Figaro Avalanche of Flavors Starts Today!

Figaro is one of my top favorite coffee shops in the Philippines. It helps that there's a Figaro right across where I live, and that it has fast and free wi-fi. More than anything, it's the community experience that keeps me coming back. Even if I bring my three children along to do homework in the cafe, we always feel welcomed by the baristas and the patrons are usually familiar faces in the neighborhood. The baristas know me by name and offers good suggestions when I can't figure out what to eat by myself. LOL. Sorry, too much of an endorsement, I know. But with the many times has my sanity been saved by a casual couple of hours I spend at Figaro Kapitolyo makes me a loyal customer to this Filipino company that promotes our country from crop to cup.

Figaro launches its newest line of delectable beverages that tickles the sweet tooth in you! It's an Avalanche of Flavors starting August 1 in your favorite Figaro branches. I had first dibs on the exquisite taste of Figaro's new line at the Shangrila Plaza Mall. It's also the first time Figaro is serving their ice-blended drinks in 20oz (Php 150) and of course, the usual 16 ounce (P130php).

First up, the heavenly White Chocolate Mocha Frost. Unlike any other white chocolate drink I've ever had, the white chocolate can really be tasted--- without the coffee overpowering it. This tastes lighter, yet really creamy and flavorful. It's not that sweet, and it will go very well with pasta or a sandwich. It is topped with whipped cream and with white chocolate sprinkles. This was my favorite among the drinks served that night.

Next is the Choco Chips Java Frost, with a strong chocolate flavor-- almost tablea-like, with less the creaminess and more of the chocolate. It's a beauty in its own, topped with whipped cream and chocolate chips.

Don't you agree everything Oreo spells a sure hit, in kids and adults alike? The Figaroccino Cookie Crumble with Oreos is basically mocha with blended Oreos. The crunch gives this mocha drink an exciting twist for those wanting more fun in their usual figaro frost.

And last but not the least, the all-caramel goodness of Figarocinno Caramel Chips Frost! The caramel fan that I fell in love with a sip. Texture-heavy with all the caramel bits blended in the drink, as well as sprinkled on top of the whipped cream. 

All drinks were a refreshing compliment to dinner such as the Chicken Barbecue with Chili Sauce and Fish Fillet with Pesto served that night. I loved that both dishes was served with a generous siding of vegetables that makes it nutritionally complete meal in itself.

They also introduced to us new cakes that pairs their fine coffee, frost and milk tea. The carrot cake is moist with just the right sweetness, made interesting by the crunchy almond bits. The cream cheese drizzled by caramel provided a salty contrast to the sweetness of the cake-- and an eye-candy too!

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The Orange Coffee Cake is a soft sponge cake lightly flavored with orange. I find it similar to rhum cake sans the syrupy base, just touches of coffee swirls in the dough. The cake base won't give you a toothache at all. It's best paired with black coffee in my opinion. Photo courtesy of www.jobonsol.net

All will be available in all Figaro stores nationwide starting July 30, 2012.  For more updates and branches, visit www.figarocoffee.com and like the FB page of Figaro at  https://www.facebook.com/figarocoffeecompany

Outtakes: Enjoyed this dinner with the fantabulous Mommy Jo of Cogito Ergo Sum, Figaro's PR Manager, Annesy del Mundo, Mr. Pogi Winner John Callueng, Rod Magaru, Chinnie, Ruth MommyWrites and other popular bloggers. I also had the pleasure to meet the Yogini From Manila

Thanks for dropping by my blog!

Social Media Summit 2012 at the Bayanihan Center, Pasig

I do believe things are falling in place beautifully for me. I started this blog writing personal posts on motherhood, to vent and to share the most mundane things running inside my head. Now it looks like I'm going full-throttle into social media marketing. I'm handling several projects now, with other projects underway. More than ever, I am convinced I can make a career out of being naturally chismis-savvy. Social media is the platform for it, and it is here to stay. It's a wonderful surprise to have been selected by Unilab to attend the Social Media Summit 2012 happening at the Bayanihan Center in Pasig City tomorrow. It's so awesome that it's just on the street across where I live. It's a full-day event from 7am to 5:30pm, so I believe it's going to be intense. I have a thousand questions on my mind, content-wise my own little blog can use a little direction. I also have many apprehensions about up to what part of me I'm willing to put out there in the world wide web. I'm an advocate of thinking before you click--- people nowadays shoot the most curious things on their social media sites. The internet is a democracy, however, we have to be careful with what we post as it is a reflection of who we are and what we stand for. 

Here are the presentations lined up for the event.

• Social Media, what? : Understanding social media  by Norman Agatep, (Euro RSCG Managing Director and Chief Creative Officer
• Hu u? Hus dis?: Understanding the Digital Pinoy  by Tony Ahn, Tony Ahn & Co. Managing Director and GeiserMaclang Head of Digital Services
• Tara let’s! Taking on the digital journey with consumers : Phases of engaging the digital consumer by Aileen Dalisay, Tribal Managing Director
• Diving into Social Media : Developing the digital strategy for your brandby Donald Patrick Lim (McCann MRM Managing Director
• Panel dicussion – You have 1M fans? Now what? : How to market your brands on Facebook and Twitter
• Panel Discussion –  Your online BFF: Blogger Friend or Foe?  Partnering with bloggers as message advocates 
• The Online Tambayan: Driving conversations through forums by Michael Palacios, PinoyExchange Founder and General Manager, Havoc Digital Managing Director

Family comes first for me, this work allows me to stay at home with my children most part of the day. The time I only leave the house is when I have meetings and events. What I want to take the most out of this seminar are: developing my online brand, separating my personal life from my blogging life, finding the right outlets and tools to gather a large digital market, and creating a sustainable strategy for the brands I'm handling now. Like any other normal job out there, consistency is key. Just looking at this syllabus makes me so thrilled. I'm going to need a lot of brain cells tomorrow! :)

San Miguel Party All Night 8 of the Hottest DJs

Parties at the World Trade usually induce a drunken, pumped-up frenzy of club-goers who enjoy the music, dancing and having a good time with friends. The San Mig Light Party All Night 8 of the Hottest DJs is no exeption. I was there with Futuretainment, the force behind the event, so I got first dibs on what happened at the scene. When they said Party All Night, it was a serious marathon of DJs spinning the hottest tracks to hit the club scene today. From 6pm to 6am, the beer was free-flowing, and everybody's having a good time--- with friends both old and new!

Not only the hottest tracks, but the hottest bodies ramped up the stage of WTC. Sam Pinto, Aljur Abrenica and dozens upon dozens of both local and foreign models flooded the place as if it was a mini Rio Carnaval street party. People were dressed to the nines, boys and girls dressed to impress! 

Here's what went down that night: DJs Regiel Orocay, Manolet Dario, Mars Miranda, Ron Poe vs Santi, Ace Ramos, Nina Saputil, X Factor and DJ Buzz provided the night's entertainment that got the entire venue shaking with the massive boom speakers on both sides of the stage.

Brazilian power unite!

The lighting designer of the show was an old classmate of mine in Theater 110! 

 

.Nevermind the weight difference, okay? I still have the best face! LOL

AHA appoints Philip John Golding as VP for Culinary Arts and Linkages

I was invited to join the American Hospitality Academy (AHA) Philippines to celebrate the appointment of the famous Chef Philip John Golding as Vice President for Culinary Arts and Linkages.  It was a night of fine food and wine, a showcase of simple healthy dishes at the Upper East Restaurant in Salcedo Village, Makati City. The dishes that came out of the kitchen one by one was a revelation of how the British chef has the heart and tummy of a Filipino, yet has the very signature of a world-class chef.

Chef Philip has trained in the best kitchens in Europe before trying his hand at kitchens in Asia.  Here in the Philippines, he has endeared himself to the public because of his long career as an executive chef, chef patron, wine connoisseur, product endorser and as a TV personality with his stint at "Secrets of the Masters," a TV program on QTV Channel 11. Now, his training and exposure to the global arena will bring about some remarkable developments in the cooking school and their restaurant, Upper East, as well.

I must mention that I harbored a crush on Chef Golding for a good full year of my sophomore year in high school because he appeared in television back then. I ogled at the TV set because I especially liked his commercial for Del Monte Pasta Italiana. Funny, because the ad was passing him off as Italian when he's in fact, British! I've grown old and the crush has faded, it's just surreal that at one point in my life I'd actually meet him and snap a photo with a free hug! LOL Serendipity, really. 

Here's Chef in action at Upper East's open kitchen-- so open, you can see every drop of ingredient that goes into each dish the student chefs are making. I love this kind of set-up. You can chat with the chefs while they go about their business, see how they work, admire their fast knife skills and get a live demo of the processes they do to create little works of art in white ceramic plates. I got a demonstration of this unique process called "Sous vide,"a method of cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a water bath at a unfailing constant temperature, slow cooked to bring out all the flavors and a texture in meats or fish unique to sous vide. 

Chef Lerma Leus and Chef Philip talks about what kind of learnings a student gets by studying at the AHA. The students learn from criticism by actual customers, and not by having to critic each other's work. In AHA they are taught how to describe the dish, provide a background, science and history of the food they serve, and be proud about what they created because it is in essence, a very sensory experience for a diner-- it is a work of art. Chef Philip actually called one of the student chefs from the kitchen and said that last Mae, that student chef didn't even know how to hold a ladle but by July, here she is discussing the food she cooked for us!

"My objective is to develop world-class Filipino chefs by ensuring that they receive a hands-on approach and the theories and tools to succeed by teaching them to cook and feeding them a lifetime of knowledge and skills." Golding said. On this dinner, Chef Golding prepared something special and not your ordinary restaurant fare. We're actually going to do a full course comprised of only healthy stuff that leans toward the Filipino flavors! Appetizers started with Monggo hummus with fresh herbed bread. The hummus was yum. Economical, creamy and very easy to make!

To cleanse our palate a little, we were offered shooters of Pakwan Mint. The chunky, sweet cold watermelon was given an alter-ego when fused with the tang of mint--- refreshingly sweet in all its minted glory.

Next came a really pretty ratatouille! Pladina Fresh Ratatouille, Anchovy and Honey Dressing. The piadina is actually an Italian tortilla. It's a carnival of flavors on my taste buds, it's really good. The natural flavors of the vegetables came out with the right crunch-- cooked just right. The light bitterness of baby arugula tempered the savory base, the sweet honey dressing brought the flavors together and the parmesan slice gave the salty kick. The pickled gooseberry was the most welcome addition because it's the sour surprise at the center. Carnival, did I say?

Another healthy round prepared by one of the student chefs, Chef Reggie, was the surprising Minstrone Soup Kesong Puti with Malunggay Pistou. I thought the malunggay would taste bitter (an expected outcome when malunggay is pureed) but it didn't. Instead, it provided a mellow herbal flavor to the bland pasta, the bitterness of the sauce was a welcome addition to the salty kesong puti in the center of the folded ravioli. I never thought I'd find malunggay in my pasta. The crunchiness of the cubed beets and tart mushrooms was a good contrast to the softness of the pasta. Soupy slurpy!

A kitchen-full of staff made me feel so special, the event was so intimate --- all my senses were at work.    Here's the kitchen captain making the final touches to our next course.

And this is the climax of our meal--- "Sous Vide" Tarragon Chicken, Laing, Pumpkin Risotto, Rosemary and Lemongrass Reduction.

The laing, mashed to a fine consistency went very well to the opposite spectrum flavors of the pumpkin risotto. It was creamy over the top heaven, with the creamy texture and intense flavor of chicken sous vide, which you bite along with the crackle of the camote topping. The sauce, definitely a marriage of Asian and Western, fused all parts of this dish in harmony. Splendid.

At this point, I'm already filled to the brim. But I couldn't say no to this beautiful Lychee Pannacotta, which allegedly took the student chef who made this 4 days to perfect. (4 days to perfect and 10 mins for me to eat LOL) It is divine! With Passion Fruit Sauce drizzed on top of the Pannacotta, the creaminess becomes a whimsical number of passion fruit married to cream--- sweet, tangy, made crunchy by the candied cassava chips. Hit!

We were personally attended by AHA's Marketing Director Daki Fernando, who was so much fun to talk to. He's also a professor at UP Fine Arts! Here he is explaining AHA's history being the first International American School in the Philippines. Formerly inaugurated on Oct 22, 2006 by then US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenny, AHA Philippines is part of the International Hotel Management Schools (AHA-IHMS) with sister schools worldwide. With the many links and connections of AHA, students are given the extra mileage of placement at top kitchens all over the world as part of their learning curriculum.

After dinner, Chef Golding sat with us for a more relaxed conversation over wine, and told us more about what they will be revamping in the new AHA lab restaurant. He just came back from a stint as executive chef for New World Hotels in Saigon, and before that he spent the better part of the decade in Clark Freeport, Angeles City, Pampanga. He was General Manager-Culinary Specialist of Yats International Club, Restaurants and Cellars ('04-'11) and before that, at Azzuro Bistro and Wine Bars in Manila for 5 years.  He plans to bring the wine-pairing to Upper East and make a wine-pairing setup with tapas and a good wine selection after their renovations. But more importantly, he wants his students to have the best exposure to the best restaurants in the world. Being married to a Filipina, he shared his love of Filipino food and that he wants to incorporate this into the dishes the students will prepare in Upper East; and in the process, make them feel prouder of their food heritage.

For inquiries and courses offerings, please visit www.ahaphil.com or call (+632) 218-4334; 0916-286-7615

SumoSam Officially Opens in Harbor Point Subic!

SumoSam opened its first branch in Subic, located at the 2^nd Level of Harbor Point Ayala Mall, Rizal Highway, Subic Bay Freeport Zone--- bringing the best in contemporary Japanese cuisine with the concept of unparalleled value for money, taste and style to Metro Olongapo. I was invited to witness this event as it is a very important milestone for SumoSam and their partners, and boy was it well-attended!

Upon entering the store, you're greeted by the good-looking crew. Take note, this crew member didn't know I was attending the event and just mistook me for a curious customer but she explained the menu quite impressively. Props for knowledgeable staff! Looking through the glass, I saw that even just a few weeks into operations, the place is packed by locals and foreigners alike. Perfect place to impress a date or hold a business meeting while enjoying Japanese food.

True to its commitment to bring the most exciting East-meets-West Japanese food to Filipinos, SumoSam offers its unique dining experience to the City of Olongapo and the highly progressive town of Subic. The food rises to the expectations of a diverse, international community by marrying traditional to modern Western cooking. 

Conveniently located at Harbor Point Ayala Mall, its elegant and welcoming youthful interiors is the perfect setting to enjoy an impeccable collection of sushi, sashimi and tempura after a day of shopping; or a comforting bowl of slow-cooked Ramen and scrumptious rice bowls for travelers. 


Celebrity chef Marvin Agustin opened the festivities by a ceremonial slicing of sushi, a tradition for every Sumosam store opening. Vice President and Director for Business Development, Raymund Magdaluyo and franchise partners Dondon and Marilyn Adao joined Marvin as they welcome guests to try out the festive selection of steaks, seafood and sushi to enthusiastic guests.

Highly successful business couple tandem Dondon and Marilyn Adao.

Celebrity Chef Marvin Agustin does the honor of leading the sushi-slicing ceremony. It's a tradition for every restaurant opening. VP and Director for Business Development Raymund Magdaluyo, and the First Lady and former Governor of Olongapo Anne Gordon opened the festivities with Chef Marvin.

 It was so adorable how one of Chef Marvin's twin sons was watching in awe as Daddy slices the giant sushi!

Vice President for Business Development Raymond Magdaluyo shares the concept behind SumoSam, and how choosing the right partner will determine the success of a SumoSam franchise. He relates that by the end of 2012, 20 SumoSam restaurants will by then be open to serve diners all over the country.

The timeless legend of Sumosam as the Champion Eater, Legendary Fighter rings true in a vast menu of carefully handcrafted dishes guaranteed to satisfy Japanese food cravings. Animated images of sumo wrestlers indulging in generous servings of Japanese food is a telltale sign of what Sumosam offers—the thrill of Asian fusion cuisine offered in generous servings designed to attract the young, upbeat cosmopolitan market. 

Placing an order for Japanese food may be a little intimidating, but by having photographs of each dish in the menu immediately makes the process an adventure on its own. One can choose from a delectable set of salads and starters such as the Kani Pomelo Salad, Spicy Tuna Salad, Steamed or Fried Gyoza and Tofu Steak, as well as a variation of kamameshi bowls and noodles such as Seafood and Sausage Yakisoba. Main courses like Beef Teppan, Chicken Teriyaki, Bacon Asparagus and more mouth-watering meat items, and seafood of the highest quality namely Salmon Wasabi Cream, Local Marlin or Malasugui and Seafood Teppan Platter. Finally completing the list are the Amazing Kani Roll, Las Vegas Roll and Philadelphia Roll. Just one look at their menu and you know exactly what you want to eat! 

Luke Mejares provided the night's music and entertainment. I had the pleasure of meeting him before the show, we happened to have common friends so I wasn't as shy to approach him for a photo!

And of course, I couldn't resist to ask Marvin for a photo because I loved him since Esperanza days! I've seen him so many times now but I still get kilig.

Oh, and to top it all off, the most curious thing happened. Well, I am that kind of person who's always lucky at raffles and contests. I won P2000 worth of gift certificates from SumoSam Subic! I wanted to die of stage fright. LOL. I actually kept calling Luke "Lucky Charm" the entire night because of all the names in the fish bowl, he called mine. Here am I having a funny moment with the show's host and Luke Mejares.

These sweet ladies approached and congratulated me on my small "win" LOL! It's the first time I've met them, it felt like I've known them all my life (not exaggerating.) On my left is Marvin's aunt and to my right is his Mom.

For themed events and parties, Sumosam Harbor Point Ayala Mall offers catering services and functions, open on Sundays to Thursdays at 10am to 9pm; Fridays to Saturdays at 10am to 10pm. The 80-seating capacity dining area assures ample space to have good conversation and hold get-togethers with loved ones.

Look at all the food they served all the guests! It was so yummy, I had to use all the willpower left in me to stop eating!

Just look at my plate! 

Slam-dunk favorite!

And of course, all that food and fun will not be possible without the efforts of our friends from SumoSam. Beside me is SumoSam Bosses Joy, Chef Mae, Marketing Manager Tina Papera, digital artist Gelai Racca and Operations Manager Ton Ortiz. The couple in black are managers of the Subic Branch Sherry My Perez and the gentleman's name escapes my mind right now. 

Thank you SumoSam for the fun weekend soiree to Subic! 


For inquiries, call SumoSam Subic at 251-1014 or visit them at 2^nd Level, Harbor Point Ayala Mall, Subic Freeport Zone. Visit their facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ilovesumosam or Twitter @ilovesumosam for more updates and events.