A day in Antipolo, Rizal

My friends and I spent a day in Antipolo. 

We actually planned to visit a bee farm but the place was fully booked, hence, we end up trying Yellow Bird Cafe x Kitchen for brunch. 

Here's a quick summary of our trip!

Yellow Bird Cafe x Kitchen
  

Book a table prior visit 'coz the place can only accomodate few guests(?).

We had sandwich, pasta and shanghai. We didn't order any from their specialty menu.

Pasta and shanghai tasted okay too.

Tried coffee (macadamia nut) and cold drinks as well.

Taste: 3.5/5
Food tastes not that wow but its okay.
I do have expectations when it comes to coffee since I always want my coffee strong. The coffee I ordered tastes more of milk.

Ambiance: 4/5
I was expecting an overlooking view but failed (I thought there is since social media photos showed a view or maybe if we went to the 2nd floor).

The cafe is inside a subdivision.

But credits to the gentle and relaxing interior of the cafe. The staff were accomodating too.

Price: 4/5
Affordable but I cannot say value for money since food tastes average.


Upper Sumulong Pasalubong Lane
Mangga, Suman, Kasuy - we bought suman and kasuy!

Kasuy were sold in adobo and plain flavors, per kilo or per 'takal.' I recommend adobo flavored kasuy! Once you start eating, you won't stop 😁

The vendor also offers free taste, so please ensure your hands are sanitized before taking a piece since you will get a piece directly from the container. 


Casa Santa Museum
Merry Christmas! 🎄

  

I totally agree! Everyday is Christmas here at Casa Santa 🎄

I recommend this museum for Santa loving people and kid at heart! The house is full of different types of Santa and decorations.

I just hope they added bits of information for each decor or maybe as a group 'coz that will make it more interesting, like where this came from, where they bought it, or any trivia. I hope they hire someone who would actually spend at least 15mins to show the visitors around and discuss a bit about what's displayed.

The entrance fee is 250php/person and it includes just the museum but you may roam around Jardin de Miramar.

Jardin de Miramar is an event place and Casa Santa is located inside. 
It will be nice to have a small cafe since Jardin itself has a relaxing ambiance.

Do not forget to bring your own water since there's no shop inside and you might get thirsty.

Visit their website for more details if you plan to spend a bit of time here.

Enjoy! Merry 2020 Christmas again!


Cafe Augusta

   

Last stop, merienda/dinner as we wait for the sunset. We're lucky to get a seat at the viewdeck area.

I've realized that I wasn't able to take a photo or video of the cafe itself since we were all engrossed with the ray of sun, sunset and view 🤣

Taste: 4/5
I like my spicy chicken and rice meal. We like the cold drinks too. It was refreshing.
I had cappuccino paired with cheesecake for dessert. I don't like the blueberry cheesecake since it tasted more of cream than cheese.
As for coffee - average but I like it better than the macadamia nut I had earlier.

Ambiance: 5/5
That overlooking view of the city (especially at night) and the sunset view in the afternoon is the selling point of this cafe.

We were there at around 3 to 4pm and waited until sunset. You'll see the clip and photos in the short summary video that I did.

It was indeed a nice place to cap off our Antipolo trip!

Better call them for reservation or arrive early to get good seats.

Price: 4/5
Affordable and value for money.
Taste of food and amibiance did not disappoint.


HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 

Mari ❤

Solstice 2020

A simple, short poem ♡

Mari❤

Quarantine New Normal: Dine-in

Almost every resto that I've been to that allows dine-in service follows 3 simple steps:

1. Sanitize/pass sanitation booth (hands and shoes)
2. Body Temperature check or scan
3. Online form or hardcopy form for contact tracing

In addition, here's a quick video of the food I've/we've ordered including what few restaurants look like inside.

BENCH CAFÉ

Trinoma branch was a bit small, hence, it is understandable that few tables are available for dine-in.

Value for money: BenchTo meals

TRES
(SM North)

We had sisig, kare-kare, gambas and shanghai.
I can consider it as home-cooked meals.

MAD MARK'S
(Glorietta)
The place is small hence most of the tables are for solo dine-in.

Nothing goes wrong with a medium-rare signature steak with bootsrap steak sauce.

BLAKE'S WINGS AND STEAKS
(SM North)

Must try: Buffalo wings

We also ordered potato fries in truffle oil.

HAWKER CHAN
(Glorietta)

Ordered my favorite roasted pork rice!
They do have a sanitation booth before you enter.

KATHERINE'S
(Vertis North)

First time to try stuffed pork plate and I like that they stuffed pork with veggies.

Usual order: Chicken with waffles

We also ordered spicy cereal fried chicken with rice and puttanesca pasta.

FOOD COURT
(Glorietta)

Solo tables only.
Ordered from different food stalls.

Other restaurants for lunch or merienda:

Din Tai Fung (Greenbelt)
McDonald's (Glorietta)
Popeye's (Makati)
Burger King (Glorietta)
Shakeys (SM North)

For fastfood restaurants:

Restos inside malls will just check the customer's body temperature but the QR code or contact tracing form is provided on the side. Hence, please be responsible to take the initiative to fill out the form and submit even if you already did during the time you entered the mall.

Bonus: A glimpse of Drive-in Theater!
I guess it was a parking lot that was converted to an open theater. 

Again, as a reminder, make sure to always wear your face mask and face shield when outside.

Oh and sanitize too! 

YouTube Playlist: Food, Sweets and Drinks

Mari ❤

Coffee Pairings | Self Espresso Donuts, NonProCook Flan de queso and Suman Moron

Sharing with you the snacks, breads, sweets and desserts that I've paired up with coffee these past few weeks while at home.

I'd like to highlight the following shops/merienda for your reference too:

SELF ESPRESSO

Donuts in flavors of blueberry and milky cheese.
Next time I'll try other flavors!

I like the bread itself. It's soft and best when warmed. Of course, it is sweet.

NONPROCOOK

Flan de queso is a combination of leche flan and cheese. We ordered a slice of their classic flavor (maybe next time I'll try espresso flavor). They also sell it as a whole if you plan to share the cake.

It tastes closer to a cheesecake instead of leche flan. Its not that sweet too.

SUMAN MORON

Discovered when a friend brought some from her hometown. I forgot if it was her aunt or her mom who cooked the suman.

Since then, I became fond of suman moron and also realized that commercialized version like the one I've bought from bazaar tastes different from the homecooked version.

ROSALIE'S UBE HALAYA SUMAN

Next time, I'll choose the original flavor.
I have nothing against ube halaya suman but I find it too sweet.

Still, this brand is one of my trusted suman brands usually seen in bazaars.

Tempted to buy donuts or flan de queso? What about suman? 😁

Mari ❤

Now selling: Ka Bernie's Kopi (Kapeng Barako ng Batangas)

Instant Kapeng Barako in 5minutes! 

Add sugar and milk if you like 👌 

 

Kapeng Barako in Dripbags (5's per pack)
Kapeng Barako in Teabags (10's per pack)

Pricelist:
Dripbags - Php 165
Teabags - Php 80

Also available, ground coffeebeans per kilo ☕ 

Order your ☕ today!

FB messenger

Ka Bernie's Online Store


Mari ❤
 

Will You?

 

My thoughts, back then. 

Mari❤

Kape Local: KapeTolyo

A vibe of history and coffee in one, Manila gives you its very own cafe, KapeTolyo. 

Located at the Kartilya ng Katipunan Park, just across Intramuros (pass by the Lagusnilad Underpass), with a mini garden outside, this cafe is the perfect place for hangout after a tiresome walk inside Intramuros or catching up with friends.


KapeTolyo supports local coffee farmers (all blends are homegrown) and on weekends they open the floor for farmers to present their new blend of coffee.

We had Mirabueno Coffee AVPA. It was the coffee that won the AVPA Gourmet Award in Milan, Italy (check this out, coffeelovers!!!)

After taking a sip, I told my friends that we should be drinking it in the morning 🤣


Nevertheless, it was a good cup of coffee over dark chococranberry sweets and a lot of 'kwento' with friends.


Also, the mini garden looks nice at night due to lights. Good thing the rain stopped, giving us the chance to appreciate the surroundings of the cafe.


I wasn't able to check the 'world-class' comfort room that was mentioned in the news. I'll check next time and will let you know if its really world-class👌


Minda-Tienda

The bazaar was closing soon but it didn't stop us from buying ube, kamote, durian and pomelo.


I hope they will visit Manila again or maybe Makati for easy access.


By the way, I was able to sleep at around 4am 😂

That's Mirabueno Coffee AVPA for you if you'll have it after 3pm 🤣


In summary - 

KapeTolyo was TAPped for ☕ 💯

Taste - 5/5 for AVPA

I love my coffee strong, hence, first sip of the Mirabueno AVPA made me smile. I'm not sure but no sour aftertaste even if the blend is strong. 

Ambiance - 4/5

It was crowded when we visited the cafe (after 3pm), but might be because of peak hours. Thanks to the see-through glass walls, you'll see the nice small park outside that lights up at night.

Unfortunately we weren't seated upstairs to check the view. Maybe next time 👌


Price - 4/5

For me, the price is okay given that menu consists of homegrown specialty coffees such as this award winning AVPA coffee. 

YouTube Playlist: Kape Local

Mari❤