Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Krazy over Krispy Kreme's Creme Brulee

Quick post just because this flavor took me by surprise:


It's Krispy Kreme's Creme Brulee donut!!! It was so good I almost forgot to take a photo. This flavor is one of the newest flavors from Krispy Kreme as shown in this ad:

I love how it does taste like Creme Brulee! The sugar on top is even semi-burnt which makes it taste so authentic! It's also not as sweet as the other Krispy Kreme donuts. It even has a custard filling which makes it extra tasty! Yummeh! I can't wait to munch on more of these later!

Guess you know where to find me!

xx,
Ninin

Monday, May 27, 2013

Fonts I love

Finally! We have our internet access back! It's been a month since our internet crashed (and because it took our internet provider a while before responding, we decided to switch to another internet provider). Anyway, out of sheer boredom, I was able to create a new wallpaper for my laptop which features my not-so-recently downloaded/discovered fonts. It was kinda hard selecting my new favorite fonts but I was able to choose a handful. (Yay for me! Haha.) If you are also addicted to beautiful typography, then feel free to download these from dafont.com



And because I don't want to hassle you, I've already linked all of the fonts below - free for download. The Zapfino font, however, is not free for download. You might want to check your installed fonts first because I think this is free in the MAC OS software. If you don't have it but you're willing to pay for the font, feel free to click the last link.

Font links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

Enjoy! :)

How about you, do you have any newly discovered fonts that you're fond of? :)

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Gourmet Snacking

I'm not very much of a health freak which is ironic co'z I'm vegetarian. But there are days that I crave for healthy food in my system and it is then that I try hard to look for snacks that are a little less commercial. Often times, I end up eating corn nachos and dips but after discovering Gourmet's lettuce chips, I don't think I could eat anything less tasty:

I know, all the green doesn't look very appetizing but if you're a health freak, you'd actually like all the greens!

The lettuce chips are so good! I particularly love the texture of the chips. It's airy and crunchy. I actually expected it to be hard but it's not! It does feel eating chips!

I paired it with the Sicilian dip, which is just divine! I love Sicilian dressing, and this one from Gourmet's can double as a dip for the chips. It's so good! It's creamy, tangy, salty, garlic-y and just tastes amazing!


There are so many different dressings being offered so to lessen the confusion, it's best to just ask for their best seller. The sales staff are all very accommodating and they also let you try the products first. Don't you just love establishments that give free tastes? :P

I'm so glad we dropped by Gourmet's from our recent trip to Batangas, if not, I wouldn't have discovered these! So good! I can't wait for our next trip South so we can drop by Gourmet's. Lol! :)

Gourmet Farms
Aguinaldo Highway,
Buho, Silang, Cavite

Website: http://gourmet.com.ph
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GourmetFarmsPh/info

Saturday, May 25, 2013

InstaLovin

I enjoy Instagram a lot. I think it's because I like taking photographs and enjoy looking at beautiful photos as well. Well, lately I realized that I have been posting a lot more quotes on my Instagram. The thing with me and quotes is that, I like making my own images. I read something I like and is prompted to share it but instead of just looking for an image online, I make my own version by handwriting it or something.

Well, here's a collection of some quotes that I've posted on Instagram. The images are all original :)












Instagram-ing really is so much fun! It feeds my creativity! I'm weird when it comes to social media, normally I post different things in my accounts. For example, something I posted on my twitter is not on my Facebook, or those I post on my Facebook is not on Twitter and vice versa. I'm weird like that because I like segregating my "audience". So the things I post in my accounts are quite different from each other. My friends who do not follow me on Instagram most likely haven't seen these photos. Yeah, I'm weird like that. Hahaha :P

Follow Sophia and me on Instagram!

Ninin - @nininja
Sophia - @sophialiscano

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Silantro

Ninin and I are fond of Mexican food way back in college. So it's no surprise that when this Fil-Mex cantina opened in Kapitolyo, I immediately invited some of my officemates to try it. To date, I've been to Silantro numerous times.

During our visits, these four are our usual orders..


Their nachos are heavenly! The tasty beef mixed with the salsa and cheese just explodes in your mouth. The combination of the coleslaw and the spicy chicken wings is perfectly balanced. For those who don't want to eat meat, they also have fish. Among the options, we love the grilled marlin. And for our main course, we usually order their pork ribs.

Things I love about Silantro:
+ Delicious food
+ Delicious salsa/dip
+ Price

Salivating yet? Feel free to visit them at 75 East Capitol Drive, Kapitolyo Pasig City.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Road less Traveled: Destination Burot Beach

"Two roads diverged in the woods, 
and I-- I took the one less traveled by, 
and that has made all the difference." 
- Robert Frost

Our trip to Burot beach is like a line from Robert Frost's poem. Burot beach is the "road less taken" given that it is not well known, it has practically no decent facility, has no electricity, and a feat to get to.

But as the poem goes, the road less traveled made all the difference-- and just look at this view and tell me if it's not worth it:


It's so beautiful!!! And the best part is, it's not crowded!!! Lol! :) My godsister and I were both itching to go to a beach before summer ends but because of reservation issues, lack of companions and other unfortunate events, our trip just keeps getting postponed. In the end, we just decided to head to Burot beach for a day trip just so we could get "beaching" out of our system.

It took us roughly three hours from Cavite to Calatagan, Batangas where Burot is. The trip was pleasant but it felt like forever while on the road. The road to Burot itself was also not encouraging as you have to pass through a rough road in the middle of nowhere to get to the beach.

 
The path starts off a wide rough road but as you progress the road gets smaller and you begin to doubt if there really is a beach at the end of this beaten track. After a while, you get to a gate which is the best thing to come across in your journey because hooray! You've arrived!

A security guard checks how many passengers are in the car and logs your name before you enter.

You pass through more narrow rough roads then you come across a fork. It was here that we could really hear Robert Frost's poem echo in our heads. "Two roads diverged in the woods..." Which one to take??Lol! There's actually a very small arrow that says "beach" pointing to the left  :)
And so after hours of traveling, we finally arrived in Burot! We paid the guard 65php each at the entrance, parked under a lowly tree and began basking in the sun! 



Just note though that there is no restaurant in the area so you should bring food before heading to the beach. Also, there's no electricity, no real "facility" apart from the small sari-sari store so better come prepared! If you're taking a day trip, you can park on the beach itself and use your car to change clothes, etc. But you want to stay overnight, there are tents and bamboo torches that can be rented out.



Thank you Burot for the amazing weekend! Can you believe we spent less than a thousand pesos each for gas, food and fees? Cheap and beautiful destination indeed! It's another proof that the Philippines is so beautiful that every nook and cranny is like a secret paradise waiting to be discovered!

Hope you're all having a great summer so far! ♥

Monday, May 13, 2013

Unwind with games

I've been restless the past few days and since I'm not much of a tv person, I decided to download some games instead. Well, thank God for the long weekend because I really got to maximize playing these two awesome Strategy games I got off the internet:

1. Be Richest!

 I am a sucker for tycoon games. I love the idea of having your own business or town and running it. That is why the moment I saw this game, I immediately downloaded it!

In Be Richest, you act as a Real Estate Developer-slash-hero who was tasked to bring glory back to a State. I enjoyed that the tasks were simple enough yet challenging. I love how you're given options on whether to build a residential house or a commercial establishment. It was so cool! In fact, I got extremely addicted and finished it in two days! lol!

Two thumbs up for this one!

2. Virtual Villagers 5: New Believers

I've been playing Virtual Villagers as far back as my college days and it has always been an enjoyable experience. This fifth installment is no exception as I found myself getting happy and agitated at how complicated the game is. Already I'm behind schedule as my first "tribe" all died leaving me with one child, which in any case wouldn't be enough to sustain me (children do not do anything but run around and collect stuff).
I sorely had to start over which is really annoying. But the fact that I had to start over says the game isn't as easy as it looks! It really requires strategizing especially when you first build your tribe and you have to choose five members.

It's a really cool game. What I love about it is that it runs on real time so even if you're not playing, things happen to your tribe (i.e. they grow older, crops grow, they learn skills, etc.) This makes for a very enjoyable game play and really keeps you on your toes!

I find myself checking my tribe every so often just to make sure that they're not all dead or something. Lol!

I had so much fun playing games! It has been a while since I last played and it reminded just how enjoyable it is. I'm thankful for the long weekend because it allowed me to finish Be Richest (hahaha!) and get a good foundation on Virtual Villagers. Lol!

Games are a great way to unwind, especially if you just need something that won't require much thinking-- or in this case, a fun way of using your brain. I enjoyed this weekend a lot because of these games, and even if I know I won't have the liberty of time to play as much as I did this weekend, I'm nonetheless glad I got to play these games. It's a different kind of happy, if you know what I mean :P

How 'bout you guys, do you play games too? What do enjoy playing?

Friday, May 10, 2013

Not-so-team Manila

I've been keeping this to myself for too long but I now think it's time I give my two cents' worth on this just because it's really starting to annoy me.

May not be such a big deal to most but I find Team Manila's new ad + branding campaign extremely annoying. What's up with the too blonde models??


I love Team Manila. You got to hand it to them, their designs are really really nice. I particularly love how it's so distinctly Filipino but modern at the same time. I follow them on instagram and the shirt that the male model is wearing is actually something I've been eyeing since they posted it. That is why I was so shocked when I saw it on this really white model.


Apparently, I was not the first one to be distracted with the caucasian models. People have actually been commenting on their back posts. I dug deeper and found out that hiring these caucasian models is actually part of their strategy, with the tagline, "Keeping it Local, Making it Global". WTH.




Sorry for the agitated reaction. It's just that their reasoning is so twisted and wrong! I'm actually offended! If I may just give my two cents' worth on this.

"Keeping it Local, Making it Global" -- who is your target market really? Tourists? Foreigners living in other countries? Hello! Do you really think they would buy these shirts when they do not even understand what it means? They won't get the jokes, they won't get the references, precisely because they're NOT Filipinos! Anong alam nila sa Sipa? Sa Tumbang Preso? 

Besides, if you want to get their attention, you should have learned by now that the best way is to go NATIVE. Go for the dark skinned people; the ones who are distinctly Pinoy and have them wear the shirts, that's how you get their attention! Exotic beauties! How could you have forgotten this inside joke??

Besides, coming from someone who market Filipino products for a living, believe me when I say they always go for the authentic feel. You're talking about the world market! You need something unique! Something that will stand out! The caucasian models just blend in the sea of whites. A better idea? Have a tribal group wear your shirts with a distinct tourist spot in the background. Think: Ifugao kids wearing the Sipa shirt, playing sipa, with the rice terraces in the background. That'll create more impact! --Or if you don't want to go down that route, how about having a local celebrity endorse it? Heck, even the Azkals could have done a better job! At least, they're still Pinoy!

The campaign is just so wrong! Instead of bringing in more customers, you'll just lose your customers because you've forgotten that your primary market is STILL those that are in the Philippines. This campaign doesn't feel like "Team" Manila anymore. Honestly when I saw it, I felt so annoyed and my first reaction was to boycott the brand. Not kidding about that.

The most annoying thing about it is the thought that maybe, the "keeping it local, going global" thing is not really for foreigners-- that it's actually for Pinoys-- because Team Manila recognizes the Filipinos' embarrassing colonial mentality and they thought they would sell more shirts if Filipinos see a white model wear them. Well that is just so low. So mean and low, especially for a brand that carries the "Team Manila" name as its flagship.

The campaign annoys and saddens me. Really. I'm not kidding when I say I am resolved to boycott the store for a while. It just sickens me. I used to be very proud of them and how they are able to promote Filipino culture by making it modern. They are also able to show the talent of the Filipinos which I am all for. But this campaign is just so wrong. I can't stand it. It's not the brand itself, it's the promotional strategy they utilized. Wrong marketing move. Really.

Again, it's just my two cents' worth. Most people won't even bother with this co'z it's just a shirt, and they're just models-- which is exactly my point! They could have hired Filipino models but they DID NOT. They could have explained that it's no big deal yada yada yada but they chose to argue using their twisted justifications. It's just so wrong to me.

Yeah, it's not big deal to some but I come from a culture that is proudly Pinoy and this campaign just don't fit in it. To each his own. Good luck Team Manila.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Let your hands go Hoot! Hoot!

This little owlie has got a treat for your hands:

Hoot! Hoot!

Yes, it's a hand creme! So cute!!!

I've been obsessing over Etude House's owl hand creme as of late and I think this little cutie pie deserves a blog post. lol!

I have this thing with my hands. You might remember me being obsessed with Bath and Body Works' Hand sanitizer line because they smell so good and now, I'm obsessing over hand cremes co'z I feel like my hands are getting dry lately.

To be honest, the thing that made me get Etude House's hand creme is the packaging. I mean, just look at these owls!
eagle owl:fragrance(Cherry ) 
           kakapo:Fragrance( Apple) 
        bluebird:Fragrance (Sweet smell of cotton candy)
             monkey faced owl:Fragrance (Peach) 
Aren't they the cutest?? The second thing I like about it is that the one I bought, in apple scent, smells so good! It actually doesn't smell like apples. Well maybe a little, but apples with vanilla and condensed milk-- something to that effect. The best thing about its scent is that it's not overpowering. It's light and sweet which lends a sophisticated charm to it.

I am not really a lotion-using person but the hand creme is an exception. I find myself using it all the time! I love that it's not greasy (my biggest issue with lotions), absorbs fast and leaves my hands soft and smelling good!

Thank you Etude house for these cuties! My hands say HOOT, HOOT! :)

Wallet damage: 298php
Available in Etude House or a Watson's branch in all SM Malls

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