Summer Time Extended in July (Covergilrs for July)

I mean for a magazine collector like me, these covergirls would extend summers as they sizzle in their respective covers. 

1. FHM: Jackie Rice: Want more extra rice? After more than 2 years since she first grace the covers in January of 2010, she's back and got sexier. I'm currently reading it right now here in the office XD.

FHM July 2012 Cover

2. Esquire: Georgina Wilson: How would you spend 10,000 hours with her given the chance? Well there are a lot of ways to do it with the Fil-Brit Model, VJ and universally acknowledged "It-Girl".

Esquire July 2012 Cover

3. Rogue: Iza Calzado: Since her move to the kapamilya network, things went well for the former kapuso star. But I have yet to buy this as its not yet available as of the moment. This would be their fifth anniversary issue as well so get a copy while it's still available. XD

Rogue July 2012 Cover

Update (as of July 20, 2012)
4, Playboy Philippines: Juliana Palermo: Since May 2003 (FHM Cover), I haven't seen her pose for any magazine until now. I guess waiting for eight years is worth the wait. With the two cover tactics of Playboy, its pretty hard to choose which one to get. XD

Cover A

Cover B

Before stock runs out, better get a copy. XD

My Second Social Media Day Experience

When I got to Tea 101, I just had myself soaking wet no thanks to the map I got XD. Though I've attended another Social Media Day event at The Ayala Triangle Garden, I felt that most people there didn't have the liberty to socialize as much as they could. Probably the big space of the venue for the event plus with so many sponsors could be one of the culprit why people were spaced-out and pre-occuppied. XD

So much for what happened during the first SMD 2012. Now for the 2nd SMD (Social Media Day). 

And as I entered Tea 101, I got to meet a lot of people from different walks of life with different ideas but share the same social media addiction. With the rise in popularity of teas and milk teas  everyone of us got our stomachs full with unlimited refills. 

Spearheaded by King Del Rosario, we started the program with an interactive activity that requires us to meet new people. It was really fun meeting new people and seeing old ones as well. I liked his speech on how we should occupy social media in the country and comparing it to occupying Wall Street. 

Top-notch director Jose Javier Reyes also gave us an inspirational talk on an awful truth why we have friends on facebook and twitter the fact that we should live outside the virtual world and enjoy it to the fullest. The friends we have online may not be the same when were offline. 

At the end of the event, I really enjoyed good company, good drinks and a new sense of enlightenment that is The Social Media. 

Pictures to follow soon. XD

The week that was (June 24 - 30)

Sunday: Got up a bit late as we went out again to do some walking. Instead of having breakfast at Mc Donalds, we just had some bread back home so I could save some money. I just had to enjoy as much time as I could before we get back home. Then we woke her mom up so she could give our baby a bath. When its nap time for our baby, I let my wife took care of her while I got to watch some TV later in the morning. By the time our baby got up, we got ready since we need to go somewhere. First, we had our late lunch at Florabel and spent around an hour and a half before we went to SM Megamall to look for a laptop for my wife to use on her upcoming trip abroad. Since Migmig was feeling sleepy late in the afternoon, we need to look for a place to put her to sleep and I got to spot Mondo Juice on the 4th floor. Eventually, Migmig fell asleep so I had to watch her and be her guardian angel while my wife is canvassing for a good laptop. I almost fell asleep as I didn't have much sleep the other night. I entertained myself by reading magazines and to keep me awake. I was a little bit surprised that our daughter was able to sleep for an hour before my wife got back. She told me of a good laptop and she wanted my opinion. We went to one of the shops at Asus and checked the laptop and its specifications. Well, I'm quite convinced but I wanted to let my wife have the last say. After another 30-45 minutes, we bought the laptop since its on sale (I'll write a blog about this). By 8:30pm, were all tired that we took a cab and by the time we got home, I went out to go online for an hour before joining them to sleep.

Monday: Since my phone died on me early in the morning, Migmig and I got up late at 8:30am as my mom paid us a visit. She spent a few minutes with us as my wife went down as well to do other things. By the time my baby had her morning nap, I kinda joined her as I'm still sleepy. Then by 2:00pm, we got ourselves ready as I need to accompany my wife to the DFA for her passport application. We took a cab and good thing, traffic was not heavy. My wife dropped of at DFA before Migmig and I head to SM Mall of Asia to spend time there. Well to kill some time, we went to Swensen for some ice cream fix. On a cold and windy afternoon, eating ice cream works best for me that my daughter liked it as well. Then my wife texted me saying she's on her way back as her application was pretty much quick and easy. She met us at Swensen before we rented a cart for our baby. since neither one of us had lunch, we decided to have a blue-plate late lunch at Rack's. After placing our order, I dashed to Jamba Juice's kiosk and buy myself a new flavor for me and my wife to try. She liked it while enjoying our lunch. Then we stroll around the mall and we didn't notice that Migmig has almost fallen asleep on the cart so I carried her on my shoulders and let her sleep for as long as she can. I got another Smoothie from Jamba Juice as its so addicting. I tried their Chocolated Moo'd flavor and its good XD. By 8:00pm, we took a cab on our way back home and got back faster than expected. For some reason, I felt annoyed with my dead tooth hurting again and it took me a while before I could get some sleep.

Tuesday: I got up a little bit early as my tooth is still bothering me. Anyways, daddy duties in the morning as usual and I let my daughter enjoy walking everywhere she wants before we had our breakfast at Mc Donald's. However, I guess she's not much in the mood for eating as she keeps on playing with her food so we got back early to let her play some more. I was able to use our new laptop after putting Migmig to sleep. Though I felt I'm in an unfamiliar domain as its on Windows 7 and I've been so used to Windows XP. I guess I need to do some reading on how to navigate through our new laptop to add to my skill-set. By 12:00pm, I'm already off to work via LRT2-MRT route. I got to grab a drink at Chatime and some diapers for my baby at SM before reporting for work. When I logged-in, I saw an unfamiliar face which happens to be our new team mate. She'll be replacing one of my colleagues who went AWOL. I got to do some emails before grabbing something to eat at KFC. When I got back, I did some stuff online and killed some time with our new colleague. By the time I logged-off, I took a cab so I could get home right away and get some sleep. 

Wednesday: Got up at past 7:00am as Migmig was already playing and wants to go down. Well my wife doesn't seem to want to get up early so I always do some daddy duties every morning whether I have work in the afternoon or not. Well, I let my daughter walk the length of St Anthony's aisle and she keeps on shouting though there were a few people inside. Then we went to her lola's stall near Mc Donald's so she could do some more walking and I could take a breather. Then we went back so  could get some breather and get some rest. My wife went down soon after.She spend some time with our daughter while I'm preparing her bath. After her bath, we went upstairs so she could get some sleep but she slept late at almost 11:00am. I went online until 12:00pm before I got ready for work. I just got in the office in the nick of time as my colleague from the other department celebrated his birthday that day. We had some heavy snacks that made me full and helped me save some money for food. After having my blood pressure checked, I went to Watson's at The Enterprise Center to buy some dental stuff for me. I didn't need to buy dinner tonight as I'm still full from the food I ate though I had some bananas to keep me nourished. After shift, I took the cab so I could get home safe and sound.

Thursday: I was already up by 7:30am and took Migmig out with me but not after changing her diaper and feeding her with 4oz. of milk. Since I need to do some morning rituals, her lola took her out to do some walking and I got to follow 5 minutes later. I saw my daughter playing with other little kids almost her age and I was delighted to see how she was able to socialize at a very young age. Since it was a bit gloomy early in the morning, we had no choice but to go home early and let her play inside. Good thing her mom got up a bit early and helped me took care of our baby. By the time she put her to bath, I got to relax a few minutes before going upstairs to put her to sleep but she had to poo first. Then I was able to go online using our new laptop for an hour before going to work. We haven't touched our old laptop since    Work was a bit  okay until after taking my soup. I had to do some printer surveys that I need to follow a new procedure. Eventually, I was able to get the hang of it. Then I went down to have my blood pressure checked and I was a liitbe bit surprised that it was at 120/80, something that never happened in the past few weeks. I was relaxed when my BP was taken. I just hope and pray that my BP would go continue to go normal so I could have my dead tooth extracted once and for all. I grabbed a soup from the soup kitchen and enjoyed it on my desk. By 8:00pm, me and my colleague went out for a smoke and for a breather. Then all of a sudden, I feel I craved for something more. I went to The Cheese Steak Shop for some Philly Cheesesteak. When I got there, I thought they're already closing shop. It turns out that they're moving to a different location and a bit farther too. I enjoyed my order before I went back to continue my shift until it ended at 11:00pm. I took a cab again but he seem he doesn't know the best way to go to our place so I need to shell-out extra money just to get home.

Friday: I made sure I'm up at 7:30am as I do some morning rituals before taking Migmig down. It turns out that my daughter did her own morning ritual (pooping) as well. I cleaned her up first before we went down and out for some fun in the sun. Instead of having our usual breakfast at Mc Donald's, I bought some food from 7-11 so I could save some money while spending time outside. By the time we got back home, her mom was still sleeping so we woke her up to keep herself busy. After giving Migmig her bath we went upstairs again so she could get some sleep but she slept late again so I got to make sure she's asleep when I leave for work. I got in the office with a couple of minutes to spare so I got to do other things online. Then I went down to have my BP checked (130/80). For dinner, I rewarded myself with a wagyu buffet at Bfast which really made me so full after staying there for more than 90 minutes.I felt a little bit dizzy because of the wagyu overload but it felt a bit good in a way as I head back to the office to complete my shift. I got to do 2 more service requests before taking a cab home.

Saturday: Got up early as I got to take Migmig out for a walk. Then we had breakfast at Mc Donalds, as she ate a lot for breakfast ^_^. At the same time, there were a lot of little kids my daughter looks at to her delight. It felt like she had some playmates during those times when we were there. When we got back home, we wake her mom up so she could give her a bath. My baby fall asleep a few minutes past 11:00am and I fell asleep for a couple of minutes as well.By 12:00pm, I took a bath, got dressed and ready for today's event. I missed lunch at home so I stopped by at Zark's and ordered a jawbreaker (I'm thinking if I'll write a blog about it or not). When it got to my table, I took some quick photos before enjoying my food. I went to the office not to report for work but to print some vouchers that I need. I made a reservation at Torch's for the next day before heading off to Ayala Triangle Garden to attend the Social Media Day spearheaded by Tweetup Manila (I'll be writing a blog about this). I didn't stay there for too long as I had to attend another Social Media Day at Tea 101 at Tomas Morato. I took a cab to get there but I got wet since I was reading the wrong map, hence I ended up initially at the wrong place. I went online for a couple of minutes to check their exact location. Then I took a cab until I'm finally at Tea 101 to attennd my 2nd Social Media Day (I'll write a blog about this). After the event, I took a cab home and stopped by at Jollibee to buy some food as my wife was craving for one. My wife was online as I got to go to sleep early and slept beside our daughter. ^_^

My First Social Media Day Experience

Last Saturday, I arrived at Ayala Triangle Garden just in time for the Social Media Day 2012 hosted by Tweetup Manila. This would also be my first time attending this kind of event where I get a chance to meet different people whose common denominator would be the Social Media. 

There were more than a hundred people who showed up and got counted, around 400+ to be exact. Lucky attendees were given freebies courtesy of the event's sponsors. And at the same time, other parts of the country celebrated their Social Media Day like Cebu, Davao, Iligan, Cagayan De Oro down south and Quezon City up north. 

With close to 30 million facebook users and almost the same number of twitter users who regularly go online every single day, no wonder why we are today's number one in terms of photo and video uploads. We Pinoys have the habit of sharing anything that is fun and makes us happy. 

I've roamed around the venue and got to meet familiar faces as well as new ones by the time the event has started. The program was hosted by Tweetup Manila's Tonyo Cruz and Rosario Juan (which I like their T-Shirts). Other speakers include Ms Daphne Osena-Paez, Gang Badoy, Carlo Ople, and Ms World Philippines Queenrich Rehman. 

I wanted to stay longer at the event but I need to be somewhere in Quezon City for another Social Media Day Event. 

It was really a fun and learning experience for me. I hope I could attend next year's Social Media Day. 

Pictures to follow soon. XD

Florabel: Is the food good?

 


One Sunday afternoon, my wife, daughter and I went to The Podium to have late lunch at Florabel using my cashcashpinoy vouchers. But the night before, I was a bit apprehensive on what to order because I've read more bad reviews than good reviews and even my wife got apprehensive too. Well, I just trusted on my instincts and positive thinking hoping that we will enjoy our lunch.

 

I like their towering wine rack.

When we got there, there were a few people having lunch (off-peak hours). We were able to secure a good table with good lighting before placing our order.

She's the boss. XD

A piece of bread with butter to start us up.

Two glasses of water will do for us, for now. XD

And while we wait for our orders, I took some time to take pictures of its lovely interior. Though if you ask me, they could have done better.

Their interiors are classic yet minimalist in style.

We started off with their Tomato Soup (200 pesos). We usually order a bowl of soup as my daughter can't have food without soup. Their Tomato Soup was also topped with ricotta cheese and baby arugula yet tasted just fine as we tried not to order the ones we usually get.

Tomato Soup in a Bowl.

Next is their famous Friendship Salad (475 pesos). For some reason, this was the dish that I liked best. Its a mixed of crispy prawns with kani with tropical fruits and sesame dressing. I initially wanted to try their tuna salad but my wife was not fond of raw fish hence, we got this one.

Friendship Salad

 



For pasta, we got Ricky (425 pesos). Without a doubt, this was one of the best tasting pasta dishes we've ever tried. With the good combination of sausage, salami, frankfurters, and mushroom in basil pesto, my wife and I got sold to this dish with penne as our choice of noodles.

Say hello to Ricky Penne (Pasta) XD.

For the main couse, we had Adobo ala Florabel (425 pesos). This was the dish that I was hoping for that would bring out our experience there, yet it tastes like your usual Adobo. The presentation was fine but the taste wasn't as grand as we expected.

Adobo ala Florabel

To refresh ourselves (my wife I mean), she ordered Fresh Strawberry Juice (180 pesos). It was refreshing as well as its cold enough and its served in a tall glass.

Fresh Strawberry Juice in a tall glass XD.

My wife enjoying her late lunch.

And to end our meal, we had Mango Crepe Samurai (208 pesos). Its mangoes with homemade crepe topped with Sabayon. It tasted good enough that I was hoping the serving would be good for two.

Mango Crepe Samurai

While waiting for our bill, I took the liberty of taking some more pictures.

Mommy and Baby take a pose.

Marien taking her drink.

Marien seems to enjoy her meal.

This is what happens every time we had our meals. XD

What I've learned about this experience.

1. If you have read a bad review about the restaurant, it doesn't mean that you'll encounter the same experience as well.

2. You may ask the waiters for recommendation but still trust your gut feel and your taste buds more.

Pictures to follow soon. XD