Tried Secret Recipe at One Ayala!

I know One Ayala has been open for awhile now. We're kinda slow when it comes to visiting new places! We had a chance to finally visit One Ayala a few weeks ago. What drew us was to dine at Secret Recipe. It's one of the restos we frequented in Singapore. I first tried it in Jakarta and had the chance to also visit their KL branch (where it supposedly originated). 

We were pleasantly surprised we were able to park easily since it was a Saturday. We had a doctor's appointment and decided to have lunch at Secret Recipe. We were surprised to see that our local Secret Recipe had a very different look compared to the branches in other countries. Every nook and cranny is "Instagrammable" haha. We sat across the cake display. I am always mesmerized by cakes (biggest one I've seen is Calea in Bacolod). Anyway, I digest. 

We ordered these -

To be honest, I found the dishes here much more delicious than in Singapore. My original favorite Secret Recipe was the one in Jakarta. I'm glad our branch here is so much better. I ordered carbonara and had Miggy try it. He said it was delicious and Miggy approved. I didn't get to try Miggy and Jay's dishes, but they said it was really good. 

Of course, we had dessert. I had a hard time choosing, but eventually decided to get a slice of red velvet cake. I've been craving it for about a month now. It did not disappoint. Here's what we ordered -

We learned a lot from Argel about how the restaurant came about. She mentioned that the chef trained for a couple of months in their headquarters. They also pushed to make the restaurant more decorative. Secret Recipe branches in other countries are just usually white all over. The one we have at One Ayala is special. I guess the crew appreciated sharing our experience. They gave us a slice of complimentary dark chocolate cake. It was so good!

We got lucky with our bill. The payment method we used provided 50% off. I was also able to use my PWD discount. We walked off what we ate by exploring the mall. We look forward to coming back to dine at Secret Recipe again. We'll probably go when Filbar's is open. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

New Coffee and Cake Place in Our Neighborhood

Went out for errands today and passed by the gas station to visit 7-Eleven. Discovered that El Roi Cakes & Bread is already open. It's been a month since we were in the area so we didn't know it was already open. We dropped by to check it out since they had a sign out front saying they have coffee. 

The spot used to be Potato Corner, but it has transformed into a very cozy cafe. Aside from coffee, cakes and pastries, they also sell coffee beans, tablea and other local products. After preparing our takeaway, the owner, Kevin, went out to chat with us. He explained that they get their beans from Sultan Kudarat from a cooperative. This helps the farmers since it eliminates the middleman. 

Sweetie and I got a cold and hot beverage to try. We had to take it out since we got some ice cream from McDonald's (haha). We plan to go back to try their pastries. Just couldn't at the moment since we still had some from Chef RV's cafe. They had interesting strawberry pastry options. Yummm!

If you're from my neighborhood, the cafe is located at Caltex. Another cafe option in the same area is B1T1. (Map here).

*No gardening update for now. I've been busy making sure the pothos I re-potted last week will survive!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Why I Didn't Have a Valentine

I lost the bet.

And good thing, she lost too!

So we’re going to Bora! Yipee!!!

I was still up working at past 12 in the morning on February 14 when a friend of mine buzzed in and greeted me a happy V-day. Happy-happy! Joy-joy! May bumati!

I had a hard time waking up in the morning since I slept at around 3 a.m. It was the incessant beeping of my phone alerting me for messages that actually woke me up. All of them were Valentine greetings.

I was happy and pleased with all the greetings, but I must have left the Valentine spirit in the hotel when I left for work. I guess all of us didn't have it on our minds. I was so harassed the whole day, I almost missed the plane coz I was still answering emails at the airport. When I got back home in Manila, I had to finalize things for my participation at the E-Services Philippines show and my printer even delivered my materials at midnight. I finished up at around 3 a.m. and completely forgot about V-day until Donald brought it up over lunch.

“How was your Valentine? Nakalabas ka ba?”

Oh great. I completely forgot about V-day and that I had a bet with Honey. And I lost.

So I gave Donald, Martin and Jill a huge smile and whined about why I didn’t have a Valentine.

Oh and for the record, I did get some offers, but I said I was going to be out of the country.

And the little cake with the heart on top? It's from Max's, the house that fried chicken built. I had it as dessert with a good friendly-friend. Order it, it's yummy.