Kopi-tiYUM!

The other day, I ate at this place called Kopi Tiam. It's located in Horseshoe and owned by the same people who brought us North Park, Next Door and Tiananmen Bar. From that information alone, I knew I was going to like the food. North Park has always been the best cure for a hangover, the best companion when you need comfort and the best thing to eat when you are famished. Tiananmen, on the other hand, has served me many of my kurrant 7's and their five spice fries are to die for!

So, Kopi Tiam literally means Coffee Shop, and it has everything you would expect a cafe to have. The minute you enter you see a buffet of rolls, breads, cookies, cakes and other desserts laid in front of you. On the menu are also things you crave for, a.k.a comfort food. I tried the Binondo Mami, which your basic mami noodles with a truckload of things on it-it has 2 pcs of siomai, wanton, asado pork, boiled egg and a chicken fillet to be exact and it's something I would totally love after a boxing session or if I'm going through a break-up. We also tried the Snowfish and oh my gosh! This one needs to be ordered by those who love sea bass! It won't cost you as much pa! It's served with a mango flower and 8 kinds of mushrooms. It was so good. If I wasn't sharing and didn't have so much food in front of me, I swear i would have eaten the entire thing! The beef belly was also a major winner! It came with Kani salad (I'm not much of a fan of mayo so i skipped this) and the 8 mushroom thing again. By the way that mix of eight mushrooms is great. If you are a mushroom freak, as I am, you will devour this side dish and ask for seconds.
I also don't really like ube, but I took a bite of their Ube Parfait, which contained home-made pandan macapuno and sago, and I ended up eating half of it. I also ate half of the Peach Almond Jelly. Nakakahiya ako but the food was so good I couldn't stop eating. They serve the same yummy lemonade as the one in North Park-it's all lemon! No powder or anyting artificial. I am not a fan of lemonade but this one isn't sour, nor is it super sweet because they over compensated with loads of sugar. there was nothing that i didn't like in this cafe. Their menu was very long and there is loads of variety. Expect only a few of your North Park favorites and a whole lot of new things to try out and love.
The place is also very chill. It's an old house converted into a restaurant. Everythign is made of wood and it's so relaxed you can come in chinelas and no one cares. The best part aside from the price and the food is that it's open from 9 am until 2 am and they deliver! They even deliver all the way tot eh Ateneo area (for a minimum order of course-it's a little steeper than if you live in Horseshoe but hey THEY DELIVER!)
I've also been converted. I stopped drinking coffee years ago when I got pregnant with Ananda. Their House Kopi is so good though I drank a whole cup-and I wasn't gagging or forced to-I really liked it! Though I don't think my caffeine desires will ever come back full force, I will order this coffee whenever I eat there-and that will probably be often!
Anyway, this place is great. You can't go wrong with a place that is related to North Park and Tiananmen, but don't get it twisted, it has a personality all its own.


Love, peace and yummy food joes!

Just a few things...

1. vintagekids.multiply.com-It is not completely done yet but This Kid loves Vintage has officially arrived. We have some stuff up already and will continue posting up more products as the dresses arrive. All of our dresses are new and there are at most 3-4 pieces of one design. We didn't source these from Bangkok or HK, we had them made ourselves. Alongside them are vintage pieces and accessories. Our first collection is mostly inspired by the mini dresses of the 60's so everything is short, short, short! Enjoy!

2. I'm open to giving make-up lessons again. Please email me at ericaparedes@gmail.com for inquiries and if you want a list of my rates.

3. If anyone can suggest a new restaurant or vacation spot to write about please leave your suggestions in the comment box. Anything new or has not really been written about. Thanks guys!

Peace out!

My week at a glance

Man. What a week. I feel like I did so much. I'm spending this Saturday being a vegetable at home because I am so drained-both physically and emotionally.

So the first week of work was ok. I had to come in a few times for whatver reason and I went to a few events.

The one I went to on Tuesday around lunchtime was for a new shampoo. I missed lunch because I came pretty late but just in time for the fashion show. It was pretty impressive for a lunchtime, shampoo event. Either that or two years has just been too long and I'm not used to these things anymore. I ended up kinda tipsy because I had wine on an empty stomach. Met up with Anna afterwards in Glorietta and scarfed down a plate of Penne al Telefono at Cibo. I would have probably passed out if I hadn't.

Later on that day, Ala and I went to Bonifacio High Street for the Fully Booked launch. It is this massive bookstore with 5 floors and a theatre in the basement. It was a good launch. It was Cibo catered (pica pica with cute and apt names such as Harry Pate and the Sorcerers Santol) and a bar on every floor (Oh No. Rene Barbier you are evil!)I finally got to try cuptails and dreams-these cupcakes that are cocktail-flavored!
Ala about to devour her Cosmopolitan flavored cupcake. Soon after, I had the Pina Colada hehe
A book I found on the second floor. Natawa ako sa title. LOSE WEIGHT! GET LAID! FIND GOD! It's like the ultimate self-help book!

I got to see people I haven't seen in ages and there were a few akward moments seeing an ex and my boyfriends ex who I don't think likes me much. Pero deadma nalang! Hung out with Vicky for most of the night.

Oh and we saw the cutest thing at Hobbes (I think it was Hobbes) We came across these superduperadorable walking baloons. most of them were different breeds of dogs but there was this one random dinosaur. We wanted to buy them but they were P450-500 each. It's too expensive to buy for the sake of cuteness.
Me with my St. Bernard and Ala with her little dinosaur! So so so so cute!


Wednesday, Boogie came home from a three day work trip to Malaysia. Kjwan played in KL in like a showcase for the Ikon competition. Hey vote for them so they can represent the Philippines in KL again, against other Asian countries! So we watched Harry Potter that day and although a lot of people were saying this was the worst movie in the series, I enjoyed it. I also discovered these New York Fries with dips. Gosh so unhealthily good!

Thursday was Metrowear. Cary Santiago is the bomb. Went with Gina, Ala and Amina. Of course there are always these "sister" pictures whenever Ala and I are together. Vomit. haha.Sabi ni Boogie "So, feeling mo Hilton Sisters kayo?" haha! How I wish we were that rich.

I didn't get to take pictures because I forgot my camera (and my teeny aranaz bag wouldn't be able to accomodate it anyway!) Gina and Ala both took some so I'll update this when I get pictures from them.

Yesterday, after going to the office for awhile, I went to Greenbelt for the Harry Potter Press Party at Powerbooks. Ok, so I love fashion and events where there's alcohol and lots of small talk but I was not going to miss out on this "I don't care this is so much fun" event.

When I got there, I registered and was immediately given a GC for a free copy of book 7! I couldn't get it yesterday because worldwide launch is today. I'll probably grab my copy tomorrow. I can't wait! Patiently, I have waited for the ending of this book and now it's here! Anyway, back to the event. I was asked to pick out a piece of paper from this hat and I got Hufflepuff. I'm like "what?! NO! Who wants to be in Hufflepuff it's the dorkiest house!" So I ended up in Gryffindor, although i would have preferred Slytherin because I love Snape to death! He's so dry and sarcastic and funny! I was given my robe and ushered into "The Great Hall" where I was given a "scrumptious meal" Well, it wasn't really scrumptious but I appreciated the effort hehe. Besides, I didn't go there to eat so I didn't really care what they put in front of me.

Ala came and we both were in Gryffindor. There were games and a magic show by Eric Mana. He's so galing. I mean obviously i don't believe in real magic but he's so good at what he does. It was a 3 hour long event and for the first time, i wanted to stay until the end. I'm such a closet geek, i swear.
Aycs with the wand that Inky made. Instead of Phoenix feathers it had chicken feathers. I represented the Sorsogon School of Sorcery
Aycs and Ala from the Sorsogon School of Sorcery and Antique Acedemy of Anting anting respectively.

i spent almost the entire week with my sister, I just realized. Next post, ugly ppictures of dada part 2. That kid is such a ham, I swear!

and that was my first week at work.
Peace Joes!

Hi ho hi ho it's off to work we go

So the day has finally come. I am officially part of the work force. As in with signed contracts and everything.

Say hello to the newest addition to Metro Magazine :) The former Associate Editor moved to becoming the EIC of Chalk so I took her place. Yay!

Anyway, more later on this week. Metrowear this Thursday, July 19 at the Rockwell tent.

Peace Joes!

Just a Teaser....

People have been asking me "What happend to Peace Joe?"

While selling our vintage wares at the Glebe markets, I decided to change direction just a little bit. I decided I wanted to make my own clothes. In order to remain in line with the original concept of Peace Joe, which was reworked vintage and unique, recycled pieces, I came up with the idea of making vintage-inpired clothes to sell alongside my vintage ones.

In a few weeks, I'll be opening my doors to anyone who loves cute clothes. My partner and I have vintage and vintage-inspired sunnies, mini dresses, other clothes and accessories all for you to devour.

Just to tease you a little bit, here is a dress from the first collection of This Kid Loves Vintage:
There's lots more where that came from :) Stay Tuned for the official unveiling of our multiply site in a few weeks!

Peace Joes!

Binondo Food Wok!

Last Saturday, along with Gina, my mom and her friends, I journeyed to an unknown land called Binondo.

After reading up on the Big Binondo Food Wok on a blog while I was still in Australia, I decided I wanted to do it. What could be more fun than exploring a new place and getting to eat everything it has to offer along the way? Thanks to my mom, who organized the whole thing, we finally went over the weekend.

We met up at the entrance of the Binondo Church, and that in itself was so cool. I vaguely remember going to that area for our History field trip when I was in college at Ateneo, but I probably wasn't really paying attention so for me, it was like a first time experience. I can't believe that it was only after 28 years of existence that I visited Binondo.
The Binondo Church also known as the Minor Basilica of St. Lorenzo Ruiz. Cool siguro to get married in a church like that.

Our first stop was one of the only remaining factories for tablea. I am a certified Filipino tsokolate addict so I stocked up on this. It wasn't really a factory, just a store. They were in the middle of moving to another location so it was pretty uneventful (aside from the rolls of chocolate w/c made up for it times a million)

Next stop was Cafe Mezzanine which is the volunteer fireman's cafe. On a side note, the firetrucks in Binondo are so cute. They are purple, because, and ok, I may be inventing some parts here but I'll say what I remember, the owner of Eng Bee Tin also owns this cafe. Back in the day when Chinese cuisine wasn't incorporated into the Filipio palate yet, no one wanted to eat hopia, until he discovered that Filipinos love UBE, so he invented ube hopia. It was so successful that he only ever wore purple, and now the volunteer firemen's trucks are also purple. Medyo malabo but I'm sure you get the idea!
Gina wanted a picture with this because it reminded her of Transformers hehe! Cute right!(the truck not Gina haha!)

Anyway, at Cafe Mezzanine, we had Kiampong rice which is essentially salted rice garnished with peanuts and toasted garlic and fishball soup. It was a good way to the start the walk because we were famished. It was 1:30 pm and we tried not to eat anything before leaving for Binondo. Anyway, that food was supposedly considered "Peasant Food" It was good, damnit!
Posing at the restaurant downstairs from Cafe Mezzanine (same owner I think)

Next, we made a run for Dong Bei Dumpling (because it was raining ack! And I was in slippers!) Ok, so this is the place I saw on a blog that made me REALLY want to go on this walking tour. It's a little 16-seater place owned by these Northern Chinese immigrants who just moved here 3 years ago. Apparently, it was what authentic Northern Chinese dumplings are supposed to be like. In the Philippines, the food we are used to is Cantonese so it was a nice change.
Dumplings are made fresh in front of you. The two kinds we tried were pork with chives (YUM) and pork with cabbage. The difference is these dumplings are boiled in water until it cooks instead of steamed. You can actually leave it to stand for however long and they won't dry up the way steamed dumplings are. We also tried this pan fried pancake like thing w/c was essentially a dumpling but flat and fried haha. Our freezer is now well stocked with Dong Bei dumplings. Thank You Mom hehe.

I wasn't allowed to take pictures at our next stop, but look for a sign that just says "SHANGHAI FRIED SIOPAO" I am useless because I don't know what street it was on but this was the last picture I took before we stopped at that place:
So it MAY be along either Ongpin or Salazar. Sorry I can't be more specific. I was too busy eating. It was really good though. I brought ten home hehe.Notice the dragons on the street signs. Cool, eh?
This place full of tongues was near it. Or was this the place where we had tea eggs. I'm sorry, I'm really confused haha! I suggest you do the tour yourself because I'm not being a good guide haha.

We went to this stall on the same street as the original Ma mon Luk (figure it out) that sells bicho-bicho. In Spain, this would be their churros, in the states maybe funnel cake (but not really) It's crispy fried bread that's chewy in the middle and covered in sugar. It was nice and hot and oh so so delicious. My stomach has been weird the past week or so so I was careful with my food intake but I stopped caring when we hit this spot. It was so yummmmmmmmmy.
Looks like Gina really liked bicho-bicho too hahaha!

If you want to know about the rest of this tour take it yourself. It's only P650 for a 4 hour (but most likely it will extend a bit longer) walking and eating tour. The guide, Ivan Dy is great, really knowledgable and funny! It is money well spent!
Gina and Aycs on the last leg of the tour. Sweaty, dirty, wet form the rain but happy!

PS Don't forget to swing by Eng Bee Tin before you head home. Their buko pandan hopia converted me from hopia hater to lover. Well, that flavor at least! :D

On other news, I started boxing at Elorde today and MAN, it was like boot camp for my unfit ass! I swear I felt like they were training me like I was going to be on the next Rocky movie-and it was only my first day!

I'll let you know how this goes after a couple of weeks. I love it though. Most of all because it's a great way to release pent up aggression-and yes I do have a lot of that still. I just hide it better now hehe.

My body is begging me to sleep but my mind is working like I'm on crack. What to do, what to do!

Work starts officially in a week but I already have some work-related events to attend to. Here we go. I'm ready!

Shortcuts!

I have had long hair for most of my life and in the past ten years I don't think it ever saw itself above below-shoulder-length.

The past few months have found me extremely FRUSTRATED at my super long below my bra hair. It's so long that I can't do much besides tie it up because it's too hot to keep down AND specially here in Manila, it gets icky when it's humid! I hate going out with even semi-wet hair so i end up having to wake up mad early just to make sure it dries in time and I'm sick of blow drying it.

I have decided to go short. Today, I got what i like to call a transitory haircut. In other words, it's not the MAJOR chop yet but it's short enough for me to get used to having less hair. I think I cut about 6 inches off and layered it so that it looks good both straight and wavy.

TA-DA!!!! Earlier my hair reached Borat's torso (see shirt)

Already i am happier. When I saw the stylist cutting inches upon inches of hair, for the first time in my life, I was totally calm and not panicking. How nice. I was ready to let go of years of baggage (bad relationships, issues and etc) that manifested itself in my flat, lifeless hair.

Even shorter hair SOON! I'm excited!

Work it!

So, I officially have a job! After two years of being spoiled with the luxury of my own time, I am going back to the work force.

I am going to be an editor again, but this time for an older-market magazine (and a higher position hehe!) I'm excited and nervous all at once. Work-wise, I know I can handle it with no problem, but I guess it's because it's going to be a completely different world then the one I was in at Pink. I know that everyone there has always looked at me like I'm much younger and all that, so I really need to step up my game when I start.

I think I'm ready though. My official first day is not until July 16 so I have a couple of weeks to psych myself up a little more. Of course, there's more to deal with, such as separation anxiety and guilt feelings because I will be away from Ananda more often. We got so used to it being her and me and I know it's going to be weird for awhile. I'll figure out something I'm sure. Millions of mothers work, after all. And being a single mom, well, who else is supposed to come up with money to raise her? (You can argue that her father should, partly, but haaaaaaaaaay. That's a completely different story)

Anyway, that's my news for today. Aside from the fact that......

Sometimes I can be such a fan girl.

I was watching the MTV movie awards by myself earlier and I squealed (alone!) when Johnny Depp came out. Nakakahiya.

but then again, it's Johnny Depp. You probably all squealed, shrieked and gasped too.

*sigh*