Jill & Athan's Awesome Whatevers!

Sunday, 22 June 2014

Resto Review: Vanilla Cupcake Bakery

Vanilla Cupcake Bakery just recently opened a branch in Trinoma and my husband suggested to eat there for dinner. I was surprised that they actually serve meals, I thought they only had cupcakes. hehehe

The interiors were so classy, artsy and overly cute. It's like having tea-time in Alice in Wonderland.

I ordered their All Day Breakfast, Garlic Beef Tapa (Php 225). Their meat was tender and flavorful but it was nothing out of the ordinary. What I really like from this meal was their atchara, it had the right mix of sourness and sweetness.

My husband ordered Signature Steak (Php 295) which was served with Sweet & Spicy sauce and Potato Salad. The steak was small in size but I guess you only get what you pay for. My husband requested it to be cooked medium well but he got it quite rare yet he didn't complain. The meal was just savory but was just okay, my husband was not that amazed by it. The steak sauce was more on the sweet side and the potato salad was also just okay.

For our drinks we ordered Vanilla Iced Tea (Php 75) just because I was curious on how it would taste - sadly it was not special since it was not that vanilla-y. And since we were really feel, we decided to only sample one of their cupcakes. It was really hard to choose only one because there was so many. After consulting with their staff on which ones are their bestsellers, we finally decided to get one of their Belgian Chocolate Cupcake (Php 100). As I took a bite of their cupcake, I instantly loved their icing - it was chocolate-y and buttery at the same time. As for the cupcake itself, it was good but not that amazing. Their cupcake was light but crumbly.

The Vanilla Cupcake Bakery is priced on the high-end but their serving are proportion to its price. Will we dine in again? Maybe... so as to try their other meals and other variants of their cupcakes too.

Saturday, 21 June 2014

My Daily Jusa Experience

Since I will be working from home today, I decided to go ahead and try at least a day of Detox Juicing - which has been growing popular for health and weight conscious individuals. And since I am so curious as can be I just had to try it for myself at least once. So when I saw that Daily Jusa is offering their One-Day Cleanse on discount at Deal Grocer, I immediately bought one. The One-Day Cleanse normally costs Php 1,350 instead of Php 945. I emailed Daily Jusa a day before my planned juicing date and got a reply after 12 hours. They delivered my juices the evening before my scheduled date. The package includes 8 bottles of 250ml juices, 2 tea bags and a thermal bag - unfortunately they failed to give me my thermal bag because they ran out of stock (Sad).

Read on to know how my juicing went =)

AM Tea: EveryDay Detox Tea
The tea was strong and sadly I did not taste any lemon to it. But I'm already used to drinking teas so this one was no problem for me.

Breakfast: Daily Greens (spinach, romaine, celery, mustard leaves, watermelon)
This one is the scariest among the bunch. I was quite happy to see that it had watermelon thinking that it might give the drink some sweetness. But when I took my first sip, my gosh! I don't even know how to describe the taste. I do eat my vegetables but having them juiced was a different experience. This was really hard to finish up.

Breakfast: Sunburst (pineapple, orange, basil)
Now this I expect to be sweet since it has both pineapple and orange in it. One sip and I knew I was wrong. Of course it won't be that sweet, they don't add sugar to their juices. But this is one is tolerable than Daily Greens. heheheh

AM Snack: Clean Green (cucumber, romaine, broccoli, celery, apple)
Two hours have already passed from my breakfast, now it's time for my snack. I chose another green juice so that I can have a fruity juice for my afternoon snack. hehehehe Once again, I had a hard time finishing this one up but this one is doesn't taste as bad as the Daily Green.

Lunch: Green Energizer (broccoli, romaine, papaya, mustard leaves, pineapple, lemon)
It's been only past an hour from my last drink but I'm already feeling hungry. =(
Another green juice for lunch and surprisingly this one is much bearable to drink - the pineapple flavor really helped. But as the started to warm off, I had to take big gulps to finish it.

Lunch: A+ (carrot, apple, mint)
Now this juice I like. It tasted more of carrots, a bit of apple, but I didn't taste any mint though. One should really drink these juices really cold, because once it gets warm it's difficult to drink.

PM Snack: Code Red (watermelon, tomato, bell pepper, beets, grape)
I'm loosing my mind already. I really want something to munch on. Even though I'm having my juicing at home, there are still lots of temptation around. My husband eating his lunch with rice plus kids roaming around with cookies and chocolates. Oh such torture!

Of all the juices I expect this one to be yummy, but sadly it's not as I expected. I do taste the watermelon on it but I don't know why my taste buds thinks that this drink taste the same as all others. It is refreshing as long as its ice cold.

We will be off to watch a movie. Good luck to me to avoid all the temptation that surrounds me at the mall! I will be bringing my last two juices with me.

Dinner: Vitality Boost (watermelon, spinach, mustard leaves, grape)
Before I went in to watch the movie, I drank a bottle for dinner time. Once again, it was hard to drink. I was too bitter for me. I went on drinking big gulps to get it over with.

Dinner: Lemon Flush (lemon, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, water)
I'm so glad I saved the Lemon Flush for last because it was the best among them all. It was sour, bit of sweet and had the right kick of spiciness to it. How I wish all my 8 bottles were just this. hehehe

Before Bedtime Tea: Smooth Move
Before tucking to bed, I helped myself with a cup of their tea and it was delicious. It was really minty that it was soothing to the tummy. Just perfect to give you a good night sleep.

The Verdict:
Juicing is no joke, it's really hard especially for first timers like me. You really have to fight off all temptations and endure the whole day without nibbling on anything but it sure pays off! The next day I woke up early wanting to go to the toilet. Just after going to the toilet, I weighed myself and was amazed that I lost more than 4 lbs! Amazing right!

Will I do it again? Yes, but not anytime soon and if I'm going to do it again I'll only do the one-day cleanse again. I found it really hard to fight the temptation of eating anything other than the juices.

For more diet options, click here.

Wednesday, 18 June 2014

The Sexy Chef Dine Lite Meals

I just went on two straight weeks eating diet meals and for this week I only have 3 days in Manila because I'm going home to Zamboanga City for Independence Day. My dilemma now was - is there a diet meal delivery out there willing to be flexible and offer me with just 3 days meals in a week? The answer is YES! The Sexy Chef was flexible enough to accommodate to my needs. I just have to divide their weekly package to 5 to know how much it will cost per day then multiply it to 3 days.

I chose to avail their Dine Lite Package which cost Php 1,290 for 3 days (Php 2,150 for 5 days). The package is only for your daily lunch and dinner meals and is delivered to you before lunch time (usually between 10AM to 12NN). What's great about their Dine Lite meals is that each only has 350 worth of calories! Only downside of this is it is expensive.

Day 1
Lunch: Oriental Fruit Salad with Chicken
I super love this salad. I love their dressing it was so yummy! It didn't feel like I was on diet. All the veggies were fresh and crunchy and the chicken was tender and the dressing was so yummy! Oh, did I say that already? LOL The only difficulty I had with this meal is how hard it was to toss in its small container.

Dinner: Pasta Amatriciana
I love the idea that they didn't mix in the sauce when they deliver it to you. This way your pasta won't be soggy when you re-heat it. And they also provided me with a generous amount of Parmesan cheese. You can really taste the fresh tomatoes used in the sauce. It wasn't heavy on the tummy since it didn't have any meat on it.

Day 2
Lunch: Chili con Carne with Mexican Rice
No this meal was bursting with flavors! The rice was savory with just the right of spicy-ness and the meat was seasoned perfectly to accompany the already flavorful rice. This one is definitely one of my favorites!

Dinner: Chicken Burger with Pesto
Sad to see that my dinner is only a sandwich but hey it has chicken so it really did fill up my tummy. I'm not sure where the pesto went because I didn't seem to taste any. I'm not really a fan of this one, well just because I'm not a fan of chicken to begin with.

Day 3
Lunch: Huli Huli Hawaiian Chicken with Pineapple Fried Rice
Oh how I love eating this meal, I never thought that I could gobble down my lunch this fast. The pineapple fried rice was savory sweet and the chicken was really delicious. I wish I knew how they did this because I definitely want to cook this for myself someday.

Dinner: Creamy Beef Steak Pasta
Beef steak? Pasta? Doesn't sound right, but it was what I had for dinner and it was a good combination. The beef was so tender and the sauce was creamy. But after several bites, it became too salty for my palate. But it was a good meal - if it had less saltiness to it.

The Verdict:
The Sexy Chef has consistently won my heart. In terms of food taste, quality and quantity, the Sexy Chef is definitely the winner among the list of diet delivery companies I tried but unfortunately their package are quite expensive. They do offer promos from time to time so have a close watch over their Facebook page.

To learn about other diet meal options, click here.

If you're interested in this program, log on to http://www.thesexychef.ph/. If you do decide to sign up, please do mention that you were referred by me (Jill Ann Lorenzo) as they can give me a rebate if I refer people. :)

Sunday, 8 June 2014

Sagada Walking Tour

On our last day in Sagada, we went for a walk around town. Just a few minutes walk away from the main road, we were able to reach the famous Echo Valley. People took turns shouting and waited for their echo to sound back. From here, you can already see some of the hanging coffins on the sides of the valley.

If you want a closer look, you can trek going down the valley to view the hanging coffins up close.

Just nearby, you can find the St. Mary's Escopal Church. There was an ongoing wedding celebration when we passed by so we were not able to take pictures of the church from the inside.

Behind the church, you can find a busy market set-up only during Saturdays. You can find goods from nearby provinces like Baguio being sold here.

While you're in Sagada, don't fail to try out their halo-halo (Php 25) which had a little of everything. Their halo-halo had macaroni, ube, corn kernels, coconut strips, melon strips, watermelon, avocado and an assortment of jellies. They even added a stick-o with no extra charge. Yummy!

If you still have energy, you can walk much further to reach the Sagada Weaving Center. When I got in their shop, I was quite disappointed to see that they don't sell much merchandise at all.

Behind the souvenir shop, there's a small house where locals do their weaving. You have to be quiet while you're in this area and be respectful to ask their permission first to take pictures. They don't like to have their pictures taken, they will only let you take pictures of their work but not with their face.

Just in front of the Sagada Weaving Center, you can find a souvenir shop, Sagada Collections where you can taste their Peanut Bars. I don't think these bars are sold anywhere else in Sagada and they are quite expensive - one pack costs Php 200. They are made of peanuts and white chocolate, they were really delicious. Everything in this store were expensive. If you are looking for affordably priced bags and wallets, you can buy them at the Indigenous Handicrafts & Inn.

The main road in Sagada has lots of souvenir shops so you have to do some canvassing if you want to find cheaper items. Their key chains and ref magnets range from Php 65 to 100. Coin purses in Indigenous Handicrafts & Inn range from Php 50 to 130 depending on size and design.

This is part of our 4D3N Banaue-Sagada Adventure. Read more about our trip in below links:

Read about our food trips in Banaue here:

Read about our accommodation and food trips in Sagada here:

Resto Review: People's Lodge and Restaurant, Banaue

Before going back to Manila, we had a couple hours stop over in Banaue which gave us enough time to look around their Public Market to try out some of their local snacks and buy some souvenirs.

We decided to eat dinner at the People's Lodge and Restaurant which had a great panoramic view of some terraces and the city.

I ordered their set meal People's Rice (Php 160) which includes a cup of mountain rice, vegetable chopsuey, fried chicken, asparagus soup and a piece of banana. It was a tasty meal but nothing out of the ordinary.

My husband ordered their Pork Adobo (Php125) and a cup of their Rice (Php 25). Their adobo was pale in color and not saucy. The meat was chewy and sauce was just so so.

Dining here was not pleasant because their staff were snobs and not that attentive but I can commend that their food portions were generous for its price.