Kim's Cupcakes

After a long and tiring week at school, I was pleasantly surprised to find a dozen of cupcakes waiting for me in my fridge!

Wildflour, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig

Have you joined my giveaway yet? Join here!

Wildflour is a Cafe & Bakery somewhere on the side streets of Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. It's on Net Lima Building, the same one as Da.u.de.

Bar Dolci, Burgos Circle

Terrible pics up ahead, I'm so sorry! I was rushing to go to dinner with friends and had no time to look for my camera. I just borrowed my Lola's and I wish I had just used my phone. :\

Gourmandise Patisserie, Serendra

Have you joined my giveaway yet? Enter to be one of the 3 lucky winners of a necklace, 2 bracelets and a pair of earrings from Lulu by K&M!

After lunch with a friend who had come to visit the Philippines, she really wanted to check out this new dessert place called La Gourmandise Patisserie in Serendra, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

Royce Potechi Crunch Chocolate

I don't normally buy Royce because a) I'm not supposed to be eating sweets and b) It's too expensive for chocolate, but when I do, I really eat it all over only a few days!

Gelatissimo, Greenbelt 5

I remember trying Gelatissimo in Cebu in 2009, I had Stracciatella and I wasn't happy with it. But that was about 4 months after I had tried gelato in Italy so I could still taste the difference, most probably.

Is this the real life, is this just fantasy?

When I went to Cebu 2 years ago, I had heard that there were these cookies that were a must-try. I ended up buying about 6 containers to give to my relatives back home, and 3 for my family.

Finally, I found some at an extremely good price :D Apparently, they bring them in cheaper than the deli in Cebu! Our cookies were wiped out within two days, and I don't think my parents even got to taste them, I ate most of them, but my sister and cousin had some too. I just couldn't help myself! I love sweets, especially cookies and chocolate!

These lace cookies aren't your ordinary lace cookies. They're two super-thin cookies sandwiched with chocolate in the middle. You can buy them in separate flavors of mint chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, dark chocolate and white chocolate, but if you buy the big 600g container they have it in assorted of milk, dark and white chocolate.

My personal favorite kind of chocolate is dark chocolate, but for these lace cookies I'd have to say that my favorite is the semi-sweet chocolate because it doesn't overpower the taste of the cookies. When eating the dark, all you taste is crunchy dark chocolate. At least you can feel the flavors of the cookie and the semi-sweet chocolate blending in your mouth. It's like a party in your mouth!

And that just reminded me of ratatouille, when fireworks would go off in the mouse's mouth while he was eating. Gotta love that movie! :)

'Til the next post!

Bored Night at Home = Royce Darjeeling!

Sigh... it's a Saturday night and I'm home. :( I was supposed to be out, but there was a sudden change of plans. I'm not so disappointed though, because I've been out all week and busy with school. Last two weeks of school coming up ahead, and I really can't wait to get it all over with!

So what does a bored person do at home? Eat! Mahaha. I decided to open a new box of Royce since my sister finished the last one last night.

Royce is one of my favorite chocolates in the whole entire world. It's a Japanese brand that was brought here maybe in 2008. I love their Nama, which is a smooth and soft blended chocolate so rich in flavor that you can only have a square or two. My favorite flavor is the seasonal Darjeeling, which I have only seen twice in my life. The first time I saw it was about two years ago, June 2009. I only bought one box and by the time the next week came by, my brother had finished it all!

One time when I was going to meet some friends for lunch in Greenbelt 5, I passed Royce and took a look at their usual display of chocolates. When I saw that they had boxes and boxes of Darjeeling, I seriously had to stop myself from jumping over the counter! I was so excited, I bought two boxes and put another two on hold. The saleslady was kind enough (or maybe just forgetful, hehe) to have kept them for me until I went back to get them 5 days later, when the normal holding time is only 3 days.

Each box comes with a tiny spatula that helps you get each square without having to touch the other ones. The chocolate is very soft so it has to be put in the freezer when not being consumed. I don't have a photo of the actual packaging when you buy it, but the Japanese always pack their items very well. The box comes in a reflective sleeve with a little freezer cube so that it stays frozen for a few hours. Love!

By the way, another fun thing to do when bored is paint your nails. I decided to look through my mom's nail polish collection, and I found a sweet frosted pink called Not So Bora Bora-ing Pink. Without the Black Shatter I hated the shade, but I like this shade much better than the hot pink. Getting warmer to finding my favorite color combination! :)

'Til the next entry!

Mercato Market

Early in the morning, a few girlfriends and I decided to check out what the deal was at Mercato Market. I'm had a wedding to attend and host that day, so I had a quick brunch with them before leaving for the church.

I had heard that this Manang's fried chicken was better than Bon Chon, so I decided to have this for lunch without batting an eyelash.

The chicken is cooked and seasoned right in front of you. You have a choice of either Original, Mild Spicy or Extra Spicy. I'm not a fan of spicy stuff though I can take them, so I chose original.

Honestly, I was disappointed with it! It's so not better than Bon Chon. It feels like it's missing Bon Chon's secret ingredient, which is Ginseng. Sorry people, I'm a Bon Chon girl all the way. Haha. I have a feeling that the reason to why the people on Team Manang's like this better is because they have the option to choose Mild or Extra Spicy, whereas in Bon Chon they only have the Extra Spicy option. Oh well, c'est la vie!

I only had 3 Chicken wings out of the 6 that I bought for 120 Php. Then it was dessert time!

Surprise! Look at what I found! I have blogged about these before (link here) and they impressed me once again! I got a box of 12 standard macarons to take home and a box of these minis, which I shared with my friends. :)

One would think that these minis would be crunchy all the way and not as good as their standard older siblings, but they weren't at all! They were how a macaron should really be-crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The small ones are a cylinder of 12 for 220 Php, and the standard are 12 for 450 Php. :)

And lastly, right before I left, I couldn't resist having one of these. I tried two of them on my last trip with friends to Tagaytay - Caramel and Vanilla. They weren't anything great. But for the love of Rose!

I had a Vanilla Rose mochi ice cream ball and it was lovely! All of you must know that I love everything roses. The color, the flower, the taste and smell, everything! Haha. So I really enjoyed this one. :)

So, would I go back to the Mercato Market? Probably not. I wouldn't go for the real food but I would go back for the desserts. And since I'm on a diet, I definitely won't be going back. I hope. HAHA!

Macaron Love!

I have a crazy sweet tooth, but the queen of all sweets for me is the macaron! These aren't the coconut-flavored cookies my grandma makes. Macarons are meringue-like cookies with almond paste as the main ingredient, sandwiched together with a filling in between. Now this hasn't always been the case, Macarons were served since the early 1500s (or possibly even earlier) as the cookies only, not sandwiches, two by two and with jam and butter. The one who revolutionized macarons into the Paris Macaron sandwiches was Pierre Desfontaines of the French pâtisserie Ladurée, and they're really known to make the best macarons. :) I had so many of these in Paris when I went two summers ago, and I can't wait to go back!

My obsession for macarons only started on that trip to Paris. Before I went on the quest for the best macarons in the Philippines, I found Bizu's to be too crunchy and bland. Within a week of my return from Paris, I started looking immediately, and I'm glad to say that I found them! Georgia Rocha's Empire macarons are the winner.

Soft inside yet crunchy on the outside, sweet, bursting with flavor and pleasing to the eyes! Those are the perfect macarons. :D I fell in love with these mostly for the texture. It's obvious that Georgia is a chocolate lover because most of her flavors are chocolate based! Cookies and cream, triple chocolate, white chocolate and strawberry-chocolate are just a few of her many flavors.

I'm glad that I was finally able to catch the baker's dozen and get some of these, I finally had my macaron fix!

For those who would like to give Empire a try, visit http://empiremacarons.blogspot.com for more details. :)

Saira