Starbucks Hangover: Salted Mocha Caramel

I just got to blog again this time. Last term was one of the most crucial terms that I have experienced and this time, it's a new leaf for me. Time to go to the new me which is the old me back then. Focused, Driven to excellence, priority on academics, etc. I needed a place to read and study "America is in the Heart" by Carlos Bulosan for one of my subjects. What better place to hangout than going to Starbucks. It is like my alternative home when am solo and I need time and space for myself. It is also one of my hangout place when I want to study because the aura of the place makes me feel relaxed. So there was this flavor of Starbucks that I wanted to try out which is Salted Mocha Caramel. I never tried it yet and it was something new to me ever since I learned from their Facebook page a couple weeks back. When I heard about this flavor, the first thing that came to my mind was my good friend's Salted Caramel cupcakes which were one of her best cupcakes that she ever made. Try visiting her Facebook which is Little Louie's Cupcakes if you are cupcake-aholic. Anyways, back to the Salted Mocha Caramel. I then ordered the Frappuccino Grande size which costed me about 165php which is a big price difference from the Tall size which maybe is around 150php since the hot drink for tall costs 145php and the grande costs 160php.

My 1st Ever Grande Salted Mocha Caramel Frappuccino

So what's my opinion and comments as well my rating after trying it out? Well here are some of them:

• If you love Toffee Nut of Starbucks (which is released always around November) + Rock Salt Cheese concept of Happy Lemon, then you will be in love with this drink
• At first I thought it was like pure caramel but then learning late that I should mix the rock salt which was on top, you would not experience the sweet + salty combination of this drink
• It's delicious (Definitely!!!) but for me not a big hit for Starbucks since it's not that much that original since the concept of Rock Salt on top is already being done by Happy Lemon.
• My rating for me would be 3.5/5. Delicious drink but could improve by balancing the mocha and caramel since the one that I ordered the caramel flavor overpowered the mocha flavor rather than the balanced mocha caramel combination.

I believe that Starbucks can make more new and unique flavors just like their Hibiscus Berry and Cool Lime. And don't forget guys that it's almost Christmas and for you those who are into planners especially those collecting Starbucks planners, prepare yourselves by saving up for this year's holiday season.

As for me, time to hit back to studying here for me.

Busy Busy Life

XOXO,

D <3

Wicked Post

Hey guys! It's been awhile again for me to blog something. But anyways, hell week and this term is about to end. I'm hoping to pass all of my subjects this term and if I do, thesis proposal here I come. So let me share what I did today for a change here in the house.

I was interested on making something that I haven't tried which can be bought in Flaming Wings which is Wicked Oreos. What is a Wicked Oreo anyway if you may ask. Well, it's definitely an oreo coated with the pancake mixture and you can top any kind of topping that you like that you think will complement to it.

Wicked Oreos that I Made for the First Time

So you may ask how do you make these Wicked Oreos, well first up is that you must have the following ingredients:

• Oreos
• Pancake Mix
• 1 medium-sized egg
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 Tablespoons of Cooking Oil
• Any toppings that would complement the wicked oreos
• Butter or non-stick spray for the pan

Once you have these ingredients, you are now ready to make your very own Wicked Oreos. Here are then the steps:

1. Make the pancake batter by mixing the egg, 1/2 cup water, cooking oil and the pancake mix altogether until there are no more lumps
2. Heat the pan and place a small amount of butter or spray non-stick butter as an alternative
3. Dip the oreos in the pancake batter and coat a lot of pancake mix to it.
4. One at a time, place the coated oreo into the pan. Ensure there would be no more than one if you want no oreos to be stuck together.
5. Flip them right away once you see bubbles coming out then flip again till it becomes golden brown.
6. Serve with toppings that you want to place with the wicked oreos
7. Dig in! The best part of all of course

As for me, I made myself this... This is what I served to my dad and I can't believe he finished this at once :))

Wicked Oreos with Grated Dark Chocolate Truffle and Mini Truffle on Top

Hope this made your day and someday you will try out yourself.

Gonna leave you with Taylor Swift's new lead single in her new album coming out this October which is "Red", "We Are Never Ever Gonna Get Back Together"                                   

XOXO,
D <3

An Artist's Life

Hi Guys! Sorry for a late update. This term has been hectic for me for the past month and till now, it does. So for the meantime, let me share with you a side that you might have known already (due to being a friend of mine or close) or not yet known by other people.

Indeed right now, am like in my senior year taking up a course that until now I don't know why am I in it anyway :)). Is it maybe because I was blinded with the happenings to me in my 4th year HS when I was able to finish every program (which is Visual Basic btw) that I make in my computer subject or is it maybe due to my curiosity of how my mom works in her job since I've been observing much every time I go there?  I don't know but really, if I didn't end up in this course, I would have been taking up Multimedia Arts. THERE. You heard it right. Now you will be wondering then, I am in a course involving programming and business stuff and what I want to be in involves arts and anything related to multimedia. Well, that's basically the truth. I always wanted to be in the arts. Drawing, freestyle or photoshopping, painting, etc. I'm more of the creative side. Include here the photography and a bit of writing. This is what I wanted. Maybe after I graduate, I want to take a short course in this field since this is my interest. But hey, it doesn't hurt much now since I'm still into this as a hobby.

It all started when I was in elementary where I took a summer class on drawing, oil pastel and oil painting. At first, I was a bit impatient and I always wanted to finish it as soon as possible to make more drawings and art pieces. But in the end, I learned is that it's not about how many you have made. It's about how well you made even with just a few. With the smallest and grainiest detail placed in the work, and doing it for months or even years, it will eventually pay off as it is more pleasing to the eyes to see such a beautiful and creative art piece. Though I made a lot of works in the past, there will always be one work that I will be always proud of and it's this one. I won't tell what I've used for this one but I would say, I can't believe at the age of 11 going 12 I have made such a piece like this.

Oil Pastel or Oil Painting?

Eventually years have passed since I've touched this kind of materials and I 've decided to shift to another kind of art which is Photoshopping, particularly Vectoring. I didn't know what vectoring was until one of my friend's blockmates introduced to me. At first I was again kinda impatient in doing one until eventually after some time I get to make one.

My first one wasn't I hoped it would be. I made a chibi Miku but it wasn't that much of a vector. Then after I made another one which was a random anime character and I was a bit satisfied since it was a bit better than the Miku that I made which was this one

I was like then I should make more of this. So I practiced another one and eventually I was happy with the first successful vector that I made which is Dark Magician Girl from Yu-Gi-Oh. Here's the picture of it :)

And here is a compilation of my works that I did last year...

Am so really proud of what I did and indeed this is all hardwork that I made. Till then, I shall continue and pursue my dream of graduating with flying colors and take someday a short course related to this. How about you. What's your dream? What are you passionate about?

XOXO,

D <3

Bookworm Monday

Good day to all! Forgive me if I just got this time to make a blog. I feel so stressed for the first weeks due to school stuff and finally I got to find time to make this. So bare with me. So I shall start then. It's another day for me to have another blog and this time it would bring me to one of my sides that I like most - falling in love of reading books. As stated in my description - Reader. I love reading books. Particularly FICTION books. And as a pick for this week's blog would be the first author that I liked and loved who is none other than Nicholas Sparks.

Nicholas Sparks

Nicholas Sparks is a one-of-a-kind author who makes books mostly revolving on comedy, tragedy and love.

Strengths: He brings the readers to get connected to the stories full of twists and turns that will bring them to mixed emotions and even some surprising endings. He tells his stories till the very detailed parts of what the characters wear, the specific setting, etc. Sparks never lets the readers down with his awesome and astounding stories

Weakness: Some stories have almost similar plots which I recommend for Sparks to do is think of new plots for the next stories that he will make. But I see that the similar plot is a bit minimal seen in the story anyway which I see is still a good thing for him.

Here are the books that he made which yes I collected (minus Three Weeks With My Brother which he made along with his brother).

Left side: The Rescue, The Choice, A Walk To Remember, The Wedding, A Bend in
the Road, At First Sight, Nights in Rodanthe, The Best of Me
Right Side: Message in a Bottle, The Lucky One, The Guardian, The Last Song, The Notebook,
Dear John, True Believer, Safe Haven 

After reading already more than half of the books I have and collected, I give Sparks a sparkling ★★★★★ for a job well done on publishing such wonderful books containing various stories. Even though I noticed a minimal part that I think he needs to improve on, the twists and turns as well the emotions the stories he brings will definitely be something a reader will not regret on. Full of drama that one will be surprised on the ups and downs of the stories. Keep the good work, Mr. Nicholas Sparks. :)

I am hoping to see you one day and request to sign to you all the books I have collected.


Here are some fun facts about me and the books:

No. of books collected: 16 (Three Weeks With My Brother not included)
No. of books read and finished: 12 (Message in a Bottle, The Choice, Dear John, True Believer, A Walk to Remember, The Guardian, The Last Song, The Wedding, Safe Haven, The Lucky One, The Rescue)
No. of books not read: 4 (At First Sight, A Bend in the Road, Nights in Rodanthe, The Best of Me) + 1 upcoming new book which is currently being done at the moment by Sparks himself :)

The first book that I ever read made by him was Message in a Bottle.

Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks

And I want to share two of the quotes that were in the book and I find oh so true.

"Nothing that’s worthwhile is ever easy. Remember that." 

"If you like her, if she makes you happy, and if you feel like 

you know her---then don't let her go." 

I felt a lot of emotions as I read this book and some parts made me cry. Hey. What's wrong to cry if you felt the story that much right?

One of the goals of mine would be collecting and finishing all the books made by him. But this is not of course the only author that I like. There a lot more which I shall reveal next time. ;)

Till next time y'all. So I'll leave you a guys with a song that was used  for the Sparks' book as well as his recent movie that came out which is "The Lucky One" entitled You Found Me by The Fray.

XOXO,
D <3

Frappe Hour!!!

It's already May and omg I still feel as if I am in a freakin' desert. It's about a week left and classes start again in my school. But this week, specifically last May 14, 2012,  I got to see Taft again because I need to get my EAF or known as Enrollment Assessment Form and pay my tuition. It was so hot and it was great to be back in Taft (not!). I get to see some of my batchmates as well as some of my friends. We planned beforehand to have a little reunion by having Starbucks during their Frappuccino Hour. You may wonder what is the Frappuccino Hour. Well it is a promo of Starbucks where all of their Frappuccino drinks will be half the price in a certain period of time. This year, they started last April 30 and this will end on May 28 every Monday from 2:00pm - 6:00pm. I was excited always to buy at Starbucks because I love their coffee. I got addicted to Starbucks ever since my HS friends introduced me. We sometimes get to hang out after school and go to Starbucks. I eventually fell in love with 2 flavors from Starbucks - Java Chip Frappuccino which I usually order and Toffee Nut Latte hot or frappuccino during the Christmas season and at the same time, their planners are out. Here is the poster by the way of their promo.

Starbucks Frappuccino Hour Promo

We got to wait for 2 hours since we were in school waiting for the promo to start and around quarter to 2/ 1:45 we then head on to the Starbucks branch behind Andrew building. It wasn't crowded at first but the place was full. Eventually, we got seats upstairs since it was more spacious than downstairs but after a few minutes of waiting, we got to see a jam packed line in front of us since the promo has started. It was so unbelievable that the line reached through the entrance of Starbucks but it was still worth it. I was so very happy to buy myself for the very first time a Venti Java Chip Frappuccino which costs 87 pesos (originally 175 pesos) due to the Frappe Hour!

Venti Java Chip Frappuccino

Left to right: Maxi and Mariz's Mocha Cookie Crumble, Racquel's  Chocolate Cream
(almost done though) and my Java Chip Frappuccino

During the frappe hour, we bonded and had even webcam shots from Maxi's laptop as well as from my camera. Here are a few of those pics

Picture by the stairs

Wall design on the 2nd floor 

My blockmates Racquel and Mariz and longtime friend since
elementary Maxi

Me and Racquel drinking our Starbucks all the way

Finally they got my name right LOL

Maxi's laptop where it shows that we're webcamming :))

Switched places. Me, Maxi and Mariz 

Finally the four of us using my camera

One of the pictures from our webcam

Wacky shot haha  :))

I enjoyed a lot being with them. So sad one of our friends didn't make it due to her thesis but one day we'll have a reunion part 2 of this. Till next time.

My receipt during the Frappe Hour

Song of the day: Paradise by the Dashboard Light by Meatloaf

I got to listen to the GLEE Version since I watched awhile ago the Nationals Episode of GLEE Season 3 and yes, it was an awesome performance. I love Finn as well as New Directions. Click to listen and watch.

Hope you all enjoy your day/night.

XOXO,

D <3

Travel Week

It's been a week since I had blogged and phew! Finally! I was out for the whole week having my vacation with my family. It may be my last summer vacation for the meantime since I will be having my OJT (hopefully) next summer. So where was I anyway? Well I indeed escaped from my problems that I have right now and traveled to Cebu which is in Visayas here in the Philippines.

Day 1 - Goodbye Manila... for the Meantime

During the flight, I managed to take a picture of the clouds outside. It was so awesome to see such puffy clouds in the sky which makes me calm.

Here is the picture of the clouds outside our airplane which was Cebu Pacific

Clouds Outside Our Plane

I was so sleepy on the day we were about to leave for Cebu. But I didn't know it would be a bit shorter flight than the other flights I have been which usually takes 2-3 hours. But going to Cebu takes around 1 hour and 15 minutes which made me feel like this somehow once we were about to land.

So we landed first in Mactan and finally got to check in at Crimson Resort. One thing that surprised me is that there are a few Filipinos checked in than the foreigners. Mostly here are Koreans and Chinese. But still, going back, the place is so beautiful and peaceful as if you feel at home. Here are some of the pics.

Playground and Kiddie Station

2 Bridges, a Small Fall and Swimming Pools from Afar

Behind the Bridge I'm Standing at

Azure Bar Near the View of the Sea

After our lunch in Azure, we waited in a private room to wait for the availability of our room. While waiting, we received some refreshments and we took a few pictures.

Welcoming Refreshment from Crimson

Fail reenactment of being serious :))

Me, Myself and I

My bro having some of it

My loving parents

After a few minutes, we were called since our room was ready. After going to our room and fixing our clothes and stuff, we then decided to hit the pool. I was a bit excited to wear my dress and have a photoshoot by the beach but due to the sun being so bright and a lot of people were swimming in the beach, I decided to have the photoshoot tomorrow early morning. So here are some pics by the pool.

Yes! I am in my dress and my awesome shades.

Me and my shy bro in the salt water pool

We had dinner after swimming which was around 7 and we got to have dessert. My mom bought me a Crimson Royale Cake.

Crimson Royale Cake

After which, we hit the sacks for me and my bro will be up early for the photoshoot by the beach.

2nd Day - Goodbye Crimson, Hello Marriott

Me and my brother woke up around 6am to have a mini photoshoot by the beach. I thought at first I would be the only one who will be pictured but a bit after, my bro want it as well. So here are some of them

Forgive me for I'm poor at posing

My bro on the hill

After the photoshoot, we head back to change, had breakfast and checked out to move to Marriott which is a bit far from Crimson. But the good thing here is that the Marriott hotel is connected to Ayala Center Cebu. So if we want to go to the mall, we just go down and walk a few minutes. Here are some of the pics in our room in Marriott and in Ayala Center Cebu.

Me and my mom in our room in Marriott

Me and my bro hitting the first steps in The Terraces at Ayala Center Cebu

Me and My mom in The Terraces in Ayala Center Cebu

My dad in The Terraces in Ayala Center Cebu

We got then to look around. It was awesome in The Terraces because there is a grassy area where you can just lie down and relax. The mall is so big but for me I find Greenbelt better than Ayala Center Cebu :( We had lunch and dinner here and even had Starbucks since it was Frappuccino hour!

Java Chip Frappuccino

3rd Day - Going Out

It was already the 3rd day in Cebu and we haven't been to any of those known places in Cebu. I suggested to them we go to Magellan's Cross since me and my brother haven't been there yet. So we did. I was expecting the cross to be big. It was a hunch though since I didn't know how big the cross is. But seeing it is like what I see usually in altars in chapels. Here's a picture of it.

Magellan's Cross

We then head after to SM Cebu to go around and have lunch. We then head on to the Crown Regency Hotel to have an awesome Sky Adventure. Me and my mom were the only ones to experience it since both the boys are scared of heights :)))) (GIRLS RULE!!!) We had 3 options but we can take them all but since we don't have enough money, we decided to take only one which is Extreme Skywalk wherein we go outside of the 37th floor and we walked on a stained glass and we are tied to the rope to move around and see Cebu as well some parts of Bohol and Tagbilaran. I felt a bit sad not being able to try the zipline which is in the 42nd floor- outside that is like the extreme sky walk. What does it make it "extreme" you say? How does it feel being ziplined to the other building within 8 seconds and you go back within a minute and your hanging there seeing how high you are at the moment. How do you feel now. Chilled? Goosebumps? Frightened? Nothing? Meh! :)) Anyways after that we got to eat lechon for dinner! Finally! A specialty of Cebu! It was so soft and tender. Even the skin is not that hard to chew.

CnT Lechon in Ayala Center Cebu

4th Day - BUM DAY!!!

You see it right! I'm not joking. We didn't do anything much on this day. Spent the time mostly in the hotel. My dad and my brother had swimming while I enjoy seating in a long chair protected by the cloth from the sun and reading Catching Fire that day.

Me and my bro's Catching Fire book since he was still
 reading The Hunger Games book that time

5th Day - GOODBYE CEBU!

It was already the last day of Cebu and I was a bit sad and happy at the same time. Finally going home but sad cause I will miss Cebu a lot even if there weren't much of places to go. But still it was a fun trip. Looking forward to go to other places here in the Philippines in my future travels. Till next time y'all.

XOXO,

D <3