My very first Belle de Jour Planner was in 2009. I was contemplating then if a Php600+ planner was worth it. Up till now, I have no regrets. I may have looked for other planners or even join the bandwagon for coffee planners, but I know deep down that I had my eyes at the Belle de Jour Planner.

Christmas Season is not only the season of giving but also considered the season of drinking and being merry! And with every Filipino gathering, Ginebra San Miguel Premium Gin is always present at any given occasion. Ginebra San Miguel Premium Gin is a consistent favorite because of its smooth and refreshing end note with citrus essences of juniper berries.

To highlight Ginebra San Miguel Premium Gin as a World-Class Filipino Gin, they launched the Premium Gin Journey with several of their partnered establishments in the Metro.

A white and fair skin have been a norm in our society and commonly associated with the term beautiful. There had been a lot of discussion about it but for whatever reason you may have, nobody is stopping you to achieve that fair and whiter skin ala Snow White. Me? I just want to have that white porcelain skin because I want to go platinum barbie blonde. Sporting a blonde hair is in my bucket list for 2015. I'm looking forward to cross it out but I'm not confident sporting a blonde 'do with my sun-kissed skin.


I was invited to the launch of Thiocell, a new supplement that'll help you wake up glowing. Thiocell is a different kind of glutathione supplement. It is lozenge form which makes glutathione absorption more fast and convenient.

Nights appear to be more interesting as restaurants like Wingman make your dining experience more fun by holding Quiz Night every week. I was invited by Aldous to Wingman UP Town Center's Blogger Quiz Night.

Wingman started their store in The Collective Malugay and had been having a blast for they now have 4 stores across the metro. Their newest one is in UP Town Center is a very space-y store that is filled with LED TVs all across the floor. It has the best ambiance for live- viewing events and bonding sessions specially for sports fanatics.


Before we started with the brain crunching questions, Wingman first delighted our tummies with their famous wings and sides.

Most of us have long forgotten our fitness goals once the holiday season kicks in. For most of us, the holiday season means a month long of binge-eating and stuffing ourselves with all the thing we crave.

Thanks to Curves Gym Eastwood, they made me realize that I shouldn't wait till next year to jump start my fitness journey. I don't necessarily need to spend most of my time in the gym. With just 30 mins of workout, 3 times a week, I can breezily loose those stubborn fats and make my curves take the spotlight.


Curves Gym is an all girl gym which promotes health and wellness for busy women. It is a community of support and encouragement; and strengthening women. What makes Curves unique is that it gives you a complete cardio and strength training workout in just 30 minutes, burning up to 500 calories at a time. The Curves workout is built around hydraulic resistance machines that work every major muscle group two muscles at a time, giving you a more efficient and effective workout with every visit. Curves is a women-only gym. Their motto “No men, no makeup, no mirrors”.

Facial Cleansing is one of the vital step in our skincare regime. It is imperative to include this step in our daily routine. Cleaning our face with facial cleansers and water is a common practice for girls to achieve clear skin free from dirt and impurities that causes skin problems like acne.

We all have different skin concerns that we want to address: oily and acne prone skin, sensitive and dry skin, and dull and uneven skin. And our skin changes as the temperature of our environment changes as well. With all these factors we need to consider, its best we choose a facial cleanser that will address these skin concerns.


MYRA have been long known as a brand that empowers women to let their inner being glow and be the best version of themselves. The brand have formulated products that would help achieve those goals such as the MYRA E multivitamin capsule that makes you glow from within as well as MYRA skincare line.

It was a warm welcome when the Gifted team invited us for a light snack to introduce a new way to gift gifts, specially this holiday season. Gifted.ph is an online retail website that utilizes gift certificates to be sent out as personalized gifts. Gifted chose Stella Wood fire Bistro as the place to held their event.

Christmas is just around the corner. Have you completed your list and bought all your gifts?

Holiday traffic and foot traffic in shopping malls, are some problems you may encounter in your holiday shopping spree for gifts. If you are like me, still deciding what to give to whom and planning my shopping trip like crazy, then I have the solution for you. Introducing the new way to give gifts through Gifted.ph.


Gifted.ph is an online gift certificate website. No, they are  not your usual discounted/group buying website, their gift certifcates are good as the cash amount. They have partnered with reputable establishments like Bench, Fully Booked and formidable restaurants from the Raintree Group of Restaurants. With Gifted, you can easily send out gifts in just a few minutes with just a few clicks.

Cable Car have been in the restaurant industry since 1992. I remember when I first went in Cable Car Makati, Soshi and I played beer pong with KC Montero and Jimmy Muna, and we actually won that night.

Fast forward to present time, Cable Car now has four branches here in Metro Manila (Makati, Timog, BGC and Ortigas). We went in for a foodie meetup at their newest branch in Ortigas. Cable Car have been long known for their comfort food faves that goes really well with their beers and drink selection. Most diners keep going back to Cable Car because of its fun and at the same time chill environment.


Almost all Cable Car branches have the same ambiance. Cable Car Ortigas have a high ceiling where there is also a seating area for diners just above their bar. Cable Car Ortigas is tucked inside the new building, Sapphire Bloc near Marco Polo.

Apart from their bar chow favorites (I mean, who doesn't love Cable Car's sisig?!), here are some of the dishes you can also try at Cable Car Ortigas:

As the months get colder, my skin gets dryer and harder to manage. That is why I usually look for thicker moisturizers and lotion to manage that problem. My instant go to product is Nivea's intensive cream which I find too thick and icky, but very effective in managing my dry flaky skin.

I received a parcel from my aunt all the way from Japan. It contains some of my "bilins" and this cool Menard Tsukika Skincare Set. What is awesome about my aunt is that apart from the full size set, she also sent me sample boxes that I can bring whenever I travel. How cool is that?


I googled about the brand and found very promising details:

The Menard Tsukika Skincare line embraces your skin with a fresh and smooth sensation. It helps moisturizing your skin even if it is exposed to severe environmental conditions; such as, dry air and ultraviolet rays, or affected by aging. TSUKKA helps to improve cell energy and normalize skin turnover. Some of its key ingredients are Night Blooming Cereus flower extract and Hyalluronic Acid.

This is what the set looked like:

Cruising Magazine, Manila Bulletin's travel magazine is celebrating its 16th anniversary with a bang. Partnering with leading restaurant finder, Zomato, Cruising Magazine launched "Taste: Travel for Food" as their main theme for their anniversary. They invite their fans and readers for dinner to share their excitement for this milestone.


"Taste: Travel for Food" aims to create awareness that there are a lot of good restaurants within the Metro that you never thought of. They originally planned to visit 3-4 restaurants, but with the overwhelming success, they decided to go with 16 restaurants since it is Cruising Magazine's 16th anniversary.

On their 13th restaurant stop, we were invited to Bawai's, a Vietnamese restaurant in White Plains. Bawai's is a homey and somewhat garden-type restaurant hidden in White Plains.


Bawai boasts of their home cooked Vietnamese fare that started way way back in their first branch in Tagaytay. I didn't know what to expect because I'm not so much into Vietnamese dishes. Here are some of the dishes we feasted on that night:

A lot of pubs have opened around BGC area, catering to the ever busy young professionals in Taguig. With their hectic day, a lot of them have been gravitated towards pubs at the end of the day to unwind  with the company of comfort food and drinks as they wrap up their busy day.

Pablo's Pub and Restaurant is tucked between the array of specialty Asian Restaurants in The Forum building. Their interiors are inspired by European pubs (or a gentleman's pub) which will want you to sink yourself in the couch and drink the night blues away.


In line with their anniversary, Pablo's is revamping their signature burgers to make your dining (and drinking) experience more comforting. Pablo's opened its doors to us, Zomato reviewers as they unveil their new and improved signature burgers. Here are a few of the signature burgers that we tried that night:

I'm always excited when I get invited to foodie meetups by Zomato. I've been a food reviewer for Zomato since last year, and up till now, I can say that there's still a spark that makes my tummy flutters whenever I get invited.

Our Foodie Meetup location is at Oudon Restaurant. As the name implies, Oudon Restaurant specializes in dishes that utilizes oudon noodles. They even have a lot of variety of oudon dishes ranging from hot or cold dishes.


Oudon has that traditional Japanese restaurant interior that will make you and your tummy quite comfortable. Oudon also serves traditional Japanese dishes aside from their typical oudon dishes. For starters, here are some good appetizers we have tried:

Beauty boxes are the next best thing that trended in the beauty department. Newbies who wanted to explore the world of Beauty yet afraid to take risks will find beauty boxes as a bbig relief. How does this work? You subscribe to the service, They'll surprise you with up-to-date beauty products that you can try. You can rave and review about it and share it through the community of beauty enthusiasts.


Last Year, I decided to give beauty boxes a try. I subscribed to Saladbox, unfortunately, it didn't meet my expectations. What Happened? Read my story below:

Foodgasm is a yearly event organized by the UP Economic Society which aims to introduce new food trends and budding food entrepreneur to step up in the food scene. I enjoyed my experience last year (see my post), so I did not hesitate when they invited me again this year as a Food Blogger Judge.

I am blessed that my parents have nice genes, so acne has never been a problem in the family. Though breakouts are inevitable due to changes in our hormones, a proper skin care routine usually is enough to maintain a blemish free skin.

Ever since I hit puberty, I was really conscious of the changes that will happen in my body so I made sure to start my skin care regimen as young as 14. I religiously cleanse tone and moisturize my face every single day. My skin thanked me as now that I'm not getting younger, my skin is clear and blemish free.


With that, facial treatments at a Skin Care Center had never occurred my mind. Mainly because I ain't fixin' something that ain't broke. Also, experiences shared by my friends were not so appealing. So I just sticked to my skin care routine and never bothered.

But as you grow old, your skin loses its ability to regenerate faster, which makes wrinkles and dark spots more prominent. It had been frustrating because it just keeps getting worse with the stressors in the environment.


When we met Dr. Manny and Pie Calayan at the launch of their new show, Healthcetera, they were nice enough to extend an invite to visit Calayan Surgicenter and try their facial treatment. At first I was hesitant because I was already thinking that it might disturb my skin and breakouts and pimples will start showing.

It was one whole week of me craving for Italian food, especially pasta. Aldous invited me to go all the way to UP Town Center to try Mama Lou's Italian Restaurant. It was raining that night, but my craving for Italian food did not stop me to brave the harsh weather.


I have known Mama Lou's when they opened their branch in Nuvali. And from the reviews of fellow foodies, Mama Lou's received a good rating and a decent ravings. OS when I was invited to try their dishes, who am I not to oblige?

Here are some of the dishes we tried that evening:

One of the most common problem faced by a woman is unwanted hair. Hair naturally grows in areas of our body, but if it grows on places that are more visible like legs, face and pits, it affects our overall aesthetic appearance.

Hairy pits, arms, legs and bushy areas have not been what we imagined visible on girls or women. Blame it to vanity and hygienic compulsion, every girl wanted to look pristine without that hint of hair.


Hair salons and aesthetic center such as HairX, a newly opened hair removal salon in BGC, have aimed to make the hair removal process easy and worry free. They utilize the newest technology and up to date practices that make the hair removal process almost pain-free.

Our body is our temple. What we do with our body reflects on the choices we make in our lifestyle. Obesity is one of the pressing issue that a lot of people address in our daily lives. A lot of factors affect one's decision which leads to obesity. Stressors in our environment had lead us to over eat and indulge in food choices that are not healthy.


The battle with trying to eat healthy have been a struggle. But it doesn't have to be an everyday struggle. As long as we stick to our healthy choices within the week and have one cheat day where we can eat what our heart desires, there is progress. As the saying goes "One bad meal won't make you fat, just like one good meal won't make you skinny."

They say a healthy tummy is a healthy body. Digestive problems such as constipation, diarrhea or flatulence can easily turn a peachy day into a ruined one. Nowadays, a lot of people have been trying hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle and taking charge of their own health. Detoxification had become mainstream as a way for people to reset their system and jump start their healthy lifestyle.

October is already in our midst which can only mean one thing. Free-flowing beers and the excuse to drown oneself in different types of beer for the OKTOBERFEST!

Yup, you heard me right. People are excited for October not because it's just a giant arms length before Thanksgiving and Christmas, but because we are kickin' off with the festive spirit with our favorite leisure, drinking beer.


Vikings Luxury Buffet is introducing some beer and pulutan favorites in their buffet station. I was invited to Vikings SM Jazz to check out which pulutan dishes they are including in their buffet spread. These Pinoy dishes have been a staple in every inuman session. Aside from overflowing beer, here are pulutan staples that you can now enjoy in Vikings SM Jazz:

It had been known that chocolates is actually good for your health. But with a lot of chocolate varieties in the market, which chocolates are actually good?

Dark Chocolates are the best form of chocolates if you want to get the most nutrients out of it. Dark chocolate is a powerful source of anti-oxidants that may improve blood flow and lower blood pressure, lowering the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Aside form that, dark chocolate can protect the skin against the sun's harmful rays and constant consumption may improve brain function.


So when these pretty dark chocoates arrived for review, I was really excited. Marou is an imported chocolate brand that I newly heard of because they are originally from Vietnam. I'm very fond of imported chocolates, specially artisinal ones because I find that the commerical brands are like sugar bars with just a hint of chocolate.

Another Foodie Meet-up at Poblacion Makati!

Poblacion Makati is really shaping up their food scene. A lot of restaurants have opened from left to right this year. Despite that, the variety and choices are all different which makes it much harder for us foodies (and even a normal diner). Ming Kee is one of the restaurants that opened this year.


Ming Kee is a restaurant that offers Singaporean cuisine that you can typically see in Singapore (of course!). They have their restaurant in Singapore (specifically along McPherson Road). Now, they bought their Singapore specialties in the country for foodies to try. While I haven't been in Sinagpore personally, I've tried several singaporean dishes in a few places that caters them. I love a good hokkien mee, mee goreng, bah kuh teh and chili crabs.


Ming Kee's interiors are tastefully done even though the building is not yet completely finished. They even have an elevator for easy access. I'm not sure what to expect during our Zomato Foodie meetup because my skin can't handle most sea food. But the foodie in me wants to have a taste of their singaporean dishes. Here's what we had that afternoon:

It's really weird but Mati's Meat and Bread's facebook page have been popping from my Facebook mobile feed for quite some time and upon reading some reviews from fellow bloggers, the desire to try their dishes (specially their steak) deepens. It took a while because the thing that's keeping me to rush over and try them, is their distance. Mati's Meat and Bread is located in Filinvest Alabang, which is quite far from me. Luckily, I was invited to a food tasting on my rest day. Yay!



Mati's Meat and Bread is located at River Park Alabang, at the back of Festival Mall. Mati's is also under Melo's Steak group. We were able to talk to one of the owners, Mr. Paul Macasaet. Of course, we had to ask the origin of the rstaurant's name. It seemed that Mati is his son who's also present that afternoon. Talk about a lucky kid!

I was really excited to try their mouthwatering dishes. If you stack their page, you'll see those fod porn shots that will definitely tickle your tummy. Here are some (maybe a lot) of the dishes we tried that afternoon:

Arrozeria means "House of Rice" in Spanish. Arrozeria opened a few months at Century City Mall to offer authentic Spanish cuisine, specializing in rice dishes (hence the name). The Filipino culture have been brought up loving rice in general. Meaning, a Filipino meal will not be a complete meal without rice. With that, an invite from Arrozeria to try their new dishes definitely made my tummy do summersaults.


Eversince they opened, Arrozeria have been receiving good feedback on how good their paellas are. So I was really excited to try out their new dishes. Here are the dishes that'll be available in their store for you to try:

Italian dishes are really one of the interesting cuisines I've tasted. The taste varies from different regions. Gone are the days that the only Italian dish I know are pasta and pizza. I was invited to a dinner to meet an Italian chef. Chef Giorgio Matera is the brain behind the Italian restaurant La Piadina. Bringing his passion of Italian cuisine, Chef Matera have been satisying hungry tummies for years.




La Piadina invited foodies to launch a whole new array of dishes that will surely attract your cravings for more Italian dishes. Surprisingly, the new dishes does not include a new pizza dish, but other Italian dishes that will make you appreciate the cuisine even more.

Back when I was still renting in Poblacion, particularly in J.P Rizal area, the food scene there was not much but some old pubs and bars for drinking and whatnots. This year, the Poblacion food scene came to life as hole-in-the-wall restaurants opened from left to right, offering different cuisines and catering the fickle palate of ever evolving foodies.

Crepe Amelie is mainly a crepe store that replaced that Sicilian pizza place at A.Venue Mall. By its name, Crepe Amelie provide a passed down by generation crepe recipe and made it compelling by preparing crepes in a lot of ways; breakfast crepes, savory crepes and dessert crepes.



With other foodies, we braved the busy Makati Avenue to try different crepes at Crepe Amelie. Asie from crepes, they also offer pastas and sandwiches as well. Here are some of the pasta selection we tried that day:

It's my birthday. Usually, I just spend it with the ones I love. But now, I decided to share all the blessings I receive to my readers, who never gets tired of reading my posts. I love you guys, I wish I could get to know you more through the comment box.. :)



I'll share with you something personal. I'm turning 28th this year, and I can feel my biological clock is ticking. As the old saying goes, "Malapit na ko mawala sa kalendaryo.." Even so, I'm glad because God has answered my prayers and given me the things I truly wanted in the right time. With that, I like to thank everyone who made my year awesome.

Zomato started as a site aiming as a guide for making a foodie's life easier. It has a massive collection of places to dine for every location in Metro Manila.On their 7th year, Zomato continuously strive to improve customer experience and one of the newest update is incorporating food delivery in their website and mobile app.


How does it work?

As much as everyone wants to eat healthy, the busy and diminishing land in the Metro makes it hard to get good food which came from quality ingredients. A lot of us is still confused on how to pick the best ingredients that will make our home dishes healthy and at the same time tasty. Good thing that restaurants like Santika Naturals still upholds to the tradition of farm to table concept of dining.


Santika Naturals is a humble vegetarian located at Kamagong St. They offer dishes that are not only healthy but came from ingredients that you can be sure came from the mountains of Benguet. It was just this year that I found that the freshest and affordable produce can be found in Baguio (or the mountains of Benguet, to be exact). I was glad that restaurants, like Santika Naturals maximizes the bountiful crops of our country's mountains.



I was invited for a Zomato Foodie Meetup at Santika Naturals  to try their exemplary vegetarian dishes and at the same time meet the people behind Santika. Here are some of the vegetarian dishes we tried during our foodie meetup:

The Palace Manila is the hottest place in Bonifacio Glocal City. It is owned by a group of friends who share the same ideals. You may have heard of the famous club,Valkyrie which is one of the go-to party place inside The Palace Manila.


Cafe Naya is one of the newest restaurant to open at The Palace Manila. It has a Mediterranean feel which will make you think of rainforests, sea and summer. Cafe Naya is one of the brilliant brainchild of Erwan Huesaff and Chef Mikko Reyes. Remember how you love Hungry Hound and Niner Ichi Nana? You'll also get to love the lighter and vibrant Cafe Naya.



I was invited to their media event to introducing the place to the public. They just opened a month ago and I was lucky (again!) that I'll meet Erwan and Chef Mikko.

Panizza is a derivative of a pizza and a panini. It is made of thin crust pizza cut into strips which are topped with arugula and alfalfa sprouts and hand rolled like pinwheels. Panizza is a new concept for me late last year when I first tried it here. My favorite thin crust pizza eaten in a different way is much more better and Panizzas ultimately became my favorite kind of pizza.

C'Italian Dining is one of the frontrunners of Panizza in the country. They started at Angeles, Pampanga and have proud of their panizza since 2004. Now, they have 2 different branches in the metro, one in Salcedo Village and one in Ortigas, Now on its first year, C'Italian Dining Salcedo have been truly a gem in this highly upscale community.


C'Italian Dining in Salcedo Village has that posh rustic interior which makes the restaurant the classy kind considering its location. I have been seeing them there, but somehow they exude first class in every corner of their restaurant. Despite all these first impression, C'Italian Dining t is quite the opposite of what I have perceived.

As people strive to live a healthy lifestyle, more and more people are switching and changing traditions and principles. The vegetarian (or vegan) community is getting a welcoming hype which prompts for more specialty restaurants to cater to their lifestyle.


Corner Tree Cafe is a quaint restaurant in Bel-Air Makati. When you pass by along Jupiter St, you may miss Corner Tree Cafe because there is a big tree in front of them,at the corner of Bel-Air village's gate, which I guess prompted its name.

As you know, I love a good milk tea. I have tried almost all leading milk tea places and know which drinks I liked one from another. A cute new store opened at SM Pasig. I first got a glimpse of it after I had my pampaerings session at Pink Parlour. I tried their milk tea and was glad that they had a unique taste which makes them a bit different that the leading milk tea places.


Tea Monkey Tamayaki and Tea is a quaint milktea place in SM Hypermart Pasig, tucked between a bread store and near a children's play pen. What will make you do a double take is their cute interior walls which will consists of different monkey paintings and all things fun.

Luckily, I was able to spend my last weeks of summer in the Summer Capital of the Philippines, Baguio City. Thanks to Azalea Residences Baguio, I enjoyed our three whole days of stay in Baguio.

Here are some shots taken during our Baguio Group Getaway hosted by Azalea Residences. We went to a lot of places in Baguio and took a lot of photos.

Harrison Night Market


We went to the Night Market as soon as we came. Baguio is really a haven for thrift shop lovers. There wer a lot of pretty items sold for less than Php100. I was able to buy a pretty blouse for just Php20!

The Taiwanese culture have been gaining waves in the country eversince the Asianovela explosion in the entertainment industry. Now Filipinos are embracing the unique flavors of the Taiwanese cuisine as more specialty restaurants are opening up in the Metro. I was luck to be invited for a foodie meetup at TaiOne restaurant at Promenade Greenhills.


TaiOne is located at the corner of the new wing in Promenade Greenhills. It may be hard to find among the sea of restaurants at the Promenade, but the place is accessible to the condominium residents around the area. They have been offering Taiwanese and Chinese dishes for quite some time now.