Monday, December 31, 2012
I actually got my local Starbucks planner last 12/21 (when the world was supposed to end, LOL) but I have been too lazy to take pictures so I have not been able to blog about it. I got it from our exchange gifts with the Ops people from the office and I was quite surprised when I got it: I never expected that someone would actually take my wishlist seriously. Well, needless to say, I now love (though not romantically) the person who gave this to me. :)
Anyway, here are the unboxing pictures:
Black box nothing special
wrapped in 'that' paper. No idea what it's called.
This is one good-looking planner. Very classy and sturdy looking. Infinitely better than last year's edition.
Side by side with the Korean version. IMO, the local version looks soooo much better!
The inside cover
The bookmark
Back of the bookmark and the first page. Page quality is GREAT!
2013 and 2014 calendar.
Monthly view
Weekly view - lined and spacious!
Monthly widgets (really nice addition)
December gift list
Notes page
Lined notes pages
Freebies
Monday, December 24, 2012
This is what I posted in Facebook last night:
Merry Christmas to my family, all my friends and becky friends, my colleagues, my schoolmates, my exes, my co-workers, the person that I secretly love (the song is for you, hahaha), my teachers / professors / mentors, my frenemies, my acquaintances, in other words, all my FB friends. May God continue to bless you all.
With all our love,
Moi and Phoenix
Merry Christmas to my family, all my friends and becky friends, my colleagues, my schoolmates, my exes, my co-workers, the person that I secretly love (the song is for you, hahaha), my teachers / professors / mentors, my frenemies, my acquaintances, in other words, all my FB friends. May God continue to bless you all.
With all our love,
Moi and Phoenix
(Picture taken in Makati Shangri-la)
Monday, December 17, 2012
As a bonding activity with my daughter, I bought an arts and crafts activity kit from Toy Kingdom the other week. For around 300php, my daughter and I were able to make cupcake-shaped refrigerator magnets last weekend.
The kit inlcudes the following:
- 2 packs of plaster of Paris (1 pack good for 6 cupcakes)
- Paint (not sure what kind) - pink, blue, yellow, white, and violet)
- Paitbrush
- Magnets
- Pins (in case you want to make cupcake pins instead)
- Cupcake mold
Here are some pictures of our bonding activity:
The Mould and Paint Cupcake Kit - packaging is very cute and eye-catching. One of the reasons why I bought it.
Phoenix smiling at the camera before we opened the kit.
With all the tools laid out before her.
The tools, like I mentioned earlier.
After we are done mixing the plaster and pouring it into the mold. You need to mix one pack of plaster with 50-70ml of water.
Waiting for the plaster to dry. Takes around 30 minutes to an hour.
Cupcake plaster prior to painting.
My baby painting the cupcakes. I mixed the colors for her.
Enjoying herself.
Another shot of her painting.
And ta da!!! The finished cupcakes! Phoenix did most of the painting (except for 2 cupcakes wherein I couldn't resist and did all the coloring) but I did the edges and fine details for her. Aren't they lovely? :)
Overall, I would recommend this kit for moms who want to do some bonding activity with their kids. I believe that they have a lot of other sets that you can choose from. My only complaint is that the paint peels off easily. Good thing that a facebook friend recommended that I use clear acrylic spray on the finished product so that the paint can hold up. I already bought the acrylic spray but I haven't used it yet. Will post pics of the cuppies once I'm done coating them with clear acrylic.
Anyway, two thumbs up for this kit. Highly recommended!
Sunday, December 16, 2012
One of my best guy friends recently visited Korea and got me the Starbucks planner as his pasalubong (I requested, LOL). Based on the pics I saw all over the net, I thought they looked cute and for some weird reason, very Korean.
One good thing about acquiring this planner is that my friend did not have to drown himself in coffee just so he can get one for me. In Starbucks Korea, they allow straight purchase of the planner, unlike here in the Philippines. This is one practice that I hope PHL will start but I'm not getting my hopes up.
Anyway, I was very happy when I finally got the planner. My friend got me the orange, regular-sized version. I thought the planner looked really cute. What's included in the planner package would be the planner, a mini notebook and an elastic planner holder (?).
Here are pictures of the actual planner unwrapping:
One good thing about acquiring this planner is that my friend did not have to drown himself in coffee just so he can get one for me. In Starbucks Korea, they allow straight purchase of the planner, unlike here in the Philippines. This is one practice that I hope PHL will start but I'm not getting my hopes up.
Anyway, I was very happy when I finally got the planner. My friend got me the orange, regular-sized version. I thought the planner looked really cute. What's included in the planner package would be the planner, a mini notebook and an elastic planner holder (?).
Here are pictures of the actual planner unwrapping:
Planner still wrapped in plastic
Unwrapped!
Side by side with the mini notebook
Solo shot!
First page where we can see the serial number.
Weekly page
Monthly calendar
Space for notes
Freebies
Back view of both planner and notebook
This planner also comes in black or in handy-sized (no idea about actual dimensions).
Overall, I was very satisfied with the planner. The only nitpicks that I have would be that the pages are thinner than that of the PHL version, and the space for each day in the weekly page is a tad too small (well, the planner IS small, compared to the PHL one).
I think I'm gonna use this planner for my personal appointments.
Some sellers in Sulit are selling this planner so if you're interested you may want to check the following links:
http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/view+classifieds/id/6972331/Starbucks+Coffee+Korea+2013+Planners?referralKeywords=starbucks+planner+korea&event=Search+Ranking,Position,1-3,3
http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/view+classifieds/id/7261428/2013+Starbucks+Planner?referralKeywords=starbucks+planner+korea&event=Search+Ranking,Position,1-1,1
Here are the 2013 edition Starbucks Planner from different Asian countries:
Malaysia
Available for RM 138 or around 1900php, or free if you complete 15 stickers. I think the leather cover looks great, but the inside pages are compiled like that of a ring binder. I think this is also available in black.
Source: http://dululainsekaranglain.com/english/starbucks-2013-organizerplanner
Indonesia
No idea about the mechanics nor the available colors but I think this also looks very nice.
Source: http://postedby.tumblr.com/
Thailand
No idea about the mechanics either but I would assume that one would also need to collect stickers to get the planner free.
http://sbntown.com/forum/showthread.php?t=269470
South Korea
This is available in 2 colors: orange and black, and two sizes: regular and handy (?). This also comes with a free mini notebook. Looks very cute and I have the regular sized, orange version. This was given to me by my friend who recently got back from Seoul. Based from what my friend told me, I think like with Malaysia, you can get the planner either through stickers or by buying it. Price is around 900php if you want to do a straight purchase. I will write a full-review on this shortly.
http://blog.designdb.com/01045609637/bbs/dblogView.asp?catPKID=2&sGb=&sTxt=&oDm=1&bbsType=&page=87&bbsPKID=20632
Philippines
Like what I said in one of my previous entries, I really liked this year's edition: very classy looking! You can get this planner by purchasing 17 drinks (combination of Christmas and Regular drinks).
http://www.frannywanny.com/2012/11/starbucks-coffee-planner-2013-christmas-philippines.html
Not sure about the planners from HongKong or Singapore. Will try to research some more.
Anyway, right now, I like the PHL version best, followed by Korea, then by Indonesia. Do you have the same choices as me? :)
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
I love red velvet cupcakes / cakes. I think that on this blog, red velvet would have the most number of entries because of the great love that I have for this dessert. I am constantly on the lookout for new reds that I can try out and love, so when I had the chance to go to SM North (I don't go here very often because of its proximity from where I live), I researched on the net if there are any cupcake places that I can check out while there.
Because of my research prior to going, I knew that there's a Sophie's Mom stall, as well as a Blushing Cupcakes shop. The Big Tummy stall was an added bonus. I felt like I hit the jackpot because it's not very often that I can simultaneously try out three kinds of reds from one mall.
So how do they compare with each other? Read on.
Because of my research prior to going, I knew that there's a Sophie's Mom stall, as well as a Blushing Cupcakes shop. The Big Tummy stall was an added bonus. I felt like I hit the jackpot because it's not very often that I can simultaneously try out three kinds of reds from one mall.
So how do they compare with each other? Read on.
Clockwise starting from the reddest cupcake: Blushing Cupcakes, Big Tummy (the one with the candy heart), Sophie's Mom
Cupcake Color:
Blushing Cupcakes: 5/5 - very clear winner as this is the reddest of them all. It's not just a simple red cupcake, it's a blazing scarlet cupcake. Very striking and very fine to look at.
Sophie's Mom: 4/5 - simply because it's not as red as Blushing Cupcakes'.
Big Tummy: 4/5 - similar color with Sophie's Mom so I guess it's only fair to give them the same grade.
Frosting Presentation:
Blushing Cupcakes: 4/5 - plus points for the artsy design, but I've seen better at Gigi's cupcakes.
Sophie's Mom: 3/5 - just one big dollop, no design whatsoever.
Big Tummy: 3.5/5 - same comment as Sophie's Mom but at least the candy heart is a nice whimsical touch.
Frosting Color and Appearance:
Blushing Cupcakes: 3/5 - Appearance just screams of sugar, rather than of cream cheese.
Sophie's Mom: 4/5 - Just one look and I know that this will be very cream cheesy based on its color, just the way I like it!
Big Tummy: 3.5/5 - Very similar to that of Sophie's mom, and the only reason it loses out to Sophie's mom is because of the size of the serving.
Frosting Taste:
Blushing Cupcakes: 3/5 - Tastes sugary rather than cream cheesy. I was looking for hints of cream cheese while eating but had a hard time doing so. It doesn't taste bad: far from it. But I guess it's a matter of preference.
Sophie's Mom: 3.5/5 - This tastes really good. The cream cheese taste is very evident with every bite. Like what I said in my previous entry, my nitpick would be that the frosting is too darn dense. But other than that, I loved this frosting.
Big Tummy: 4/5 - Wow, this cupcake has the best frosting of this lot. The taste is very similar to that of Sophie's Mom but somehow, this frosting tastes a bit better. Maybe it's because this has just the right consistency. I like the cream cheese taste of this frosting even better than that of Sophie's Mom.
Cupcake:
Blushing Cupcakes: 2.5/5 - The cupcake is dry. Actually, this is evident based on its appearance, but I was hoping to be proven wrong when I took a bite. I wasn't. The cupcake is so-so.
Blushing Cupcakes: 2.5/5 - The cupcake is dry. Actually, this is evident based on its appearance, but I was hoping to be proven wrong when I took a bite. I wasn't. The cupcake is so-so.
Sophie's Mom: 4/5 - I have said this before and I will say this again. This cupcake is sooooo good! Just the right sweetness and it's also moist, even after being refrigerated. The chocolate chips are also a nice touch.
Big Tummy: 3/5 - Like with Blushing Cupcakes, the cupcake looked dry. And true enough, when I took a bite, I think that it lacks a bit of moisture. It's not too sweet though and taste-wise, it was just ok. It was a shame though, since they already got the frosting right. Had they improved on the cupcake itself, this could have easily beat the other 2.
Packaging:
Blushing Cupcakes: 2.5/5 - Not as pretty as the others. For some reason, it reminds me of buco pie boxes.
Sophie's Mom: 4/5 - One of the prettiest boxes / packaging I've ever seen. I like the color combination of pink and blue. Very shabby chic!
Big Tummy: 3/5 - Pretty enough, with enough pinkness to please me. But not as pretty as the boxes I've seen from Sophie's Mom, J Cuppacakes, Gigi's, etc.
Overall Verdict:
Blushing Cupcakes - I liked this cupcake's color: it's not even a simple red anymore but bordering on scarlet. I liked how they presented the frosting. But like what I always say, appearance is not everything: this bakeshop would need to improve on the actual frosting and cupcake taste. The cupcake doesn't taste bad: it's just that there are a lot of red velvet cupcakes out there that taste better. Overall, this has great potential, just need to work on the actual taste versus aesthetics.
Sophie's Mom - The best of the three brands: I have said before that this is so far my favorite commercial cupcake brand so far and that has not changed. It got the frosting and the cupcake thing right. Not to mention that each cupcake is big so you get your money's worth. I highly recommend this.
Big Tummy - This has great potential as they already got half of what makes a great cupcake right, which is the frosting. I recommend working more on the actual cupcake. Given the chance to have this part improved, then I can seriously say that Sophie's Mom will have a rival for my affections.
Here are some more shots of the cuppies side by side:
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