Long Bar at Raffles Hotel in Makati

When you have an alcohol tolerance of an infant and were invited to have a pre-dinner cocktail at the first ever famed Long Bar outside Singapore, you should not have any other option but to say yes and man up. Yes, life is short. So, even if you are headed to an expectedly wonderful buffet at Spectrum in Fairmont, you should suck the morrow out of life and dig in.

You see, the world famous Long Bar originated at Raffles Hotel in Singapore. The opening of this luxury hotel here in the Philippines opened a door for us to enjoy their famous Singapore Sling and other drinks without the need to stamp our passports. Great, right? It’s almost a sin to pass up.

While gone are the days when I could easily drown on alcoholic drinks like it’s nobody’s business ( I can only tolerate wines and nothing else these days, I know I am weird that way), the time spent at Long Bar was well worth it.  I was able to sample their iconic Singapore Sling alongside other drinks that instantly became one of the reasons why I would want to go back at Raffles.

Exciting New Drinks at Serenitea

During the time when milk tea craze was just starting to hit our country by storm, there's only one brand that I would always go to when milk tea craving hits me, Serenitea.  I am not sure about the history but I would like to believe that it was Serenitea that started such craze that people heed to up to this day.  After all, it was Serenitea that started MY addiction to milk teas.

Recently, I was invited ( shout out to my foodie friend frannywanny!) to try exciting new drinks which will be launched by Serenitea come the end of February 2013.  Although they are known to dish out impressive lines of milk tea variants, Serenitea still keeps on coming up with new flavors to satisfy their customers. No wonder that they are still on top of their game up to this day!

The night of what I deemed as a taste test at Serenitea San Juan Branch turned out to be a milk tea party, much to my heart's delight.  We were served with six variants of new drinks to try and some delicious Serenitea snacks to much on while we're at it.

Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant at Diamond Hotel Philippines

The first time I dined at Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant of Diamond Hotel Philippines was during the time when we tried the Teppanyaki Eat-All-You-Can with fellow foodies.  The experience was legendary and from then on, I have been meaning to revisit Yurakuen and try their ala carte dishes. If I was floored with my teppanyaki experience, there isn't a snowball chance in the desert that I wouldn't like Yurakuen's other dishes.

When I finally got the chance to revisit Yurakuen, it steeled my resolve that they are one of the best Japanese restaurants in Manila, at least in my book, but I am confident a lot will agree. 

Located inside Diamond Hotel Philippines in Manila, dining at Yurakuen Japanese Restaurant feels like dining in a small paradise.  Their signature cherry blossom glass tree sits pontifically in the middle of the dining area that gives the restaurant an elegant feel to it.  The roof to floor glass walls serves as a thin line that separate the dining area to the beautiful garden surrounding the restaurant.  

Mochiko Potato Chip Chocolate Mochi

One of the reasons why I love going to weekend markets is the endless possibilities of discovering great food finds.  In the past years that I have been going to Mercato Centrale, one of the food finds that really love and patronize up to this day is Mochiko.  Despite being introduced to different Mochi stores sprouting all over Manila, truth be told, I still keep coming back to the tried and tested Mochiko.

There are a lot of things about Mochiko to be loved, but one that illuminate is their creativity in coming up with different flavors.  I've been crazy with their azuki, caramel, and black sesame variants and I was floored when they released their chocnut and cookie dough flavors.  And during the holiday season, I was introduced to their new flavor, Potato Chip Chocolate Mochi. 

Who would have thought, right?  Sheer genius.

This new flavor by Mochiko is a beautiful collaboration with Risa Chocolate which is also known in every food fairs and weekend markets in Manila.  Risa Chocolate provides the chocolate covered potato chips while FIC Ice cream provides the delectable ice cream.

California Pizza Kitchen at Bonifacio High Street

To mark its 10th store in the Philippines, California Pizza Kitchen (CPK Phlippines) celebrate it with newly revamped interiors and new additions to the menu.  Handled by Global Restaurants Concept Inc., California Pizza Kitchen opened its door to cater to its patrons located at The Fort, Bonifacio Global City.

Since it's first branch that opened in 1998 at Glorietta, California Pizza Kitchen still is among the pizza restaurant chains that dishes out great tasting pizza that Filipino love.  During the opening of it's 10th store, we were able to try some of the new additions to the menu and experience great ambiance at CPK.

Suggestive of California ambiance, CPK's interior boasts of laid back and comfortable feat where diners could enjoy their meals and relax.  I wasn't able to capture photos of their The Fort branch because the place was so jam packed during my visit so I'll just reserved that on my future posts when I get to visit them again sometime soon. Menawhile, here are the dishes we enjoyed during the launching.