Blue Pencil Chronicles

In the university where I study, the mere mention of a certain brand of coffee chain will instantaneously put a big “burgis” mark on your forehead.  Yeah, like a once-in-a-blue-moon trip to this specialty store will define your whole life.  Some people can get a little bit too simplistic about things.  They forget the human value of life (wahoo hooray for humanism).

These past few weeks of work and stress, the normal 3-in-1 coffee that used to define caffeine for me just won’t work anymore.  I tend to become more drowsy instead of getting that much-needed jolt for work.  That’s why in a spur-of-the-moment knack for coffee, I ordered something out of the usual from said coffee chain.  I sifted through the menu and picked something I haven’t remotely heard of before.  It has a weird name, and I always have a lot of fun pronouncing it the burgis way.  Tall Caramel Macchiato please.  Hot.  To go.

I sound so conio, I know.  Kidding aside, this delectable cup of coffee did just the trick for me.  And I’ve been addicted ever since.  Now if you know me well enough, it’s a given that I’m such a sleepyhead that I could sleep anywhere I could given any strange circumstance.  But just a cup of Macchiato from Starbucks stirs my senses (ehem, ehem, pahiram, Figaro) and keeps me up ’til the wee hours of dawn–even until the sun rises to greet me good morning.  It’s that effective.

However, just like any other “burgis-burgisan” out there, I soon ran out of money to buy my much-loved Macchiato from Starbucks.  So what do I do?  It’s back to classic 3-in-1, no less.  But let’s give it a little twist.  Starbucks tumbler?  Check!  Sachet of 3-in-1?  Check!  Cowhead Milk?  Check!  Ice cubes?  Check!  Mix everything and anything in one happy tumbler and voila!  You’ve got yourself something that’ll jolt you back to awake-land.  Trust me, being sosyal is never about the money, it’s all about the mindset.  Haha.

So I shall leave you now while I sip caffeine from this made-up reality of mine.  Ciao.

Note: This is the Third part of a Three-part series on the Trinoma Bloggers’ Food Tour. Part 2 is here. Part 1 is here.

Our tummies were filled and we have a lot of restaurants to thank for that. However, the tour didn’t come with only the good stuff, because we experienced certain disappointments and frustrations as well.

Thank God our group wasn’t part of the bunch who went to Cabalen and got a mouthful from the manager. Come to think of it, even if my group insisted on going to Cabalen I think I know better because I’ve had some dining horrors with them before, plus I’ve had enough of Filipino food and would like to try something new for the tour. I love their Crispy Kangkong, though, simply one for the curious taste buds.

I enjoyed the Food Tour experience a lot therefore there weren’t much blunders. Here’re the restos that didn’t quite make an impression on me: (more…)

Note: This is the Second part of a Three-part series on the Trinoma Bloggers’ Food Tour. Part 1 is here.

After digesting nearly a dozen kind of cuisine in the food tour, it’s time to digest the impressions the different restaurants have made upon the bloggers. Different tastes and different flavors have melded so succinctly in my mouth that I tend to confuse one restaurant’s food over the other.

This part will showcase the most-recommended restaurants we’ve been to based on their food, the restaurant’s ambiance and their crew’s service. The next and last part will be for the bad publicity present to you the restaurants that didn’t make quite an impression on me, as well as on other bloggers. So here goes! (more…)

At first, pigging out on over thirty different restaurants in a short span of time sounded like a good idea. But when it was time for the Trinoma Bloggers’ Food Tour last January 9, I believe everyone would agree that feeling satiated would be an understatement. Bellies bulged. Mouths were filled. Stomachs were filled to the brim. I swear a bucket would’ve come in handy that day, if only to throw out all the food we’ve tasted from the previous restaurants just to taste the next ones.

I believe I have tasted every possible dish available for pork, beef, chicken and shrimp out there. There were just a lot of food and cuisines around, all ready for tasting and sampling. But before I get to my reviews of the 32 or so restaurants who participated in the event, let me cue you in on my whole experience, and possibly tell a few behind-the-scene stories as well.

I was at the event quite early as always, but I found out some bloggers were even a lot earlier than me. And I thought I was punctual. Karlo arrived at Trinoma at around 10am. Excited? Not much.

Registration was a breeze and I was assigned to the Blue Group (which, as we found out later in the event, didn’t have that much significance anyway). They served cocktails near the registration booth, as well as some food so that we could eat properly (perhaps they foresaw that some restos were gonna feed us words instead of actual food). Several minutes later and the place was jampacked with bloggers, all hungry and ready to take on the food fest that’s coming their way. (more…)