[Food Phase Fridays] McCafe Iced Coffee

Resurrecting the tag with my current addiction, McDonald's Iced Coffee! I love it primarily because it's made of brewed coffee and just the right amount of milk and sugar (syrup). It's not as strong as Starbucks' version but it has enough strength and flavor to keep my day running. Best of all, it's only ₱47! Sooooooo affordable. It's now my go-to coffee.

I didn't realize I was getting addicted to it until I found myself at McDonald's drive-thru every day before coming to work. Well not every day, but mostly whenever I have the car with me haha, like 3x a week.

Earlier was one of the best "cravings satisfied" moments for me. I can't sleep and was craving for coffee (ironically) so I went out and bought one, and since I'm already within the area, I got a bbq/wasabi mega fries from Potato Corner as well! That explains the sly brown bag peeking from behind my coffee. Haaaay, food is life.

Random fun facts about McDonald's!

1. McDonald's started out as a BBQ joint in San Bernardino, California.
2. Ray Kroc didn't actually start McDonald's, it was founded in 1940 by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald.
3. McDonalds used to own 90% of Chipotle as an investor back in 2006, but later on sold its stake to better focus on the restaurant.
4. Did you know that there's a ski-thru McDonald's in Lindvallen resort, Sweden where skiiers can schuss through and get their fast food fix?
5. The average drive-thru transaction is approximately 3 minutes (189.49 seconds). Really now? I can only hope the Philippines was factored in this study haha! Wendy's leads with a 133.63 second turnaround time though! 
6. Can you guess what their best-selling item is?
7. They say McDonald's Coke tastes super good and different from other places. The secret? The soda syrup is delivered in a stainless tank to preserve its freshness, compared to other restaurants that get them in plastic bags. I personally don't notice the difference haha.
8. When Sarah Michelle Gellar was 4 (or 5), she was named in a lawsuit filed by McDonald's for participating in a Burger King ad that badmouthed its burger as being 20% smaller than its competitor. Hahaha
9. McDonald's best-selling item is the french fries! I'm surprised! :D

Source: 75 Mind-Blowing Facts About McDonald’s to Celebrate Its 75th Anniversary

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Food Phase Fridays is a blog series featuring the different foods I've grown addicted to for some time! Learn more about them here or join in the fun by making your own Food Phase series!

[Review] Plan:Eat Diet Delivery

Okay so this is my third attempt at making diet deliveries work for me and so far, (I'm) so baaaaaaad.

The good thing with Plan:Eat is that it's the most affordable (so far) among its competitors. While others would charge a gross amount of ₱1,700 to ₱1,900 for 1200cal/week, Plan:Eat only bills you ₱1,300 and that already includes delivery. Havey!

You can trust Plan:Eat to be true to the caloric content of your meals, but if you're more picky and is sensitive to the macro ratio of their servings, go look somewhere else 'cos as far as I've observed, their meals don't seem that balanced hehe. For me though, since I'm only looking into cutting my food intake, I couldn't care less about the protein > carbs > fat ratio. Well, you could say that if I only wanted to eat less I could've just bought my own food and try to eat less with my own efforts, BUT CAN I REALLY DO THAT? lol

The problem with their meals is that it kinda beats the purpose of healthy living and eating a balanced diet. Imagine if you're trying to beef up and you subscribe to their 2000 calorie meal plan to offset your workout routine, I don't think your body would get the right sustenance to keep those muscles pumped.

Anyway, here's my take on their Asian menu:

Day 1: Woooh sarap!

Sorry, forgot to take off the covers!

I super love the Chicken Ginger Jook! It's really just a fancy name for chicken aroz caldo haha but it's very savory. The matcha choco-chip muffin tasted repulsive at first because the matcha is too strong, but eventually I started to like it! I don't drink Nescafe 3-in-1 so I didn't touch it, saved me 12.2g of sugar yesssss (lol as if)!

I ate my lunch and dinner meals at the same time late at night and hoooooly they were so yummy.

And thus I slept with a happy tummy.

Day 2: Hmmmmm

Stupid me microwaved the butter cheese toast and kaya spread so the bread went all soggy and the spread's container got deformed lol. Anyway, I just had to let them cool down so I could eat them in their proper form hehe. Good thing the spread didn't taste like plastic. Uhm, it was okay hehe. Not a fan of toast, and the kaya spread tastes like bukayo.

I didn't like my lunch, I'm not a fan of katsu and the serving was really small so I didn't enjoy it that much. I liked the sesame slaw though. :) I ate the apple and coconut-corn pudding (i.e. maja blanca) as dessert cos I'm still so hungry haha.

The beef pho was the only thing I liked in this set.

Day 3: Errr

Breakfast was weird. The texture of the okonomiyaki and the rice cake (ie. puto) doesn't complement each other, They're both so dry. Lunch was a bit better though! I liked the rice pilaf (ie. namnam rice, or that's just me lol) and bulgogi with veggies. I was a bit worried for dinner cos I don't like laksa but hmm it tastes okay naman! Haha

I noticed there's always anise in their meals. There's one in Day 1 lunch, another in Day 2 dinner, and this time I bit one in my laksa. Wow. Such Asian.

Day 4: Redemption at last!

Everything tasted good! The Japchae was not too savory but the serving is good. Kimchi rice tasted nice too and it's not that spicy so yeyy. Pan de coco tasted nostalgic haha. Pork asado and steamed buns = deconstructed siopao. It's cute.

Day 5: Last ko na to

I ate super late 'cos I thought they forgot to deliver my food, only to find out it's been sitting at the ground floor lobby of our building because the guard (who's new) didn't take it upstairs to my office! That means it's been outside the ref for more than 12 hours. Aaaaargh.

I can only comment on the bangus with veggies 'cos it's the only one that didn't spoil. I love it! It's a very simple meal, kaso white rice sya so, yeyy calories! Haha I actually finished the egg drop soup even though it tasted pasira na, I thought baka ganun talaga lasa ng egg drop soup na madaming kung ano anong gulay so yeahh. I must be so hungry to overlook that. 

The soba noodles with chicken and peanut sauce smelled weird too. It's my first time to encounter this dish so, again, I gave it the benefit of the doubt na baka ganun talaga sya. I endured a couple of forks, thinking this isn't so bad, it's like kare kare sauce with super soggy pasta (would you eat that?). Eventually I stopped my nonsense and threw it away. IT WAS REALLY BAD.

The dessert was super yummy though, really cleansed my tongue with all the bad luck I've allowed in haha.

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Well, I lost a lot... of money, patience, and trust, so I'm never doing this again. In general, I only liked about 50% of the food they delivered so I can't fully recommend it to anyone yet. But if you're looking for cheaper alternatives to calorie counted meals, this will do. Maybe I just got the wrong menu? I was more looking forward to their Italian Menu! Oh yeah, check the menu first before ordering... though I'm not sure if that really helps 'cos meal providers like these like to fanci-fy their dishes to sound sosyal. Ginger Chicken Jook aka Lugaw. Haler.

Also, communication with them is quite a hassle. They're not very responsive even in text. And they will only most likely respond to you if you left a negative feedback on their public accounts. At least diba.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/program.planeat

Instagram: www.instagram.com/planeat_program

Tagaytay Pic Spam (feat. the best Bulalo in town)

In celebration of our third year in the company, me and my batchmates (finally) ate out (of town!!).

After so many failed attempts at dining out, we finally pushed through! It's been a struggle getting all of us together for a meal 'cos we're working different shifts now so it's harder to schedule a time where all of us won't be hassled haha. I'm guilty of bailing out for the last couple of times simply because I'm too lazy. #sorry

Pero in fairness, natuloy rin. I guess it's because our third year marks something super duper special to all of us, and we want to celebrate that. That is -- the end of our bond! I'm quite aware we can always break that part of our contract that says we're tied to our company for three years, but heck we're good kids so we held back updating our profiles on Jobstreet for three years. Char.

Anyway. We commuted to Tagaytay and can I just say that I'M NEVER DOING IT AGAIN. Jusko the biyahe took all of me.

From Gil Puyat, we rode a Tagaytay-Nasugbu bus and dropped off at Olivares. From there we rode another bus labeled Alfonso/Mendez and dropped off at Mahogany Market.

This is (arguably) where the best bulalo in town is. It's on the second floor of the two-storey building labeled "Tagaytay Mahogany Beef Market & Bulalohan"

It was a Sunday okay, and lunch time at that, but I didn't expect the entire place to be soooo swamped with people. I wasn't aware this place was thaaat popular.

We were lucky we chanced upon a group who just finished eating so we were able to get seats immediately. The entire floor is lined with eateries, all serving the famous bulalo. They have free senyorita bananas too (at least from the carinderia we ate at).

Here goes the big caserole (with a burner underneath). This is ₱350 and is good for 3 persons.

Of course they don't just serve Bulalo, they also have common Filipino delicacies. We ordered beef caldereta (₱150), fried tawilis (₱150), fried hipon (₱150), and lechon kawali (₱150). Rice is at ₱20 each.

The servings are pretty small for ₱150, but can be shared by 2-3 persons per plate so pwede na rin!

Aaaah I'm definitely coming back here.

After eating lunch we rode a jeepney and got off at Magallanes to take pictures of Taal Lake, of course. Haha. 

It may not be one of the best locations to get a view of the lake but it's one of the most popular and it has Starbucks too so keri lang. Will visit the other more beautiful Starbucks next time! Hahaha

After lounging around, we walked aaaaaall the way to Ayala Malls Serin. We thought it won't be far from Magallanes but when I started (internally) complaining, the mall is already within sight so pinush na lang namin.

Good thing it was very cool that day, umambon nga lang ng slight haha.

If I were to live in a condo I prefer a low-rise to mid-rise one like the one they're building beside the mall.

Pic spam!

Aaaaand there you go, we walked a bit, drank milk tea, and chatted. Then we crossed the street and boarded a bus back home. The commute was really exhausting. I don't recommend it haha.

If the gown fits

Venue, catering, photo and video: check! According to our spreadsheet the next big thing we have to focus on is the bridal gown. And it's by far the most frustrating leg of our wedding planning (at least on my part). While my biggest concern with most suppliers is whether we can afford them or not, in the case of a wedding gown, it's not just about the money, it has to fit me well too! That explains my love-hate relationship with gown hunting. I love going to the mall, looking at clothes, and trying them on, but getting the damn zipper to run all the way up is always a struggle.

I admit I underestimated this part, thinking I'm not getting anything fancy anyway and would even consider renting one. I failed to think that with my size (large), and my budget (10k), the closest I'm getting to the gown of my dreams is a blank infinity dress with a curtain for a train.

Applying what I learned from @thesoshalnetwork hahaha Kurtina Couture! Infinity gown + "curtrain". Lelz #pweddinggown #gown #infinity #charot #curtain #couture #nobudget #weddingsph #weddingdress #wedding

A post shared by Yan Birog (@yanbirog) on Feb 8, 2017 at 7:29pm PST

The twin panel of that curtain makes for a primary veil too.

So while I'm nowhere near finalizing where and how to get my gown, let me flood you with my wedding gown pegs for now!

1. Soft and dreamy

Source: madamebridal.com

This gown is so dreamy except that I'd have the neckline straight across instead of a v-neck. Love the skirt and the sweep length!

2. Less (details) = more (savings)

Wedding dresses Australia and cheap wedding dresses online 

I love scouting for inspiration at Pinterest, it's quite a heaven for me! But you'll never get around to costing until you inquire with a designer on how much your preferred style would cost, that or you may look at online shops like Amodabridal.com.au to give you an idea on how much to shell out for your dress.

Looking around I've come to realize that if you want to score a really cheap gown, you'd have to let go of intricate beadworks, customized lace details, and elaborate appliques. Basically, everything that will entail more labor. This is when styling and fabric matching goes critical.

The gowns above are proof that it's not all about details! :D

3. All eyes on me

This is probably the grandest I could see myself wearing on my wedding day. And it's got everything I want in a gown! Off the shoulder, straight across, A-line skirting, and soft layers! Haaaaay!

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There you have it! The gown hunt is still on, I'm basically just waiting for myself to slim down some more before I could confidently walk into department stores again haha.

Jose Mari L. Yupangco of Yamaha at Asia Leaders Forum Davao

Following the launch of the first Asia Leaders forum held on January 31, 2017 at Misono Japanese Restaurant, this coming March 30, 2017 from 10am to 4pm another Asia Leaders Forum in Real Estate will be launched, this time in Davao and with the collaboration of the following influencers:

• Yupangco Electronics Corporation (Distributor of Yamaha Sound and Audio Technology) headed by Jose Mari Laurel Yupangco, the grandson of our former President of the Philippines (Jose P. Laurel) and 
• TAG Media and Public Relations headed by Engr. Grace Bondad Nicolas (Entrepreneur, Broadcaster, Writer, Public Speaker).

The launch of the first Asia Leaders Forum was graced with esteemed speakers that include Dr. Elton Tan of E-Hotels, Robert Laurel Yupangco of Zoomanity Group, Engr. Ben Co of BSC Construction, Mario Berta of Flyspaces, Congressman Prospero "Butch" Pichay of Surigao Del Sur, Koo Kwan Kon of Global Morning City Development, Tanya Llana of Victoria Court, and LiZan Kuzter of Impact Hub Manila among others.

The event was also attended by representatives from SMDC, ProFriends, DMCI, DibZ and Megaworld.

These subject matter experts are trail blazers in their fields. Participation at Asia Leaders Forum will give a competitive edge needed to beat the myriad of other real estate participants chasing deals. All eyes are on the Philippines as it hosts the ASEAN 50th Anniversary. The Asia Leaders Forum is a great avenue for the country to showcase its skills, products, as well as promote its world class infrastructures and talents.

The objective of the forum is to promote the Philippines as the premier business hub in Asia and update the participants on the current state of the real estate industry in the Philippines. Furthermore, it aims to inform the audience of key government mandates and initiatives to improve the real estate sector in the country as well as share the preparations being done for ASEAN 50.

For more information, please contact grace@tagmedia.asia or call (+63)916-629-9381.

Nothing but the ceiling

is what's up.

❱ Reading

Finally finished reading The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella! After that I immediately started with The Girl with all the Gifts by Mike Carey cos it looks interesting! Reminds me of the pretext of Stranger Things (which I haven't watched).

❱ Listening

Nothing

❱ Thinking

About what type of wedding gown to wear. I'm pretty sure only A-Line would look good on me cos I'm fat lol but the styyyyyle. I want something simple, elegant, and not so white haha, maybe lace and tulle but not so much beadworks and embroidery cos it would look too bongga for our very humble venue. My mom's been pushing me to get a really glam wedding gown but she hasn't seen the venue yet so I'm still counting she'll change her mind and allow me to get a custom white infinity gown with a long train and lace overlay instead hehe.

I want to book free fittings with a couple of bridal boutiques that rents out dresses just so I'd know which style suits me best, but not until I'm lighter! Arg. It's really my weight that's keeping me from finishing the gown hunt, I didn't want to disappoint myself knowing the style I want isn't available in large. Hay.

❱ Smelling

Nothing

❱ Wishing

I'd get the right stylist for my reception pegs. We already booked Hizon's for catering and upgraded our package to improve the styling but I'm still very very doubtful they'd deliver something as beautiful as KbyC, which is really my ultimate peg. The reason we got them though is because they offered a lot of freebies during our food tasting, they upgraded everything on our menu so now we have a pasta bar, a dessert bar, and an appetizer bar, all on top of the entree count. That and a lot of other inclusions like emcee, cake, ceremony setup, etc.. It think it's sulit naman but it's still on the hefty side parin. Hmmm.❱ Wearing

Jacket, shirt, leggings, and rubber shoes

❱ Loving

How Hwarang ended. I watched the last episode raw and man it was so frustrating when all the scenes seem to be leading to an impeachment. I badly want Ji Dwi to be the king, heck I got second-lead syndrome from him but when I started to hate the lead girl I stopped shipping them because Ji Dwi is too good for that Ah Ro girl who's only role is to cry and put herself in danger. If he's not gonna get the girl, give him the throne at least!

Anyway, I didn't understand anything from the episode until the part when Sun Woo barged in the council with his army of Hwarangs, and shouted "Jinheung pyeha, manse!" right when everyone expected him to wage war and claim the throne for himself. Boom panes silang lahat. Wooh!

"Manse!" is what subjects say when welcoming a new King so Sun Woo basically said, "Hail, King Jinheung!". I got that from Scarlet Heart: Ryeo which had three king turnovers lol. Manse, manse, man, manse!

❱ Wanting

To get more affirmation the we did the right thing booking Studio1 for our P/V. I was actually looking out for them 'cos they're the most affordable one that's within our budget but of course we were weighing out other options during the fair as well. Keri na rin 'cos at least we were able to get the package we wanted for only 30k. Complete photo and video coverage, with prenup pictorial, SDE video, and wedding album for the couple and the parents. Other than that they also offered a photobooth service, sintra boards for display, and a couple standee (LOL). I'm only in the for the photobooth though, the others are nice to have the na lang pero pwede na rin lol.

My biggest concern now is the editing. My preferred style is bright and natural ala Daniel Talavera, Myio Okamoto, and The Perfect Grey... but so far Studio1's port is filled with overly edited, highly saturated, mostly warm presets that I don't like. I hope we can talk about achieving the style I want though 'cos honestly, I know it involves a lot of selective editing that is super tedious!

Also, the layout. I do layouts and graphic design so I'll be very particular with this process. I hope they won't hate me and I hope I won't be that client from hell who's so demanding with the output.

For the video, I won't have a lot of say in thas 'cos I don't know video editing but I'm so against bokeh transitions lol.

In any case, as long as I get all the raw copies of the entire event I'd be good. Haha

❱ Needing

To rest my wobbly legs.

❱ Feeling

Super tired from playing badminton two days in a row. Not gonna do that again. At the state of my legs I'd be a limp if I pushed another day.

Hope you're doing fine!

Pontefino Hotel Batangas

Whenever my parents go to Batangas to meet with their clients, they always come home super late at night because traffic is so bad. There was a time I tagged along, even though I knew it will be an entire day of sitting in the car for me, and we ended up staying the night at Days Hotel because we're stuck in traffic. It was okay though 'cos it'll be like a family bonding na rin lol!

Thankfully during their next appointment, a client sponsored a night for them at Pontefino and I was like, can I tag alooooong? And yup, that leads us to this pic spam.

Pontefino is probably one of the biggest hotels in Batangas City, also one of the prettiest too hehe 'cos I don't really see any good mid-rise hotels around. I've only stayed at Days and it sucked, and I haven't seen other big hotels nearby. I think there was a boutique hotel somewhere but it's super expensive haha

Here's their lobby, facing Robusta, their restaurant.

My mom's client booked two rooms for us but we insisted on staying in just one room since it has two single beds naman and all four of us can fit, also because our clothes are mixed up, and we brought food (as usual) so it's hard to stay in separate rooms haha.

The hallway leading to our room smells of dingy carpet, I almost thought it'll be like our stay in Days Hotel where every where you go looks old and scary lol. That place is so misleading, you'd think it'll be all bright and modern because the exterior is painted in white but nope, everything is old and smelly.

Thank God our room looks nice and new!

Totally digging the layout of this room :) I love the tiles too. And the lights! They're neutral white, which is something between the warm white and the cool white basta haha. I thought it complements the walls so well cos they're like light grayish blue. Argh. I love the palette in this room.

Printer and laptop are my dad's.

What we're really looking forward to is the complimentary breakfast, because who doesn't want free breakfast lol.

Bread, juice, coffee, rice, tocino, soup, vegetables, omelettes, etc.

The rare family picture.

I was supposed to swim but we had to check out early because my mom has another appointment and will be heading straight to Quezon Province. Here's the pool nonetheless,

They also have a small gym but I didn't take a picture of it hehe.

Pontefino also has other residence buildings, they have townhouses, mansions, and condotels. This one beside the hotel is a row of townhouses which is super duper cute!

And at the back of the hotel is Pontefino Terraces. If I heard correctly it's a mid-rise condotel, and it's gorgeous!

That's my ideal condo right there, mid-rise, with balcony, and super spacious. :)

That's it! It's not much of a family bonding 'cos I pretty much just squeezed myself into their schedule. What's important is that we got to spend time with each other and eat free breakfast haha! :D