Cafe Crawls

July 23, 2016August 7, 20201 Comment

I am a coffee person. Some of my favorite activities revolve around coffee: discovering new cafes, hanging out at coffee shops with Inggo after dinner, or doing a drawing session with my friends in a coffee shop. I’ve been thinking of a witty way to call this activity, but all I got is Cafe Crawls. So here are some photos from cafes that didn’t have enough photos to make a separate post.

Cafe Mocha at Costa Coffee

Costa Coffee Eastwood branch. London style.

Alab (Chocolate batirol with sili) from Cafe Mithi , Maginhawa Street.

Kori Kohi at UCC Clockwork, Estancia Mall

The second floor of Theo’s Baked + Brewed, Maginhawa Street.

Cortado at Equatorial Coffee, Katipunan.

Wall decor at Serenitea, Tomas Morato.

Shabby Chic vibe at Fancy Crepes, Matalino Street. (I did a review of this place 4 years ago!)

Pretty bike ♥.

Caffe Dolce, Banawe.

I love the hydrangea inspired shell centerpiece at Cafe Mary Grace. ♥ Cutest thing everrrr!

Cafe Bene, Eastwood.

Whew! That’s all for now. Most of my posts recently are interiors, but I’m still painting every other day. Just need to compile them all again. Any coffee shops that you’d recommend ?

Cheers.

Papa Diddi’s

July 12, 2016August 7, 2020Leave a comment

Around summer of 2015, we discovered a new dessert place at Maginhawa Street during our usual walks. We thought 3 scoops of unique flavored ice cream for 99php is steal, so we tried it out. And that’s how we became semi-regulars to this place ♥.

Cute display.

Law books turned into lighting fixtures.

Papa Diddi’s is a tribute to the owner’s father. He was a lawyer, hence the law books turned into lighting fixtures. He also loved making ice cream for his family in the province back then. Sigh. I really, really love their story. You should read it when you’re there since I feel I can’t do justice to their story.

You can either choose the ceramic cup…

…or choose this Bird’s Nest for your base! This is Inggo’s.

As of July 2016, we could proudly say that we’ve already tried all of their flavors HAHA. My favorites would be: Davao meets Bicol (Chocolate with a spicy kick), Tres Leches (so creamy!), and Roasted Forbidden Rice. You can have a free taste of every available ice cream for the day if you can’t decide.

Recently, they’ve expanded with another Maginhawa branch called Papa Diddi’s et al. This place now has cafe food and a bigger seating capacity.

2016 07 papa diddis et al

Place mat art.

Papa Diddi’s Facebook page.

Seoul Train

July 6, 2016August 7, 2020Leave a comment

A few weeks ago after work, Inggo & I passed by this newly opened restaurant at Sgt. Esguerra. I love the design of the place! The exterior looks like a train and the interior looks like a train station and train carriage.

Waiting area. The magazine & posters are hints as to who is The girl of Seoul Train.

Bibimbap & unlimited ban chan!

Press the red button to call the waiter!

2016 07 seoul train waiting area

Thank you! The food was delicious. I’ll try this again with my office mates next time. ♥

Coffee Project

June 1, 2016August 7, 20201 Comment

The coffee shop that I always pass by to and from work has finally opened – and its the prettiest coffee shop I’ve even been to! This is the Coffee Project at Vista place (also known as Wil tower):

Flower chandeliers ♥.

2016 06 coffee project 2

2016 06 coffee project 1

2016 06 coffee project 3

Definitely me. HAHA.

Long black. Vietnamese coffee. Salted caramel cheesecake. Croissant.

The visual merchandising here is on point. They have so many floral displays! These will be useful if I’ll ever get to do another art tambay with my friends. Coffee is good. The salted caramel is creamy and yummy ♥. I’ll try their other drinks soon!

Coffee Project on Facebook.

Davao 2016

May 31, 2016August 7, 2020Leave a comment

We celebrated our 8th Anniversary in Davao! So happy that I got to travel again with him for the 3rd time this year. ♥ Again, the main reason for our travels is for the food. My cousin’s family kept on mentioning that Davao has the best seafood. Is it really? Image heavy post ahead!

2016 05 philippine eagle

Breakfast at NAIA 3. I think this is a new food court. Glad that they’re improving the facilities bit by bit.

2016 05 davao airport

Lunch at Hukad, SM Lanang. Love the pendant light! I think its inspired from Puso rice?

Guess how much this is? Baked scallops for 150php!

The waiter suggested this dessert to us. Delicious!

That night, we decided to eat at my cousin’s family’s highly recommended place: Ahfat. After googling its location, we discovered that Ahfat 1, 2 and 3 are located at the same complex HAHAHA. We ate at Ahfat 2. Here are some of the stuff that we ordered:

Seafood hotpot for 250php! SO CHEAP. Filled with sea cucumber and various seafood. ♥

Inggo ordered this Bacon roll out of curiosity. Surprisingly good!

Slipper lobster!

We attempted to visit the Aldevinco Pasalubong Center after. Sadly, it closes at 8pm. But we discovered that there’s a night market nearby. The Roxas Night Market is just a few blocks away from the pasalubong center. There are ukay ukay, bags, and food stalls. Got to try genuine gelato for only 35php for 2 scoops! I didn’t get a clear picture but it was so good!

Freshly cooked buchi for 3pcs / 30php! They had choco, ube, and monggo filling. We both loved this ♥.

Buko and Avocado shake priced at 50php.

We went to the night market twice. This is the famed Mang Danny’s durian ice cream. 6 scoops for 30php I think? We braved the long line for this.

A discovery like this is what makes wandering so much fun. Traveling without any expectations is better than being disappointed. I’m glad that it’s the same for him. ♥ We went back to the hotel after that to rest. What they say about the taxi drivers are also true. They’re all honest and actually grateful when you let them keep the change. Kudos also to the help desk of Red Planet for answering my questions in their app.

For our second day, we went up to the mountains to visit Malagos Garden Resort and the Philippine Eagle Center. With the help of google and the Red Planet staff, we opted to commute rather than ride the taxi. Saved us a lot of money!

Lunch at Malagos Garden Resort. They were renovating so we got 50% off their entrance fee. Lucky!

Tuna sashimi for 150php.

Why did we go here? I heard that this place won awards internationally for their chocolate. This one is their hot chocolate. A bit bitter, and fruity.

We found this funny.

There’s a bird sanctuary inside the resort. You could feed the love birds! ♥

2016 05 malagos birds 1

I find birds funny looking. Look at the lower right bird! Parang ready mang-aaway HAHAHA.

We then went to Philippine Eagle Center after. It’s located inside the Davao City Water District. Entrance fee for the Water District is 5php, while for the PEC is 150php. Worth it since you’re contributing to the conservation of our national bird.

2016 05 philippine eagle

2016 05 pec owl

2016 05 pec eagle

2016 05 pec eagle 2

2016 05 pec

After PEC, we took a habal habal back to Calinan and rode a van that will take us back to Davao City. We decided to try out the Crab Buffet somewhere in Roxas street.

Before.

After.

Blugre coffee the next day. They’re famous for their durian coffee.

What I bought for myself from the Malagos farm. Chocolate tablea for hot chocolate cravings!

Airline – My aunt taught me that its cheaper to buy airline tickets months before your flight. If there’s a seat sale, grab it since its a good deal already. So for the tickets, we got it for 50% off during a seat sale of one of the airlines here in the Philippines.

Hotel – As for the hotel, well, we booked one a month before our trip HAHA. There are a lot of choices of hotels in Davao with a reasonable price. We chose Red Planet as our hotel. Good price, comfortable room with the basics (bed, hot/cold shower, AC). We found the app pretty useful too.

How to commute to Malagos Garden Resort & Philippine Eagle Center:

Take a cab/jeep to Bangkerohan. (Taxi can take you straight to Malagos, need to negotiate though).
Ride a van to Calinan for 40php. (Travel time around 30-45mins)
Take a tricycle to Malagos for 10php / Habal habal for 20php.

—

Looking forward to our next adventure! ♥

Dive & Trek Batangas

April 17, 2016August 7, 20201 Comment

Last month, me, Inggo & my cousin’s family went to Batangas for the Holy week weekend. We went to Dive & Trek resort at Bauan, Batangas. This is a good resort to learn the basics of diving and getting your certification. But none of us did that HAHAHA. My aunt selected this resort due to the house reef just in front of the resort. So our routine during this vacation was : Eat, Swim, Eat, Draw, Swim, Draw, Eat. ♥

2016 04 dive&trek dock2

2016 04 dive&trek dock

2016 04 dive&trek 1

My cousin (left) drawing, my seat in the middle with my watercolor stuff, my Beloved (right) trying to connect to the wifi HAHA.

Sunsets are the best. ♥

2016 04 dive&trek 2

A different kind of art tambay. ♥

I brought my Monologue notebook, Prang watercolor set, Mixing palette, and a water container with me. The day before the trip, I did a lot of lineart at the office :)) I managed to finish some of them during this trip. I love this kind of art tambay! Great view, conversations, and companions with an iced cold coffee. ♥ We only did this when it’s too sunny to swim or the waves are too strong.

I would definitely go back here! All the staff were accommodating, friendly, as well as environmentally conscious. We learned a lot about this resort and their love for nature from their stories. They take care of giant clams, you know! You could actually see them during low tide when you snorkel (we didn’t though! UGHH that’s one of the reasons why I want to go back) Oh and their house reef ♥ There were so many fish in different shapes and sizes. We swam until we got all wrinkly. Swam in deep waters without life vests (but accompanied with a floating donut thing for safety). They have unlimited coffee, tea, and milo all day! So imagine how many cups of coffee I had everyday HAHA. Food was delicious and overflowing ♥ Their rooms were simple: aircon, bed, hot&cold water, you know, the necessities. I heard that some were iffy with the rooms (how it’s not nice, etc). But uh, you came to a DIVE resort, to DIVE (or snorkel for us) all day. Meep.

I wish for more days like this.

Shangri-La Boracay 2015

April 9, 2016August 7, 2020Leave a comment

In the conceptualization phase of my blog, the categories that I want to write about were: Adventure, Art, and Interior Design. I’ve already made posts for the first two, but none for the last one. Finally, after 4 months of “blogging”, I’ve compiled some photos related to ID!

Shangri-La, Boracay.

I already went and blogged about Boracay at thychronicles – the inactive blog that I made with college friends. You can read more about that here, here & here. But on my second trip, I took more photos with my phone and edited it on VSCOcam. Honestly, I liked my phone shots better than the photos I took with a DSLR. It looked a lot more uniformed. So I thought I’d share it here.

The reception area.

2016 04 shangrila reception balls

Hallway / Waiting area for the van to D’Mall.

Beach 1

Beach 2 with a lot more activities.

Reception area at Vintana.

Vintana at night. It’s a buffet in the morning.

Decor. This is where they place their bread selections in their breakfast buffet.

Beautiful pendant light.

I love the design of Shangri-La, Boracay. They used local materials (capiz shells, wood carvings), Philippine-inspired accessories and furniture for the interior and architecture of the place. I hope I get the chance to go back here again!

Note: Trip is sponsored by my aunt. I’m the fourth wheel to their family. Haha. Just want to give credit to that.

Bras Basah

February 28, 2016August 7, 2020Leave a comment

As I said in my previous post, we went to our preferred areas on our second day of our SG trip. My preffered place to go to was Bras Basah Complex. If you’re ~~an art hoarder~~ in the art field, THIS is the place to be!!!

This building is an artist’s heaven. ♥

I discovered Bras Basah Complex in the internet while looking for places to go before our SG trip. A lot of bloggers recommended this place because of Art Friend, Art Mark, and Straits. They have brands that are not available/hard-to-find in the Philippines!
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Copic marker sets.

Copic Ciao & Copic Sketch markers

copics 2

This notebook / sketchpad aisle is HEAVEN. ♥

I saw this in between the two Art Friend stores. I bought 2 packs of the Montval paper. What a steal!!!

art friend bulk buys 2

After browsing the wares of Art Friend and Art Mark. We checked out Basheer Graphic books. The interior design section has a lot of books only sold there!

I’ll buy you… some day.

basheer id detail books

We then went to Straits after. Its near the Bras Basah Complex so might as well visit.

straits

I was supposed to buy watercolor tube/pans on this trip but I didn’t find what I was looking for. So these are what I hoarded:

I’m sure this will last for months/years. Happy with my haul ♥

Singapore 2016

February 21, 2016August 7, 20201 Comment

basheer

Inggo and I went on an adventure a few weeks ago. It wasn’t our first adventure together, but this trip still had many “firsts”. So let me list some: first overseas trip for me, first overseas trip together, first time to go to a 24 hours open mall, first time to eat a banana-looking and delicious tapioca Thai dessert, first time to go home solo.

I didn’t get to take a lot of pictures because my digicam died and its charger is broken. Eep. But I don’t mind. Live for the experience, right? So here are some photos that I took from my digicam (before it died) and my phone. Picture heavy post ahead!

First thing to do when you arrive in Changi Airport: Get a tourist pass! We got the 3-day pass for $30 each ($10 rebatable). Worth it!

First agenda when you arrive in Changi Airport: Get a tourist pass! We got the 3-day pass for $30 each ($10 rebatable). Worth it!

We stayed at V Hotel Lavender. It was a good decision since its just beside the MRT.

Lunch at a Kopi Tiam/ Hawker center beside our hotel. Chicken rice is a must in Singapore. ($7.50 in this kopi tiam. Comes with soup and a veggie viand. Delicious!)

It was the weekend before Chinese New Year. So there were a lot of celebrations around the country. This one was at Bugis. I love that there’s only 1 red lantern in this shot.

We didn’t do the touristy route on this trip (a.k.a. Universal Studios / Sentosa / Night Safari). We did have an itinerary though! It was: go to our preferred places (Bras Basah complex for me, Funan mall for him) and eat the recommended food. That’s it. I love having a lot of time for exploring. And I love that its the same for him. That’s why sulit na sulit ang Tourist Pass samin. We don’t stress over the itinerary and just go with the flow. We were supposed to get off at City Hall station but we were too tired from walking from Orchard road. So we just rested and went all the way up to Marina Bay station. HAHA.

Nasi Goreng seafood at Kampong Glam Cafe, Arab street. Looks simple no? But it was full of flavor.

Late night snack at a random hawker center after exploring Little India. Didn’t like the noodles used here but I love that it had oyster bits.

Bras Basah complex. Will do a seperate post about it soon.

Bras Basah complex. Will do a separate post about it soon.

Funan Digitalife Mall. Near City Hall station. For all your computer needs.

Thai for lunch at Funan. Green curry with chicken for him. Tom Yum Goong for me. It was so spicy + delicious! The surprising item was the dessert. I thought it was pineapple with milk so I didn’t touch mine. But he said it wasn’t so I took a bite. SO. DELICIOUS. I’m still craving for it! After further research, it’s cassava with coconut milk.

We ended up exploring Orchard Road after Funan. For what reason? He wanted to eat at Ippudo.

I don’t remember the name of this. What I remember though is that this is $6 for 4 pieces of delicious meat and onions. HUHU.

Teh Tarik menu. Research the differences between “O”, “C”, “Susu”, etc. for your preferred drink. Teh is “tea”, Kopi is “coffee”. 🙂

Every drink I had in SG was delicious. ♥

Last breakfast in SG. Kopi “O”, Kopi “C”, and Kaya toast. This was beside our hotel. We decided to eat here because of the name – “Heavenly Wang” HAHA. But the food is good. A bit expensive though.

Some tips we learned during our stay:

Get the tourist pass card! It’s worth the money. Plus you won’t get stressed out when you miss your station/stop. Just ride again HAHA.
Take the MRT and bus. I’m pretty sure you won’t get lost. SG is a commute friendly country. There are maps inside and outside the station (map for MRT, map of the vicinity) plus the bus schedules are also posted there. If not, you can still ask the MRT staff for help. Also, they have free maps everywhere! I grabbed 3 in Changi HAHAHA.
Some stations are nearby each other. If you have a problem riding a lot of stations to change lines, just WALK. (Example: to get to Bras Basah from Lavender. You have to ride the green line to City Hall, change to red line to Dhoby Ghaut, then to Bras Basah.)
Wear comfortable clothes. It’s a hot country, yea?
Get a sim card. We got one in Changi. It was $15 for 5 days with data. Very useful in case you need to google bus schedules, store locations, operating hours, etc.
In our opinion, don’t bother going to the malls and restaurants. They’re expensive! Just go to hawker centers / kopi tiam for food. As for shopping. Souvenirs (keychain/bag): cheapest at Bugis street. Perfume/chocolates: Mustafa centre. Art materials: BRAS BASAH COMPLEX. Computer stuff: Eh, they have the latest stuff here but prices are comparable with Philippines. As for clothes: Bugis is the “cheapest”. But “cheap” in SG is $10-$20 = 340php-680php.
Take advantage of the GST refund. Read more about it here.

Sigh. Thank you to Inggo for bringing me to SG! I had so much fun. Especially since its with you. ♥ (CHOS AHAHA). That’s all for now. Art hoard post coming soon!

A watercolor affair

February 11, 2016August 7, 20202 Comments

After resigning from my job last January 2015, I promised myself that I would do more art and try out all of my art materials. And I did! At the same time, I also shared my works on Instagram and got to know a lot of local artists. A few months after that, I joined a local watercolor group hoping to meet new people (seriously). The admin organized a watercolor atc trade event a few weeks ago and I attended. So, what are ATCs? According to this link:

Artist trading cards (ATCs) are miniature pieces of art that are traded around the world. Artists create, trade and collect art at organized “swap” events, either in person or online. The only official rule for ATCs is the size: 2.5″ x 3.5″

I attended the event with my IG friend Jean (@jeankelly11 & @watercolordive). We met up at Glorietta and got lost on the way to the venue. But it was a blessing in disguise because the next person to arrive at the event was one of our idols – Margaret Morales ! We were table mates and group mates for the trade. I was sooooooo happy! She was really nice and down to earth. 🙂

When we finally had enough people, we went to our assigned groups and started trading! I was in Group 3. Two from my group didn’t get to attend, but they sent their cards to the admin to be traded.

On the left are Jen Mandia ‘s delicious looking ATCs, on the right are Dindin Lagdameo ‘s colorful ATCs.

Clockwise from upper left: Dianne Zaragoza ‘s , Mikai Tuazon ‘s kyooot large ATC , Monique‘s food ATC, Dindin’s, Jen Mandia’s, and Ardee‘s period fashion ATC.

Monique‘s food ATC, Margaret Morales‘ amazing ATCs, Aiza‘s crazy detailed ATCs (huhu my photo didn’t do justice to her art, go check her IG!), and finally my ATCs.

My ATCs captured by Maggie.

What I received after the trade.

Everyone is so talented and inspiring! I had a great time chatting with people with the same interests as mine. If given the chance, I’m sure we can talk about art materials the whole day HAHA. We only met that day but it felt like we’ve been friends for a long time. ❤ We even took outfit photos together AHAHA (but I won’t upload that here). Hay. So grateful 🙂 . Hopefully there will be a next time. I promise to attend more art related events this year!

Suffrie

Category: Adventure