Affinities do work!

I am still in cloud nine 4 days after I've received the good news. I've been functioning manually, doing the things I am supposed to do without emotions. Maybe it hasn't hit me just yet, I'm still freaking dumbfounded. My boyfriend even told me that he kinda expected me to cry but there wasn't any tears.

The moment that I got the news, I screenshot it and send it to my boyfriend. I asked him if I understood it correctly. Within two minutes, he was already calling me, and he said that I did understood the email, it was really the case. He was so happy, even jumping for joy while showing off his beautiful smile. He told me that when he saw my message, he ran upstairs as fast as he could (he just got back from grocery shopping) and called me immediately. There was not that much emotion in me, I was just shaking, literally shookt.

Anyway, this is gonna be interesting.

[Biking Series] Coffee Shops' Touring in Mandaluyong - Part 2

So, yeah. Part 2.

*ALL PHOTOS ARE TAKEN BY ME or AIAH*

The Ugly Mug

IG: The Ugly Mug Ph

Facebook: The Ugly Mug

Location: 36 J. Fabella St, Mandaluyong

 

The Ugly Mug was one of the recommendation of Budz from Kombi Brew(read part 1 here) which she said offers a dessert (or snack) known as "cruffles". 

As I listen to her and Aiah discussed what cruffles is (and their conversation in general re: cooking, baking, making drinks, and anything food-related), I realized how uncultured and stupid I am when it comes to food. I thought I am fine because I can make adobo and sinigang that are bomb (the measure of great Filipino cooking, imo, lol) and can cook anything decently as long as I have the recipe but I guess there's more to that. I'm not really familiar how rich and/or cultured people do it so I need to Google some shit from time to time. I was totally spacing out while they talk and I guess that's okay. 

Anyway, going back. The name of this place is probably not an appetizing name for a café (no judgement), but there are a lot of shops who have the same name. This one though is literally a 10-20 minutes walk away from my place and I did not even know that it existed.

Unfortunately for me, Aiah invited me on a bad timing to try out this cafe: I just had my braces adjusted. For the life of me, I felt like every nerve in my head was tingling that time and I just want to lie down and get a teether so that I can bite into it. Nevertheless, I still went with him and try to comfort myself with their green tea drink (shown above). We also tried their dark chocolate cruffles.

Sorry for the vertical photo, tee hee

It's a little bit on the expensive side FOR ME but it tasted good (at least from the few bites I had because I wasn't able to chew nor even bite into it). I think we paid around P130.00 for one of this. Aiah has been here before and he ordered the one with strawberries on top. He said that it was good.

Some fine photography skill from Aiah

I told him that we should defo go back to this place so that I can truly enjoy their cruffles (which btw, from what I understand, the idea of the cruffles came from the trip of the owner to South Korea, so yeah). Aiah was the one speaking again to the owner and the people there why I try to play with the cold drink in my mouth to ease my pain.

I know, what a compelling blog. Haha.

Grateful Café

IG: Be Grateful Cafe

Facebook: Grateful Cafe

Location: #27 Apo, Mandaluyong

Care to have the feel of Southern California? Well, this is the café for you. 

The ambience is warm and it definitely gave me a sunny vibe (even though we went there at 6pm and it's already dark) and if they were trying to give the "beach life" to their customers, I surely felt it. I was trying to put a finger on how the place made me feel and it reminded me of the setting for the film, Ingrid Goes West. I know that it was in LA where everyone moves when they are trying to be an influencer or be close to the influencers so yeah, Cali. I was really surprised to learn though that the owner (the husband; they are a couple) worked in LA. I think I got that right from the get-go.

The cacti gave it away

Although I did not appreciate how Aiah took me to some really difficult places to bike in just to get to the place, it was worth it. There were steep slopes and I was annoyed with him because I can probably go there using a different route but he opted to run around Mandaluyong like a madman. This place is close btw to Red Cross Boni.

I did not know that this place is fancy so I was just wearing a shirt and my hiking shorts. Probably not important but if you go here and want to do some photo ops, wear something good. Don't be like me who got budol again.

me not fitting in just like always

I was starting my diet again (to get the abs back, lol) so I just chose their Dirty Match drink and for the food, their cheesy toast.

Aiah ordered their Aligue Pasta which was really mild. It was okay for me but he wants it to have the "kick". Probably spicy and with a more pungent smell.

Pretty big serving, btw

There's my dirty matcha drink (and the tablet that we nearly stole, lol)

Aiah ordered their egg coffee (which from I understand is the Viet "Cà phê trứng") which takes a long time before it came out from the kitchen. I tasted the froth and it's not something that I would like but apparently, it is famous and tourists would order it in Vietnam, even waiting for 45mins to an hour, just to get this coffee. He also ordered their Affogato which I only found out to be coffee and ice cream. Of course, I don't know about that because I am a troglodyte.

Affogato and the cup and saucer that I wanted to 

take home with me

Their egg coffee on top of a really cool coaster

This place is a little bit on the pricey side but Aiah tried to reason with me. He said that their coffee is cheaper than Starbucks and the meals might be expensive for me but they taste good and they offer a hefty serving so I was appeased, lol. They have service charge btw.

At the end of our meal, Aiah talked to the owners (of course, he did). The couple shared that they started this business during the quarantine and that they offered their success to God. The wife was inspired to share the flavors they encountered when they travel the world. She's also a good cook with her specialty being the "adobong puti" (this was shared to us because Aiah and I were talking about how my German boyfriend cooked adobong tagalog for the first time with coconut milk. He tried to follow the instruction of this one YouTuber who isn't even Filipino).

The meals can be tweaked in your preference if requested. You can request for it to be spicy or whatever. Just so you know.

All in all, that was a good night. The one shot of Jägermeister that we got from RM-16 bar in Kapitolyo before we head home helped as well.

Till next time. Tschuss.

[Biking Series] Coffee Shops' Touring in Mandaluyong - Part 1

I have a LOT of backlogs when it comes to my blogs re: biking and it will take some time before I finish those. I am also not in the headspace right now to remember everything from all of my previous trips (which was a lot of story time, btw!)

So, I am one of those people who doesn't like to drink coffee. If I am being honest with you, I try to avoid anything that can cause addiction (haha, for those who watch The Big Bang Theory, I do agree with Sheldon) and caffeine is one of those stuff. Also, I don't feel well drinking it because I palpitate and usually feel bad at the end of the day. I do drink it from time to time when I was working with DENR-MGB when I really need to wake up and do some fieldwork but I burn it. Or at least most of it because I still go home with a queasy belly and a headache. I am rambling but yeah. In a year, maybe I drink less than 3 cups.

2020 hit though and I started working in a very stressful corporation. Before, I just get your usual dirty green tea from CBTL and then it evolved into that cursed Hazelnut Iced Coffee from Tim Hortons every other day (THE BEST!). I remembered back then when I invited my work friends to grab one for our 3:00pm break (pre-pandemic, literally around Jan-March) and all of us had a freaking headache together. They avoided having coffee with me afterwards since I only like to get the Hazelnut and I influenced them hard to get the same. Probs a bad influence but if you will get the bad stuff, why not get the worst, right? And if you're asking, I still get the headache and feel bad afterwards whenever I get the Hazelnut and has been reprimanded not to get it that often.

I met a friend who's a hardcore addict, I mean, coffee-addict who also loves to bike. (AIAH, you're gay and stupid but I enjoy hanging out with you. No offense to the LGBTQ community). So yeah, he's a bad influence and he took me around coffee shops near our residents. I will only include the good and memorable ones. I will also NOT rate them because I am not some coffee connoisseur. Peace and love to all the Coffee Chops! Ich trinke gerne Kaffee! 

*ALL PHOTOS ARE TAKEN BY ME or AIAH*

Nihon Café - Namayan 

IG: Nihon Cafe Namayan

Facebook: Nihon Cafe

Location: 401 J. P Rizal Brgy. Namayan Mandaluyong City

Of course, it's biker friendly! 

Aiah scared the crap out of me when he first tried out this café because he was still out at around 11pm and he texted me that he's being detained by police officers due to violating the curfew. He told me that he needed 5k to bail himself out. I panicked since I don't have any cash with me and I need to move around some funds from my Swiss bank accounts (yeah, right) if I really have to send him the money. The bitch was trolling though and he got home without incident before 12am.

Anyway, immediately the following day, we took out his bikes (I was still then borrowing his MTB) and tried some of their foods.

This already cost a lot of money. It was good though.

We ordered three dishes. The best one was the Wagyu Beef Cubes, but dang it was expensive. Btw, I'm not good with the names so bare with me. Just look at the photos and try to identify them on the menu, lol.

Free popcorn

For drinks, I got a coffee but honestly, I forgot which one.

We also tried their takoyaki during our second time and the dessert of the day. I only got the red tea because it was already 9:30pm when we got there (and yes, we got away with the 10pm curfew).

Aiah said that it tasted like the strawberry filling of the Rebisco crackers we all love or hate

You can now dine al fresco in here! (GCQ, baby! Also, get vaccinated!)

Poser meal of the day

PAPA KAPE

IG: Papakape

Facebook: PAPAKAPE

Location: Ampere Street, Palanan, 1235 Makati, Philippines

 

The name itself suggest that the owner is buff. A "papa", if you may, lol. But the owner, Manu, is really into fitness and if you visit this coffee shop, you'll see what I mean.

What's special about their coffee is it's ginger-infused. Aiah keeps on saying that it feels like a warm hug when you take your first sip but it was a different experience for me. I was so surprised because it was so strong. Not in a bad way though. I just don't know how to describe it since it was an unfamiliar taste for me. See? I think I shouldn't really write shit like this but what can you do? It's my blog and I'm just sharing where I've been to.

Going back, I got a coffee with toffee on top and it was definitely good. Probs a little bit too sweet for my taste but then again, I decided to get the one with toffee on top. We also got their suman which has a special twist. I can't really put my finger on it but it kinda reminds me of a dark chocolate chip cookies. I feel like there were surprised cacao nibs in there. I might be making that up but that was what I got from it.

 

Our drinks (the one on the left was mine and Aiah 

chose a coffee which tasted like stew or something)

The freaking workstation

We did not stay long in here because we went to Intramuros afterwards (throwback to that time when I was still attending Mapua and taking up GSE) and ate at this Shawarma house in Malate.

KOMBI BREW

IG: Kombi Brew

Facebook: Kombi Brew

Location: Mobile; they change location from time to time but we found them at Paete, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila

Aiah saw this cool artisanal coffee shop in a Kombi and I guess we just have to go there and try it out. I scouted it out first on a weekday but they were not there. As it turns out, they are only open during the weekends.

We only stayed here to finish our drinks because we're freaking tired from our "Café in the Sky" trip. We ordered the "Ocean drink" (that's what I'm gonna call it) which is inspired by the ocean, lol. It was colored by a flower which is really cool. It also has a bursting boba and lychees! 

le drincc

Budz the owner with Aiah and I (private people, lol)

I have two more coffee shops to write about. They were recommended by Budz, btw. I really have to go now because it's late and I have to work out at 5:30am.

Tschuss.