Dessert Nirvana

Two Fridays ago, I was invited to a media event in Rockwell that featured The Cake Club, a dessert buffet launched by Diamond Hotel. I am self-confessed BIG on desserts and cakes! Life is definitely sweet and this sure proves it! Enjoy the photos :)


I wasn't able to try all of 'em , IT WAS A LOT! I picked the ones recommended by the banquet sales. My personal favorites are the French Macarons (chocolate and salted caramel flavors), Supermoist Chocolate Cake (Diamond Hotel's signature cake! classic!) and the Baked Cheesecake. All three are in the 2nd row of the photos. They had very good presentations that made each one of the desserts more interesting & intriguing. Dessert + Buffet = Super guilty! Waaah!

Thanks to my friend Aj for the invite. It was a superb experience to go "ga-ga" over these mouth-watering treats :) Ooops, with window shopping on the side :D

Photo Credit: PR kit from Geisler Mclang. Click to view larger file

I brought home some goodies for my husband and Kyle! :) Truly, "there is no such thing as too much desserts" :) We feasted on the sampler cakes! I'm happy I was able to share with them this sumptuous experience. Jp of course was more happy. The husband's got a sweet tooth more than the wife! :D



Diamond Hotel offers the Dessert Buffet for large groups only. You can call 305-3000 local 8413/8414/8460 or email indulgence@diamondhotel.com.

The West Side Story

... is finally back. To be shown at the Meralco Theater in Ortigas Center on September 2008 (other playdates will be posted later) . Meantime, an online acquaintance is selling tickets for the Opening Show on September 5 (Friday, 8pm) which will star Christian Bautista & Joanna Ampil as the lead roles. Ms Minnie Fong is doing the marketing on a personal level for an organization that she's been actively involved with since college. She is at present part of the boards of KYTHE INC. -The mother NGO of Kythe Ateneo. Proceeds from the show (1st playdate only) will be donated to Kythe, a foundation whose primary cause is taking care of kids with cancer.

(click photo to know more about The West Side Story)

For reservations and further inquiries, please email minnie.fong@gmail.com or text 0917-8676332. She will reply to your queries really fast.. with a smile :)

For the show on September 05, ticket rates are as follows:
PHP500 -balcony (sides)
PHP700 -balcony (center)
PHP1000 -orchestra ( side)
PHP1200 -orchestra (center)

click photo to view larger image
(the ones highlighted in green are all blocked/sold, yellow are already reserved)

The West Side Story is produced by Stages Production Specialists Inc. You can check out Ticketworld for other playdates and ticket inquiries. But with a kind heart, you can buy from Minnie and help kids at Kythe Foundation :)

Photo credit: PR Kit from Ms Minnie Fong

back to school

Summer fun is over for my Kyle. I know he's kinda sad even if he says that he's excited for school :) He's sad because as per house rules, he already needs to say goodbye to his PSP & DS games for now. We implement this the whole year round because kids these days get really addicted to all these computer games everywhere, anywhere.

My husband and I treated him last weekend after made all deliveries for tubbycakes. The boy enjoyed his shopping at National Bookstore in Katipunan. We gave him a certain budget and asked him to use on that for whatever school supplies he needs. Night before, I asked him to make a list of what he needs so he won't forget the important ones. He had extra cash left from the budget money so he was able to buy his art materials like washable colored pens and good colored pencils. Kyle loves to draw :) He was happy to get more than what he listed :)

We watched two movies as an ender for the summer break. He enjoyed both films. It makes my heart melt to see him so very happy & excited for family days! :)

It was Kyle's first day of class last Tuesday. He woke up really fast & early. I didn't have a hard time preparing him for school that morning. No dragging, no crying or whatsoever. Yes, obviously he was still sleepy but he was responsible enough to wake up,shower and prepare for school. Supe r responsible & disciplined! I'm so proud! :)

Eyes a little closed & sleepy as he waves my cam goodbye! First day funk! :)

the weekend's for the kiddos!

We watched Narnia (Prince Caspian) with my brothers Sunday night at Theater Mall. Loved it like the first one (The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe). The movie is very entertaining! Funny, sentimental & full of action at the same time. The Pevensie siblings have grown and their acts are better this time. Ben Barns is charming like what a prince should be like and he played a good role too as Prince Caspian.

My family liked the film. I like Aslan. He's really cute when talking to Lucie. Nothing like what a normal scary lion is like. Very fatherly too.

Narnia: Prince Caspian

It was declared public holiday last Monday so we were lucky to have more time with our families. No work on Mondays meant long weekend :) Watched KungFu Panda with the Canoys at Eastwood. The kids definitely had a blast! They were laughing their hearts out the whole time. Po, Panda is so cute and cuddly. Kyle loved him! Love the actions in this film. The boys liked Tigress among the Furious Five.

The film is a story of fulfilling your dreams & going through the odds of hard work to reach that. And that after a roller coaster of hard training and discipline, you will be rewarded in the end. It was explained well. Enough for the younger generation to pick up something.

Just yesterday, i've noticed Kyle's been a little conscious about the food that he eats. Hehe! my boy got conscious! He doesn't want to be as big as Po Panda!

Kung Fu Panda

Photo credit for gbposters.

Angelati Italia

My husband & I were doing our last minute shopping for Kyle's school shoes when we bumped into this gelato stall at the ground floor of SM Megamall. I was a bit curious so we stopped. I even had some blooper exchange of words with the server. I asked if this is the same as Amici, the gay server laughed and defensively answered.. "Hindi po noh, kalaban namin yun! nag seserve kami sa hotel, sila hindi kasi di sila makapasok" The gay's so funny! Pahiya tuloy ako:D

They have a number of interesting offers. The server asked us to try two of their bestsellers: Blueberry Cheesecake & the classic Chocolate Obsession. Both good but we ended up trying two different flavors instead. My husband got the Choco Banana Peanut Butter and I tried the Honey Pepita. Both good! :) At P70/scoop, the gelatos are superb! Very rich, creamy and very flavorful. Their ad says gelatos are low fat, I wonder if this is really true??!

I've tried gelato ice cream in Pazzo (Powerplant Mall, Rockwell) few years back when I was still in college and I loved the Pistachio flavor. It's good to have found someplace nearer for such cravings! :)

I am not too familiar what differs a gelato from a regular ice cream. What I am aware of is that gelatos are more pricey. We've settled with FIC brand at home. Affordable and creamy too. I so love the strawberries & cream flavor, Kyle loves plain vanilla or chocolate (nothing fancy) , husband loves vanilla (too!) and ube macapuno or dulce de leche, my mother in law love their coffee flavored ice creams. I found this (photo below) that briefly explains the 3 distinct differences of Gelato & Ice Cream.
Angelati Italia is a joint venture of two sisters who share the same passion for gelatos. Read inspiring story here.

Photo Credit & more infos from this site.

Daddy-Yo's Day

June 15 is Father's Day!



Executively Yours
Snoozin
Let's Play Badminton
Fore You Dad

All items areabout 3.5 by 2.5 ft :) Big enough to really surprise your dads :) Please click on cestcagiftworks for more unique gift ideas :)

weekend dates

My husband and I both love and enjoy trying out new restaurants. This is basically the only "luho" that we spend for almost every weekend. We consider this our "alone time". We get to talk about our life together, problems and how to solve them and oh future plans of course. I am always inspired and excited to look for restaurants that are new, cozy and of course serves good food. We've tried INYO Cuisine in Katipunan and it was a unique experience for us. We adore Galileo Enoteca , it offers variety of cheese & cold cuts. Perfect with our favorite Lambrusco wine. went to Bellini's with my highschool friends February this year & I hope experience it with Jp sometime soon.

Me and Jp still go out on dates and it sure feels so good to be "kilig" over and over again even when you're married :D I have a list of few gourmet restaurants that i've been meaning to try with him.

Apartment 1B
One Lafayette Square, 132 Leviste St, Salcedo Village
Tel : 843-40-75

Lemuria , The Winery
#5 Julieta Circle, Horseshoe Village QC
Tel : 843-4075

Cookbook Kitchen
#8 Socorro Fernandez St., Mandaluyong City
Tel : 724-3595 / 381-5935

Barcino Gourmet
2/F City Golf Complex, Julia Vargas Ave. Ortigas
Tel : 636-2963

Moksha
#713 Abad Santos cor Wilson Sts., San Juan
Tel # 723-8314

Uno
#195-C Tomas cor Scout Fuentabella Tomas Morato QC
Tel : 374-0774

Katre
#103 Dr Lazcano St., QC
Tel : 373-4705 / 373-6650

Chateau Verde
#63 Apacible St., UP Campus Diliman QC
Tel : 928-8180/ 927-3035

Greens
#2 Sct. Castor ,South Triangle , Quezon City
Tel: 415-4796/410-2440 /0918-5687649

home cooking

One of my duties at home is to prepare our weekly menu. I usually send our "manang" every Mondays to do the marketing. I would love to do it but unfortunately I have work. This is a bit challenging to me because I don't want my family to be "sawa' with the food being served at home. I would love to cook also but I can't on weekdays because I usually get home past seven already. Good thing our manag linda is a very good cook. I can just write what I want ( or mostly what Jp, Kyle & my mother in law likes) and she will surely serve it right. I must say we are lucky because not all helpers can actually cook well. Some are willing to learn but most of the time, they are lazy to do so. Manang is with Jp's family for a long time already that's why she knows what my husband's taste from the main menu down to the dessert. I've been trying to be more creativewith my menu at home. I love food so I want everyone in the house to enjoy eating too:) Good thing, there are so many websites and blogs where you can actually research good recipes or maybe just get something to include in your menu. I don't usually follow the actual recipe. To make it more innovative, I sometimes try to substitute ingredients. Other than RaI have a few list of my favorite websites for my cooking :) AllRecipes, RecipeZaar, Rasa Malyasia, Italian Chef, Pinoy Food, Better Recipes. Apart from all these sites, I make do with my mama's recipes which has been the best and perfect so far :)

These are a few of what my mama cooked during our weekend at Tagaytay. We love the shrimps in coconut milk, bulalo &n and Ginataang halo-halo. The fresh fruits were bought in Tagaytay.

My mother in law's client sent her these cheeses from abroad. Hubby & I both loves cheese. Either with wine, bread or just melting it in the microwave (try it!) like that of Old Swiss Inn's Raclette Cheese. We go really "gaga' which one to try first! :)

OUTback

05/25

We had three choices that night. Tender Bobs (which is Kyle's favorite), Chilli's (both hubby & I loves the resto) and Outback (we've tried it years ago when we were still dating). We all agreed to have dinner at Outback Steakhouse, Libis because it is the nearest in our place and yeah Kyle has been suggesting that restaurant for a number times already. I think he tried their burgers once with the Canoys.

We enjoyed the place. The ambiance was ok. Perfect for a Sunday family day. The servers were beautiful and very accommodating. We were also entertained with these coasters placed on the tables.

The menu choices were all expensive. That's actually something that we already know but we thought the servings could be big like that of Fridays, Burgoo or Itallianis.

Now, the sad part is- we were very disappointed and unhappy because the servings are so tiny. We felt so "kawawa" but we couldn't afford to order more because that would be too much of our budget already and we were waiting quite long for our meals to be served. Half an hour or two will be another long wait and we were really hungry.

We settled for what we ordered. The chocolate bread with butter is free. Thanks for that. At least we were able carbo load even before the main course was served. We had my husband's favorite chilli cheese fries, a baby back ribs (so tiny baby!) and the peppered beef tenderloin cut steak.

Good thing, I have something to be happy about. My lemonade is huge to fill me in! :D

Our bill below:( This is by far the only "not-so-worth-it" restaurant that we've tried for so many months now. Most of our dine -outs are pre-planned and I usually research before going. This is one of the few that I did not. Oh well, lessons learned. Paying close to 3k is not so worth it for a "not-so-generous" dinner serving. The three of us just honestly went home disappointed.
OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE
Libis, Quezon City
634-3801

get CARRIEd away

I had my long awaited movie date with my bestfriend Marielle last night at Greenbelt 3. I know every chick in town is excited & giddy to see Sex And The City movie. I enjoyed the film so much and I can watch it over and over again! But on the other hand, I would agree why some people who saw it first were unhappy about the cuts. True, editing is kinda bad and yeah the film is R13 anyway so why have almost all of the adult scenes censored? :) Nevertheless, the movie is good as it is and yeah, I would love to see this film again! Can't wait when the dvd comes out! Mar,Tricia, Naomi... SATC night at my place?!

Singer/Actress Jennifer Hudson is really lucky to play the part of Carrie's Assistant in this film.

I love the dresses! I love the colors! I love the shoes! I love the bags! This ladies are so toned! And their at their what? 50's hahaha! Gosh, I better be serious with my diet now :D

"No matter who broke your heart, or how long it takes to heal, you'll never get through it without your friends." -Carrie, tbs

Congratulations to my very good friend Tricia. She passed her NCLEX Exam. Yahoo! Don't forget me when your out in the US making money!!! :) Kidding! Let's celebrate when Naomi gets back from Paris :) I'm proud of you sweetheart! :) Big hug :)

Tricia's site here & here :)

Sonya's Garden

I've been to Sonya's Garden a couple of times already. I remember going there when it was still a "secret garden" full of really beautiful flowers. I've tried their massage and food already and i've tried attending a wedding too. I must say, I was a witness to how it evolved from just- a woman's garden to a commercialized tourists' destination. Personally, I like it better the first time i've tried going there. There were only few people who knows the place so it wasn't that crowded as much as it is nowadays.

We passed by Sonya's that weekend that we were in Tagaytay because my mama wanted to see the place. Nothing surprised her at all. In fact, she kept commenting why there's no flowers. Oo nga naman! Garden should have beautiful flowers :D


If there's one thing that I like about Sonya's now is their shops. More so because I love trinkets and country decors for the house. And yeah, their spanish bread is sarap but kinda expensive :P

What more can we do other than photo ops??? :D

Barangay Buck Estate, Alfonso, Cavite, Philippines
(near the vicinity of Tagaytay City, Philippines/Royal Tagytay)
+63-9175329097 or +63-9175335140
info@sonyasgarden.com

Sunday at Caleruega

I've been to Caleruega once to attend my husband's cousin's wedding. I love the place and in fact, this church was one of my choices for my church wedding too. I went back last May 18 with my whole family to hear Sunday mass. The place is really solemn. The small chapel really gives you that feeling of being truly blessed. Ok what's more to ask if you have your husband and family praying with you? I am in deep joy to hear my Kyle sing most of the liturgical songs during the mass. He memorized most of them from his First Holy Communion. Sigh. He's a grown up now - really. The homily was indeed inspiring as well. The priest talked about an old couple that got married in Caleruega last Easter Sunday. They were there for their 50th Wedding Anniversary. Really old and very in love. I hope to marry my Jp (again) 50 years from now - in Caleruega :)

I love all the details in Caleruega. Too bad it was raining at that time so we weren't able to walk around. My mother in law and mama had to stay inside the office while we quickly took photos. Hehe! the rain can't stop these camwhores!

My family at the altar of Transfiguration Chapel in Caleruega after the mass. I never enjoyed my family as much as I do now that I am married. I get frequent visits from my mom and brothers every weekend. We usually plan out something to do together which we don't normally do before. Haha, I feel they are missing me & Kyle so much:D

I love this photo of my brother Jc taken by my friend Tricia. Luvet!

Yeah, it was raining the whole time that weekend. The priest actually said, kahit bumabagyo, mga layas daw kami! :D

Honeybee Farm

Yahoo! I finally got to experience Ilog ni Maria, a honeybee farm located in Silang, Cavite. I am loving this place and all their stuffs. My personal favorites are the Honey Propolis Shampoo and the Honey Glycerin Soap which I am now using for about two weeks already. Both have natural ingredients that smoothen the hair and skin. The soap has sampaguita smell -but surprisingly not the 'lola' type of smell ok?! :D It is quite difficult to get to the bee farm. There's a dirt road that you will have to pass through to get there. This I feel makes the trip really worth it when you're finally there. Good thing my husband was very much cooperative during this trip :) Thanks love! :)

While the boys & lolas went to tour around the bee farm, me & my friend tricia enjoyed -just shopping. My friend bought soaps to bring home in Ilocos. I think she began using the soaps already and she's loving it so much!. My husband got himself a Virgin Honey. As per product description, this is all-natural. Extra virgin- unheated and unfiltered for maximum healing action. He takes this everyday before breakfast as it says that it cleanses your digestive system. Hmmm, let's see if its works :)



Honeybee Farm
Silang, Cavite
Open Tuesdays-Sundays

project

travel

I love to travel. This is peace and serenity for me. No work,no problems, no nothing. My husband and I agreed to set aside extra budget that will serve as travel funds. When finances are better & more secured then maybe we can travel abroad also but for now, we are trying to enjoy what our country can offer. I am surprised and proud to discover wonderful places in our homeland. Yes, I work in the travel industry but I haven't been to all the tourist destinations in our country. Little by little, I am exploring her treasures and loving it more! I hope to visit places at least twice a year with my husband or family. I honestly think that we both deserve it for working so hard the whole year.

This year we both experienced Boracay the first time.We went to the island last January for our honeymoon. It was a very different & memorable experience for us. It was our first time to go to the beach together and travel on our own.




We have planned another trip sometime in July this year. We are going to an island with my husband's cousin and his fiance. We are looking forward to another exciting experience.:)



For short travels, we were able to explore more of Tagaytay with both our families last weekend and hopefully we can find time & extra cash to visit other places in Luzon. Would exciting and memorable for everyone! We can visit Ilocos (again & again! much love!), Baguio, Subic, Bicol & Quezon. One at a time of course :)

happy

Yehey! David Cook won! My sure bet and favorite right from the beginning of American Idol :) he definitely rocks!!! :) Got myself a new case for my digicam. Was planning to buy Golla but I couldn't find the right design /color that I really want so I ended up buying a Case Logic brand. Cheaper but I got the same quality that I want from Golla :) Good buy I guess! :D Hubby bought me a new book from A Different Bookstore in Eastwood. Thanks babe :) will start reading soon :)

My family enjoyed Tagaytay last weekend. Will try to post more about our trip before the week ends :)


Gotta go back working...