Author: Rochelle Sy Chua

Seattle’s Best Coffee

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On November 15, 2009

Seattle’s Best Coffee
R2 Level, Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Drive cor. Estrella St., Makati, Philippines

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Earlier today, I met up with 2 of my closest female friends. We meet up every now and then, usually 2-3 times a year. We either meet up for coffee, dinner or lunch. Since Shar is already married & Stef is busy with her work & social life, we just catch up and have our very girl talk on rare meetup occasions.

This time around, we decided to go to Powerplant. It has been such a long time since I last visited Powerplant mall. It has really changed a lot. One place that really caught my eye was Seattle’s Best Coffee.

I especially love the look of the Seattle’s Best! The lighting on the ceiling are just super cool & unique. It just made Seattle’s Best coffee a great place to hang out in & be comfortable in. We were supposed to meet at a different coffee place but I asked if we could just move it in Seattle’s Best Coffee hehehe 😛

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Our girl bonding pictures can be found here. I hope we see each other soon again. Let’s see if we can make this a regular thing instead of just when we’re free.

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Here are what we ordered:

Classic Javanilla Shake (Php 155)

I remember a friend mentioned that this was the best drink he ever tasted hahaha. I have yet to order this drink. I will definitely do next time. Earlier, I ordered White Chocolate Mocha, so I’ll just sample Javanilla on my next visit to Seattle’s Best Coffee.

White Chocolate Mocha (Php 135)

This has always been my favorite drink at Seattle’s Best. I just cannot get enough of it. I can’t seem to make myself try the other drink that the coffee shop offers. I just love the way this was made and ofcourse, White Chocolate has always been my favorite! 😀

Macaroons (Php 45)

Looks yummy but I wasn’t hungry so I didn’t order. My friend Shar ordered this. 🙂

Butterscotch Bar (Php 60)

Java Chip Javakula (Php 145)

Aside from the awesome coffee, Seattle’s Best Coffee also offer Planners for year 2010. I actually like this better than the ones being offered by Starbucks. My reason is that this doesn’t have the dates written all over the book. Seattle’s Best version is more of a notebook. So just in case, we aren’t able to use it, you can still use it the year after. Like Starbucks, you need stamps. This one you just need to have 20 stamps.

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My Big Love Movie Review

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On November 15, 2009

While everyone in the Philippines were busy watching Pacquiao-Cotto fight, I was watching the TV screening of My Big Love.

This movie was from 2008. The stars were Kristine Hermosa, Sam Milby and Toni Gonzaga. Well, I think the title says it all that it is about love. What the title doesn’t say is that this movie is also about looking beyond the physical aspects of a person.

Sam Milby stars as Macky, a pastry chef. His character had this huge crush on Kristine Hermosa’s character, Nina. Macky showered her with gifts, flowers and food but everything changed when they met in person. Nina had a shock of her life when a 300 pound guy showed up in front of her.

Toni Gonzaga’s character, Aira on the other hand was a fitness instructor. She tried to work hard to provide for her family. She attempted a lot of times to help Macky get in shape in order to get the love of his life, Nina.

When Macky finally agreed to be Aira’s client, the 2 ended up learning to love and care for each other in the process.

Aira accepted an offer to work abroad and had to leave for 2 years. During this time, Macky continued to work hard to lose weight. He then became a most sought after bachelor. He ended up with his forever crush, Nina.

When Aira came back, well you guessed it: Macky became confused as to who he really loved. Is it the one who he had been dreaming of or the one who had loved him unconditionally? I love this movie! It had its touching moments & also there were funny comedic moments.

Star Cinema is really making quality movies that I love. I’m really glad that I was able to catch it this morning! 🙂

My Rating for My Big Love: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Ortigas Park

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On November 15, 2009

Ortigas Park
Don Francisco Ortigas Jr. Road (former Emerald Avenue), Pasig, Philippines

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There was a seminar I attended at Ortigas Center last weekend. During the break, I walked around the area because I was sooo bored. I ended up stumbling upon this wonderful park located in between buildings. It was just a refreshing sight!

The 1,590 square meter park was developed by Ortigas & Company to celebrate its 75 years of existence. It was opened to the public last December 2005.

The mural design portrayed the history of Ortigas & Company & the people behind it. The artist used objects & symbols that described the success of their business.

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This is really a great place to hangout! I read that it was meant for employees, visitors and shoppers to just chill out and rest. It is a great place to escape the office ambiance & all the stress you feel during work hours. And yes, I think the beautiful landscape really does have that effect. Hey, I found it to be a great place to pass the time!

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Aside from the beautiful scenery, the park has a coffee shop that serve drinks & food. There is a stage where some shows are held occasionally. A perfect place to escape and relax 🙂

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I do hope that Makati would have a place like this. More pictures of this beautiful park here.

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Thousand Cranes Shabu-Shabu

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On November 15, 2009

Thousand Cranes Shabu-Shabu
2/F Greenbelt 3 Legaspi St., Legaspi Village, Makati City, Metro Manila
(02) 729-8640

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The only shabu-shabu place I know is located at Greenbelt 3. It has great ambiance. Even if you’re eating something hot, you won’t feel uncomfortable.

Service though is a bit blah coz there were only 4 staff that day. So there was only 1 manning the kitchen, 1 manning outside area, 1 manning the inner area & 1 manning the counter. How could they serve customers with over 15 tables & they were undermanned? tsk tsk!

Before our order arrived, the staff helped setup the cooking area and ingredients for sauce. I lovvveeeeeee sate sauce.

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For those who don’t know how to cook, no worries!!! It’s easy! You just need to put the ingredients on the boiling soup, wait for a few minutes for it to be cooked and then you’re good 🙂

Here are what we ordered:

Shrimp & Meat Shabu-Shabu (Php 570)

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With Shrimp & Meat Set, you could choose chicken, fat beef or porkloin as your meat. We have chosen porkloin. By the way, you need to be attentive when you start putting your shrimp and meat in. To cook shrimp and meat, don’t let it stay more than a minute in the soup.

All Balls Set (Php 400)

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Different kinds of balls in this order: shrimp balls, squid balls, meat balls, even crab sticks! 🙂 If you just want pure & simple shabu shabu meal, then this is for you.

Fresh Buko Juice (Php 70)

I still prefer Shabu-Shabu places that offer eat all you can. I think those are more affordable and we have more control as to what we’ll eat. For me, I would have preferred more porkloin and more shrimps!

And also, there will be less waste for those ingredients that we don’t like (or eat).

More pictures here.

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The No Nonsense Seminar on Finance

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On November 15, 2009

I attended Randell Tiongson’s No Nonsense Seminar on Finance: How to Invest for the Future last week. I must say there is really NO nonsense in this seminar.

I’ve been to several seminars on finance before but I ended up disappointed because I felt that it was more of a marketing scheme for them so people can invest on their company. The examples & theories were just so common. Some even used Robert Kiyosaki’s teachings that has been overused by lots of companies already.

With Randell’s seminar, all the things that we NEED to know about investing is there. Each & every slide that Randell showed to us is crucial for us to know so that we can be on our way to financial freedom.

You can really feel Randell’s passion in teaching financial management. He doesn’t want us to just stop right where we are but encourage us to go a step further and invest for the future!

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The best thing about this seminar is Randell made it so simple for us to understand. Investing is not just for people who are good in math or accounting. Everyone can be successful investors!

No Nonsense Seminar on Finance: How to Invest for the Future is basically a vehicle for us to learn investments, investment planning, investment risks & investment instruments in a practical way.

Some of the key takeaways from the seminar are the ff.:
Manage your money

Set a Budget.
Stick to it.
If you Exceed, Repair.
Record & Know where it went.
Eliminate Debt.
Establish a Savings to Keep.

Setting your goals

Aim the Target – Be Specific
Formulate Budget
Implement
Build on your Mistake – Review Performance

Get Out of Debt

Minimize Loan
Get Out of Debt
Cash Out Your Assets (You Cannot Accumulate your Wealth if you are in Debt)

Photos from the Seminar can be found here.

I missed the 1st hour of the seminar so I really hope that there are more repeats for the no nonsense seminar. You can get updates from Randell’s site here & join their online discussion here.