House of Polvoron (HOP) again!

Because we love HOP's polvoron, Tapioca and I decided to buy more and get all 7 flavors! Yay!

. . . 7 different flavors of polvoron

I haven't really tried all of them yet and I am still about to find out what my favorite is. One thing is for sure though, this is one of the best polvoron for the following reasons:

1. Have you ever tried a polvoron with raw tasting flour, or worse -burnt taste? Disgusting, right? Well on HOP's polvoron, the flour is toasted well and me thinks it's really important.

2. Each piece is individually wrapped. It's compacted so well it doesn't disintegrate or collapse on a first bite.

3. Variety of flavors. Yes! Me loves variety! You can be as adventurous as trying out different flavors like the green tea, ube, pili or cashew.

4. It's priced reasonably. I mean, the ingredients are simple and readily available so it shouldn't cost an arm and a leg. You can actually make these treats at home and that's even cheaper. But why go through all the hassle (unless you are very very passionate with polvoron and you enjoy and love making it yourself then by all means, pursue your passion lolz) when you can get them all packed nicely and ready to go? A box costs 120 bucks for the premium with 12 pieces and 18 pieces for regular. That's roughly 6.67-10 pesos each! For a cheapskate like me I wouldn't mind paying that price for a good quality polvoron.

    

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New Water Bottles

Happy Friday folks.


I am very much excited for this weekend. You know why? Because for the longest time in such a long time, Tapioca and I will have the same weekend off which means more bonding time, more QT and more family time. Yay!


Anyway, I am blogging about these new water bottles I recently purchased.


Like our time off situation, for the longest time I've been hunting for the perfect water bottles for our fridge.


You see, for the longest time (I think the title of this post should be "For The Longest Time” lolz) we've been using recycled soft drinks bottles as our water containers. They are not the prettiest but they serve its purpose.


Back in 2013, I found what I think I was looking for at Howards Storage. However, it's 500 pesos a pop. We needed about 4-6 of them so that’ll be like 3000 pesos all in all! Eeek, I didn't think I was ready to splurge on water bottles. And please don't remind me of the KOR hydration vessel. There's a difference, me thinks hehehehe!


Then life got in the way and looking for new water bottles went into the backseat. Just like what happened to this blog. And so many other things.


When our lives were finally back in order and back to regular programming, I started shopping around for those damn bottles. I had some major realizations and one of them was my water bottles. They’re such an eye sore in my kitchen. I needed to get them replaced - ASAP.


I went around shopping, searching and looking high and low in every supermarket, groceries and department stores. Wherever there were plastic containers, I was there. It took some time and difficulty because I have high standards (ehem ehem) until I stumbled at Robinsons Forum supermarket and found this . . .

. . . lock & lock water bottles

This is sorta like the one I found from Howards Storage 5 years ago.

2-way, up or down . . .

And it's freakin’ 500++ pesos! Oh well, they are from Lock n Lock so it's given.

. . . yikes

Then I found another one.

home gallery fridge bottle . . .

. . . hmmm, not bad

Cheaper but the top is not something I think I can rely on should we put it laying down in the fridge.

top cover not approved by jellybean **thumps down** . . .

Then here's a cheaper one. Buy 1 take 1!

. . . love the design with the hand grip - though it can't be put laying down as well

it's like 70 pesos each, what a steal!!!

Sold! Yes, I got sold with the buy 1 take 1. Also because, these were the last 2 packs. Nagpanic buying ako. Low EQ lang ang peg which was so wrong. So much for having high standards ** insert facepalm emoji**


When I got home and showed the bottles to Tapioca, pinagalitan ako. The bottles were flimsy. I doubt if it will even last a year or months. That's why it's so cheap. I should have known.


Lesson learned:

1.       Do not fall for the buy 1 take 1 strategy.

2.       Do not be tempted to buy even if it's the last piece on earth. There’s a reason why it’s the last piece. Could be good or bad but in the end it is not worth the gamble.



I think I should make a list of things to remember so I will never fall into the trap of these marketing tricks hahaha!

#neveragain #beasmartshopper

UPDATE, UPDATE!!!

After a few days of usage, Tapioca finally realized how nice the bottle design was and told me to buy more. Unforch, those were really the last two packs from Robinson's. Though the water bottle was designed really well, it's just that the material used is poor. I just hope they will last. If not, no hard feelings. Ang mura, eh!

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The Big 3-0

Yesterday, I turned 30. I was completely okay with it unlike what I felt last year on my 29th birthday. I realized, 30 is still young and cool and not old. I mean, it's still far from getting a senior citizen discount, right?

You only turn 30 once in your life and some people would have a huge party or do something epic. I did consider doing the same thing but after all we've gone through this year, I figured I just wanted a simple celebration. Just me and the love of my life. We had Chinese for lunch at Komrad. Tapioca was dying to try this place out.

I love the modern interiors and the Mao Zedong mural. Tapioca didn't know who Mao Zedong was and he's Chinese! He prolly slept during his history classes. LOL!

. . . root  beer & red iced tea

Root beer for him and red iced tea for moi. The iced tea was too sweet for my taste.

birthday noodles . . .

Of course, hindi mawawala ang birthday noodles for long life. I find the colored quail eggs really cute and girly!

. . . mapo tofu

They had mapo tofu on the menu so we had to try it. We had high expectations knowing they serve Hunan and Szechuan cuisines (read: spicy). However, it turned out to be a total disappointment. Not so Hunan after all (read: not spicy). Or maybe we should have told them we wanted our mapo tofu really hot and spicy. We had better mapo tofu elsewhere.

. . . porky dish

Originally, I wanted lobster but the only seafood available was crab. We didn't feel like eating crabs so I opted for pork which we haven't had in a while. Tapioca is on a diet and he mostly ate fish and a little bit of chicken. But on my day, I asked with fluttering eyes if we can have pork. Not quite sure what to order, we asked for a recommendation and that's how this dish ended up on our table. It's like your ordinary sweet and sour minus the oomph.  Sorry, I forgot what it's called. The dish is as forgettable as its name.

mango sago . . .

For dessert, I had mango sago. I miss this dessert so much and it's such a shame Komrad let me down. The mango they used was sour and this was served lukewarm. I had a spoonful or two and told Tapioca to move to another place for dessert.

. . . Tapioca and the birthday girl

We finished everything except for the dessert. Tapioca doesn't eat mango so it went to waste. Komrad didn't quite live up to our expectations. It was unfortunate this happened on my special day. Still, we're willing to give them another try. Hopefully they have lobster available next time and that Tapioca is no longer on a diet so we can try more dishes hehehe!

A birthday will never be complete without a cake. For dessert, I was torn between UCC or Italianni's. Since the latter was much closer, we ended up at . . .

Italianni's . . .

This is how I look at 30. Not bad eh?

We decided to dine al fresco.

We also had a pot of English breakfast tea. Fifteen minutes has passed and still we're waiting for the cake. I thought they forgot we ordered a slice.

. . . my birthday cake

Finally, it arrived and my oh my, it was so tall and huge and pretty!!!!

view of the cake from another angle . . .

For the record, this was the most expensive slice of cheesecake I've ever had. But I tell ya, it's worth every cent. It was frozen (just like the cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory). They have to thaw it for a few minutes and that's why it took quite a while. Well, it's worth the wait :-) Super creamy, smooth and cheesy! And that red sauce matched the cheesecake perfectly. The cake slice was so big Tapioca and I had a hard time finishing it.

La la la means I heart you ! ! !

Since we're eating outside, people who walked by were staring at my cake. I swear I can see them even from the back of my head LOL! Theses photos makes me drool right now*wiping out drool on the keyboard*

The cake was the saving grace of the day. We completely forgot about the disaster meal at Komrad. Now, if only we had Italianni's instead of Komrad. They have really good steaks at reasonable prices. Next time!

After dessert, I went shopping naman. Marks & Spencer was on sale!

. . .  my loot

Did I tell you I like to hoard shower gels & lotions? Yes, I do! And M&S is one of my favorite brands. Now that I'm 30 and my skin is prone to drying, I really need a great skin care regimen. And these products are a good way to start. I think I need to invest in anti-aging creams, too. Oh well, I want to look fab when I turn 40!

On my birthday weekend, Tapioca brought me flowers!

 my just-woke-up face . . .

. . . mochi thought it was a toy :-)

This is the second time Tapioca gave me flowers. First time he gave me one, I ruined it. I told him not to give me any more flowers because I thought it was a waste of money knowing that it would wilt eventually. When my father passed away, my views about flowers changed. More than love, to me, flowers symbolize life. Very much like our lives here on earth. Flowers are meant to die and that we should cherish them while they last.

Wala pala kami flower vase sa bahay so I used a recycled bottle. It turned out just fine.

I have been blessed with so much love that I can't ask for anything more but for good health and live a longer life so I can continue to be a blessing to others, too.

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The Wedding Preps

10-11-12     I wanted a date that's easy to remember. Tapioca has issues with dates. He's bad at remembering dates. He hardly gets the date of my birthday right let alone our anniversary as girlfriend/boyfriend. And I'm telling you it's one of the grounds for breakup. When I found out he can't even remember his parent's birthdays, I mellowed down. He only knows his own birthday. Well, what makes me think this date would be something he'd remember? I don't know actually. I guess this is more for me than him.

In the wedding planning phase, we wanted to get married on the 9th of September so we don't have to remember anymore dates. But we're just the type of couple who's not in a hurry to tie the knot. It was not top priority. In short, pabanjing-banjing lang kami. September 9 came and we still didn't get things done. We were able to get the wedding bands two months in advance, though.

We went to Chinatown in Binondo to check out some wedding bands. While browsing, we ended up at this store whose owner (me thinks) gave us an offer we could hardly resist. The ring was already on sale and we didn't have the money yet. I told her our budget and she made a way to work it out with our cash at hand.

. . . two tone wedding bands with two tiny diamonds 

(Sorry for the bad photo. Tapioca used his phone camera)

So there. Kung di kami napilit ng store hindi pa kami bibili ng rings.

No choice but to move the date, Tapioca decided on September 30th. Knowing him, I have doubts it will push thru. Until we get the license then we can't set a date for sure. I was right. When we went to the City Hall, they told us the license won't be released until October 1st. So much for setting up the date.

Tapioca wanted to get married on the same day of the release of the license but part of me thought the date didn't seem right. Actually, he wanted to get married asap. The sooner the better. We both wanted to get this over with. Well, I wanted to get married in September. But now that September is over, I don't want just any other date on the calendar. I wanted something special. Then it hit me, 10-11-12.  I know it's just numbers. Nothing significant. Just numbers in ascending order.

And the date is sureness na. Since that date is available we booked it right away.

Now the people from City Hall told us we can only get married within Quezon City. Uh-okay. So Cafe 1771 is off the list. Our 2nd choice - Alba in Tomas Morato.

After setting up the date with the guys from City Hall, we went straight to Tomas Morato and got a reservation at Alba. The girl we talked to was very nice and accommodating. Too bad I can't remember her name. They have catering services, function rooms and packages that are budget-friendly. They also have an option to customize our menu which we really really wanted. However, this girl seemed to be pushing us for a buffet menu. We weighed our options:

Buffet Menu Pros:
- More variety in terms of dishes served on our day.
- Guests can eat as much as they can.
- Cheaper than customized menu.

Cons:
- Dishes on the buffet are on rota so they can't tell us exactly what will be served on our day.
- The only regular items on the buffet are the cochinillo and the two types of paella.

There are more pros than the cons. But the cons we didn't like. I mean we don't want any surprises on our wedding day. And surely, we don't want any bad food on the table. So we studied their menu and tried to create our customized menu. Tapioca and I were starving and we're having a hard time picking the dishes. Since we're already there and they're serving lunch, we tried their buffet offerings and see if we'll like it.

my appetizer plate  . . .

And you know what? We did like it . We liked it so much we disregarded the cons. The buffet spread was not as much as compared to hotel buffets but everything tasted so good. Reception done.

The dress we never really thought of. We were thinking of going in jeans with white shirts and that's it. But the last minute change of plans again. We went to SM Cubao and I bought an off the rack dress. A really cheap one. What I like about this dress? It evokes vintage. All the lace and jazz. I know this is like the dress worn by the ninang sa kasal and not the bride. But who cares, I like it.

. . . off the rack

Okay, I just wanted to give you a preview of the wedding. Up next, the wedding post na talaga. Stay tuned.

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