Swabeng Review: Bo's 2013 Coffee Book

This was one of the last 2013 Planners I've been eyeing at before 2012 has ended. Eventhough I told myself to limit my planners to as few as possible, this Planner, or should I say Coffee Book is one item that one should have. When I saw this planner one-time, I was really sold that I must find a way how to get one even when I was still jobless that time.

Fourteen stickers, 200-peso purchase for every sticker is all I need to get one and within the next few weeks, I was able to get a copy myself. Anyway, I always have a knack of writing down anything I fancy. Be it an eight-liner poem, some thoughts or future plans, having a planner is really something that I need.

Its a hard-bound book that also acts as a journal for you to write on and even if I keep notes on my cellphone, I still write them as back-up and archive. Unlike some of my planners that are leather-bound, this may be one for the books (one of my favorites). Also, the pages are a bit thicker than most planners and it has grids (almost similar to math notebooks). 

What I like about this Coffee Book is that it contains a couple of facts about coffee. When I say facts, these are very interesting facts. It was like the first time I've got to know some facts about coffee like its scientific name, where it usually grows, climate where it thrives among others. 

The history of this drink is from way back 800AD when an Ethiopian goat herder found out that his goat became more energetic after eating coffee cherries. Here in our country, its history traces back to the 18th century during the time of the Spaniards. 

Out of around a hundred species of coffee, only four are grown commercially which we are also one of the few countries that provide all four (Arabica, Robusta, Excelsa and Liberica). Each can be grown in a specific area though I still have yet to perfect on how to differentiate the four (there is a proper way to taste coffee). 

I wasn't surprised to know that there are several steps in harvesting coffee beans and make them for consumption. Also there are a few ways in preparing coffee aside from mixing 3-in-1 coffee and I hope I could at least master one of the ways of preparing coffee as well as mastering ratios of mixing ingredients as well. 

I hope you were able to get this Coffee Book and enjoy its pages too. This is where I would write down all my plans in the future and all my aspirations and I hope I'd be able to fulfill all of them. 

Pictures to follow soon. 

Seattle's Best Planner (5th Review)

Actually, I'm not keen anymore on getting this planner as the one I got in 2007 got me disappointed. Until I saw this from a blog last year (I need to recall where) and checked its inclusions, I told myself, I have enough budget for one more planner XD. 

All I need to do is to collect 18 stickers (10 from their regular drinkss and 8 from their holiday drinks). I had my wife take a look at the planner and she gave me the go signal to collect the stickers. It took me more or less 45 days to complete my stickers (treated some of my officemates at times XD).

If only I knew about this sooner, I would have gotten this planner first over the rest. 

When I got this planner at the end of January this year, I take a peek of what's inside.

The freebies inside are pretty much generous as I think they have almost 4000-pesos worth of freebies inside. It also has an audio CD for music lovers as well as free wifi stickers to be used at any SBC outlet.

The cover is pretty slick in style and on the inside, it also has a rubbery feel. The pages of this planner is bound by metal rings so its also refillable (just make sure to get the right paper in terms of size).

There are pages that shows each month, however, this planner does not have weekly nor daily pages that a usual planner has. In fact it looks more like a notebook to me with some artworks.

I think I could still use this planner for next year and probably buy some refills. Would I recommend this? Its up to you =P

Pictures to follow soon. XD

This journal will actually change my life in 2012 (A Review of my 3rd of 5 planners)

This would be my third (of five) planner that I acquired after getting the Starbucks Planner and the Awesome Planner 2012. I didn't expect to buy this one as I have already more planners than I can handle and write into. But what made me get this planner? What made me so curious about it that I spent almost 800 pesos to buy this planner?

"This Journal will Actually Change Someone's Life 2012" Planner was published by Free Speech Publications since 2008 and they have been producing this planner for 5 years now. All proceeds of this journal goes to Lifeline Foundation Support Team, Inc. which handles different projects in building schools and orphanages, organizing medical missions, raising awareness for animal welfare and of course, changing lives all over the world.

So much for the introduction. I'll now dissect this planner (I'll be calling this journal moving forward on this post to avoid confusion) per section. 

This journal is less than an inch thick and its also hardbound that fits most shelf and bags that we usually carry. Actually, its my ideal journal though I wanted it bigger for more writing space.

Upon opening it, I was amazed on the amount of interesting information mostly events. It's also loaded with bits and pieces that will surely spark-up your mind.

It has pages that you could doodle your mood for the day as well as put in your weekly expenses so you could track them easily. There is also a page that lets you check your health as well as finding how are your goals for the year.

 

 

 

Though it has no coupons for discounts and freebies, the knowledge that you'll gain on this journal is more than enough for a personal planner like this.

I'm looking forward to grab a copy next year.

A look into the Starbuck’s 2012 Planner (a look into the 1st of 5 planner)

This is the first (of 5 planners) 2012 that I had recently acquired for next year. I’ve been seeing some reviews about it from popular bloggers and most of the reviews that I saw were nothing but praises about them. For me, it’s a bit of a mix of good and disappointing things I saw after feeling its pages. Even when I was starting collecting 17 stickers, I had mixed reactions about the planner (to be told further). 

I got this planner the night after I attended the Ultimate Taste Test 7.0. Having it was really unplanned as I had already planned it to get this on the 30th on November. But somehow, my foot dragged me to Starbucks at 32nd Ave just a few steps from Mercato Centrale. 

I choose the Cherry cover since its between the lightest shade (Poplar) and the darkest shade (Oak ). They only differ in color and wood finishing for their cover. These planners are assured to be earth-friendly through these three x-factors

 



a. Ethical Sourcing: This ensures proper forest management
b. Environmental Stewardship: All of the inner pages are made from 70% recycled material, which means more trees were spared from being cut.
c. Community Involvement: For each planner claimed, part of the proceeds go to SparkHope, Starbucks Philippines' flagship program for early childhood care and development in partnership with Unicef. 

One thing I don’t like about this planner is that it’s compact. Compact that I could only write a few words in it as it’s small. Compared with the 2011 planner, this planner has lesser space which looked like more of an organizer to me which I had a couple of years back. 

Though the one thing I like about it is the pouch included with the planner. Aside from it fits my planner; it can also fit at least two mobile phones and some paper documents as well.It also has a bookmark though I'd still prefer the string-typed ones attached to the planner 

Over-all, this small planner would go a long long way especially to people on the go and those who prefer light planners. As for me, I’d take this as my 6th Starbuck’s planner and I’m looking forward to the 2013 Planner next year XD.

A Review on the Awesome Planner 2012 (Food and Travel Guide)

This would be my 2nd of 5 planners that I'll be having for 2012 as I still remember my first Awesome Planner I got for 2011. 

The curiosity in me got interested again in getting this planner so I made some reservations before claiming this planner and it also comes with a free shirt (that my wife uses).

This one is different from last year's as it shows more travel destination where you can go to and either relax or eat some. Every month, this planner shows some suggestions on where to go, where to stay and where to eat. From up north in Luzon to down south Mindanao, this planner has recommendations, I'm sure you'd love to visit soon. It also has a directory of Anton's 100 restaurants that he would personally recommend.

Taking a look at the Planner physically, it uses the spring-type of binding the pages instead of a planner's usual book-bind.For me, its kinda risky and I still prefer the book-type.

Over-all, this planner is recommended for travel bugs and foodies who seek new places to discover and explore. I hope I could take my family out pretty soon.