Rediscovering Paul Boulangerie

Several years ago, I tried Paul Boulangerie for the first time and I enjoyed it. In fact, I got to visit Paul a few more times after that. However, after those first few visits, I didn't get to go back. That is, until this year. I was looking for a place to have brunch when I passed by Paul. It had been such a long time since I last ate there that I decided to get a table. I ordered the Potato Pancake Mushroom (P450), a warm potato pancake with freshly sauteed mushrooms, garlic, onion, parmesan cheese, and parsley. It's served with a small side salad. As soon as I put the first forkful into my mouth, I instantly loved it!

Potato Pancake Mushroom

That visit a few months ago reminded me that, while Paul is not cheap, I really do like the food here. And they have a pretty extensive menu with many items that appeal to me. I decided then to try and visit this place more frequently, especially if I wanna splurge and treat myself to a good meal. Shortly after that visit, I found myself dining at Paul again a few weeks later. This time, I ordered the Crepe with Chicken and Mushrooms (P375). It's a crepe with freshly sauteed mushrooms with chicken breast cubes, emmental cheese, and bechamel. This was really, really good! I also loved the Provencale tomato that it was served with.

Crepe with Chicken and Mushrooms

My third visit came shortly after that. This time, I ordered the Omelet Complete (P450). a 3-egg omelet with farmer's ham, sauteed mushrooms, potatoes, and emmental cheese. It is served once again with the Provencale tomato that I love and a side salad. I decided to get some dessert to go with my omelet and I chose the Crepe with Chocolate and Chantilly, a thin French pancake with Paul's chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

Omelet Complete and Crepet with Chocolate and Chantilly

At that point, almost everything I had ordered had been something that people would normally have for breakfast or brunch. On my fourth trip, I decided to get a main course. Christmas is coming up and I had worked long and hard this year so I decided to go a bit over-the-top and get the Beef Bourguignon (675), which is slow-cooked braised beef in red wine sauce. I partnered it with French Onion Soup (P400).

Beef Bourguignon and French Onion Soup

Aside from having great food, Paul also serves good coffee. There are still so many items on their menu that I want to try. I figure the reason why I stopped going to Paul was because it's quite expensive. However, I worked really hard (and I'd also like to think really smart) this year so I thought it would be fitting to reward myself with several good meals as the year comes to a close. I really do love Paul Boulangerie so I will surely visit this place again.

Retiring my Quarantine Stories Series

I started my Quarantine Stories blog posts during the early months of the pandemic and when the Metro Manila was still under Enhanced Community Quarantine. I've kept at it since we are technically still in the midst of a pandemic and I don't think there was ever any official declaration that Philippines is not under an alert level anymore. However, I do acknowledge that while Covid continues to be a threat, life has started to be somewhat (a lot?) like it was before the pandemic. In fact, masks are no longer required in the country, except in health facilities and when using public transportation. (That said, while I've seen many people walking around without masks, majority still do.) As such, this will be my last post that has Quarantine Stories in the blog post title.

I got a new Fitbit badge: Italy! I have now walked a total of 1,184 kilometers - the entire length of Italy - which also means that I am averaging 6.93 kilometers per day. It has gone down since my last badge but walking almost 7km a day is still pretty incredible.

My Fitbit Italy Badge

I also had a craving for sopas recently since it was raining and it had been a while since I last enjoyed this dish. I tried searching online for places where I could order it and I discovered Merienda by Pan De Manila. Soon after my initial craving, I visited Merienda in Santolan Town Plaza to order a tub of sopas that was good for about 5-6 people. At P650, I think it's pretty good value. I ended up enjoying sopas for a few days.

Shortly after having brunch with my friends at Denny's in Eastwood, I met up with them again, but this time with Jeof at his home in Las Pinas. He said he was bummed out that he wasn't able to join our brunch so he invited us to his house for his birthday. He told us to bring some games. Migs and Diann couldn't stay so they just had lunch before heading to their prior appointment in Makati but Case, Cara, and I hung out with Jeof until the late evening. I brought my Splendor and we played a couple of rounds of it before we played Cluedo. I really do enjoy playing Cluedo; the last time I played it was also with them (and it was also Case's copy).

Speaking of board games, I got to play with my friends Cla, Kat, and Drew recently. While we wanted a few more people to join us, most of our other friends were unavailable. I taught them Rococo, which they enjoyed (Kat and Drew had played it before but Cla played it for the first time). We also played 7 Wonders. It has been ages since I last played this game and I still absolutely love it. I'm glad Kat asked me to bring my copy because she really wanted to play it.

My Rococo Board Game (photo taken by Cla)

On the downside, I got sick. I was initially worried that it was Covid because I had many of the symptoms but thankfully, I tested negative. My doctor told me I had an upper respiratory tract infection. Interestingly enough, I was in worse shape from this illness than I was when I got Covid earlier in the year. To make things worse, I also chipped the crown of one of my teeth. I now need to try and visit a dentist to have it repaired. However, with the Christmas season coming up, I am not sure if I can schedule a dental appointment anytime soon. Thankfully, my tooth doesn't really hurt.

Disney+!

I'm so happy Disney+ is now in the Philippines!

I've actually been quite bummed for a while now because Disney+ wasn't available here. Since Star Wars and Marvel are now part of Disney, there are so many movies and series that I want to see to which I don't have access. I became even more frustrated when Disney bought Fox because all the Fox channels disappeared from Sky Cable and many of the shows I watch were on Fox.

As such, when the news broke about Disney+ being available in the Philippines, I became really excited. After checking the packages, I immediately told my family not to subscribe anymore because I was going to the get the premium subscription and share it with them (premium allows installation in up to 7 devices and 4 simultaneous users). A friend shared a GCash promo, offering a 22% discount for payments made before the official launch on November 17 so I naturally snatched it up.

A great surprise was that Disney+ actually became available on Nov 16, a day before their supposed launch date. Once my friend told me it was available, I installed it in my phone and in my Smart TV. The first thing I watched? Return of the Jedi haha. I really am a Star Wars fan!

I had many things to do at home over the last few days so I couldn't watch stuff I hadn't seen yet. Instead, I decided to play films I had seen before: Aladdin, the Emperor's New Groove, Incredibles 2, and Cars. I did find enough time to see Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings which was fun to watch. I'm also really happy that one of my favorite TV shows, 9-1-1, is on. Yahoo! I can now catch up on the seasons that weren't shown in the Philippines in the last couple of years.

There are so many things I want to see, including Star Wars series like The Mandalorian and Andor, Disney shows like Raya and the Last Dragon and The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, and Pixar movies like Soul and Onward, among many others. There's no rush to see everything, though. I'm just really happy Disney+ is finally here.

My Lazada 11.11 Haul: Kiehl's

My big purchase this 11.11: Kiehl's!

My entire stash of Kiehl's products, including all freebies

It started when I noticed some pretty deep lines under my eyes recently. I had been using a facial cream somewhat regularly since the start of the year and while it helped address my dryness, I still developed these lines. I started researching about products that could help with this problem and I discovered the Powerful-Strength Dark Circle Reducing Vitamin C Eye Serum of Kiehl's. I looked up how to use it and saw this YouTube video that recommended using the eye serum with a couple of other Kiehl's products, specifically the Powerful Strength Line Reducing Concentrate and the Super Multi-Corrective Anti-Aging Cream.

My order was packed in this nice Kiehl's box

I then searched for these on Lazada and saw that (1) they were available, (2) there were promos for the products I wanted that granted a lot of freebies, and (3) Kiehl's had a special 11.11 promo that provided an additional 28 items for free for the first thirty customers who purchased a certain (large) amount worth of products on November 11. Wow!

While I initially planned on purchasing just a few items, the special promo felt too good to pass up. I then decided to stock up on the products that I was interested in and to buy a few more items that I would give as Christmas gifts to help me reach the target value. I saved everything in my cart and once midnight struck, I placed my order, hoping I would be one of the first thirty customers to get the massive set of freebies. Thankfully, I was!

Freebie for the first 30 customers: a Kiehl's advent calendar

The freebies turned out to be a Kiehl's advent calendar that included 24 different products, along with 4 extra items. The advent calendar itself was really nice and I kept the packaging because it would be nice to place under a Christmas tree for decorative purposes.

The advent calendar contains 24 random Kiehl's products stored in cool, Christmas-themed boxes

I still have some facial cream and so as not to waste anything, I decided to fully consume what I already have before using my new Kiehl's products. I expect to use up my current facial cream by the end of the year so I guess my New Year's resolution will be to adopt a new skincare routine.

Megalovania (from the Undertale Video Game)

I discovered this song by Toby Fox while going down a rabbit hole of YouTube videos one night haha. The moment I heard it, I instantly liked it. It's very catchy! I'm not even familiar with the Undertale video game but I've already added Megalovania to my Spotify playlist and have been listening to it a lot. Check it out:

video uploaded in YouTube by Game Guard

Antipodean

I passed by Antipodean a few (many?) times in the past and each time I did, I always thought it looked interesting. On one recent Saturday morning, I wanted to have brunch and I thought this would be a good place to try. When I'm hungry, I tend to order big breakfasts in places that serve some version of it and my first visit here was no exception. I ordered the Big Breakfast (P499), which comes with a choice between bacon and sausage (and if you choose sausage, you also need to decide if you want pork, beef, or chicken), breaded mushrooms, scrambled eggs, hash brown, toast, and a side salad. I particularly enjoyed the scrambled eggs which were quite silky and creamy.

Big Breakfast

I enjoyed my first trip here so soon after that, I paid it another visit. In my subsequent visit, I ordered the Eggs Benedict with Bacon Deluxe (P549). It's like a grilled bacon and cheese sandwich with poached eggs on top. This was also really good!

Eggs Benedict with Bacon Deluxe

The interior is charming and cozy. The restaurant is covered but open-air so it doesn't have air conditioners (or at least none that I noticed). However, there are fans all around and both times I was there, it felt cool and comfortable. Their menu is very extensive, with a truckload of options from a variety of cuisines.

The menu is written on the wall

There are so many more dishes that I would love to try here. I will surely visit this place again in the future.

Antipodean in Legazpi Village, Makati

Antipodean

https://antipodeancoffee.com/index.php/cafes/antipodean-philippines

Legazpi Street corner Gil Street, Legazpi Village, Makati

Certified!

I'm now a certified Professional Scrum Product Owner!

Our company has been building knowledge and capability in the Agile methodology and Scrum over the last few years. Recently, we got an external partner to conduct Product Owner training to some employees and my boss nominated me to take it. I was a bit worried about the certification that would come right after because it's been ages since I last took a graded exam. In fact, the last - and only other - time I got certified was more than a decade ago!

I had a lot of trepidation leading up to the exam because I hadn't gotten any proper training on Agile or Scrum prior to this and I had very little time to study and prepare. I ended up taking a lot of sample exams and reading the Scrum guide multiple times and I'm very happy that it all worked out. For the first time in a really long time, I have a professional certification! I'm really thankful to my company for giving me the opportunity to get trained and certified.

Quarantine Stories Part 25

One of my annual traditions is buying Halloween donuts from Krispy Kreme. The donut designs are always good but this year, they took things to the next level with some pretty awesome packaging. I ordered a dozen donuts and the box they came in was designed as a Spellbook with Halloween colors and a transparent center to allow customers to see some of the donuts inside. Cool!

Spellbook packaging of the Halloween Krispy Kreme donuts

There were six different Halloween donut varieties so I got two of each.

Different Halloween donut varieties

Tropical Hut got a lot of buzz recently and a lot of people rediscovered it. I remember having Tropical Hut as a kid and liking it more than other fast food burgers so when tweets and posts about this restaurant started going viral, I felt that I should try it again. One evening, after doing errands in Estancia, I decided to take a short drive to the Tropical Hut branch at the corner of Shaw and Pioneer. I ordered the Classic Burger meal set.

Tropical Hut Classic Burger meal

Now that I've had it again after all these years, I still think Tropical Hut Burgers are better than most other fast food burgers in the country.

Tropical Hut Class Burger

I also finally got to eat at Denny's. I found myself in Eastwood one morning due to an errand I needed to do in the area and I decided to eat there because they had many breakfast options as well as unlimited coffee! Because I knew I would need to spend at least a few hours there, I invited some friends to join me. It was really great spending time with Migs, Diann, Case, and her daughter Cara. For my meal, I got the Junior Lumberjack Slam, which had a sausage, ham, bacon, a hash brown, an egg, toast, and pancakes (the regular order has two of each). I also order unlimited coffee. The food was satisfying, the coffee was good, and the company was great. 

Junior Lumberjack Slam with unlimited coffee at Denny's

Speaking of breakfast, I also got to have a McDonald's breakfast meal for the first time in years. On a day that I couldn't drive my car due to the number coding scheme, I decided to go to work before 7am instead of booking Grab. Since I was really early, I decided to eat at the McDonald's next to my office. I got my standard order: Sausage McMuffin with Egg, Hash Browns, and coffee.

Breakfast meal at McDonald's

Clearly, I've been eating a lot of not-so-healthy food recently. I need to start eating better soon!

Coffee Academics

I discovered The Coffee Academics in Makati recently when a friend took me there to have coffee. On that first visit, I got the pour over Colombia Antioquia Supremo and I really liked it. Making the experience even more unique and memorable is the fact that they serve it in a 250mL beaker that you can pour into a coffee glass. Cool!

Colombia Pour Over from The Coffee Academics

I also liked the location and the vibe of this place and my friend told me they also serve good food. I just knew I had to go there again.

Inside The Coffee Academics

Since that first trip, I've been there a few more times. On a couple of visits that I was really hungry, I ordered the Academics Breakfast. This dish has a sausage, ham, mushrooms, baked beans, eggs, toast, and a side salad. It's a pretty hefty and satisfying meal.

The Academics Breakfast

I've also tried the Shrimp Cakes Benny which, as the name suggests, is like an Eggs Benedict but with the poached eggs being served on shrimp cakes and potato salad. I liked this dish as well.

Shrimp Cakes Benny

The Coffee Academics offers a lot more dishes in its menu so I will surely go there again in the future. I'm really glad my friend introduced my to this place.

The Coffee Academics in Legazpi Village in Makati

The Coffee Academics

https://www.facebook.com/TCAmanila/

109 Don Carlos Palanca, Legazpi Village, Makati

Gram Cafe & Pancakes in Serendra

I finally got to eat at Gram Cafe & Pancakes! I've had souffle pancakes before and I really enjoyed them so when Gram opened in the Philippines, I really wanted to try it but I never got around to it. That is, until recently when I found myself in Serendra one late afternoon. There were available tables when I walked by and I was getting a bit hungry so I decided to have a very early dinner there. Naturally, I ordered their Premium Pancakes (which are their souffle pancakes). They were light and fluffy but they held their form pretty well even as I ate them. Cool!

Gram Premium Pancakes

The pancakes were actually my dessert. For my savory meal, I ordered the Ebi Aglio Olio con Tomate Pasta which was pretty good. I read on their Instagram page that this dish is only available in their Serendra branch so I'm happy I got to try it.

Ebi Aglio Olio con Tomate Pasta

I quite enjoyed my trip here so hopefully I get to visit Gram Pancake again in the near future.

The Sandman, The White Lotus, and More Shows on Netflix and HBO Go

The Sandman on Netflix

The Sandman was released on August 5. I was really interested in it because it is based on the books and graphic novels of Neil Gaiman. I really loved the film Stardust and I started to read some of his books (I will write more about this later this year). Also, I knew about Sandman because of one of my good friends was really interested in it many years ago and I got him one of the graphic novels as a Christmas gift. As such, I made sure to watch it when it became available. I gotta say, it's very dark, most especially Episode 5. I actually had to stop watching after that because of how intense it was (which is also why  it took me a while to complete the ten episodes). Interestingly enough, the last couple of episodes had moments that were almost comical but they were actually pretty insidious. I acknowledge that this series is not for everyone. While I think I'm not exactly the target market given how dark I found it at time, I did enjoy it and I will keep an eye out for the next season.

The White Lotus on HBO Go

I remember seeing The White Lotus on HBO on cable TV a while back but I didn't watch it back then. Since it only has six episodes and has been in my HBO Go list for a while, I decided to finally see it and it was such a revelation! I initially thought it would be light and something easy to watch but very soon, I started to find it unsettling yet very intriguing and compelling. The characters were all flawed and the dynamic they had with each other was very complex and interesting. As I finished the show, I remember thinking that I thought it was weird but good. However, I found myself thinking about the show and the characters a lot even after I had seen it and the more I thought about it, the more I loved it. The music, especially the opening theme, is also incredibly good. As it turns out, The White Lotus has won multiple awards already. I'm not surprised.

The Umbrella Academy

I know this show has been around for a while and while I subscribed to Netflix about a year ago already, it was only recently that I watched The Umbrella Academy. I just finished Season 1 and I really enjoyed it. I loved the many interesting twists and turns in the story. I haven't started Season 2 just yet but I plan to watch it soon.

Other shows

I watched Sea Beast on Netflix, which kinda had How to Train your Dragon vibes. I've always been interested in Inkheart because of the premise that whenever the lead character (played by Brendan Fraser) reads a book, he can bring characters from that book to life. Now that I've seen it, I think it is just okay. I don't regret watching it though given that it is available on Netflix.

I also got to rewatch some films on HBO Go, including Paycheck, Nanny McPhee, Legally Blonde, and Hot Fuzz. I actually have a DVD  of Hot Fuzz but I can't get my DVD player to work anymore so I'm happy it was on HBO Go. Now if only they can add Shaun of the Dead as well...

Quarantine Stories Part 24

A friend of mine traveled to Australia recently. I asked her if she could bring me some Tim Tams and she said she could. I checked the Arnott's website and looked for flavors that aren't available in the Philippines. I saw several that I was interested in and my friend very graciously got everything in my list for me. I ended up with 7 packs of chocolate biscuits. My favorite was the Decadent Triple Choc and I also really enjoyed the Dark Choc Raspberry and the Salted Caramel Brownie. I didn't really like the others I got - Murray River Salted Caramel, Butterscotch & Cream Flavour, Chewy Caramel, and Royals Milk Chocolate. If I have another friend who visits Australia, I now know exactly which flavors to ask for.

A variety of Arnott's biscuits from Australia

In my most recent board game night, I got to teach Rococo to my friends. Up until then, I was the only one in that group who had Rococo and who had played it before. The version I used to play was the original print but I now own a copy of the Rococo Deluxe Plus, which I got as a Christmas gift for myself last year haha. I remember loving this game years ago and after play it again, I confirm that this is really one of my favorite board games of all time. Plus, the new version is really beautiful!

Rococo Deluxe

We also celebrated Niki's birthday during our board game night. I volunteered to bring the cake and I decided to order a whole Tropical Vanilla cake from Dylan Patisserie. I really enjoyed it when I had it weeks before so I thought my friends would enjoy it too. (I believe they did.)

Tropical Vanilla cake from Dylan Patisserie

I have a new source of decaffeinated coffee: Tim Horton's. Normally, I buy decaf at the supermarket and in a recent grocery run, I needed to buy more decaf because my stash at home was almost fully consumed. However, the supermarket didn't have any stock at that time. I then remembered seeing decaf at Tim Horton's so I made my way to one of their shops and got myself a 400g bag that cost P600. I did the math and it turns out that their decaf is cheaper than the one that I used to get so I decided to make Tim Horton's my new official source.

Tim Horton's Decaf Coffee

Finally, I completed my annual health exam last month. It's the first one I've had in more than 2 years. As expected, I'm nowhere near as healthy as I used to be after gaining weight during the pandemic and eating a lot more sugar. I now need to eat better and to exercise more. Thankfully, my Fitbit tells me that I am covering huge distances each week. That's definitely a step in the right direction (pun intended).

Paying Our Respects to Mama Guading

Mama Guading passed away more than a decade ago. Recently, her family decided to move her ashes to the St. Therese Columbarium in Pasay. She had been taking care of my family even before I was born so when we were invited to the ceremony which was scheduled at 130pm on Sunday, we took the time to attend.

Shrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus

I suggested to my family that we have an early lunch in Makati before going to St. Therese Columbarium. I recommended Grace Park because the parking area of this place was just right in front of the restaurant. Since my grandmother was joining us, this means that she would only need to take a few steps from the car to the restaurant. It was a good choice because no one else in my family had eaten there before and they enjoyed the food. It was also good that we got there at 11am because almost all the unoccupied tables were reserved. We got the last available table and it was just the right size for my family. Our table was also outdoors and thankfully it didn't rain while we were dining.

After lunch, we made our way to the Shrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Newport, Pasay. After going inside the church to take some photos - it was my grandmother's first time there - we headed down to the columbarium area. There we were met by Mama's sister, Yaya Isot, and the rest of her family. There was a lot of catching up and sharing of stories before the priest arrived to begin the ceremony. It wasn't just Mama's ashes that were being moved; the ashes of her niece, who very sadly passed away due to illness, were being moved along with hers (they would be sharing a niche).

I'm glad that my family was able to join the ceremony to pay our respects to Mama Guading. It's also good that she now has a new resting place which I am more familiar with. Hopefully, I can visit her more frequently. Rest in peace, Mama. We love you and we miss you!

More Get-Togethers

I had another reunion with college friends when we met up with Val and Louie before they returned to the US. A few weeks ago, we had dinner with Val but Louie was unable to join us. Since Louie and Val were staying in the Rockwell area, we decided to have dinner at Refinery since this place served both coffee and drinks, catering to the preferences of everyone in the group. After dinner, Val and Louie invited us to their room for more drinks. Louie served us a mix of port wine and tonic water with a slice of lemon. It was pretty good! Lala also brought a bottle of Matsu wine while I brought a bottle of Ube Cream Liqueur. It was my first time to try this award-winning drink by Agimat at Ugat and it is actually pretty good.

Ube Liqueur Cream by Agimat at Ugat

I also went on a BGC pub crawl with some high school friends. Erick was in town and Mitch wanted to take him out. We started the night having hotdogs and drinks at the Hotel Bar at Pink's. We then moved to Bank Bar. It's interesting how Bank Bar has been around for years and it was only recently that I was able to go and now, just a few months later, I was able to go back. Our final stop that night was Elbert's Upstairs, a bar above Mendokoro Ramenba in BGC. The good thing about BGC is that it's very walkable so it was quite easy for us to move from one place to the next.

The "secret" 7-Eleven entrance to Bank Bar

I visited Wildflour a couple of times in the last month. This was because Wildflour has an ongoing promo with certain BPI cards. Guests who use their BPI card can get 30-50% discount (depending on the card) for a minimum purchase of P5,000 (and with a maximum discount of P3,000). First, I took my family to Wildflour Podium for lunch. I had wanted to order the Bone-in Prime Rib Eye Steak for the benefit of my nephew who missed our lunch at Raging Bull but sadly, Wildflour had run out of that steak by the time we had our late lunch. Despite that, my family still enjoyed our meal there and we even took home several of their pastries. A few weeks later, I met up with my ex-colleagues at Wildflour Rockwell. Interestingly enough, I ordered the same dish both times - Chicken and Biscuits. I love biscuits (the bread, not the cracker) and Wildflour is only one of a few places I know that sell them so I figured I would order the same dish to maximize my enjoyment.

I organized a board game night with my friends Pat and Carlo. The last time I played board games with them was before the pandemic. I invited a couple of other friends to join us and we played a few casual games that night, including Istanbul (which we played twice), Herbaceous Sprouts, Splendor, and Roll For It. We ended the night talking about scheduling another game night.

I also had a few get-togethers with current colleagues and ex-colleagues. I met up with Mia, Ian, and Karla in TGI Friday's in Venice Piazza. I had dinner and drinks at Terry's Bistro in Salcedo Village with my colleagues Ysa, Caloy, and Sab with whom I had been working very closely for the last couple of years. Then, I returned to Dylan Patisserie to have dinner with my teammates Irish and Michelle. Irish requested that we meet up in QC so I suggested Dylan. Michelle ordered the De Hazelnut Praline which I got to try...

De Hazelnut Praline from Dylan Patisserie

...while I tried the Raspberry Mango Opera and a Blueberry Macaron. (The other French pastry in the photo below is the Chocolate Marcarpone Delight that Irish ordered).

More desserts from Dylan Patisserie

Finally, I had one more college reunion as my friend Nemboy and his family were in town for a few weeks. Nemboy hadn't been to the Philippines in a while so we decided to have dinner at Manam in Greenbelt so he could enjoy more Pinoy food before leaving the country again. I'm really happy and thankful that I continue to have opportunities to spend more face-to-face time with friends and that I am now able to take my family out for meals again.

How to Make Butter, the Victorian Way

This video was recommended to me by YouTube at the height of the pandemic. A couple of years later and I still watch it every now and then. I guess I find this video to be quite relaxing to watch. It's amazing how much work went into making butter back in the olden days!

 

video uploaded in YouTube by English Heritage

Dylan Patisserie

My family and I had lunch at Dylan Patisserie in Quezon City and we had a great time!

Dylan Patisserie Cakes

We originally planned to have lunch somewhere else along Tomas Morato but I forgot to make a reservation so when I got there, the restaurant I suggested didn't have any available parking. I figured it was full so I decided to look around for other places where we could eat. As it turned out, practically every other restaurant along Tomas Morato had full parking. I then remembered a friend posting about Dylan Patissirie on his IG stories and it looked like a really interesting place. I looked for it on Waze and it was at the corner of Scout Tuason and Scout Castor. I drove there and saw that, thankfully, it was relatively easier to park. I checked out the menu and it looked good so I told my family we should try this place out.

Dylan has a semi-outdoor dining area that was empty when I arrived so I know they could accommodate my family (there were 10 of us). I say semi-outdoor because it is fully covered but there are a lot of open windows and it is cooled by fans instead of by an air conditioner. It was raining lightly when we were there so it didn't feel too warm.

"Outdoor" dining area

Everyone was pretty quick to choose their food but my grandmother wasn't sure what to get so she asked me to order for her instead. I chose the Beef Stroganoff for her. Since I wasn't sure if she would like it, I got the Porchetta for myself. I figured  that if the stroganoff wasn't to her liking, we could swap dishes. Since it was around 130pm when we started to eat, we were pretty hungry so I forgot to take photos. That said, both dishes were pretty good. The vinaigrette sauce that came with my porchetta was quite special. I did get to take photos of a few other dishes, such as my mom's Prawn Linguini Aglio Olio which she enjoyed...

Prawn Linguini Aglio Olio

...and my nephew's Whole Omelet which he also liked.

Whole Omelet

Dylan Patisserie has a fantastic spread of cakes, desserts, and baked items so we ordered a few of them.

Mini cakes, eclairs, and macarons

I got the Tropical Vanilla, which is an almond sponge with fresh vanilla mousse, a fruit jelly layer, and vanilla essence. I absolutely loved it!

Tropical Vanilla mini cake

My grandmother got the Lychee Pandan, a pandan-infused sponge with creamy white chocolate, coconut mousse, and a layer of lychee jelly. She also liked it but could only eat some of it so she took the rest home with her.

Lychee Pandan mini cake

What made our lunch here extra special was the superb service. Our server (I think her name was Chelsea) was very friendly, warm, and professional. You could feel that she genuinely wanted us to have a great dining experience there. She was also very responsive to our requests.

Dylan Patisserie also makes customized cakes

This restaurant is apparently the second branch. The original is located in Makati, along Jupiter Street. The Makati branch, however, focuses on cakes and pastries and they offer only a handful of savory dishes.

Other baked goodies available at Dylan

I'm really happy that we got to try Dylan Patisserie. I am certain I will visit this place again in the future.

Dylan Patisserie
https://dylanpatisserie.com/

QC branch:
20 Scout Tuazon Street Cor, 1103 Scout Castor Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila
Opening Hours: Weekdays 8am - 10pm, Weekends 7am - 11pm

Makati Branch:
116 Jupiter Street, Barangay Bel-Air. Makati City.
Opening hours: 8:30am - 9pm daily

Phone: +63 2 8777 2999 | +63 2 8920 7411 | +63 2 8286 9949
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Quarantine Stories Part 23

Achievement unlocked: I got my Serengeti badge! Since I started using my Fitbit, I have walked a total distance of 804 kilometers. This means I have been covering a distance of about 6.93 kilometers each day. My daily average has gone down since my last badge but considering that I work from home a lot and that I only live in a small apartment, it's pretty amazing that I was still able to walk this much each day over the last few months. Wow!

My Serengeti Badge

I also finally got a new phone, which I acquired by recontracting with my mobile plan provider. I was pretty happy with my Samsung S7 Edge so I decided to stay with the brand and go with their flagship series. I chose the S22+ not only because it was the same size as my previous phone but also through a process of elimination. I didn't want to get the Ultra because I felt it was too big, even if it had a better camera. I also decided against the S22 because I read reviews about the battery life not being great. I'm pretty happy with my new phone so far, especially because it has 256 Gb storage, a massive improvement from my previous 32 Gb.

My New S22+

That wasn't my only expensive acquisition though. Because of ads that I saw while going through my social media accounts, I ended up with buying Issey Miyake Eau & Cèdre during the Lazada 9.9 sale. It was a bit of a budol purchase but I got it because (1) fashion designer Issey Miyake passed away very recently and (2) there was a special sale where I would get a whole lot of freebies with my purchase. I ended up getting a 15 mL L'Eau d'Issey fragrance, 10 assorted mini-mists, a body wash, and two bags. A pretty good deal if you ask me. And I will surely be able to use this fragrance so I guess it's not such a bad purchase after all haha.

Issey Miyake Eau & Cèdre with a lot of freebies

I also finally set up the magic remote of my LG TV. I hadn't set it up previously because the standard remote works. However, earlier this month, I wanted to load my IWantTFC account onto the browser of my Smart TV and I didn't know how to do it using the normal remote. Thankfully, it was pretty easy to do it using the magic remote. I was actually toying with the idea of getting a Chromecast for myself just so I can watch IWantTFC shows on my TV but now I don't need to. Cool!

My LG Magic Remote

For the first time in my life, I have an SM Advantage Card. I previously didn't get one because I rarely go to SM. However, I started buying cat food from Pet Express for my nephew's rescue kitten early this year and I decided to start getting dog food there as well because they had a greater variety than the supermarket I frequent. I did the cost-benefit analysis and I realized I could actually save some money over the next five years if I had an SM Advantage Card. So on a recent trip to SM, I got one.

My new SM Advantage Card

Speaking of new cards, I also have a new credit card but it wasn't because I wanted one. It was because my previous one was compromised. Earlier this month, I got several text messages at around 2am one night  saying that I had made several online purchases amounting to about Php 80,000! What?!? Thankfully, all charges were reversed and my credit card company replaced my card at no cost. I also got the replacement quite quickly. Still, it freaked me out quite badly. This is the second time that my credit card was compromised in less than a year. I'm hoping it doesn't happen again.