Top Holiday Destinations: Tagaytay Highlands

Christmas in the Philippines start at "BER" months, which means months that end with BER (September to December). It is dubbed as the longest Christmas celebration in the world and we do often take this time to be with friends, family, and loved ones. Destinations such as Tagaytay Highlands are often on top of the list because of the cool climate, serene and beautiful landscape where guests, residents would enjoy the countryside without going too far from the metropolis via a short ride away down south.

It has changed a lot over the years as new exclusive residential homes and units have been put up as vantage points to Taal Volcano and lake area, and Laguna-Mount Makiling side, you'll end up crazy trying to look at the nice views from one side and the other. They also have recently put up Christmas decors, lights, ornaments as the holidays come closer, making this a very inviting place to be in especially this December. Tagaytay Highlands will also be holding a Christmas Party for the young ones come December 17. It will be held at the Sports Center Hall so make sure you get them all dressed for the occasion.

Aside from that, there will be a Christmas Bazaar on the Highlands Golf Parking area from December 27 to 31 to make sure those aguinaldos and shopping money be spent without leaving the sweet enclave. The Sports Center Hall will also get converted for the New Years Eve countdown on the 31st, so schedule appropriately during the holidays.

For those who prefer a more holy retreat, Chapel events will happen from November 27th til the end of the year, so make sure you check schedules appropriately on site or their social channels. You can also take the trip there for the annual "Simbang Gabi" which starts from December 15th to the 23rd. The holiday mass will also be celebrated on Christmas eve and the day itself, plus on New Year's day. It's certainly a dreamy place to be in during Christmas time so if you're in the mood for a move, consider Tagaytay Highlands to be on your list if you would like a change of pace and destination during the holidays. The award winning developer Highlands Prime Inc. is a subsidiary of SM Prime Holdings. It's safe and made of dreams, so if you're interested go check out Tagaytay Highlands on FB, IG and their site tagaytayhighlands.com today!

Good Desserts at Meet Fresh Podium

If you're in the Ortigas-Mandaluyong area and looking for unique desserts, you might wanna try this joint called Meet Fresh. It's at the 5th Floor of the Podium mall at the back of Megamall. Honestly, I was expecting it much to be like Ice Kacang which the Tsino-Malaysians enjoy but this is more of a Taiwanese treat which they brought in for Filipinos to enjoy.

The place can seat around 30, all separate chairs in front with an Express counter on the side. They had tons of guests, but serving time was ample on regular days. I visited it again a few days ago and quality didn't go down after opening the joint a few months ago.

I ordered the Cold Tofu Pudding, Milk Tea with Pudding, Mung Bean Cakes and Peanut Mochi Combo. Everything was so good especially the Peanut Mochi which I had to order more of. The Cold Tofu Pudding comes a close second because it reminds me of cold soy milk/ chilled Taho which I often drink or consume since I was a kid. The mixture of beans and mochi on some of the items on their menu felt ingenious! You're bound to say "Why didn't I think of that?!" a couple of times. Even though we don't have a similar version of these in the Philippines, our halo-halo seems a bit close sans the fruits. 

They've got milk teas and other flavored drinks but for me, it's better to stick with the best sellers because it's a little pricey, but definitely good for sharing. Ask them if you need extra bowls because they can do that on a whim.

MEET FRESH is at the 5th Floor of the PODIUM Mall in Ortigas Center. They are open mall hours, and is self service.

Lipton Gets Real Iced Tea in a Bottle!

I've had this brand in our pantry for ages as much of the people at home are heavy tea drinkers. We also get a little festive at home, even more when there are guests of friends and family so we do get Liptom Iced Tea served in so many ways. It makes conversation fun, sweetens up things and keeps us hydrated. It gives that positive vibe no matter what time of the day!

The good news is, Lipton is evolving. They want their products to fit a new generation of tea drinkers as they up the antè with taste and the benefits you get from having real tea. The drink also has low calorie content so you don't have to worry doing other things all throughout the day because it's light and easy. The Green Tea variant was a favorite at home, with that light lemon flavor, you get the lovely refreshing feeling in each gulp because you know it goes good in any situation. The Red Tea on the other hand has that lovely deeper tea flavor but with a hint of orange, making it sweet but a little tangy. The classic Lemon Iced Tea on the other hand still satisfies me. Sitting on the top floor balcony, letting the sun shine while you watch the sun set on the horizon. Ending the day with a sweet note, dreamy, but imagine all the possibilities!

Lipton pushes you for positive change. Take it easy, take it one day at a time. Make yourself enjoy the moment and see how you, your friends, and family could make every day a #LiptonPositiviTEA day! I'll go ahead and share these bottles to the most precious people at home, so go buy one in your favorite convenience stores, groceries, supermarket and be a good man or woman by bringing positivity to friends and family everyday!

KUMAGCOW

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The Perfect Coke

I was mind blown seeing tons of Coke bottles in a giant cooler in the middle of Glorietta's Activity Center. Coca Cola Philippines invited us for a day of fun and excitement as they ask us to reminisce how it was to have our first time. With the hashtag #SarapNgFirstTime already out being advertised on TV, we've always wondered what was it all about? Is this a new variant of Coke? You see, I even speculated about that already, that they'll be bringing something new and announcing it in a grand way.

You see the thing behind me? I didn't think about it that much, but that was actually a hint already of what they were about to announce that afternoon. When Gino Quillamor from RX93.1 arrived to host the show, he kept on coming back to check the status of the thermometer and telling us about how to have the #PerfectCoke. I mean, really though, is there such a thing?

I like my coke ice cold, but do you know what's the exact temperature to have a perfect one? We waited a while to see what Coca Cola Philippines had to say. It's like an official pronouncement of what certain point would it be to say that it is the actual #PerfectCoke, but before that, they got stars in the mix and launched it simultaneously here in Manila, Cebu and Davao in the south. It felt like a huge party where the main thing to celebrate with is this awesome beverage.

They had Manolo Pedrosa and Miles Ocampo to sing and dance for us. That was something worthy to be told later LOL.. Or you can check out this video about their individual performances!

I even saw some admins of the IGersManila group, they were there like me as they were invited by Coke!

Then these guys finally came up the stage and told us that the Coke bottles they've been keeping cold in the back is almost perfect, enough with the suspense already! 

The first time you had a Coke should always and is recommended to be at 3' Celsius! Yes, it's not a nee flavor, it's the perfect coke if it's on that particular temperature. Isn't that great news? Well it won't be if we didn't try it out ourselves that afternoon, so we did!

When they started to ask for a toast, I already drank half the bottle hahaha! So I did the smartest thing after that, I got another bottle! Genius!

Now it's easy to do it too in your own homes. Just make sure you have enough ice to fill the coolers and put in bottles of Coke there! Or if you're a little tired, and if it's too hot outside this summer, you can actually wait for them to come to you! Ob yes you heard that right! They have brand new spanking Coke Happy Cycles that will go around the country to give away a million bottle of #PerfectCoke! Just make sure you follow their official social media channels so you can request your barangay, township or city to be the next one! Free coke is just weeee! 

For more information about their stores:

Coca-Cola Philippines

Like them on Facebook


Visit their official website

http://www.coca-cola.com.ph

Lock & Lock Launches 2 New Lines Of Products!

One of the biggest names in quality container products Lock & Lock just launched their newest cookware and glassware line. The brand has been steadfastly helping Filipinos keep their food safe throughout the years and this time they're putting out their CookPlus Line and Lock & Lock Glass Line to provide different technologies to safely, conveniently prepare and present food in the Philippines much like they've been doing it elsewhere.

These new products are all made from top of the line materials making it durable, corrosion free, brilliant and long lasting every time a person in your home uses it. They also use their own brand of non stick coating in order to make this the perfect armament to have in cookware by making sure it's PFOA free that sometimes puts ones health at risk. They use ceramics to make it even conducive to heat which means a shorter amount of time for cooking. 

The Lock & Lock Glass Line are all made of borosilicate glass making it withstand extreme temperatures so you can get it from the freezer, to your microwave oven and straight to your table. We also got to see during the launch how the Chef Kalel Chan (of the Raintree Restaurant Group) used these mighty non exploding, non shattering containers to whip up some of the best things on his kitchen. It's one of the safest glass containers around and you can easily see what you have on it so you can easily pull it out of your fridge or pantry without a hitch.

Pad Thai by Chef Kalel Chan

Lock & Lock will continue to provide state of the art containers and products to the Filipino market to address food related needs and better cooking, dining experience for your family. That's a healthy deal right there and all you gotta do right now after getting these in home stores is Lock & Lock! :)

For more information about their stores:

Lock and Lock Philippines

Like them on Facebook


Visit their official website

http://www.locknlock.com/

WHAM! Burgers and Sausages Hits The Spot!

Looks like someone's got a new look at the WHAM! Burgers and Sausages store in SM North Edsa's The Block which we visited a few days ago. Yes, they went head way to look a bit more modern, mid scale and a bit rustic. They went away and lost the old comic book theme they carried throughout the years and went with a more matured looking store.

The interior was a mix of black and white, a little shabby chic without the white ceramic homey elements. For me, it was a fresher look and a bit colder since there were metal counters too.

Mr. Tony Yap owner of Wham! says "We've been in the industry for almost a decade and our customers have always seen and associated us with comics which is a more "fastfood or kiddie" concept and we find nothing wrong with that. But now along with the trend with the new players now, we are targeting more mature audience because the fans of our joint are already grown up. Now, we have included imported and local brands of beer to our menu and revamped the menu and presentation of our dishes for the different market segment we're trying to target. As you can see, we only used earth tones and neutral colors in our store to go with the new theme. But still we will cater to every single one in the family because as we know Filipino's go out in groups especially in the malls. 

Aside from the taste, we also went ahead and updated the bread. Through careful study we decided to introduce the brioche bread. This one is a little special though because we have used multigrain brioche bread which makes the bun a little sweeter nuttier and way better than the Kaiser bun that we used to serve on our burgers. The Filipinos now are more discerning and more demanding, our taste has improved a lot over the years that's why we're making our burgers better. The brioche has a little more following and it looks appealing too according to our customers. I believe that we have offered a great improvement on our products."

The KAPOW! Burger, a beef laden burger with a spicy kick! The jalapenos was love!

The new Multigrain Brioche Bun, made a little sweeter, nuttier and way better on this Wham! Burger!

I initially thought I was actually getting a smaller burger but they said that it's got the same kind (right amount/ratio of lean meat and fat), still 1/3 pound 100% beef patty measured one by one by hand but it's just a different kind of bread. The Kaiser buns used to be so big that it actually overlapped and made the burger looked bigger even though it's the same and now, it's just the right size. The patties will never never ever change. It's a thing that their loyal customers wanted and they listened to them. Isn't that smart?

Sausages

Now people think they didn't have sausages before in their menu but they actually do. It just didn't share the spotlight of other items because they served the ordinary ones that you can get off of other restaurants too. Now, they've included specialty sausages like these ones which are imported.

 Take for example this thing they call U-Turn. It's 100% Swiss and it is my favorite on their menu. Sink in to your teeth and you'll feel the juiciness ooze out of the meat and you can taste the smokiness of it as it's real deal charcoal grilled. They even showed us their grill where they cook this. Delish! 

They've got Wieners, Schublig with Cheese, Beer Sausage, Kielbasa on the new menu!

They now emphasized sausages too on their menu. It's even getting more orders now because they're giving a free hand in customizing combos that comes with it. Aside from the usual sides of onions and mayo, you can choose what other things you want to go with your sausages. The fries would make you feel full for sure and you can swap it with others. Of course everything goes well with beer!

Bavaria Premium Beer from Holland

They've sourced imported Bavaria from Holland and made it available for everybody that would love to feast in their stores so if you fancy the lovely imported sausages, you've got the best beverage that would also come with it bar none. If you are up to it, take a trip up north at SM's The Block and visit their store on the 4th floor. Don't ever forget to order the U-Turn which everyone loves because it's the good things that I want to to experience more. Get your hands on these burgers, sausages and bottles as soon as you hit the stores. Pretty soon, you'll see all the WHAM! Burgers and Sausages stores look like this one, so if you want to experience it early... you know where to catch them because IT HITS THE SPOT!

For more information about their stores:

Wham Burgers

Like them on Facebook


Visit their official website

https://whamburgers.com