Badian-ful Adventure: Lambug

I'm on my third adventure for the month of April and I must say, I am pretty much loving this month since I get to be one with my favorite element again with the best people – my cousins.

This time, I'm finally off to sit still and relax on a fine white sand with fewer visitors stealing our very spot.

High Tide to Low Tide: Oslob

Another week of April calls for another adventure. It's certainly a wonderful time to be basking under the sun and fully appreciate the fine sand and calm waves. Well, the truth is that I don't want to get tanned, but I do enjoy swimming and floating in the water while staring at the clear blue sky.

After months of wanting to get back to my favorite element, I finally got the chance to do so with my boyfriend's relatives. Oslob is well-known for whale shark watching and entry point to Sumilon Island.

March-ing Our Way To Summer: Aloguinsan

It's been months since my last quick vacation and being a proud wanderlust, I can't help myself from thinking which place will I be traveling to next.

Just like any other ordinary days, I was scrolling through my Facebook news feed, checking my friends' whereabouts and actually feeling envious on some of my friends' travel photos. Then came my friend's post of her quick trip to Aloguinsan that instantly caught my attention. The place is just grandeur for me to miss out.

For someone who is pretty much ecstatic when it comes to adventures, I immediately texted my friends about my planned road trip to Aloguinsan together with the boyfriend and vowed to join us on our whole day trip.

It's going to be a long entry since we visited three (3) places in one day.

October Weekend Get-Away: Moalboal

It's truly an advantage to be living in a place surrounded by bodies of water and mountains since get-aways are much easier to plan. If you seek for an extraordinary adventure, canyoneering is always open for you to avail; if you want to unwind at the beach, variety of resorts are much willing to welcome you; if you don't want any adventure related to water, mountain climbing in Osmeña Peak is ready for you to explore.

Whichever your preference is, you can always go and plan with your friends given that you have the time and budget in doing so... and don't forget the good weather, of course.

See You Again, Summer!

Summer, as we all know, is the perfect time for get-aways with your family and friends. Instead of staring at the wall or facing your phones for hours, why not plan for an extremely fun adventures just to make your summer worthwhile?

I'm going to give you a glimpse of my adventures last April and May. It may be a bit too late to share this, but I still hope I can give you an idea as to where you can enjoy your summer slash semestral break (for this year).

A Temple Made out of Pure Love: Temple of Leah

To be on top on Cebu means I get to witness God's perfect masterpiece and breathe in fresh air. Well... with a mixture of dust brought by pollution.

As of our generation, Cebu has become so prosperous that trees are being chopped down and some parts of the mountain are being shaved for subdivisions and/or factories. I suggest you watch The Lorax and imagine the kind of future we'll be having if we continue overlooking our natural resources.

If we just keep on planting trees, then maybe we can still preserve nature and prevent ourselves from being vulnerable to calamities. I hope. #TeamNature

Temple of Leah

Moving on, most people residing in Cebu know about this Greek-inspired architectural design positioned in Busay, Cebu. The owner of this beautiful masterpiece, Teodorico Adarna, had this constructed to show how much he loves his late wife, Leah Adarna.

We did not anticipate the huge crowd upon reaching the main entrance, so we weren't able to fully tour the area since people were so busy taking pictures of the place and/or of themselves, hahaha.

Even with the number of people entering and exiting the place, I still get to witness the beautiful blue sky and capture it with my phone.

Things didn't go well as expected, but at least we were able to ventilate our stressful minds and enjoy each other's company.

A Little Piece of Everything At A Little Piece of Sky

On the harmonious side of Guadalupe lies a cute and quaint looking café filled with tranquility and photogenic decors. Their unique concept did give an impact to my happy hormones, same thing to my friends based from their reactions the moment they saw the place.

Seeing their travel-inspired decorations made me feel like I've been transported to another place where I'm given the option to feel at ease. If time and money permits, I do want to visit each and every place in the world for me to know more about other cultures and see those beyond amazing historical structures. I don't know about everyone else, but traveling does make me feel at ease... or high due to overexcitement.

The area isn't really that big. Just good enough for air to ventilate well and for us to move freely without hitting anything or anyone.

We had Tito Lemonsito (Php 155.00) and Maria Sangria (Php 165.00) to quench our thirst; Waffle Club (Php 130.00) and Taiwanese Chicken (Php 85.00) to feed our hunger. 

Overall, I loved every sip of their Tito Lemonsito and bite of their Waffle Club. Their Maria Sangria and Taiwanese Chicken, on the other hand, left an unsatisfactory impression on my tongue. Well, 5/6 of us didn't want to pay for another pitcher of Maria Sangria. I'm not sure if they liked the Taiwanese Chicken, though.

I'm sure you'll love to check this place out yourself, especially when you're a café enthusiast.

April Summer Outing: Papa Kit's

While everyone else is busy booking their flight to different countries or plotting their schedules for an outing, here I am, left with loads of notes and other school stuff to deal with. I'm actually taking up regular classes on a summer vacation since it's part of our curriculum. Sad, I know.

Well, despite my ultra busy schedule, I've still managed to go and enjoy my one-day break with my cousins. Oh, the things you do for the sake of having fun!

For this year, we've decided to try something new and fun. After all the discussions and suggestions, we came up with the decision of enjoying our annual summer outing at Papa Kit's since it's jam-packed with different adventures. I guess it's about time we try something new!

The disappointing part of the place is that you need to pay every adventure you want to try. Even their restrooms aren't for free! The only thing that's free there would be their shuttle. Yet, that didn't stop us from trying their zipline and boat riding (not on the picture)!

Nature at its best!

I guess that's just about it. So much for my one-day summer vacation! :(

Because Chocolates Make You Kiss

Here, I'll be adding another review about this newly-risen dessert house in town, CMYK. CMYK, as what I've read from other blog reviews, stands for "Chocolates Make You Kiss".

The place is wholly painted with pink, which stood out from the rest of the establishments standing along Archbishop Reyes Avenue, so locating it won't be that stressful.

What greeted me on our table. Even their menu book looks too cute to resist! :")

Their servers wear the cutest attire ever! Seriously, I'm madly in love with the place!

Our table number.

Boyfriend and I looked like we were in a photography class or something. We just can't stop taking pictures of the place and of the food. It was more or less awkward while people were discreetly keeping an eye on us, I presume.

L-O-V-E for cute and unique bookshelf! After a while, my boyfriend's order was finally served on our table and I immediately took a picture of it. Pretty much active in taking pictures of our order for blogging, eh? Anyway, such gigantic drink only costs Php. 130.00. More than enough to cause brain-freeze! Okay, I kid about the "brain-freeze" thing. ;)

Php. 85.00.

My boyfriend's other order. Seriously, I suck at remembering names. 

Sizzling CMYK for Php. 100.00.

This, my friend/s, would surely make your tongue go loco! The brownie is actually very chewable and soft, and baked with the right amount of sweetness. Thumbs up for this! 

Special Ramen for Php. 120.00.

The serving size is good enough to fill your stomach and the taste's so good that my stomach's trying to stimulate my brain to grab some more! Oh, the perks of being slim with unexplainable appetite, haha. I strongly recommend you to try this yourself! (Drooling)

I can't help, but adore the calm ambiance, the food presentation, and most of all, the doll house-like interior. Awe, I'm absolutely coming back here and try their other desserts!

Asian Thai Cusine At Siam

Last month, before we headed to Maitre Chocolatier for dessert, my family and I had dinner at Siam Thai Cuisine, in celebration of my sister's post-birthday.

It was actually my first time to try Thai cuisine, so I had exactly no idea what their food mainly consists of or how they present their food. Definitely, I'm clueless by it. I was somehow ecstatic to try a whole new dining experience that time.

I had ripe mango shake to either add up the amazing taste of Thai cuisine or compensate for the not-so amazing taste of the aforementioned. That, I couldn't afford to reveal just yet.

 Siam sampler. I had the breaded something and it tasted good. I failed to try the other set displayed since everyone had fast hands. No regrets, though.

I totally forgot how this one's called. It was okay, yet I was confused the whole time as to how the food tasted like.

Apparently, I forgot to take a picture of our entire order since I was too hungry to care that time. It was a satisfying meal, a good-to-go experience, I must add. I'm sure most of you have tried venturing Thai cuisines, especially now that it's a trending food crave. :)

One Big Happy Family Night At Kumbira

After the scrumptious meal. 

"Cousins, no matter where they are, will always be a part of you. They tease you, bring out the craziness in you, and show you the real meaning of happiness. Past, present, and even future, they'll always be your super friends; incomparable, irreplaceable, that's just how real bond works."

I thank the Lord each day for giving me the best cousins in the world. I can't afford to exchange them over material things and wild parties (which isn't my favorite thing to do. Loud music, irritable smell of liquors and cigarettes, drunk people - just not my definition of 'fun'). They're the wackiest people I know in this planet. Looks, money, social life - it's not their thing at all, which is awesome because I like mingling with people who opt to keep their life simple, yet jovial.

Located right beside Pino.

Two of my cousins just arrived from Canada today! It's been exactly three years since the last time I've seen them in person. They were so young back then... or we, to be exact. The older one was bigger and the younger was cute, petite, and talkative. Now, things have turned the other way around. The older lost several pounds and the younger one appeared taller and lean + became the silent-type. Such a shocking transformation, indeed.

And as promised, we had our blow-out in this Spanish-Filipino cuisine, Kumbira. It's an ordinary-looking restaurant with native-inspired interior. What makes this restaurant a bit catchy for me is their way of keeping their customers feel at ease with their widely opened facade. (In case you haven't noticed, I've used the word 'their' thrice in a sentence. Just saying, haha.)

Most of the customers inside were actually Koreans. I'm glad they appreciated our very own cuisine (Filipino cuisine), just like how most people here appreciate their culture and drama series. 

This may be one of the reasons why people never had the interest to check this place out. They probably thought of this place as a pineapple market, hahaha.Overall, I had a fun night with them. Thanks to my dearest cousin for treating us. It was indeed a blessed night for each one of us. Regarding with their food, they have the best fried chicken and pork sisig in this planet (so far)! Everything served on the table was very scrumptious, but we had to wait  for 30 minutes or more before we get to enjoy our order. Here's my say: They have the slowest service, yet the best food in town. I hope they'll do something about their slow service as soon as possible. :)

Fun Dinner at Cucinerah

Before I formally start this entry, I'd like to apologize for the crappy photos. I wasn't able to bring my digital camera nor iPod Touch that time, so I made use of a camera phone, instead. This dining experience happened a month ago, but I failed to make a review about it as soon as possible since exams were piling up the following week 'till the last week of classes, so sorry! :(

Moving on, funny how this simple gathering brought back tons of memories. I mean, being with my zoomates is something I've longed for quite a long time since I miss those glorious times where teasing and laughing was an everyday habit for us. It was a night worth remembering, indeed. Okay, enough with this tear-jerking talk and let's all move on with the happy part.

Boyfriend and I accidentally knew about this simple-looking restaurant while looking for a parking space since we were planning to study at Sunday 2pm months ago (but we ended up somewhere anyway, haha).

We were the only customers that time (an hour before a couple came), so laughing hard wasn't a problem at all. Thank goodness the servers were so nice and accommodating. It really took us time to choose what we want, yet they patiently waited for our order. Awe, such good people! :)

The place looks a bit small on the outside, but spacious on the inside. And oh, they were already prepped up for Christmas though it was still the last week of November. 

Katsudon

Serving our food didn't take that long which is great, but I strongly suggest that they should add some sauce for their Katsudon next time. I can't deny the fact that their Katsudon tasted great, but it should be paired with whatever-sauce-it-is for it to be strikingly delicious. Three of my companions had Baby Back Ribs and they didn't have any complaints about it. One ordered Spaghetti Bolognese and felt the oiliness of their pasta. 

Overall, we did enjoy our meal (great taste and great serving size) plus hours of laughing and catching up. *Thumbs up*

Season's Greetings

First and foremost, I'd like to greet everyone an advance Merry Christmas! I know it's not a happy Christmas for those who lost their loved ones from the recent tragedy that happened in Connecticut town, USA. My deepest condolences for those parents who lost their children last December 14. It may be painful, but just think that they're now in a peaceful life with God.

Last night was my father's company's annual Christmas party at Radisson Blu. Just your usual party with games and raffle prizes. Speaking of raffle prizes, they sure did choose the best ones this year! An Acer laptop, Canon EOS 1100D, iPad 2, Karaoke, and a Nokia C300 cellphone. Sadly, we weren't able to garner any of the prizes. Oh well, it's the fun that counts anyway. :)

 

Once again, advance Merry Christmas, everyone!

Sweet Vibes: Phoebe's Cupcakery

I've been dying to blog about Phoebe's Cupcakery since two months ago, but then I tend to forget about it, plus I'm very much occupied with school for the last two months. Since now's the only free time I have (and thank goodness I was able to remember about my pending food reviews), I immediately logged in to blogger, despite our slow internet connection, just to let you know that I'm still inhaling Oxygen and exhaling Carbon Dioxide.

Okay, enough about that and let's focus on the main topic.

Before classes for the second semester started, my sister ordered a box of cupcakes (comprising of six different flavors) from Phoebe's Cupcakery since we were both craving for something sweet that time. It was actually our first time to see the place and I must say, the place looks extremely cute and girly!

The vintage-cutie feel made me love the place even better!

One (1): Php. 55.00. (I forgot the 1 box, sorry)

The cupcakes were deliciously sweet, soft and mouthwatering. I can't believe Miss Phoebe could make such scrumptious cupcakes like these! How I wish I'm good at baking as well, but apparently, I have no skill in cooking and never will I be able to master such skill! (Haha)

Their shop is located along Maria Louisa Road. Also, they're happy to serve you every Tuesday to Sunday. :)

Happy Tummy At 30 Kitchen + Bar

I'm the type of person who easily gets depressed when it comes to school-related problem. And when such mind-wrecking encounter occurs, I usually stuff my stomach with carbohydrates. Screw light diet, I need fats in my body!

Obviously, I was badly depressed last week (December 5) that I didn't mind spending half of my weekly allowance on food. It was again an "on-the-spot" plan to dine at 30 Kitchen with my boyfriend and one of my closest friend, Mae.

It's a "caught-in-the-act" photo of me, playing with my shoes. Yes, I do this almost all the time.

Herb Crusted Chicken for Php. 155.00.

My order. See how gigantic their chicken is?

Cyprus Chicken for Php. 145.00.

Mae's order. I think you need to add Php. 10.00 for garlic rice, not sure.

Mediterranean Fish Fillet for Php. 190.00.

My boyfriend's order. I wonder why he's so fond of eating garlic rice.

The food, the friendly staffs, the serving... everything calmed my soul that night. I strongly recommend you to taste their scrumptious, magical meal yourself. I swear your allowance slash salary won't go to waste!

You can find their one and only base at The Gallery across San Carlos Seminary.