If I Stay

Recently, I was able to watch a wonderful film called "If I Stay" starring Chloe Grace Moretz.

The movie revolves around how a teenager who is passionate about playing the cello was supported by her parents to her help achieve her dream. It also shows how as love makes us strong amidst the challenges we face in life.

Mia(played by Chloe Grace Moretz), had to deal with challenges in her life when their family got into a car accident that led to a situation where she shares her life experience and her thoughts on life and love. She also shared the story on how she fell in love with Adam(played by Jamie Blackley) and the differences that they had.

Although the film is quite emotional (which means that you should bring tissue when you watch it as there are a lot of touching scenes), I would say that it is also a movie that brings hope and makes us realize that love conquers challenges in life and it is true what they say that what does not kill us only makes us stronger.

Apart from this, it also teaches us that if we follow our passions in life then we will definitely succeed. In the film, Mia is passionate about playing the cello and she never imagined that she would end up having a great audition for Julliard, the best music school.

Chloe Grace Moretz(who plays the role of Mia) is certainly a good actress. I feel that she can probably win an Oscar award in the future provided that she is given good breaks and have more opportunities to do great films.

The movie also reminds us  that life is short and we have to love, live, give and learn. What is important is that we lead a meaningful life and make a difference in other people's lives in a positive way.

Here's a trailer of the movie If I Stay:

I love the film and the soundtrack makes it even better. My favourite songs are the "Halo" song version by Ane Brun and Odessa's song "I will be there".

Here's Ane Brun's rendition of Halo:

The first time I heard Odessa's song "I will be there" was in Queen Latifah's show. It was a song also used by Subaru in their tv ad. Here's Odessa singing "I will be there":

If you want to watch a simple film about life and love then I suggest you watch this movie.

And so it goes...

I had the chance of watching a funny movie called "And so it goes" at BGC High Street Central last week. Finally, I have tried the new cinema at High Street. It's nice and watching during a weekday was just perfect as the cinema was not crowded.

The movie was directed by Rob Reiner, the same director of  When Harry Met Sally and The Bucket List movies. It features actors Diane Keaton and Michael Douglas.

The story revolves around the main character named Oren Little(played by Michael Douglas) who is an obnoxious real estate sales professional who wants to retire in peace once he sells his last house. Since life is filled with unexpected surprises Mr. Little had to face the challenges of dealing with circumstances in his life when his  estranged son showed up on his doorstep and told him that he has to take care of  his nine-year old daughter since he needs to go to jail.

Mr. Little did not want to change his life as he simply likes to take care of himself at "Little Shangri-la", the home compound where he and his neighbors stay. To have an uniterrupted life, he tried to pawn his grand daughter to his neighbor Leah(played by Diane Keaton) who loves kids. Leah is just the opposite of Mr. Little since she is kind and well-liked by her neighbors.  She has also reinvented herself since she has become a lounge singer after her husband has passed on.

The film teaches us that life is full of surprises and that one can have a "change of heart". Mr, Little had transformed from being the obnoxious and grumpy neighbor to a well-liked person. 

It also emphasizes on the importance of love, being kind and caring for each other.

If you watch the film, you will laugh at all the funny scenes and you will also see how Mr. Little learned to open his heart and care for his neighbors and his estranged son and grand daughter. You will also see how he learned to fall in love again.

The movie reminds us that people can change for the better and there is good in everyone. Sometimes we just have to find the good in some people that we encounter in our lives. It certainly changes our perspective on things and on people.

Here's the movie trailer of "And So it Goes":

If you want to watch a light movie that can make you laugh and make you feel good then this movie is a good one to watch.

Refinery at Rockwell

I discovered and tried a cafe in Rockwell called Refinery.  It is located at the ground floor of Joya building in Rockwell.

The cafe can accomodate around 15 people inside and around 10 people outside. I noticed that foreigners like the place since it is quiet and not attached to the Powerplant mall.

Cozy ambience with dark wooden tables and funky chairs

The place also offers various wines

The high ceiling and natural light that comes in adds
 to the relaxed vibe

For breakfast, I tried their decaf caffe mocha and the truffled eggs with salad. The coffee is good but the truffled eggs can still be improved. 

Decaf caffe mocha

Truffled eggs with salad

If you like to go to a quiet and out-of-the-mall place in Rockwell for coffee they you should try  the Refinery, 

Ultimate Taste Test event at Rockwell

I attended the Ultimate Taste Test event at Rockwell tent  in Makati City today(27 September 2014) which was organized by Our Awesome Planet.

The event allows foodies to become food critics for a day as they get to sample various food from more than 50 food suppliers.  A fee of PHP600 per person was applied as entrance fee.

As I went around to visit the various food booths, I noticed that the event had more suppliers giving out sweet stuff samples to event goers than savoury food options.

I was able to meet and chat with the event organizer's wife, Rachel Diaz. I shared with her my feedback that I expected the event to have a 50-50 share of suppliers offering sweet and savoury food. She informed me that it just so happened that for this event there were more applicants offering dessert and pastry products. 

Since there were a lot of food booths and I do not want to eat too much I ended up applying mindful eating by being selective of the items that I tried.

Some of the food booths had poor presentation and the products did not look appetizing at all so I skipped those...ha ha ha just like a real food critic would do... since I felt it was just a waste of calories.

Some of the food finds that I tried which I found to be good are as follows:

1) Rellenong bangus by Fisher Farms

The rellenong bangus by Fisher Farms was created by Chef Reggie Aspiras. It is a gourmet version of the rellenong bangus and it is healthy too since it is baked.

I was informed by the booth representative that it will be available in supermarkets by November 2014.

Rellenong bangus by Fisher Farms

Fisher Farms also provides a generous tasting portion of 1 slice of the rellenong bangus which enables the samplers to appreciate the dish well. I found it to be good as it is not starchy unlike other rellenong bangus versions of other brands.

Rellenong bangus tasting sample from Fisher Farms

2) Roast chicken by Fork Play

The roast chicken by Fork Play is good. I tried the white meat portion of the chicken and it is good. It's not salty but you can really taste the flavors of the herbs and spices.

Honestly, this dish is also good when it is paired with the paella from Kulinarya.

Grilled chicken by Fork Play

3)  Paella by Kulinarya

The Paella by Kulinarya is good.  I did not even know that Kulinarya, the restaurant located at the lower floor area of Rockwell Powerplant mall, offered paella.

A lot of the people who tried the dish kept on giving positive comments about it.

Paella by Kulinarya

4) Pinkberry

For dessert, Pinkberry was just the best choice. It is yoghurt and it is healthy. They gave out 2 flavors: Cherry and Salted Caramel.  Aside from this, I really think it is also a good palate cleanser.

From my observation, it seems that adults like Salted caramel while the kids especially the girls prefer the Cherry flavor since it is colored pink.

I learned  and tried something new too. Pinkberry now offers new toppings called Sugarpova.  It is the premium gummy candy by tennis star Maria Sharapova. Plus, it is so cute to see that the lip- shaped gummy candies is called "Flirty" while the other colorful, sour and sweet candy is  called "Smitten".

I think pun was intended in naming the product "Sugarpova" as it really rhymes with Sharapova. It was fun seeing how people react when they learn that it is by Maria  Sharapova. That's really what you call brand diversity and entrepreneurship since  I remember that Sharapova also has some fashion collaboration before with Cole Haan where she designed some shoes for the brand.

"Flirty" Sugarpova gummy candies

 












 

"Smitten" Sugarpova candies

Foodies sampling Pinkberry products

Overall, the event was okay since it gives food entrepreneurs a venue to showcase their products to consumers.  In terms of improvement, I think it would be good if for their next year event, they would have more savoury dish suppliers also since it seems that around 85% of the suppliers were offering desserts and sweet products.

It will also be good if the other food booths would also take more effort and creativity in presenting their products.  

I would say that one creative supplier was the booth selling organic greens since they offered freshly made mini pizzas using the organic greens that they are selling.  Plus, they also gave samplers an option to buy the greens and herbs they are selling either as a plant in a pot or the option to get it harvested,cut and ready for use for other dishes.

Young entrepreneurs explaining their product

Pizza prepared with fresh  & organic arugula, kale and basil

Foodies at the event

CDP(Chef Du Partie)

One of the most recent restaurants I tried in Rockwell Powerplant Mall in Makati city is "CDP" which stands for Chef Du  Partie.

The restaurant is a global table restaurant which offers dishes that came from inspirations from Paris, New York, and Manila.

The place is located beside Mamou too! restaurant. It is quite small but cozy.

I was able to talk with Malou Fores, one of the owners of the restaurant who nicely asked for feedback on the dishes that I have tried.

The dishes I got were recommendations by the restaurant's French manager, Anne Berges,

I tried the Manuka chevre salad, French onion soup and the Black stew dish.

The Manuka chevre salad is a combination of sorrel, roquette, lola rosa, dried strawberries, fuet, almonds, Malagos chevre, cherry tomatoes, red wine vinaigrette, manuka honey, extra virgin olive oil.

Manuka chevre salad

French Onion soup

The Black stew dish was nice as it combined squid in black ink and chorizo.

Black stew

The portions of the dishes are quite small so in case you plan to go there with a group of friends you might have to order several dishes.

\

I asked about the big jars containing various fruits at their bar and was informed by Anne that these are all homemade liquers which they use as base for their cocktails and can also be consumed pure like a limoncello after a meal or with some ice. 

Fruit infused liquers

Malou Fores, asked me if I was able to see their restroom. When I said that I have not she said that I should definitely see it.

Out of curiosity I went to the restroom and saw that it was a nicely made restroom that is quite artsy as the wall where the urinal is located even had an E.E. Cummings quote. Plus, it was nice to see the large floral arrangement too.  

Cool cafes in HK

I like hanging out in cafes to take short breaks during  trips. Recently, I was able to go to two nice hole-in-a-wall type cafes in Hong Kong.

One cafe is called Rabbit Hole.  The name of the cafe was lifted from the novel "Alice in Wonderland".

If you are familiar with the novel, you would recall that Alice fell into a rabbit hole and she entered a world of fantasy. The owner was inspired by said story and thought that "Rabbit Hole" is an appropriate name but in the owner's version the Rabbit Hole leads customers  to  fall into a place where a cup of well made, well executed coffee can be found.

The coffee bar

Expect nice latte art for drinks with foam

Cozy atmosphere at Rabbit hole

Traditional "syphon" type coffee equipment

Coffee beans from Kenya, Rwanda and Papua New Guinea 

Cute green rabbits seen from the front window of the store

Coffee beans are for sale in the shop

The other cool cafe that I went to is called Allegretto.  It is located in the busy Tsim Sha Tsui area in Hong Kong.

It is quite hidden that you will  have to go inside a mall and go out a street located from the top of the mall to find it. 

It is a nice cafe that serves good coffee and both expats and locals like this place. 

Allegretto facade 

Coffee bar at Allegretto

Cozy and relaxed vibe inside the store

Cute latte art at Allegretto

Honestly, I do not drink coffee but I decided to get the cafe latte since the caffe latte art they make is simply irresistable and cute.

Just a tip though. If you want to request for cafe latte art make sure you go to the cafe during off-peak hours so that the staff have time to prepare it.

Disney Live! Three Classic Fairytales

I am lucky. I was able to watch Disney Live! Three Classic Fairytales last September 12, 2014 at SM Arena in Manila.

A good friend of mine who also loves Disney shows invited me to join her and the kid in me just jumped for joy as I super love Disney shows. It certainly brings back happy childhood memories.

The show featured 3 Disney Classic stories: Snow White, Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast.

It was really fun and entertaining as the Disney gang composed of Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy took turns in telling the  classic stories to the audience. 

The show was magical. Both kids and adults were interacting with the characters when questions were thrown at the audience.

Cute dancing dwarfs  

Snow White and the dwarfs

Princesses and Princes from the 3 classic fairytales
with Minnie Mouse

Fab ending with glittery confetti

It is always fun to watch Disney shows. The consistency of the characters and the voices versus the animated film really makes the show amazing.

Must-go places in Tagaytay

I am a city girl but once in awhile I need to recharge and be surrounded by fresh air and nature.

For me, Tagaytay is a perfect getaway to unwind.  It only takes an hour and a half drive from Manila to get there plus there are a lot of wonderful things to do in the area.

During my recent road trip to Tagaytay I was able to visit to the following cool places:

1) Antonio's Breakfast

Antonio's Breakfast is a nice place to stopover for breakfast or brunch. It offers an all-day breakfast menu. There are a lot of good dishes to choose from which includes  pancakes and waffles, roesti, crepes, omelette and fritatas, sandwiches, pizza, etc.

Both kids and adults would love the food choices at this cozy breakfast place.

For healthy food eaters, they have good salad choices too. I had the Antonio's House Salad which was good as it is a combination mixed greens, assorted fruits, cucumber, nuts and seeds with an organic boiled egg and the dressing is a mixed berries mustard dressing. Since I like a lighter tasting dressing I requested for the Raspberry vinaigrette  dressing which was very good.

Antonio's House Salad

Antonio's also sells salad dressings, jams, cakes, breads and pastries.

Salad dressings

Fruit jams

Freshly baked breads

Cakes and pastries

Antonio's is definitely a cool stopover for a nice breakfast. Plus, while dining at the restaurant you also have a view of the famous Taal volcano.  They also have an outdoor viewing deck located at the back of the restaurant.

Taal volcano

                             

2) Antonio's Lanai Lounge

Antonio's owner Chef Tonyboy Escalante also opened  Antonio's Lanai lounge a couple of months ago. The place is a cool garden lounge located in the same premises as his fine dining restaurant.

Gate to Antonio's Lanai lounge

Lanai lounge area 

Comfy lounge area that reminds me of Mandarin Oriental
 in Thailand

The bar at Lanai lounge

Cozy lounge area

Main house(fine dining area) at the back of the garden lounge

Lounge areas in the garden

Strawberry balsamic drink

I also like the sense of humor of the owner. Look at the signage hanging near the restroom.

Signage at Antonio's Lanai lounge restroom

I was told by the staff that their Lanai lounge looks nice at night. Looks like I have to go back then and go there for cocktails before dinner one of these days.

3) Ilog Maria bee farm

 Another cool stopover is Ilog Maria bee farm.

Ilog Maria sells various organic products using ingredients sourced from the bee farm such as massage oils, throat spray, shampoo, body wash, soaps, etc.

A good friend of mine and I use the throat spray since it helps boost the immune system and is very good in preventing sore throats.

Ilog Maria throat spray

Ilog Maria massage oil

Bath gel

Soaps made of natural ingredients like oatmeal and milk, etc.

To know more about Ilog Maria, you  an visit their website:  Ilog Maria website

On your way home, you can also stopover one of the flower shops along the main road in Tagaytay. They offer a wide selection of plants and the prices are much lower compared to buying it in Manila.