[a cascade of butterflies]

My daughter took these snapshots as we were coming from the 5 o'clock Saturday mass at the Chapel of the Eucharistic Lord.

A swarm of butterflies seemed to cascade from the skylight of the Megamall Atrium.  SURREAL!

[other than MILK TEA]

Just the other day, I drove all the way to Moonleaf at the Village Corner to grab a drink. Feeling that milk tea fatigue, I decided to try their other tea concoctions & settled for this:

PEACH YAKULT

It's a refreshing blend of peach-flavored iced tea with a shot of Yakult. I think this is a healthier choice because of the probiotic milk-like drink added to it. Worth the 10-minute drive from home. Next time, I will try the lychee & apple variants.

[fancy EDGES]

I remember the time when I used to assist my daughters in their art projects. This type of scissors helped create those fancy edges on the paper. 

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But now, one can do it digitally with PICMONKEY's special feature - the CRAFT SCISSOR- edged frame. 

With photo border:

Without photo border:

It's easy.

Just go to PICMONKEY & click the craft scissors image. Go to the frame icon on the left-side menu & click craft scissors. You can opt to edit your pic with or without photo border.

Have fun making your own & use them for your blog or digital photo albums.

[a dash of PEPPER]

I love looking through food blogs. I get attracted to the recipes & on how the final product or ordered food is presented & captured on cam. Food photography piques my interest but I have yet to read a blog that showcases picture-perfect food & easy-to-follow recipes  - until recently. 

Two weeks ago, I got an emailed invite from 50 Feasts about their August-slated food photography classes. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get in due to a technical know-how they require from enrollees. Anyway, I stumbled upon their blog PEPPER.ph, dubbed a Food Blog for the Artists, Misfits & Creatives. It's more than the usual type of food blog. The entries are well-written, witty even, & the food in focus is styled & photographed in a differently good way. 

Some sneak peeks... 

deep-fried cheesy tikoy

KAHLUA kori coffee

KOREAN beef stew

HAPPY LEMON rock salt & cheese

chorizo & egg salad

strawberry black forest

LUCKY ME miso butter corn ramen

Discover the blog here. And while you're at it, don't forget to visit their other related sites: PHOTOKITCHEN (a tiny food photography company in the Philippines that focuses on creating drool-worthy food photos) & 50FEASTS (the first and only food photography school in the Philippines). 

***PEPPER.ph won as one of the FRESHEST awardees in the recent TATT Awards 2012 for being the rookie or newbie who's on his/her way to rockin' the social media world. 

[morning EATS]

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One of the many things we enjoy doing as a family is having breakfast outside of home. We usually do this on weekends when we have to go to my in-laws' place in a nearby NL town or while waiting for the mall to open.

Here are some of the nice places we've taken our breakfast in & loved the food:

SEATTLE'S BEST, Megamall

CAFE FRANCE, Shell NLEX

THE COFFEE BEAN & TEA LEAF,  Burgos Circle

KENNY ROGERS, Katipunan

TAPA KING, Libis

[SUNDAY lunch]

The smell of chili garlic prawns coming from the kitchen wafts through the entire house. Hubby, the better cook between us, is busy concocting the dressing for the fern salad with salted duck eggs which I prepared. After a few minutes, they are placed in clear glass bowls.

It was potluck Sunday yesterday for our family. Once every month, usually on a Sunday, my siblings & I gather for lunch either at our house or my sister's. My mom & my sister cook most of the lunch fare. My brother & I just bring whatever food to share. Ours were the prawn & salad dishes, while my brother brought a couple of roasted chicken.


Amid the hustle & bustle of everyday life, nothing beats reconnecting & bonding with the family through shared meals & stories. Family, after all, is what matters most.

[12 little things to do]

My youngest had a project in her Literature class last year wherein she submitted her own list of 12 LITTLE THINGS TO DO AS A STUDENT. This is a take-off from one of the books included in their required reading list.

12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do to Help Our Country is a book written by ALEXANDER LACSON LEDESMA, a 40-something Filipino lawyer, author, lecturer, philantropist & politician. 

In the early part of 2000, he & wife, Pia with their children, seriously thought of migrating to either the US or Canada because they felt that the Philippines was getting nowhere in terms of progress. But after much discussion & careful thought, they decided to stay put in this country & help. He wrote this book in the hope that he can inspire fellow Filipinos to do their share in nation-building by doing the "little things that matter". 

A rundown of his list :

1. Follow traffic rules. Follow the law.
2. Whenever you buy or pay for anything, always ask for an official receipt.
3. Don’t buy smuggled goods. Buy local. Buy Filipino. (Or, if you read the book, he suggests: 50-50).
4. When you talk to others, especially foreigners speak positively about us and our country.
5. Respect your traffic officer, policeman and soldier.
6. Do not litter. Dispose your garbage properly. Segregate. Recycle. Conserve.
7. Support your church.
8. During elections, do your solemn duty.
9. Pay your employees well.
10. Pay your taxes.
11. Adopt a scholar or a poor child.
12. Be a good parent. Teach your kids to follow the law and love our country.

Grab your own copy of this must-read book & get to know the man who would have made a good senator.

[MODERNize]

When I was looking for modern pieces of furniture for our living & dining areas, I had BoConcept as peg. Of course, the merchandises there don't come cheap but the catalogue that I got for free from their Bonifacio High Street store gave me ideas on what to buy as alternative, just to get the style I like for less premium. 

Doing away with the usual sofa set, I went for the sectional type.

After making the rounds of several home stores, I finally found the one that I liked in the Trinoma branch of CROSSINGS Department Store. It's a black & yellow set with a built-in magazine rack on one side.

Compared to those being sold at a well-known department store, I went for this instead because its workmanship is better. I would rather pay a little bit more than settle for something that costs less yet looks haphazardly made. So far, no regrets, even after 3 years of use.

Get your own sofa inspiration from BoConcept if you're thinking of furnishing or refurbishing your living rooms. Go here.

[RED & ORANGE]

These sweet-enders are treats for both the eyes & taste buds. 

l-r: RED VELVET CAKE & CARROT CAKE

a slice of each

up close, the cake's not crumbly 

I ordered them from Sherene Marquez of SWEETS BOX. She's my youngest's former teacher in elementary who's now a baker/food enterpreneur. This pretty stay-at-home mom went back to her first loves - baking & cooking - to become productive while looking after her 2-year old son. With no formal training, she just became good in what she does because she loved puttering around the kitchen as a young girl. 

Her attention to details when decorating her cakes is what I like most in her creations. With the help of her husband, she has come up with these yummy baked goodies that are worth trying:

[CAFFEINE fix]

Coffee shops are my go-to places whenever I want to while my time away, meet up with someone or surf the net for free while having my caffeine fix.

Here are some cozy, stylish cafes where I would love to lounge around in:

1. The New Metropolitan Costa, London, UK

2. LUNA Cafe, Valencia, Spain

3. TERMINAL B, Switzerland

4. WGV Cafeteria, Stuttgart, Germany

5. AIA Coffee & Restaurant, Portugal

6. STARBUCKS Coffee, Dazaifu, Japan

7. TOKYO Baby Cafe, Aoyama, Tokyo

8. EVERYDAY CHAA Tea Cafe, Seoul, South Korea

[LOFTY dreams]

A loft is an upper story of a business building, warehouse, or factory, typically consisting of open, unpartitioned floor area usually converted or adapted to any of various uses, as quarters for living, studios for artists or dancers, exhibition galleries, or theater space. The distinct design elements of a loft are exposed utility pipes, ductworks or beams, brick walls, high ceilings, big windows, skylights & bare concrete finishes. 


Designing & living in a loft-type house is on my wishlist, something that I want to be able to do in the next few years.

Some LOFT ideas I took a fancy to : 

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