Gift Giving with Taste Central

It's the most wonderful time of the year! It's the happiest season of all! Yes, that's Christmas season. Christmas lights everywhere, decors hanging around and who can ever forget of Christmas presents!

We all went our ways to find presents for our loved ones and for the people closest to us. I myself had hard time looking for presents and yes, I'm one of those last minute shoppers who squeezed with many others who did theirs during the last few days before Christmas too. In fact, I still have to search for presents after Christmas and will just give it to my friends after the holidays.

Nowadays, shopping malls are not the only place to find gift ideas. Bazaars are everywhere and home shopping has gone innovative too. We have home TV shopping (this has been locally launched and heavily advertised recently), online shopping and even online deal sites. With all these options, it's really hard to think and choose which option is best and we sometimes result to go back to the traditional shop hopping just to get that perfect gift for the special ones.

I must admit, I've been a fan of deal sites  for quite some time but I've also been so hesitant to get items from online sites (I usually get discounted coupons rather than items). I don't want to face problems of lost items or tracking item whereabouts.

Chocolate Kiss Cafe

Just a simple weekend brought us to UP Diliman campus to watch (again) Transit which had a screening at Cine Adarna - UP Film Center. After the screening, we searched for good place to stay and dine within the campus - thank you to Google Maps, it led us to Chocolate Kiss Cafe.

It's well-known for good sweet items like cakes and they also serve different ala carte that would cater the wide palate of students and the alumni as well.

The place is cozy and good for catching up with old friends and dining with your dear ones. When we arrived we were immediately assisted by the crew and even let us choose our table. It was a very late lunch for us, thus the place is not that full and maybe that gave us the chance to pick where we want to be seated. Anyway as the sign says, you just need to wait to be seated and be served well by their crew.

Legoland at Robinson's Magnolia

It's not only more fun in the Philippines, it's more creative too! 

This is what welcomed us last Saturday at Robinson's Magnolia. a Lego version of Philippine map with different historical landmarks of the country.

It is but surprising to see the beauty of the Philippines in it's Lego form. Seeing it more detailed is truly amazing and creative just by using these little toy pieces. I captured some photos and will share it here for you to enjoy. :)

Jollibee's Cheesy Bacon Mushroom Champ

Finally, it's back! But this time around, it's not your any ordinary burger. It's now packed inside a Jollibee Champ. I remembered one time, a Cheesy Bacon Mushroom burger was offered by Jollibee but eventually was pulled out. I really loved that burger and I'm such a happy kid when I learned about this new addition to their menu.

Say what now? A generous amount of meat in one meal is such a heavenly treat. Just imagine having 1/3 pound burger + bacon + mushrooms, all dressed with cheesy goodness.

BY Request

When we learned about the concert, we waited as to when they would release and sell the tickets. We got ours as early as mid of June - talk about us being so excited and afraid to lose good seats. hahaha! So anyway, we didn't opt for the seat facing the stage since we believe that seats at the sides is quite near than that in the center.

I won't go much into each performance and will just share some videos that I got from the concert. I did record most performances but still managed to concentrate on watching it live. Good thing, I'm not like one of those audience who tend to record everything and ended up watching the video that they take. haha

As the title suggests, this night is filled with fan requested songs sent through Twitter and online voting. Bamboo and Yeng chose from the list and they really considered the requests and added some of their choice for them to share with the crowd. The set list is really unpredictable, as they sang their own hits plus those hits (as requested) from 80's to 90's. Two thumb's up! :)

How they started the show was a blast. Yeng sang Hawak Kamay followed by Bamboo's Hallelujah.

Here is the last part of their opening performance, Hallelujah - duet by Yeng and Bamboo. I just do not have the best angle here but look at how they had that wings effect while Bamboo stands in the middle. :) This is so cool! - The effect would be better if this was shot in the middle though.

I really am a fan of these songs - good thing Yeng sang these and in one blow! - Here's a video of Titanium, Diamonds and Just Give Me a Reason by Yeng.

Probinsyana is one of the well-loved songs by Bamboo which he also sang that night. His performance showed a really bubbly Bamboo on stage. 

Bamboo did a great medley of Singin' in the Rain and Ulan - quite matching with the weather that night.

It's a good fit to expect this performance from Yeng - her latest hit, Chinito. Enchong did not appear anywhere here but just enjoy the song itself and that feel good atmosphere will be relived.

After she sang this part, she expressed that her boyfriend isn't even chinito but threw a joke that parts of the song can just be edited to "medyo chinito..." instead of just chinito :)

This night ain't all about their performances but that includes some people that has connection to them. Camp Kawayan had their group performance. 

[I have yet to upload this vid, it seemed taken upside down! haha]

Another video here is the rendetion of Yeng and Thor Dulay (from Team APL and a Cornerstone Talent) for Himala. 

[Same here, seemed taked upside down. I have yet to figure this out...]

Did you know? Thor is the backup vocals and guide track for Martin in the Youtube hit Without You by Martin Nievera and Anne Curtis - video on this link. :)

Bamboo and Yeng ended the night by singing "Beautiful Day". I am not really expecting this much but everything was great! Good concert will really bring the crowd that great experience and happy night. :) There are even some parts of the concert where the crowd sang with Bamboo and Yeng.

This awesome concert is presented to you by Cornerstone Concerts. Kudos to them for pulling up such an awesome concert! Let's support OPM! It did gave me a new perspective of our very own concert scene that we can go out of the mainstream concerts too - I'm not really a fan of watching concerts (unless it's by any of my favorite local artist). With this, I started looking forward to watch next good concert, but that's if my budget permits me too. :)

(Follow them on IG @cornerstone_tmc; twitter @cornerstone_tmc for updates on your favorite Cornerstone Talents.)

Starbucks - Zuellig

Rainy days are here again and one problem I encountered recently was being trapped in Makati CBD one Friday night. People flocked to the bus station waiting for any mode of transportation available, just for them to get home safely. But I spent roughly an hour in line and still no bus/shuttle (going to my destination) or even a cab came. All my gadgets are drained and I felt that I'd wait another 30 mins for me to get any good transportation. With this situation, I decided to look for the nearest coffee shop where I can kill time and at the same time charge my gadgets as I'd be so bored without any. 

Makati CBD really do have so much coffee shops around, but that night, they were all jam-packed. Good thing, I thought of going to Starbucks Zuellig. I'm pretty sure it won't be so crowded since this is just a new place and most people won't bother walking to the building just to go and have some coffee on that rainy Friday night.

Grab your coffee here and experience how friendly their 
baristas are! :)

The Sci-Fi Cafe

The Sci-Fi Cafe experience is a bit unexpected for me and my friends in one of our impromptu get-together. This place was chosen by my friend when we were deciding on where to have our lunch meet-up, and we just wanted to try something new.


We were really excited about the whole experience and we were not able to take much pictures of what we ordered that time (just bits of what was served and no food photo op happened! haha). Their food is great with a touch of different sci-fi films title which will also make you order by just looking at the title! :)  Their serving size is intended for sharing and may feed 2 hungry tummies or 3 petite appetite. 

Our first orders were: The Two Towers. A combination of calamari and onion rings, served with fries and dip. and Armageddon.10-inch thin crust pizza with beef, pepperoni, salami and mozzarella cheese - this is a bit greasy, but it's a pizza, deal with it. It still tastes good anyway.

It's Embrace your Geekness day. Spread the word!

Going Japanese [The Great SumoSam Olympia Experience]

Walking around Makati CBD is one of the things that I love doing. With this hobby of mine, my attention was caught by this ad outside SumoSam Legacy in Olympia.

 

SumoSam Legacy Olympia’s buffet is offered daily for lunch and dinner. In my recent visit, the marketing director shared to us that they’ll have a breakfast buffet but I haven’t tried that yet.  

Who would not be tempted to look at this ad which shows "UNLI TEMPURA & SUSHI" for a very affordable price of Php 499.00? Upon seeing this, I immediately think of people whom I can bring to this place and try this sumptuous Japanese buffet. 

Celebrate Philippine Independence at Army Navy! Order for one Burger and get your Freedom Fries at no cost! Promo is only valid for today, June 12, 2013, at all branches nationwide.

(photo taken at Army Navy Jupiter branch)

Korean Invasion - Red Table

Korean restos are everywhere (Korean nationals as well!). I found this newly opened Korean restaurant in the 4th level of SM Manila. I decided to try this one time, before heading home.

The environment can really be compared to Korean restaurant, with the setup and some practices in this branch. The servers doesn’t look Korean, but this is the least thing that I would expect from this place. It feels cozy and intimate, but I hope this not just because it’s a newly opened place.

You can first choose what you want to order while you’re seated (menu is available by the counter), or immediately place your order at the counter.

Original Ramyeon (get this for a low price of Php 99.00!) - Since I am alone with this impromptu dine out, I decided to just take one simple Korean food, the Ramyeon.

The level of spiciness for me is quite tolerable (I’m not a spicy food fan, by the way) since I was able to eat all the noodle part of the dish. It taste good for me but still didn’t get close enough to an authentic Ramyeon - maybe because it's not really that spicy. I am not really fan of Korean noodle soup, thus, I was not able to finish that part. Kimchi is also served with any order but I asked them not to serve one for me since I don’t really eat Kimchi!

This dish comes with free drink as part of their opening promo (not in the picture - they served soda instead of iced tea since they ran out of it.). But I had this feel of a Korean restaurant more, because of their readily available house water served in a pitcher - well, you can bring this to your own table since it’s meant that way. This style is one thing I remembered in my Korean experience way back in 2011.

Everyone might expect this too, Korean ice cream can also be bought from this place.

The service is good for me, but I’m not sure with some other guests who I think have been waiting for their food for quite some time (it shows on their faces and how they followed up for their food).

Overall, this gave me a little Korean feel but not as authentic as one can expect. But anyway, they did not mention that this is authentic place rather just a casual Korean restaurant for those looking for variety in their usual dine-out experience.