Planning 2012 the Starbucks Way

I'm sure you all have heard of the Starbucks Planner Promo running from December 13-15. But for those of you who haven't, here it is:

Photo credit

Coincidentally, I already have 12 stickers so I and my cousin just grabbed 2 Christmas drinks yesterday and I already got myself the planner. Lucky me!

I think Cherry's the prettiest shade.

Okay, I'm biased! Haha.

I've been using planners since I was in college. I tried those little ones from Papemelroti, the Cosmo Datebook, the Belle de Jour Power Planner for this year and now I'm trying out Starbucks. I actually have no plans of joining the sticker-collecting bandwagon but the size and weight of this one is irresistible! Haha. I don't want to just leave my planner in the office again (like what happened to my BDJ 'coz it's too big and bulky) so SB planner's perfect!

You have until tomorrow to take home your very own Starbucks 2012 Planner, if you haven't already! :-)

JLTS Get-together 2010

We don't know if it's by chance or by choice but my highschool barkada, JLTS (short for Judith Learns to Sing), only meets once a year and that for 2010 happened last Thursday, October 28. After so many discussions on the rendezvous, we settled for Cable Car along Arnaiz Avenue in Makati.

To start off, we had Nachos. I'm not very fond of salsa so I barely ate it but they finished the entire plate so I can assume it was good. It was kinda pricey though, large platter was at Php515.

 
For the main meal, we ordered the Cable Car Combo Pizza, Carbonara and Chicken Cordon Bleu. If you've been reading my blog, you'd know that the latter is a personal favorite :-)

 
The moment I sliced the Chicken Cordon Bleu, I knew my tastebuds will be very pleased! I loved the juicy chicken meat complimented by the melted cheese *drools*. I didn't even make use of the dressing, it's delicious all by itself :-)

 
The Carbonara is okay but I think my carbonara tastes better. Haha. No, I'm not bias! I have tried Shakey's' and Red Ribbon's and they both hit the mark for me but this one is a few notches short. Anyhoo...

 
And then the pizza! It's good! Sadly though, we had to take half of it home because we are too stuffed already.

 
For the drinks, I originally ordered iced tea but changed my mind when I took a sip from Dianne's Mango Shake. Good thing they allowed me to change my order. I soooooo loved it!

 (L-R) Pam had iced tea, Maine had Green Mango Shake and

Judith, Dianne and I had Ripe Mango Shake.

The two hours that we stayed in Cable Car was multi-tasking at it's finest. We ate, chit-chatted and took a lot of pictures at the same time. 

(L-R) Me, Dianne, Judith

 

 (L-R) Pam, Maine and Me.

 Crazy shots!

In the middle of camwhoring, as Pam stretched her arms to take a picture of us 5, a tall guy approached us saying "Hey, let me take a picture of you" and guess what, it was no less than...

Photo courtesy of Danny's YGroup

All of us were dumbfounded but still smiled sheepishly for the camera. After the shot, he gave the camera back and went on with his life while we're still starstruck. Hahaha.

 Notice how we transformed into finesse femmes in this shot.. Hahaha

The minutes that followed were spent thinking about how to approach him and have a picture taken with him (not just BY him haha). Not that we're fans. We just wanted a proof that he was the oh-so-kind guy who took a decent picture of us! LOL. And then when we finally mustered enough courage to walk up to him, a supermodel-esque gal came in and gave him a peck on the cheek. And that's our cue. We headed towards the exit disappointed and saying "Sayang!" again and again.

 This is our only proof that he was there! Pathetic! Hahaha

Oh by the way, let me mention how surprised I was when we got the bill. PhP 2080 for the food mentioned above?! Upon checking, we found out that almost 200 pesos was due to the service charge. If not for the Chicken Cordon Bleu, I'll say that it's not worth the price. But in fairness, the ambiance is cozy and laid-back, and there were very few people that night making us feel that we have the entire place all to ourselves, so okay narin :D

Next stop was Starbucks Greenbelt (a walking distance from Cable Car). Thanks to the boyfriends Chriz and Deniel for hanging out with us! Looking at the couples made me miss my Jhay :(

 Maine and Deniel & Pam and Chriz

Over the free frap and pastry courtesy of the guys, we reminisced about our highschool days - the teachers, the classmates and most especially the mischiefs. Amidst the boisterous laughters, we spotted guys from the latest season of PBB (sorry I don't know the names) and took a picture with them. Yeah, this time we didn't let the chance pass. Hahaha.

 Happy much?! Hahaha. It's actually because the guy in white (Ryan, right?) said

"Wait, where do we look?" as Chriz and Deniel simultaneously took pictures.

At around 11pm, we had to call it a night. We thought we should take a picture of all 7 of us so I stretched my arms to shoot when another foreigner offered help. Amusing because instead of kababayans offering help, foreigners pa!

 Photo taken by a foreign passer-by :)

So there, we had a great souvenir shot of the JLTS meet-up for 2010. Thanks again to the day's Good Samaritans! Till next night-out, sissums, and hopefully not on 2011! ;-)

Hot and Cold

Right now I am enduring a freakin' hot afternoon here at home because I wanted to make up for all the going-online-for-no-reason-at-all time that I lost this week. It was busy as hell at work (busier than last week's busy LOL) that I didn't even have time to fool around in Facebook. Imagine I had to work from 1PM to 3AM of the next day because of the deadline. I know this is usual for most carer-oriented people but I seem to be pretty much affected because it was the first time that I experienced it. (Note to self: Start getting used to working overtime.)

Oh well, let me go back to my thing today. A few minutes ago I enjoyed a cup of dirty ice cream! Hahaha. FYI, the entire neighborhood has been a suki of that one sorbetero for ages so I guess it's not dirty after all. :-)

How I loved the classic keso and tsokolate combination!

Who said that a Starbucks mug is only for a hot cup of coffee? It's perfect for a cold treat too! :-)

Peach was happy to know that this (however a different color)

was among my birthday wishes. Apple green is second only to pink
as my favorite color so it's still awesome! :)

Before I forget, I took a picture of the cute apple green mug just because I wanted to thank the person who gave it to me. She said she wanted me to remember her by leaving me something that I'll always use. So here's to my sweet girl, Peaches. Thanks for sharing a beautiful conversation with me. The date that we had yesterday was short but very very sincere and soothing. I'm looking forward to having another coffee break with you really soon. I'll miss you, girlfriend! Bon voyage!

A warm and time-tested friendship is one of life's simplest pleasures.

Oh yes, the barista mistook Peach for Mitch. Hahaha.

The Week That Was

I haven't written anything since Tuesday because it's so busy at work but tonight since I just ate (poor eating habit, I know), I need to be awake for a few more minutes so I'll make the most out of it by sharing the week's highlights.

Last weekend, I've been engrossed with downloading all Glee, The Music albums. I spent the first day of the work week e-mailing my girlfriends how amazing the singles are and volunteering to burn CDs for them. Thus, we had the perfect excuse for a Tuesday get-together: handing them their copies ^_^

We had dinner at Chowking Alphaland Mall (that's in Magallanes MRT Station) and I have to say I didn't enjoy my food :( I ordered the Orange Chicken Lauriat and I got 4 tiny pieces of chicken. The pansit canton was very disappointing too because it tasted like garlic. Good thing there was Chicharap, it helped me finish my meal.

Funny how our seating arrangement didn't change (see previous pic)

We stayed there until around 9:30 and was forced to leave because the crew were already turning off the lights and the aircon. But since we aren't even halfway done with our chikahan session, we've decided to stay at a nearby Starbucks, in Waltermart Makati that is. We had our beloved frappuccinos and some slices of pastry (c/o Jaq) and indulged in 3 solid hours of girl talk. Like tomorrow is a weekend, around 12:30AM we called it a night. Oh, an awesome night! :)

The next day, August 18th, was as great. I got in the office at 7:30 and was greeted by a personal message via Facebook from Toblerone Pilipinas. Yes, we won in the Toblerone Epic Friend Promo! Hurray! The awarding of Toblerone gift packs and The Spa GCs will be on September 4th. I and Ate Pants are so looking forward to it already :)

By lunch time I sneaked out to go to Robinson's Ermita to get a gift for my dear Tita Antin on her 51st birthday. I got back at 2pm, ate a quick lunch and an hour and a half later, my friends at work were already asking me to go have snacks. Gosh, my tummy is still so full but I went with them to Jollibee anyway. That time, Jhay was texting me saying sorry because he can't come to Tita's surprise birthday bash at home. Of course it got me down-hearted because we haven't seen each other for 2 long weeks but when we got inside Jollibee, Jhay was already there waiting for me! ^_^ I used to tease him because I always get his surprises busted but this time he was super successful! He and my friends were laughing at how shocked I was to see him there. Congrats honey!

We got home at around 6pm and they're all waiting for us because we have the cakes! And the celebration can't start without it! LOL. Everyone enjoyed the small salo-salo and Tita Antin enjoyed her day. Before bedtime I heard her crying while thanking Nanay Letty. Great job for me, my other two titas and Nanay, we were the people behind it! :)

My co-masterminds Tita Net (in fuchsia) and Tita A (in pink) with the birthday celebrant.

 
And just this morning, well yesterday technically, we got some good news from the company's top management. I want to remain hushed about it, but to give you an idea, it's coming this 25th. My oh my, what a great way to end a busy week! :)

What's a week full of kwento without pictures? I'll be adding them as soon as I get my camera back. (Update: 8/21, 7pm - Pictures added! :D) I lent it to a friend by the name of Jaquiline Badeo. And what's with the mention of her full name? It's because I wanted you to help me in welcoming her to the wonderful world of blogging! Visit her here, now na!

It's 1:35am in my clock and I think my midnight snack is down there already. Haha. Be back blogging when I wake up. Have a great weekend everyone! :D

I ♥ Fridays

I adore Fridays. I mean, who doesn’t? It’s a temporary escape from the stressful 9-5. Chances are, there’s a meet-up with friends or a date night with sweetie. Staying up late is legal. And oh, I have the laptop all to myself! *evil laugh* 

Since the desktop PC here at home handed me it’s resignation letter, I have been kindly (ahem!) sharing my laptop with my sisters. Both of them are in high school so every day upon getting home from the office they welcome me with two words: “Ate pa-research” That's why tonight I almost jumped for joy when there is silence in the living room and at the corner my laptop is sitting comfortably, only waiting to be turned on. Eeek, that last part is kinda disturbing.

Going back to how fun Fridays are, I and a couple of friends decided to have coffee after work. We hit Starbucks at The Columns. If you don’t know the place, it’s at the corner of Gil Puyat and Ayala Avenue, which reminds me that in the said area they have three SB stores when there isn’t even one near Headstrong. Yeah, life’s unfair like that.

A frapuccino always always intoxicates me. That and a lot of kwento with my girls made a great impromptu meet-up. Sadly I wasn’t able to put my camera in my bag this morning so I don’t have a picture to share. But in return, I have a story that I got from Nhix, one that really made a mark. Last week, somewhere near her place, a med student was killed. It was supposedly only a hold-up but the girl fought back and ended up getting 4 stabs. And to make it worse, it happened just a few steps away from her house. Really ill fate. However, three days after the crime, 2 of the 3 suspects were in police custody and the other one is found dead. It’s good that justice was served (and served fast) but it’s depressing how it was solved immediately just because she isn’t a nobody. FYI, she happened to be a granddaughter of a general (or sergeant or another high-ranking official, not so sure) and goddaughter of a city mayor. Clearly, something is wrong with the Philippines and it’s system, if there’s a thing as such. So come on P-Noy, show us what you got.

Okay, so much with the gloomy now. I got home a few minutes to 11pm and was surprised when I opened the fridge. I found a bar of Cadbury (you know how it is synonymous to happiness for me) and asked them whose it is. Turns out Faye (the same sibling in this post) bought it for me! :D

I asked her why and she said there isn’t a reason at all. Guess she’s just so thoughtful. Or I must have been a really good ate to deserve it. :)

There you have it, my version of the last day of the work week. I hope you enjoyed Friday as much as I did. Happy weekend everyone! :)