The Foodinista: Sm San Lazaro

Boulangerie22, Sm San Lazaro

Friday, January 05, 2018

Boulangerie22 is a newly opened french fusion bakery in SM San Lazaro. I was excited when I heard about them cause it's been awhile since a good restaurant opened in this SM Branch, I just live across and I have already memorized all the restaurants in this mall haha it's either fast food or your usual food court stalls. Good thing there's something new to look forward to!

I brought my sisters with me when I visited Boulangerie, it's a very small bakery shop with a few seating capacity for dine-ins. They offer different kinds of Breads, Croissants, Pizza Bread, Jams, Muffins, Madeleine and Financier, Cookies and Macarons, Cakes and even Tea.

I'm not much of a bread fan, I don't like starchy food. It's not something I would crave for because CARBS!

Kidding aside, there are only few good bakeries in Manila and if there is a good one it would usually be expensive so i'd rather not stay in bakeries and it doesn't boost my appetite at all.

Boulangerie is an exception because the ambiance is worth staying for and their wide range of pastries makes me wanna try it all!

Boulangerie22 offers cakes and freshly-baked breads made out of traditional method but with a modern twist. Aside from pastries, Boulangerie22 also serves soup, pizza, and pasta.

Italian Spaghetti Bolognese P149
A typical Italian spaghetti, pasta cooked al-dente topped with tomato sauce and sprinkled with chives. I love the quality of the pasta but the sauce is just your typical Bolognese. I wish there were also more cheese on top to give it a saltier kick.

Truffle Fettuccine Alfredo Pasta P179
Truffle fan here and I love that they keep adding truffles even on their Pasta. My sisters loved the pasta and they'll be willing to order it again, I tried it too but the serving was too few. I find it expensive for the quantity served but it's a must try!

Truffle Forest Mushroom Soup P129
High quality truffle mushroom soup for P129? This is nothing but a dream. Can't believe I can now satisfy my truffle mushroom soup cravings for an affordable price. The mushroom is grinded already and gave the soup an additional texture which made it interesting to eat, the saltiness was also perfect. Craving Satisfied!

HOLY CHEESUS P149
MAMAMIA HALLELUJAH! I've finally tried the Holy Cheesus!
They heat it in an oven toaster and served it with oozing cheese inside. The cheese is so sexy!

I love how the cheese didn't over power the whole pastry, I thought mauumay ako at first but love at first bite talaga, even my sister couldn't get enough of it. I would love to pair this with their pastas, they make a good combination!

Ang Sisters

Overall it was a totally satisfying visit. The staff were really accommodating. This branch isn't so big and can accommodate less than 10 people dining in but a lot of customers come in to buy their take-out pastries. They have special offers before the mall closes so if you want to take advantage of the huge discounts on their pastries better visit before the mall closes. I will be definitely be back especially for the soup!

Beauty

Miniso Store Tour Philippines

Friday, December 15, 2017

Headquartered in Tokyo, MINISO was jointly founded by Miyake Jyunya, the Japanese chief designer, and Ye Guofu, the young Chinese entrepreneur. MINISO advocates a fashionable and relaxed lifestyle and directs a superior products consumption pattern. MINISO pursues a “simple, natural and quality” life philosophy and a brand proposition of "simplicity and going back to the essence". MINISO has been expanding globally since its establishment in 2013. It has opened more than 2,100 stores around the world and dedicates itself to providing customers with quality, creative and low-price products. MINISO always persists in selecting fine materials from all over the world. Over 80% of the brand's product designs originated from Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, China and other countries.

Consequently, MINISO also creates a new business style, which combines fashion and leisure together, becoming a main force in the department stores and shopping centers. Realizing its advocacy of “fast fashion” towards quality life, the brand focuses on building a brand new recreational shopping atmosphere so that customers can experience a happy, fashionable and sound lifestyle in MINISO.

With the unprecedented prosperity of world economy, luxury brands from western countries are blindly chased by consumers, while low-quality counterfeits are all over the market, which results in people’s two extreme consumption patterns. As a reflection and criticism of this situation, MINISO was born!

MINISO attaches great importance to the genuine value of fine quality products, and maintains a balance between lives and products which improves living standards --becoming a global leader in exploring excellent products for better life.

As a member of society, MINISO actively explores the relationship between the Earth's environment and human civilization. The brand ensures that its products and materials are healthy and safe without harming the environment.

MINISO constantly cooperates with global environmental protection organizations and aims to provide natural, environmental-friendly and quality products at a low price to consumers.

MINISO products include creative home necessities, fashion accessories, health and beauty products, digital accessories, office supplies, stationery gifts, seasonal products and a lot more.

The brand has proudly more than 10,000 types of products. It pursues high quality products, while paying attention to natural resources & environmental protection. MINISO actively explores a reasonable relationship between the earth's environment and human civilization, directing concern towards the community & environment by making sure the products and materials are safe.

ENSURE PRODUCT AUTHENTICITY BY PURCHASING ONLY AT MINISO STORES.

Chilled Taho

Soy Yummy, SM San lazaro: Yummy talaga!

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Beauty

Bench Fix Salon: Worst Hair Cut Experience

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Bench Fix Salon

My HAIR is my HOLY GRAIL. My hair is so long almost reaching the butt area. I rarely have a major hair cut but I do a monthly trim around 1 inch a month to cut away thesplit ends. I love my hair being this long, it adds more confidence and makes me feel more beautiful - talk about my low self esteem! I have fat cheeks and kind of a big head so I think having a long hair makes my face look thinner and smaller. O diba, todo judge sa sarili!

I decided to have my hair cut at Sm San Lazaro Bench Fix Salon because they did trim my bangs very well last time. So I told myself why not try to have my hair cut there again since i'm already confident with the results before. I've officially decided to have my hair trimmed around 4 inches long that's a hard decision to make for me because I know it will take years and months before I grow that hair back again.

I have been experiencing dry ends and super tangled hair lately because my hair dried out from intense colouring without any treatments. It was freakin' hard to comb it and blow drying my hair every morning and became a pain in the ass! Imagine spending most of your time just to comb and fix your hair, what a waste of time!

I went to Sm San Lazaro right away and scheduled a 4pm booking for my hair cut. I will not mention the name of the stylist so to protect his reputation.

I was confident at first but right after seeing the result, I was shocked. Akala ko nga namamalik-mata lang ago and then I asked the stylist to re-do it and adjust, but it seems like he can't see the difference dun sa hair cut. He trimmed it a little and explained to me that it's because of the shape of my hair and texture that's why it looks like it's not even.

Since it looks like I don't have a win in the situation, I just gave up. Paid and left the salon.

Check the photo below, as you can see the ends should be layered but it looked so awkward. Other areas are so even and others are not.

Bench Fix Salon

At first, I thought it was okay and no one would notice. But every time I comb my hair, napaansin ko talaga so I tried contacting Bench on Facebook and apparently they kept "seen-zoning" me. They didn't even reply to my e-mail as of this writing which is more than a month after this hair tragedy LOL. I lost my patience already and ranted on my Instagram account. I tagged Bench Fix Salon's Page and even had the courage to tag Mr. Ben Chan who is the owner of Bench Company to resolve this issue.

Maybe you would ask why I ranted instead of going to the Salon directly to form a complaint?

Well it's because I don't trust them enough to have my hair done there again. They might ruin it even more, I got paranoid and thought they might gang up on me.

Hair Cut Bench Fix Salon

GUESS WHAT?

Mr. Ben Chan replied to me 10 to 15 min. after that post. Gosh I was so happy yet a little embarrassed at the same time thinking maybe he was laughing while reading my rant and told himself talagang sa Instagram nagreklamo to. Haha! But I am happy to know that he is very reliable. He replies faster than their customer service, just wow.

His manager Dale sent me a DM and asked their store manager to contact me so they can fix it. However, I told them that I'd have my hair remedied on a different branch nalang cause I was too afraid that they might ruin it more. My intention here is not actually for them to fire the stylist or reprimand him, I just want to have my hair cut fix without having to pay another extra fee and of course for them to know they should double check the quality of work their stylists gives at Bench Fix. Awareness, kumabaga.

Ms. Jessica who is the Head Store Manager contacted me right away the next day and I was very happy how she handled the situation. She calmly apologized to me and told me they'll fix everything and gave me a free hair cut. I explained to him that my hair is of course my holy grail and I chose their Salon because of my trust on their services.

I was sent to Bench Fix Greenhills Branch which is my choice of branch for a re-do of my awful hair, and I was very happy on the service they provided me. My stylist's name is JAMES and he is a senior stylist in Gh Branch. I recommend you look for him when you pay a visit here, he is really good and obviously, he knows what he's doing. According to him, my hair is really awfully cut. It's not really even. Especially because I have a very straight hair which makes minor mistake on cut too obvious.

Thank you Mr. Ben Chan and Sir James and also to Ms. Jessica for accommodating my concern.

Anyway, it's a good lesson for me to do research first before I go to Salons. Also, do not be afraid to complain when you have one or even rant if needed. Companies need to know what they have to improve on their services and that should be from us customers. Feedback is always important for the betterment of their service.

HAVE A HAPPY HAIR DAY LADIES!