19 September 2012

For Future Reference: 20 Yummiest Cakes

Photo from Estrel's website
Ever had trouble searching for the perfect cake to order for a special occasion? Or if you have a sweet tooth like me, you're probably googling cakes just because you feel like it, right? Okay, maybe that's just me. :|

Anyway, I just want to share this old article from INQUIRER.net I came across with that lists 20 of the yummiest home-made cakes in the metro. It seems legit since our favorite go-to cake, Estrel's Caramel Cakes, made it to the list!
6. Caramel Cake 
Come-on: To lust for, this melting, light chiffon cake under a blanket of glossy caramel is charmingly adorned with butter cream flowers in lovely colors. Makes for a pretty centerpiece. 
Cost: P550 for an 8-inch round cake with caramel filling and P500 without filling. Order two days in advance. 
Creator: Estrel's
Call: 3722965 or 3717938. Address: 54 Scout Tobias St. corner Scout Limbaga. Bgy. Laging Handa, Q.C. 
Thanks to 20 yummiest (privately baked) cakes - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos, I now have 19 new cakes to try!

18 September 2012

My Best Friend's Wedding

Sabaw photos of the bridesmaid and the bride.
I just attended my best friend's wedding last night. Not in real life though but only in my dreams. Thank God!

I know I should've woken up happy, but I didn't. Not because of the man she's going to marry.* But because I did a terrible job as a bridesmaid. :(

The dream started with me waiting at SM's tricycle terminal. Daddy picked me up to drive me to the airport for a special event. I didn't know then that I was going to end up at my best friend's wedding but I woke up early anyway as I was clearly excited for something.

I was pretty confident I came to the airport earlier than I should but when I reached the departure area, I found out that my flight was moved to an earlier schedule. 6 AM! I was sure flustered as hell. I was definitely off to a bad start. >.<

Then the scene changed to my best friend talking with Tats in a beautiful garden. For some reason, they began practicing a dance number while talking about how late I was. Again.

While they were taking a break at what looked like an attic converted into a room, a guy suddenly stood up and walked to the balcony where he found me curled up in a ball. Hulog ng langit ang peg? The guy picked me up and brought me into the room and announced my arrival as if it's the most natural thing to do. Of course, it gets even weirder.

Next thing I know, I was dressed in a dark purple bridesmaid gown looking through my best friend's wedding souvenirs with a quizzical look on my face. At this point, I already know that my best friend was getting married. She was proudly telling me that her Tita picked out the wedding souvenirs herself which I strongly disliked. Yes, maldita pa rin even in my dreams. You can't blame my reaction though. She had incenses that smell weird as wedding giveaways! How could a BFF let that happen?? :((

Frustrated, I walked out of the room and decided to check on the reception instead. The place looked like a cross between a church and a lecture hall. But what was more shocking was that people were already lining up for the food when the wedding hasn't even started yet! QUE HORROR! I was furious and I was about to tell the servers to stop what they're doing when as I moved closer, I spotted daddy among the servers. HAHAHA Recognizing me, he began preparing all my favorites for me. I still can't believe what was happening but I gladly took the food he was giving me anyway. HAHA To make things even worse, the food started to run out while the guests just kept on pouring in!
15 years of friendship and counting!
Then I woke up. And I'm thankful I did before it got even worse. It was definitely a bridesmaid's nightmare! Or rather, a bride's nightmare? Whatever it was, I swear I won't let it happen in real life. Jona Myrrh, I promise I will do my best as a bridesmaid and  I won't let your wedding turn into a disaster!

*Heck, I didn't even see him last night. Sayang!

17 September 2012

Madayaw Davao: Sunburn

Off to Samal Island!
A trip to Davao wouldn't be complete without dropping by Samal Island. As beach lovers, we dedicated an entire day for that. We even woke up at 5 AM just so we can make the most out of our beach trip. This time, Kuya Jovan was our driver. To get to Samal Island, you have to ride a barge that takes you from the city to the island, similar to the RORO - only smaller. I think the entire ride lasted for only 15-20 minutes, we didn't even have to get out of the van except to take pictures.

Madayaw Davao: Kadayawan and More

I've been wanting to go to Davao ever since I had my first taste of Mangosteen. It's love at first taste I tell you. Thanks to Tiger Airways' seat sale, my dream of visiting Davao during Kadayawan Festival came true!

Getting There
Kadayawan, here we come!
I woke up at 2 AM to get ready for our 5:30 AM flight. Oh the things I do for travel! It's my first time to fly via SEAir* and it's been a while since my last domestic flight so I wanted to get to the airport early. We arrived at Manila Domestic Airport (aka NAIA Terminal 4) around 3:30 AM. After checking in our toiletries and paying for the terminal fee**, we proceeded to the departure area. I still find it funny whenever they ask sandals and flip-flops to be removed and placed on the scanner. I guess not much has changed with the domestic airport but this time, their WiFi was actually working! Yay!
It's more fun in the Philippines!
The flight was delayed for a few minutes but we didn't mind because our plane was so cute! It has "It's more fun in the Philippines" printed across its body. I even overheard one REALLY loud passenger say that our flight was only the second flight ever of Tiger Airways via SEAir. I don't know if that's true but it's pretty cool.

In fairness, we still arrived in Davao on time. We were greeted by flowers and TV reporters upon arrival at Davao Internaional Airport. Or rather, our plane was greeted by flowers and TV reporters. Haha I don't know if it's part of the Kadayawan celebration or because it was one of the first flights of our plane. From then on, I had a feeling this trip will be unforgettable. And that actually marked the start of the special treatments we received during our entire stay. ;)
Spot the tourists
While walking towards the baggage claim area, we heard gong-like sounds and it made us sprint towards the lobby where a cultural performance was waiting for us. We were already amused by this and it's not even the main event yet! This was enough to put us in a festive mood and get even more excited for the float parade.

13 September 2012

All I want for Christmas is the new iPod Touch*

Photo by REUTERS
So the new iPhone 5 was quite disappointing but have you seen the 5th Gen iPod Touch yet? Definitely looks promising!
Photos from Apple
Us girls went crazy over its super cute new look! We even picked out the colors we wanted already: pink for me, blue for Faye, green for Jeng, white for Erin and black for Mabel. Okay, only Jeng, Faye and I picked out the colors for ourselves then assigned the remaining ones to Erin and Mabel. True friends fo lyfe! Hihi [ EDIT: New color assignments! Pink for me, blue for Faye, green for Jeng, red for Erin, black for Mabel, and white for Vanie. ;) ]

Next thing I did? Convert $399 (for the 64GB version) to Philippines Pesos, of course! At roughly Php16k, it's alright I guess. I can't wait for Black Friday though! If someone from the office is going to the US in time for Black Friday, then it's meant to be. Otherwise, we'll just have to turn to our favorite Kimstore. ;)

*or a Samsung Galaxy S3 :p

09 September 2012

My uncle, the fortune teller

Photo credit: Wikipedia
Have you ever had your future told? I was never interested in fortune-telling because I believe in focusing on the present and living life one day at a time. But last night, I had my future told. By my own uncle!

It happened as we were chit-chatting after dinner. They reminisced about how fast time flies, how we were once kids and now we're all grown up. They asked how old I am now and inquired about my love life, of course. Relatives seem to be always curious about your love life don't they? Upon hearing that I don't have a boyfriend, my uncle started giving me tips in dating - how I should open up and show everyone what a beautiful flower I am. Awkwarddd. But I laughed it off. He told me that Geminis tend to keep things to themselves. They know a lot but won't show it. Also, they're very giving that people tend to take advantage of them. Then he gave me a lecture on how to discern true friends among the many friends I have. You see, my uncle just never runs out of stories and knowledge to share.

He even offered to tell my fortune for fun and asked to look at my hands. I was hesitant because he just ate hundreds of shellfish for dinner! Haha Noticing my hesitation, he washed his hands clean before looking at mine. While he was away, I quickly asked my auntie how legit my uncle's fortune-telling is. Turns out, it's in their blood. His mother used to be the most famous fortune teller in Badio, Aklan. I'm still skeptical but I gave it a go.

After looking at my hands for a while, here are some of the things he told me:

#1 Financial freedom. As I grow up, I won't rely on my parents' inheritance but instead, work hard to earn my own money.

#2 Love life. There is a 99% chance of me marrying someone not from the Philippines. He may be of a different race or half Filipino or a Filipino born abroad. And we'll meet overseas. By chance. No wonder I travel a lot! Haha But somehow, I've had this feeling for a long time that I won't meet my one true love in this country. I'm just surprised my uncle knew about it! Also, he mentioned that this person won't be someone I've met in the past but someone I have yet to meet. Sounds pretty exciting, eh?

#3 Money management. One look at my right hand and my uncle knew how much of a gastador I am to which mom and dad quickly agreed. He says it's easy for me to spend or give money away because I'm a giver, not a receiver. If you think about it, I do love spending money on myself as much as I love spending on other people. On the flip side, the more I give, the more God will shower me with blessings as I help other people.* And to my defense, my spending is always reasonable. My uncle's words, not mine! :)) A look at my left hand and he told me that my future husband will be a gastador as well. Patay tayo dyan! Nevertheless, we'll manage to save up. He even advised me to let my fingernails grow (if I could) until my pinky reaches the line on my ring finger so as to lessen my spending.

#4 Health. I will live a pretty healthy life but he advised me to take special care of my stomach or abdomen. Ow. How did he know about my abdominal pains thanks to dysmenorrhea?? According to him, Geminis tend to have difficulty in giving birth so he advised me to do squats to strengthen my pelvic bone. He also advised me to eat on time and avoid skipping meals. And that I should lessen my consumption of sweets and watch what I eat because I will tend to eat and eat once I give birth. Ayayay!

#5 Compatibility. There are two kinds of Pisces - one that goes with the flow and one that goes against it. I should steer away from Pisces that tend to go with the flow because he's sure to be under-the-saya if I did end up with one and I wouldn't want that. Sagittarius are great companions for Geminis because they are jolly people but they hate restrictions. They won't like it if you ask them where they've been or why they came home late. They're just in it for the fun times. Now, those born in April are natural breadwinners. They'll do everything for you - be it housework or earning for the family. They'd love you unconditionally and will take really good care of you. The downside? They tend to get really jealous and would want you only for themselves. Not really good for a Gemini who doesn't want to be tied down.

#6 Marriage. I will have one and only one marriage. I won't get divorced or be widowed early. Glad to know my future hubby and I will grow old together. On top of that, I'll get married around the age of 30 or 31. Good enough for me.

#7 Children. I'll have two. Well, I want three but having more than two will be difficult for me. My husband may want more but two will be ideal. And these children will be from my bloodline, not my husband's. My uncle liked that since that means my future kids will be intellectuals. Haha

He then proceeded to lecture me to look for someone who will love my parents as much as I love them and for me to love my future in-laws. If they don't like me at first, I should do everything to get closer to them. Also, this guy I'm going to end up with will try to get in bed with me before marriage. Nakakaloka! He reminded me to always follow my head over my heart and I should save it after marriage. My auntie teased him about how old-fashioned he was. Haha That talk should be awkward but it wasn't. I just laughed it off. Again. He says he can tell me more but he'll leave the rest to me but he kept on going and asked to look at my right foot. According to him, the house or building I'll purchase, which will be my future family's home, will be overseas as well. Pang-Ms. International pala ang peg ko! But he added that wherever it will be will be both my husband and I's choice.

Sure, I don't believe in fortune-telling but it was fun. All the things he mentioned are likely to happen anyway. My auntie reminded me that I shouldn't let my uncle's predictions lead my life though. I should still be open to meeting guys even if they're pure-bred Filipinos or born in the Philippines. Haha

All this talk about the future definitely made my night. No wonder, I still haven't met Mr. Right. I guess I have yet to visit his hometown, eh? :))

With that, let me leave you with one of my favorite verses from the Bible:
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV)
See, no need to worry about the future. My God has it all figured out for me. He's got my back. Always.

*Mom and dad raised us on this principle that we may always be grateful to God and helpful to those in need.

Para para paradise

That definitely played in my head as I walked out of our hotel room and was greeted by the beauty of Boracay at 6:30AM. Who wakes up that early at the beach? Well, my folks, auntie and Kuya Caloy did so I had no choice but to roll out of bed as well.
Good morning, Boracay!
After availing our free breakfast, Daddy, Kuya Caloy and I set off to walk around the beach. I've been to Boracay multiple times* (around 20 I guess?) but it's beauty never fails to put me in awe each and every time. It may not be as beautiful as ever but it's still breathtaking nevertheless. Definitely instagram-worthy! And you won't even need to apply a filter to make it dramatic.

I took off my flip-flops and walked barefoot by the shore. Ahh~ the familiar fine sand felt great on my bare feet. I sure missed this! I've been to a lot of beaches but nothing compares to Boracay's fine white sand that remains cool even in the sweltering heat of the Philippine weather. These are the moments that make me extra thankful for God's amazing creations.

We walked on the beach front from Station 1 to Station 3. Then walked on the commercial side from Station 3 back to Station 1. If I did this as my daily exercise, I wouldn't mind sweating so much.

Speaking of sweating, we saw children in PE uniforms playing by the beach. Pretty odd, right? I thought they were cutting classes but since there were too many of them, that's kind of impossible so we asked one of them what they're doing at the beach at 7AM. It turns out, they were playing beach volleyball and beach soccer for their PE class. Antaray! Imagine having your PE class by the beach. At Boracay Station 1 pa ha! If that was the case, I wouldn't have to go to the library or join the varsity team just to skip PE. I'm so jelly!!
Crystal clear waters.
I went straight to the water as soon as we got back to our hotel's beach front. Ohmygod the water was as clear and as refreshing as I remember! I've always loved Boracay because of it's beach that's perfect for swimming. The water's so calm, you'd think you're in a huge swimming pool. It's kind of sad though how some tourists are after Boracay's night life now rather than the beautiful beach. I would never get that.
Boats for island hopping lined the beach of Station 1.
The weather was perfect. It wasn't too hot or too gloomy. Before we know it, we've been in the water for over 3 hours! We started swimming before 8AM and was shocked when we learned from one of the boatmen it was already 10:30AM! Great. I didn't even put on sunblock. But the weather was so nice, we couldn't pass it up. We stayed in the water until it started raining a little past 11.

After washing ourselves off, I went with daddy back to D'Mall to buy him new flip-flops because his Havs gave out after our morning walk. The funny thing is, he didn't even wear it while walking! He only wore it upon arriving at the hotel then one of the straps broke. Haha
The only souvenir I got from Boracay.
On our way to D'Mall, we passed by Starbucks again and I decided to give in to my shopping urges. I bought a Boracay tumbler just because it's unusual. How often do you see a Starbucks Tumbler made after an island (or a famous beach) and not a capital city? I couldn't help but order an Iced Chai Tea Latte for myself when the friendly barista asked if I've tried the blended version. Of course, I haven't because I'm not a fan of frappes but curiosity got the best of me and he managed to convince me to try it. Boy, I'm glad I did. It was delish! Aside from the guilt the whipped cream brings, it was satisfying. Oh and if you're wondering, daddy was barefoot the whole time! This is probably the only Starbucks in the country where you can go in without a shirt nor shoes but still get service. You don't even have to be sexy and know it. :p

After buying daddy some cheap flip-flops, we went looking for the famous Jonah's Fruit Shake stand. We didn't find it though so we just went straight to the hotel for lunch. I ordered choco banana shake while all of them ordered sodas. Ahh~ it's definitely as good as I remember. Since the food was taking a while, dad asked me to buy fries from Potato Corner. I ordered Cheese & Chilli BBQ Giga  fries and we finished the bucket even before the food arrived.

We were stuffed by the end of lunch, we were so ready to go home. This is my most relaxing trip to Boracay to date. No island hopping, snorkeling, banana boat, nor partying. No touristy activity whatsoever, just plain swimming and relaxation by the beach.**

Boracay was my first love and will always be my favorite. Sure, it has become crowded and commercialized over the years. But still, nothing compares to its sky, sand and sea. I just wish more people realize this and feel the need to preserve its beauty. It doesn't matter how many times you've been here, you'll definitely keep on coming back.

Fun fact: Never in my whole life have I paid for the tourist rate nor environmental fee because I know enough Aklanon to get me through the check points and prove my residency. :)

Travel dates: September 7 - 8, 2012
Accommodation: Royal Park Hotel (We got the room good for 4 persons for only Php 3.5k/night thanks to daddy's amazing PR skills. With free breakfast and no additional person charge even though there were five of us.)
Photo credits: Autumn - my trusty iPod touch so pardon the low resolution.

*My first trip to Boracay was when I was 4 years old, even before tourists started calling it Bora for short. Since then, our family has been going almost every year. Lucky that my parents have Aklan as their hometown so a trip to Boracay is just like visiting relatives. Only it's more fun, of course.

**Take note that we went to Boracay after my Lola Melba's interment. We definitely needed time to unwind and relax. The last time I was here was after Lolo Ricoy's burial. I hope this doesn't become family tradition or something.