Turning Twenty

I have always thought that twenty was a pretty lame age-- you drop the "teen", but you don't quite get any more "adult" either: still can't quite play in the casino, nor drink in the United States. But don't get me wrong, I don't have any vices nor do I plan on turning those into such. (I probably would just spin once in Las Vegas when I'm twenty-one, and bet on beginner's luck.)

Dungaree Dressing

It seems to have become a ritual for us to go out every special holiday and wander at The Fort. Well, what can I say, the place is like a haven for food-trips. With that, I guess it goes without saying that every day spent there is a cheat day *hides face*.

Apart from that, I also consider every day like such as an opportunity to dress up freely, without having to mind any dress code. For this particular day (gosh, I've forgotten what holiday this was, so much for backlogs), I've decided to go back to the 90's and channel one of my favorite bloggers, Luanna Perez of Le Happy.

Top: Hollister

Dungaree: H&M

Boots: Dr. Marten's

Backpack: Ralph Lauren (vintage)

Headband: Forever 21

Rings: Infinitine

Yes, I've worn this dungaree/shortall before. They're my only pair haha! But hey, repeating clothes is okay as long as you mix-and-match, right? I've got to say, this goes to my list of most favorite personal looks.

That day, we decided to eat breakfast out so we can try Early Bird Breakfast Club! They have a branch at BGC, but we ate at their Century City Mall branch (just because). Be ready for a sudden change in filters

Early Bird Breakfast Club

G/F Century City Mall

Makati City

Though the shoestring potatoes on the first dish were delish, the main star of the breakfast would be the Yin and Yang champorado! I've never tried anything like it-- made of white chocolate and dark chocolate! The combination is perfect. The dilis also complements the chocolate rice porridge with its saltiness. To top it all off, its presentation was beautiful. Not sure if people normally eat dessert after breakfast; but anyway, we got a slice of Chocolate Ginger Torte for free-- thanks to Camille Co's mobile app!

For lunch, we headed over to Todd English Food Hall. There're a lot of dishes to choose from! The most amusing thing about it is, you can watch them be prepared in different sections of the hall, depending on the cuisine.

Todd English Food Hall

SkyPark, SM Aura Premier

Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City

We could have ordered more, except we were still quite full from that morning's breakfast. The soft tacos, The Classic flat pizza, and goat cheese ravioli were all scrumptiously satisfying though! For someone like me who is very picky when it comes to Italian food, my statement on the last two dishes say a lot. I wouldn't be opposed to the thought of going back there and trying their other choices!

My outfit here is actually my top OOTD on Instagram! I have four (4) more posts left in my backlog after this. Unfortunately, school's back this Monday *grimaces*, so I'm not quite sure about my updates here. But I'm trying to post-process and write all my backlogs already so I can just post them on queue! Feel free to follow me on IG though...I'll be a lot more alive there haha!

x Erika Rosales

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Mixing Prints

Last July 2, my mother celebrated her birthday (exact age to remain a secret, hehe). I know, that's more than a month ago... talk about backlogs *sigh*! But what can I do, school's been getting the best (and worst) of me. But I'm happy that I'm just around two weeks away from the term break! I have a lot of things planned out already (hint: one of them is catching up on my backlogs, and another is finishing my blog's new layout heh)! Well anyway, here's an account of what transpired on my mom's birthday!

Since my classes are only halfday (but the workload is h e a v y), my family went out for lunch. We make it a point to take advantage of every holiday/special day to head on over to the Fort, for some reason. Of course, I made sure to shoot my outfit! So here's what I wore:

Top: Forever 21 || Skirt: Mango || Watch: Casio

Denim jacket: Guess || Cut-out boots: Topshop

Honestly, I may have underestimated the weather (in terms of temperature, particularly in degrees) with wearing the jacket. But hey, it was cold in class so it worked out at some point! The denim jacket has actually been in my possession ever since I was a kid! No kidding. I'm really happy we kept it though, and I rediscovered it. It feels pretty good to fit again in something that you had when you were a lot younger and tinier. 

From the old and vintage, we go to the new. I wore two new things in this outfit: the skirt, and the boots. The skirt was one of the pieces that I bought as a means of taking advantage of the sale season. I really love the print: I like how it's floral, but not the big-flowers kind of floral. I want more floral and/or flowy skirts; I feel like one can never have enough skirts!

And we go down to the boots. I think this pair may just be the best bargain ever!! Another steal from the oh-so wonderful sale season, I got these Topshop boots for only P600!! YES, you read that right. Have I mentioned how much I love Topshop sales, particularly their markdowns on shoes?! This lovely pair of booties is actually my 3rd pair of Topshop shoes, and all of them were on sale when I got them. (Fun fact: they're all suede too!) The best thing is, I've been wanting a pair of cut-out booties for so long, and I've been eyeing these in particular! So when my I saw them on sale, my jaw literally dropped; and I knew I had to snag it at once. Talk about 'meant to be' hahaha!

As can be seen, I wore two prints together. Some say that mixing prints is a no-no, but I believe there are exceptions. I feel like one of the fool-proof pattern combinations are stripes and florals. It would work especially better too if at least one of them are "minimal" in nature. 

For example, the thin stripes of my top works well the small flowers of my skirt; but even if the print of my skirt was an explosion big floral patterns, it would still look nice. But if both of then were big, meaning the flowers are big and the stipes are thick, it might be a bit too much. That's just me and how I see it though; what do you think? :)

Moving on, we ate lunch somewhere we've never tried before: Mamou. My parents heard word of how delectable their steak is, so we figured to try it out for ourselves.

We decided to get a salad for a starter. We originally wanted the one with soft shell crab, but unfortunately crabs weren't in season that time. So instead. we got the Harvest salad instead. It's got lettuce (duh), tomatoes, cheese, pecans, and cranberries. It was pretty delicious and reminiscent of  one of Project Pie's salads (which costs a lot more less, by the way).

We also decided to get the Truffle Cream pasta. It was perfect. To be honest, I'm not a fan of pasta-- well, Italian food, in general; so I'm really picky when it comes to them. But this one's really good! And if it's coming from me, one who's not exactly a fan of pasta, then that should say something, right?

And here comes the star of the meal-- the Angus Rib-eye USDA Prime Grade Steak Twin. We got the Twin size, which is good for sharing. We got it in medium well, our usual preference when it comes to steak. The photo below may not do it justice, but I tell you: it's h e a v e n l y. It's so tender, it almost melts in your mouth. It's juicy too which, ironically, makes it sinful. But it really is good! I didn't even bother leaving out the fat of the beef because its got so much flavor. But at least we all shared on it; at least the guilt is shared too hehe. Aside from sea salt, the steak is also served with a gravy. But as it is usual in most steaks, the gravy should be left untouched in order to taste the pure goodness of the steak. However, I did sprinkle some sea salt on my portion because I'm kind of fond of salty food on times that I don't worry about water retention, that is, lol. I suggest you add some salt too! It makes it even more flavorful.

An order of the steak also comes with two free side dishes. We got creamy spinach and mountain rice. The creamy spinach kind of reminded me of laing, while the latter was something new for my taste buds. It was rice left unpolished, so it had this earthy kind of taste. It served well to balance out the slight saltiness of the steak.

Mamou

Serendra

Bonifacio Global City, Taguig

We then did some walking around Bonifacio High Street, and eventually ended up at Toys R' Us, where we found these cute walls! Of course, I decided to pose for some photos.

We then decided to eat dessert at Magnum Cafe (again-- read about my first visit there on a previous post of mine). But this time, instead of making our own ice cream bars, we decided to dine in and try their gourmet creations. We got the Death By Chocolate, which is a pan of brownie served with Magnum and cream. It smelled good, like chocolate, the same as the rest of the restaurant. In my opinion though, it was just so-so. The whole thing was too sweet. Also, I would have preferred if the brownie was chewy, instead of gooey. But then, maybe that's just me. (Wasn't able to take any photo, sorry.)

So that was my day! I didn't post a photo of my mom here because she's pretty shy; but if you're curious, feel free to check out my Instagram. I posted a photo with her during her birthday.It'd be great if you followed me there; I'm a lot more active there than here. Follow me also on GFC and/or Bloglovin! I've also just joined Chictopia, so join me there too! I'm sorry it's taking me a while to get back to your comments and/or follow back, but I promise I'll do them all in time. :)

x Erika Rosales

Lace and Denim (and Ramen and Ice Cream!)

Won't you look at that semi-rhyming title (denim and cream, y/n?)! This has been long quite due, actually. But anyway, here's how my family spent Independence Day around two weeks ago.

June 12, 2014 marked the Philippines' 116th Independence Day. As per usual, it was declared a national holiday. Every Filipino has a different way of celebrating the occasion (if ever they do in the first place). Some-- mostly the youth-- took to social media by tweeting about Philippine history in a different light under the #RP612fic tag. (I have to admit, I enjoyed the stuff there!) Most people, however, took the liberty to leave their homes and spend time in the malls, myself and my family included.

We usually refrain from going to the mall on a holiday, due to the throngs of people that fill them up. However, we have kind of missed going to Bonifacio Global City so we took the chance to go there. We're more of the Makati crowd which is actually not that far from BGC, but yeah. Of course, much to my delight, I drove our car! I think my driving skills are improving. (But if you ask my dad, he might have the opposite idea, oops.)

Our plan really was to go to SM Aura, since we haven't been there since they first opened. Back then, the a-already-operating stores were still so few. So we thought it would be nice to check it out again.

But of course, I couldn't pass up the chance of having a nice place to take outfit photos in, so we decided to stop over at High Street first to take some snaps. (The place reminds me so much of America, particularly the premium outlets haha!)

It felt like a warm summer day, so I snagged that as an opportunity to wear my denim shortalls. Crop-tops and dungarees go together like peanut butter and jelly (what kind of an analogy was that???), and if I were daring enough, I would have gone with that alone. However, I wasn't, so I wore a lace top over haha! The delicate feel of lace just contrasts perfectly with the toughness of denim, don't you think? :)

(Yes-- it's a GIF!)

(click photo to view on Instagram)

Lace top & shortalls: H&M || Crop top (worn underneath): Bershka

Sandals: Birkenstock || Bag: from Korea || Watch: Casio

Bracelet: Yabang Pinoy || Lipstick: Maybelline (Coral Crush shade)

Won't you look at that perfectly-messy bun!! I suddenly felt like doing something fun with my hair, so I decided to roll it into a donut bun. I did it with no sock or anything! Just pure pins and ponytails. *feeling smug*

If you guys noticed, 3 of the items I was wearing (shortalls, sandals, bag) were from my Seoul haul! Hihi. But in the spirit of the Philippine independence, I wore my Yabang Pinoy bracelet. It is made of braided abaca, a material that is abundant in the country, and is known for its resiliency. Honestly, I love how it means something yet looks beautiful at the same time.

Bonifacio High Street

Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City

These photos have been post-processed. But putting that aside, you can notice how the outfit shots looked sunny yet the landscape ones have turned gloomy. The weather decided to be moody on that day, apparently, so it began acting up a few minutes after I took these photos! The wind blew so hard and the rain poured with as much intensity. It's nice how the security of Boni High treated the Philippine flag with the respect it deserves by sheltering it from the rain.

And so we finally headed to SM Aura. As expected, there were lots of people milling around. Restaurants were full too! I was on a hunt for a potential 'best ramen in town' though, so we endured queuing for this one:

(click photo to view similar post on Instagram)

Universal Noodle Ramen Nagi

SM Aura Premier

The waiting time was around 45 minutes (may not be that much, but for hungry people, it just may be), so I thought, 'this better be worth it'. Indeed, it was! My parents already tried it (yeah, they ate here without me and it broke my heart loljk), and they had so much praise for it, but I had to try it for myself. After all, I'm doing micro-reviews on ramen joints (check out #RamenRavesByErika on Instagram!)

I got the Butao King, their bestseller. But that doesn't end there! You get to control how you want your ramen to be! Cool, right? You can choose the intensity of the flavor, the spice level, firmness of the noodles, the pork part that will go in it, and other stuff! I took a photo (see above) of my choices in case you haven't seen! Of course, the extra order of tamago ("egg" in Japanese) is a constant for me hehe.

Given that we can all come up with different combinations (or permutations? lol), I can't really give a detailed review aside from saying that Ramen Nagi is a MUST-TRY. I'd love to go back again and maybe try their Green King (pesto and cheese) or Red King (spicy) next time! (They say the Black King is really good, too, but I don't eat squid to that's out of the question haha.)

After a fulfilling lunch, it was then time for dessert! We made sure to leave some room in our stomachs because that was actually the main point of us going all the way to Aura. What am I talking about, you ask? Why, Magnum Café of course!

(click photo to view on Instagram)

Magnum Manila

SM Aura Premier

I've always been a fan of Magnum ever since it hit the country. So when I heard about the Magnum Cafe finally coming to the Philippines, I was so excited! I think the concept of getting to make your own ice cream is totally rad.

For P100, you get to choose the ice cream inside, the coating, the drizzle, and three (3) toppings! You can choose from usual toppings like almonds and marshmallows to the unconventional ones like quezo de bola and chili flakes. They also have suggestions for combinations, in case you're having a hard time choosing what you want. But for myself, I got chocolate ice cream coated in dark chocolate; topped with gold nuggets, freeze-dried strawberries, and honeycomb, and; drizzled with gold chocolate. My very-own Magnum came out to be colorful. It also tasted great! I love how the sourness of the strawberries clashed with the sweetness of the honeycomb (and also the light bitterness of the dark chocolate shell). I also enjoyed the crunchiness of the toppings.

Magnum Cafe also offers wonderful dessert creations, but we'll have to try that some other time. Some other cheat day, perhaps?

Wow, I never talk about just one thing on any of my posts, don't I? Well anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this post! I'd love to hear from you guys-- whether you've tried these places, want to try, or whatever. :) Also, kindly follow me on GFC, Instagram, and/or Bloglovin! And let me know so I can return the favor, (I'm also planning to make a Facebook page for my blog soon-- once I've reached a hundred followers here or 300 on Instagram, maybe?) Thanks! :)

x Erika Rosales