Monday, February 25, 2013

The crepe cake



I have obsessed over this cake for months. I wanted to taste it so bad but didn't quite have enough will to go out of my way and buy it. Good thing my boss' birthday came up and by some miracle of the heavens, she brought these cakes-- MY crepe cakes! I was so happy!

For a while I was in a state of disbelief. There they were-- two boxes of Dessert du Jour's famous crepe cakes! There was, of course, the classic French crepe and the other was in Nutella flavor.
The cake itself was really big, the triangle slices was actually a bit too much. I think it would have been better if we cut them in squares. But regardless how it's cut, the important thing was we got to eat them! Yum!

What makes this cake special? Well, apart from it's made from layers and layers of crepe, it is also very delicately made which makes it taste sophisticated and classy.


It would have been better if we ate these on their own and not as dessert. It would have been wonderful for afternoon tea while reading a good book. It's not too sweet or decadent, it was simple yet incredibly tasty! Since I'm not too much of a chocolate person, I liked the classic crepes more than the Nutella. I have to admit though that the Nutella is more flavorful than the plain ones. It's sweeter and has more depth. The classic French crepes on the other hand is more traditional and dainty. It's the type that would go perfect with coffee or a fruit-flavored tea.

I am so happy I finally got to taste these cakes! I can't wait to discover another one of these "home bakers"! I'll be featuring another one of them in the next few days so stay tuned! :)


For orders, contact Mara de la Rama at 09178116272 or check out their Facebook page: Dessert du Jour

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Double Dose of Bohol: The Food

Aside from the beautiful sights of Bohol, we also got to enjoy the food at Alona Beach. Here is a rundown of the restaurants that we tried:

DAY 1
When we arrived Bohol, it was around 2 PM so we were so hungry but we still got to walk to the farthest part of Alona Beach and reached Isis Bungalows' Thai Restaurant.
Fried Spring Roll, Bagoong Rice,
Sizzling Chicken, and Crispy Calamares

For dinner, we decided to go to Jugali's Bistro. Since we ordered way too much for lunch, we decided to order moderately for dinner. We got pumpkin soup, pork pizzetoria (pizza toppings served over pasta) and mango float (seemed more like a mango ref cake). I would love to return to Jugali's especially for brunch because I've read several good reviews about their sandwiches and coffee.

DAY 2
Woke up early and devoured our complimentary breakfast (loved the crispy bacon and crunchy toast) because day 2 was the day of our tour (read all about it here).

We had lunch at Loboc River's Floating Restaurant Cruise. The food, although served buffet style, was a bit ordinary. The experience, I believe, is what you're paying for.

Tired from our countryside tour, we took a nap at our hotel, woke up a bit late, and hastily went out for dinner. We ended up trying Oasis Resort's restaurant. Service is a bit slow so it was a good thing that we went there still feeling sleepy and full. By the time we got our food, we were ready to feast! Everything we ordered was delicious! So it's a bit sad that some of the waitresses are impolite/ungracious to Filipino tourists (vs. how they are towards foreigners). The waiters, on the other hand, were all super accommodating!
Caesar Salad, Salmon Steak, Chef's Special Crispy Pork Tenderloin
DAY 3
Our third day in Bohol was spent lounging around Alona. We were too lazy to do anything productive and just chillaaaaxed. We ate way past lunch time and dinner time but that doesn't mean that we chose lousy restaurants...of course we had to take advantage of our last whole day in Bohol. For lunch, we ate at Alona Burger.

Italian Sausage with Fries and Cheeseburger with Onion Rings
For dinner, we got food to go at Alona Hidden Dreams because we wanted to catch some shows on the telly. Hahahaha. We ordered grilled chicken and barbeque, which we ate in our room, in front of the TV. I think this was our most affordable meal during our stay. It didn't hurt that the food was also tasty.

Just writing about the food we had is already making me want to book another flight to Bohol! How about you, have you tried these restaurants? What other restaurants did you go to? :)

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Hearts all over the world

This is it! Valentine's Day ♥

I used to have a thing for this day. It's so easy to join the anti-Valentine's movement and be grumpy but I realize it's NOT a day for hating. It's a day for love! For one day in a year, the entire world celebrates love! Now isn't that what we've been wishing for in the first place? Everyone is in good spirits, everyone is happy, love fills the world-- it's like Christmas day all over again :)


It doesn't really matter whether you believe in this occasion or not, what matters is you believe in love-- in the idea of meeting the right one, in falling in love, and in staying in love. Love makes the world go round and it would be sad if people stopped believing in it.


I know people say that this day is not just for couples-- that it is also about love for family, or friends, or pets, generally, others. I'm not saying they're not correct but I think we should stop brushing away the truth that this day is more a boyfriend-girlfriend kind of day. And that's the main reason single people start sulking when this day comes, because it always rubs in the fact that they don't have special someones to share the day with.

I won't tell you it's okay to be alone today because it's not. It's never okay to be alone. We should always want to be with someone. We should always want to keep believing that a time will come we'll find the right person to share this day with. We should never lose faith in love and in finding the right one we'll share our lives with. If there's one thing we should take away from this day, it should be that immense desire to have what other people have. Let's be happy for them but wish hard for that same happiness for ourselves.


Don't worry, one day, all you single people out there will get to share this occasion with someone special. As Swedish House Mafia puts it, "Don't you worry child, see heaven's got a plan for you". *wink!

Happy Valentine's Day my darlings!

Peplum Skirt - Redhead
Black camisole - Paperdolls
Black bolero - bazaar
Black mary janes - Naturalizer

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Double dose of Bohol: The Sights

A week after my first Bohol trip, I was on my way back to Bohol! :) This time, I was determined to stay healthy and enjoy the Countryside Tour.



On my second visit to Bohol, we blocked our whole 2nd day for the tour. Instead of going for a packaged tour, we decided to rent a car and just pay the entrance fees of the places we would visit.

The first place in our itinerary was the Bohol butterfly garden (PhP 35.00 entrance fee). We stayed there for 20 minutes only but we had tons of pictures and learned a lot about the butterflies.

Our second stop was the Loboc River for the Floating Restaurant Cruise (PhP 350.00 for the eat-all-you-can buffet and PhP 100.00 entrance fee). Since this is one of the must-dos when in Bohol, we decided to go and try it. We didn't enjoy the food that much but we enjoyed the performance of the Loboc Choir. I was expecting to see a group of kids performing but to my surprise, they also had teens and elders in the group.

We passed by (and took pictures at) the man-made forest on our way to the Tarsier Sanctuary. Entrance to the tarsier sanctuary was PhP 60.00 for adults. Even though the tarsiers could no longer be touched, I was still excited to see the tiny primates. When we arrived at the sanctuary, it was drizzling so we had to trek on muddy, man-made stairs to be able to see the tarsiers.
Upon reaching one of the tarsier habitats, a guide eagerly helped us take a close-up picture of the sleeping primate. He also told us to pose near the tarsier so he can take our picture with it.

After the tarsier sanctuary, we headed to the highlight of the trip, the Bohol Chocolate Hills (PhP 50.00 entrance fee). Since I do not regularly exercise, it was a bit of a challenge for me to climb the stairs quickly. Fortunately, I was able to reach the top and take a picture of this magnificent view...

When we went down from the viewing deck, we were quite hungry so we bought sweet corn and ice cream. I'm glad we got something to munch while on our way to our last two destinations, Baclayon Church and the Blood Compact site, because it took us around 45 minutes to get there.


We decided to go in the Baclayon museum (PhP 50.00 entrance fee) and wandered and imagined the original function of the rooms for a few minutes. Afterwards, we headed to the Blood Compact site. We took a few pictures then decided to go to the souvenir shop beside the monument to buy goodies to take home to our relatives.

Content with all the traveling we did for the day, we headed back to our hotel. We ended our second day in Bohol by chillax-ing and having dinner by the beach. :)

TOTAL COST = P3,290 for 2 pax (a bit more expensive than the usual tour packages offered by travel agencies)

For my other post about Bohol, click Double Dose of Bohol (Part 1).

Thursday, February 7, 2013

A peak into the life of

Being a 20-ish working girl demands a lot. Work is just one aspect of it. Apart from that, you have responsibilities, friends, family, recreational activities, R&R's and so on and so on! It's such a long list! But you know what, I realize being at this age is actually a great thing. I feel at the peak of my life. You can be anything and everything you're ever wanted.
Top- Kamiseta | Blue pants- hand me down | black shoes - Naturalizer | Black bag - Mango | Necklace - Bijoux
Right now, I'm grateful. I'm trying to mold myself into the person I imagined myself to be. I'm slowly finding myself; constantly self-assessing to really embrace who and what I want to become. I'm working hard, studying hard and at the same time, harnessing my talents and learning new skills.

I recently took up Taichi which is just amazing. It's such a beautiful art form, I now understand why it's called martial ARTS. It's like a dance, it's so beautiful to look at and despite the challenge in execution, it's an art I'd very much like to master.
Apart from sports, school and work, I've also been making it a point to take time for my hobbies which includes creating random art works, reading books, eating sweets and watching television.
This piece is for sale on Chorchi's for just Php499.00! check out our website at chorchi.jimdo.com
My favorite book! I can't make myself read another one because I feel like it will ruin that "thing" I have for 1Q84. When you read something amazing, it's so hard to find another book that would equal or surpass its greatness.
Finally tasted Cukay's red velvet cake! The cake part is amazing but since the icing is not cream cheese, I'm a  bit impartial on this one.
I've also been watching a lot of tv lately which makes me feel more normal and less of a busy body. One of my favorites however has recently been cancelled, which makes me so sad. I leave here one of my favorite songs from the show, Wedding Band:


Truly 2013 is starting out to be such a great year. I feel more alive and excited for the future. I'm embracing everything that I am and reaching out to reach my full potential. It's an exciting state to be in and if you know me, I am the queen of optimism, so at times like these, I become even more hopeful. Oh yes, it's time. I'm owning this year and embracing all it brings with it :)

Friday, February 1, 2013

Just bitten

I'm very picky when it comes to lipstick. I don't wear a lot of make up but I always make sure I have lipstick on. The problem however is that I am allergic to a lot of lipstick brands. My lips would get dry and chapped. In the past I used to think it was just because I wore too much lipstick but I found out that the dryness and chapping was actually a sign of allergy. I know there are a lot of brands that offer hypoallergenic lipstick but the downside is, the colors are always so drab. Good thing my godsister introduced me to Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable Tinted Lip BALM which has now officially become my lipstick of choice.

Technically, it's not a lipstick. It's a lip BALM. It even has  this minty cool sensation when you apply it, much like how it is with lip balms. It glides on easily on the lips and doesn't feel heavy you won't think you're wearing lipstick.

My godsister gave me my first Just bitten tube for Christmas (the darkest shade) and I've been addicted since then that I got bought two more shades and gave away some to my friends.
Just Bitten in Crush. The tube itself looks a bit scary co'z it's dark but it's actually a more red-wine kind of shade. I love how rich the color is although my colleagues still tease me for channeling "Ruby" with my red lips.
I'm always partial to barbie pink shades so I got myself a tube of Cherish. It looks so Barbie-pink I just couldn't resist! I just feel like it's a little too pale when applied that it doesn't give me much coverage. It's however a nice shade to use when your outfit is too loud already and you just want a hint of color on your face.
My latest purchase is Lovesick. It's darker than Cherish but still has this Barbie-esque vibe to it. I love it so much!

I am so happy with this product! I still try to keep myself from using it too much because my lips are very sensitive but the incidence of dryness and chapping has been less since I switched to Just Bitten. It just proves that it is more gentle than typical lipsticks on the market.

Thank you so much Revlon! I am so happy with my lippies! :)


**Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm retails for Php575.00

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