SPOT.ph is the newest website about dining, drinking and going out in Manila with reviews posted by the users themselves. SPOT.ph is very generous enough to organize an exclusive food tour at TriNoma for bloggers. Jenny, Roxanne and I took part on the said food tour at TriNoma visiting and eating at a total of 21 restaurants for free. We were treated to the classiest restaurants around the Metro, which we can’t afford on our own.

During the registration, I was rubbing elbows with Ms. Dine Racoma and her family but I never got the guts to introduce myself. Anyway, I belonged to Group 2 (the Green group) with Karl Bustamante, Community Editor of SPOT.ph as the group tour marshal. It is in Group 2 that I met Camille, Dak, Dexter and his wife, Maki, and others whom I didn’t talk with really but I recognized them. Let me borrow Janina San Miguel’s word. I am sorry. This is my first bloggers event ever! Hahahahaha!

More photos at my Multiply

I will not elaborate more on each and every restaurant that we visited but instead I’ll blog on the ones whom I liked and hated (kidding).

Ruby Tuesday
Ruby Tuesday is known for simple and fresh American dining. They served us Cheddar Fries, Tortilla Chips and Baby Back Ribs (if I’m not mistaken). Sorry but I don’t pay much attention to the names of the dishes. Anyway, who doesn’t love cheese? The Cheddar Fries is perfect for those who love fries and cheese. The Tortilla Chips is actually fine with their special dip, which I don’t know how they called. I love their Baby Back Ribs though I heard some who didn’t like it.

Ruby Tuesday is located at 4001, Level 4, TriNoma, EDSA corner North Avenue, Quezon City with telephone numbers 909-4005 and fax number 909-4006.

CYMA
I’ve never been to any Greek restaurants nor did I eat any Greek food. In fact, I didn’t know that Cyma is actually a Greek restaurant until Robby Goco the ever-accommodating Executive Chef introduced us to their restaurant. Robby explained to us how Filipinos and Greeks were similar in terms of food. In fact, Cyma is the MOST generous of all the restaurants that we’ve been to. They offered us more or less five dishes. I asked for their menu and I was surprised to see how affordable their dishes are. I love the some sort of salad that they served us. I would be really glad to return to Cyma.

CYMA is located at 4002A, Level 4, TriNoma, Quezon City with telefax number at 915-2859.

Bubba Gump
Bubba Gump got really nice interiors and of course great food. Their Strawberry Lemonade is really refreshing. They were nice to give bloggers ID Lace and Notepad.

Bubba Gump is located at Level 4, TriNoma, Quezon City with telephone numbers 916-9314 and 916-9319.

Fish & Co.
If you are a seafood lover then Fish & Co. is the place to go. You should try their gigantic mussels with a very creamy sauce and their fish nuggets.

Cold Rock Ice Creamy
Ice creams are best for this summer season and Cold Rock Ice Creamy is the best place to get them. In Cold Rock Ice Creamy, you are free to select what toppings you want on your ice cream. I tried the Bubblegum flavored ice cream with Nerds and Gummy Bears as toppings. It’s really a great experience!

Cold Rock Ice Creamy can be found at the Cinema area of TriNoma.

Anyway, major shoutout and link love to all the restaurants that we’ve been to! La Maison, Recipes by Café Metro, The Madison Grill, Bubba Gump, Cyma, Café Breton, Fish & Co., Italianni’s, Holy Cow Chop House, Jack’s Loft, Ruby Tuesday, Red Box, Starbucks, TGIF, Cold Rock Ice Creamy, Five Cows, Abe, Haiku and Krispy Kreme!

Thanks to SPOT.ph Team for the very nice and fun food tour. I nearly vomited (kidding)! Looking forward to more bloggers event.

For this episode of Starbucks Trivia, we would be talking about the “lost” Rhumba drink by Starbucks.

One night during our regular Starbucks hangout with my siblings Dianne and Roxanne at Serendra, I asked the barista what happened to the Rhumba drink. There are two reasons why I asked the said question. First, I’m really curious about what happened to the drink for it is my favorite drink. Second, I want to test the barista’s knowledge (forgive me).

So, yeah, the barista knows the answer!

The barista told me something like this:

The Rhumba Drink got replaced by a new drink called Java Chip (which I’ve tried a lot of times). The ingredients are still the same except for one – the added “treat” on the drink. Rhumba has coffee bits on it while Java Chip got chocolate chips on it. The barista didn’t disclose the real reason behind why it was replaced by this Java Chip. Although I like the taste of Java Chip (almost the same with Rhumba) it would be nice seeing the Rhumba on their menu again.

GOOD NEWS to everyone! For those who failed to claim their Starbucks 2008 Planner because of insufficient stickers, Starbucks has extended the Starbucks 2008 Promo until February 15, 2008. Hurry now and complete those planner stickers!

*Thanks to Liangcai of flickr for the Rhumba picture

Since the start of Starbucks Christmas Promo for this year, the following Christmas Drinks are offered: Praline Mocha, Toffee Nut Latte, and Peppermint Mocha. If you’ve been drinking Starbucks since last year, you’ll notice that the Gingerbread Latte got removed from the Starbucks Christmas Beverage line-up.

I was curious. Where did Gingerbread Latte go? I asked a barista on a certain Starbucks store and fortunately the barista knows the answer to my question. And she said something like:

We (Starbucks Philippines) change our Christmas Beverage Line-up every year. A new one replaces the drink with the lowest demand the following year.

So probably, Gingerbread Latte got the lowest demand for 2006; hence, the birth of a new drink – Praline Mocha. In fact, I’ve heard a lot of negative remarks regarding the taste of Gingerbread Latte. I’m fine with its taste but I prefer Toffee Nut Latte than Gingerbread Latte.

So now you know where did Gingerbread Latte go. Interesting trivia, isn’t?

After drowning myself with Starbucks Coffee for almost a month (awww, that’s 24 drinks all in all), at last, I got the Starbucks 2008 Planner (Dec 2007 – Dec 2008). This year’s planner is quite smaller than the previous one. The paper is quite thin meaning it’s much lighter than last year’s planner, spaces for notes are quite small and it comes with a pencil instead of a pen. OUCH! How I wished it’s a mechanical pencil. LOL! I still plan on collecting more stickers for another planner which is reserved for my older sister. Hahahahahahahaha!

Have a more organized new year, everyone!

But the thing is, I got offended.

How dare you, Starbucks Convergys!

Truly, THIRD WORLD SERVICE SUCKS BIG TIME!

On December 2006, I bought myself a personalized-commuter-mug to use it in school or wherever I am. I claimed my free beverage right away and enjoyed it with a piece of Cinnamon Swirl. When I arrived home, I plugged on my computer and fired up Photoshop – I created my very own tumbler insert. Upon seeing my finished product, my two sisters wanted for one also. I bought another tumbler for my younger sister, using the gift certificate my classmate gave me. The barista just handed me a free beverage coupon because I just finished drinking a Grande Latté.

Recently, my older sister wanted to buy two tumblers as a gift for her friend. I visited 3 Starbucks store that time but I can’t find the ‘personalized commuter mug’ anymore. Our last hope was to buy from Starbucks SM North Edsa. She bought one tumbler last January 24, 2007 and she told me that she didn’t get any free drink. The barista told her that the promo that gives away free beverage for the newly-purchased tumbler ended last January 15, 2007. I was so irritated that time because I am really expecting for a free drink. I didn’t know that the free beverage for the newly-purchased tumbler was a PROMO and ended last January 15, 2007. First, there weren’t any posters / ads about that “PROMO” (or did I miss it?), even the SOY LATTÉ has posters. Second, the ‘free beverage coupon’ for the new tumbler handed to me before doesn’t have any date to indicate the start and end date of the promo. I decided to e-mail the Customer Service of Starbucks.Com (their main website) and I stated there happened. After two days, I received a reply coming from a Customer Relations Officer (I think…) apologizing for my “missing” free beverage coupon for the newly purchased tumbler. He told me that he would be sending me a coupon through mail (I’m still waiting for it). He didn’t answer my question whether that “PROMO” exists or not. A friend of mine bought from the branch and he didn’t receive any free beverage coupon also.

Please enlighten me, I’m ignorant about that “PROMO”. Check out Naples rhinoplasty.

I finally got my Starbucks 12oz Tumbler which costs me P395 plus a free Venti drink of your choice. I did customize my tumbler by creating a template on Photoshop of my Starbucks adventures and printed it on a card stock I got from our “bond paper envelope”. I am happy with the result! My classmate, Cyrus gave me P500 worth of Starbucks Money for New Year! Thanks a bunch, Cyrus

I am currently hooked on PHOTOGRAPHY! I want to have a DSLR camera but it’s out of our budget. I’ve been eyeing a Canon Powershot S3 IS because of its likeness to a DSLR camera. The camera would cost me around P20,000 if I would buy from Henry’s (Camera Shop somewhere in Hidalgo St. somewhere in Manila). It would cost me more than P30,000 if I would be buying from malls. I badly need a CAMERA! I have been relying on my cellphone’s camera for all these years. Hayy… I wish to have that CAMERA! For another link-love here at Brinknotes.ORG, check out rhinoplasty surgery. I need to rest now, bye

Today is our school’s Christmas Party. The party lasted for only two hours because we had a Mass and a small program held at the gymnasium. After the Christmas party, Czarina and I went to Shangrila Plaza with some other friends. We roam around the mall finding nothing! After roaming around and seeing some Damers we headed to Starbucks to complete my Starbucks Promo Card. I drank three Starbucks drink in one day! LOL J I drank Gingerbread Latte, Zen Iced Tea and the finale, Passion Iced Tea. I was able to complete my promo card today and received my planner at Starbucks SM North Edsa before going home. It’s very fulfilling on my part that I have completed the promo card in just 3 weeks!

Please give me this oppurtunity to thank the following people who helped me on completing my Starbucks Stickers: Myself , Jenny, Roxanne, My MOM, Dianne, Kaye, Jam, Czarina, Vicent, Michael and to everyone else.

Roxanne and I pushed through our plan of going to SM North Edsa. We met Dianne, our oldest sister at Starbucks. Luckily, she brought 2 friends with her = ADDITIONAL STICKERS for me! We are with Jenny, my mom’s secretary that time. I tried the Gingerbread Latte and it tasted fine. I have completed a total of 12 stickers, 9 are left and I’ll be having my very own Starbucks 2007 Planner. Not bad since I just started collecting stickers last December 8, 2006. I’ve wanted the hot drinks now than the cold drinks and I’ve been addicted to before. I so excited to have my PLANNER. I hope my family would be going out and spend sometime in Starbucks (and complete my Starbucks Snowflake Stickers, lol). Next order, the PASSION ICED TEA.

PS: My blog should be named – My Starbucks journey! LOL

YES! It does continue. In fact, I’ve been drinking Starbucks for two days straight now though the nearest Starbucks store is a bus away from our house. I just got home from my sister’s family day and we thought of heading to SM North Edsa right away but we decided to go home and wait for our older sister to get home so that we’ll go to Starbucks together. More drinks, more stickers right? I accompanied my Mom to her clinic at Farmers Plaza Cubao. After that, I decided to go to Starbucks Gateway for additional stickers. I ordered Toffee Nut Latté again and bought one Café Americano for my Mom’s secretary. Luckily, the barista spelled my name right that’s why I took a photo of my Starbucks cup.

I’ve been a PEXer (Pinoy Exchange.com Forumers) for almost a year now. I checked the Classified Ads section of the forums wherein the members are allowed to sell their own stuff. There are several people that sell their Starbucks 2007 Planner and even the promo card thru PinoyExchange.com. They’re selling their Planner for about P800 to P2,000. I am not promoting the buying of the planner but it eradicates the purpose of collecting 21 stickers. As stated on the Starbucks promo card – “The Biggest Surprise is saved for last as wonders indulge in the delight of what’s to come!”