Celebrated Chinese New Year with the kids! So CUTE!
Wearing our cheongsam!
恭喜發財!
Hiyaaah! Little Kung Fu Master! XD
我太高興了!
WOW everyone loves ang pao!!! (red envelopes with money)
Ooooh.. interesting!
It’s TIKOY! YUM!
新年快樂! Happy Chinese New Year to everyone!
More Blessings and Prosperity for 2012!
Please do not copy. All photos © Sarah May Tanhuanco
Late post: My family and close relatives went to Makati Shang-ri la’s Shang Palace for our Christmas lunch. We chose the Dimsum package, where you have appetizer, a choice of soup, one main course and dimsums! 
I was too excited to eat, I forgot to take a photo of the Menu. HAHA. YAY for Chinese Food! <3
A bowl of fried tofu coated in sweet chili sauce.
Wintermelon soup with shrimp
Jelly fish with century egg and pork
Shrimp siomai
Steamed Shanghai “Xiao Long Pao”
Fragrant fried with diced honey pork and shrimps “Yang Chow” style
Sauteed sliced chicken with bitter melon (ampalaya) in black bean sauce
Steamed fish with garlic sauce
Sauteed scallops with broccoli in X.O. sauce
Hot Prawn Salad
Mango shake
While we were eating, SANTA CLAUS dropped by to say HELLO and take pictures with the children. And he said, “HOHOHO, Merry Christmas!” He’s REAL! 
This is my second time to visit Jack’s Loft. The first one was in Robinson’s Ermita and now here in il Terrazo Tomas Morato. Jack’s Loft is a bar slash restaurant known for their fried ice cream and other delicious cakes. I visited the place again to have dinner with my family. And no, we didn’t have any cocktail drinks whatsoever.
The colorful and cozy bar slash restaurant ambiance.
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Mushroom Soup |
Their signature soup, cream based with three kinds of mushrooms blended together |
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French Onion Soup |
Tasty broth with sauteed onions, topped with a slice of french bread and mozzarella cheese |
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Calamares |
Breaded deep fried squid served with tartar sauce |
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Lemon Chicken Strips |
Crispy chicken breast topped with zesty, tangy lemon sauce. |
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Beef Tenderloin Stroganoff |
Beef tenderloin sauteed with mushrooms and red pepper, topped with stroganoff sauce on rice. |
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Beef Tenderloin Salpicao |
Beef tenderloin with garlic! |
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HK Style Baked Pork Chop |
Fried rice topped with breaded pork chop, cheese and tomato sauce bake to perfection! |
Chicken Teriyaki
After eating the appetizers and the main dishes, we were already so full! BUT of course we still have to try their sweet, delicious ice cream and cakes. With a FULL STOMACH, we ordered these: BURP! o__O
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Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake |
A two layered cheesecake combination of chocolate mousse and sour cream cheesecake on top of oreo crust |
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“I Declair!!!” |
Gotta have this! A six inch éclair stuffed with 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream, covered with whipped cream and drizzled with rich caramel and choco sauce |
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“Hole-In-One” |
Scoop of vanilla ice cream inside a fort of sweet cinnamon bread logs |
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“Deep Fried Ice Cream” |
It’s FRIED! Vanilla ice cream inside! |
A selection of Audrey’s mini cakes consisting of carrot cake, strawberries and cream cake, blueberry streusel cake and cappuccino cheesecake.
Carrot Cake - a carrot cake topped with cream cheese frosting
Blueberry Streusel Cake -a butter swirled with blueberries and topped with streusel crumbs
Strawberries and Cream Cake – a moist strawberry cake topped with strawberry cream cheese frosting
Cappuccino Cheesecake - a cheesecake with a taste of cappuccino coffee on an oreo cookie base
Photography: Tricks
Styling and Editing: Sarah May – itravelwithlove
Christmas is just around the corner! Looking for great gifts to give to your loved ones? Check out Special Christmas Goodies by Audrey’s!
We just finished our photo shoot for “Special Christmas Goodies by Audrey’s“.
Here are some of her delicious and yummy goodies:
CARROT SQUARES – carrot squares topped with cream cheese frosting
OATMEAL CHOCO FUDGE BAR- fudgy chocolate bars topped with oatmeal cookie
SUPER FUDGEY BROWNIES – An American style exceptionally moist and chewy brownie filled with nuts
Have a very Yummy Christmas! <3
Photography: Tricks
Styling and Editing: SarahMay
My friends and I planned a “DAY TRIP” somewhere far from the busy city. (as always)
We chose The Coffee Farmhouse as our destination which is located in 23 Palumlum-Matagbak Road Brgy. Palumlum, Alfonso, Cavite, Philippines. It’s a coffee farm and a garden full of coffee trees, flowers and plants that creates a perfect ambiance for a relaxing vacation.
Before you reach the house and the pool, you’ll be able to tour around and walk through rows of coffee trees and savor the fragrance of white coffee flowers and the beauty of ripe berries. Craving for their homegrown coffee? They’ll be serving free flowing coffee when you reach the house.
The Coffee Farmhouse have several recreation facilities for you and your family, friends and guests to enjoy. From swimming, basketball, biking, badminton to board games, billiards etc. each person will have a fabulous time with what interests them.
They have three residences designed for you for that country experience. We stayed in The Liberica Main House which has two rooms, ideal for seven persons each. Since we opted for the Day Trip package, we paid Php 950 per head for adult with 1 Lunch, 1 Afternoon Snack and free flowing coffee! (I don’t drink coffee though..)
What me and my friends enjoyed most was the scenery- that’s perfect for a photoshoot! Honestly, we enjoyed taking photos together so much that we didn’t even bother to swim, play badminton, etc, all we did was shoot the whole day! It was FUN!
The spacious dining area.
Coffee!!!
Their fresh lumpiang ubod. YUM!!!
Dory fish with sauce. Mmmmm…
Sweet yellow mangoes for dessert!
The area outside the Liberica Main House.
Nice wood carvings! We were able to shoot here to!
That’s me (in yellow) posing while my friends (all in white!!!) were looking at me. They didn’t talk about wearing white! 
THE Ladies
THE guys! haha!
Our Tuesday Bible group fellowship went to Balay Indang to have our retreat. ”Balay” meaning house or “bahay” in Ilokano. ”Indang” is a place located in Cavite. Balay Indang is a retreat house and a quiet get-away for people who wanted to be far away from the city. No noise, no pollution. 
The front entrance to Balay Indang
The lobby where visitors can stay and relax while waiting. 
Me and my friends enjoying the nice lighting.
An old and rustic design with Bali and Chinese influence. 
The dining hall’s ceiling! Picture frames hanging on the ceiling! Very creative!
A big mirror is also above us!
Meal are served 5 times a day — breakfast, morning snacks, lunch, afternoon snacks and dinner. Balay Indang meals usually starts with green salad or soup, that came from their own garden. Then it’s followed by the main dish of either fish, chicken, adobo or their special “embutido” or Filipino meatloaf. 
Each room has a name. We got “ELIZABETH”
Our room..Simply beautiful! Spanish style! 
We couldn’t resist taking a photo of the bed too! 
Time for a swim! Perfect for the hot sunny weather! 
Instructed my friend to use this colorful umbrella! 
Different masks hanging outside Balay Indang
As you wander along the garden, you’ll see a “kalesa” complete with two horses! Hiyaaah! 
Balay Indang has lots of hiding places! Lots of trees and plants cover other houses especially this Watch Tower we saw far behind our cottage.
Inside the watch tower
Discovered some weird plants/flowers there too! What is this??
One of the pathway to our cottage! So nice and quiet!
I love it here!
Spend time with nature! Far away from the busy city life!
Christmas season is here! Starbucks Philippines already launched their card for the 2012 Starbucks Limited Edition Planner last November 3, 2011. A lot of people were waiting for this since the -BER months started. Well, here it is!
The cute Starbucks promo card. Where you collect stickers for each Starbucks handcrafted beverage purchase. 
Here were are, last November 4, 2011 a day after! Enjoying our Starbucks drinks! We look like “nerds” here! L-R: me (Korean girl), Johann (Harry Potter look-alike), Kim (Kimmy Chiu) HAHAHA! 
My other friends: Justine and Jenray
I ordered the new hot Cranberry White Chocolate Mocha. See the Cranberry syrup?
You can also choose either Option #1 :
Holiday Featured Beverages of your choice: 9 stickers
Toffee Nut Latte, Peppermint Mocha or Cranberry White Chocolate Mocha (hot, iced or Frappuccino)
plus Any Starbucks Core beverages: 8 stickers
Total : 17 stickers needed
Or choose Option #2
Any Starbucks Core Beverages: 23 stickers
For me, I choose Option #1! I got 2 stickers already.
After completing the stickers, here are the Limited Edition Starbucks Coffee 2012 Planner that you can choose from. (photo from Starbucks Philippines FB)
My auntie, along with my uncle and two cousins invited me, my mom and brother to check out her friend’s newly opened restaurant SINBAD along Banawe, near the Serenitea and Chatime area for food tasting. We planned to order their ice cream here, but since it’s almost dinner time and we’re all starving, we decided to order food from EAT FRESH – Famous Hong Kong Street Food, another restaurant owned by her friend just behind SINBAD restaurant. However, we stayed in SINBAD and ate our dinner there.
Here’s the view from the outside..
The view inside! Cute interiors especially their cell-like chairs.
My auntie and my mom were in charge of ordering these scrumptious food. We were amazed, the food came out fast! YAY!
Honey glazed spareribs – P160
Hong Kong Salted Fish Fried Rice – P160 
Seafood Hot Pot with Tofu – P180
Hong Kong Salted Fish and Taosi Spareribs Combo – P150 
Special Squidball Soup – P105
Mushroom and Spinach Omelette – P85
We ordered SINBAD’s desserts:
Buko Pandan with vanilla ice cream – P95
Mango Pudding with mango ice cream – P95
After eating all these delicious food, all I can say is …
“We’ll be back for more!” :)
Traveling is so much fun! But the long travel time sometimes make it dull.. So choose a good airline that provides entertainment (lots of music, movies, games) and “YUMMY” food! I went to Europe and rode Cathay Pacific airlines. I love their service! The friendly staffs, clean plane and delicious food! Plus FREE cup noodles anytime, imagine the hours of travel without food?? NO WAY. I’ll starve!!!! :p 
Here’s my dinner!!! I can say this is one of the best airplane food!With Haagen-Dazs and TimTam too! So yummy!!!! It made my night..:)
Thanks Cathay Pacific! Will book a flight soon! :)
