Hollys Coffee Experience I

I am a self confessed coffee addict. Ask any of my friends and they would all agree.Nowadays I can get by without any dinner as long as I have had my coffee boost.I can substitute one meal for even just one venti cafe latte. :p  As I have mentioned this is  my journey to discovering new things and new places so I am always in constant motion to find the best tasting food, best ambiance, well basically the best that life has to offer. I am happy to say that I am not alone in this journey because my friends are constantly feeding me information on new places and food to try. So the other day a friend of mine invited me to try out this new coffee place that opened at SM Southmall in Las Pinas city. Of course, there's no need for further coaxing for me, the minute she said coffee everything else kinda faded in the background.hehehe.


I was so excited for the day to end so I can make a beeline to this new place. It was not hard to find because it is situated beside Racks, at the food street area at the back of the mall. Quite the opposite side of Starbucks (my third place :) ). Anyway since it was their first day of opening ( I think they call it "soft" opening) the store was not full of people. It's either most of the guests were already gone or most people have not heard of them yet.


When I got inside the coffee shop the first thing I noticed was that it was a lot spacier compared to Starbucks.

It was also cold (probably because there were only a few people inside) and I was greeted by a friendly crew as I walked in. I also noticed the quaint "cupboard" at the left side. It sort of added to the homey atmosphere of the place.So I made a beeline to my friends and sat down with them, Since they were there first the first thing I asked was "Is their coffee good?". Ate Charlene (she was the one who invited me) said that she really liked it, now just a little background on her, she's a very good pastry baker and has a big appreciation for good coffee like me, so when she said it was good it was good enough as a review for me :).


But of course I had to taste it for myself so I asked them what they got and what would they recommend. She accompanied me to the counter and I was welcomed by a friendly (and cute!lol) crew. I looked over at their menu and checked the prices. My eyes zeroed in on their mint flavored drinks. Now some of my friends really find it weird that I like mint on my coffee or tea. Well on tea it may not taste so weird but one friend told me once when she tasted Peppermint mocha by Starbucks (my all time fave drink there) she felt like she just brushed her teeth and then immediately drank coffee.Lol. Well no matter what they say it works for me. I love the minty after taste it leaves on my mouth. Anyhow, going back, I started to order their Mint Choco Cafe Mocha but then the crew and ate Char told me all mint drinks were not available yet. I was a bit disappointed  but hey I'd cut them some slack this time since they have just opened up. hahaha.

So I asked ate what would she recommend, she then asked me back on what i felt like drinking. I told her i wanted something dark (because I love dark chocolate...). She then recommended Real Belgian Cafe Mocha. She said to me " You want it Dark talaga ha!You'll see" I took it as a challenge so I went ahead and ordered their large drink (Picture above is the large size). I looked over the pastry section and noticed they do have quite a selection of waffles, sandwiches and cake. But I was not in the mood to eat anything sweet at that time so I decided not to order anything else. But I did take a mental note of some that I would like try for next time.


While waiting for my order I was already making mental comparisons with my favorite coffee place. Ate Charlene also gave me a background on the place, She said that it's a Korean coffee shop. So that was already a plus point to my appeal because as far as I know Koreans have a great appreciation for good food. I also looked around more closely and noticed that the place was really comfortable and the chairs, even the ones without the foam, are pretty much OK with my tush. :)


After a few minutes my coffee came. Either I was so busy chatting about or the barista had a soft voice but I did not hear him call out my name though the place was pretty quiet. A point to observe next time. A place can have the best tasting food but for me if service leaves less to be desired, there's pretty much a big chance that I would not come back. Anyway one of the baristas brought it over to me when he noticed my drink was still there so I guess i would let it pass.hehehe.


As i held that coffee cup in anticipation, with Ate Charlene and Nely hovering over me waiting for my reaction, I could feel my coffee sense tingling. What's coffee sense you say? I don't know either. Hahaha! I just wanted to say I was excited in a flowery way. Lol. 


kapeng barako. I replaced the cover and then took my first sip.....and then I knew I was a GONER!!! MAN this coffee is good!!! Really good!!! If you are familiar with Starbucks dark mocha flavor , you can use that as a reference point to imagine how it tastes like. This drink had a thicker texture compared to the one from Starbucks. I think by far from all the coffee shops I've been to, their coffee had the thickest texture. For the level of bitterness this one can really jolt you awake! Probably for the people who don't like bitter coffee what I said would not encourage them to try this drink, but I tell you, this is one drink you would like. It has that certain level of kick-ass-jolt-you-awake bitter taste but just had the right amount of sweetness to counter the bitter taste but still give you the "jolt-you-awake" effect. Catch my drift? :)


I would recommend though that you stir the coffee a bit though before drinking it to even out the taste. Because for me (take note I really prefer bitter coffee so it was okay with me) the first sip was pure bitter ground coffee. I kept telling my friends that I love my coffee and that I can honestly say (if my heart won't give out first due to caffeine overload) I can have 5 or more of it. Hahaha. The best part about it is in between taking your sips of coffee, somehow the taste lingers in your mouth. It's like even when you're talking the coffee is still in your mouth. No kidding! It's a first for me!I am definitely coming back to this place. Now remember that I said they had a wide selection of pastries, I did not get one but I thought after tasting this flavor It would go well with a sweet cake. Because the sweetness of the cake would complement the bitter taste of the coffee. So I made a mental note again to do that next time.


I know it would be too early to say that I might have found my new "third place" but just this one order of coffee definitely peaked my interest to try their other concoctions. I AM DEFINITELY coming back! :) So watch out for my upcoming reviews on their other drinks and on their pastries. For all coffee lovers out there, this place is really worth a visit!!!! :) Till next time!

My walking visita iglesia experience :)

As I've said this year is a year of discoveries, and as my blog title says it's my Eat, pray, love journey. So I thought I'd break the "Eat" part and share something on my "pray" segment. Lol. Last Holy week my best friend and I continued our traditional annual Visita Iglesia. This was started by the whole barkada more than 10 years ago but so far only the 2 of us has been able to continue without any absences so far. So I'm proud of the two of us, ahem, ahem...:) . Anyway since it has been a long time tradition, you kinda want to tweak the tradition a bit every once in a while, so about 2-3 years back we started to choose different locations from the usual route that we take. This year we decided to tweak it a bit further. 

Since lately I have been thirsty for adventure and I'm always looking for my next adventure, I suggested a walking Visita Iglesia. Now for those who are familiar with this Catholic tradition you’d probably think...”Walking? Of course you walk when you do this! How is it any different? Duh?” well here’s the thing, over the years from when we started it was walk-ride a jeep-get off the church-then walk. Then a few more years when we learned to drive, it became ride the car-park-get off the church-walk back to the car -onto the next church- thing. So there I was trying to think of how we can make the experience more meaningful and adventurous at the same time. While searching the web I came across a blog where they described going around churches in the manila area, some within walking distance. So I went ahead and sent the link to my best friend and another friend planned our itinerary for us.

We usually do our visita on a Holy Thursday, the forecast for the week was rain showers should be expected. So I prayed that the day would just have the right weather for our walking tour and indeed prayers are powerful because the day started out gloomy but before we reached the first church Mr. Sun came out from his hiding. Unfortunately I failed to bring a camera so you would need to use your imagination while reading this blog to imagine the churches. Or you could search the web for pictures, hehehe.

The first was San Miguel Church. It was inside the Malacañang compound. At the front of the church you’d see a statue of St. Michael slaying a dragon or serpent. When you go inside you’d notice the old style altar. It also had tombstones inside (at the side) just like in old churches in the Laguna area. I think the church is dedicated mostly for the archangels because they had banners describing each archangel whom you can ask to intercede for you for specific petitions.  So after we did our first 2 stations there, we sat for awhile for our personal prayers. We do have this tradition where when it’s our first time to go inside a church we can make a wish. I know it’s kinda childish and not really Christian-like but I would like to think that for me, at least, it was more of my personal tradition to have a certain petition for each church.:)

As I’ve mentioned it’s a”Walking Visita Iglesia”, so we left the car parked at the first church and walked to our second destination the church of St. Jude. Oh by the way, while walking towards St. Jude, I noticed a group of runners pass us by. As it was a bright and early morning I thought to myself, “wow it is indeed a nice day to go for a jog”. I was also amazed that a lot of people were walking with us. Also there were a lot of groups with different “styles” for their pilgrimage. I saw a group carrying their Sto. Niños. Another group were walking barefoot, take note this was male and females alike. I could really see the sacrifice they were doing. Even though it was just about the right temperature that day, I could say that walking barefoot would still entail a LOT of sacrifice and from the looks of it, really uncomfortable.

Anyhow I’ve heard a lot about this church, they say it’s where you go for petitions regarding lost causes, the impossible, and the most famous one, for board takers. It was my first time to go there. The church was a bit modern. I was a bit disappointed, sorry to say that, but I guess I was expecting an “old church look”. You see I really love old churches. I’m not an architect but I do have great appreciation for old and artistic facades. We entered the church itself, I thought it would be big since they said a lot of students really go there for Thursday masses (for the novena for the board exam), but discovered that It was just average in size. I imagined it would really probably be crowded during those masses. The altar was also modern in style and quite simple.

Earlier I mentioned I noticed a group of runners pass us by, right? To my amazement (sorry very little and ordinary things really seem to amaze me these days, hehehe) when we went for the third station, I saw them again in front of one of the stations just finishing up. It was amazing for me to see them kneel on one knee all at the same time apparently they’ve incorporated their health regimen to their Visita Iglesia! (seeing this, you could just imagine the wheels in my head turning, because Dora’s thinking of what our next year’s Visita Iglesia would be! :p) I nudged my friends and said “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” hahaha. That’s when we knew what we would be doing for next year........hopefully. :p

Onto our third church, we had to walk back a bit to the second gate of Malacañang, the one facing Mendiola. AGAIN, the explorer in ME was amazed! Lol! Just a little history, back when I was choosing which college to go to, I really said to myself that I did not want to study in Manila because of the traffic and air pollution. So when we got out of the gate I was surprised to see La consolacion college to my left and that I found myself in the Mendiola area where most historic rallies occur! J I even saw the barbed wires they use for barricades. To the right you’d notice a quite unimpressive building. Not being familiar I sort of just followed my friends’ lead to where we were going. I did, purposely, not do my homework to check out the churches because I wanted to be surprised. Lo and behold, this third church was a big surprise! The San Beda Church (Our Lady of Montserrat Abbey) from the outside looked modern, though there were spires (I think that is what they are called) on the roof indicating it’s a church. The entrance itself was just a small opening but wait till you get inside the church!!!

My best friend, Lai, told me that I’d really love this church. Indeed when we got in I understood what she was saying. I felt I was in Lipa cathedral. There were impressive paintings at the ceiling and I loved the angels holding the lamps. Also I do have a thing for long aisles. Because my dream church requirement for my dream wedding has to have a long aisle. In this church it was only short but as I sat there, I said to myself “Wow! I want to get married here”. hehehe. The church felt serene despite the presence of a lot of people. I felt I was transported back in time. I also noticed the balcony on both sides of the church. This is my new favourite church so far. (pix above was the only photo I could take with my cellphone)

Since we started out early we ate our breakfast at a nearby Mc Donald’s and freshened up because the temperature was already rising. Ca, our other friend, said that we would be walking quite a bit towards our 4^th and 5^th church. We passed by CEU and had to walk and cross a busy street, I think this is the Legarda street. I did mention that we were not the only ones doing this. So we joined the throng of people walking. Actually you can do this even without a map. All you have to do is follow the direction of the different groups and for sure it will lead you to a church. J I really felt that THIS is what a pilgrimage should be like! The sun was really up and we were all sweaty but I was really having fun!!!

So our 4^th and 5^th church were what they call the twin churches in Bustillos street (the Church of Our Lady of Loreto and the Church of St. Anthony Padua). Nearing the location of the churches I realized it looked familiar. That was because I’ve already heard mass about 2 years back, at one of these churches. I stayed in a house near these churches at one time when I took the board exam. I also realized that at that time if I had known I could have actually walked towards St. Jude during the boards. Sigh! Oh well, that is where the joy of discoveries lie. J The two churches were modern in style, but I liked the bigger church (Our Lady of Loreto). Back when I heard mass, I remember feeling very comfortable inside this church.

We then proceeded to our 6^th church, San Sebastian church. Again I remembered that I used to pass this church when I stayed at my tita’s friends’ house. I was curious back then but since I was always in a hurry either on my way to the board or going back to the apartment after the exam, I did not take the time to explore the church. So I was surprised again that this is one of those famous churches to get married in! Lol! Oh my ignorance!!!hahaha! I liked the Inside of the church for me it gave me a gothic feel. Probably because (as I later found out) the church was made of steel and iron. It was dark inside but somehow it did not make me feel gloomy. It was in fact cool inside and also exudes serenity. I thought that I would also consider this church to get married in, hahaha! (Now why did marriage keep popping up at that time?LOL!!!). This came in a close second to my new favourite churches. I then decided that one of these days I would go back to those churches to take proper pictures and create a photo blog.

It was already nearing noon and the last church we were supposed to go to was Quiapo church. We were a bit tired and it was really, really already hot. Ca and Lai were saying maybe we should just go back to the car then just go into the first church we would pass by on our way home. Dora in me, told them that we should ask the vendors if there was another church nearer than Quiapo church, since we were already there and for me to really complete the experience. Hehehe! I was right! The vendor told us there was a small church along Hidalgo street. The Shrine of the Holy Face of Jesus. We proceeded to the church, now you’d have to be very cautious because you’d miss this church if you’re not familiar with it. This church was quite interesting. J The first thing you’d see when you go inside is the gift shop at your right and the underground Car parking LOT in front of you! Hahaha! I felt disoriented at that time because I was like “What the!!!where’s the church? Why are there cars?” lol. Apparently there is a staircase at your left that leads to the church on the second floor! J But the surprise does not stop there because in order to get to the stations of the cross you have to go up the balcony which overlooks the main area of the church. It was really interesting for me because it’s the first church I’ve seen so far with this unconventional set up, hehehe. This is where we concluded our stations of the cross. J

Having finished the Visita we were really all sweaty and tired so we decided to ask around where we can get a jeepney ride going back to where we parked our car. (Maybe it’s cheating since it was supposed to be a walking Visita all throughout, but hey it was REALLY HOT to walk back. We’d be toast before we got to the car!!!) We noticed a “padyak” and asked if he could get us at least to the second gate in mendiola or to the first church, he said He could. So for 40 pesos all three of us got to the padyak. We passed by some side streets and we were all just laughing and bantering and enjoying the ride. Before I knew it the padyak stopped at a dead end which had a gate and a lot of people were passing through it. When we got out from that gate it was such a nice surprise that we were back to the first church. I was so amazed by this discovery that we really went around in a full circle.hehehe. The “Dora” in me was ecstatic by this discovery. J

So that concludes our Visita Iglesia devotion/adventure this year. I am looking forward to our next year’s plan which would be “Jogging/walking Visita Iglesia”. I could really say that this year was the best by far because the experience was really different and I really felt the sacrifice that we did which made it more meaningful for me at least. I am really hoping that by next year we could encourage more of our friends to join us in this experience J

                                                                                   

My love affair with MOCHI :)

I remember the first time i read about this in a magazine. At that time i said I'm really going to try this, but then since it was not available in our area, i forgot all about it..until i discovered that they were selling it at a weekend market in our place...

So as soon as i can i went over to the weekend market and had a taste of my first mochi filled ice cream :) there were several flavors available so i had a hard time choosing one.It was a bit costly so as much as i want to blow my budget to try everything, i couldn't so i chose only one with the resolve to try the other flavors when i come back.

SO there i was, like a kid who can't decide which toy to choose, standing excitedly over the counter trying to decide. There was coffee (my fave), chocolate, red beans, green tea,etc. I decided to go with the flavors that are not common, so my first choice was GREEN TEA

When i took my first bite, all i could was just close my eyes...heaven!!! :) I loved the way the ice cream melted in my mouth.I don't eat palitaw (a delicacy that's made of rice, i think, also) but somehow the rice cake reminded me of it and i liked the way the taste of the rice cake complemented with the ice cream. And with this particular brand of mochi-filled ice cream, the green tea taste was really close,as if you were drinking the tea itself...

So there i was totally addicted.That every time i get the chance i go to the weekend market to try other flavors. And in my quest to find interesting food, i learned that MOCHIKO is just a company and that there are also other places selling mochi-filled ice cream. So when I was in quezon city, my friend brought me to Dezzato, where they sell mochi-filled ice cream as well..

These are a lot bigger than the one from MOCHIKO and cheaper as well, they'd come around to 40 php each.THey also had green tea flavor so i decided to get one too to compare the taste. i'd still go with the one from MOCHIKO because it tastes more authentic...I tasted the strawberry flavor, it was quite good, but then i was not able to appreciate it, probably because i'm not much of a fan.

Then just a few weeks back I was able to travel to Hong Kong and I chanced upon this mochi....

It's not ice cream filled but more on chocolate creme-filled but i still enjoyed it.It's at 9 HK dollars per pack/at 4 pcs a pack.Too bad i was not able to buy lots of it, but definitely it's one thing I'd come back for in Hong Kong. :)

I'm still searching for other brands of mochi-filled ice cream to try so that I can compare and find the best mochi-filled ice  cream. I can't wait to discover them!!! :) Thank you for the ones who conceptualized this wonderful dessert.

Start of my Journey

I've always wanted to write a blog but i never got around to it cause almost always something prevents me from doing it or i'm just too lazy to write sometimes, hehehe, but right now I feel the groove coming back, maybe because i got heartbroken or maybe it's just about time :)

Yup you read it right, i just got my heart broken last year, and the experience actually made me realize a lot of things, hence the idea came into mind to focus my blog on my quest to find "ME" again... I can also say it was inspired by Elizabeth Gilbert's book... I promised myself this will be an amazing year for me, so i hope you can all enjoy this journey with me through my blogs :)

The journey begins now :)