So last month I went to a new OB and was asked to take some lab exams -- just SOP so she could have a baseline. One of which is checking my blood sugar and it was a few points above the high range. Well having a sweet tooth, I knew deep down that it is finally time to buckle up and be adult with my eating habits. Enough with the excuses but I honestly don't know where to start...

I have been seeing several healthy food deliveries in IG so I decided to try one that caters here in Alabang. The Happy Diet offers 1200 calories/day that includes 3 meals with 2 snacks per day.

Week 2 Menu

I didn't take as many photos of each meal but I got to tell you, I enjoy mostly the different rice mixes even the plain brown rice. I also got some sweet fix, thanks to their Sweet Potato, Brownies and Chocolate Pancakes. 

From the usual American-Size of fast food chains, I slowly got used to the portion because of the rich flavors. Although the pasta, oatmeal and barley cake is something getting used to but the rest of it was deli!!! What was interesting is they whip cuisines from different countries -- Japanese, Mexican, Spanish, Singapore, African and the likes.

By the end of the second week, I was feeling a whole better compared to  my usual lethargic self and I lost 1.5" off my waist!

I first read about The Burger Project a couple of years ago thru my fave celebrity blogger, Patty and it is owned by her BFF Alessa. Kaya lang their branches are out of the way so I have yet to try it until...

My boss tried it out with his family and swear by it. So when all members of our team reported to the Makati office, we went out to their branch in Jupiter St. Bel-Air Makati to have lunch. But I saved half of mine to bring home to hubby and as expected he liked it as well so I week later, hubby and I tried it out together.

 

The concept of this burger joint is that it allows the customer to create their own burger. You are a given a checklist of the available ingredients and you get to choose what goes into your burger from top to bottom and you get to name your creation. I think this will work out well with Sheldon Cooper of the Big Bang Theory.

 

It was already a bid tad late so naturally we are already hungry that when we were given the list, hubby and I tick off our choices separately without talking to each other about our choices. He named his burger as HBB: High Blood Burger while I named mine as Destressing Burger. But when our orders came we were surprised that we crossed out the same ingredients except for the type of bun -- Beef pattie, bacon, lettuce, pineapple with special BRGR sauce.

 

The mozarella sticks are also a nice appetizer. I also ordered the Choco Milkshake served chill in a huge glass. It is a go-to place when your craving for some comfort food or starving to death because of the generous servings.

38 Jupiter St. corner Planet St., Makati
Metro Manila, Philippines

Operating Hours
Monday to Sunday - 11:00 AM to 12:00 MN

Oh, one thing more...the security guard provides superb service, assisting the patrons when parking.

Some of you may have realized by now that I have a sweet tooth. So when my cousin-in-law informed me that she has finally perfected her recipe of homemade, no bake cheesecake and now ready to throw samples my way, we scheduled a meet up so I could critique her creations...as if!!!

 

 

Okay, before any of you raise eyebrow and accuse me of loving my own, first off let me introduce you to the queen.

 

Quincy Borja-Castro is a graduate of B.S. Hotel and Restaurant Management. She has worked in several hotels in the metro. Although fate has brought her to a career in BPO, she continues to whip out her magic in the kitchen. Thus, the birth of iLuvCakes_Q. Yeah, with a Q as in parang banana que or kung jejemon ka cakes q (pronounced as cakes ko). But kidding aside, "Q" obviously stands for her name.

 

 

Funny how sometimes the lack of resources actually leads to innovation. Quincy admittedly has no oven at home. But her usual cravings for sweet pushed her to think out of the box. Hence, dubbing her sweet treats as 'No Bake Cheesecake'.

 

 

But quality is at the top of her list, using mostly imported ingredients but still making it affordable. For only Php 30-35 you already have a cupcake-sized cheesecake to tickle your taste buds. Together with her supportive hubby, Randy, the duo offers FREE delivery within Caloocan, Manila and Makati area with a minimum order of 6 pieces.

 



 

We tried out their banoffee, white chocolate and our personal favorite, blueberry. Other flavors include mango, lemon, cookies and cream. Upcoming concoctions are strawberry, peach and dolce de leche.

 

 

So the verdict... Y-U-M-M-Y!!! The cream is light and just the right amount of sweet. So be careful because you might over indulge once you start digging in.

 

The business is still in its infancy and trial stage. But to get first dibs, like them on Instagram @iLuvCakes_Q, hashtag #Qcakes. You may also make arrangements through the contacts below. She even caters to special request such as less sugar for those on a diet or diabetics.

 

 

QuincyDavid_14@yahoo.com

0905-417-8426

0937-221-1261

 

Viber

0923-144-5584

 

The 3rd and last stop for the night is Buona Vita which was packed for the night with VIPs inside. Good thing Mr. Philip Sayas, the Operations Manager, greeted us and discreetly ushered us at the table outside. We didn't mind dining al fresco style since there was some entertainment outside playing acoustic music.

Buona Vita, which means good life, is a Ristorante Italiano but also features Spanish Specialties. To start off we were served with Pomodoro Soup which is a blend of tomato and basil. The main course being Pollo alla  Caciatorra, a chicken dish with olives, chili, garlic, rosemary and Italian vinegar. The slight whip of the wind outside brought out the aroma of the herbs and spices.

This is not another chicken dish, what sets it apart or the rest of the food being served here is that it does not contain MSG. The flavor comes from the different herbs and spices which are imported internationally. Their kitchen can serve up to 100 guest at a time and they are already getting popular within the European community base here in the south.

They also served a complete set meal during lunch at only Php 250 available from 11 am to 2 pm daily. You can either choose from Chicken or Fish variant. 

Surely, will post more about them when you come back here later... But for now, Good night everyone!

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Opening just last February 2014, Chairman Wang's Prime Beef Noodle House is not just the newest restaurant where foodie can go to here in Molito Alabang but also it is the very first branch here in the country. Yes, folks in the entire Philippines!!! We were so blessed to get first dibs in their first month of operations.

Targeting families and groups for gatherings, their function room is also quite conducive for those team dinners especially when you have expat or business clients. Let us not leave out those couples who want to celebrate special dates. Here's a glimpse of what is inside.

With awesome interiors, you are like transported to China where Chairman Wang originated. Ms. Alys Tenorio, who is in charge of Marketing, joined us in our table to introduce the concept behind the restaurant.

"Wang" himself is a master in the art of hand-pulled noodles. With passion in his craft, he became an expert thus dubbing him as the "Chairman". Having branches abroad, foreign investor decided to look into partnering with Filipinos birthing this restaurant that offers their signature dish Chairman Wang's Prime Beef Noodles. What makes it prime beef, well it is Angus nonetheless.

We also tried their Pork and Chives Dumpling, the other half steamed and the other half fried. Downing it down with their own blend of ice tea -- the Shanghai Lily. This is just the tip of the iceberg, patikim pa lang kumbaga...catch back this post for the rest of the pictures. Burp! Ooops...hihihi.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

It is going to be a long Friday night for The Yaps Tandem but hey who are we to complain. We got invited by Molito Alabang for their very own Blogger's Night wherein we could go around the vicinity and visit participating establishment. First Stop in our itinerary is: BBQ Chicken and Beer.

Spacious with around 10 tables with seating capacity of 4 to 6 each table. It is a good place for those who just want to chill. 

They are known of course with their Korean Styled Chicken -- Best Seller is the Paris Chicken. A dish consist of 8 pieces of a bit tad spicy chicken wings with cabbage on the side.

While waiting they also have a complimentary deep fried pasta that you can munch on. As born-again Christian, we don't drink beer so as an alternative we had lemon ice tea which was deli! Not your galing sa sari-sari store ice tea. Price ranges from Php 200-400 per dish. 

Catch more photos soon....

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

I grew up with Jollibee and being a busy office employee, you can't help but include going to fast food chains in your "diet" at least once a week. So it makes a whole lot of sense to avail Happy Plus Card.

Happy Plus Card

It is a reloadable card that you can use to pay up your orders not only in Jollibee but as well as to other JFC Group food chains like Chowking, Red Ribbon and Greenwich.

I particularly availed mine at Chowking El Molito in Alabang. I just paid Php 100 to get the Happy Plus Membership Kit at the counter and loaded another Php 100 to pay off my lunch order.

Upon returning to my desk at the office, I also registered my card in their website to earn more raffle points and monitor my Happy Plus Card account. Here is a video for more details.

Had a very hectic week at work prior to our vacation so we decided to chill for a while at Alabang Town Center and pass by Taters store at the cinema area.

Photo from Tater's FB Page

I bought a White Cheddar Minor League Popcorn to munch on and Dard, the staff at the counter, offered for me to pick a raffle stub from the fishing bowl for some instant prize. He was as surprised as I am when I showed him that I picked out a stub with "FREE Chunky Hotdog".

Dard explain that Taters Philippines is actually celebrating their 20th Anniversary and to give thanks to loyal customers you can get a chance to get some freebie like I did. So happy anniversary guys and keep popping those corns!

The long wait is finally over, it was so near yet so far... 

I am talking about dining at P.F. Chang's Chinese Bistro located in our neighboring mall Alabang Town Center. Read great review about it from my fave blogger, Patty, and hubby was also raving about it when he once dine there together with some clients. Also, let us not forget that it was actually mentioned in one of the episode of comedy TV Series Big Bang Theory.

A photo beside the horsey...tigidig, tigidig

But enough about the waiting, actually the night was a bit special compared to our usual Friday dining. It was afterall the 28th of Feb, so it was our last hurrah for hubby's birthday month...and just the day before that, we got the official letter from hubby's office that he got promoted!!!

Double celebration for God's double portion. The timing is impeccable -- to receive the news a few days after his birthday and coming back from our Boracay trip. But looking back in 2009 a few months before our wedding day, in the same company at around the same time of the year, my-then-fiance actually got laid off due to recession that year. He also got the news few days after his birthday and we were actually very sad at that time as we were in the middle of our wedding planning. Despite that we held on and kept saying "by faith" things would be better.

In 2011, he returned to the company after recovering from the recession and now five years after that incident we received this great news. It is only God who can truly turn things around only if you trust Him and obey His will. So to God be the glory, honor and praise... Thank you, Father!

Again, happy birthday to my dearest husband and congrats! It is chow time...

The serving size of the meal is good for sharing between two people and ranges from Php 300-500 per dish. We ordered brown rice together with Crispy Honey Chicken and Shrimp with Lobster Sauce and it was deli-C-I-O-U-S. For full menu and branches, check out P.F. Chang's official website.

Our reliable Brother Printer has finally reached the end of its service. I think more than 5 years is quite a feat for this printer to last. It has served its purpose well and even helped us out to print some of our wedding items few years back. So with that kind of performance, we decided our loyalty remains with Brother Printer and our investment is worth every penny.

Last weekend, we swung by Octagon Computer Superstore at Festival Mall and inquired about their latest model.  Good thing, the store attendant Renante was very patient in all our inquiries and happily assisted us in choosing from their line of products.

Little did we know about this promo and was surprise to get a voucher after paying at the cashier. We were entitled to a Jollibee bucket meal which includes 6 pcs Chicken Joy, 3 rice, 3 softdrinks and 3 Regular Yum. It was an added bonus that we decided to give Renante his share in our freebie after claiming it at the branch right across the store.

Visit their website for more details.

I am so hooked in this new gem in Asian cable TV!

Been watching it over our Sky Cable Dual Def 499 HD Channel - Lifetime Asia. Not only am I viewing it... I am also iRecording it (more about this nifty feature later)!!! Wiiiiiiihhhhh.... <Insert cartwheel here>

Lifetime Asia describes Sugar Stars as the escapades of these unusual friends-turned-business partners as they take you into the world of 'petite sweets' and the drama that ensues as they run their specialty dessert business in the sugary world of over-the-top confectionery creations, as the crew designs elaborate, eye-popping 'sweet tables' for the biggest events in town.

Every time I watch it, I have a staple smile in my face -- as we put it in Filipino "ang kulit lang talaga nila". I like how the show focused on the creative side, planning and executing for the actual event instead of the how to bake the food or sweet treats. But the Cakes By Yolanda are just jaw-dropping and will knock you out your socks off each time. My personal faves so far are The Game of Thrones Dragon Eggs and the Topsy Turvy Cake. Elle and Caspar with Antonella, with their own cray-cray personalities, just complete their foursome team of Petite and Sweet in Toronto, Canada.

I am so inspired by it, I am already doodling a travel-themed sweet table in case I plan to throw out some party of my own. Props would be the least of my problem, I am starting to get butt-loads of souvenirs from my travel.

Pictures via Google Search

So, what is this iRecord I was talking about earlier? Well, just in case you still did not know Only SKYcable gives you a world of limitless possibilities with its widest selection of channels and different ways to enjoy it.

For one, SKYcable has the most number of standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) channels. Enjoy over 180 channels so the entire family can have a world of possibilities and limitless discoveries. Genres include Movies, Sports, Kids, Learning, Music, General Entertainment, News, Lifestyle, Religious and International channels. SKYcable also has the most number of high definition channels – a total of 42 HD channels – the most in the country!

If you are a SKYcable subscriber then you also have the ability to add channels and packs that you like to your basic plan. Choose and add channels and packs to your basic subscription plan to suit the family’s viewing preferences.

Then, you can also get access to special shows and events through SKYcable Pay-Per-View and Free View with the widest variety of live entertainment – from sporting matches, thelatest blockbuster movies to live coverage of special events and concerts.

Lastly and my personal favorite, SKYcable enables silly me to take control of my TV viewing with iRecord allowing me the power to pause, record, and rewind live TV, so I never miss out on any of my favorite shows and scenes like Sugar Stars. 

SKYcable has the first and only Personal Video Recorder (PVR) feature in the country.
 

Pause
The SKYcable iRecord also has timeshift which lets you pause live TV in case you need to step out for a while and resume where you left off.

Record
With a press of a button, it lets you record like your favorite tv series – while watching the news. The SKYcable iRecord also lets you schedule recordings so it automatically saves the shows you want even if you’re not around.

Playback
You can bookmark, fast forward and rewind recorded shows so you can get back to your favorite scenes in a snap. Plus savor every exciting moment in slow motion and frame by frame playback.

Glad I got reconnected to SKYcable and now I can always view the show iRecorded at my most convenient time and no more rushing to get home or getting late to sit down at the dinner table because I am still watching TV. Hahaha... Thanks much, mySky!

Sugar Stars follows the escapades of these unusual friends-turned-business partners as they take you into the world of 'petite sweets' and the drama that ensues as they run their specialty dessert business in the sugary world of over-the-top confectionary creations, as the crew designs elaborate, eye-popping 'sweet tables' for the biggest events in town - See more at: http://www.lifetimeasia.com/show/sugar-stars-s1#sthash.vixQdX4u.dpuf