Raintree Teaspresso Blends @ Katipunan Avenue

My all-time favorite milk-tea spot is in Raintree Katipunan (near Pan de Manila). My office was then located a few meters away from Raintree so my colleagues and I would sneak out during busy hours to get a cup of this yummy stress buster. Now that I work in Makati, I rarely pass thru the area and I really miss the cozy and homy, perfect tambay spot (with free fast wi-fi!!!!).

I don't have photos of the place or even their milk teas. Last night I was decided to do only one thing:

Taste their French Macarons.

And *gasps* sooooo yummyyyy!

It was soft and chewy, not so sweet, and relatively cheaper than French Baker (P40) and Bizu (P45). They sell each Macaron for P30 and they have lots of flavors to choose from like Irish Early Grey, Red Velvet, Mint Chocolate, Salted Caramel, Passion Fruit, Chocolate, Espresso, Nutella, Raintree, Pistachio, Cashew, etc.

I bought a box of 6 for P180. My two favorites are the Red Velvet and Salted Caramel. Perfect!

For the milk tea, I really love their Raintree Special Tea (it's color orange!) and Creme Brulee :) These two won't go wrong plus you get large just for P100.

Check out more photos of Raintree from Saab Magalona here.Apparently, her college best friend owns the place. :) Lucky her!

Russian Cookie House @ The Podium

Last, last week, my good friend Fei invited me to have dinner at The Podium (Ortigas Center). It was so nice of her to treat me. We ate at UCC (which was super expensive but really, really yummy) then had dessert at the Russian Cookie House which she was an Online Marketing Consultant of.

Fei said that the cookies are oh-so-perfect with tea so we bought cold teas for P95 each. There were a lot of flavors to choose from-- all unique and healthy. I got the "Diet Green Tea with Ginseng" and if Diet tasted that good always then it should never be a problem.

Then for the cookies, we just bought a whole box that already had varied flavors. Our box contained:

Linzer Schnitte or Torte (Austrian pastry flavored with cinnamon and clove, topped with sour cherry jam)

White and Black Almond Cookies (Coated with chocolate and topped with almonds)

Black Russians (Chocolate cookie covered with bittersweet chocolate with walnut center and choco sprinkles outside)

Pistachio Cookies (Butter cookies topped with bittersweet chocolate and chopped pistachios)

The whole box (with 12 pieces) cost around P220, which is worth the price because the presentation of the cookies and the packaging were already nice and sosyal. The following day I bought another box to give as a gift. Well for the taste, I didn't like them at first but it became really delightful when I ate it while sipping tea. Fei said that the cookies went also great with coffee. There's something about the cookie texture that makes it go well with both beverages. Plus, I love the fact that it doesn't make me guilty after munching them all. :)

Great tea + Cookies = Perfect tea party/ tea bonding :))

Check out their full list of cookies here.

Credenda

During high school, we had a list of books to choose from every year that we could make a report on. Glad I chose "The Gift of Acabar" by Og Mandino because ever since then it has been my favorite.

Here is a chapter  that continues to inspire me until today:

CHAPTER 16 - CREDENDA

Turn away from the crowd and its fruitful pursuit of fame and gold. Never look back as you close your door to the sorry tumult of greed and ambition.  Wipe away your tears of failure and misfortune.  Lay aside your heavy load and rest until your heart is still.  Be at peace.  Already, it is later than you think, for your earthly life, at best, is only the blink of an eye between two eternities.  Be unafraid.  Nothing here can harm you except yourself.  Do that which you dread and cherish those victories with pride.  Concentrate your energy.  To be everywhere is to be nowhere.  Be jealous of your time, since it is your greatest treasure.  Reconsider your goals.  Before you set your heart too much on anything, examine how happy they are who already possess what you desire.  Love your family and count your blessings.  Reflect on how eagerly they would be sought if you did not have them.  Put aside your impossible dreams and complete the task at hand no matter how distasteful.  All great achievements come from working and waiting.  Be patient.  God's delays are never God's denials.  Hold on.  Hold fast.  Know that your paymaster is always near.  What you sow, good or evil, that you will reap.  Never blame your condition on others.  You are what you are through your choice alone.  Learn to live with honest poverty, if you must, and turn to more important matters than transporting gold to your grave.  Never meet trouble halfway.  Anxiety is the rust of life; when you add tomorrow's burdens to today's their weight becomes unbearable.  Avoid the mourner's bench and give thanks, instead, for your defeats. You would not receive them if you did not need them.  Always learn from others.  He who teaches himself has a fool for a master.  Be careful.  Do not overload your conscience.  Conduct your life as if it were spent in an arena filled with tattlers.  Avoid boasting.  If you see anything in you that puffs you with pride look closer and you will find more than enough to make you humble.  Be wise.  Realize that all men are not created equal, for there is no equality in nature, yet no man was ever born whose work was not born with him.  Work everyday as if it were your first, yet tenderly treat the lives you touch as if they will all end at midnight.  Love everyone, even those who deny you, for hate is a luxury you cannot afford.  Seek out those in need.  Learn that he who delivers in one hand will always gather with two.  Be of good cheer.  Above all, remember that very little is needed to make a happy life.  Look up.  Reach out.  Cling simply to God and journey quietly on your pathway to forever with charity and smile.  When you depart it will be said by all that your legacy was a better world than the one you found.

Easy Brazo de Mercedes

We have this family friend who makes the best Brazo de Mercedes. I only tasted it once as a kid and I never forgot it. During the recent monsoon rains, we evacuated at their house and so we made one for fun. :) I never thought that it would be so easy!

INGREDIENTS:(Makes 2)
8 small eggs or 7 medium eggs
1 teaspoon of Cream of Tartar
1 can of Condensed Milk
1/4 of the biggest butter (we used Dari Creme Classic)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon of Vanilla (optional) -- we didn't add vanilla but I bet it'll be yummier with this
2 Parchment Paper/Wax Paper

STEPS:
-Separate egg white from yolk

-Mix the egg yolks, condensed milk, and butter using a double boiler (i.e., there's boiling water beneath the pot since you can't cook the mixture directly on fire)
-Don't stop stirring until the mixture becomes thick (you'll know it's ready when you scoop the mixture and it slowly falls from the spoon)

-After cooking the yellow filling, whip your egg whites and cream of tartar
-Add sugar gradually
-Add vanilla

-Prepare the cookie sheet by spreading small amounts of butter and then lining it with wax or parchment paper
-Spread the white mixture (meringue) on your cookie sheet
-Use oven or toaster to heat the top until it becomes golden brown (it's better to just hold it because if you leave the meringue inside the oven, the whole thing might get burned)

-When you get the desired "cook" of the meringue, flip it over so that you can spread the yellow filling next
-Spread the yellow filling (don't put it on the middle or too much on the side)
-Roll the meringue carefully
-Sprinkle sugar (granulated or confectioners sugar) on top
-Place inside ref first to cool before eating

P.S. We didn't use all the eggs so this little one right here got all angry at us :)) (Egg drawing by Angela)

Thanks again to the Robles family! :) This is such an easy dessert to make!

... is where my heart is

Last week, Metro Manila was struck by super rains that caused floods everywhere even in places that were never hit before. But being one of the most hard hit areas during Typhoon Ondoy last 2009 (we live in Provident Village!) eyes were on us if we would be AGAIN submerged in roof-high floods.

After the storm, people kept asking me if whether we would transfer to another house. Truth is, it never crossed my mind because our home is where my heart is. During summers, our house would serve as a resting place for me after a tiring day. It's accessible, it's quiet, peaceful, with small parks and convenient stores here and there, also with wide roads where my younger siblings can play. I've lived there all my life and I can't make myself hate it if once in a while our place gets flooded.

Then of course more than the house, God is where my heart is. <3 I say that I love God, but I have to say that I can also trust in Him. At the end of the day, worrying gets me nowhere. Then I realize that I can't do anything about future floods or other calamities and disasters. Well sure I can transfer, but wherever God wants to strike, He will strike, and whatever He wants to spare, He will spare. During the storm, I kept praying that God spare our house from another tragic Ondoy. When we learned that the water level inside our house only reached chest-high, we were sooo happy :)))) At least this time, the floods subsided faster, we had electricity the next day, there was not much mud inside, and we were able to save a lot of our things.

Five days after the flood, our house looks a bit gloomy, we're all tired from cleaning the never-ending mess the flood left, we have to sleep on the floor using thin mattresses because our beds are still wet, then if we needed something we had to look for them in piles and piles of other things.

But soon it will past, things will get back to normal. Now I can only pray that God gives us strength and extra patience (Yes, I am crankier than usual which I am trying to avoid) so that soon, soon, soon, we could fully move-on....

...And get ready for the next storms coming! :)))

My younger sister

Wash, wash, wash

Santa didn't reach Christmas :(

Everything's rusted

Even this robot's all muddy and gloomy

Spot me spotting these antiques

Trash at the Marikina Riverbanks

Palawan: Tours

It was a Wednesday and dad brought us 4 (me, my mom, and 2 siblings) to NAIA Terminal 3 early in the morning. Things went smooth without problems or delays. We totally forgot that liquids aren't allowed on board. We attempted to check them in but it would cost us P200+ per container so we just gave them away to a janitress. We only paid the P200 terminal fee per person.

Flight was only an hour long. So when we reached Palawan we headed on immediately for a city tour that costs P600/head as a package. But I read DIY blogs and it saved us a lot, though we weren't able to go to the Cathedral, Plaza Cuartel, and Baywalk.

DAY 1: CITY TOUR

Rented a trike (may seat 4-5 people) for P500 but you can still haggle up to P400. Good thing about doing your own city tour is that you control the time and the places you want to go to.

Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center a.k.a. Crocodile Farm
First stop is the Crocodile Farm  where you get to see live crocodiles and other cool animals like the bearcat. Tours are held every 30 minutes (except lunch break).

This a great way to experience nature and of course know about it because there are various informational posters everywhere. What I enjoyed most is getting to hold a bearcat for P20. Fluffy and heavy! And since we're not that too strict on time, we waited until everybody left and so we were able to have the bearcat all to ourselves! :) Don't forget to try their crocodile's meat sisig while you're here!

Baker's Hill
Time for lunch so we headed to Baker's Hill! The place was beautiful and clean, designed by lovely flora. I love their crinkles and hopia! For me, their hopia is better than those in Chinatown-- I prefer it more than Holland, Poland, and Eng Bee Tin.

So we ate lunch-- Palabok (P100 I think?), Tapa (P120), and Carbonara (P105). The carbonara is sulit because it was cheap yet creamy and yummy. We also tried their famous tamilok (woodworm). Tastes like oysters but still gross. :| The ambiance of the restaurant was refreshing (yay for alfresco dining). You could eat inside although it's a bit dark; outside if you like your feet on soft, green grass; or at the 2nd floor if you want to wind blowing on your face.

Mitra's Ranch
This is quite near Baker's Hill and entrance is free. There's not much to do, but to admire the panoramic view of Palawan and its bays. There are horses, trampolines, and a zip line, for a price.

Butterfly Garden
Butterfly garden is a small garden filled with various flora and butterflies that are free to pollinate around. Enjoyed the part where we got to hold scorpions, stick insects, and beetles! :))

Soooo... Instead of paying P600/head, that's P2400 for 4, we only paid:

 

DAY 2: HONDA BAY
I also consulted blogs about DIY Honda Bay tours because the package costs P1,300/person or P5,200 for the 4 of us! :o  We contacted our trike driver yesterday to drive us to Honda Bay for P600. We left early around 8:00a.m. When we arrived, there are booths where you can rent a boat for P1300 (for 6 people). Since we're 4, we accommodated 2 more, which we became friends with later on! They were so nice! Didn't feel like they were strangers. Since we shared the whole trip, we mostly did all our activities with them, and we enjoyed. :)

Luli Island
First, we passed by Luli Island, but we didn't stay for long since it was a high tide and we couldn't see the shore. We didn't want to spend P50/person on entrance fee. The name Luli, by the way, is short for Lulubog-Lilitaw and you can see or not see the shore depending on the tides.

The guy was calling us to join them. Seems that he's enjoying diving.

Pambato Island
This was my favorite because of the super clear water. My siblings got to snorkel for P100, complete with guide. But even if I didn't snorkel I still saw some fishies swimming. That was cool.

Starfish Island
Then we headed to a small island with many starfish called--- starfish island! :)) This was the most serene, relaxing island we went to since there weren't too many people here.

In the middle of our enjoyment though, the sky turned gray and it rained so hard! We couldn't see a thing and we were advised to stay here for the meantime before heading to the last stop. While waiting, might as well enjoy the waves.

Honda Bay Island
The last stop was the most commercialized island of all-- Pandan Island (which had many Pandan trees). The island was huge and divided into areas like the massage area, grilling area, activity area (large space for beach sports!), restobar, and they even have a community church.

Since the weather kept changing, our photos kept changing too. Sometimes the sand would look brownish, then when the sun rose it became white. Same with the waters. The colors kept changing too. But all in all, the place was beautiful.

We rented a hut and well, we asked for a discount so instead of paying P300, we only paid P200! :)

Around 4 p.m., we headed home. We texted our trike driver and we met him up at the port. Instead of paying P1,300 per person or P5,200 for 4, we only spent...

 

DAY 3: UGONG ROCK AND SABANG BEACH
In case you missed my blog entry here, we weren't able to go to the Underground River ((UR) tour since it was cancelled due to strong winds plus 5 fishermen went missing. My mom got really sad so we suggested that we go to the Sabang Beach Port (where you take off going to the UR) in case the coastguards would allow us to continue on.

But before reaching Sabang, we tried the Ugong Rock, which was super fun! We climbed the insides of a mountain and at least we were able to see stalactites and stalagmites too. The tour was educational with excellent tour guides plus there a lots of fun activities inside like spelunking. Then we tried the Zip Line, the fastest in the Philippines! It was soooo high, really got scared during take-off :|

Finally, we reached Sabang Port. It looked like a ghost town since there were no tours-- no people. The waves were, as expected, strong and huge. We stayed for around 2 hours, enjoying the peacefulness of the area. We shall miss then when we return to Manila.

Since we weren't able to avail of the UR tour at P1,500 each, we got our P6,000 back and just used them all up here:

And so that ended our trip. The following day we flew back to Manila and I was excited and preoccupied with thoughts of our next trip, hopefully not in the Philippines anymore. It was a long time since the family got to travel together and I realized that it was a great experience for all of us. :)

Palawan: Learning Experiences

We are back from Puerto Princesa, Palawan and I have a lot I wanna blog so I will just divide them into 2 parts: Learning Experiences and Tours.

Backgrounder, me and my family booked this trip last January during Cebu Pacific's seat sale. This was my first time to plan a trip and to treat my whole family. I booked the lodging and underground river tour in advance, then the rest, read about it in DIY tour blogs. Here are some of my mistakes that no one should ever commit again when going to Puerto Princesa (PP).

Mistake #1: Give your best effort in finding for a place to stay. Because I didn't. I got a room for P2,000 a night at Sotera Mansion (out of convenience) and I didn't like it that much. Though they had air-conditioned rooms, wi-fi, drinking water, heater, plates and utensils, it really wasn't worth the 2k. Especially when I learned that Go Hotels in PP offered cheaper rooms (around P788 for 2 during promos). Plus there are a lot of cheaper rooms ranging from P700-P1400 found here. That could have saved me at least P1500.

Mistake #2: Permitting the travel agency to change our underground river (UR) tour date from July 19 to July 20. The agency told us that the July 19 date had no slots left since the UR management only allows 780 visitors per day to help conserve the area. Wrong move! Our tour was cancelled due to strong winds that day and we didn't have any chance to re-book it to the next day because we were already leaving.

We met some friends from PP and told us that we should ALWAYS PRIORITIZE THE UNDERGROUND RIVER TOUR and as much as possible book it on the first day of stay to avoid missing it. If the agency won't give the UR tour on your first day, try to get the permit from the Underground River Booking Office (URBO) for P175 at the city proper. URBO gives certain slots to agencies and certain slots to walk-ins. So when your agency says that the UR tour is full, it's not completely full. Fight for it! :))

Mistake #3: Buying souvenirs on the first day. I was so excited that I impulsively bought souvenirs the moment I saw them. Then I realized that they were EVERYWHERE and were cheaper depending on the place. Buy bracelets, pouches, etc. at stopovers/ view decks going to Sabang Beach. I bought a pouch at the city for P70 then saw them at P50. :| If you're buying dried fish or squid, then they're cheaper at the city. We bought them for P100 then saw them at Sabang for P150.

Mistake #4: Not asking for discounts. Just ask. We saved a lot by asking after I learned that our first trike ride was too expensive. P400 to P500 is the cheapest you can go.

So these are my major mistakes that I think should be heeded not just in Puerto Princesa but in booking for future travels. Though I'm super sad about how much I could have saved, it's okay now because now I know what to do for planning for the next trip! :) Yay!