Murray's New Orleans at SM MoA

The family ate at Murray's New Orleans Bourbon Street Ribs, Steak and Oysters a while back.  Ambience was nice, but a bit on the dim side. We came for dinner and there were few people.

Bar Area

The bar area looked cool, but the drinks were expensive with the service charge . I tried a Kiwi Margarita, and it tasted faintly of kiwi, but mostly of alcohol. I'd have liked a bit more kiwi to balance the alcohol. On the up side, the serving was pretty big.

Kiwi Margarita

The food was good, but nothing extraordinary: I liked the meatballs best in one of the dishes they served (can't remember the name) out of many, and for a place that's supposed to cater to a different set of taste buds, it was disappointing… I was expecting something on the spicier side. I also had to complain because of a service-menu issue, but they were very accommodating once it was pointed out.

Would I come back to this place? Probably not.

What would you buy in bars?

Note: If you're reading this and you're underage wherever you come from, I'd like to remind you to follow your home country/state's laws regarding drinking.

I normally drink at a house with my friends, and we tend to drink either beers or mixed drinks. It's why I had that post a long while back. For several reasons, I prefer drinking in a private location, but there are times when I end up outside with them. During these occasions, its either pitchers (to share) or beers for me. Why?

1. I'd rather not get drunk in public

Because it comes with a host of problems from the humiliating to the horrifying. Your Blood Alcohol Levels\ (BAC) increases depending on how much and how fast you drink, but the liver can only metabolise one drink an hour. There are charts available to calculate it, but you only need 1-2 drinks in an hour to get that buzz.

and

2. Liquor, especially hard liquor, is awfully expensive in bars

The mark-up is usually at least twice the store price. This is due to many factors, like why Starbucks is so expensive. It's another story if they're serving something special, but even those you can buy anywhere becomes insanely expensive in the right/wrong places.

For some people, either the former and/or the latter would be fine. But it's just not for me…

Qtea

Qtea is a milk tea place found in Jorge Bocobo St., Ermita Manila. It's a nice place to hang out since it's supposed to offer free wifi for a certain time (I think) for a drink purchased. I've never tried the Wifi here and I've only ordered a drink once. I asked a staff member and their tea all comes from Taiwan and it looks like tea leaves are actually used!

Qtea Bar area

 As seen below, the store occupies two stories. It's actually loft type and sunlight filters well through the front of the store. It's a bit darker and cozier near the back. The upper floor is significantly warmer than the ground floor and you'll be listening to chinese music while you chill or study. This place closes late.

Qtea

 The bar area is also pretty long and kept quite neatly. Unfortunately, I'd rather not buy from a place that charges extra for fresh milk, so I've only tried the earl grey tea once, and it was decent, though I'm not wowed by it (possibly too much ice).

Qtea Bar area 2

… But they make a pretty good waffle! For P95 (or is it 98), you get a drink sized waffle that's crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. They, cool the whipped cream in an ice bath before serving, which is pretty nice. My only dislike was that couldn't really go crazy on the whipped cream: serving size was appropriate for light dipping…. you can't really slather it on :( I wonder if you can ask for extra cream XD

Qtea Waffle

I'll probably return here for the waffles :) It makes for a delicious light breakfast or heavy snack while studying.

Skin White Classic Whitening Deodorant

This Skin White Classic Whitening Deodorant (and antiperspirant?) is a roll-on with a "powder silk" scent. If you're one of those people that like the smell of powder, or like to use it, this might be for you. It's a bit on the strong side at first while wet, but becomes on the fainter - like powder ought to be - as soon as it dries off. Tip: Make sure it dries off first before adding clothes on top - this is a liquid roll-on! I haven't noticed any stains on clothes from this but I always make sure everything's dry.

Skin White Classic Whitening Deodorant

While this is marketed as a whitening deodorant and antiperspirant, it only does 2/3 claims: it's a pretty ok deodorant and antiperspirant (lasts 8-9 hours in non-strenuous conditions) especially for its price of around P30 and lasts a long time. It didn't really do much for whitening, though it didn't do any darkening other.

I probably won't buy this again because I'd like to find something with actual whitening capabilities, but for a basic antiperspirant and deodorant, this is pretty ok for me.


Edit: The smaller size is 30, this probably was around 60.

The Importance of Back Ups

My laptop crashed a week ago and boy - did i regret not having a backup of half my files (over 1 year of stuff just gone). Thanks to P, I was able to regain most of my files (THANKS P!!! <-- a="" am="" be="" but="" cannot="" d="" didn="" exclamation="" first="" give="" go="" grateful="" have="" how="" i="" in="" into="" losing="" lot="" more="" of="" p="" panic="" place.="" points="" put="" sentiment="" show="" t="" the="" them="" through="" to="" wish="" words="">
Lesson learned a bit too late: if you have a computer, you need an external drive big enough to contain everything inside (and a bit more) - and you should use it regularly (at least once a month).

Nowadays, I recommend getting at least 1TB of extra space... they're not so expensive now (around P3k) : especially if you're willing to get the non portable ones. The newer, smaller ones are more expensive but they're a lot more portable.

Of course, there's always cloud storage for those willing to pay a lot more, but I don't think its a very popular option in the Phil ($20/month for 1TB on iCloud)... though it does have the benefit of being super accessible (just don't keep nothing really sensitive inside) given a good net connection.

So there, I lost some of my stuff: which is why posting will probably be delayed :( But, silver lining: I learned a very valuable lesson that will stick with me forever.

Bobby Brown Extra Face Oil

Four years ago, I acquired a sample of Bobby Brown's Extra Face Oil. While it smelt divine and moisturized adequately, I didn't really feel the oil, so on it went to exile.

Fast forward 4 years:

I found it hiding in one of the drawers. Since it IS Bobby Brown, sample though it may be, I wanted to see if I could use it still. Because, you know I'm never gonna buy this myself :))

The answer: OMG YES.

After four years, this still smells great. And I've been using it for two weeks with no break outs on my face. I put 2-3 drops on at night just after showering and just relax. It's supposed to be a mix of oils, but it smells like sandalwood to me. I'm pretty sure it smelt better when it was fresh tho.

The oil sinks into the skin readily, and doesn't leave any residue after around 15-20 minutes, depending on how heavily I put it.

My skin feels soft, smooth and hydrated the next day. I'm super tempted to use it as a day moisturiser but I'm too lazy to put an extra step since I'd have to wake up earlier.

I do wonder if the product degraded significantly while in storage, maybe - all those wasted years!

This product really made me appreciate facial oils, and I think I'd be more open to buy it in the future. I was meh after trying out the Human Heart Nature Sunflower Oil on my skin - at that time, I wouldn't even think about letting it stay on my face, but now I'd like to try other oils in the future.

I'd buy this in a sec if it weren't so freaking expensive.

Marks and Spencer's Luxy Gold Teabags

Marks & Spencer recently had a sale and I ended up picking up some digestives (again) as well as some tea.

Marks and Spencer's Luxury Gold Tea Bags and Dark Chocolate Digestives

I got some milk chocolate digestives as well, but nothing really beats the dark chocolate.  Directions and storage information are in the back, you can check this as well as the expiration date before deciding to buy.

Marks & Spencer's Luxury Gold Tea Bags

I got this at P198 (around $5) for 80 bags as an everyday tea. I didn't expect anything special from this, just an everyday tea I can drink.

Marks & Spencer Luxry Gold Tea Bags Foil Wrap

I  like the fact that they're foil wrapped and stamped with their expiration date. For its price, I don't expect a good dark, airtight container for them but it's very helpful when stuffing them into pre-existing ones: I can stuff 40 bags in a can - not 80 - and I don't have to worry about the other 40.

Marks & Spencer Luxury Gold Tea Bags Round

These tea bags are round - they might not diffuse as well as the polyhedral ones but I don't have a problem since I find this tea on the strong side. The lack of string would be annoying as well if I take it alone, but since I prefer this with milk, I use a teaspoon and it's not much of a minus.

Marks & Spencer Luxry Gold Tea Bags Brewed

I prefer to steep this at a bit less than 3 mins since I find it way too strong when steeped longer than that. It also leaves my mouth dry when used alone and is a bit bitter on its own - I find that adding some milk solves this problem. The color of the tea is on the red side but disappears with milk. It tastes better with sugar, but since I'm trying to cut it out of my hot drink intake, I usually take it with just milk.

I may try this iced in the future, but I have a powdered iced tea I'm really fond of right now. We'll see.

At this price point, I have no real complaints though I do still prefer the Lipton Yellow for the flavor and effort payoff for an everyday tea. While I can and will finish this as my everyday tea (averaging 2 bag a day right now), I wouldn't buy it again: too much effort for tea I'm just ok with.

September: Instant Coffee Rotation

It's a bit late, but I'd just like to share the instant coffees I've been trying last month.

1. Good Day Vanilla Latte

2. Good Day Cappuccino

3. Great Taste White

Top: Good Day Vanilla Latte, Left: Good Day Cappuccino, Right: Great Taste White.

I like the good day Cappuccino best in terms of coffee-ness, foam and flavor. The sprinkles are a plus, but not so important in the scheme of things.

The Great Taste White is what I prefer next: it's very sweet (unlike its tasteless, cold tetrapack counterpart) and can actually be further diluted with more milk.

I like the Good Day Vanilla Latte least, though I wouldn't turn my nose up at it.

I wouldn't buy these just now because I want to try other things, but I would buy again.

Instant coffee has a lot of sugar and fats in it, which is one of the reasons why I prefer the brewed versions. It also has much less of a kick. Still, for days where you're too lazy to set-up or too rushed to do so (without wanting to spend much) and you really need your coffee - I still go for instant coffee.

Australian Harvest Oatmeal in a Box

Between Quaker, Australian Harvest and other brands, I'd choose the one most convenient for me: either the Quaker single serves or the Australian Harvest resealable bag - the only brand I've seen that had resealable packaging. I'd choose other brands, but I didn't have a dedicated container to place it in. Fortunately, Australian Harvest came up with new packaging: a reusable box! 

Australia Harvest Oatmeal

I got it because I wanted a container for my oats: The non-box packaging doesn't seem to be resealable anymore. The package with the box is a bit more expensive than the bag version, but the convenience made me buy it anyway... but I might refill it with a different brand, considering that the "refills" are 500g for a 400g jar, and a single serving has a whopping 1.3g of salt per serving. FYI, you're only supposed to have 5g a day!  Still, right now, it's one of the healthier cheap convenient options I have for a healthy meal or snack. Pair it with some fruit, milk, spice or even coffee for different delicious variations.

Vietnamese Coffee: Phin Filter with Phuc Long Moka Blend

Boy, do I have a lot of coffee posts :))

A few weeks ago, I posted about using a concentrate in order to make Vietnamese iced coffee. Today, I'd like to talk about a more traditional way to make coffee with the use of a phin filter.

Have you ever used a phin filter? For those who haven't, a phin filter is a small metal device which is what the Vietnamese traditionally use to make their coffee. Unlike a french press, it can only make a cup at a time, but being made completely of metal, it's a lot sturdier, cheaper and takes up less space. 

Phuc Long Phin Filter

Clean & Clear Fruit Essentials Facial Cleanser

I got the Clean & Clear Fruit Essentials Facial Cleanser in Energizing Berry because I wanted to try out a cheaper salicylic acid cleanser other than Neutrogena for a change. It doesn't list its concentration, but should be around the 0.5% range. There are two versions I've seen- the red or berry version and the yellow or lemon- but I prefer berry over citrus. Those who prefer something more refreshing might prefer the lemon version. There is supposed to be a third version, but I haven't seen it here.

Clean &Clear Fruit Essentials Facial Cleanser Energizing Berry

The two main draws of these were its salicylic acid content and the berry-licious scent. The cleanser itself is faintly pink with a liquid to gel consistency. It doesn't lather well, but a little goes a long way and it spreads and rinses of easily. It also helps control my acne, very much like the Neutrogena Deep Clean. I like that it doesn't dry my skin, and can be used more than once daily.

What I didn't get was the bursting beads: they didn't burst on my face and required some effort to burst between my palms. I'd never use that much force on my face for cleansing!

Packaged in a clear plastic bottle with a flip-top cap, it's easy to see how much product you've used. It also has an expiration date clearly marked at the back. At around P150 for 100 ml, it does the job cheaply and can be used twice daily (as compared to the Neutrogena Deep Clean which sells for around P250 for 150 ml and dries my skin out more).

I'd buy this again, but would like to try out some other products first. Luckily, I don't think I'll run out of this anytime soon.

How Cow Milk Shake Factory

This weekend, I tried the newly opened How Cow Milk Shake Factory, a kiosk on the ground floor of Robinsons Galleria. The cute balloons were the ones that attracted my attention. Upon asking, I was told that it sold milk shakes - and I was sold.

How Cow Milk Shake Factory

 The smallest size, 12 oz., costs P45 for their standard items. Their premium items, which have chocolates shown below (menu not pictured), started at P75. The fliers at the side stated that it contained 14 nutrients, but I didn't really pay attention to it.

Regular Menu

Available Chocolate Mixes

Choco Truffle 12 oz

I chose the Choco Truffle in the smallest size. I liked the fact that they made an effort to decorate the cup. While I don't know the chocolate they used, the drink was pretty yummy.

Unfortunately, there was still a lot of ice chips in my drink, so I didn't enjoy it as much. I wouldn't really call this a milkshake because of it even if it falls under the definition: for me, milkshakes should be creamy - I shouldn't need to crunch ice between my teeth. It's more of an ice blended drink when you cross Zagu with chocolate and whipped cream.

I still enjoyed it, especially as it makes a change from coffee based frappes and milk teas. I'd drink this on a hot day -given enough time for most of the ice to melt.

Sisters Super Heavy Flow

Is it weird that I'm super excited about these? Haha.

Anyway, finally! A long pad at a competitive price. I'm not sure, but it's P21-25 for 4 pads (4+1 for the introductory promo). As someone who likes to move around in my sleep, i've found that longer pads do make a difference.  Most pads available here in the Philippines are either under 300mm, even for night use, or are too expensive to contemplate.

Sisters 340mm

Luckily, there are these now!

Longer pads means more careful application, but the results are worth it, IMO.

This is also not my favorite brand, that distinction goes to Laurier with their super long, super absorbent and and super thin napkins, but at this price point - I have nothing to complain about.

Now, I may change my mind if other brands become more competitive, but for now, for women tired of shelling out so much for something thrown away in around 8 hours, you might want to try Sisters out :)