Happiness is.. a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee!

Yesterday, the team and I, thanks to the invitation of our boss, were able to attend this  event to celebrate the awesomeness of coffee.

Dubbed as Coffee Art Exhibit, Cafe Alamid Express, in partnership with R.O.X and Victorinox, the event was an exhibit of beautifully painted pictures using coffee as paint and coffee beans for mosaic. The event featured works of eight fantastic artists: Ella Hipolito, Mike Melchor, Lito Ballaran, Brando Bati, Jerel Limayo, Kathleen Lei Limayo, Dante Palmes and Jennifer Romulo. 

The team and I were quite hoping that they will serve cafe alamid, but they opted for the regular brew. It would have made the event more interesting. Like a coffee tasting of sort :) Anyway, cafe alamid is apparently, the most expensive coffee in the world! It is basically coffee beans eaten by a local cat called alamid, fermented in the cat's digestive system and then, pooped, collected and processed. 

So how do you use coffee to paint? According to a website, you have to be steeping coffee grounds in water, so the longer it is there, the darker the paint. But compared to regular paints, using coffee can be tricky and hard because it can be sticky. 

Below are some of my favorites from the exhibit :)

yes, happiness is a cup of steaming hot coffee

don't you just love the artists' style?

coffee bean mosaic

this made me ultra happy!

Christine, Cosette, the very amicable Swiss Ambassador and Mike, the artist

Running on empty (credits to Jackson Browne)

Some days, don't you just feel like running? But how do you run when your love tank is empty? When you have no idea how to re-fill it? 

Some days, you just want an escape. Sojourn? Roadtrip? Soul search? Whatever you want to call it. 

This is me, one Friday afternoon, running on empty. 

Aptly named, Pamana (meaning inheritance)  is a Filipino restaurant owned by Happy Ongpauaco,
where all the "pamana" recipes of her aunts, lolas etc are served. 

After ten years or even more, (no kidding) I finally got the chance to go back.
This time, it was all different, even myself. 

this way to...

I like tall grass....

... and bricks.

Some of the friends and relatives of the Pamana restaurant  owner.

Pamana Soup. 

I wish i have fish-eyed lenses!

Flowers are always, always, always beautiful!

I like how this reminds me of Tuscany.  

For the flies.. ;)

Condiments Rack

This is their menu.

Lenten Feasting (and lazying around)

What's left of the second batch of lasagna. yum yum yum! 

Yes, this is what we had today. Basically, the appetizer. We had so much food it did not feel like its Lent. I'm so full with mangoes and potatoes and cheese I can explode anytime. Lenten what, you say?

I really should have gone to the province. Maybe (definitely) next year when kiddo's bigger.

The pigs are not quite alright

In fact, i don't even feel like going back. Bad bad bad sausage. One of the worst I've ever had in a while. And this used to be my favorite place when I was working in this side of town. 

Oh how fast preference changes. 

Random Thursday

Its not always that I get the chance to really go out and do fantastic things that I very much like, such as taking photos of  seemingly ordinary things and oh, walking aimlessly amidst a sea of indifferent people. 

And so, because I had that unusual chance last Thursday (after what seemed to be the longest work day ever), I must show the photos randomly taken. Thank God for point and shoot and photoshop, they all look a bit decent :) 

Can you sing... "Cloooosing time..."

"Closing time..time for you to go out to places you will be from.."

"I know who I want to take me home.."

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end..."

So, MIAS, I went there for this and for another brand which will not be named.
If you know me, you'll find my loyalty amusing. 

Can I take this home?  

So, finally we meet...

The best advise I've ever received came from so many miles across the pacific...

My very wise friend said (she used to be clairvoyant by the way)...

"But I have learned that the best thing we can pray for in times of distress is for grace.  Because we can't do it on our own.  We need God, we need His grace to take as through what some call the dark night of the soul.  On our own, it's like we're groping around blindly--trying to fill the void with many things that we think will solve it but will not, but with God's grace we have a guiding hand, we have His strength to pull us eventually through....  

We need God's grace to help us figure out what's messing us up, and, when we realize that we need to change, we will need His grace to do what needs to be done, to change things in ourselves and to deal with the people who matter to us."

UP on a Saturday morning

Last Saturday, I went to UP to walk. Asked two people to join me, but it was my BFF number 1who confirmed (only after making me promise that there will be no surprise tag-alongs, as usual) and so, walk we did. Being blockmates for our first year, first semester and friends henceforth, we had so many shared experiences around and about. 

Suffice to say, UP is now very pretty. Here are some photos I took using my phone camera...