battle of the beans

hi sis,

here's something to entertain you while you nurse your newly broken limb :( ...

yesterday, i attended the starbucks version of the olympics.  it's called the ambassador's cup (because the winner becomes the 'coffee ambassador' for two years until the next cup).  it's done all over the world -- and the super thing is that it actually started here!  it was called 'battle of the beans', until the international office took notice, evolved it and made it global.  go philippines!

ANYWAY, it started with a few speeches like this one (woohoo!)

Then in come the 12 contestants (finalists from the rigorous company-wide elimination rounds).

the questions were so difficult.  chickitout -- photo above shows the first and supposedly easiest question.  it reads "according to coffee experts, the most desirable taste is achieved when coffee is _____ soluble solids.  (a) 1.1 - 1.3% (b) 1.15 - 1.35%, etc...."  (wuh!??).  not to mention there were other challenges like coffee tasting, explaining, etc.

then of course there were the intermission programs (this number's latin american representing latin american coffee -- oye!)...

back to the competition, 5 left after a few rounds... 

the winner!

in 2010 again!

manila, manila

hey sis,

attended a store blessing in the manila ocean park.  

the complex is far from finished...  and it wasn't as nice and "shiny" as i had expected.

the aquarium though is supposed to be pretty much complete except for the tanks where people are allowed to dive in and interact with the animals.  tickets are at P400.  

when we were there, there were droves of school children entering -- i wonder if it's like this all the time.

the view from the complex was great... except of course for the dirty water!

good thing people came out to clean up the mess... just wish they had better equipment.

this excited me though -- mrs field's ice cream!??

what impressed me more is this mall we went to afterwards.... chickitout.

it's the new robinson's manila mall!  here's how it looks inside.

nice, dontchatink?

alfajor

heeey! why didn't you buy me those "i love candy" bracelets as pasalubong? hehe...

speaking of pasalubongs and food you want to try, a friend spent the long weekend in baguio and brought me back some "alfajor" (pronounced alpha-whore, haha). i've never tasted them or even seen them before but they were surprisingly quite good!

alfajor is apparently a traditional South American cookie mainly from Peru and Argentina. its made of two round sweet biscuits joined together by a dulce de leche filling in between. yum!

you should try them :)





i opened my jar of alfajor when i was with friends (my mistake!) and it got wiped out within a few minutes! haha! i would have wanted to take them to my bike race this weekend.... has lita made any of her chocolate chip cookies lately by any chance? ;D

danggit salad

had this super yummy danggit salad in Fish Out of Water in Greenbelt 5.

the serving's big (enough for a heavy meal, or for sharing)... and tasty too -- with danggit bits, nori strips & honey mustard dressing.  

i wanna go back and try the other dishes -- like the steamed scallops w/ chilled uni (!!!) and shrimp & lobster taquitos.

eye candy

yes, project runway d'best.  

i was lucky enough to see the actual designs of last season's project runway in Dylan's Candy Bar (my face anonymous heehee).  it was their 'hershey' wrappings challenge.  

Dylan's Candy Bar is the BEST candy store EVER!

it's owned by Dylan Lauren, daughter of Ralph Lauren.

the store's across bloomingdales in upper eastside nyc.

last i saw it, they were expanding for spaces for rent for kiddie parties.

it's tres cool, they even have so many funky candies & corners like a 'fun-due' station... chickitout...

... they have lotsa  cool merch too like this kitschy boot... 

and these bracelets i'm sure you'll like in a narcissistic sorta way...

project runway

other than the olympics, the only other thing i religiously watch on tv is project runway. did you get to see last night's episode of project runway philippines? i'm really quite pleased at how the local show was made - its done quite well and does justice to the original show. most, if not all, of the previous foreign reality tv shows that were brought here never did quite measure up. this one, though, is just as entertaining and interesting to watch as the US version.

the first time i watched project runway 4 years ago, i was totally hooked! its the only show that i own original DVD's of every season. i just love the creativity of the entire show - from the designers themselves to the challenges and the runway pieces. i was truly inspired! ... and as you know, ended up taking a dressmaking course and a fashion illustration class later on.

remember these? :) (dresses from past season's winners)

jay's art deco, chrysler-inspired dress....


chloe's "clothes off my back" dress made from own her dress and jacket...


jeffrey's happy plaid couture gown....


christian's "sew us what you've got" dress from episode 1


i am now waiting for the season 4 DVD to come out, and wondering when and where season 5 will start showing here?! (they are already in episode 5 in the US). so while i wait for that, i am content to follow the philippine version on TV. so who do i think will win? hmmm.... its still a little hard to tell but i do like mara and ava - i think their ideas are very fresh, though they are not always consistent and not as technically skilled as the more experienced designers. i really loved mara's patchwork, origami-inspired outfit from episode 2 and ava's evening streetwear outfit for sarah meier last week. i also like aries's work - i loved the jacket he made in the first episode and last night's outfit was a definite winner, and i think ivan is just so talented - doing hand embroidery and dying fabrics in the challenges :)

here's my attempt at my own project runway...
the inspiration for the outfit is a photo i bought in Santorini...


and here's my sketch....


(pero hanggang sketch lang - hehe)

whatchatink? ;)

olats

speaking of bikes, chickout this olympic bike...

zero olympic medals for the philippines (boo) despite gloria's P15M incentive for the winners -- P4.5M + a toyota altis for a gold, P2.5M for each silver, P1M for each bronze.

maybe they shoulda given the money for training instead, dontchatink!?  too late, chocolate.

on another note, why is golf not considered an olympic sport?????

yun lang, just wanted to say.