Ending the Night at St. Marc's Cafe

I’ve been dying to try St. Marc’s Café ever since I saw their billboard. I was so happy that their store is located in Megamall because it was just near in my office however I never have time to visit the store. Fortunately, we had bowling practice in Megamall and after a tiring game we decided to eat first before heading home. Most of the restaurants are full and most of my friends don’t want to eat a heavy meal so we all agreed to end the night at St. Marc’s Café.

St. Marc’s Café is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saintmarc Holdings Company. St. Marc Café started providing freshly brewed coffee and freshly baked-breads in 1998 in Ginza, Maronie Boulevard in Tokyo. Here in the Philippines, Starbucks is the go-to-place to hang-out and enjoy a nice coffee. In Japan it's St. Marc's Cafe!

St. Marc’s Café is famous for their Chococro which is their signature pastry. The Chococro is available in chocolate-coffee and strawberry daifuku flavors. Unfortunately, the only available flavor is the chocolate Chococro. 

Aside from the chococro we ordered their Egg Salsa. At first, it never occurs in my mind that there is salsa inside the bread. I was surprised when the salsa came out of the bread as I took a slice. The taste was so wonderful! The taste of salsa as it mixes to the egg yolk was just unexplainable. 

My friend ordered a matcha for her drink. This drink is one of the must try at St. Marc’s Café.

For me, I just ordered an Iced Café Mocha. I wanted hot café mocha but they say it’s no longer available. 

 For dessert we ordered their Choco Banana Fuji. I think all their desserts are really delicious. Just the look at it will make you want to have it.

So our night ended with a blast of sweet stuff!

Strike at SM Bowling Center

I was never good at bowling however it doesn't stop me from playing the sports. And just recently, our office announce a bowling competition. I'm not part of our team however I always join them when they practice.

I can't remember when was the last time I played bowling at SM Megamall. The last time I heard their bowling center was already closed. However when they opened their new fashion hall, they have also returned their bowling center. The new bowling center was smaller than their previous one but it look more classy. 

Aside from bowling, they also have billiards. They have four billiards table that you can rent for P300.00 per game.

Getting hungry while playing is unavoidable that is why they have a snack bar where customer can order their foods and drinks. They have nachos, french fries, pizzas and sandwiches. 

Good thing SM has decided to put back their bowling center. Now, we have another venue to hang-out and have fun!

All Day Breakfast at Kanto Freestyle

It's no longer unusual that there restaurant offering pancakes and silog even during at the wee hours of the night. It has rather been common for restaurants that offer mostly breakfast menu to be open until midnight. So if you are like me, who is willing to eat tapsilog or tocilog even at 10PM then Kanto Freestyle is just the place for you.

Kanto Freestyle has four branches. They have a branch in Mandaluyong, Pasig, Libis, and Marikina. Since we are much nearer in their Pasig branch we went there to have lunch. Their branch in Pasig is found in a residential house in the famous Kapitolyo food area. The place is not located in the street where other restaurants are found. It's also not easy to spot their restaurant but your sign that it is the place is the long queue of people outside.

Good thing we have a companion living in Pasig and she passes in Kapitolyo going to our office so she was able to arrive early. Even so we are the third in the waiting list. They have extra chair so we just sit and wait for our turn. 

Once we have our table, my friend told us to quickly make our orders because it will take some time before they can prepare your foods. We were not picky when it comes to food so we just order the ordinary.

We ordered their champorado with tuyo (dried fish). The presentation was very nice and the tuyo are very evident. The sweet taste of the champorado mixes perfectly on the salty taste of the tuyo.

Another favorite thing to eat for breakfast is pancake. So we didn't pass the opportunity to try their pancake. We just ordered the ordinary fluffy pancake. Although they have pancakes with peanut butter and banana, pancake with Oreo cookies and Blueberry pancake. And indeed the pancake was so fluffy.

Of course, we also ordered different silog. Customers can choose if they would want their eggs scrambled or sunny side-up. Aside from that the silog includes two eggs. My friend who is a Kapampangan ordered their Pampanga's tosilg. However, she was dismayed on the taste of the tocino. It was far different from Pampanga's tocino. Actually, we tried it and the sauce of the tocino taste like the sauce of hamonado. The sweet taste is different.

Their chicken longganisa is delicious. My friend was very satisfied on this one. She was able to finish her in no time.

Well, most of us ordered their New Zealand Beef Tapa. It has a bit of spicy taste but just perfect for the beef. The only I noticed is that the meet is not that tender. There are two strips of meat that is hard to chew but overall the taste is good.

Kanto Freestyle is another restaurant in Kapitolyo that has drawn a lot of crowd. Definitely, a place that you would visit if you are craving for your favorite Tapsilog.

A Feel of Sun and Wind at Sol Y Viento Mountain Hot Springs Resort

It was one of those days when you suddenly want to escape the busy life in the Metro but you don’t have the time to plan. The easiest way to is to spend your weekend is in a nearby province. At that spur of the moment you’ll have to search in the internet the nearest vacation spot in Metro Manila. You have a lot of choices. From Bulacan to Rizal and Laguna all the way to Batangas. However this time, Laguna was our destination and it’s in the hot spring of Pansol to be exact.

Hot spring resort is not hard to find in Pansol. There is a lot of public hot springs in the place but it’s finding a private resort that is quite hard to find. The only problem is that private hot springs in Laguna usually offers a house that can accommodate large group of people and price would range from Php 10,000 to 15,000. There were only four of us and it will be not be practical to rent whole house for a weekend. Luckily we found a Sol Y Viento Mountain Hot Spring Resort. 

the sunset

 I immediately chose Sol Y Viento after seeing some of it photos in the internet. Aside from the fact that they offer a promo that time and the room that we will be getting has a Jacuzzi inside. The resort is located in Makiling Heights 4029 Calamba Laguna. You can easily find it since they have a large signage along the road and the tricycle drivers are very much familiar about the place.

I will never forget the breeze of the wind and the warmth of the sun when we arrived in the resort. I was really astounded when I saw the spectacular view of Laguna de Bay that I forgot that we need to proceed to the reception area first for our accommodation. I was very much eager to take pictures that time that it didn’t matter if I’m already too tired from out short trip in Liliw.

We were brought to our house with a golf cart. We can see the view of the town and part of the resort which is under construction. Aside from the Jacuzzi, we have television, refrigerator and a grill outside our house. Of course, we are very excited to relax at the Jacuzzi. Well, before splurging in the Jacuzzi we decided to walk and check the whole resort first.

other houses

our house

the Jacuzzi inside our house

The resort has two large swimming pools and two small pools. All of the swimming pools have a device which indicates its temperature. There was an instance that one of the pools is at 30 degrees Celsius. We even saw a dead dragonfly floating on the pool. We’re not just sure if the cause of its untimely death is the hot temperature of the pool. Aside from the swimming pools they have an obstacle course. They also have a mini bar near one of the large pools. They have two Ziplines but I think both are not working. We were able to climb on one of the zipline and its gives you larger view of the place.

zipline

obstacle course

the small pool

one of the large swimming pool

All of the pools will give you a view of the mountain and the Laguna de Bay. They have cabanas near the pool where you can leave your things. We were lucky that there were only few guests during our visit that it felt like we own the whole place.

 

Aside from the amenities of the resort, the feel of connecting with nature is very relaxing. You can experience both the sunrise and sunset in the place.

the sunrise

the restaurant

coffee time

Bringing of foods is not allowed inside the resort but it’s not a problem because they have a restaurant that serves mostly Filipino foods. There is nothing extraordinary about the food but it’s that bad. The waitress said that the food is for single order but we were surprised of its generous serving. So, I and my sister usually just share our order since we have a small appetite. We indulge in their refillable coffee in the morning. We stayed at the restaurant for more than three hours just to feel its peaceful ambiance. In the morning you can hear the sound of the birds and feel the rays of the sun touching your face.

Sol Y Viento Mountain Hot Spring Resort just proves that you don’t have to travel that far just to escape the city. Sometimes the best place to spend your time is just around the corner.