Serenitea at Eastwood

Three weeks ago, Serenitea's newest branch opened at the ground floor of Eastwood Cyber and Fashion Mall. As soon as the branch opened, there's always a long line of people waiting for their turn to order their tea. My friend and I got curious as we haven't tasted any of their teas although I have heard about it before.

 And so last week, before going home from work, we decided to join the long line of Serenitea fanatics. We ordered Raspberry Tea and Cranberry Tea.

Next time, we'll try their milk teas and their tasty snacks!

Starbucks Philippines Frappuccino Happy Hour

This post goes out to all Starbucks fanatics. Starbucks Philippines is offering 50% off on any personalized Frappuccino beverages on May 2-8, 2011 from 12 nn to 2 pm. The Starbucks Frappuccino Happy Hour is valid in all Starbucks Philippines stores.

Don't forget the dates!!!


[photo courtesy of Starbucks Philippines]

Andoy's first out-of-town trip

Andrei's first out-of-town adventure was in Canyon Cove Beach Resort in Nasugbu, Batangas. We went there with his ninongs and ninangs. More than anybody else, I was the one who is super excited about his first trip out of the Metro.

After a three-hour trip, we arrived at Canyon Cove at around 10 am. Upon seeing the huge pool, which is visible from the reception area of the resort, Andrei was squealing and dragging me to go down to the pool area. We rented a wooden cabana which is located in the beach front. We had to pass by the pool area to reach our cabana. He was screaming "iming! iming!" (which meant swimming in Andrei's dictionary) and I had to carry him to stop him from running off to the pool. Mind you, it was hard to carry a struggling 13-kilo toddler, whew!

Once we reached the beach area, I let go of him and he immediately stopped screaming when he felt the sand on his feet. I can't help but smile too when I saw him smile and wiggle his toes. He enjoyed swimming in the beach. He was even telling me to go to where the boats are. He enjoyed the sand and the small waves. He also liked swimming in the pool where his Ninong Jeck would throw him and I would catch him.

Enjoying the sand

Enjoying the beach 

 

 

Enjoying the pool

 

 

With ninongs and ninangs

Day tour rate at Canyon Cove is Php 800. Php 300 of which can be consumed for food and drinks. We had grilled liempo and fish for lunch which is around 180 per meal (with rice and sidings). Softdrinks are at Php 60 per can. Cabana rates: poolside cabanas – Php 1,000; beachfront wooden cabanas – Php 1,500.

The resort also has a playground for kids and beach volley court. They offer snorkeling, banana boat, jet ski, kayak and other water activities. They have spacious locker rooms with hot and cold showers.

They also offer overnight accommodations for as low as Php 5,800. Do check out http://www.canyoncove.com.ph for more details and for online booking.

I can't wait for his next out-of-town trip! Hopefully next time, his dad is here to join us!

Online Visita Iglesia

Lenten Season is a time for remembering Christ's passion, death and resurrection. During Holy Week, most Filipino Catholics devote their time in remembering Christ's suffering by engaging in liturgical activities. One of the which is the Visita Iglesia. For the OFWs and those who cannot leave home to do Visita Iglesia, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines relaunched its Online Visita Iglesia. They have upgraded their server to avoid it from crashing as what happened last year when the site was visited by 43,000 users. This year, the site can accommodate even twice as much.

You can choose between Stations of the Cross (old version) or Way of the Cross (new version). The Stations of the Cross presents a slide show of seven churches in Metro Manila including the Manila Cathedral Basilica, San Agustin Church, Minor Basilica of Black Nazarene, San Lorenzo Ruiz Church, Sta. Cruz Church, Nuestra Señora de Remedios and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Shrine. The Way of the Cross presents a slide show of seven churches in nearby provinces including the St. Martin Lawrence, Martyr Church (Balagtas, Bulacan), Nuestra Señora dela Asuncion (Bulakan, Bulacan), Saint Ildefonsus, Archbishop of Toledo Parish (Guiguinto, Bulacan), Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish (Barasoain, Malolos, Bulacan), Our Lady of Purification Parish (Binmaley, Pangasinan), Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (Manaoag, Pangasinan) and Sta. Catalina de Alejandria Parish (Porac, Pampanga). Some traditional lenten practices such as the Seven Last Words and Pasyon are also available.

This is our time to remember Christ's sacrifice for us. In our own little ways, we can share in his sufferings.

[photo source: www.stjamestxk.org]

KFC's taste of summer

I have been wanting to try KFC's Halo-Halo Krushers since last week. However, every time I visit their Eastwood branch, it's always not available. Luckily last night I chanced upon it.

As summer sets in, KFC launches its summer dessert offering with its two delicious flavors, Halo-Halo and Buko Pandan Krushers. The Halo-Halo Krushers tastes like ube and has real bits of leche flan, nata de coco and macapuno. The Buko Pandan Krushers has pandan, nata de coco and macapuno bits. You can buy them a la carte at Php 65 and if you avail of their meals, you can upgrade your drinks to a KFC Krushers for an additional Php 40. Go grab one now as this is only available during the summer months.

Fyi, as I write, I am (again) nibbling at the macapuno bits of the Halo-Halo Krushers :)

[photo courtesy of www.clickthecity.com]

A day at Subic Bay Yacht Club

 This is the long overdue blog on my trip to Subic two weeks ago. Our company sponsored a sort of "relaxation day" at the Subic Bay Yacht Club. It would have been a real day of relaxation for me if not for my untimely "visitor". Yes, of all days, it was my "red letter" day.

Assembly time was before 8am but we left QC at around 9am already. The sun was already way up high (I had to wear my sunglasses to avoid migraine attack). It was a traffic-free trip but we had to pull over for a while due to a flat tire. Nevertheless, the trip was bearable. We arrived at the yacht club at around 11:30am.

We ate at Cambusa Restaurant which is located at the lower lobby of the yacht club. Foods are pricey but delicious and the staff were oh so friendly. If there's one thing I enjoyed the most about this trip, it would be the food feast!

Our lunch feast consists of the following mouthwatering dishes.

French onion soup

Mashed potato with chicken breast

 Beef kaldereta

Crispy pata

Kare-kare

Melon shake (for me)

more fruit shakes for the others

Cheesecake for dessert

For merienda, I had banana split.

Before leaving SBYC, we had an early dinner with these...

Cheeseburger with fries (huge cheeseburger, that is)

Pizza

There are yachts available for rent for as low as Php 11,500 for two hours. If you don’t feel like taking that yacht trip, you can always take a dip in the pool – with sand! They have a separate pool for the kids with a mini slide and some cute toy animals floating around.

They also have jacuzzis, sauna baths and spa massage services. And for the sporty people, you can play beach volleyball along the side of the pool where there's sand. There are several tennis courts and basketball courts as well. And if you're into indoor sports, you can play bowling, billiards or darts.

A day is not enough to explore the place. Looking forward to another visit to Subic Bay Yacht Club.

A day is not enough to explore the place. Looking forward to another visit to Subic Bay Yacht Club.

Free vaccines, anyone?

Due to measles outbreak in some parts of the country, the Department of Health recently launched its door-to-door measles vaccination program entitled Iligtas sa Tigdas ang Pinas. The program aims to reduce measles cases among children. The free Measles and German Measles vaccines are given to children nine months to eight years old. Free capsules of Vitamin A, which provides good eyesight, stronger bones and boosts the immune system, is also given along with the vaccines.

The Marikina Health Office personnel had its door-to-door visit yesterday and early this morning which made the children in our area scream and run for their lives :)

Andrei and my niece, who are both two years old, did not avail of the free vaccines as they are already scheduled to be vaccinated with MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) this coming Saturday. My sister-in-law, who works at the Quezon City Health Office, will give them the shots.

The last time I inquired about the MMR shots with Andrei's pedia it costs Php 900.00. That's equivalent to one can of Andrei's milk. Thanks to DOH. Well, I better get my ears ready for Andrei's deafening screams on Saturday. I just hope he'll get over it quickly.


[photo source: http://www.doh.gov.ph]