How my 2021 ended.

Less than 4 hours to welcome 2022, and I can hear the sound of fireworks from a far while I work silently in my room. 

I tried to think of anything special that happened to me this year and I cannot think of any. Most of my happenings involved work and ... a lot more of work. 

I felt the days were fast and that time was limited to finish my tasks or to do lists. 

I cannot say I am 💯% happy but all I can say is that I am grateful and still thankful. 

Almost 2 years of working from home and I must say that work wise, this has been a challenging year for me. 

Overall, a tough year to the point that I do not even know how I was able to go through every issues thrown at me. 

I sincerely hope and pray that 2022 will be a lot more better and promising in terms of personal growth and career. 

Ciao 2021,

Mari

Bohol 2018 | Beach and Island Tour

Bohol ✈ getaway with officemates turned friends! 

Here's what we did in Bohol!

Our first day was spent getting ready for the island tour and walking by the beach. 

We stayed at Island World Panglao, about 15mins away from the sea.

Surprisingly, Panglao seemed crowded and very much different compared to my first visit way back 6 yrs. ago (estimate). High-end hotels and new restaurants left an impression that Bohol looked similar to Boracay. The beach was crowded too!

Still, we had a pleasant time. 

We went to Bohol to relax and we were able to do that! 

♡,

Mari

Souffle pancakes and Coffee at am.pm Philippines

By far the 'best' souffle pancakes I had in Manila 😁

am.pm is a Hong Kong brand and this is their first branch in the Philippines. 

Nice place to hang out with family or friends. 

The cafe's interior looks lively and fun.

Pancakes: Apart from the usual jiggly description, am.pm's souffle pancakes melts in your mouth. No kidding! Though I like both flavors, creme brulee and chocolate, I still prefer the latter. Maybe because creme brulee and egg almost tastes the same? 😅

Nothing special with the coffee americano ☕ and my sister likes her milktea drink. 

TAPped!

Taste 4/5

I like both dark chocolate and creme brulee souffle pancakes 😁

Black coffee tastes okay.

Ambiance 3/5

Space is small, only few seats for dine-in.

Price 3/5 

For me, it is pricey.

Souffle pancakes, anyone? 😉

♡,

Mari

Work from Home | A cup of coffee a day (Nespresso)

我喜欢咖啡 ❤

Sharing my coffee experience with Nespresso capsules for a year, aside from brewing, dripbags, teabags and coffee press 😁

Latest ☕ compilation:

 

Coffee is part of my life. 

My day starts with a cup of coffee and sometimes ends with another cup as well.

Prior pandemic, I frequent cafes and coffeeshops and missed counting the times when I go back and forth the office pantry to satisfy my coffee needs. 

Things changed when the pandemic lockdown started since I have to be creative at home in preparing my coffee. 

I have a lot of coffee options, some I bought from trips and some were given to me as gifts.

 

I even tried making my own version of 'kori kohi.' 

Then I discovered that Nespresso sells their mini machines at a discounted price from time to time. When I chanced upon it, I bought one 😁 (I got mine in red).

Wonder why I chose Nespresso brand over other machines? 

It's because they offer a lot of flavors apart from the limited edition flavors from time to time.

Also, thanks to my aunts for introducing this brand to me 😁 

I had my first Nespresso coffee when I stayed at my aunt's place. Few years after, I went to another aunt's place for a visit and found that she also had one. So I told myself, I will also buy one but the cheapest version 😆

Not really sure if the pandemic pushed me into buying a machine but at some point, I realized how much I've spent on coffee in a year 🤣 (like seriously 🤪)

I can say that a cup of Nespresso a day is more economical than a cup of tall, venti, large, or grande in any coffeeshops. Also, I can freely switch to brewed coffee or dripbag since I'm just at home. 

Going back, what I really like is their wide range of coffee flavors. 

 

Each flavor has it's own intensity. If I want a mild one, I can choose between intensities 4 to 6, while beyond 7 is reserved for days when I need to stay awake past midnight due to work 😅. 

I also got a Nespresso milk frother for free because I bought capsules in a bundle. It was a good deal!!! 

I use the frother from time to time, makes me feel like I'm a barista 😄 I also add cinnamon and whipped cream on top. Sometimes, I add ice. 

So now have the option to just chill at home! Very nice isn't it? We just order pastries or desserts for take-away. 

Surely, for a family who likes coffee very much, an espresso machine is a good investment. 

(If you have a bigger budget, then maybe you can buy machines the same as the ones seen in the cafes.)

Do you also like coffee? 

你喜欢咖啡了吗? 

♡,

Mari

Coffeeshops in PH: Kape Lokal

Manila Buffet | Suki-ya (Japanese Yakiniku and Shabu-shabu)

Hooooray for another shabu-shabu buffet experience!

Finding the right soup is not easy. I still like Shaburi's miso soup and I think Suki-ya is also another good option. Hopefully they'll have another branch near Makati area 😁

 

We were told that we can choose 4 different types of soup since we were a group of 3. Hence, we chose Kimuchi, Butaniku, Sukiyaki and Shabu-shabu. 

Since quarantine guidelines were implemented, all sidings were plated and you will have to ask them what you want from time to time. We wanted beef, hence we added around 60php on top of the usual rate per head.

Shabu-shabu soup tasted like Konbu or clear soup. It doesn't have a strong flavor like Kimuchi. Soaked chicken/squid balls and you'll be satisfied too. 

Sukiyaki is your typical sweet soy-based soup and great with beef. I think most japanese restaurants offer sukiyaki beef flavored meat. 

Butaniku is flavourful. I find it a bit salty as well but okay with pork and chicken meat.

Kimuchi gives off a different feeling. Although the description stated miso soup, it isn't like that for me. The soup has a biting taste - mixture of spicy and salty in one. So far I like this best since I'm a fan of 'whatever spicy' 😄 

While eating boiled meat and side dishes from Kimuchi soup, I recommend Shabu-shabu soup in between to save your tounge 🤣

We spent about 2 hours eating and enjoying each soup! 

We had a great time except when we saw baby cockroaches 😐 

Maybe they need to fumigate the area. 

Any buffet suggestion? Leave a comment!

♡,

Mari

eight. | lettersfrommari

 

Still, thank you.

♡,

Mari

Davao 2019 | Malagos Chocolate Farm and Puentespina Farm

No regrets.

We spent a day at Puentespina Farm: stopped by at Bird Sanctuary and ended the tour at Malagos Chocolate Museum.

We availed their Tree-to-Bar experience package and were provided with towels and cold drinks to freshen up.

Interestingly, the first leg of the tour was about the cacao farm. Overview of the process was mentioned before we went to see the cacao trees.

There are two types of cacao trees cultivated and used for chocolate production at Puentespina Farm. They demonstrated how they open each cacao fruit and we even tasted a lot 😁 The fleshy part needs to be removed before the real process begins.

The beans needs to be dried for some time before they sort it out and made into chocolate.

Our guide peeled one dried cacao bean for tasting and told us that its 'cacao nibs.' It tasted bitter-sweet but more on the bitter side 😄

After the farm visit, we went to Malagos Chocolate Museum.

The museum speaks volumes of information mainly on chocolate! (Obviously!)

We stayed there for a bit before finally having a cup of hot tsokolate and suman. Happy tummy prior the chocolate workshop activity.

For me the fun part was the chocolate workshop session. 

We were allowed to choose what to put in the chocolate mold. I chose almonds, mint leaves, chili, cranberries and a lot.

We were given melted chocolates and two boxes for packaging. You may check our video to see what we did. I think I had about 20pieces per box.

Malagos chocolate bars/nibs have a wine aftertaste (or was it just me?) And I really like it!

I bought chocolate bars for pasalubong 😊 My family and friends like them too.

Are you fond of chocolates too? 😉

♡,
Mari