Frozen yogurt stores are the Zagu of this generation – they’re trendy, popular, and everywhere. Not that I consider this a bad thing, though. Even if I’m a pretty loyal customer of Red Mango, I like trying out new frozen yogurt places to see if the variety, price, and flavor is any different from my favorite joint. I’ve heard a lot of people rave about how tasty Golden Spoon’s frozen yogurt is, but I never got the chance to try it out until they opened a branch at Eastwood. While waiting for a movie to start, my boyfriend and I decided to kill time at Golden Spoon to see what the fuss is all about.

There are two things that makes Golden Spoon different from other yogurt places. Their biggest selling point is that their yogurt tastes like premium ice cream rather than the tarty flavor we’re all familiar with. Besides the Simply Tart flavor (which I think tastes more like “normal” frozen yogurt), they also offer flavors like Cake Batter, Old-Fashioned Vanilla, Belgian Chocolate, Peanut Butter Cup, Espresso, and Strawberry. I personally prefer the tarty yogurt flavor over the ones at Golden Spoon. Not only is “normal” frozen yogurt moderately sweet and light on the tummy, but it doesn’t make me feel fat. I felt like such a blimp after I consumed my cup, I swore off sweets the rest of the week.

The other thing that sets Golden Spoon apart is the variety in their toppings. My eyes widened when I saw chocolate pieces, granola, nuts, and candy displayed in all their calorie-rich glory. So many toppings to choose from! Each topping costs P20 but unlike Red Mango, where successive toppings get cheaper by 10 bucks (ie. 2 toppings for P30, 3 toppings for P40), you still have to pay P20 per additional topping at Golden Spoon. I suppose I can forgive the extra expense, given the variety in their toppings.

Now, here comes the bad part. I got the smallest cup (P85) of Cake Batter frozen yogurt with mixed berries (P20) – I noticed that there were raspberries in the mix and I was dying to try those out. However, my face fell when I claimed my cup at the counter and saw how little the toppings were. I didn’t expect the entire surface area to be covered in berries, but there was practically just one piece of each berry type. I was indignant.

I went back to the counter and kindly asked the girl if she could add a few more berries. She agreed to do so free of charge, but I watched carefully and noticed that she added only two more fruits and some more syrup. She probably noticed my watchful stare because she looked up and explained somewhat apologetically that they’re only supposed to add one piece of fruit per cup.

And this is what my cup looked like after I requested for extra toppings – there’s hardly any difference. Though I appreciate the girl’s efforts to accommodate my request, I was extremely disappointed anyway. Sure, the yogurt was rich enough to eat on its own, but the fact that I had to pay five pesos for each minuscule portion of fruit made me feel so ripped off. And if there’s anything I hate more, it’s knowing that I over-paid for a product I could have easily gotten at a more reasonable price elsewhere.

My boyfriend was a little more satisfied with his yogurt than I was – the smallest cup of Belgian Chocolate (P85) with peanut butter chips (P20) and buttered pecans (P20). Though the peanut butter chips’ serving were at least a little more generous than my mixed berries, my boyfriend noticed that he only had about four pieces of pecans in his cup. Just like each berry species in my cup, you pay about five pesos per pecan if you choose this topping.

If this is how sparse the toppings are in the smallest cup, I’d hate to see what a large cup looks like.

Though the flavor of Golden Spoon’s yogurt did indeed live up to its reputation, I’d rather buy from Haagen-Dasz if I were in the mood to over-pay for something that tastes just like expensive ice cream. I don’t feel like I got my money’s worth at this establishment and I’m never coming back again. ————————————

You might also want to read my personal blog at Touched by an Angel and my other blogs like Free Filipino Food Recipes, Shopping Finds, and Techie Gadgets. Hope you can drop by! Thanks for visiting…Noemi Lardizabal-Dado

There were so many dishes to choose from at the Singapore Food Festival (SFF). Here are must try dishes based on the Chinese dialects.

Cantonese ‐ Century Egg Congee

Century egg congee – or “pheitan chok”, as the Cantonese call it – is a simple rice porridge featuring slices of century egg. When I was younger, I thought that century eggs were literally 100-years old, but it turns out that they have only been preserved for several weeks in a mixture of clay, salt, ash, and lime. Pheitan chock features slices of century egg, while the porridge itself is seasoned with lots of spring onion and ginger. You can easily find century egg congee at any Chinese restaurant.

Hainan ‐ Chicken Rice

Hainense chicken rice is one of Singapore’s most famous dishes. For those who are unfamiliar with it, Hainanese chicken rice is a steamed white chicken served on top of fragrant rice with coriander leaf and sesame oil. It’s normally served with light soy sauce and garlic-chili dip that you can mix to taste. This succulent dish hails all the way from Hainan in China and was originally made with the Wengcheng chicken – a bony chicken with very little meat. Unlike the Singaporean dish, the original Hainan dish uses pork and chicken bone stock to season the rice.

Hakka ‐ Lei Cha Rice

Lei cha rice is a very interesting dish to say the least, and a pretty rare offering in Singapore; there are no more than half a dozen restaurants in the island that serve this. Lei cha rice comes in two parts. The first is a plate of rice, either brown or white, served with vegetables, peanuts, fried silverfish, and other condiments. The second part is a hot green soup that resembles pesto; instead of basil, however, it’s made up of mashed-up tea leaves, mint, and other green herbs. Basically, you pour the soup over the rice and mix it all up into a delicious stew. This is one of the healthiest things you can buy at a coffee shop and a must try when you visit Singapore.

Hokkien ‐ Fried Hokkien Noodles

Hokkien mee is a popular dish in Malaysia and Singapore, served in various ways. Sometimes it’s served with fat, stir-fried yellow noodles covered in thick soy sauce; in other parts it’s noodles with stir-friend prawns, choy sam, and thickened gravy. Hokkien mee is also easy to make at home because of its versatility and simplicity. You can use anything to season it, from cuttlefish to pork.

Teo Chew – Fried Carrot Cake

Fried carrot cake (chai tao kway) isn’t actually a dessert – it’s made up of rice flour and white daikon cut into pieces and stir-fried with spring onion, garlic, eggs, and dried shrimp. The dish comes in two variants – the white one, where the cake forms a crust when fried on top of a beaten egg, and the black one which uses soy sauce and where the egg is mixed with the carrot cake.

Carrot Cake

Here are other Chinese dialect dishes at the Singapore Food Festival 2010

Kew Garden’s Hakka Chicken with Wine Lees

Kew Garden’s Hakka Yam Soon Kueh

Chinatown Tan’s Tutu (Hokkien)

Xin Sheng’s Ngoh Hiong Prawn Crackers

The name Ngoh Hiong is a Hokkien word that refers to the Five Spice Powder that seasosn the pork filling then wrapped in thin beancurd skin and later on deep-fried. In my native hometown, we have our own “Ngo Hiong” variant as well.

Handmade noodles

Gim Tim Traditional Tapioca Roll

Four Seasons Durian Muchi and other goodies

My favorite, Durian Ice cream

Yeh Lai Siang Hainanese Salted chicken

And they also offer Hainanese Curry rice

And Hainanese Kueh

Hainanese Xi Guo

Steamed Glutinous Roll

Roast Duck

“This is the first time that the SFF will focus on specialty dishes of Singapore’s main Chinese dialect groups. Far from being a homogenous cuisine, Chinese food is very varied and can differ greatly from region to region in China. With the evolution of the Chinese diaspora in Singapore, Chinese food in Singapore has also evolved in tandem to reflect our distinct culture and heritage,” said Mr Andrew Phua, Director of Precinct Development at the STB, who elaborated that the local version of Hainanese Chicken Rice is one of the best examples of a dish that has taken on a distinctly local flavour.
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You might also want to read my personal blog at Touched by an Angel and my other blogs like Free Filipino Food Recipes, Shopping Finds, and Techie Gadgets. Hope you can drop by! Thanks for visiting…Noemi Lardizabal-Dado

Singapore Food Festival (SFF) 2010 celebrates its 17th year from 16 to 25 July and focuses on speciality dishes of the main Chinese dialect groups in Singapore. Some of these dialect groups include the Cantonese, Hainanese, Hakka, Hokkien and Teochew communities.

The entire stretch of scenic Singapore River will bustle with events and activities during SFF 2010. Today was the Opening ceremonies of the 10‐day SFF 2010 at the Clarke Quay Food Street at Read Bridge, where the entire length of the bridge was transformed into a food haven offering sumptuous Chinese delicacies from more than 30 food stalls from various famous restaurants.

What to expect from this year’s food festival?

Other not‐to‐be‐missed SFF 2010 core events include the Singapore Chinese Dialect Tingkat Cruise, Singapore Chinese Dialect Street Snacks, Singapore Chinese Dialect Heritage Feast (五福临门宴), Makansutra SFF Culinary Master Classes (check the schedule of classes here) and the Singapore River Market. Be it savouring Singapore Chinese dialect delights while cruising along the Singapore River; relishing nostalgic Chinese dialect street snacks, such as Malt Candy, Red Bean Cake, Ting Ting Candy and Mua Chee, or enjoying a gastronomic adventure of (not one but) five buffet lines of sumptuous delights featuring the best of Singapore Chinese Dialects food at the festival’s finale, there is something for everyone’s liking and taste!

I got to meet Mr KF Seetoh , renowned food personality and founder of Makansutra and also this year’s festival food consultant at a cooking demo at the Singapore Tourism Board. He elaborates, “The original Chinese flavours that had pervaded Singapore for over a century was coloured largely by the early south Chinese immigrants. They came, mingled with, and adapted the multi culinary concepts of other migrants from India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and even from the West. They naturally gave to this land their comfort food culture from home and it also gave rise to a third flavour, that distinct and iconic Singapore taste which came from a sophisticated melding of that heady range of flavours found here. ” Let me share their recipe on Traditional Braised Duck.

For the first time, SFF goes digital with a fun Cooking Game, entitled “Grandma’s Kitchen”, to educate food lovers. Hosted on the official SFF 2010 website and downloadable as an iPhone application, the cooking game will allow players to choose and whip up their own Chinese dialect dishes, such as Bak Kut Teh or Hokkien Mee. Through this process, they will learn the use of different ingredients and at the end of the game, they will receive the full recipe of the chosen dish. What’s more, upon completion of the entire game, the player will unlock a secret “diary of recipes” where they can obtain the full recipes to cook the dishes for real.

This year’s Singapore Food Festival is about celebrating not only that vibrant Chinese dialectic flavours that their forebears brought here but also what the newer generation had evolved today.

Must try Chinese Dialect dishes at the SIngapore Food Festival

Whether you are a local or a foreigner, this year’s SFF is a good opportunity to (re)discover and whet your appetite on several must‐try dishes from each Chinese dialect group! Go on a gastronomic escapade with these must‐try selections:

1. Cantonese ‐ Century Egg Congee, Har Gao, Wanton Noodle

2. Hainan ‐ Chicken Rice, Jian Dui

3. Hakka ‐ Lei Cha Rice, Niang Dou Fu, Suan Pan Zi

4. Hokkien ‐ Fried Hokkien Noodles, Lor Mee, Popiah

5. Teo Chew ‐ Bak Kut Teh, Chwee Kueh, Fried Carrot Cake

Events of Singapore Food Festival 2010

Singapore Food Festival 2010 Events

Photos

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You might also want to read my personal blog at Touched by an Angel and my other blogs like Free Filipino Food Recipes, Shopping Finds, and Techie Gadgets. Hope you can drop by! Thanks for visiting…Noemi Lardizabal-Dado

I am here right now in Singapore for the Singapore Food Festival which runs from July 16 till July 24. 2010. This year’s festival takes into view the message of offering different Singapore Chinese Dialects food to cater to different tastes allowing people to create their own personalized Singapore experience with food.

One of the activities that Singapore Tourism Board planned for media was the “Food Safari at the Paragon Food Cellar”. I didn’t think it was restaurant hopping and sampling of dishes. Now that I think of it, no wonder it is called the Food Safari. Here are the six restaurants we sampled at lunch today. (to be updated soon)

First stop is Shimbashi Soba

Shimbashi Soba restaurant serves freshly milled and freshly cooked Soba, authentic Japanese bucketwheat noodles.

Second stop is Tambuah Mas

Indonesian food is one of my favorites as I don’t get to savor these dishes in Manila.

Udang Petai Belado – Succulent prawns stir-fried in chili gravy with petai beans

Tahu Telor – Deep fried beancurd & eggs topped with sweet spicy dark sauce and shredded cucumbers

Satay Ayam & Satay Kambing – Skewered chicken & lamb fillet, BBQ over open flame. Served with Ketupat (rice cake) and homemade peanut dressing

From left to right: Es Cendol Kacang – Homemade green bean jelly served with Red Kidney beans, fresh coconut milk and gula melaka (palm sugar) and Es Serai – Brewed lemongrass drink

Third stop is Din Tai Fung

Fourth stop is Daikokuya Ramen Dining

This is another Japanese restaurant with ramen as its specialty. Daikokuya, which means ‘God of Wealth’ in Japanese, is a modern version of a ramen-ya that specialises in ramen dishes in a contemporary and relaxing atmosphere. Ramen devotees can now rejoice as Daikokuya serves four different styles of ramen to suit varying tastes. Each ramen style is also available in a variety of soup bases for diners to choose from such as miso (fermented soybean paste), shoyu (soy flavored), shio (salt flavored) and spicy miso:

-Sapporo ramen, a chicken broth ramen served with springy and curly noodles;
-Tokyo-style ramen, a lighter version of chicken broth ramen served with springy and curly noodles;
-Kyushu-style Tonkotsu ramen, features a thick creamy pork broth ramen (the richest amongst the broth varieties) served with thin and straight noodles; and
-Kogashi ramen, a Kyushu specialty that consists of a thick creamy pork broth seasoned with blackish aromatic oil made from charred crushed garlic, served with thin and straight noodles, in miso or shio soup base.

Fifth stop at the Kaffir & Lime Thai Express

And our last stop the Big O, Cakes on the go

Durian Cake

To be continued- attending the Singapore Food Festival————————————

You might also want to read my personal blog at Touched by an Angel and my other blogs like Free Filipino Food Recipes, Shopping Finds, and Techie Gadgets. Hope you can drop by! Thanks for visiting…Noemi Lardizabal-Dado

For their 65th birthday, Max’s Restaurant held the most sulit promo I have ever heard of – an all-you-can-eat chicken bonanza for just P165! To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t too excited about trying this one out. While I enjoy the occasional Max’s fried chicken every now and then, I had a feeling that everyone else would not pass up the chance to eat an unlimited number of Max’s famous fried chicken for less than P200. And I was right; every time I’d pass by the Max’s Restaurant at Gateway, there would be a long line of people eagerly waiting for their turn to get seated. I dislike eating at crowded restaurants but my boyfriend was determined to try the promo at least once. So last night, he stood in line for half an hour and managed to snag us a corner table, allowing us to enjoy our chicken in peace.

The rules of the promo were simple. Waiters walked around with trays of quarter chicken pieces, dispensing them to customers one at a time.

In order to get your next piece of chicken, you had to finish your remaining piece. No sharing, no leftovers. I was starving by the time I got to the restaurant, and wasted no time devouring my first two chicken pieces. The third piece was enough to make me feel satisfied but I did my best to finish a fourth, just so I could brag about how I ate an entire chicken for dinner that night. For only P165!!!

My boyfriend, on the other hand, ate 8 pieces. That’s two whole chickens!

Out of curiosity, I checked the menu to see if we were really getting our money’s worth. A quarter chicken meal costs P142, but it includes extras – rice, a glass of Pepsi or iced tea, and dessert. If you assume that the chicken alone costs P60, you’d have made the most out of the promo by your third piece. On the other hand, a whole chicken costs P366. So between the two of us, we only paid P330 for P1098 worth of food. How awesome is that?

After I was through with my chicken, I ordered a glass of buko pandan shake, just to get the greasy, chicken flavor out of my mouth.

Dessert was buko pandan, which was absolutely creamy and flavorful.

My cats had a real feast when I brought back these bones after dinner!

Despite my reservations, I’m glad I gave Max’s Chicken All You Can promo a chance. We ate more than our money’s worth, we managed to get a good table, and who knows when a promo like this will happen again? Today is the last day Max’s will be generous with their fried chicken and if you want to give it a try, I suggest you get in line as early as 6 pm. I’m pretty sure Max’s fans and curious foodies will want to take this last chance to avail of the promo.

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You might also want to read my personal blog at Touched by an Angel and my other blogs like Free Filipino Food Recipes, Shopping Finds, and Techie Gadgets. Hope you can drop by! Thanks for visiting…Noemi Lardizabal-Dado

In our grade school days, we were taught that the food pyramid is a guide to healthy eating and balanced meals. However, most of us are unaware that certain food colors can provide a host of nutrients. I’m not talking about artificial food coloring we find in candy, fruit drinks, and other processed foods – those are actually very unhealthy. I’m talking about brightly-colored fruits and veggies. Did you know that each colorful fruit or vegetable has specific phytonutrient that promotes the health of certain organs or body parts? Leading supplement brand Nutrilite created a phytonutrient chart to show you certain fruit colors, the important phytonutrients they contain, and their corresponding health benefits.

Red foods like tomatoes, cherries, and red apples support DNA health, prostate health, cell growth, and the immune system because of their lycopene and ellagic acid content.

Yellow and orange foods like oranges, sweet corn, and carrots support cardiovascular health, vision health, immune function, cell protection, and maintain skin hydration. They contain phytonutrients like alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, hesperidin, and beta-cryptoxanthin – provitamin A carotenoids that the body converts into vitamin A.

Green foods support lung and vision health, strong bones and teeth, and facilitate the interaction between cells. Believe it or not, veggies can be rich in calcium and nutrients like lutein, isoflavones, and zeaxanthin.

Blue and purple foods like eggplant and blueberries support brain, heart, and bone health, while providing protection against oxidation. These contain ellagic acid, resveratrol, and many kinds of procyanidins and anthocyanidins.

We all need these five food colors in our diets to meet our body’s daily needs for phytonutrients; in fact, nutritionists recommend that we have at least one of each color in every meal. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to make meals that accommodate all these foods. Due to lack of time, the convenience of instant food, or budget constraints, we cannot always supply our bodies with phytonutrients using food alone. Fortunately, we can get phytonutrients from supplements like Nutrilite, the only vitamin brand that grows, harvests, and processes their own certified organic plants. For Nutrition Month, Nutrilite will be holding a brand expo at the Glorietta Activity Center, where nutritionists are more than wiling to share their knowledge about phytonutrients with consumer. Nutrilite also collaborated with A-list chef Rolando Laudico to create an exclusive drink called the Nutrilite Immunity Smoothie, a yummy fruit smoothie containing Nutrilite Active 8 with vitamins B and C.

Nutrilite is excuslively distributed by Amway. For information on ordering, please call Amway at 814-8181.————————————

You might also want to read my personal blog at Touched by an Angel and my other blogs like Free Filipino Food Recipes, Shopping Finds, and Techie Gadgets. Hope you can drop by! Thanks for visiting…Noemi Lardizabal-Dado

The centerpiece of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino’s Inaugural Reception was not so much the delicious Chinese buffet as the large cake shaped like Malacañang Palace. This exquisite creation was donated to the party by award-winning cake designer Penk Ching of Pastry Bin. It stands 30 inches tall and measures 80 inches by 40 inches. The cake itself is banana-walnut flavored and covered with fondant icing. Penk Ching apparently began work on the cake on Sunday, starting with the little details, and finished the whole thing by Wednesday morning.

In the Inquirer article Inaugural cake is banana walnut fondant, more details are given on the creation of this cake:

Ching researched the look of the cake from the Internet and from Nick Joaquin’s book, “Malacañang,” a copy of which was provided her by Pinky Aquino-Abellada, the incoming President’s sister.

Ching will use an edible frosting sheet to fashion the Malacañang seal. The intricate embossed windows will be made of gum paste, including the proverbial yellow ribbon.

Even though she was asked to make a simple one-layered cake, she thought that one shaped like the Malacañang Palace was more fitting for our new President.

Too bad, I never got to take a bite of the cake. I left shortly before the Inaugural reception started.

Pastry Bin executed three big weddings of children of past presidents: Beaver Lopez and Jackie Ejercito in 1999, Mikey Arroyo and Angela Montenegro in 2002, and Dato Arroyo and Kakai Manotoc in 2003.

Thanks Jane for the photo.

You might also want to read my personal blog at Touched by an Angel and my other blogs like Free Filipino Food Recipes, Shopping Finds, and Techie Gadgets. Hope you can drop by! Thanks for visiting…Noemi Lardizabal-Dado

During my weekend trip to Baguio with my parents, I insisted that we have our post-ukay dinner at Cafe by the Ruins. My dad took us to this cafe years before, and I fell in love with the place’s laid-back bohemian atmosphere.

Dining here was also a refreshing change from downtown Baguio, which was packed like an SM 3-day sale. There was hardly anyone there on a Saturday night.

For over 20 years, Cafe by the Ruins has served an extensive A to Z list of clientele. Which one are you?

There’s nothing like staying warm on a rainy evening with a cup of chocolate de agua (P120), bittersweet chocolate prepared the Mexican way and served with two slices of cinnamon toast. Cafe by the Ruins also serves civet cat coffee, supposedly the best and most expensive cup of coffee in the world. It wasn’t that expensive at P150, but I didn’t order a cup that night because I wanted to be able to fall asleep.

I don’t remember the name of the dish my mom ordered, but it was spinach and cheese served inside a flaky pastry.

It was pretty tasty and fairly filling for its size.

Cafe by the Ruins has a unique sandwich called Ole Nick’s Open Faced Tuna. Apparently, National Artist Nick Joaquin once scribbled the following recipe: “Butter the bread, spread flaked tuna evenly over the buttered surface, dip in beaten egg, and fry in MORE butter.” I was very curious but didn’t have the guts to try it out.

So instead, I got a beef steak sandwich (P155) – sliced beef tenderloin covered in beef steak sauce and sandwiched in Saigon bread.

If you’re looking for an interesting restaurant in Baguio, I suggest you drop by Cafe by the Ruins. The food is reasonably priced, plus it’s a great respite from all the crowded restaurants in downtown Baguio. Cafe by the Ruins can be found at 23 Chuntug Street Baguio City, near City Hall. ————————————

You might also want to read my personal blog at Touched by an Angel and my other blogs like Free Filipino Food Recipes, Shopping Finds, and Techie Gadgets. Hope you can drop by! Thanks for visiting…Noemi Lardizabal-Dado

I dislike dining at Eastwood. Aside from the tacky architecture and the presence of all these little dogs, Eastwood the last place I pick for dinner because the restaurants there are too boring or too overpriced. But my boyfriend and I were a little pressed for time and didn’t want to go too far. After a little bit of research, we discovered that a new restaurant called Cookbook Kitchen is doing a dry run at Eastwood. The name isn’t particularly catchy but when we found out that its flagship restaurant in Mandaluyong is considered a hole-in-the-wall delight, we decided to give it a try.

There’s certainly nothing “hole in the wall” about Cookbook Kitchen at Eastwood. Orange isn’t my favorite color, but I found this particular shade quite pleasant. We had to wait outside for about ten minutes before a table freed up, but it was pretty much smooth sailing from there.

I’ve been making it a habit to start my dinners out with a salad. Tonight we got the Super Salad (P190), lettuce greens with pan-fried chicken served with balsamic vinegar or honey-mustard sauce. It was nothing special and I wish I ordered the salad with mangoes, which I spotted on the menu way after our appetizers were devoured.

For my entree, I picked the Cookbook Chicken (P350), a whole chicken breast fillet with cheese, ham, and basil, served hot with Italian pesto and roasted tomatoes.

It was so cheesy that I barely touched the tangy sauce! I wish it were served with mashed potatoes instead of rice, though.

My boyfriend’s entree was the more interesting one – walnut-crusted fish with special mango-ginger sauce (P360). The crunchy walnut exterior was the perfect complement to the soft white fish inside, and the mango-ginger sauce was an excellent final touch. I liked it better covered in the sauce, but my boyfriend preferred it without because he likes the subtle nutty flavor.

Definitely the most unusual fish dish either of us has ever tried.

Cookbook Kitchen is a little pricier than the restaurants we normally frequent, but they have a couple of unique dishes that makes me want to come back again. They officially opened on Father’s Day, so you can come check it out for yourself! Cookbook Kitchen is on 1880-A Bldg., Eastwood City, QC. To make reservations, call 709-3593.————————————

You might also want to read my personal blog at Touched by an Angel and my other blogs like Free Filipino Food Recipes, Shopping Finds, and Techie Gadgets. Hope you can drop by! Thanks for visiting…Noemi Lardizabal-Dado

Starbucks branches are easily recognizable by the forest of green umbrellas in front of the coffee shop or the homey yellow light emanating from within the clear glass windows. However, there are certain branches that look different, such as the first Starbucks coffee shop in Seattle when I visited the simple cafe two years ago. During our trip to Baguio over the weekend, we discovered what was probably the most quaint Starbucks coffee shop we’ve ever visited. Instead of the usual modern glass structure, Starbucks Camp John Hay is inside one of the white colonial wooden houses where American soldiers used to stay. It’s very cozy and picturesque – a lovely place to enjoy a hot cup of coffee, read the morning paper, or simply enjoy the fresh mountain air.

Too bad our daughter is such a sleepy-head and couldn’t join us for breakfast. It was a wonderful moment to sip coffee outdoors and enjoy the cool Baguio weather for once.

I got to be a “barista” (thanks To foursquare.com) as this was my 5th Starbucks branch since using this nifty mobile application.

What’s the most unusual Starbucks branch you’ve ever been to?————————————

You might also want to read my personal blog at Touched by an Angel and my other blogs like Free Filipino Food Recipes, Shopping Finds, and Techie Gadgets. Hope you can drop by! Thanks for visiting…Noemi Lardizabal-Dado