I'm In Green Tea Heaven

lemon teaz @ kozui

A cafe that serves green tea anything. That's already enough reason for me to check out this zen place for green tea and healthy living aficionados. While most of my friends and acquaintances headed straight to the malls and movie houses to preview the much talked-about Avengers---I, on the other hand, went straight to Tomas Morato for the sole purpose to try out Kozui Green Tea Cafe. I even rode the MRT for the very first time just by myself to check out this green tea haven of a place, which made the trip all the more memorable.

Crazy Over Peanut Butter

goodies at PBCo

I'm always intrigued with this food store that specializes in peanut butter, which I would like to call a peanut butter cafe. Since I'm crazy over peanut butter, it proved to be no sweat for me to travel the long stretch of Katipunan Avenue until I reached Regis Center where Peanut Butter Company (PBCo.) is located.

An Italian Espresso Bar

food at segafredo zanetti

The heat of the afternoon sun is starting to get unbearable. Our feet already felt tired because of constant walking. My mind is on a chaotic state, listless and ambling to and fro with no clear direction. I looked at my two other companions, grim-faced and sweltering under the beat of the sun. Not sure if they also share the gale of emotions I felt at that moment. But one thing remained paramount, we need to be fed.

One Chic Coffee Kiosk

mochacchino & blueberry cake

To be honest, when I first saw Akiba Cafe in SM Megamall, it didn't drew that much attention from me. Maybe because I find it too open for me to chill and enjoy my coffee. However, when I saw this cafe featured on an article in Meg magazine, it naturally heightened my interest to check what this coffee shop (or kiosk) has to offer.

A Slice Of Good, Healthy Eating

arroz caldo & putanesca

It all started when Karen Anne called me late at night while I was hunched over my netbook inside my room, tapping soundlessly away on my keyboard as I compose the text for The Bread Bag post which I already published on my blog a few days ago. Since its her day off from work the following day and she really need a respite from her call center duties, she asked me if I could join her to go out somewhere. It will be my call on where we would go and where we would eat. I cannot confirm my availability right away since I'm also expecting to meet another friend of mine tomorrow to do some errands. But when I got a word from that friend of mine the morning after that our meet up was cancelled, I immediately informed Karen through Facebook chat that I'm free to join her. I've read a recent post a few days ago on Our Awesome Planet by Anton Diaz that Slice Cafe, owned by Senator Pia Cayetano, is already on soft opening in Bonifacio High Street Central. When I suggested this restaurant to Karen, including the resto's location and the political personality behind it, she immediately agreed without any qualms.

Chillax Over Coffee At Tully's

bellaccinos at Tully's

I would never have known the existence of this quaint new coffee shop in BGC had it not for the tweet of food blogger extraordinaire Lori Baltazar on Tully's Coffee. When I finally had the chance to go to BGC, I initially wanted to try dine first either at Serendra or The Strip before going to Tully's. However, I want to know first where Tully's location really is. (It's actually located at the ground floor of McKinley Park Residences right next to Kitchen's Best Home Patisserie, another restaurant favorite of mine) Once I finally found where Tully's actual location, somehow I find it such of a hassle to go back to either The Strip or Serendra to eat and then walk back here to get my coffee fix so I decided to dine at its nearby neighbor, Shi Lin.

Gourmet Pandesal

gourmet pandesals @ The Bread Bar

Who doesn't love pandesal? I've yet to meet a Pinoy who doesn't like our national bread roll. I always ask my Nanay or my Tita in the morning to fetch me a bag of these doughy treats. Back in the days, at exactly five in the morning, I would hear a kid's voice shouting "pandesal" in a rolling-type way as a magbabalut would shout "balut". That voice also serves as my "alarm" to wake me up. But now, that kid's voice was replaced by honking horns of single bicycles. Roaming around our neighborhood at least twice or thrice before retreating to the bakery where they came from before seven o'clock.

It's More Than Just A Coffee Shop

sumiyaki coffee

I observed Ueshima Coffee Company or UCC Coffee shops are not really frequented as much or not as popular as the U.S. coffee shop franchises like Starbucks or CBTL. Especially by the youths. On the few times that I've been to this cafe, its always the middle aged business men or women chitchatting about stocks, market movement, agriculture and livestock or people already closing the gap between middle age and old age chitchatting about the activities of their grandchildren or the tides of the time; that I had the pleasure of seeing and even to eavesdrop on some of their conversations if I got bored checking the updates on my Facebook wall or I couldn't find something of interest to read on the coffee shop's magazine rack. Since, I've been to this coffee shop quite a few times and enjoyed every visit, does that mean I now belonged to this age group? Me wanting now to have the ability to astral project and travel back in time. ;)

FACE OFF: Cafes That I Adore

choco mint drink and pastries

This would be a short list of coffee shops that made such an impression on me and that I would definitely visit again and again and again.