From our stay in Las Vegas, we will go to Disney in Anaheim. We wanted something different so we decided we want to go there by land. 

Passing by The Strip, viewed from the other side

Eticket - one just needs to show his mobile to get in

Jie posing in the empty cinema

Jie and I have been planning for our US trip for about 6 months now. It was like a dare at the time with condition of course, that I handle all the bookings.
We were planning a multi-city tour. And it was hard to get flights arriving in a state and then departing in another.
After lots of blogs and google search, I found good reviews about Google Flights. It enabled me to find flights for our multi-city destination. It also tracked the cheapest flight based on my required time and date. I tried it again this time just to show and inputted random airports and dates.
More than tracking the cheapest flight, I was able to save my chosen flights and track if price will go up or down. Since I started checking last August, below is the price track as of today, though the dates I have chosen were past due.
Once satisfied, it led me to a link and asked me to either save the flights or book it. I was checking different flights and airline combinations per day and saving it before I was fully satisfied that I was getting the cheapest.
Once done, it directed me to the airline website. At the airline site, all my chosen date and time, and cities were already there. Then that’s it! All that is left is to fill in the credit card details! :)

I came from a late afternoon meeting yesterday near Shaw Blvd so Jie and I decided to just meet at Shangri-La Mall given the (usual) horrendous traffic (especially with the APEC lane practice).

And as what was usual with us, we decided to eat somewhere we have not tried before. L&L Hawaiian BBQ was the first store that caught our eyes, so off we went.

Good thing we decided on L&L! According to Spot.ph, this was the store’s first franchise in the Philippines and has just opened last September.

We inquired on their best sellers and decided on Chicken barbecue (Php 188) and BBQ MIx (Php220). For the BBQ mix, I had the option to choose 2, so I chose chicken bbq and teriyaki beef.

I am sorry but my shots below did not give justice to their barbecues! Waaah!

One order of chicken bbq came with two slices of chicken fillet. I liked that it was sweet but I liked it best when drizzled with Sriracha! Yum!

Their teriyaki beef was tender and it was also semi-sweet. You may also opt to drizzle with teriyaki or soy sauce. The BBQ mix came with 2 slices of beef and one slice of chicken. Sulit if you ask me. I had to give one of the slices to Jie

L&L Hawaiian BBQ is located at the 5F Shangri-la Mall in Mandaluyong.

Check out their Philippine FB page here : https://www.facebook.com/hawaiianbbqph/

It has been so long since Jie and I tried something new. Actually Tokyo Tonteki is not new at it has been at the 2nd level of Greenbelt 5 since November 2014 according to google search.

But it was new to us.We were actually just passing by the area and can’t decide what to eat. So we found ourselves trying out the place. After all, nothing can go wrong with Japanese food right?

Both of us were nagpipigil so we opted for the mini sets (150g). Good thing too since a mini set was actually just enough! Imagine if we ordered the regular (200-250g) or the large set (300g)!

Jie opted for the mini Tonteki set  which came with unlimited shredded cabbage, rice and miso soup.

I actually liked to order the Tonteki as well but just so we can taste both, I decided to go with the pork belly with mixed vegetable mini set.

Between the 2, I prefer the Tonteki. The meat was so tender! The pork belly on the other hand was pure fat. I should have known given the name!

Even with the mini sets, we were left so full with our order. We have not even asked for a second serving of rice. I guess because we also ordered their ebi maki as appetizer. Haha!

Each mini set with unlimited cabbage, eggplant appetizer, miso soup and rice is Php 250.

I suggest you try them out at the 2nd level of Greenbelt 5.

Visit their Facebook page here : https://www.facebook.com/tokyotontekiphilippines and their website here http://tokyotontekiph.com/ for more information.

Yup, the fever has hit me. I have been denying it for 2 weeks but it can’t be helped.

I now find myself checking twitter feeds most times of the day, as soon as I wake and before I sleep. I’ve followed numerous pages, youtube sites, always in the search for the latest information about this phenomenon.

Yup, I will accept it now -- the AlDub fever has attacked my system.

Renewed kilig not just because Alden signed this but because Jie asked for his signature knowing that I like the pair. Kahit na asarin pa daw siya :)

Now I am not a fan-type of person. I don’t have any favorite actor or actress. I don’t follow any celebrity gossips. I am not a movie-type or TV-type of person. I just watch what I want. And the celebrities? Being in advertising, I have encountered some. I just make sure that I have that token picture-with-the-celebrity photo just to record the moment. After that, it’s all kept away. I even find myself not uploading it on social media sites. I follow some celebrities just because. But since I am not active on twitter, the “news” just pass by. And I am okay with that.

But now I find myself giggling even when I am alone, listening to cheesy love songs and making conversations about this phenomenal love team. I have to be updated all the time. I need to know what is happening even off cam. And I wonder why.

I will not try to be pa-deep here. Nor will I try. Because I don’t have any marketing lessons that I can impart. Believe me, I tried to connect it with work and discussed with colleagues engagement lessons and social currency about the show but I stopped.

I just simply want to enjoy the giggles and all the kilig the pairing has given me. And it’s not just me. A lot of friends both males and females have accepted that they experience the same kilig, albeit a lot are denying that they follow the series.

I guess it’s because they remind me of younger years, the highschool crush, the letters and flowers received. The “analysis” of whether the tandem is real has become an addicting hobby, watching for facial expressions, smiles and hidden messages. Similar to when I was younger -- is this person true? What will be the kilig moment when I meet him? What will happen next?

Perhaps it is the same for a lot of people. They remember their own moments. Or perhaps it has renewed their kilig with their current special someone. Perhaps that is why my brother had downloaded all the episodes. Perhaps this is why my niece who grew up in Singapore is currently hooked. Whatever age we are, we remember or relive our own special moments when love struck us. All it needed to remind us was watch one episode and we’re hooked.

I guess that until there is the mystery, the magic of realness of the series, I would continue to be part of the millions of fans worldwide hungry for more information. Watching for hidden signs, waiting for the kilig and the unforgettable moments.

And as I watch, I will remember my own kilig moments with my own special someone. =)

And yes, I will be glued to the TV set when the magic of first date happens tomorrow.

Have you tried Zark's Burgers? My friends and I have frequented the one in Venice Piazza for the past months. (Ironic as I have not visited the one in BF Paranaque when I live near the place). I am not really a burger person so I cannot judge though Zark's has been featured as one of the best burger places in the metro.  
 
Below are just pics of the burgers me and my friends have tried over the past few months. Zark’s has either the minor league and major league type, which was really based on size. Whenever we go there, we normally just go for the minor league as I don’t think we can finish a major league. 

Each minor league burger sells for about Php 120 to Php 150. Plus Php30 if you want fries and iced tea with that. Since these were taken since the start of the year, I will just try to remember what they were called. Feel free to pipe in if I got it wrong.



Burgers from Hell. It was supposed to be so spicy with its chili oil and chili cheese sauce. What we did instead was request to have the chili on the side so we can control the amount we will put on our burgers

After accompanying my grandmother to her doctor’s appointment, Jie treated us to a yummy lunch at Sze Chuan House located at Aloha Hotel, Roxas Blvd.  

Since we were not familiar with the menu, we decided to let Jie order. That also means I was not really able to list down the name of the dishes. (Sorry!)  Typical him, he just described what he wanted and the waiter immediately knew what he was referring to. 

Last week, we were fortunate enough to be invited to try this new tapa place at Malugay St. in Makati during its soft opening.
Called VSpot Restobar, the place offers angus tapa, sausages, beer, coffee and Godiva chocolates.


I was not really sure what to expect when we went there. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was homey, the kind of tambay place I would go to after a stressful day.

I tried the sweet and spicy version of their tapa. To say that it was takaw-kanin is an understatement. My picture below did not give it justice but it looked good and tasted great. Some of us tried their Original version and they were happy as well with their order.

We also sampled their Spam with Cheese sticks which was interestingly served in a spam can. Now I think I can munch on several of these  

After our tapa and pica, we capped our kwentuhan  with coffee. I liked their sugar cubes! Hahaha! Since I don’t really put sugar on my coffee, I nibbled on the sugar cubes the whole time.

If it was not a Monday, I believe we would have stayed longer so we can sample the various sausages. But there is always a next time.
VSpot Restobar formally opens today, July 16. Yey!
You can check their menu below. The VSpot Restobar is located at 7274 Malugay St., San Antonio Village, Makati.

Let me know what you think!  Comment and share!
Twitter: @theelleswhere
Email: elleswhere@me.com / enigmablush@gmail.com

Have you ever tried the ilocos empanada? Ive been seeng it in several food kiosks around the metro but got to taste it early this year only when we visited Tagaytay. (Ironic isnt it, that we had to go to Tagaytay to taste it.) Well that was the only kiosk that doesn't have a line when we chanced upon it at Summit Ridge.

I dont know if it was authentic as I havent been to Ilocos. But trying the street food was such a treat! And was quite filling 😊