MAGNUM CAFE OPENS IN MANILA FOR 12 MONTHS ONLY

        I have never been a lover of chocolate coated ice cream, to tell you honestly. Not pinipig, not even those chocolate magic shell topping. I like my ice cream plain. But all of this changed when I tried this ice cream on a stick coated in real Belgian chocolate. Yes, my friends. This is what they call MAGNUM.

        There are countless times when I would stop over by the small grocery near our place after taking Richie to work just to buy a Magnum bar. It’s was good that I didn’t mind paying P50 for a stick of ice cream. Yes it’s a lot more expensive than other normal ice creams but at the same time, it’s slightly cheaper than other international brands. You can really tell that all the ingredients used in that ice cream is of top quality. Especially the chocolate coating! My personal favorite is the Chocolate Truffle because the taste is closer to dark chocolate. And I loooove dark chocolate! 

        So imagine my excitement when I heard that a Magnum was going to open a Magnum Pleasure Store here in Manila for a limited time! And imagine my triple excitement when we received an invitation to experience Magnum Cafe before it officially opens to the public! I was so ecstatic and I couldn’t wait to see what pleasures they have in store for me at the Magnum Cafe at SM Aura!

MISTER DONUT WOW BAVARIAN AND NEW SNACK PACKS!

        Mister Donut seems like it's being operated by a kid at heart. Because they always seem to have so many variants of sweet snacks in different shapes and form that's not only yummy but affordable too!

WECHAT & LAZADA = AN AMAZING EXCLUSIVE TABLET DEAL!

        We have one iPad at home. And because of the wonders of technologies, ipads or tables are also a great tool for entertaining and educating toddlers and children nowadays. It’s amazing how much educational apps and the thousands of cool games you can download into your tablet today.

        Which is why Rain and I are always fighting over that one iPad we have at home. She loves her Fisher Price apps, and I love my puzzle games. That being said, I think it’s time to get her her own tablet... Something that works well but is not so expensive. And guess what? There’s one that’s only P999!!!!

*UPDATED* MCDONALDS BACON BURGERS ARE HERE.. AND THE STORES THAT HAVE IT !

       I was hard at work yesterday morning (or was it "Hardly working"?), when I got a picture message from Rina over WeChat. 

       There was no accompanying caption to it. Just the image you see above. Within seconds, I was frantically fumbling with my phone, trying to call Rina. She answered the phone, saying "15...16! Haha I was counting how long it would take you to call me after you saw the picture.. A total of 16 seconds!". I told her that it would probably have been around just 8 seconds if my fingers weren't so fat.

      But I got down to business. I asked her if what she sent was real. And she said, "I just passed by McDonald's Glorietta right now where I saw the sign, so YES, I can safely say it's real." I hung up the phone and looked at the time. It was around 11:30am. There was no way that I was going to wait for the Emerald Avenue lunch rush. 

       I asked my officemate Mimai, "What are you doing?" and she said, "I'm just finishing the-"'

      "No you're not", I interrupted. 

      She looked at me quizzically and said, "Okaay.. So what am I doing?" 

      "You're going with me to have lunch", I said, in a deadpan voice. She looked at her watch, and had a curious look on her face. It was that moment that I showed her the picture that Rina sent me. Within three seconds of her eyes meeting the photo, Mimai was digging into her bag for her wallet. 

      Let's face it.. How many people have taken a bite out of their McDonald's Quarter Pounder, or Cheeseburger, or Double Cheeseburger, and wondered to yourself how much better it would be with bacon? 

      Well, my friends, Yes, This is Real. McDonald's Burgers have got a new Crunch. 

      Introducing McDonald's new Bacon and Cheese Quarter Pounder, Bacon Cheeseburger, and Bacon McDouble.

       

EAST MEETS WEST AT YOMENYA GOEMON JAPANESE SPAGHETTI HOUSE

A Japanese Spaghetti House? Japanese Spaghetti? 

        I found this quite interesting as Japanese is one of my favorite international cuisine and... well... who doesn't love spaghetti? 

        This Western noodle house Goemon that cooks freshly cooked spaghetti started in the late 70s with just one restaurant in Shibuya Koen Dori. And then grew into a whopping 208 restaurants which includes 3 franchises and 9 overseas outlets! And now they're here in the Philippines! Yomenya Goemon Japanese Spaghetti House!

CRIMSON HOTEL: MAKING A BIG BANG IN ALABANG.. And a GIVEAWAY!

Photo lifted from http://on.fb.me/1gXVWte

         For those of you who don't know, I grew up in the beautiful city of Cebu, because our family's business was established there. For summer vacation, we would come back home to Manila, and to me it would feel like I was in a different country. One of the highlights of our vacations? Our highly anticipated trips to "Big Bang sa Alabang" and the giant slide! It was most fun I had in a sack.. (Until I got older of course hehe). I know i'm showing my age, but I can't help it.. I've got so many great memories there! (In Big Bang.. Not..umm... in the sack hehe.. but now that you mentioned it.. err.. ok let's not lose focus hehe) 

      My brother and I were elementary school students that flew in from Cebu, and making their way to Alabang, coming from the hills of Antipolo- so i'm sure you'll understand if the trek to Alabang always felt like a lifetime, making us feel like we were going out of town.  

Since then, the Alabang area has grown by heaps and bounds. With road developments such as The Skyway, C-5 and most recently, C-6, Alabang and the other cities in the South is more accessible than ever. 

        Still synonymous with residing prominent families of the country, the Southern part of Metro Manila has boomed into a thriving community of its own, making it totally unnecessary to leave the confines of the area, and more importantly, making it a totally viable location for tourists to stay in when visiting the country. 

        As I've gone along through my blogging career, I've been fortunate enough to experience the exception service of some of the finest hotels Alabang has to offer. Rina and I were extremely ecstatic to be given the opportunity to stay in the newest luxury hotel of the South.. Crimson Hotel.          

I ATE FUGU AT KITSHO JAPANESE RESTAURANT AND SAKE BAR

        Due to my lack of knowledge in the culinary world, I never knew that Blow Fish or Puffer Fish can be eaten. But if you don't know how to prepare it, it could be poisonous. Amazingly, I got a chance to try eating one, and I'm obviously still alive! The place is called Kitsho Japanese Restaurant and Sake Bar at Trader's Hotel located at 3001 Roxas Blvd, Pasay 1305.

PARADISE FOUND: THE DISTRICT BORACAY

        One of Rina's favorite stories to tell, is how I would tell her just before our trip to the Party Island of the Philippines, "I lived in Cebu, so I doubt I would be impressed by Boracay". In my defense, we would go to the beach every weekend, so the sea and sand was really nothing new to me. 

      But even I was left in awe at the spellbinding beauty of the island know as Boracay. The last time we went there, was in 2010.. In the hopes of conceiving our very first child. Though we were not successful in that trip, my boys proved they could swim a few months later, and as you all know, we were blessed with a beautiful daughter, Baby Rain. 

     In late 2013, Rina won two round trip Domestic Flight tickets from Air Asia during one of their events, so we decided to put it to good use. Even at a young age, Baby Rain has been showing signs of being a Beach Baby, so the clear choice was Boracay (She has been to Cebu twice already).

     But the next question was.. where do we stay?

     A friend of mine (whom I call "Reyna ng mga hotel") managed to hook me up for an overnight stay in a hotel that I had been dreaming of staying at for quite some time.. 

    The District Boracay.

KULINARYA KITCHEN: DELECTABLE NEW MENU ITEMS

        It was my second time in Kulinarya Kitchen. I had a great time with great food during my first visit with some blogger friends. I had so much fun that I invited my old friends there for some catching up. And so when we were invited once again to go back and try the new items on their menu, I was excited because I knew based from experience that everything that flew out of their kitchen was well received by my taste buds and my tummy hehehe.

BURGER HEAVEN AT THE BRGR PROJECT

        Everyone knows Richie, the Pickiest Eater, is a burger person. But I can't say the same for myself. I have moods for burgers. I'm more of a rice person. That's why I have very few favorite burger places. And I am sincere when I say Burger Project is one of them. Why? Because you get to design your own burger! It's another brilliant concept by Chef Ed Bugia, one of my favorite chefs!

HOORAY FOR MCDONALD'S BREAKFAST!

 Traffic... Some reckless drivers... And more traffic. Aaaah the morning rush! Don't you just love it?!?

        Because of my picky stomach, I don't usually have breakfast. Especially on a work day. I'm acidic so I'm very careful with filling my stomach in the morning. I'm not sure if there's a connection there somewhere but let's just say I don't want to have to go to the bathroom first thing when I get to the office. But my wife loves loves loves breakfast! She loves it so much that she actually looks forward to taking me to work every morning so she could do a little breakfast drive-through at McDonald's. That's my wife! Making each morning rush special with a simple McDonald's Breakfast. (And all the while I really thought she just really loves driving me to work! Ha!)

OAKWOOD'S SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER DINNER BUFFET - RinaZ

        I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there are a lot of delicious dishes available at the Saturday Night Fever Dinner Buffet at Oakwood Premier Manila's Oakroom Restaurant and Bar. Though admittedly the area is much smaller compared to other hotel buffets, the quality of the food makes it stand tall...  And all for just P1,290+++ per head!

TAAL VISTA HOTEL'S 75TH! A YEAR-LONG CELEBRATION! - RinaZ

Seventy Five years.... Wow.

        It's so amazing how Taal Vista Hotel has been around for this long. It was 75 years ago when Taal Vista Lodge was the leading attraction when the late President Manuel L. Quezon expressed his interest in making Tagaytay a tourist destination. My father wasn't even born yet at that time. And up until now, Taal Vista is still up and running! Amazing! And the ambiance and the scenery is still as breathtaking as ever!

        We have had the privileged to experience staying for a few nights here in Taal Vista with my family and we always have a great time. It's really a nice change of scenery from all the city noise. And seeing the Taal Volcano sitting pretty in the middle of Taal Lake is really something else. And of course, the cool weather!

        So in lieu of celebrating their 75th Anniversary, Taal Vista has cooked up some huge surprises for everyone, and fortunately, a huge chunk of it is food-related. HIGH FIVE!!!