Tsoko-Nut

It's become a rare thing for me to be surprised and happy about a food that I eat outside my home. Reviewing restaurants left and right has left me feeling jaded about food, a fact that I am not happy about. Sure, I still enjoy it but I haven't felt joy in discovering a new food place since everything tasted the same for me.

Last night, I had to grab dinner before watching a play and I ended up here. The place was bare and with almost no decor.

I asked the staff for their recommendation and I ended up having the Malunggay Pesto Pasta. I was a little worried because the staff said that it was a little oily and I hated oily pesto pasta. Thankfully, one bite of this and I had the biggest smile on my face. This was one really great pasta. The malunggay complemented the entire pasta. It was so good that I actually am already planning on bringing my son to try their pasta since he loves pesto.

Creamy Malunggay Pesto with Shrimp Php120

I had the Tsokolate Ah Batirol with Kasuy (Php98) to go along with the pasta. It's a weird combination but it worked for me. Also, I really just wanted to try the tsokolate since it was what they were known for.

The drink was pretty good. It was definitely made with cocoa but there wasn't anything outstanding about it. Still, I'm pretty happy with the meal and I can definitely see myself coming back to this place.

Lessons Learned from La Cage Aux Folles

If you can't tell the truth, then be vague. 

This was a line that I remember vividly from La Cage Aux Folles. La Cage Aux Folles. La cage aux folles literally means "the cage of mad women". However folles is also a slang term for effeminate homosexual. The show focuses on a gay couple: Georges, the manager of a nightclub featuring drag queens, and Albin, his romantic partner and star attraction, and the farcical adventures that follow when Georges' son, Jean-Michel, brings home his fiancee's ultra-conservative parents to meet them.

What I love about the show was that it wasn't just another musical or just another run of the mill comedy. It was so much more. It was actually about family, love, forgiveness, as well as acceptance of oneself and the truth.

In this scene, Albin is seen as being his quirky self while George looks on with a bewildered look on his face. As much as Albin is loud and complex, George accepts him for he loves him and loves everything about him. Albin accepts himself and George accepts Albin for who he is, quirks and all. Isn't this something that we all wish we could have?

The love shown in this scene was too much for me to bear. I was seriously envious of the way George looked at Albin. The love in his eyes when he looks at his partner made me think to myself, "I wish someone looked at me that way." Yes, I was envious of two characters in a play. Darn you Mr. Michael de Mesa and Mr. Audie Gemora .... you were just too convincing.

Forgiveness. This was also something that was featured in La Cage. When Jean-Michel realized what a fool he was for being ashamed of Albin, he admitted his mistake and seeked forgiveness which was easily given because Albin has unconditional love for Jean-Michel.

At the end of the show, we fall in love with La Cage Aux Folles because it is us. We see ourselves in each character and we see our lives or a semblance of it in every kick, smile, pain, and performance they execute.

We are George, the one who is hopelessly in love and will accept everything about the person we love. Sometimes we make mistakes but it is never with malice. We are Albin, we all have our little quirks and craziness that make us unique and special. What makes us more special is our capacity to love and forgive without borders. We are Jean-Michel. Sometimes, in our need to be accepted by people, we compromise but eventually realize and accept who we are, more often than not with a little bit f wear and tear but always for the better. We are THE MAID. We wear many hats and don on many roles, depending on what society demands of us and what we can give. We are the Tradition, Family and Morality Party. We all have our own biases and prejudices. We work hard to not judge but we judge. We all judge. Lastly, we are the Cagelles. We smile and laugh and do what is expected of us while in our heart of hearts, we yearn to be something else or someone else.

This is what a show is all about. It was produced with heart, mind, body, and soul. It is what it is. A masterpiece. To miss this show would be a HUGE MISTAKE for any theater fan. Catch it at the RCBC plaza from Feb 28 to March 29 - all weekends only. 

PS. Rafa was adorable in GREASE but here, he was loveable. My eyes couldn't help but stray to him whenever he was on stage. I did not see Rafa. I saw a very pretty cagelle the whole time and one who never lost her poise the entire time.

BRAVO everyone. Truly, A MASTERPIECE.

Blackbird

I finally got the chance to try Blackbird in Nielsen Tower when I attended an event. I was so happy when they served a full meal because I have heard that the place was a tad bit expensive and since I am a single Mom on a budget, I don't see myself dining here soon.

We started with Prawn Scotch Egg with betel leaves, chili coconut sambal grilled octopus, cucumber pickle, sesame, soy crab cakes, green apple, and radish slaw. I loved the crab cake the most then it was the prawn scotch egg.

The Porcini and Portobello Mushroom Cappuccino was DELICIOUS.The taste of the coffee was present and it was overwhelming but in a good way. I downed every last drop of this soup.

The Dry Rubbed Wagyu Hanger Steak that came with mustard butter and fries was really soft and tasty. It was exactly how I liked my steak. It was cooked medium well and I finished every single slice of it.

The Sticky Date Pudding that came with gooey caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream was very good as well. It was sinfully delicious. It was so good I finished it in less than 3 minutes.

It seems that the hype about Blackbird is true. Almost everything I tried was really good. Thankfully, I didn't have the displeasure of seeing the prices because it was during an event that I got to try their food. For those who are curious though, here are their information.

BLACKBIRD by Chef Colin Mackay
Nielson Tower, Ayala Triangle, Makati City, across the Peninsula Hotel.
Telephone: +632 828-4888
Operating Hours: Open Daily 11.00am to 12.00mn

Dove Go Play

I have to admit that I am not one of those girls who blow dry her hair every day nor do I color it. Truth be told, my hair is a virgin when it comes to coloring and I happily let it air dry. This led me to believe that my hair was fine and not damaged.

After attending the Dove Go Play event, I realized that I was actually guilty of damaging my hair because of my love for tying it in a bun.

The elastic damages the hair and so my hair did not escape this plight. Thankfully, Dove recognizes this problem that has befallen almost every woman. Dove takes care of our hair while we go about our every day life damaging our hair. We don't need to worry about what we are doing to our hair because Dove will take care of it.

Thanks to Keratin-Actives, a new, patented hair care technology, Dove Damage Therapy not only repairs damaged hair but also strengthens it to make it more resilient against future damage. Keratin-Actives provide superior nourishment and deeply penetrate into hair to repair it from the inside out, so hair looks, and feels healthy, and moves beautifully.

Tease, twirl, tousle and have the beautiful hair you always wanted and let Dove take care of the damage. With the number 1 in Damage Care, your hair becomes stronger and smoother, making sure your hair looks and feels as great as you.

Play in the sun, curl it, pull it up in a bun, or let it swing in a bar ... you can do anything you want with Dove. Dove Intense Repair Haircare range is available in all leading supermarkets , drugstores, and department stores nationwide.

not anymore ...

Its been 11 days since I blocked you on my facebook. If I were to be honest, I've peeked at your profile twice in the past 11 days but that's all. Days have passed and I no longer feel that incessant need to check on you, to call on you when I have a problem, and to want to see you even when I found out that you were still here in the city.

I don't miss you anymore.
I don't look for you anymore.
And finally ...
I don't need you anymore.

After such a long time, finally, I don't need you anymore.

a day in my kulayful digital lifestyle

Since last April 2014, I have not had a typical day. I play so many roles in a day that every day is a surprise for me. Let me show you an average kulayful digital life for me.

In the morning, I normally wake up like this.

The shocked look on my face is from the fact that after only 3 hours of sleep, I am already up and running. So now that I have shown you my morning face which I upload at times (depends if I don't look too scary) let me show you who I am in this digital world we live in. 

I am not a morning person. This means I need my cup of coffee or tea to jump start my day. I am a foodie and I am a wanna be photographer so I take photos of my food and drinks and post it on Instagram. It's very convenient for me that I am connected 24/7 through my phone's data plan and also our wifi at home.

After breakfast, I TRY (take note of the word try) to exercise because I am a health advocate wannabe. Since we live in the digital world now and because I want to get more inspiration from people around me, I take photos of myself pre-work out to inspire myself to keep trying. I don't do it after because I sweat like a pig and it's not picture worthy. 

After my morning ritual, I fix myself up and listen to music because I am an audiophile and so I put either my iPOD on or listen to Spotify when I want to discover new music. 

Since I am a beauty ambassador, I have become a selfie addict and throughout the day, I post random selfies to show off how good my derma's work is. 

Going through the city, I use WAZE a lot. Truth be told, I have been using WAZE since 2012 because I am geographically challenged. I am a social media manager and so my work takes me from the North to the South as well as East and West. Thankfully, I have a lot of friends on Viber to keep me company while I'm on the road. I am sentimental so I make it a point to stay in touch with people who matter to me throughout the day. 

As you can see, I am almost always on my phone since this is how I keep my business running as well as stay connected to friends and family. I am a businesswoman but I am also a mother, daughter, friend, and sister.  Thankfully, updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and my blog helps everyone stay updated with what is going on with me. It also helps me ensure that I am safe wherever I am because I constantly update via tweets I make.

 

At the end of the day, I go home to the one person that matters the most to me and the one person that makes all these insanity worth it.

When he falls asleep, then I finish off the day by checking my emails on GMAIL and doing any reports or article that I need to make. 

Finally, I log back on to Spotify and let it lull me to sleep. 

This is how a day in my kulayful digital life goes. I hope you enjoyed taking a peek as much as I enjoyed showing you my very digital life. 

Residences at Brent

For almost 3 days, this house condotel in Brent Residences behind me was my home in Baguio. Am I not the luckiest girl in town? Upon seeing the interiors, I could say that I definitely was.

It was my first time to see a working fireplace so instead of heading for the room, I decided to take the sofa bed and experience what it was like to sleep with a fireplace. I figured it was the best time to experience it since Baguio was at 14degrees and the fireplace would make me feel warm even with such freezing weather.

I also loved how spacious the kitchen was because I was able to move around freely when it was time to cook dinner.

So this was my bed while we stayed over and though the sofa bed was not as comfortable as I wanted it to be, I still ended up having a really good night sleep. Though the weather was unbelievably cold (3 layers of clothing + blanket + fireplace) I was able to rest well.

I also love that a unit had 2 bedrooms, a sofa bed, and get this, FOUR bathrooms. It shows how thoughtful they are plus there's extra security in the front. They already have a guard but they also have a magnetic locked gate plus an actual gate going inside the premise and you also have a lock on your door. Top notch security which gives you extra peace of mind. Salute Brent Residences. Salute.

They are currently building a second one which you can rent long term. The one we stayed at is already fully booked with occupants. If I had the means before, I'd definitely rent one of these babies as well. It's definitely worth your buck.

Unboxing of the Starbucks Box

I was just going about my day thinking of new strategies to come up with for different clients when 2GO rang me and said they had a package for me. I was left baffled because I do not remember any of my sponsors, clients, or friends telling me that they were sending me something so this was a definite surprise.

Much to my delight, it was a package from Starbucks. As most of you know, I am a Starbucks fan since the time they opened here in the Philippines.

Isn't it lovely? I was really impressed with the presentation and seeing my name and my blog name in front is still a thrill for me. I know its something shallow but for me, its always something awesome when marketing takes the time to personalize the tags.

So what's inside?

It's the newest Starbucks Card, tumbler, and one of the Reserved Coffee Beans. Eeeekkk! For better photos, here are some from the marketing team.

They also have new food products to offer such as the following:

Blueberry Dome Cake

Chicken and Spinach wrap

Chicken BBQ wrap

Chicken Parmigiana on Sesame Bread

and my favorite, S'mores

I can't wait to try all of them with my son B. How about you? What are you going to try first?