The chicken tasted like what bird poop smells like but everything else tasted…read moregood....................................

Don't judge me but, I usually eat dinner or lunch here by myself. It is my go-to place when I need…read moreto "angry eat" after a stressful day and I'm stuck in the mall. There is always a line during dinner. Be prepared to wait for almost an hour for seats; you cannot make advanced reservations here. That is why you will see me here during lunch because there are no lines and the buffet is cheaper. Basically, this is a shabu-shabu and grill restaurant. I mostly enjoy the grilling part because I easily get full with the shabu-shabu. Even though the meats and seafoods are not of high quality, I like eating here because they serve unlimited drinks which includes unlimited draft beer! WIN! Again, please expect that they have limited buffet dishes to choose from. This branch also is VERY stingy in giving the beef and pork for grilling. BUT, it's a cheap buffet and unlimited draft beer is a good deal!

Chocolate Lover's is a literal castle of sweets, not just because of its mystical fantasy castle…read morefaçade. It's also filled with everything you need to solve your sugar cravings. This is a one of a kind store in the metro that is a must-visit for any baking and desserts enthusiast. You have a cupcake business? Look no more for hard-to-find baking tools. You wanna learn how to make desserts or are you planning on making them for fun? All the more reason to go here! More than that though, this place holds a lot of memories for me and my high school friends. We were just adolescent students wanting to form an all-girl band to take over the school's very own "music scene" back then, and we didn't have any money to buy new instruments and amplifiers. So what did we do? Make our very profitable business of selling chocolates to our classmates. Yep, it worked. After a year of melting, molding, and packing chocolates with all the stuff we purchased from this place, we were able to buy an electric guitar and amplifier, 1 bass and amplifier and a full set of drums. It has been an amazing ride after that, all because of a one-stop shop. It was one high school memory I will always cherish.

Chocolate Lover is one of the largest baking supply stores that I know of in Metro Manila. It's an…read moreimposing structure which you can't miss - it's basically a giant castle on the outside. CASTLE. It made such an impression on my when I was younger that over the years, I never forgot where it was or how to get there. Chocolate Lover has everything you need for baking. They have packaging like cupcake molds and cups, sticks, plastic wrapping and boxes of different sizes and shapes. They have ingredients you can't find in your usual grocery store such as different brands of whipping cream, artificial flavoring, different kinds of yeast, sprinkles, marshmallows, just everything you can think of basically. Of course they have a selection of baking chocolates and cheaper chocolate compounds - dark, milk and white chocolate compounds made locally or in Indonesia (Tulip brand). Aside from ingredients and supplies, they also offer baking lessons from beginner to intermediate. Watch out for this especially during the summer. I've personally never tried their lessons but I've generally heard good things.

Ambiance - Japanese hot pot style restaurant. Clean and well lit…read more Service - very good. Friendly. Food - We had the angus beef set for two, karaage, shrimp tempura and corn. The set included a bowl of rice for each person, a tray of veges consisting of Napa cabbage, enoki mushrooms, bokchoy, squash, corn and carrots. There are several choices of broth. We selected the spicy miso and seaweed broth. We were also served a tray of thinly sliced beef, a soy sauce based dip with which to dip the beef and a peanut based dip. I had a cold and this food was so comforting and soothing. The miso broth was spicy and flavorful. The shrimp tempura was so tender and crispy at the same time. The chicken karaage was also crispy and yummy. Will definitely be back.

Poorly explained for a first visit and service was not great. Very noisy and lots of flies. It was…read morenot for me, but you may enjoy it

When you enter the Project Pie, the first thing you'll notice is the wall full of inspirational…read morequotes. The highlight is Einstein's saying: "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new". This statement is not there by chance. It seems to fits perfectly to the restaurant's concept: customizing your pizza with as many toppings as you want! In other words: free-style pizza! Yay! Courage! Don't be afraid of getting a terrible combination. Maybe you make a mistake, maybe you discover the brilliant chef hidden inside you. The idea isn't really original, we know, but it works! I liked the pizza and also the salad I've created. There's nothing to complain about the place, except the music. It was so loud that I couldn't concentrate on the conversation I was having with my husband. And the noise level wasn't the only problem. The music they chose was like a workout motivation soundtrack...something that I really hate to hear anywhere else than in a fitness center.

I've been telling myself that I need to taste Project Pie for about a year. I mean, who wouldn't…read morewanted to make their own pizza with unlimited toppings for a price of 200++ pesos?! So lucky me, Pen Meet Manila 3 happened today. It's an event that your local calligraphers of Manila. There are also demos by well-known local calligraphers like Jelvin and Calligrafikas. There also little booths by local online shops for the calligraphy hoarders like Craft Central, Nib Junkie and Pens Glore. This event is organized by @inkcatcher so if you'd want to join, follow her on Instagram for updates on the next meet. Anyway, each participant was given a free pizza, whether you'd want your make your own pizza or a ready made pizza. It being my first time, of course I wanted to make my own pizza! While in line, I was already thinking of putting all these kinds of cheeses and meats on my pizza. Then the lady helping me mentioned that I can pick one of the made order pizzas and add some toppings on it. So I ordered number 7 (prosciutto, cheese and caramelized onions) and added some chicken, feta cheese, bacon, jalapeño and A LOT of garlic. It was AMAZING. Now I know that I will definitely go back to Project Pie to try out their other pizzas. One of my table mates, ordered the S'mores Pizza. Just the smell of it was terrific. And when I bit on it, ahhhhhhh! I FELL IN LOVE. I definitely, definitely need to go back there!

I'm such a fan of frozen yogurt, I think I've tried all of the major yogurt franchises. Golden…read moreSpoon is still one of my favorites and I'm glad my favorite branches (Shangri-la and Ayala Triangle) are still alive and kicking! Golden Spoon has several flavors of yogurt to choose from. We're not just talking about your typical fruity flavors. They have flavors like Peanut Butter, Birthday Cake, Cranberry, Kiwi Strawberry - the kind that you wouldn't expect from frozen yogurt. It may seem a bit closer to ice cream than frozen yogurt, unless you stick with the default, Original Tart, but their various flavors are actually awesome! I like my yogurt plain and simple, but I did recently try their Kiwi Strawberry and it's really good! It's not too sour and tastes like a refreshing slushie. They've also got a wider variety of toppings than most yogurt places - great for people like me, who go all crazy over toppings! They have these gummi bear toppings that I'm crazy about. (No idea where they get them! If anyone has an idea, please tell me!) So I know the whole froyo trend has kinda blown over, but here I am still going back and craving for Golden Spoon!

I've never really been a big fan of frozen yogurt - give me a gelato or ice cream any day. In the…read morewords of Ron Swanson, "Dear frozen yogurt, you are the celery of deserts. Be ice cream, or be nothing." But sometimes you have to act like you care about your body, and frozen yogurt is the healthier option when paired against ice cream. I do love how this branch of Golden Spoon is usually empty, even during weeknights when the officeworkers of Makati flock to the Ayala Triangle to commune with nature. When we were last here, we snagged a couch and stayed there for hours and only got the occassional evil eye from other patrons.

Surfing, yoga and samba are three activities that go together well. Surfing gives you that…read morewonderful adrenaline rush. Yoga keeps you centered, and also gives you the core and body strength to keep you balanced on a surfboard. Samba, on the other hand, celebrates the flow of the two other activities. Tie them all together in a weekend full of fun and new friends, and you have FLOW SurfYogaSamba, a brilliant weekend retreat that lets you lose yourself in the beauty of mindful relaxation. I went to a FLOW weekend in Flotsam and Jetsam Hostel in La Union, and I seriously believe that everyone should do this if only to recharge, rejuvenate and relax. The FLOW retreat started with a circle where everyone shared their stories and their intentions for the weekend. I was able to make a lot of new friends just from that opening circle. It was a great crowd of professionals, sports enthusiasts, yogini and surfers. The retreat organizers really put a lot of thought into the activities, and the lineup of classes and workshops complement each other. They had yoga and surfing classes assisted by top trainers from the country. The samba part was taught by Samba School Imperatriz Filipinense, the top escola de samba (samba school) in the Philippines. On top of the surf, yoga and samba classes, they also had a very informative juicing and healthy food seminar where I learned new things that can help me have a healthier diet. FLOW SurfYogaSamba also has retreats in other beaches and surfing locations in the world. They have local retreats in Palawan and La Union, and they also now have international retreats in Bali, Lombok and in Thailand. Monica, Denise and Noelle will help you with everything - transpo, logistics, organization, etc. All you need to do is pay the fee and show up. As they say, it's all about energizing the mind, body and soul. I went back home from the retreat feeling like a new person.

Call me cheap but I like this place. There's something about the simplicity of Mongolian Quick stop…read morethat makes me happy. Maybe it's because the glazed beef makes me remember that scene from the God of Cookery where Stephen Chow's character is given a bowl of rice with some form of meat and an egg. Either way, this is my feel-good-go-to meal when I need something quick and filling to either eat there or take home. Yep, it's that one particular dish. Ignore EVERYTHING else on the menu (and I can't blame you if you can't as there are millions of things to choose from) and go for the glazed.. whatever. Pork, chicken, beef, whatever it is. If it's glazed, it all tastes good. And it's cheap too. The other good thing about Mongolian Quick Stop is that they cook your food right there, no matter what you order. Be it glazed whatevers or whatever frankenstein creation you've made out of your mongolian quickbox, it's cooked fresh in front of your eyes. I've always liked that about them. It's probably the best option of any food court stall.

Family Mart is my favorite place to buy take-out coffee on Taft. When I found out that Family mart…read morehad UCC Coffee for just P85, my mind just exploded. Of course, I decided to try out the Cafe Mocha, as per usual. Not only does it taste like, amazing, but it's made like real coffee is supposed to be made! Dripped slowly and put together layer by layer! For coffee that you can buy from a convenience store, I don't think it can possibly get any better than this. Then there's the actual store. First up: P35 for a Hotdog Sandwich and a softdrink. WOW. I have eaten more of these combinations when I was broke than any other food. Actually, their entire selection of rice meals, from breakfast meals, to chicken, to hotdogs and sausages, are all delicious, made well, and are extremely affordable. Really, Family Mart is by far and away the best convenience store in the country.

Family Mart - I can honestly say that this is the best convenience store we have in the…read morePhilippines. I am so glad that someone was smart enough to think about bringing in this Japanese franchise over to Manila. There are a lot of food options to choose from, whether it is a heavy meal you want or some light snacks. I like how they incorporated Filipino products inside their stores but they still managed to sell their own food - Sushi, Cha Sobra, Katsudon, special chocolatey items, Japanese salty snacks, etc. At one point, everyone was also crazy about their Matcha (Green Tea) Ice cream because it was only P25.00 and you can even swirl as much as you can handle! Their service is also very efficient, you can ask the cashier on what to recommend for snacks and they'll be happy to tell you which ones are the usual favorites.

Was here for a quick snack while walking around eastwood. This is a korean owned establishment and…read moreat the time wasent busy. I ordered the strawberry cheese bingsu. But they have about 14 other bingsus to choose from. They really follow the mantra of do a few things exceptionally instead of a lot of things but just average. It was cold, it was delicious and it really hit that sweet spot. It wasent overly sweet but u knew for sure it was a dessert. The strawberries were fresh and quite delicious. The pieces of cream cheese was good as well. And the strawberry drizzle or jam was throughout the bingsu. We got the regular size which was quite enough for one person. It was an excellent treat while walking the hot streets of manila!!