I’ve been on a Serenitea crave the last couple of days so tonight one of my best friends and I decided to check out Serenitea’s new location in North Greenhills.
If I’m not mistaken, they serve lasagna which is definitely an addition to their menu offering. I didn’t get to try it though cuz I was there with only one goal in mind…
Here’s one of my classic faves – Assam Milk Tea with Pearl and 50% Sweetness!
While the tea is delicious no matter where you go.. I like the vibe of this new place a lot. I will probably come here more than their Wilson/Little Baguio Branch which gets SO PACKED that you feel like sardines waiting for your drink. Here there’s lots more seating. There’s free wifi and a fancy schmancy misting system to keep tea lovers cool. It’s next to a tennis court so if you’re there at the right time, you can watch a game while enjoying your tea.
Make Tea not War, this poster says.
Their North Greenhills location is so chill that it’s nice to just sit around and while away your time. It’s what we did, we just picked a bench and spent three hours making chismis. At the end of the night, we went home happy, full of tea and with realizations about our lives, the job hunt, our quarter life crises and expenditures. Side note, I’m definitely re-evaluating my expense habits. Haha. Anyway, good conversation, good company, good tea, good Saturday night. 🙂
Serenitea North Greenhills
Located inside North Greenhills subdivision, in their clubhouse.
You need to park in front of Club Filipino and walk, in order to get there. Unless you have an entry pass for this subdivision.
Hours: 12nn – 10pm
I purchased some yogurt at The White Hat and noticed that they have WOODEN SPOONS!!! This is awesome. I’m a big fan of businesses that make conscious efforts to be environment friendly.
Basically this yogurt just got better. Not only is it healthy and delicious, It’s also eco-friendly! Thanks White Hat!
So today my cousin and I went on a lunch date at Opus courtesy of Deal Grocer. Before today, Opus to me was simply an upscale bar/lounge, but it turns out it is so so so much more than that. Listen to your friends when they say that the food in Opus is actually really good. They are right. I agree.
The Deal Grocer coupon is Php 490 for a 3-course lunch. The regular price of this lunch is Php 680. This price already includes tax and service charge. Please note that I can’t describe the main menu (with the exception of one appetizer) since we basically stuck with the prix-fixe menu. Also, the main menu and the executive lunch menu are completely different.
Here’s the Executive Lunch menu: (it’s not that clear so see the links to individual snapshots of each section)
The way it works is each person selects one item from each of the courses, starter, main and dessert. Thankfully my cousin and I are experienced eaters so we ordered differently so we could try a greater variety of food.
You begin with fresh, warm bread with regular butter and my absolute favorite, truffle butter.
Quail and Bacon Ravioli with Quail Breast, mushrooms and truffle foam (P390) – This is amazing! The flavors are quite delicate yet very distinct. The ravioli is generously stuffed with quail. The roasted quail breast was seasoned and cooked perfectly. It was very tender. The bacon, mushrooms and truffle foam are to die for. While I’m not a big quail lover, this won me over. I really liked the flavors of this dish.
Prawn Bisque with Salmon and Prawn Ravioli – While the photo doesn’t look all that appetizing, it’s actually pretty good. The taste of the prawn is very distinct in the broth. The soup is the right consistency. Dip the bread in this soup!
There’s a ravioli surprise at the bottom of the little bowl. It is stuffed with prawn but I didn’t really taste it too much. The soup is stronger in flavor which may have overpowered the prawn ravioli. Portion-wise, I initially thought that it was a small size, but turns out it’s just enough.
Grilled Chicken Brochette with Sicilian Caponata Arugula and Rosemary Dressing – This is what my cousin had. It comes with one skewer of perfectly cooked and seasoned chicken. It was melt-in-your-mouth soft. The salad was a very nice touch and complimented the chicken very well.
Pesto and Parmesan-Crusted White Fish Fillet with baked Provencal vegetables and roast potato – This is a perfect spring/summer dish. It’s very light. I felt very healthy eating it. The fish has CHEESE on it!! Winner! Cheese is the way to my heart. The fillet is tender and flakey. I wish it had less pesto though. There was a lot of pesto and I would have loved to taste more of the fish. The pesto flavor overpowered the dish. All I could taste after a while was pesto.
Slow Roasted Pork Belly with braised red cabbage and mustard mashed potato – This is the heartier, more rich main dish selection. This dish is a star! The pork belly is heaven! The fat is buttery soft and the skin is crunchy. The cabbage and the mashed potatoes complement the dish, it counters the taste of the pork and gives it a little acidity. However, I wouldn’t recommend this dish if you are on a diet or are watching your health. The chunk of pork belly that I got was mostly fat and while it was worth every bite, cousin and I both felt the need to go jogging asap. It’s pork belly, what can you expect? 🙂 Share this with someone if you want to try it yet are watching what you eat.
It’s so good that it gets two pictures. Haha.
Baked Panettone Pudding with fig and brandy ice cream – The ice cream and pudding was okay What the dish name doesn’t include are the raisins and the oranges that top the pudding. We weren’t a fan of those. We ended up scraping it off and just eating the pudding and the ice cream.
Chocolate and Banana Creme Brulee – If you like chocolate and bananas, this one is for you. Cousin and I both agreed that this was the better dessert. It has just the right balance of flavor between chocolate and banana. I had trouble finishing it because I was quite full but my cousin was happy to oblige and consume it for me. I found it very rich so I could only eat a few spoonfuls. Maybe on a different day I could eat the entire thing but today I already had 2 courses prior. I was very full at this point.
One important thing to congratulate Opus on is the pacing! Their timing is on point! We never felt like it was taking too long nor did we feel rushed. The time in-between courses was just right. However, we were also the only diners at the restaurant for lunch. It was nice and quiet. I hope they are able to maintain this pacing despite the large crowds it attracts at night.
All in all, we really liked Opus. We had a wonderful time and really felt like we were living the good life. The ambiance is nice and the food was great. Next time we’ll go back for their regular menu. 🙂
Kindly excuse the photos, it was difficult for me to take nice pictures because the lighting was overhead (producing shadows) and my point & shoot is kind of limited.
Opus Restaurant & Lounge (tel: 02 8040592) // Closed on Sundays
2/F Newport Mall, Resorts World Manila
Pasay City, Philippines
So I’m just gonna put this out there – I have skin-asthma which makes my skin extremely sensitive and prone to breakouts and blemishes. That said, I’m obsessed with achieving a good, smooth, complexion. I love trying out new products and while I have a wide variety of facial cleansers, I’ve always felt like nothing makes my skin feel clean.
My problem always lies in the “Makeup Removal” part because I never feel as though I’ve completely removed all my makeup. If I don’t get all of the product off, it leads to breakouts and blemishes which drive me nuts.
One day I stumbled across a magazine ad for Clarisonic. It’s a pulsing device that you massage on your face which supposedly exfoliates and cleanses. Pardon the crude description but that’s pretty much what it is.
I was intrigued. It sounded like a perfect tool to cater to my dilemma. So I googled and googled and googled for months.. internally debating on whether I should invest in one. Two immediate cons — the price and the inaccessibility. The price is no less than $129 USD which equates to roughly Php 5,580 (as of this review). That, my friends, is NOT cheap and this is the price for their most basic Clarisonic. If you want a higher-end version, then be prepared to drop a couple more bills. Futhermore, it’s not available in Manila. That means you have to buy it on online and get it shipped here (extra expense) orrr… find some relatives in America that would be happy to hand carry it for you.
On the bright side, the reviews are generally positive. They say it improves skin texture and reduces pore size. The reviews also said that it leaves your skin feeling a lot cleaner than traditional face washing methods (as in just using your hands). After reading all reviews good and bad, I wanted it even more!
To make the long story short, there’s only one real way to find out so I sucked it up and gave in. I found a relative that was coming home from the US and purchased it from Amazon. Justified it as a birthday gift to myself (haha), I bought the Clarisonic MIA with a universal charger (useful because Manila is 220V and America is 110V). This is what my Clarisonic looks like:
It comes with a small trial-size of their cleanser. But you can use it with any cleanser.
How to Use:
I use mine once a day at night because I hate going to bed with a dirty face (this is how you wake up with massive pimples).
- First, I remove the makeup (especially the eye-makeup and mascara) using makeup remover. You can’t use the Clarisonic on your eyes so it’s important you manually remove your eyeshadow, liners and mascara.
- Second, I squeeze my cleanser of choice (Cetaphil) on the brush head. Alternatively, you can also spread the cleanser on your face instead of the brush head.
- I splash a little bit of water on my face.
- Place the brush head on face and turn on the device. It’ll start to vibrate.
- Massage your face with circular strokes. Avoid eye area. Ideally the brush head should be in full contact (flat against your face) with your skin. You can also use the Clarisonic for your neck. Oh and if you press too hard, the Clarisonic stops. So be gentle!
- It only lets you massage for a minute to avoid over exfoliation. (this is a major plus)
- Rinse face and feel the difference.
*Make sure to clean your brush head after use. Another great bonus about the Clarisonic is that it is waterproof! So no worries about getting it wet and you can use it while you shower as well.
My Results:
It arrived on March 18, 2011. I have used it a minute a day without fail, since I received it.
- It has definitely improved my skin’s texture. I can tell the difference more on my cheeks which are smoother . This makes makeup application better because the makeup foundation looks better on my skin (less streaky and cakey).
- My skin feels squeaky clean!! After use, the brush head will be slightly tinted by the foundation that it scrubbed from your face. I’ve found that no matter how much I clean my brush head, it’s already stained with the makeup hues. I’ve washed it multiple times already and it’s still slightly peach. (see below)
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Brush head stained with the pinkish hue from makeup
Makeup stained brush head vs. New Brush head
- While my skin is smoother, my pore size is about the same.
- Blackheads and whiteheads are still there (they never fully go away) but are less visible.
- In the month that I’ve used it, my pimples have been minimal. BUT my “time of the month” and menstrual week always brings tons of pimples that the Clarisonic is no match for. Sigh.
Clarisonic vs. Manual Exfoliation
I used to exfoliate manually with the traditional cleanser + exfoliating beads. With this “manual” method, my skin feels about the same in cleanliness as the Clarisonic feeling. BUT this dried my skin and made it red right after. Despite the cleanliness, there was mild irritation. With the Clarisonic, there’s no irritation and no dryness (I’m extremely happy with this because I have sensitive skin). In the exfoliation cream’s defense, the irritation could have been caused by the fact that I used to over-exfoliate. I wouldn’t be paying attention, I would just massage and massage. Whereas with the Clarisonic, you’re limited to a minute so it’s more controlled. But on this note, if your face is not that sensitive, I think you could get the same cleaning results with manually exfoliating.
However, my goal was always texture and cleanliness. With manual exfoliation, I never felt any improvement on texture. Cleanliness yes, but texture not at all. Clarisonic improved my skin on both aspects.
***Important to note, a side effect of exfoliation makes your skin more sensitive to the sun. Exfoliating, whether with the Clarisonic or a facial scrub sloughs away the dirt and dry skin cells and leaves your face “naked.” Don’t forget the SPF if embarking on outdoor activities.
Clarisonic vs. Manual Cleansing (no beads/scrubs)
After this 30-day observation/test period, I think that will give myself a break from the Clarisonic once or twice a week. On days where I don’t wear heavy makeup or if I’m not wearing makeup at all, I find that it’s fine to manually cleanse. Don’t get me wrong, Clarisonic is safe to use everyday. This is just a personal choice.
On the same note, if.. 1) you are not a big makeup person and go au naturel most of the time 2) you have naturally smooth skin – you may not feel/see the benefits of the Clarisonic. Let me explain, little to no makeup would mean there would be not much to remove therefore you could probably get away with manually cleansing/exfoliating. With already nice smooth skin, the results wouldn’t really be that drastic because you already have a great complexion.
Can I share the Clarisonic?
Clarisonic doesn’t recommend sharing the device with another person. However I share it anyway. The brush heads (where the bristles are) are detachable. So in my case, my brother uses it also. He has his own brush head. I just detach mine and he switches it with his. He loves it also, he said his skin feels smoother but he doesn’t use it every day (he uses it about once a week) so that’s all the input he can give.
Brush Head Replacement
Yes. The brush heads need to be changed every 2-3 months. There are different kinds of brush heads, Normal, Delicate and Sensitive. Visually, they are differentiated by the colors. The Normal is Gray, the Sensitive is white and the Delicate has a blue plastic base. The main difference is in the bristles, which are more fine for the delicate. The MIA ships out with the sensitive brush head as a default.
This is another big downside. Brush heads are EXPENSIVE! To replace every 3 months means you need around 4 brush heads a year. A single brush head from the Clarisonic online store is $25 (P1,081). But you can buy 2 for the price of $30 on Amazon.
Alternatives to the Clarisonic?
Okay, obviously people want something cheaper that works the same. There’s a similar device for much much cheaper called the Olay Professional Advanced Cleansing System for $29! It’s getting a lot of good reviews also and is battery operated.
Some people also recommend using an electric toothbrush. Right away I’m skeptical. Toothbrushes are made for teeth.
My Verdict:
In terms of skin texture and cleanliness alone, I would say the Clarisonic is worth it. I’m actually extremely satisfied with it and I have no regrets.
Yes, I won’t deny the upfront cost is great and of course the incremental cost of brush heads. I think that over time the Clarisonic will eliminate my need for facial wash with exfoliating beads and I won’t have to go get facials as often. Products and facials can be costly so my Clarisonic will save me some money. Granted, I still have to visit my derma though for consults and specific skin irritations but for the overall daily maintenance, so far so good on my Clarisonic. It’s turning out to be a good investment.
Whichever you decide to go with, whether Clarisonic, Olay, Electric Toothbrush or good old fashioned hands please leave a comment and share your experience! 🙂
Royal Wedding
The whole world is celebrating (or mourning, haha) the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton.
It’s okay ladies, Harry is still available! Please note how fabulously dashing Harry looks!
Kate Middleton is absolutely beautiful. Her dress is stunning and wow. Even Pippa’s dress is gorgeous. Le Sigh. Sarah Burton did a terrific job creating the gown.
For comprehensive Royal Wedding Coverage check out – CNN’s Unveiled Blog
Congratulations to the happy couple, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge! <3 <3