10-Day Weekend Tidbits

Yup!  Mother Nature did not only bring forth heavy rains but also a 10-day long weekend for teachers like me (including the holidays).  I have to admit the rains did stress me out a bit - because I hate the rain to begin with - and also because of the perennial construction problem that our half-baked-made house succumbs to, resulting to "indoor flooding."

Anyway, I don't want to go through that because I have been going through that for two years now.  So!!!  Let me just show you a visual lowdown of how I spent my looooong weekend (apart from mopping floors).

Tidbit 1:  Went to Cool Beans Cafe (again!).  Their Kalinga roast coffee is perfect on a rainy day.  It was so strong, though, that I was up until 2 am the following morning!  I also devoured (half) a plate of their Creamy Bacon Mushroom Pasta while burying my nose in one of their library selections.

Tidbit 2:  I was able to practice my calligraphy.  I realize I have not blogged about me learning calligraphy.  It's a difficult endeavor to post as you will soon learn.  They say my left-handedness is an advantage but I'm still struggling with my strokes.

Tidbit 3:  Finished sewing a set of prototypes for Wicked Crafts's next offering.

Tidbit 4:  Had lunch with my family at Romulo Cafe.  Hon-some and I missed eating here and we were happy the food was still just as good as when we last dined here.

 Pinoy Nachos:  Kamote and taro chips topped with tomatoes and kesong puti and drizzled with cheese sauce

 Boneless Crispy Pata Binagoongan (we went easy on this one)

 Seafood Kare-Kare

 Escabecheng Lapu-lapu

Tidbit 5:  For the past two weeks, I have been juicing vegetables and fruits for Hon-some.  This week, I made a big batch of juice using celery, cucumber, and apples!

Was also able to catch up on my reading, do advanced stuff for work, personal projects, and more household chores. :)

The weekend that was.  :)

Weekend Tidbits

Tidbit 1:  Brought Hon-some's nephews to Cool Beans Cafe to load up the tummy and their brains :)  I wrote about Cool Beans here.

Best well-spent hour, if I may say, taking their picks from the graphic novels and children's books.

The grub:  S'mores cupcake and red velvet cookies for the kiddos.

And cream of pumpkin soup for me!

 My pick for the day

Then we hopped over the new milkshake place nearby (told you QC is the place to be!)...

 Vanilla and Speculoos Cookie Butter milkshakes!

Tidbit 2:  I joined What If Handmade's first Learning Exchange at Cordillera Coffee.  Charming coffee house.  I met fellow crafters and learned about the crafts they made.  More importantly, we talked about crossing over from being hobbyists to craft entrepreneurs.

The weekend that was.  Have a great week ahead, lovelies!

The One About Cool Beans Cafe

Some incredibly genius individual/s thought of putting together a cafe and a library in one cool hotspot (Maginhawa St. in Teachers Village) and made it a dream come true for bookworms like me. :)

The moment I stepped inside Cool Beans, one can already begin to appreciate the silence, so much so that I actually turned my phone to silent mode as a sign of respect to the customers who had their heads buried in books.

The cafe is small and only seats a few people.  Being there makes one want to linger for as long as time can be stretched and enjoy items from their menu or to browse and read the available literature.

The library is enough to satisfy various reading appetites:  there are fiction selections, comic books, Filipino literature, art books, home and design...

 ...and one shelf dedicated to National Geographic magazines (virtual high-five!)

They have rice meals, sandwiches, soup, pasta, and salads.  I love the fact that they serve Highland coffee.

My order:  Spanish sardines pesto pasta with Sagada iced coffee.  And my book pick from their library.

Their servings are quite big, mind you.

And so as I sat there and enjoyed my pasta lunch and book, I couldn't help but look at all the other people around.  Some were chatting in really low voices in between bites.  Some were studying.  And yet some were just like me -- happy to be surrounded by what I assume to be like-minded individuals and by volumes of the written word waiting to be cherished.  :)