night. Apparently my brother luis was sick and needed some monitoring. My mom then told me to make my friends come over instead. Poof, instant dinner celebration at home :)

Well it was the usual dinner tambay on my birthday. I guess except for the rockband and the drinks+kwentuhan with Tina, Casey and Ian after everyone went home, my birthday was pretty typical. HAHA.

the oh-so-delicious gelato cake thanks to Ms. Fatima Han!

my college barkada - been celebrating with them for the past 3 years :)

(missing in action - Mikko and Mic)

my best friends Jin and John - been celebrating with them ever since I was a kid. kidding!

(missing in action because she's in Hong Kong - Marjee)

As always, I had a blast on my birthday. After all, I'm not all too particular about doing something extreme on my birthday. As long as I'm with my peeps, I'd be happy.

Thank you to everyone who remembered. Thank you Facebook for reminding everyone of my birthday and making me feel special. Dati kasi sa text ka mag-aabang ng greeting, ngayon sa facebook na lang. HAHA.

Now seriously, I'm just so thankful that I've been so blessed all my life. Heck, I have the best parents ever. Brothers to look out for. The best friends in the world. The best college friends in the world. A home to live in. Diplomas from the blue school which I'm ever so supportive of. A diploma and an award from the premier state university. A job in a multinational advertising agency. The best set of officemates. A boss who wants us to learn and become experts. A possible stint at teaching. And several more opportunities to grow.

Having the time of my life at 22. Just priceless. :)

i'm baaaack!

i can't believe it! it's been about three weeks since i last posted a blog. it's been quite a while my friends and here i am to share what i've been up to. let's just say work has been so hectic these past two weeks and it just so happens that i've been devoting time also for other ventures in life. :)

after weeks and weeks of preparation and meetings, my bestfriends and i have finally set-up this small business. well it all started when marj, jin and i were out to watch a movie. while waiting for the movie, we went around eastwood and talked about the idea of setting up some business to earn some extra income. all because of one sentiment: taghirap na talaga these days. HAHA! and all of a sudden, an invitation to a bazaar came and poof! napakilos kami kagad! :P

series of weekend meetings and preparations

(click here to enlarge)

from packaging, costings, financing, logistics, marketing and production, we did all that in about a month! :) a lot of credit does have to go to marjee. without her, there's nothing to sell at all. :) her genius inside the kitchen definitely keeps everything else running. :)

and so, in behalf of SugarStop, I'd like to thank all our friends, friends of friends and our families for supporting this endeavor. :)

our loyal customers

(click here to enlarge)

thank you to everyone who helped out in setting up and guarding the booth. as well as those who helped us in selling our products. :) we would have not done it without you guys. :) special mention to Camina Maipid, Josh Aguas, Mike Magsaysay, Teresa Ng and even Ryan Cancio. :)

the stressful experience of manning the booth

(click here to enlarge)

amidst all the stress and blues of doing business, it feels great to become business partners with your bestfriends. well it works both ways as there are pros and cons in this type of set-up but i really feel that this project of ours still has a long way to go. :) cheers guys! can't deny that i'm having the time of my life with you guys! :)

while waiting for the truck to arrive

(click here to enlarge)

Looking forward to making this endeavor reach its full potential :)

chicken-all-you-can with the best college friends in the world

as always, on fridays, I have this mindset that after a long week of work, there is indeed a need to wind-down. As early as around 9am, Tina sent an SMS to the barkada about going out after work. I jumped in to the idea right away. DUH. Tina and I have been trying to set some kind of friday night outs but things seldom materialized because of so many reasons. Finally, things pushed through last friday. :)

Tina, Mikko, Han and I met up at Galle to try the chicken-all-you-can :)

after 4 rounds of chicken :)

Great job Max's. On promotions like these, you'd expect the service would dip down a bit due to the large demand for chicken. But hey, service was great. The chicken served was the same old Max's classic, perfect with ketchup. :) Sabi nga ni han, baka may holocaust ng mga manok sa kitchen. :))

Went to greenhills for dessert and some cocktails. Solid yung cakes nila ah. :)

Nothing like reuniting with your college barkada, specially when most of you are already working. :)

Until next time guys! :) Hope we're complete next time!

On Bringing Baon

Back when I was a student, I was the type of person who'd rely on my allowance for food and drinks. There were times when packed lunch and/or water jugs were available at home. I did use them once in a while but never on a regular basis.

As you may see, I never really considered bringing baon (in english, packed lunch). Until I started working. In a life where you pay for your everyday expenses, one has to consider how small things like this can make much of a difference.

Thus, here's the Top 5 reasons why I bring baon. :)

1. It's for FREE

I started working last May and my mom started to pack lunch for me (well, let's just say she sets aside some food from what was prepared for breakfast). Since then, the helper has been setting aside food for me as well as my brothers. :) As such, I get my packed lunch for FREE. :)

2. I get to save some money

Since it's for free, I get to have lunch without spending as much as normal people do. :) Thus, it gives me the upper hand on keeping up with a strict budget. Especially when I have weekend plans, I can just simply bring baon for several days and save a lot of pesos. :)

3. I get to offset my parking fees

I bring a car to the office around 2-3 times a week. Take note, I don't pay for the gas since I bring my brothers to school. Thus, I only need to pay for parking. A little "sacrifice" on my part, which is bringing baon, doesn't make me feel the burden of bringing a car in makati :)

4. I don't get the burden of choosing where to eat

There are too many places to eat around here at Makati. Mahirap mamili. At least, when I have packed lunch, I am forced into eating the food that I have. :P

5. At least my bag contains something else

When I go to work, I only bring my planner and occasionally my laptop. As such, my bag would be full of air if not for my baon :P

Cheers!