5/23 da.u.de Tea Lounge

By She Said

da.u.de (da-you-deh) Tea Corporation has been creating organic and natural full leaf teas since 2009. They opened their first flagship store, da.u.de Tea Lounge in 2012 at Bonifacio Global City. Managing Director, Renee Sebastian, is a Couture Tea Blender and the First Certified Tea Master in the Philippines.

da.u.de tea blends are premium, limited edition, and rare loose-leaf teas inspired from ancient remedies. All ingredients are fair traded and blended in small batches to create unique, flavorful blends.

Why my daughter insists on having hot tea, despite the sweltering Manila heat, I'll never understand.

 

Skala Blend- Green Rooibos, Apple, Hibiscus, Cranberry, Cornflower Petals, Sugar, Sunflower Oil, Organic Flavorings. Contains antioxidants that neutralizes free radicals and delay signs of aging.

Signature Tea Maker- this lightweight tea steeper has a fine mesh filter that keeps your tea liquor free from any tea leaves or herbs.

Low Tea, Afternoon Tea Set- Citrus Madeleines, Scone, Lemon Curd, Unclotted Cream,

French Macarons, Lemonada Tea Brulee, Chocolate Cake.

Crisp Pork Banh Mi- crispy tea infused roast pork, tea sriracha, and vegetable slaw.

My drink of choice! Lemon Thirst Quencher- Lemongrass, lemon, green rooibos, pandanus jelly, iced tea.

Red Velvet Cupcakes from Sweet Patti Cakes. We've been wanting to try this, so happy it's available in da.u.de. Best red velvet cupcakes we've tried so far.

The bill came in this cute tea party storybook.

My daughter loves tea. She was so thankful I brought her to da.u.de that after we were done she gratefully announced: "Mom, when I'm working already and earning my own keep, I'll treat you out to eat all the time!" Hmm... You can be sure I won't ever forget this. I can't wait! :D

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                    3/23 La Petite Camille

                    1 & 2/23 Maple & Bono Artisanal Gelato

                    One Summer, Twenty Three Restaurants

Blog Page Critique by Momcomm

By She Said

I haven't fully recovered from winning the Sugar and Spice Candy Buffets Anniversary Blow Out yet. I've been on an all time high for the past two days, floating in and out and around the house and everywhere I go. Then comes another set of good news, and I'm literally just flying!

I just received an email from Melissa Culbertson of Momcomm that I got 1 out of the 26 much coveted spots for a free Blog Page Critique! Melissa has over 11 years experience in marketing communications. She is an accomplished writer who specializes in graphic design, and is currently in the works on her new book, Blog Design for Dummies. She is the founder of Momcomm, a site that provides bloggers practical writing and blogging tips.

Women bloggers out there would know what a privilege it is to be critiqued by one of the most experienced, widely read blogs out there. Most especially for a new blog such as ours- my daughter and I just started blogging this January 2013, so we've been at this for only 3 months. It is so important for us to learn and make improvements and corrections early on so we can begin to take our blog to higher heights. Thank you to Momcomm for this opportunity and for sharing your time and talent. It means so much to us.

Special thanks goes out to Frances Amper Sales of Topaz Mommy & Topaz Horizon and Martine Cosio De Luna of Dainty Mom, my first ever online friends. Thanks for all your words of encouragement, support, much needed advice and all your lovely comments. We haven't even met you both in person, but you made me and my daughter feel so welcome in this yet unknown, uncharted world of blogging. We are looking forward to meeting you real soon. 

Thank you to our readers (a small group of  our dear family and friends) for patiently reading our stories despite it not being as well written as it should be. We will continue to strive to do our best. Okay, so this is beginning to sound like the speech that you make after winning a beauty contest or something so I'd better stop here :D

I can't wait for Momcomm to critique our blog. We'll keep you posted. Happiness :)

Sugar and Spice Candy Buffets Anniversary Blow Out

By She Said

I don't remember ever winning any contest or raffle in my entire life. But I guess luck is on my side because I just won a Facebook giveaway sponsored by Sugar & Spice Manila to celebrate their First Year Anniversary!!! I couldn't believe it when I found out that I won. In fact, I still can't believe it.

I joined the contest for a chance to win a Candy Buffet for a children's party my daughter and I are planning as part of our project- 100 Acts of Kindness. We wanted to surprise the kids of SOS Children's Village in Muntinlupa to a sweet treat this summer, and boy are they in for a real deal sugar rush!

Thank you so much to Carms Hernandez and Mel Fernandez, the sweet ladies behind Sugar & Spice Manila! The Candy Buffet will surely make the kids happy and will truly be an unforgettable experience for all of them. Special thanks to Patty Laurel for blogging about the giveaway and for the beautiful photos she shared of her wedding where Sugar & Spice set up a beautiful candy buffet for her guests.

Sugar & Spice Manila specializes in candy and dessert buffets, personally designed to match the theme of your event as well as create special candy filled favor bags for your guests.

These photos are from their Facebook page...

Candyland Theme

Elegant Candy Buffet set up for a wedding

 Sweet Shoppe

Willy Wonka Theme

A very special shout out to our friends, family and even people we haven't met! for pledging their support for the SOS Children's Village event. My  daughter and I are truly grateful for all the love. So excited to plan this party. Follow us on Facebook, we'll be posting pictures of the party there for sure. Love all around  ♥ ♥ ♥

4/23 Mien-San Noodle House

By She Said

Mien-San Noodle House has been in existence since 1995, long before food blogs became as popular as they are now. A permanent fixture along Granada Street in Valencia, Quezon City, I've always been curious about this Taiwanese restaurant. 

We pass this way every Sunday on our way to visit my lola and I always catch glimpses of a lunchtime crowd but since parking in that area is difficult, I always dismissed thoughts of trying out the place. 

Not until two or three years ago, when I started reading so many good reviews and seeing photos of their food worth salivating over, that I included it on my must try list.

We finally got to try out the place and made sure to go after the lunch crowd so parking was quite easy.

 Sweet & Sour Pork

 Pork Kutchay Dumplings

 This was good! Kutchay is an ingredient present almost in every dish in Mien-San. Not that I'm complaining. I think kutchay leaves give a distinct aroma and flavor, most especially to pork dishes.

 Fried Rice

Sialong Pao Soup Dumpling with Patola- this was yummy too! Gently pick up your dumpling with chopsticks, dip in vinegar ginger sauce, place on a soup spoon and create a small hole on the dumpling with your chopstick so a little soup comes out, sip the soup, add more ginger sauce and eat it whole!

Fried Sesame Balls- filled with sweet monggo beans

Celebrity Wall- filled with photos of famous personalities who have dined at Mien-San

Mien-San is a no frills, family owned, casual dining restaurant that serves dishes for every budget. I wish we had space in our tummies to try out more on their menu. I think this will be our new go-to place for takeout food to bring to our next potluck get together at my lola's :)

Related Posts: 3/23 La Petite Camille

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                    One Summer, Twenty Three Restaurants

Easter Bunnies

by she said

After mom and I made our fun Easter Centerpiece, we started on making Easter Bunny Cupcake toppers. We got the instructions from this post.

Materials we used:
pompoms
toothpicks
white  & pink vellum board paper for the bunny ears
blue & yellow construction paper for the bowties
glue

Mom had already bought the mini pompoms in National Bookstore beforehand, so when we were in the mall we just made a quick stop to get toothpicks. We already had construction paper and glue at home. That was basically all we needed.

We were super excited to start on the bunnies because they are just so adorable! Making them is a fun Easter project, and they're useful too.

First we inserted the toothpicks in to the pompoms with a little dab of glue.

Next, we used different colors of construction paper to cut out little bunny ears and bowties to attach to the topper. It may look super easy, but it actually requires a lot of patience and precision in cutting the tiny shapes and also lots of willingness to get glue on your hands.

We glued the bunny ears to the top of the pompoms and attached the bowties to the toothpicks. This was the easy part :)

They ended up looking great, and I'm excited to put them on the cupcakes we hopefully end up buying on Easter Sunday! Let us know if you try this out! :)

Easter Memories & A DIY Easter Centerpiece

By She Said

Easter morning always brings back memories of my childhood, living in the province. I grew up in a small residential compound near the beach and every Easter morning an egg hunt was prepared for the me and my siblings and the other kids in our neighborhood. Prettily painted hard boiled eggs were hidden in the playground in front of our house where we literally had do a little digging to find them. I wasn't really too keen on finding those cute pink, yellow, and blue eggs because, a little girl can only eat so much hard boiled eggs in one day. I'd much rather have candy.

What the other kids and I were on a mission to find was the much coveted golden egg. A singular egg wrapped in gold foil, well hidden and not in plain sight. The lucky finder gets the best prize of all. A real, live, Easter bunny! I remember waking up at the crack of dawn to peek out of our living room window just so I could get a glimpse of where the eggs were hidden. I never woke up early enough to catch the gardeners planting the eggs in the ground, though. But I did find the golden egg once, and brought home the bunny rabbit to the envy of everyone :)

When I became a mom, I wanted to recreate the same experience for my daughter. This time without the hard boiled eggs, but with the now more popular, different colored plastic eggs filled with either candies or small toys.

My daughter at two years old, egg hunting in our front yard. I think she did this until she was eleven years old, and then the novelty just seemed to fade away.

My little bunny, four years old. Easter 2002.

Here she is, eleven years old, at one of her last Easter egg hunts in 2010 with neighbors at the park. She's the girl holding up her bag to catch the candies:) She's turning fifteen in a few months. Where did time go?

We were doing some spring cleaning earlier this month and guess what we found in the storage room? All the plastic eggs she's accumulated through the years! Those cute pink and yellow baskets were a gift from her Ninang Les.They're more than ten years old and still in good condition.

 Maybe we'll put these eggs to good use this coming Easter and prepare an egg hunt for my ten month old nephew.  He can't walk yet, but he sure can crawl! haha! We'll see about that :)

 We also found an old box of craft foam in the storage so, we got a little crafty today.

 Pre-Cut foam pieces...

 that you glue together...

 to make cute little creatures...

 and pretty flower shapes :)

We attached the shapes on to paper straws...

Inserted bamboo sticks in a styrofoam ball.

Our Easter Centerpiece!

We used paper confetti that came with gifts we received last Christmas plus some green Japanese paper passed through a paper shredder. I got the paper straws from Metro Supermarket in Alabang, about P50 per pack. They're not good quality drinking straws but they are good to use  for arts & crafts. The terracotta pots are from an old Bake In A Flower Pot Set. I'm glad I kept them, they sure came in handy :)

3/23 La Petite Camille

By She Said

The Manila restaurant scene is definitely getting bigger, busier and more exciting by the minute. And because of this, I feel that I have to rush to complete my summer restaurant list at the soonest possible time. So many new restaurants are cropping up, all vying for my undivided attention. But I keep telling myself to take it slow and enjoy the moment. So, to all the new restaurants out there: Please wait for me. I'll get to you, all in good time! ;)

The summer heat is beginning to get unbearable and I just couldn't imagine spending this day outdoors. So, being the mall rats that we are, my daughter and I found ourselves in Greenbelt 5 this Sunday.

La Petite Camille is a Vietnamese restaurant located at the second level of Greenbelt 5, on the space formerly occupied by Travel Cafe. Originating from San Francisco, California, this restaurant was brought to Manila by the same group behind the popular Super Bowl of China and Nanbantei.

My daughter was a little worried that she wouldn't enjoy the food. She's not much into soups and vegetables, which I'm forever trying to change. I wasn't surprised when she immediately zeroed in on the first fried dish she saw on the menu.

Imperial Rolls- deep fried rolls stuffed with minced pork, taro, black fungus, mixed vegetables and crushed peanuts served with lettuce, vermicelli, pickled carrots & radish, fish sauce.

This is eaten by wrapping a spring roll in lettuce with some vermicelli and pickled vegetables. Vietnamese dishes have a perfect balance of fresh vegetables, herbs, meat and spices that makes it one of the healthiest cuisines in the world.

Pomelo Salad- this was my favorite! Sweet and refreshing, perfect for summer.

Vietnamese BBQ Pork

Beef Look Luck- beef tenderloin sauteed with white onions, minced garlic and special sauce served on a bed of lettuce. This was yummy, best eaten with lots of rice:)

Chicken Fried Rice

Vietnamese Jello- pandan and coffee flavored jelly. We have a sweet tooth when it comes to desserts. This dessert just had a slight hint of sugar and coffee and didn't  really satisfy our sweet cravings.

Three down, Twenty restaurants to go! Where do you want us to eat next?

Related Posts: 1 & 2/23 Maple and Bono Artisanal Gelato
                     One Summer, Twenty Three Restaurants