Flower Stories Cafe

I am always fond of checking good deals from Groupon, Ensogo and Metrodeal. And lately, I registered sa Cash Cash Pinoy. Last month I purchased an eat-all-you-can deal at Metrodeal. This is to treat my family on my birthday.

The restaurant who offered the deal was Flower Stories Cafe. I searched it on the internet but found no information about them. Apparently they are new to this kind of business. I just found this blog and was surprised with all the negative comments the restaurant had been receiving. I was worried that I might get disappointed too. Fortunately the restaurant acknowledged all the comments and made some changes to satisfy their customers. From then on, the comments were improving. Naging kampante na ko.

The day came when we used the coupons. I was actually amazed with the place (syempre nasa Intramuros kaya parang kakaiba). The street where the building was do not have squatters as opposed to the comment I read. There are squatters in that area but not on the street where the building was. The dining area is a veranda on the 6th floor of the JS contractor building.

We came early but they were already set up so we did not wait too long to eat. They had cream of mushroom soup (I think), plain rice, java rice, pasta bolognese, roast beef with gravy and mixed vegetables, pork teriyaki, breaded fish fillet and onion rings with separate sweet and sour sauce, vegetable sticks with thousand island dressing and chocolate fountain where you can dip the banana, marshmallows and champola sticks! The whole family enjoyed the lunch and I was very happy! Kahit ako super busog! My sister even asked magkano ang regular price nila. Ang cute kasi ng place e.

All in all it was worth the 200 pesos each I spent. I still have 2 remaining coupons and I can't wait to use them! :)

Cream of Mushroon Soup

Pandan Rice

Spaghetti Bolognese

Java Rice

Pork Teriyaki w/ Bean sprouts

Roast beef w/ gravy and mixed vegetables

Breaded Fish fillet and onion rings w/ sweet and sour sauce

Vegetable sticks w/ thousand island dressing

Veranda Dining Area

My Family

To All Store Owners

It is not the obligation of customers to provide exact change when purchasing. It is the obligation of the store owners and the sales person.

I was craving for a hotdog on stick yesterday. On my way home, I stopped by a store selling them. I was greatly disappointed and pissed when "Kuya" told me he couldn't sell me one because he doesn't have a change for 100 peso bill! What made it worst was that he wasn't even apologetic and was a bit rude. E paano kung lahat ng bibili e 100 pesos ang pera? Hindi na niya pagbibilhan? E di wala na siyang kinita?

If you are a seller and you know that you don't have change for bills anymore, do something about it. Don't tell the customer you don't have a change. It gives a bad impression and is very bad for business.

BF owns a restaurant and he makes sure that he has change for his customers. Everyday, he goes to the bank to have his money changed to smaller bills. Kung maubusan, humahanap siya ng paraan.

Sadly, I left the (hotdog) store with a heavy heart (because I did not get what I wanted) and an angry stomach. I vowed never to buy on that store ever! Yan ang mapapala ni Kuyang hindi marunong dumiskarte.

Discount Coupons

I was introduced into the world of discount coupons by my colleague who is very fond of looking for good deals on food. He just likes to look at good deals but never really got to try any of them because payments are mostly made through credit cards and he doesn't have one.

So far I have purchased 5 coupons and have used 1 one of them. I wasn't disappointed and it made me more excited to try the other coupons. Aside from great deals on food, beauty and wellness, there are even greater deals on travel.

Last deal I got was from Metrodeal, a lunch or dinner eat-all-you can buffet at Flower Stories Cafe in Intramuros. I am planning to use this on my birthday with BF and a few friends.





You can check the details of the deal here. You may also wanna check out Ensogo and Groupon for more great deals!

Desserts!

Huey Ying Restaurant is opening a new extension in their Macapagal Branch soon. And with this extension they are going to open a desserts bar, a joint venture of BF's sister and her BF. They requested that I take photos for their menu and banner. I was surprised and hesitant at first. Food photography is already in the advance photography class, which I didn't take. Anyway, I couldn't refuse. I browsed through the net and found these very helpful tips. I also visited a bookstore and checked out a few books on baking.

I was expecting that we will do the photoshoot (kuno) at their restaurant in MOA. But it seemed inconvenient for them to bring all the cakes so they decided to do it at home instead. I was picked up by Kaling at MOA then off we went to their house.

I chose to set it up on the back of their house where there is natural light instead of inside where most of their light is incandescent (it would be harder for me to control the lighting). I wish BF was there as he is very artistic when it comes to presentation. Me? I have no talent in that area.

I was having difficulty taking shots of the whole cake but was loving the sliced one.

Well, here are the final outcome of my shots on their desserts. These will still be edited and I hope the outcome will be great.

Moist Chocolate Cake

Mango Cheesecake

Blueberry Cheesecake


Almond Jelly w/ Lychee

They also have mango sago which they haven't perfected yet so I had to skip posting that one.

I hope they could use some of the photos, if not, no biggy. I enjoyed the shoot and it introduced me to the world of food photography.

Wham vs Army Navy

I like burgers. It's not a favorite but I would want to eat it occasionally. Other than burgers found at a regular fastfood like Jollibee and McDo, I have also tried burgers at Brother's Burgerand Wham!. So far Wham burger is on the top of my list. An officemate of mine has been raving about the burger at Army Navy so I've been meaning to try it since then.

Last night, while waiting for the rain to stop and the flood to subside I went to Glorietta 5 where there is a branch of Army Navy. I was so excited that I'm finally gonna get to try their burger. I ordered a single patty burger, freedom fries and the LIBERTea Iced Tea.

So what is their rating?

They FLUNKED! Totally failed my taste test...

The burger patty is dry. The fries is very thinly sliced (I like thick fries), a little bit spicy and tastes like KFC fries. Their LIBERTea Iced Tea? Very bitter. I thought the dark sesame seeds on the burger bun was the culprit for the bitterness but as I sip the Iced tea the bitterness intensifies. It's also too pricey for me, maybe because I wasn't satisfied with their food?

These are what I ordered

The following day, I told my officemate about my experience at Army Navy. He couldn't believe it. He was at two of its branches at Greenhills and SM North and everytime he was very satisfied. So I was wondering, was it just that particular branch at Glorietta? Well, one thing's for sure, I won't be eating at their branch in Glorietta again. Or maybe not eat at Army Navy at all... :(

Wham burger, you're still the no. 1 burger for me....

Cravings

I'm on a roll here. Three posts in one day...

It's the time of the month, and usually I don't want to eat anything as I have no taste. But this month is different. It surprised me that I am craving for something. Wham Burger and their french fries! It's been a while since I've tasted their huge and juicy burger and their fries cut into thick slices (taob ang Brother's Burger! *lol*).

Isn't this mouth watering?

Yum Yum Fries!

Cravings seem to intensify as I write....

Since I'm thinking food, what is a complete meal without dessert? I received my credit card bill today (with a huge amount to pay!) and there was a leaflet on the real thrills. Guess what, free food! When you spend at least 1.5k on your credit card. What caught my eye is the Dilly Bar of Dairy Queen. What better dessert than ice cream?! The promo is until the 7th of May and since I'm planning to spend for the things I need on our Singapore trip, might as well spend 1.5k so I could get my hands on that dilly bar.

Now I'm really hungry I should stop writing.

DQ's Dilly Bar

Tata for now... Watch post for my post on these cravings... :)

Cerealicious

I found a new, yummy and healthy snack. Cereals with a twist at Cerealicious! Located at 3rd flr of Midtown Robinson's Place Ermita.

My sisters introduced me to this cute store last sunday. I was amazed. Aside from the very colorful motif of the store, there were so many cereals to choose from. But what really caught my attention was the name of their products. Movie names! They even have posters! If you only have a small appetite you can choose trailer (small size). If you're really craving for cereals better order blockbuster (large size). There are so many variants to choose from. I've only tasted 3 (took a bite from my sisters *LOL*) so I will definitely come back to try the others.

Now Showing..

Here are the others..

Everybody wants Kung Fu Fighting!

Today is a day off from review, meaning it's date time! We planned to watch a movie. After work we went ahead not knowing where to go. It's a battle between glorietta and mall of asia. Glorietta won because there are a couple of cinemas to choose from. Upon reaching G1, we learned that the ovie we were about to watch had started already, so off we went to G4. On our way there we ran across some of our officemates from Makati. Ason and I separated to save time. I went to buy the tickets and drinks and he, to buy our food. We haven't eaten our lunch yet, but decided to buy some snacks frist because there aren't much time. The movie was a bout to start.

The movie I am talking about is Kung Fu Panda..

We wanted to watch something light and funny. It's a movie for kids but it can be enjoyed by those kid at heart adults. BF was laughing the whole time. Even he is a kid at heart, despite his kasungitan. It's a two thumbs up for us.

Oh, by the way, we never had lunch. We were so full with what BF bought for snacks. Bibingka (which is really yummy! Ngayon ko lang siya naappreciate), Jumbo Potato Corner BBQ flavored fries, Chef Tony's Popcorn (BF ate almost all of it), Large Fries and a BIGGIE Coke light from Wendy's. Who who wouldn't feel full after eating all of that?

Happy Monthsary!!!

Most of my blogs are late, that's because I go home late and i'm already tired and our computer is always busy. So many excuses *LOL*.

Last saturday (Feb. 2), Ason and I celebrated our 37th monthsary. He always asks me if my Boss (Mam Winnie) still have GCs sa Fitness First. That's what were planning to do on that special day. A week before the date, I asked my boss if fitness have a promo. She's kind enough to call her friend in fitness at west gate. And what do you know, they have a promo. It's an Herbal Attraction Treatment for Couples. It costs 1399, good for two na un but if you will use it without a partner considered as one lang un. The treatment is for 90 minutes, with body scrub and body massage. Upon receiving the coupons, I immediately called the fitness first at Rob Ermita. It is their nearest branch to us and we always go there for treatments.

We arrived at the Spa earlier than our schedule. The receptionist said the room is already available but we still have to wait for our friend. She also bought the same treatment. Since she no longer work at the office, we had to meet her to give her the coupon.

After she left, we went inside for our Herbal Attraction Treatment. It started with a body scrub. A mixture of orange and apple I think. That accounts for the citrus smell of the scrub. We were supposed to have Basil but it was unavailable. After that we had to wash up then on to our body massage. The best part of course. The therapists asked us if we want oil or lotion. Mine was oil (Eucalyptus), Ason's was lotion (Chocolate). We felt much better after the massage. We gave our Therapists (Ayen and Jenielyn I think) a generous tip for the wonderful job.

Ason, while waiting at the desk asking so many questions

Had my picture taken while waiting for maan

The Couples' Room

After a relaxing treatment we became hungry. We ate at one of our fave resto (the place where we usually eat) Mr. Choi Kitchen. Since Chinese New Year was only days ahead, they have a promo available only at a specific time). They have discounts on dimsums, fried rice, congee and noodles. We had wanton noodles, halo-halo congee, prok siomai, beef siomai, and duck feet. Yes, duck feet. I don't like how it looks and specially how it tastes. The sight of its webbed feet turned my stomach upside down.

The duck feet

All in all our day went well. We enjoyed every minute. It's been a long since we had a date like this.

By the way, you don't have to be a member of fitness first to avail of their special promos and treatments.

No Good Food

Thursday, the 31st of January, while waiting for 5:30 (End of our work for the day) we reminded our Japanese Boss about the treat he promised us. Since everyone was available that time we decided to go out that day. Our boss is a bit kuripot so all of us thought that it might be best if we eat at an eat-all-you-can resto. That would be Saisaki, Dads and Kamayan at ATC. When we got there, they were already closed, for good. My boss got a bit angry. We immediately looked for another resto. We asked him if he likes Chinese food. He said anywhere would be fine. We went our way to North Park. Located beside North Park is Tempura, a Japanese Resto. We asked him again if it's ok with him if we eat there. He said if we like it then it's fine with him. We have no idea what to order, so we asked our boss instead. Who would know better right? We ordered a lot of food, tempura, hawaiian maki, babay back ribs, yakisoba, yasai and a few more. Our boss ordered the Japanese fried rice. When he tried it, he didn't like it because it had too much butter. In the end, we didn't finish our food. Nakakaumay ang pagkain nila. When we got the bill, our boss said it's cheap and I said it's because the food is NO GOOD!

Craving for Pasta

Every payday, maan (my co-qc staff), collects 50 pesos from each of us as a contribution to our birthday fund. Whenever there is a birthday celebration, we use that money to go out and celebrate. This is only applicable for those who contributes..*lol*. This month, we are celebrating my birthday and ate eden's. We were supposed to eat at Hula-Hula in West Gate but was craving for pasta so we went to Don Henricos instead. We ordered pizza, pasta, fries and of course the buffalo chicken (yummy! *lol*). We weren't able to able to bring our digital camera so I used my camera phone instead to take some shots. So here it is..

Chizzy Fries..Sarap ng dip!

Don Henrico's famous Buffalo Chicken

Spaghetti ala Carbonara..Yummy!

Monching, Emee, and Ate Eden

Need I say who we are?

Longing for Racks

About a month ago, I glanced at one of the buildings at Paseo deMagallanes and I saw this sign. Racks soon to open. I was very excited so I immediately informed my BF about it. He too was happy to know that Racks has returned. Our schedule to eat there (everything has to be scheduledwith my BF) was cancelled due to an emergency. But we ate there eventually. Last saturday after work. We had to wait because there are a lot of customers. We ordered baby back ribs, chicken, mac and cheese, corn and carrots and three orders of Java rice. We were so full. The food was great! We really missed it specially their bbq sauce. Super yummy..*lol*.
I wanted to eat there again, hopefully soon..