Caffe Bene

I love Eastwood on Sundays! Hehe So not crowded.

Coffee Time

Tea time. Tea flavors displayed at the counter.

Like most coffee fans out there, my go-to cafe is Starbucks. When almost every street corner in Makati (where I work) has one, it surely is the easiest answer to your caffeine fix. But I also made trying out other coffee shops before planner season starts, which is this November already,  a goal. So today's cafe of choice is ta-da... Caffe Bene. I would've already sampled their bingsu had the shop not been under renovation some months ago. And because I've been busy too I only got to come back now. A day before I start collecting SB stickers, which yay! ^^ 

Sweets galore: waffles, honey breads, and gelato FTW!

I know we should have eaten lunch earlier so that we'll have more space in our tummies for the waffles. I've seen pictures online and oh, they do look yummeh! But it's just coffee and bingsu for now. Pfft 

I got a regular hot White Mocha P145 

And because we eat with our eyes first (right?) she ordered a Large Strawberry Patbingsu. Patbingsu is a Korean dessert made of shaved ice and red/adzuki beans. Similar to our halo-halo. At Caffe Bene they offer them in different flavors and we're happy with our choice, not only because it looked great in IG but also because it truly was a winner in taste! And like a special halo-halo, it was topped with a scoop of strawberry gelato which, yay since a small order would of gelato would cost you P150. 

Their bingsu comes in two sizes - Large, which is big enough for two, and Huge, dunno how many can share it, though. 

Jessa's Large Strawberry Bingsu P230 was big enough for us. :)

We only got to try these but we'll be coming back for the waffles and mocktails. Soon. :D

Caffe Bene merchandise. Cute mugs and tumblers adorn one shelf by the corner. I like the hand drip set but it's pricey, around P3,000 and the lolli cups with straw.

Hand drip coffee set


Caffe Bene 
Eastwood Citywalk 2 
Open late:  M, T, W, Th, Su: 7:00AM - 1:00AM
F, Sa: 7:00AM - 3:00AM

Dong Won Garden Korean Restaurant

Hats that remind you of historical K-Dramas adorn one wall of the restaurant. 

Sweldo Friday Group is out again and the night's restaurant of choice was Dong Won Garden Korean Restaurant. We decided to give this place a try because we have been going to the same Korean restaurant for more than two consecutive paydays already, it's time to check out other restos out there,hehe. The price was fair and it's in the same area, so off to Jupiter we went. :)

Table for four. 

The establishment doesn't look new but I wouldn't call it shabby either. It may be the minimal furnishings that gave it a homey vibe. We chose the tables in one of the rooms that I think were reserved for bigger groups but were still allowed to be used by us. We were able to sit comfortably, like when you're lounging around your own living room floor, heh. We took our sweet time deciding on what to order (we ended up picking the usual ones, though) and taking pictures which were fine with the servers (me thinks) given that they had more customers than they could handle. We were left alone striking silly poses in whichever part of the room we wanted. We eventually got tired and felt that we really were hungry by that time.

Burp! Taken after all the food had vanished. See how the throw pillows were strategically positioned to hide the evidence?.. hahaha

We originally intended to grill the meat ourselves this time since we always just let them serve our samgyeopsal ready to eat. But since it was a very busy night, everything was taking a little too long for their staff to prepare. Oh, did I mention that they were short staffed? There were just two waitresses on the day in question. About half an hour have passed and still the charcoal was not yet available? For a restaurant this size, and considering it's a payday weekend, you'd expect them to be well prepared to serve everyone, in a timely manner. We especially watched out for our dinner that night choosing to go light as we were planning to make room for this outing, so we were already hungry. They just had about a couple of tables with customers when we came. But when we arrived, more people started coming, too. 

Refillable banchan. I especially liked the salty & spicy potatoes. Don't know what it's called, though.

Our default order Jeyuk Bokkeum P300

Saeu Bokkeum (fried shrimp with chilli powder) P380

Samgyeopsal P300

FREE Chiggae! We ordered Dwenjang chiggae, assorted seafood with soy bean paste stew, but this one looked like Dubu (tofu) chiggae. At least it had clams in it. :P  We got this for free because we ordered 2 servings of Samgyeopsal but the price of Dwenjang Chiggae is around P250-P300, i think.hehe 

What we liked: 
Refillable banchan. I think ours were refilled at least twice. 
FREE stew (Dwenjang jjigae) since we ordered two servings of Ssamgyeopsal. 
They're open 24/7. 
They also have a food mart. 


What they could improve: 
Slow service. With (maybe) more than five tables and most were in big groups, they really had to hustle given that they only had two waitresses present. That may have been sufficient on a regular day, but on a weekend proved to be lacking.


photo credits: Tine, thanks a bunch! 



Dong Won Garden Korean Restaurant 
53 Polaris Corner Jupiter Street, 
Bel-Air, Makati City


Budget P900 for 2 It's always better to come in a group so the bill could be split between more peeps. 

Can't Stop Manila Lives Up to Its Name

CNBLUE

Apparently TS Mario really couldn't stop CNBLUE and BoicePh from meeting this year. As mentioned in a previous post, fans have been waiting for this event for months. It's just that unfortunately for some, getting to the venue would be a major concern. 

We live in Rizal. And in the morning of Friday, September 19th, the region was declared to be in a state of calamity what with several (if not all) areas being flooded. Even though other events happening at other convention centers have been canceled, the concerts organizers decided that the show must go on. I personally feel strongly against it, not that it matters.haha but more on that later. 

My sister, Jess, works at a call center in Eastwood. We had advised her to stay in the office since roads were already not passable. People had to be ferried by inflatables from Ortigas extension to their respective destinations, or at least somewhere they could safely walk without slipping or being swept by flood waters. But cell phone signals may have been weak that day as some of my messages did not reach her and I received hers late. 

It had been a misadventure for her I could say. I would have been scared and anxious waiting for hours with hopes of being able to go home. Well, she was not able to go home. The better option was to return where she's been. 

At least that's what I thought she did: return to the office, when in fact she chose to head straight to the venue of the concert instead. Fatigued, sleepless, and soaked, now she went straight to Smart Araneta Coliseum where the concert would be taking place in the evening. She must have been disoriented as well, as she left her shoes (one that I use to borrow and  one that some of my co-workers admire as they're really cute) in the cab. Fortunately, given the terrible weather, ootn is not a major concern as most turned up in flip flops as well. And after a couple of hours or so of waiting, faithful fans were able to enjoy the band's performance. Although I know that their hearts are also breaking for those fans who were unable but more than willing to come. 

The shoes in question. Photo taken from her IG.

These are just a few snapshots and videos she managed to take. It was surprising how her battery survived that long. (no wonder why there were no replies when I was checking if she's arrived at the office safely) 

Kang Min Hyuk

Can't Stop set list. The Boys were sensitive enough to edit out songs with the word "rain" like "Teardrops in the Rain". 

While I'm thankful and happy that she's safe I think it's quite thoughtless to go ahead with watching the concert since she could have just ended up being stranded somewhere else. She's been under stress so I didn't nag her anymore since mom's gonna do it when she comes. I just joked that if she wasn't able to see the boys this year, then we could just go see them next time, in Korea! hahaha 

Can't Wait for CNBlue's Can't Stop Manila Tour

#D6 my sister's hashtag for the day. It stands for the number of days she'll be counting down until she finally sees the boys (okay, the drummer boy) she's been crushing on. hahaha The band returns to Manila for their concert on September 19 (Friday), 8:00 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

This weekend's goal? Nothing special, just to snap some pictures with their huge standee. Isn't she totally fangirling? She even got t-shirts ('Can't Stop' and 'Lovely') online. She might be wearing that as a uniform with other Boice people. We may all have passed this phase, so I'll just humor her. After all it's not hurting anyone in anyway, right? hehehe

couple shirts daw ♥

For those not in the know: CNblue is a South Korean rock band formed in Seoul in 2009. The band consists of Jung Yong-hwa (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Lee Jong-hyun (lead guitar, vocals), Lee Jung-shin (bass guitar, vocals) and Kang Min-hyuk (drums, vocals). 

CN is an abbreviation of 'Code Name' while BLUE is an abbreviation of the members’ individual images. 'Burning' represents Lee Jong-hyun, 'Lovely' represents Kang Min-hyuk, 'Untouchable' represents Lee Jung Shin, and 'Emotional' represents Jung Yong-hwa. 

We went to Gateway Mall for this. Seriously. The hurdles: the rain, traffic, and the long cue at LRT Santolan. All for a photo op with the boys in cardboard...

L-R: Lee, Jung-Shin, Lee Jong-hyun, Jung Yong-hwa, and my sister's dream boyfriend Kang Min-hyuk. kekeke

Let the countdown continue...

CNBLUE LIVE – Can’t Stop
September 19 (Friday) 
8:00 p.m
Smart Araneta Coliseum 

Gangnam Style Korean Restaurant

My friend who's pregnant has been egging us to go to a Korean restaurant for some time now (months actually). And because we're all busy people, we kept pushing it back until we can't anymore.hehe She has to go on maternity leave so we finally went. Yeah we're meanies like that, not satisfying her cravings until she's almost about to pop. heh!
I believe it was my fault that she had this particular place in mind. I've been there once and I built it up so well they're intrigued if it's as good as I said it was. So we went to Makati Ave last week, one very busy Friday night, to put my words to the test.
 

Gangnam Style Korean Restaurant is a casual dining place located at P. Burgos in Makati. It's near St. Peter and Paul Church so cabbies can easily find where it is. The place is small but what's important is the food.
Now the food... 

We ordered Jeyuk Bokkeum - hot and spicy stir-fry pork dish, Samgyeopsal - grilled slices of pork belly, and Sundubu jjigae - a hot and spicy jiggae or Korean stew. Banchan, the side dishes, are free and they would refill it twice you just have to ask. They served kimchi which I got to try for the first time although I've already eaten Korean food before. (more on that later) We also had seaweeds with carrots when our banchan got refilled we just didn't have a picture of it.
 

Jeyuk Bekkeum P500, Samgyeopsal P280, and Sundubu Jjigae P250

Banchan: kimchi, green onion pajeon, and other veggies as side dishes.

We just ordered three dishes but we're already really full so we were hesitating when kuya approached us if we wanted Patbingsu for dessert. I'm a dessert person and was expecting that I could still make room for it but I doubt if I can stuff any more into my already more than satisfied tummy. And then kuya told us it's free, yes free! And who passes up on freebies? Definitely not us, eh? haha So we just asked for two servings of the Korean halo-halo. We wouldn't let food go to waste since we're already full up to our necks. :-P Plus, we had to do something while waiting for Pau's takeout anyway.
 

 Patbingsu - Korean halo - halo is free :)

To go: Ddeokbokki (spicy rice cakes) P300 with free banchan

A side story: after eating our fill (and more) we headed out and were waiting for a cab when Ate (should've asked for her name) came rushing after us. It turned out Shiela, in her haste to make it to her noraebang commitment, too left her phone inside. Their waiting staff is really commendable, right? :)
 

What we liked:
Clean place
Their food taste great and are cheaper compared to other Korean restos.
Their servers are attentive, polite, and honest.
The free patbingsu or drip coffee.
Oh, they have wi-fi, too! ^^
 

Others:
It could be cooler. The a/c was not cool enough but we were not really bothered by it so I won't say it's a minus.


Would I go back?
Definitely!




Gangnam Style Korean Restaurant
5739, B1 Won Rest, P Burgos Corner,
San Lucas, Poblacion, Makati City
10 AM to 5 AM