Slappy Cakes

time check: 09:00 am

It's the first Saturday of the second half of the year!! I am cooped inside my room after an afternoon of jogging with Tanya and Theo (my brother's kids), the sky is somber and the rustling of the leaves warns the city of a possible rainfall tonight. I play along with the day's mood and listen to Spotify's Smart is the New Sexy playlist. I am thinking of switching to Songs for the Sunset playlist in a while - to lead the drama on. Haha! Oh girls, hormones, mood swings and all!

Moving on. 

My sister spent a few weeks last summer in the city and every time a family member visits, I make sure we go on a breakfast date. I love sharing my love of the morning with the people I treasure. It just makes my morning ritual more meaningful. So I roused us, Quezon City girls, early one Saturday morning to get our cute butts to the bustling Makati City. I've been salivating on Slappy Cake's make-your-own-pancake experience and I finally had the excuse to do so, with my sister no less. I instantly loved the restaurant's interior. It's serious-wood meets happy-yellow-lamps. I am so into contrasts!

oh breakfast love ❤ 

(1) Make Your Own Pancake

batter: buttermilk

fixins: apple and blueberry

topping/s: maple syrup and then mango syrup

(2) Seasonal Vegetable Scramble

everybody needs his green leafy fix!

(3) Classic Breakfast

the no-fail mix of bacon, eggs, potatoes and toast

After or sumptuous breakfast treat, we visited LRI nearby and got my fix of lovely home decors and interiors and arts. Oh! Breakfast + Interiors = Happiness!

All Sunshiny,

Tina

Slappy Cakes

Jazz Mall

Bel-Air, Makati City

Summer Morning

time check: 06:30 am

Boracay

It was a toss between breakfast by the beach and an early morning swim but the boatman was insistent. "Ma'am, mas maganda mag island hopping ngayong umaga, di pa gaano maalon." We learned he is from Leyte and tried his luck in the country's most popular beach to earn a living. He shared sob tales while on the boat. I sympathized a bit and told myself to remember to give him a tip after. Is this how he is with most tourists? The teensy bit of drama was drowned by the beautiful blue sky, the beautiful blue-green sea and the unbelievably beautiful powder white sand. The Beautiful Boracay. I will never tire of it.

It was a needed break from the intoxicating corporate routine so we flew to the island on the tail end of summer. It was a refreshing break shared with my family and friends.

all photos by Alan David 

Cheers to Forever Summer Mornings,

Tina

One Saturday Morning

time check: 07:45 am

The thing I like most about living in Quezon City is that it has huge public parks where people can spend their mornings enjoying the sun, jogging, biking, eating and a whole lot of other activities - there's La Mesa Ecopark, the grounds of UP Diliman and of course, good ol' Quezon Memorial Circle. I am into succulent plants these days and knowing that Manila Seedling Bank closed to give way to a real estate development yet again and relocated in the Circle, I jumped right in one morning and embraced my inner lola-ness. Who else shops for plants in the morning except for our sweet grandmothers? :)

I bought three plants that morning - they all cost less than a Starbucks coffee. I like succulent plants because they do not need much caring - a little bit of sunshine, a little bit of water and then they can pretty much take care of themselves. Also, they're beautiful in small pots and cans and canisters and glasses and dishes. Hay. I cannot wait to have my own house abundant with greens and flowers and happy pets. :)

To lovely mornings!

All Sunshiny ,

(even if it's all rainy and I'm cooped up in the house with a nose that's runny :p)

Tina

Breakfast at Hatch 22

time check: 07:00 am

At the start of the year, I just knew that my routine is no longer in synch with my present responsibilities and my goals. How I spend my every day is no longer a step forward but instead, I kept going in circles, always thrown back to where I started. I stopped singing in the shower. My pixie dust robbed. Where is my daily activity taking me? Nowhere? I surely won't let that happen. For some reason, the world FEELS you. And like a concerned 'momma, will open hundreds of thousands of opportunities to lift you up. 

After a happy job interview, while waiting for a taxi ride back to my current office, I saw Hatch 22 - all macho and sleek under the morning sun. "Oh, so you live here?", I asked. "Yes, will you be my Saturday breakfast date?", he replied. I shrieked in glee, of course, of course! Haha, it must be the summer heat or the grumbling belly which caused this imaginary conversation with, of all things, a restaurant. And so I bullied my real breakfast date into coming with me back to Hatch 22, on an early Saturday morning, in exchange of my eternal love. Ano daw?? Haha!

Before Nine Breakfast Spread!

Southern Comfort
Creamy cheese polenta, creole bacon wrapped shimps, andouille sausage, 
sous vide egg, slow cooked pork jus, homemade biscuit

Crispy Corned Beef
Spiced up Delimondo corned beef with extreme garlic rice, crunch egg 
and seared tomatoes

Coffee

The food is a little pricey so we got one meal each (we usually order three - haha!), it was good!! Plus, they have a cool playlist - perfect for  chill breakfast date. :)

To happy and hopeful mornings!

All Sunshiny,

Tina

Hatch 22

Powerplant Mall

Rockwell, Makati City

Black Saturday Morning

time check: 05:30 am

The 12 long hours from Manila (my current home) to Cagayan Valley (my forever home) most of the time discourage me from spending long holidays in my forever home but my current home needs escaping from and I haven't seen my family since Christmas so I braved the 12-hour stretch. I am so glad I did. There's nothing like spending quality time with the family. 

Mornings are most beautiful in the province and everyday, we wake up even before the sun rises for our morning jog with our cousins and aunt. We run and jog and walk until the end of the concrete pavement (the Department of Public Works and Highways has a habit of not finishing projects here, i think, haha) and then back to our house. Our morning jogs are all about exchanges of childhood stories, carabao poos, a carabao with a heron on it (reminds me of grade school science class, mutualism, remember), goats, ducks on parade, kids crawling on the grass, families in their lawns, old ladies sweeping their backyard, farmers on motorbikes checking on their farm, dogs who are out to chase us - best of all, all these provincial morning magic usually end up with a hearty breakfast. <3

My long list of dreams now include "owning a farm". 

May all our dreams come true.

All Sunshiny,

Tina

Sampaguita, Solana

Cagayan Valley