Noel <3 Via

Branch featured here is the newest one at Capitol Hills, Q.C.
Capitol GreenStreet Annex Bldg. Capitol Golf & Country Clubhouse
Old Balara, Quezon City

Tels.: +632-435-0114 +632-473-0455
+63915-3940789 +63917-8133457
hours: Mon-Thu 2-11PM
Fri-Sun 11AM-12MN

Needing some kneading (pun intended!) to be done on our weary bodies after a lot of stress filled weeks, Noel and I decided to check out the fairly new Blue Water Day Spa that opened near us.

First thing we noticed was the out-of-town feel it had. Tucked under the Capitol Hills country club, surrounded by greens, one has to go down a few steps to get there.   I think I even remember hearing a few crickets singing! (of course this was at night) Upon entering the spa, instead of the usual strong eucalyptus scent wafting in the air, there seemed to be a hint of lavander. I wasn’t able to photograph the blue lighting in the hallway of the treatment rooms, giving it a bit of a sci-fi ultra modern feel.

We opted for a couple’s room which had its own lockers and shower.

The shower had a nice stone lined floor but was a bit cramped even for just one person. Noel noted that the sheets on the massage beds were a bit scratchy, but I didn’t seem to notice. Not being too familiar with their massage list, I chose a medium priced one called the Oriental Massage- which turned out to be a very good choice. Priced at PhP 750.00, you get 1.5 hours of long strokes that are alternated with herbal heated packs put on your body. They anticipate the heat and put an extra layer of blanket to absorb this. Both Noel and I drifted in and out of sleep, something we don’t normally experience during massages. I highly recommend this massage if you need to de-stress and have a lot of kinks in your upper back.  I would love to try their scrubs next time (they start at PhP 850.00), but I am especially intrigued by the chocolate slimming mud therapy.  Who doesn’t love chocolate??? It supposedly diminishes the look of cellulite and what better time to try it but this summer?  All Capitol Hills lacks is a large swimming pool to complete the feeling of being outside of the city.

Check out the different branches of Blue Water Day Spa at their website.
You might even win a free Swedish massage. Check out the details here.

I had eaten at this restaurant years before when it was still called Chef Ed. It was good back then, so I wanted Noel to try it under its new name and see if the quality of dishes stayed the same. So one Friday, we decided to head here for lunch, as it’s not too far from our offices. Fig & Olive has a very casual vibe. It even has an outdoor area with throw pillows surrounding cushioned benches in plums and blues and ceiling fans overhead. It has a very beach resto feel to it. It transforms to a bar at night with hookah pipes to boot!

We ate in the airconditioned part as the heat is really on this summer. We were served a bread basket with butter while we waited for our food to arrive.

The menu is a bit pricey with dishes starting at about PhP 250.00 but well worth it. Everything was delish! And the best part about Mediterranean cuisine is it’s healthy too! Check out our scrumptious fare!

Fig & Olive is located at 139 H.V. dela Costa Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City
Telefax: 8120016

Couple of weeks ago I was in a bit of a slump, thought a new haircut would help lift the blues. As my friend G put it, invite some change in. So I marched myself into Essensuals Toni & Guy at Trinoma.

Intrigued by Phoebe’s post when she wrote about her positive experience at the Crowne Plaza branch, I had been wanting to visit the place myself but found it a bit out of the way. Since they opened a Trinoma branch, I decided to check it out one weekend. The place was packed! The next appointment was in a hour’s time so I booked it right away. I was surprised to see so many many people in a salon that isn’t cheap.

I didn’t know which stylist to pick and ended with Idyll. I explained that I wanted something a little different that would bring out my natural curls, but I was afraid of texturizing as it really gave me bad split ends before and irritated my face as a result. I liked that she gave her recommendation right away about my needing a treatment as my hair was very dry and my scalp was quite irritated. But what I liked even better was the massage I got while I was asked to wait for my stylist to get to me. Once she did though, and made her recommendations, she had someone give me a quotation first as to what the treatment and cut would cost. A cut with Idyll costs PhP 650.00 and the treatment she suggested for hair and scalp was this sea salt treatment from Japan called Mucarina. This came out to almost 3k because of my long hair, but they gave me a good discount which cost about PhP 2,200.00 - PhP 2,400.00.

The treatment itself felt cold and soothing on my scalp which is prone to irritation. Idyll said this is aggravated by stress. I was given another very relaxing massage to help my hair absorb the Mucarina. To seal it in more, it was steamed directly using this contraption. Of course I was told that I would need more than one treatment to bring my hair’s original lustre and softness back.

I felt like I was in a carwash. Hahaha! Then it was time for my cut. To my dismay, Idyll decided she was going to texturize my hair after all, even if I had already explained what had happened before. She reasoned that the stylist probably didn’t know what he/she was doing. I’m still on the fence about my new haircut and may go back for another treatment, but have to accept that my hair can’t really swing high layers and has to be cut more or less the same way by my usual stylists at Basement. For maintenance I was told to blow dry only the bangs (a sideswept fringe) which I attempted to do but failed miserably. It felt like another episode out of Betty&Veronica comics where Betty tries to replicate a fab new do on her own but just gets frustrated.

Toni & Guy is located at:
3/L Trinoma North Avenue Corner Edsa Quezon City Metro Manila
Phone: +63(2)9007168

Noel and I have made a more conscious effort to eat healthy since early this year so it’s difficult to find healthy snacks. With the mushrooming of frozen yogurt around the metro, it’s not so hard to indulge and still feel guilt-free as frozen yogurt is quite low calorie as long as you watch what toppings you add on. We’ve come to love it so much, here’s a compiled list of our favorites according to how much we like them.

Problem is, when I first started this post, it was way back in February. Things have changed a bit for me in terms of preference. I now prefer the hint of Yakult in I Love Berries and have grown a bit tired of the creaminess of Red Mango and the long wait. (They’re also not too generous with their toppings and have a very poor selection of them) Fro Yo is quite the opposite, in that it’s as if they’ll never run out of stuff and they just give you a lot more. So keep this paragraph in mind when you read what I’ve written below:

1. Red Mango - this is located on the 3rd floor of Trinoma across Toys R’ Us and Fitness First. I love their slogan: “Treat Yourself Well” It has the right combination of sweetness and sourness and is served in really cute white ceramic bowls that look like huge oyster shell halves. What we didn’t like though was during one visit, we were being asked to order green tea since they were running out of the regular flavor. They also just opened at the 2F of the new Eastwood Mall and at MegamallA ground flr. I wonder if they’ll introduce pomegranate here too?

2. White Hat - this is what first got us hooked on frozen yogurt. It’s probably one of the sweeter ones out there. With branches in Mall of Asia, Robinson’s Midtown, SM North Edsa and one just opened in Rustan’s Glorietta, it probably has the widest reach today. We didn’t know what the big deal was, till we tried this brand a couple of times before getting hooked.

3. Fro Yo - this is what Noel and I would visit inside Hobbes Universe at High Street when we were too lazy to make the effort to visit the less accessible White Hat branches. The thing is though, the staff always seems to be a little bit dazed and confused. But this is one of the few branches that serves candy sprinkles as a topping which I love. They also have a branch in Thomas Morato in a place called Thompson’s Square. Here are photos:

4. I Love Berries - everyone kept saying this tasted just like frozen yakult. I was a skeptic but enjoyed the retro treatment that they did to their first store which opened in the level1 entertainment area of Mall of Asia.

Upon trying it again at Rockwell’s recent Urban Bazaar, I noticed that it did taste a bit like frozen yakult. But it wasn’t too creamy.

5. Lullubelle - the prettiest interiors by far! Just love the hot pink and orange combo and all the little cows. I should be getting my free gift from them soon, having filled up all the stamps on my loyalty card. Their green tea flavor is my fave when paired with candle sprinkles and mini marshmallows.

And it’s right in Rockwell near the new kids’ area on the 3rd floor.

6. California Berry - first tried this at Silver City across SM Hypermart in Ortigas but wasn’t too impressed. I guess I find it quite tart. This might be the most tart of the frozen yogurts we’ve tried. Noel wasn’t too impressed either. Maybe because we were in bad moods also by the time we got there since Noel had forgotten I wanted to try it on our way home from many errands. It just recently opened at Paseo Center which is quite close to our offices. Discovered it by accident with two of my friends months ago.

My wonderful student Fumi gave this to me last Tuesday, as her going-away present. I was in tears as I’ve only dreamed of owning one of these, and I couldn’t believe our time together had come to a close. It’s called a yukata, what Japanese ladies wear in the summer as it’s made of cotton. Less formal and a lot less heavy than the silk kimono.

Tying the Obi belt is no easy task. I sought the expertise of another student, Yuko, as Fumi had no time. (Actually she showed me how to put on the whole yukata. It’s very precise and methodical, and she was done in about 2 minutes) I had another tutorial with yet another kind Japanese student, Kyoko. And we went through it step by step this time. I was able to practice on 2 friends from work. Though not perfect, I am actually able to make the Obi belt on others as well as myself. Whew! (imagine doing origami on a piece of cloth, not easy!)

She also gave me these yummy lemon flavored Kitkat that I’m holding in my hands in the photo above.

Thank you again to my three Japanese friends, Fumi, Yuko and Kyoko!

Took newlyweds Tovi (my cousin) and Maui to dinner last week at Cafe Cicou at the fairly new boutique hotel called Hotel Celeste. Since we both hadn’t tried it before, we thought it would be a nice treat since it was our first dinner together. Nice warm rolls were served before our meal came which was nice since it took us some time to decide on what we were going to drink let alone eat! Noel and Maui had a glass of white wine each while Tov and I had whisky to soothe our sore throats. (not a good idea guys. It soothes initially but my throat was unbelievably and uncomfortably dry that night. Ugh)

So Noel decided on going with the lamb

and I chose the local seabass.

Tovi and Maui opted for cod. To start we shared scallops. Noel and I also split French onion soup while Tov and Maui shared squash soup.

The food was all right, not too rich and had good flavors and presentation, but Tov found a bit of plastic in his soup. (Strike 1) The chef’s wife came out to apologize to us but looked a bit dazed as she did as if she was stoned. There was just something very strange about the eye contact. But it was very kind of them to scratch the squash soup from our bill. They also gave us a complimentary dessert plate which had macaroons, meringue and other sweets.

Sadly strike 2 came when our “newbie” waiter poured water into Tov’s whiskey! They did replace it with a half-filled glass, but you’d think their staff would be more alert.

For dessert we chose the cream pots (which was like flavored panna cotta) in vanilla, mocha and caramel flavors.

It was quite a pricey meal but was quite reasonable given we were four people. We explored the rooms of the hotel afterwards, and we were told that no two rooms were alike and that portions of the walls were even handpainted.

French Rococo themed lobby toilet

Check out Hotel Celeste for yourselves at
#02 San Lorenzo Drive
cor. Arnaiz Avenue
San Lorenzo Village
Makati City
www.hotelceleste.ph
telephone no:
+ 63 2 887 8080
fax no:
+ 63 2 887 8088

We don’t normally celebrate Valentine’s Day, but this year was full of little surprises. My dear student Yuko gave me low calorie cookies from Japan. (How considerate as she’s knows I’m trying to eat healthy)

Then my sweet husband walked into my office last Friday (the 13th to boot!) with red roses and my new fave dark chocolate called Valor (with forest fruits)

My Mom sent us cute towels shaped like desserts. Look who was interested in them and thought they were for her.

We had a late dinner at Pazzo in Rockwell and Tebs joined us for a bit for gelato. Here’s what we ate:

The mussells were quite bland on their own. The taste improved a bit with the lemon butter sauce but something was just off. Maybe they weren’t fresh enough?

This pizza was all right, but we nixed the anchovies and had to pay an extra PhP 60.00 to have the porcini mushrooms instead.

My favorite was the spaghetti alle vongole with spaghettini. But I always forget that in Pazzo they drizzle some pesto on top. It’s just so wrong! Noel enjoys vongole more with pesto though.

The next evening (which was actually VDay) I treated Noel and me to a massage at home care of Spa du Soleil. Although they have a minimum spend of PhP 1,000.00, 1-hr. massages start at PhP 500.00 which is so reasonable considering you have it at home. What’s cool is they bring their own massage bed that unfolds, spa sounds and a cute pot of faux flowers/shells that you can stare at when your head is in the massage pillow donut. Though I already had a slight fever and had a touch of the flu, the massage helped my aching joints and made me sleep better. So it was pretty fun VDay after all.

Not sure what to give your loved-one for Valentine’s? Why not gift them with this cute bag to store their SLR camera and other tech gadgets in? It’s cute and fun can be used as a regular handbag as well. Comes in 5 different flavors in a splash of color. Retails at PhP 799.00 at all Powerbooks stores.

We had a lovely dinner Italian for Mom’s birthday last Monday at Caffe’ Caruso.

Noel had Minestrone soup Risotto ai funghi porcini which were both very nice while Fran and I split an Insalata Caprese. (slices of juicy tomatoes, mozzarella di bufala, fresh basil and olive oil)

We all had some red wine too called San Genovese. Mom and Dud had Scallopine with Marsala I think. Noel tried the spinach that went with it and enjoyed that. For dessert we had tiramisu and some nocciola (hazelnut) gelato. Fran had a cosmo and I had a raspberry martini. But that wasn’t it, the restaurant owner, Dario, treated us to a round of my fave limoncello!

Caffe’ Caruso is located at:
210 Nicanor Garcia St. (formerly Reposo St.)
Makati City, Metro Manila
Tel.: 895-8790

I was apprehensive at first when I entered the Murad Medi-Spa yesterday afternoon the interiors didn’t look as modern as I imagined it to be. Though the lighting was nice, I suppose I expected it to be much newer looking. I later on found out that it had been open in Rustan’s for 7 years already! Here are some photos:

I was asked to change into a terry cloth tube minidress that velcros in the back. Similar to a hospital gown but not as open. Since the facial treatments cover the neck, shoulders and upper check, it’s best to leave your bra and bashfulness in the locker area. Especially if you’re not used to having a male aesthetician. (it was my first time!) But James was quite the expert at scrubbing my face squeaky clean. We started with a little steam before scrubbing with a nice fruity scent from the gray or green line. This was followed by comedone extraction (yes blackheads and whiteheads) and it was done with bare hands. I was told that this is much safer and more painless than using that awful metal pricker that dermatologists usually use.

Then came the most wonderful part which was the neck and shoulder massage. It was heavenly as it was just the right pressure. Then a mask was applied to lift away the remaining impurities. I was ready to sleep at this point. Finally it was time to moisturise and my skin felt quite comfortable and had a rosy glow. (I usually break out right after facials and feel rubbed raw by scrubs) Today save for a few new zits in the chin area, my skin feels smoother and generally less irritated. I actually dared to leave the house without any make-up on! (James did say this would be a possible feeling after the treatment) Here I am the day after some Murad Magic:

Murad is at the 5th Level of Rustan’s Makati
Direct Line: 816-1806
Trunkline: 813-3739 local 266
E-mail Address: murad_spa@rustans.com.ph

James actually got me to sign-up for the 4 treatment package. Something I never do! And my Mom is coming along with me next week.