Crazy Manila Weather

Metro Manila weather lately has just been crazy! It has been raining non stop since Sunday. Most places are flooded, some are flooded up to the 2nd floor or even higher, people stranded or still needs to be rescued, and worst part, some not only lost their livelihood and homes, but their loved ones as well. People are crying, starving, cold, and in dire need of help. Heartbreaking and scary.

We didn't have electricity for more than 24 hours, good thing power was turned back on today. We were stuck at home, we could only eat what we have stocked, mostly canned goods or hotdogs and eggs. Imagine, Jollibee or KFC even ran out of chicken, all the fast food chains near our house ran out of food to sell, groceries out of supplies too. Despite that, I still feel fortunate that we weren't flooded, that we still had food to eat, that we still have our home and we're all safe. They say the worst is over, I just hope so, specially for the sake of those who weren't fortunate enough.

We all know that Metro Manila has the worst weather in all of Philippines. If it's not too hot and dry, it's too cold and wet. As early as June the storm/ typhoon season starts and will end in the early Ber-months. And because I feel so lucky that I'm here, alive, and blogging, here are a few things to keep in mind, maybe bookmark or save... 

Prepare your own Survival Kit:

Water, food, first aid kit, flashlights, blankets, clothes, etc.

read this.

And if you are one of those who are lucky, please help out our brothers and sisters who are in need. Mayor Lim has already suspended classes in Manila until Friday, August 10. Maybe help out, volunteer, donate, or whatever you can do to help.

RED CROSS

SMS

Text REDAMOUNT to 2899 (Globe) or 4143 (Smart)

G-Cash

Text DONATEAMOUNT4-digit M-PINREDCROSS to 2882

There are lots of other pages that are also giving ways on how you can help, check your facebook or twitter. I saw most of these there.

It's sad how we still haven't learned from the past like Ondoy. We should really start taking care of our planet, let's start with our own country. This is natures way of getting back at us, it's been sending us a message for years now.

I hope everyone is dry and safe. My heart goes out to those who are affected and the victims of this bad weather. Filipinos are resilient, we will all get through this, we will survive like we always do, and we will move on with a smile. Faith and prayers are always the best weapon.

Take care!

XXXOOO,

   Les :)

Rain, Hair, Food and Polla

A day spent with my cousin, Polla, will always be interesting. With her, it will always involve food, laughter, and pure random silliness. But this post won't just be about this silly little piggy (I call her that for many reasons, later on you'll see why on my blog).

A rainy Saturday afternoon is one of those lazy days, where you just want to stay at home, get cozy in bed and watch movies. I know I do! At least that's what I planned to do, but I got myself yanked out of bed.

My Abductor. :p

May look innocent, but don't let that goofy face fool you.

Highly dangerous, can be seen in small corners and frozen yogurt or ice cream shops, lazy on most days, but will attack if given food or wants something.

My cousin, Polla, asked me to go with her to the salon where I usually get my hair done. It's been a long time since we've gone out, so it was nice to catch up.

Acqua Salon

This fabulous salon hidden in Trinoma's Mindanao Wing has been my hair go-to for years. Away from the busy part of the mall, it is tucked away near the 3rd floor Mindanao parking, behind the Nike store, along the line of other salons and personal grooming shops. Inside, the salon gives a modern and chic feel. I don't have pictures of the interior as it was a busy day at the salon.

I always recommend this salon to my friends and family. That's how good they are!

I'm telling you, they'll work wonders for you and your hair. They will really take good care of your hair, and it is after all, your crowning glory. They also offer other services like make up, eyebrow threading, hand and foot care, etc. Sorry, I seem to have lost the list of services picture. They offer all kinds of services for your hair, they aslo have individual services from those packages above.

This is Ms. Laila, she has been my hair stylist for 4 years now. A senior stylist at Acqua, a haircut from her is at Php 350.

Never, not even once did I get a bad haircut from her. She makes sure that the style would always suit me. And even when my hair grew, it would still look good. The treatments or services were also longer lasting and doesn't damage your hair.

My cousin getting a haircut from Ms. Laila.

Polla decided to get a haircut, keratin treatment, and eyebrow threading (Php 120). Oh I love this Keratin treatment! I had this done a week before her, it really brought back life and shine to my hair. You may have heard of it as the Brazilian blow out or permanent blow dry. I guess the name depends on the salon.

Because I knew how long this would be, roughly 2-3hours with the haircut, and we were kinda hungry but didn't want to spoil our appetite for dinner...

We passed by Mary Grace Cafe and got their Cassava Chips with Onion Dip (Php 112). We bought the Sola from Gourdo's. :)

With the dip they are so good! Crispy and tangy.

She was so hungry that she ate while they were doing her hair. Not even the haircut or the treatment stopped her. We were supposed to eat during the leave on period of the treatment. And to think that she ate before we left.

Kuya laughing at her PG-ness. (patay gutom)
Yesss, I love that fezz! :p

They put this medicine on your hair and leave it on for 45min. or more. It smells like vanilla and that wee-wee pad drops, the drops you use to potty train your dog, while le boyfie says that it smells like Sustagen (the milk drink) lol. Anyhoo, after the hair has soaked up the medicine, they blow dry the hair, and iron it, they don't rinse the hair hence the blow dry part. Your hair is going to look straight, like it was rebonded, but after you wash you hair, it will look natural and healthy. You can't wash your hair for at least 24hrs, okay.

So after, she got her eyebrows done.

Polla and Kuya Jeff. :)
He was so nice and friendly. He's also a styling assistant at Acqua.

I've noticed, most of the styling assistants there are men, and are actually quite good looking. Good looking guys, which are straight by the way, styling, blow drying, shampooing, threading eyebrows and sorts. Hmmm, interesting. :D *single ladies flee to the salon.

Dinner at Oki Oki.

We always order the Gyudon with egg. One of our favorites when eating at Japanese restaurants. Oki Oki has one of the best Gyudons I've ever tasted, flavorful and the beef strips were soft (good for my braces). We didn't order sushi or anything else, one bowl will make you more than full.

yogurt at Red Mango
Les- original + almond mochi + fruit pebbles
Polla- lemon swirl + cheesecake bites + Special K

And even though we were so full from dinner, there will always be room for dessert. Specially if it's yogurt or ice cream for Polla.

It was a good Saturday indeed. Happy Polline and Lean, happy tummies! :D

<3 from Les & Polla.
photo from Polla's instagram.

Acqua Salon

TriNoma

Level M2, Mindanao Wing, Trinoma

Edsa cor. North Ave.

Quezon City

Alabang

Second level, Westgate Center

Filinvest-Alabang

XXXOOO,

   Les :)

Tous Les Jours' Macaron de Paris

Yesterday, I was feeling a bit down. Usually when I have those days, sweets are my best friends, just like how women usually turn to chocolate. Sweet treats are my picker-upper. :)

from Tous Les Jours Philippines facebook page

So when I saw this, I instantly had a craving for french macarons. And when I crave for something, I simply must have it. MUST!!!

I love me my french macarons! I even took a french macaron workshop so I could make them myself. Before, there were select stores that sold these sweet meringue-based confectioneries. You had to go to some place like Bizu or a french patisserie for your macaron fix, but now they're everywhere. From Sofitel to Empire at Mercato, even French Baker sells them now.

Anyhoo, good thing Le Boyfie lives near SM North, and I got my french macarons! Yaaay! :D

TLJ has really good packaging, cute and simple.

With excitement I opened my tray of colorful treats, untying the little ribbon. I chose the mango flavored one first.

Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed, I kind of expected more. Their macarons were so-so. The mango had, well the mango flavor, but it didn't have that texture I was looking for. The vanilla and strawberry lacked flavor, I could not taste the vanilla nor the strawberry, it tasted like plain almond powder and sugar. Both were chewy on the inside and had that certain crisp on the outside, which I liked.

They were okay, just okay, my french macarons were way better haha. I hope they could improve the flavors a bit. I know, tough times, I just don't like how they compromise the quality so they can sell it at a lower price. But for 28 pesos a pop, they really are okay. I liked their bread though, but that's for another post.

I'd love to try their cakes. They look amazing and delicious.

Try them for yourself. TLJ is having a 5+1 launching promo.

Available in vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, mango and green tea. 28php/each

Tous Les Jours

Alabang Town Center

SM North

SM Southmall

XXXOOO,

Les. :)

Ultimate Taste Test 9.0

Hello there! I know, I'm a few post over due. So here goes my first post-post. lol

Okay, for those who aren't familiar with the Ultimate Taste Test, the title practically says it all. It is an event that draws out thousands of foodies, where different food and drink concessionaires give out a free taste of their products that are already in the market, have just been launched or will soon be launched. People are given the chance to be food critics for a day, sampling the products and rating them, simple and fun! The event is organized by Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet blog.

The top 5 hailed tastiest or yummiest will not only be featured on www.ourawesomeplanet.com blog, but will aslo be given a month's stay at any of the Mercato Centrale-managed food markets.

I've always wanted to go to the UTT events for years, but never got the chance to. So imagine to my surprise that not only was I able to go, but I also got to participate as one of the concessionaires there. Well, I was partly one.

My relatives, Ate Han and Ate Inday were the ones who joined the event. I wanted to help them in a way that I knew best. BAKE!

I baked mini cupcakes using their product, Neneng's 100% Pure Tablea. It wasn't easy though, I had to grate every single tablea that I used. I decided to call these babies the Tsoko-holic's Tablea cupcakes.  

They decided to join last Friday and the event was on Sunday, we had a day to prepare, everything was short notice and we really had to hustle. But because of dinner that ended so late at Sofitel, I only had Sunday morning. I had to use what I already had or when I needed something, I had to get it some place near by. Kinda i-stress!!!

The Event

We got there a bit late, blame the Manila traffic and the bad weather that made it worse. It was kind of intimidating being there as a newbie. All these different booths with their fancy signs, booth designs, unifroms, they were really prepared. Then of course there were booths from the Mercato favorites.

Our booth was the one beside Manila Q and Little Bites. We were under the company name Humayanon Enterprise on the passports. We gave out samples of the cupcakes and their rich hot chocolate that was just perfect for that cold rainy night. Although they were supposed to give out champorado (sweet chocolate rice porridge) too, they didn't have enough time to make it, but the hot cocoa was more than enough to please the crowd.

Ate Inday posing with the signs. 

People were already lining up to their booth when I got there. The mini cupcakes had no icing yet, because I didn't want them to get ruined during the car ride to the venue. I had to pipe the frosting like there was no tomorrow, I even had to ask the kids to help with the frosting, which explains a few messy ones. (If you got those, sorry! ) There was a never-ending stream of people, which also explains the naked cupcake tower. We couldn't manage to fill it up since people continuously grabbed the cupcakes.

My little sign at the event.

My cupcake tower that never got fully stacked.

They told me to make 150 mini cupcakes and it obviously was not enough. Mid event my cupcakes were already gone. So, I got the chance to go around and try the different goodies. I stuffed myself silly! :))

My grandma's passport. I already gave mine with the scores in it :)

Ate Inday and Ate Han handing out samples, while Krystel stamped the passports.

Oh hai there, Krizia! Foodie daw siya. :)

Ticket and passport.

I'm proud of my staff ID hihi. 

I didn't get to take pictures of the different goodies and booths there. I was too busy eating and I was totally beat! No time for pics, eat, eat, eat! Can't deny that I really loved the sweets, duh! Adventures of a sweet tooth, of course I did! Oh and I really enjoyed those drinks from Mocktail Republic and Bacardi, the mojitos were good!

My Favorites (not in any order):
Bagwang from Manila Q
Red velvet crinkles from Little Bites
Strawberry short cake ice cream from Merry Moo
Crunchy belly from Carlo's Kitchen
Mojitos from Future Trade (Bacardi)
Mango Margarita from Mocktail Republic
Nutella Rocks from Baked Bites by ABC
Salmon from Bread Winner
Panzarotti from Mamalou's Italian Kitchen
Chicken shots from Happy Panda
Red velvet and vanilla cupcakes from Bambi's House of Dessert

It was an amazing experience! I would definitely do it again, but next time, I'm going to be prepared! Like what Ate Han said, we had a lot of bloopers, but for newbies, we did pretty good. Their hot cocoa was a big hit and my cupcakes too! My little baked goodies flew off the shelves fast. Best part of the day for me was when people would comment on how good my cupcakes were or when I'd see people take that first bite with that "mmmm" expression on their faces, and going back for seconds. Those moments just make the hard work worth it. Despite the cray cray weather and going home soaked from the rain, it was super fun!


P.S sorry for the bad photos, Krizia took those, others I took with my mum's phone. And sorry for the errors or if it's too long, I'm new at this.

XXXOOO, 

    LES :)

Good morning star shine! The Earth says "Hello".

Hey there! I'm not really a full time blogger, please go easy on me. :D

I'm new at this, so please bear with me. Get ready to see the world according to Les, that's me! Welcome aboard my sweet journey. This blog will contain all the places I've been to, all the food and sweets I will probably stuff myself with, and pretty much everything I love.

I can't decide a permanent home for my blog yet, so right now I have two blogs, one here and one on WordPress. The content is pretty much the same, but feel free to check it out here. After 100 days, I'll decide *dun dun dun. Which reminds me, I have three blogs haha. What the heck, let me just wing it. ;)

Wish me luck!

XXXOOO,

LES