Ochi In The City

Friday's 10 Happy Things | 8

Aaaah, it's finally Friday! And while I still have a busy weekend ahead of me, I'm still glad I'll be able to drink until the wee hours of the morning later. Well, not that I didn't do that last Wednesday; the only difference is, I get to stay in bed for 12hrs since it's a Saturday tomorrow. Yasssss! I'm thrilled to share with everyone some itty-bitty details about my week. Let's begin!

1. Writing opportunities. A few months ago, I decided to rekindle my love for writing by being active again in a certain site I used to write for. I also started blogging more about my food adventures and travels! I just have to schedule my posts and my blog will have consistent content in no time! Note to self : don't be seduced by food. Learn how to document first before taking a bite, lol!

2. Event invites! I've been receiving several invites to do food reviews and attend brand events lately. The food reviews I have no problem doing since it’s something I’m addicted to – taking photos and eating! The event invites on the other hand, I don’t attend most of them because I get intimidated by other attendees (i.e Fashion influencers, popular bloggers, etc,). I sort of have this feeling that I won’t fit in which is why I usually turn them down. Still thankful though for the opportunities though!

3. Savings and Investments! I’ve been saving for something for about two months now, and hopefully by August, I’ll be able to finally see the result of hours of sweat and blood, I kid, haha! I’ve been trying to spend less on Sashimi since it takes a whole lot on my monthly paycheck.

4. Made an amateur wedding video! The boyfriend’s brother got wed two weeks ago. I took a few clips here and there and put it all together, it’s like our gift for the newlyweds, haha. Since we’re both saving up for something, we had to be creative with our wedding gift! I’m attaching the video; let me know what you think!

5. I found the perfect wedding song. Having had to attend several weddings over the past few months, I’ve come to realize I haven’t thought of my own wedding song yet—the kind of song that will spark every bit of emotion in my body. One day at work while listening to Spotify, a suggested song caught my attention—I almost cried. It captures everything I want to feel and have on my wedding. Not that I’m getting married anytime soon, but I’m lining up songs because, well, it’s fun.

6. Rekindling my love for drinking. I love drinking! My love affair with alcohol started in college since Baguio seemed like the perfect haven to train an alcoholic padawan. I started to drink less when I was working for IBM since I couldn’t find the energy to do so after a tiring shift at work. But since my new company allows a steady stream of work-life balance, I’ve been drinking for 4 straight days now! If I drink today, well then I get a complete attendance for the week. Health-wise I know it’s not the best stress reliever, so I’ll probably give my body some rest next week.

7. Spearheading a project at work. I’m loving a lot of things at work lately. Since my last project was a success, I was tasked to lead a pretty huge IT-related project. It’s tedious and tiring since I don’t know shit about technical side of the project. But I’m more than thankful because I have a bunch of awesome technical leads to help me out in that area.

8. I have a work crush! Well, I only have one work crush, really, since I joined the company. This lad had been on my radar (lol), 3 months into joining the company, haha! Of course I forgot about him when I got into a relationship (Hi, boyfriend!). But I’ve had a chance to work with him in the past few weeks and hang out with him at a certain company event, which sort of rekindled my fascination with him. DISCLAIMER : ♪ ♫ It’s just a little crush, not like I faint every time we touch. ♪ ♫

9. This song! I friend on Twitter posted this, and can I just say the cover art is lulzy full of awesome? Haha! It reminds me of the songs my parents used to listen to on Sundays!

10. OITNB later! Ah, the pleasure of watching a whole season of your favorite series over the weekend. Thank you, Netflix! The weather is cooperating too! We’ve been experiencing a little rain over the past few days which automatically translates to horrendous traffic, which is why staying in would be the perfect weekend activity. I miss my bed already!

And there you have it. This week was indeed full of fun things and surprises! I can’t wait to start the weekend and deal with everything else in between. I don’t know where all this enthusiasm is coming from. Might be the alcohol, lol! Have a lovely weekend, folks!

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How was your week?

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, by Ochi Bernadas

chocolate cake

The Maginhawa Diaries | Artsy Café

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Armada Resort

Weekend Wander : Magalawa Island

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Baguio

Weekend Wander : Baguio City

It's no secret the Baguio is my favorite City. I've grown a fondness in calling it my City of Blinding Lights, with U2 references, of course. I'm always in Baguio that's why I find it hard to make an introduction when I blog about it. It's not like introducing a new destination as I wouldn't call it that. It's also not in any way similar to introducing one's home as it's more than my home. So maybe we can skip that part and get to noticing how I've learned a new skill with font manipulation? Hahaha! I hope that's a nice segue.

A couple of weeks ago, the boyfriend and I went to Baguio. The last time we were there was around February to visit my sister, who's studying to be a doctor at SLU. When I was in college, my allowance was P1000 for a week and I'd survive with money left for alcohol, Saturday parties and Sunday Ukay runs. And no, I'm not THAT old; cost of living is just comparatively low. But during our last visit, I noticed that the place was riddled with restaurants I haven't seen in the past. And you guys know how I love food challenges, right? With that, I challenged myself to try and create a round up of restaurants, watering holes and secret eats in Baguio to help tourists, like myself, in finding the perfect place to eat. Btw, I hate referring to myself as a tourist because Baguio is home to me. But with all the high-rise buildings and new restaurants all over the place, that might just be the perfect description. *sigh* I'll post every now and then since I always go there every month or two anyway. Hope this helps your upcoming trips. Let's begin! The places we'll cover today are the ones we actually visited through the course of that weekend.

TSOKOLATERIA

To be fair, this isn't the first time I'm visiting this place. But I haven't made a decent review in the past that's why I'm including it in this list. Tsokolateria is owned by the same group of people behind Pamana. Recently, they've put up a branch in Tagaytay as well. The ambiance of the place is cozy, as most Baguio restaurants are. The only struggle with this place is the Igorot stairs. There's a steep, lengthy step of stairs that you have to go through before you get to place. Other than that, everything's perfect. All of their Chocolate drinks are worth trying! Each order is good for 2 people, but it doesn't just serve a cup. It can serve up to 3 cup refills, as far as I can remember. Other favorites would be Strawberry Waffle, French Toast with Bacon and Mushroom soup!

Budget : P250 - P300 / person

Location : Igorot Stairs, Upper Session Rd, Baguio, Benguet

BAGUIO CRAFT BREWERY

I've been dying to try this watering hole the first time I've heard about it from friends! There are actually tons of new watering holes that I've read online but I made sure to prioritize this because of all the buzz around it. Baguio Craft Brewery boasts of beautifully created hand-crafted beer. You can check out the amazing story how it came to be a business venture.

One good thing to note here is that they allow you to taste the beer before you order it. No need to worry about paying for beer you don't really like, because here, you can definitely taste it before you pay for it. They also have a comprehensive table on the bitterness and alcohol level of each beer, as well as the specific category in which it belongs. I thoroughly enjoyed Lagud (Strawberry Beer), Keywheat (Kiwi Beer) and English Man in New York. I would highly recommend the three, plus a side snack of Onion rings..ahh! Awesome night! The roof deck was my favorite spot. They also have a live band to boot!

Budget : P250 - P400 / person

Location : KM 4, Marcos Highway, Baguio City

MINES VIEW PARK

Ha! You might be wondering why Mines View is on this list. Well it is, as a matter of fact, a foodie paradise. Shown in the photo are some of my favorites : Roasted Dried Squid, Corn on a cob, Green Mangoes with shrimp paste, chili powder and vinegar, Fresh Strawberries, Organic Chico and so much more! Of course there's the always coveted Strawberry Taho with real strawberry bits. You might want to visit some of the restaurants in front of the souvenir stands. Aside from having an amazing view of the mountains while having your meal, they also serve really good coffee.

Budget : P50- P120 / person

Location : Outlook Drive, Baguio City

I forgot to mention that the boyfriend forgot to charge our camera which explains why these are the only restaurants I've managed to take photos of. It also didn't help that there was a city-wide power outage that time so we didn't really have any other options. We also went to : Pizza Volante for beer and my all-time favorite Choco Vanilla Affair, Happy Tummy for their delectable Thai cuisine and friendly waiters and Canto for their humongous Lomo Ribs. I hope I can document properly next time. I have no clue how food bloggers and vloggers do it! I just get too excited I forget about all the documentation I'm supposed to do, lol! I've also managed to create a short clip our of our weekend trip, hope you enjoy watching it! PS I have to go since I sneaked out a bit just to finish this post. The boyfriend and I aren't done celebrating my birthday yet. My birthday celebration on the next post. Enjoy the rest of the week, lovelies!