Author: Noelle De Guzman

Drinking Up!

Serenitea

So many different drinks, so little time… I normally try to stay away from drinking my calories (hence I often just drink hot black tea with a little Splenda in the mix), but lately it’s been hard not to try out various milk tea, coffee, and even juice places. Here’s where I’ve gone in the past few months.

Chatime

The last time I drank a milk tea with pearls, it was at an Ersao branch on E. Rodriguez two years ago. I’d been craving that for some time and Happy Lemon didn’t do it for me (the pearls are so small!) so when I heard about this place called Chatime from my sister and her husband, I was so there. My drink is a pearl milk tea with 25% sugar and less ice. Being the milk tea place with plenty of branches, I can always count on a Chatime to satisfy my cravings.

Serenitea

This place is a favorite of some online friends, mentioned plenty on their Twitter accounts. The branch in Burgos Circle was the most accessible when I had a milk tea craving in the BGC area, so I went and got myself a milk tea with pearls (I figure it’s easier to compare between milk tea places when you order the same thing at each of them).
Serenitea
The milk tea mix itself tastes a little grassy, like it’s been infused with that smell the ground has when it’s been dampened by rain. The pearls were a little less firm than Chatime’s. I was already at 50% sugar but it still didn’t pack that zing I was looking for. Hmm. Wrong drink, maybe?

Gong Cha

My sister and I were at Megamall during their last 3-day sale when I spotted a red kiosk at the Atrium. They were on soft opening, but I could see plenty of people already lining up. This Gong Cha must be good, I thought.
Gong Cha
That was the first day my love affair with Gong Cha began. I even came up with a song about it. “Gong Cha wish your milk tea was strong like me, Gong Cha wish your milk tea was fun like me, Gong Chaaaaaaaa!” My drink here was their house special wintermelon tea with additional pearls. I really love the Gong Cha cream (which is like the Happy Lemon cream cheese, less the saltiness) which blends with my tea as I sip it, creating an ever-creamier drink until the last drop.

Drink Tea

I spotted this place at Podium a few weeks ago while binge-eating Indian food at New Bombay. We couldn’t try it out back then because we were so full, but I came back the other day and ordered my usual: a milk tea with the least amount of sugar possible.
Drink Tea

The pearls were red, a departure from the black pearls I’d been used to. They also had a different flavor, as if the sago mix contained a little cherry essence. Mmm! I’ll definitely be back.

Jamba Juice

I missed my invitation to the private launch event for Jamba Juice because it landed in my Spam folder, but it piqued my curiosity enough to warrant a visit.
Jamba Juice
Aside from its imported name and imagery, nothing really makes Jamba Juice stand out from its local counterparts which have been here for some time (owners possibly inspired by a visit to a Jamba Juice in the US). Mondo Juice in Galleria has the same blended frozen fruit and juice concept, and at a cheaper price. I ordered here the Five Fruit Frenzy, managed to finish it all, but didn’t experience my tastebuds dancing in my mouth. I think I’ll just make fruit shakes at home.

Blenz Coffee

Like I said, I’m a hot tea drinker, but when Nuffnang invited a few bloggers and myself to a coffee break at Blenz Coffee in BGC where we would learn to do latte art, I jumped at it. I mean, where else do you have license to play with your food?

Apparently, when you pull your espresso shot correctly, and when the milk temperature is just right, you can create pretty pictures when pouring the milk into your latte, and the color swirls should hold. It’s supposed to be one of the hallmarks of a good latte. Here I am with my monkey-face latte.
Blenz Coffee

We also got to try out their Belgian chocolate drinks, which are made with Belgian chocolate bars melted in hot milk. So good! But what really stuck with me was their matcha latte. It’s real Japanese matcha (green tea leaves ground to a fine powder) blended with water using a bamboo whisk, which means it doesn’t clump up and look like pond scum. I’ve been on the hunt for a Blenz matcha latte fix since then.

Any other places I should try out? 🙂

A Little Bit of Catching Up

Beauty & the Beach: Sunset

I figured since you missed me (yes, you stalker, you), I should give a little update on what I’ve done this year. Two things stand out for being quite out of the ordinary for normal human beings.

First thing is, I’ve been to Boracay not just once, or twice, but thrice this year! I kind of regret it now because I didn’t really do anything new except for island hopping with my balikbayan cousin and her husband last October. I promise next year I’ll be spending less on travel to that particular island, and more on travel to other places. I’d like to use my passport more.

Beauty & the Beach: Sunset

The second thing is, I dislocated my elbow! It was a freak bike accident, happening at a very slow speed when I’d finished my ride. I was riding up a ramp at a gas station when my rear wheel hit an edge and I keeled over sideways. I broke my fall with my hand, and my elbow gave way. It took me about six weeks to get my elbow back up to a full range of motion, but it’s taken far longer to get my fitness back, and I still don’t think I’m up to snuff. It’s definitely made me a bit more careful and less of a daredevil when it comes to trying new things.

Freak Accident:X-Ray

I guess that’s all for now.

The Return of the Comeback

Oops! So I popped up, shut up, popped up again, then went completely radio silent. Sorry about that (not that anyone’s still out there listening).

So anyway here’s what’s been happening with me. I ended up not getting a regular 9-to-5 job because I got hired by TV5 to do a regular segment for them. I got to keep my other regular gigs as well, and the other blog really took off.

But you know there’s nothing quite like a space where you can put basically anything you come up with. Twitter’s been great for short thoughts, but sometimes I like to write about places I’ve been, people I talked with, things I’ve done.

Here’s to hoping with this migration to WordPress, I can rouse myself to write more than just 140 characters at a stretch.

Storm in a Teacup

Lipton Thoughts and Teas: With Chef Rosebud

There’s a storm signal over the metro so it’s been raining off and on the whole day. After the past week’s late wave, this cool weather is very much welcome, especially since it gives me opportunity to indulge in thick blankets and steaming hot drinks.

Lately I’ve been indulging in hot tea. It’s the simplest of beverages to prepare — I mean, how hard is it to boil some water and put a tea infuser in? I usually enjoy it with some milk and Splenda at my favorite coffee and tea shop. I haven’t had any tea at home since my family and I have just moved into a new place and haven’t stocked our pantry well.

I attended the Lipton Thoughts and Teas blogger event at Paul Calvin’s Deli, BGC a few weeks ago (on a rainy day like this!) and tried to expand my tea preparation repertoire. Celebrity chef Rosebud demonstrated how to create home-brewed chai tea and orange tea with a few spices and extracts. It all seemed so very simple.

Lipton Thoughts and Teas: With Chef Rosebud

And then we were all challenged to create our own signature tea recipes for a prize! I immediately thought of apple-cinnamon, which would have been perfect for the rainy weather we were having…

…if only I knew how to execute it properly. I had no idea how difficult it would be to balance all those ingredients and flavors in one cup of tea!

Lipton Thoughts and Teas: Create Your Own Tea

I threw my first attempt out (it tasted like tea with vomit, ewww!) and tried again. It was better, of course, but didn’t taste as rich as I wanted it to.

In the end, it was a matter of who executed a good idea better: someone else was able to create an apple-cinnamon tea that appealed to Rosebud’s palate. As for me, I think I’ll stick to my black tea with milk. That one’s tried and tested. Ü

I Need a Revolution

For the past two months I’ve been involved in a job hunt. Yes, I am finally quitting the world of freelance and seeking a 9-to-5. There are several reasons for this decision.

  1. I need a health plan and retirement benefits. I have finally realized I’m going to grow older whether I like it or not. I can’t teach group exercise forever.

  2. I need an income that grows. Yes I potentially make a lot of money as a freelance writer and instructor, but that’s not on a monthly basis. With a regular job, I get a guaranteed salary AND yearly increase and bonuses. Freelance rates remain flat year-in, year-out.

  3. I need solid financials. As a co-signatory of a property my parents are buying for our family, I also have to apply for the bank loan that will finance its purchase. it just looks better to be employed. (Also, being self-employed is a hassle due to the amount of paperwork to fill out!)

  4. I need to be productive. A large chunk of my day is spent checking Facebook and surfing the Internet for lack of anything else to do between classes. What a waste of brain cells!

My job hunt is about to come to an end, hopefully. And as I embark on a new phase of my life, I know I have logical reasons for this course of action. 🙂

Bad Bus Ride

I went to CamSur over the weekend to cover a wakesport event (board and skate). While it’s about an hour away by plane (Naga-bound) and shuttle, the magazine I worked for on this particular assignment sent us there by bus.

The last time I was on a long trip via bus, I was in high school and it was for our yearly field trip. I have plenty of friends who go to their provincial homes every other month or so on overnight buses. I thought I could just sleep the hours away, since I pride myself on my ability to fall asleep anywhere.

What I didn’t count on was a bus breakdown 4 hours into what should have been an 8-hour trip. From my light almost-sleep I awoke to the sound of the engine losing power and the sensation of the bus coming to a stop. Although the engine was still running and the aircon was at full blast, we weren’t going anywhere. And for 4 hours after that, te driver, the conductor, and a kind bsmate pumped the clutch hoping that the hydraulics would kick in. Finally, we started moving again.

Unfortunately that wasn’t the end of our bus woes, as there was also something wrong with the engine’s fuel injection system. Our bus started and stopped a total of 7 times before our replacement bus from Naga came and picked us up.

Total travel time: 14 hours.

You know what the clincher was on that trip? Three days later, we took the same bus back to Manila.

When You Gotta Go…

Albert Einstein says it’s insanity to do the same thing repeatedly and expect different results. I’ve been doing a certain thing going on 5 years, and nothing has changed. I feel like I’ve wasted my youth, effort, and money on what has no future in store for me. It’s just like a bad relationship: I’ve got to get out.

Don’t get me wrong. There are so many things that I love about it — the friends I’ve made, experiences I’ve shared, skills I’ve learned. But I’ve always prided myself on knowing when to leave. Whether or not I actually do it depends on how stubborn I am, or how hopeless I feel.

Right now I feel pretty hopeless, and I just know there’s so much more for me than being mired here.