Turq du Soleil: A Fair to Remember

The past three months flew by so fast because of all the things I decided to busy myself with. I've completed 360 hours of internship (though we were only required to finish 240), am about to take my final examinations for summer term, I volunteered to do all these things for school and other people that I'm actually surprised I'm still breathing. I guess I was too focused on forgetting and getting rid of all the drama in my life that I forgot I was human too. No regrets. I am satisfied of all the things I got to accomplish this summer and will still be accomplishing in the next three to four weeks. But before anything else, let me take a break. 

Gus and I, though it's mostly him, have been frequenting different bazaars recently. He seemed to have developed a certain mild obsession with it. I'm not complaining. It's the most fun thing I can do when I'm not interning or studying. But because of all the these trips, it seems that I too, have found bazaar window shopping, kinda therapeutic. Even if I don't get to buy anything, just looking around the various products they offer, and the different food stalls waiting for you when you exit, is such a de-stresser for me. Plus, I get to discover new items every now and then. Speaking of bazaars, there's one coming up this weekend. It's not just a bazaar, but a fair.

Yup! You read that right. A fair. The last time I went to a real fair was around a decade and a half ago, when I was still in high school (or was it grade school?) You get to eat, get married, get jailed, or visit a haunted house. You can also play a game or two if you don't get stuck in jail or locked in the horror house. This year, The Women of Aleitheia, one of the sororities in the Ateneo Law School is presenting Turq du Soleil: A Fair to Remember. It will be a fun-filled day of activities ranging from carnival fun and games, go kart, food tripping, shopping, a circus show, and even an outdoor movie screening! If you missed the screening of one of 2014's funniest Filipino rom-coms, English Only Please, now's the time to watch it on the big screen (sort of).

What are you waiting for? Get your tickets now. Gates open at 12 NN, the movie starts at 7 PM, and you have until 11 PM to enjoy with your family and friends! Time to chill and de-stress. Let the inner child run wild even for just a day. Or go shopping if it does not want to come out and play. Regular tickets sold at P150 and tickets with the movie pass are sold at P250 each.

Turq du Soleil: A Fair to Remember

Bonifacio Open Grounds

25th Street corner 7th Avenue,

Bonifacio Global City

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THEY'RE BAAAAAACK! BANANA!

Summer's not over! McDonald's just released their Minions Banana Festival Treats line just in time for the upcoming Minions movie. The Banana Festival line has four new products – Banana-flavored Sundae Cone McDip at P15, Honey Banana Float at P28, Banana Crumble McFlurry, and Banana McFlurry with Oreo at P50 each. In case you're wondering, the Banana Crumble McFlurry is the Sansrival McFlurry with the addition of the banana-flavored dip mixed into it. The Banana McFlurry with Oreo is the traditional Oreo McFlurry with the banana-flavored dip mixed into it.

I tried the Banana McFlurry with Oreo earlier tonight and I have to say bananas are a good combination to almost any dessert with chocolate. The only thing I wish they had done was use real mashed bananas or banana slices instead of the banana-flavored syrup dip they use for the sundae cone. Nevertheless, it was still a good summer treat. 

 The small yellow piece is the frozen banana dip they mix into the McFlurry.

I also read that the Banana-flavored Sundae Cone McDip comes in a blue wafer cone, not sure how true that is though. Head to the nearest McDonald's to find out.

As of today, these new Minions-inspired treats will be available until August 2015. Banana!

Photo courtesy of McDonald's Philippines website.

Going Natural: Love Lia Products

A few weeks back, I stumbled upon this natural soap seller in the Trendsetter's Bazaar in World Trade Center. I was just accompanying Gus because he's into all these bazaars now when I saw these "natural" soap booths. I'm not into soap. I'm not a soap person. I've been alternately using two soap brands for nearly a decade now. That's probably the closest I can get to being a soap person. As long as it has skin clearing or whitening properties, I'll use it. But for some reason, boredom I guess since I've been walking around for hours and Gus still wasn't done, I decided to check out the soap booths.

Love Lia Handcrafted Soaps on the left

The 2nd soap booth I checked out was Lia Mendoza's natural soaps and products, Love Lia. I have not tried the soap products from the 1st booth I visited so I'm reserving my comments on that one until I've tried their products. According to Love Lia, their soaps are handcrafted and contain natural ingredients. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a soap person. As long as it's not bad for my health or skin, it's fine. I'm not very picky. I smelled each type of soap they had for sale and decided to purchase a few because of the scent. See? Not picky. I liked the scent so I decided to ask about it.

Back to Korea: Hoolala Chicken House

Sunday night's dinner was courtesy of Deal Grocer. The name of the restaurant caught my eye so I decided to buy a coupon and try it out – Hoolala Korean Chicken House. 

I don't know why the term "Chicken House" caught my attention. I guess at that time, I found it amusing that someone would name their restaurant that serves chicken as "chicken house." The interior was unique and common at the same time. Unique because of the colorful and huge chicken drawings on the wall and common because the set-up was typical of your usual Korean eatery.

They also had flat screen TVs that showed Korean dramas.

Study Spots: Book and Borders Cafe

I only have two weeks left until the first and only summer term of the law school ends. I'm actually trying to finish and do better on one of my final examinations this summer but as expected, I am failing miserably. The heat, my bed, the unlimited wifi at home is making me procrastinate more and more each day. I should have done and finished my last requirement for my accounting elective yesterday, but laziness kicked in and I ended up watching this new series I discovered instead. So today, I decided I needed to get out of the house if I intend to finish this requirement before the deadline.

I tried this new coffee shop along Tomas Morato. I've seen the shop's front a couple of weeks back prior to their soft opening last June 16. The big sign (and the name) caught my intention. Book and Borders Cafe.  I had a feeling this wasn't your usual Starbucks or Coffee Bean so I decided to check it out, I mean, do my homework, there.

Better than Love: The Karada Experience

I've been dealing with back pain for the longest time that's why I try to get regular massages when my schedule permits.  I've tried and researched about different kinds of massages, from your usual shiatsu and Swedish, to legit reflexology from the ancient Chinese, to Thai massage. Any type of massage that will not only destress me but will also relieve me of my constant back pain.

Three years ago, Gus and I walked past this new "massage" place in Glorietta.  It didn't look much like a relaxing, therapeutic spa given the bright orange color of its walls and decors but we decided to go back and take a look at the place anyway because of the skeleton decal posted on its glass window.  It wasn't your usual massage place but what got our attention was the pictures of skeletons and the back with the caption AP Balance.  That definitely piqued our curiosity more.  At that time, all we found out was that this wasn't your typical massage rather, a technique that makes use of chiropractic, Thai massage, and Osteopathy principles.  The technique aligns the first cervical bone, the Atlas, with the main base of our body, the Pelvis, which is believed to relieve the body of its aches and stress.

At least that's what they're selling.  Flashforward to 2015 or three years after.  I haven't really gone around to trying out this new technique but all the stuff I got myself into -- internship, summer class, several school projects, and visa application got the best of me and my body.  I didn't know what else to do since I've been taking meds for the flu, but my back pain was just beyond bearable at that point.  I wasn't sure if it was because of the flu or if it was my usual back-pain-from-stress.  Whatever was causing it, I couldn't deal with it then so I decided to try out "bright orange colored spa" I saw a couple of years back.  I had a few hours to spare waiting for my mom, and the only other massage place near my internship charges P600 an hour for your usual shiatsu/Swedish.  If I were to spend around that much, I would definitely try that new technique instead so that's what I did.  Let me introduce you to the Karada Technique.