Espacio Unveiled

One of the things that frustrates me about living in the South is that there are so few options when you want to hold an event. Inside BF Resort in Las Pinas, you can count on your hands the number of places where you can hold a decent event. Even fewer are the places where you can hold a huge event.

Thankfully, Espacio has opened it's doors to the public and we were lucky to have been part of it. Espacio is located along Vatican Drive inside BF Resort. What's good about the place is that it is situated in such a way that the sun only casts shadows so you don't feel the heat but can enjoy natural light.

Once you step inside, there is space for garden events both in front and at the back. In the middle, an empty space that can be converted to whatever your heart desires.

Here are a few ideas.

I loved how they were able to show that you can have a huge kiddie party, an intimate wedding, a classic dinner for Mom or Lola, and an upscale dinner for close family and friends in just one go. They really helped build your imagination on how you can turn an empty space into anything you would like for it to be.

You can even hold an impromptu shoot because the place can become really instagrammable.

Espacio Events Place 
Vatican Drive
Lot 21 & 23
Block 36
BF Resort Village
Las Piñas
IG / FB: @EspacioEventsPlace
Call 0917 377 2246
espacioeventsplace@gmail.com


Imagine, create, plan. Book your dream event at ESPACIO. Featuring an elegant architectural design with stunning ceiling details, ambient lighting & lush green garden that creates a sophisticated atmosphere that will bring your dream event to life.

Photos: #Zenfone5 
#Backto5 #WeLovePhoto 

Mother's Day 2018 Promos

Every year, Mother's Day is one of the biggest holidays that is celebrated all over the Philippines. Everyone wants to give praise to the light of the family so I've decided to compile all the celebrations that I think are worth a visit.

SM SUPERMALL 

The tagline of SM is "we got it all" and it seems they really do. This Mother's Day, they definitely have everything planned out for all the Mothers who would be visiting any SM Supermall tomorrow. After all, Mother's Day is the 2nd most popular holiday for gift giving following Christmas. Definitely good news to Moms like me.

This year, SM will treat Moms to a fun day of pampering and treats as SM Supermalls delights shoppers with "National Supermoms Day 2018" which will happen on May 13. The day will be filled with fun-filled activities, deals, and finds in 69 malls across the country.

You can take your Mom on a date and she can go ahead and indulge in SM's Treat Feast for Moms dining deals and freebies. They will also have a bazaar aptly named All for Moms Bazaar which include sweet treats, beauty items, flowers, and greeting cards.

You can also join the #LetsNowPlayatSM interactive digital experience campaign. To join, just look for the #SuperMoms code stickers that will be around the mall through the different participating establishments within the promo period. You can win Php500 and Php1000 SM GC.

RED RIBBON 

Red Ribbon Cake Creations Buffet Bar is a Mother’s Day promotion on May 12-13, 2018 that is available at Red Ribbon SM Megamall store only where customers can consume cakes as much as they want within a specified period of time.


There will be two batches on each day. Each batch may avail of the Red Ribbon Cake Creations Buffet Bar for up to one (1) hour. For only Php199, you can enjoy a cake buffet from Red Ribbon.

May 13, 2018
Batch 1 - 1pm to 2pm
Batch 2 - 2:30pm to 3:30pm

FESTIVAL MALL 

Treat your mama to a shopping spree with great deals on fashion, beauty, wellness, and home products at Home Sweet Home, held every day until May 16,  at the Upper Ground Floor Carousel Court.

On Mother’s Day, May 13, all mommies can get a Glammed Up makeover for free! Just by presenting a receipt with a minimum purchase of P750 from any Festival Mall and River Park tenant, and moms can have their hair and makeup done and a solo portrait taken at the Upper Ground Floor Expansion Hall. After the chic makeover, kids can put an even bigger smile on their mothers’ faces by bringing them to a heartwarming performance from Silent Sanctuary, 7:30 p.m., at the Water Garden.

Capping off the memorable month for mommies is the newest season of Road to Fame, where moms can give their kids a chance to be casted by the biggest talent and modeling agencies in the business. Casting calls will take place at the Upper Ground Floor Expansion Hall on May 19 (for children ages 4-8 years old ), May 20 (tweens to young adults aged 9-28 years old), with final castings on May 26.

BGC 

This Mother’s Day weekend, enjoy a sugar rush of sweet-filled activities as BGC transforms Bonifacio High Street Activity Center into a wonderland of food trucks and fun games, a one-stop workshop station featuring arts, beauty, and food, and a shopping haven of exclusive Mommy-merch and special deals for you and the whole family.

Held in partnership with lifestyle network TLC, the event is free and open to the public. A Mommy Summit is happening too, with talks on Mompreneurship, motivation, and empowerment cos once in a while, it’s good to hear from other supermamas how to do it.


If you’re more of the foodie Mom, The Gourmand Market is having a special Mother’s Day run from May 11-13 at C1 Park, Central Square. Meanwhile, McCormick invited chefs for a day of cooking demos, a food sale, and sampling at Bonifacio High Street Amphitheater. 

Wherever you decide to treat your Mom, what matters the most is that you get to spend time with the most important person in your life, your MOM.

Let's take a break!

Sometimes, the people that we've known all our lives transform right before our very eyes. One day they are the sweetest, most logical person that we know then one day, we become bombarded with insanity from their Facebook Feed.

I get it. It can be toxic. In this day and age where everyone can become a policital expert, a spoiler on movies, or a sports critic, you need to be a saint to survive the social media toxicity. Sadly, most of us aren't and we see people unfriending each other or unfollowing each other.

When we unfollow our friends on social media, we can easily lose track of what is happening in our lives. There is a reason why you guys became friends in the first place and sometimes, we just need to take a break. This means that we just want time off but not really lose sight of what's happening with our friends. Facebook realizes that and so now, they have added a new feature on Facebook. (FULL DISCLOSURE: I discovered this because I tend to unfollow a lot of people who I can't unfriend yet but do not want to know things about anymore.)

So when you go to a friend who has gone crazy for a certain phase (election, sporting event) this is what you will see.

When you click on Take a Break, these are the options you will see. You now get different options and how you can take a break from someone. 

Maintain your sanity while being able to maintain your friendships for the people who matter. After all, we all have that one friend or relative whom we dearly love but can definitely take a break from.

Lobster Mondays at Marriott Manila

One of the the things that my family and I agree on is our love for seafood. Put a bunch of seafood in front of us and we would have no qualms polishing it off in a flash. This has been proven many times in the past so when I heard that Marriott Manila was holding a lobster buffet every Monday, I just had to go have a look. Of course I had to bring my Mother too or she might disown me. Haha.

Soon as we got inside M Cafe, this was the first thing we saw. Now I would have been overly excited save for the fact that I have never ever gotten one and I didn't get one this time around too. Sad.

This Claw Machine is yet again a creative touch that Marriott pulls-off for an interactive, fun dining experience. Each guest will be given a token to play the Claw Machine with a goal to capture a lobster stuffed toy, of which you can bring home. Another prize in store for catching one is a special platter of 400 grams of lobsters.

So since this was a lobster buffet, there was a bunch of lobsters all over the place and they were cooked in many different ways. Baked, butter and garlic, chili and garlic, stuffed, cheesy, and fried.

They specifically use Canadian lobsters that are known for its fairly sweet and tender quality catering discerning tastes and are flexible for any cooking style. And if you are quite new to lobster indulgence, trust their chef recommended specialty dishes like the Lobster Thermidor, a French classic that has a creamy stuffing mixture of its meat and cheese. For a highly flavorful dish, have the Garlic Lobster flambéed in white wine. Or go simple having it grilled with lemon accent for a wonderfully natural flavor. Here's a photo of us before we got our mouths full.

This fancy delicacy is unlimited only on Mondays starting May until August. What makes this an absolute treat is that it’s available both on lunch and dinner for Php 1,950 only – on top of the already incalculable array of international cuisines.  Now that's a Monday worth waking up to.

Photos: #Zenfone5
#Backto5 #WeLovePhoto

Fat Fook Kitchen opens in Glorietta

Last year, I was able to have a peek at Taiwan. I say peek because I was there for less than 10 hours. I was able to maximize the small time that I had coz I was able to go around and try a few coffee shops as well as some of the street food that is only available in Taiwan.

Since then, I have made it a point to check out Taiwanese restaurants that I could chance upon in the metro. Sadly, I have only been to one decent resto in Makati so when I found out that Fat Fook was opening in Glorietta, I made it a point to pay them a visit.

Fat Fook Kitchen is located on the 2nd floor of Glorietta 1. It is right across KFC so it's pretty easy to spot. First impressions: place is a bit small. You see in my head, I was expecting that there would be a crowd so I wondered how they were going to fit everyone in.

Next was that these set of plates would make for a really nice background shot. What do you think?

Honestly, I was a little apprehensive because expectations were being set pretty high and since I've already had legit Taiwanese cuisine, I knew what that tasted like.

This chicken chop is their best seller. In fact, its so popular that Fat Fook Kitchen is doing a promo on their opening day at their Glorietta branch. The first 100 customers get to have this piece I'm holding for only PHp1. ONE PESO. It makes me want to fall in line tomorrow just so I could have one as well.

I took a bite of this and understood why this was a best seller. It's tasty, soft, crunchy, and with every bite, there's an explosion of flavor. It's like the different spices tickles your taste bud and leaves you wanting for more.

Taiwan wouldn't be Taiwan without their street food and this is what their street food tastes like. Fat Food Kitchen lets you have a taste by letting you have this to go so you can walk around the mall while munching on these goodies on a stick. The fish tofu is my personal favorite. I think I could finish at least 5 sticks of this. Appalling I know.

Now the Taiwanese fried rice came highly recommended by the staff so of course we had to try it. I love my Yang Chow but I could definitely go for this version. It wasn't too overwhelming. It was just right and if you're one of those people who do not like too many things going on, this would be enough for a full meal, no viands needed.

They also had Xiao Long Bao and they just happened to have a GIANT version so of course we went for it. Now I gotta say that there is something kooky about sipping soup from a giant xiao long bao. It was certainly a unique experience, one I wouldn't mind repeating again very soon.

These Taiwanese Sausages were the biggest surprise of the night. I thought it was just a piece of sausage but when I bit into it, it was so much more than that. These sausages were the best sausages that I have ever had. It was simply delicious.

As you can see, I have this really happy look on my face because I had one of the most filling meals in a very long time and also because the wintermelon milk tea I had tasted really close to the one I had in Taiwan. You would smile too if you could taste what I tasted.

ONE DAY PROMO

Fat Fook Kitchen is bringing its Chicken Chop promo to Glorietta and ALL YOU NEED IS PISO! This is an exclusive treat as they open their 1st Makati branch on May 9, 2018 (Wednesday).

MECHANICS

1. This promo is for 100 customers only.
2. To be one of the lucky 100, visit Fat Fook Kitchen Takeout Counter (2L, Glorietta 1) at 5:00 PM.
3. Numbers will be distributed at the store door.
4. Present your number at the Takeout Counter to avail the promo.
5. Strictly one order per customer.
6. Not valid in conjunction with other promo and discount.
#FatFookGoesToGlorietta

Now the fun doesn't stop there. It's been quite a while since I did a food review so I wanted to welcome my first food review in a long time with a bang! I'll be giving away GC's worth 1000 to one lucky reader. All you need to do to join is:

1. Leave a comment on this post and tell me why you want to win or what you think of this post then share this article on your Facebook wall. Make sure its set to public and use the hashtag #LifeisKulayful and #FatFookGoestoGlorietta

2. You need to reside in Metro Manila coz I'll be shipping this and I can only do that within Metro Manila. If you live in nearby provinces, just make sure someone in Manila can receive the prize for you.

Contest will run from May 9 to May 15. I'll announce on my official Facebook page the name of the winner and it will be pinned for 5 days. If the winner does not send a message, another one will be chosen. Good luck!

Photos: #Zenfone5 
#Backto5 #WeLovePhoto 

road to minimalism

Everyone who knows me knows that I am a hoarder. I hoard so many things because I grew up collecting a lot of things and then I'd always think "I'll wear it one day," or "I might be able to use this one day," or "but we might get to use this sometime soon."

When we had a big house, this worked just fine coz I was able to fill up all the shelves and drawers. However, we moved to a smaller house and then I had a realization: "I HAD TOO MUCH STUFF!"

So I had too much stuff and it just kept growing. I would either buy something I just wanted but did not need or someone would get me something that I want but didn't really need or the brands that I support would send stuff. Don't get me wrong. I AM SUPER GRATEFUL. There'sjust too many stuff in my room and in our house that I have started feeling overwhelmed and stressed.

Then I chanced upon this.

 It was like opening my eyes to something new. The idea of just having things that I really need, really want, and will be using. I also tried to emulate the Konmari method of asking myself "does this thing spark joy in my life?"

This is the reason why I felt the need to sort my things. Please don't judge. Photos below show the different stages of my desk and room when I was trying to "clean up clutter" but failing miserably.

As you can see, stuff keeps on coming and so I had to make a decision. Here's what I came up with.

1. I donated over 200 notebooks and 300 books to a school in Benguet.
2. I donated 8 bags of clothing and 3 bags of happy meal toys to an orphanage in Las Pinas.
3. I donated notebooks, lanyards, and art materials to a school in Leyte.
4. I gave away make up to family friends sine I had over 6 drawers of make up and only 1 face.
5. I also gave away some clothes to friends who can use it.

As you may notice, I did not sell anything. There is a reason why I did not. I know that I could make money from my stuff because most of them are still in very good condition. However, I always seem to be able to get what I need when I need it and so I felt that I should do the same and just give back to the world.

I'm not being pious. I just feel like this is the best thing that I can do for people that I love and for the people who are in need. Here's what my room looks like right now.

As you can see, this is the cleanest that this room has been in almost 3 years. It has been a crazy ride but I think I am finally getting to the minimalism point. I know that a lot of people will take one look and say "what minimalism?" However, as I said, it's a road and I am taking one small step at a time while I do my best to help others out.

I'm still a long way from becoming a full time minimalist but I feel that now, I am finally in the right path. I've stopped myself from buying things that I don't really need (this is such a struggle) but most importantly, I've learned to let go of things that I've just had in storage for years and learned to give it to people who will actually get to use it.

Cheers to that.

Photos: #Zenfone5
#Backto5 #WeLovePhoto