Going Loca for Alqueria!

I'm a fan of Spanish food, specially of Paella, Salpicao, Conchinillo, and of course, Churros!!

Just my luck that Alqueria is holding various promos for the month of August:

  

So last night (Wednesday), we made it a point to have dinner here.

Since Kyle will be coming from Makati, I went ahead to Alqueria so I could avail of the 50% off promo on the Churros con Chocolate. Being lovers of this yummy dessert, I ordered the 10 pieces Churros con Chocolate (Php 114).

Alqueria's Churros are made fresh upon order, so it takes around 5-10 minutes serving time. Their chocolate dip is made from Valor chocolates. The churros was sprinkled liberally with cinnamon sugar and had a nice crunch. The Valor chocolate  dip was just a palate pleaser. I am definitely in-love with their churros!



For Tapas, I ordered the Chicharones (Php 260), and for our main dish, I got the Paella del Carne in medium size (Php715, before discount). The Paella takes about 20-25 minutes of serving time, yes, perfection takes time. ;)

     

Their version of Chicharones takes on a different form. It is more like a bagnet. Chunks of pork belly, deep fried to skin-crackling perfection! It's served with a side of vinegar (I forgot to asked what sauce was poured over it). With every bite, you get that wonderful crunch, and that succulent, flavorful, fatty part of the belly was just divine or plain sinful. It was a bit too overwhelming for two people tho.

Another item that Alqueria has been known for is their Paellas, and I can say that it definitely takes the cake! The Paella del Carne, as the name suggests, is an all meat paella loaded with chorizo, chicken, smoked bacon and pork-spareribs. It was flavorful! Every bite felt like an explosion of flavors in my mouth. I specially loved the smokiness of the thick-cut bacon pieces. We were only able to finish half of the Paella and the Chicharones, both items are good to share for 3 - 4 hungry people.

The Churros, on the otherhand, were totally wiped out, hehe.

We definitely loved our dining experience! The food was great and the attendants were really very accommodating and polite. They made our experience extra special.

Kudos Alqueria! Will be seeing you again soon!

Alqueria Restaurante Y Chocolateria

Third Floor, Mega Fashion Hall, SM Megamall, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City; 02 2469069 ext:100

The Face Shop Aqua Tint

So here's another product review from yours truly.

I love lip and cheek tints! My favorite is the one from The Body Shop, however, it has become quite expensive. I was excited when I saw the Buy 1 Take 1 promo of The Face Shop's My Lips Eat Cherry aqua tint for jut Php 225. Now that's a steal! It comes in three shades (Juicy Cherry, Juicy Red and Bloody Red ), but when I bought mine, only the Juicy Cherry shade was in stock.

It comes in a cute bottle with an equally cute label.

      

It's very liquidy and highly pigmented, well, for me it is.

So this is how it looks after I applied it on my cheeks and lip.

      

And here I am after I set it with my TFS Oil Clear compact:



I love the fact that it looks so natural, as if you have no blush on. It also lasted me the entire day, and most importantly, it did not irritate my skin.

This product is definitely a good buy!

Tom Sawyer's Chicken!!!

This is actually a very late post.

Late 2014, we went to Tiendesitas to try the rumored comeback of the famous, Tom Sawyer's Chicken.

All I can say is that, the trip was definitely worth it! The food is really affordable.

We actually ordered 3 meals, namely, 1 Chicken and Spaghetti (Php 138), 1 2-pcs Chicken (Php 138), and 1 Hickory Ribs with rice (Php 198).

    

You can clearly see that their spaghetti sauce is loaded with meat, and they don't skimp on pouring sauce. I liked their spaghetti cause it had the right balance of Italian and Filipino style cooking.

Their chickens were definitely crunchy on the outside and very juicy on the inside! It was seasoned just right and the flavor is not left only on the skin. They also serve unlimited gravy, which perfectly compliments their chicken.

I have mixed emotions on the Hickory Ribs. It tasted amazing! The sauce was just wonderful (very similar to Racks), the flavor of the meat was just wow and the size was enough for two people. Unfortunately, it was tough, really tough. I had a hard time cutting through it using their knife, and a harder time chewing it. :( The ribs is served with a serving of their Hickory Rice, which I found to be nothing special.

Overall, our meal was nice, and challenging. Would definitely come back here, but I do hope that their Hickory Ribs improve.

Tom Sawyer's Old Fashioned Krispy Chicken

Ground Floor, Building A, Tiendesitas, Ortigas Avenue Corner E. Rodriguez, Ugong, Pasig City ; 02-966-22-91

Olay Total Effects CC Cream and The Face Shop's Oil Clear Pact

So here's another review of some of the products that I decided to try:

Olay Total Effects CC Cream (in Light) and The Face Shop's  (TFS) Oil Clear Pact (in Natural)

The Olay CC Cream (which I got from Sampleroom) is packed in a box and it comes in two shades, Light and Medium to Dark. I got light. So basically, this product promises to minimize the appearance of pores, even skin tone and give and instant brightening effect. Let's put it to the test.

  

As you can see, the product is dispensed from a squeeze tube, and the shade is somewhat pinkish, which is great for those with yellow undertones. The product has a nice, mild, cucumber/melon scent, which I really love. It also has SPF 15 for basic sun protection.

So here is my bare face, and the shine on my nose reduced after I applied the CC Cream. I didn't notice much of the supposed pore minimization, but my skin felt smooth and looked instantly brighter. I had quite a hard time applying the product on my face since it clogged the pores of my nose and gave a cakey appearance. I had to blend it vigorously so that the cakey appearance would disappear. On the right most picture, you can see the amount of product residue it left.

On another occasion, I used the CC Cream without any moisturizer and it blended on my skin significantly easier. So I guess, this should be more of a tinted moisturizer. Coverage? You can hardly get any, hence, you have to top it off with your trusty foundation.

As for me, I prefer the no make-up look, so I just topped it with TFS's Oil Clear pact.

It's a very cute pact and already comes with an applicator. It has a very mild floral scent, which explains the small (hardly noticeable) flower carved on the center of the powder. It has SPF 30 and PA++ rating which is a great plus for a finishing powder.

Voila! Oil and shine no more! It works! I love this powder as it made the shine go away and gave me a flawless finish.

As for lasting power...the picture below was taken about 5 hours after, without any retouch.

I can say that the Oil Clear pact did a good job from keeping me oil and shine free. I have also tried using this on its own, and it gives the same effect. The best thing is that, it's very affordable at just Php 395.

The only thing that I did not enjoy about TFS's Oil Clear pact was the shopping experience. I bought this during the time that they had a promo wherein when you buy one, you get a make up pouch free. Unfortunately, when I bought mine, the shop personnel told me that they ran out of stocks already.



This is not the first time that this has happened, and I'm not the only person who experienced it. I've heard a lot of complaints about them not being able to provide the freebies to their customers. The main point about having a promo is to encourage customers to purchase those items, and it's really disappointing when you end up not getting what was promised.

I hope that TFS does a better job handling their future promos. As for me, I think it would be a long time before I go back and shop with them.

Hope you enjoyed reading my review. Thanks for dropping by! ^_^

#cutestcafeever

It took quite a while before we decided to try this place, even though it's just a block away from us.

I was very reluctant to go to Bunny Baker because I found the price of their food to be a bit too steep, plus, I've read some bloggers confirming the same.

Anyway, we just had our dinner and wanted some sweets. We were initially planning to just go to Starbucks, but Kyle wanted to try something new. Hence, we ended up going to Bunny Baker.

The place is well-lit, had a very fun and lively aura, and it was just undeniably cute! The furnishings were like something from a cutesie TV show.

 

 

I was really glad that we were there just to have dessert and some drinks. Browsing over the menu made me cringe a bit, because the food were really priced high (Beef Tapa for Php 295 :( ). We ordered Cafe Mocha (Php 140), BB Premium Iced Cocoa (Php 140), and their Ooey Gooey (Php 285).

 

 
I wasn't able to take a picture of the iced chocolate, but there was nothing special about the presentation. Taste wise, it was similar to the Belgian Chocolate from Blenz Cafe, but a bit diluted. My cafe mocha on the other hand, had a cute bunny latter art on it. As most of you guys know, this is one of the things they became famous for. Unfortunately, their Cafe Mocha was not of my liking. I just found it a bit too bitter.

The Ooey Gooey looked intimidating, not because of its size, but due to the potential sugar intake that we were about to ingest. The name fits this cake perfectly! It's nicely done on the outside, but super soft, fudgy and gooey on the inside. Surprisingly, it wasn't too sweet. It was topped with salted caramel gelato (tip: you can choose the flavor of your choice), which was a perfect balance for the cake.

Overall, we had a pretty nice experience with their dessert and drinks.

The Bunny Baker

Unit 301, Hemady Square, Doña Hemady St, New Manila, Quezon City, Metro Manila - (02) 650-4153

Shakey's Monday Madness

As part of Shakey's 40th Anniversary Celebration, they are currently having a promo for their Chicken 'N' Mojos!



This promo is exclusive to Shakey's SuperCard holders and is available for dine-in only. It will be available every Monday, until August 24, 2015.

Last August 3, we obliged ourselves to some of our favorite Chicken 'N' Mojos, a family sized one!

       

So visit the Shakey's branch nearest you and satisfy your cravings!

Tip: You can get the Shakey's SuperCard the same day you dine to avail of the promo :)

Yey or Nay?

So I decided to do a full review of the products which I was able to order from Sampleroom. First of, I purchased the VIP Subscription (Php 799 comes with a free gift) last July 18, 2015 and my transaction was approved the morning of July 20, 2015. To cut the long story short, my orders along with the VIP gift arrived on the afternoon of July 21, 2015. For the VIP Gift, this is what I found waiting inside the surprise box:

I'm not much of a facial mask person, so this was really a let down to me. Last time I ordered VIP points, I got a very nice perfume, which I loved. I was actually hoping to get a nice Shiseido lippie, oh well. Moving on, atleast I also got the samples that I ordered with the same package: Olay Regenerist Miracle Duo (Pre-essence and Moisturizer) , Maxipeel Skin Purifier and Zenutrients' Skin Salve-ation.

So for this article, I'll be doing a full review of the Olay Regenerist Miracle Duo and Maxipeel Skin Purifier. I'd like to apologise in advance since I'll be posting quite a lot of my bare face, for comparison purposes. First, I'll show you the products:

Maxipeel Skin Purifier (Php 79 / 50ml - Retail Price):

It has a cute and very catchy packaging. It claims that it is NOT a cleanser, toner, nor an astringent. It claims to have skin purifiers that is composed of safe and potent ingredients that moves beyond the skin’s surface down throughout the skin layers. So simply put, it goes after deep-seated dirt and removes it out of the skin.

How to use: Start with freshly washed face. Moisten a cotton ball and smooth liberally over face twice a day, in the morning and before bedtime. Don’t forget to apply sunscreen and moisturizer.

Olay Regenerist Miracle Duo (Php 1,399 and Php 399):

Olay Regenerist Miracle Boost Youth Pre-Essence claims:

• To boost cell energy by 35% to strengthen skin’s inherent young power


• To trigger self-collagen production for bouncy, younger looking skin

How to use: Apply product twice a day after toner and before serum and moisturizer. Unscrew the cap to automatically draw product into the dropper. Press the pump button to dispense. Apply product onto the face, avoiding eye and lip area. Tighten cap after use. For ideal results, apply to pump dosage per use.

Olay Regenerist Moisturizer:

• Helps to reduce fine line and wrinkle appearance with moisturisation SPF 15.


• Daytime Hydration with Non-Greasy Feel

How to use: Using your fingertips, smooth evenly onto clean skin over face and neck, once or twice a day. It can be used alone or under foundation make-up. So basically, I started with my freshly washed face, then followed all of the above product instructions. Here's how my skin looks before I started with this skin ritual:

     

As you can see, my problem area is my T-zone and my pores are particularly visible on my nose and on the sides of it. So I used my usual toner, then after that, I applied the Skin Purifier. The Skin Purifier has a yellowish liquid. I wait for about 2 minutes, before proceeding to the next step. Just a little warning, if you have very sensitive skin, you might not like this product as it stings when applied (especially on the nose and cheeks). The Olay Regenerist Miracle Boost Youth Pre-Essence comes with its own dropper (yay!), making it easy to get the product, and at the right dose. Instructions tell you to use 2 full "pumps", but I only use one pump since it's more than enough to cover my entire face. After letting it set for about 2 minutes, I apply the Olay Regenerist Moisturizer.



    

So here is my progress on Day 5: I didn't really notice any visible improvement, but parts of my skin felt really dry and there was minimal peeling on my chin area. On the other hand, the other parts, specially the forehead, cheeks and nose, felt really smooth.

   

Day 9 Progress: I finally noticed the visible improvements on my skin! The small bumps on my forehead and on the inner part of my cheeks looked a bit evened out. No visible improvement on pore minimization, but my skin does feel super soft and smooth.

  

So here's a better progress comparison:

I'll be continuing this skin care regimen as it has shown some improvement on my skin. Hopefully, the pore minimizing claims also become evident.

That's all for now. Thanks for dropping by! :)

Note: Photos taken above were after washing my face at night.