Boracay in Maginhawa!

It was a sunny summer afternoon in Maginhawa. And a certain tea shop that goes by the name of Moonleaf held the summer party that ended all summer parties this year. Milk tea + bands + free photo booth and henna + TWO new tea flavors? What more can you ask for? OH YEAH — summer rain and dancing in it like nobody cares!

Our fiercest hosts Julianna Madeleine Force, Thysz Estrada, and Gelo Arucan

We set up a small pool in the middle of the parking lot and hosted pool games! Later on, it’lll serve other purposes *wink*

Some people just know how to werq it!

Summer rain came but nothing stopped the party! The rain was a welcome guest, after all those heat!

Moonleaf: My Summer Staycation 2012

Come to think of it, staycation isn’t a bad idea at all. Though I’d really love to be in the islands by now because of this heat staring down at us, the city isn’t that unbearable with my favorite milk tea in hand.

See you all at Moonleaf!

THE MOONLEAF 2012 SUMMER CAMPAIGN

Photography by Joseph Pascual
Videography by Judd Figuerres

With Sasha Palomares, Justine Aure, Rutherford Perez, Gela Abores and Bruce Venida

Make up & grooming by Kim Alcoreza
Production & Set Design by Dreps Tatad and Jan Pineda

I’ll post the whole campaign and BTS by moi soon! 

Of milk tea and deal breakers

If life has been any simpler than a twisted game of Monopoly Deal, I probably would have won with a deal breaker and a sly deal in hand. But it ain’t a friggin’ game, and I may need my daily does of milk tea to calm my all too frantic self.

Hello Tuesday!

UP FAIR 2012: Rebokultura

Order tickets now! Look for the Facebook pages of the different UP FAIR 2012 nights.

FEB. 14 – SyamnAPO sa Ilog kong Irog  http://www.facebook.com/SyamnAPOsaIlogKongIrog
FEB. 15 – KONTRAKULTURA: A Date With Destiny https://www.facebook.com/adatewithdestiny2012
FEB. 16 – LOVERAGE 6: Innervate https://www.facebook.com/LR6Innervate
FEB. 17 – Status Change https://www.facebook.com/StatusChange
FEB. 18 — HIMIGsikan: Reclaiming Traditions, Continuing Struggle… Serving the People! https://www.facebook.com/HIMIGsikan

To know more about UP FAIR 2012, like them at Facebook here!

ALSO! Moonleaf will have a booth there! Come have your milk tea fix while enjoying your favorite music at the UP Fair!

#MoonleafOnJessicaSoho

I missed watching this on TV, but yay because GMA’s so quick to post it online! Spot Moonleaf in the segment! Special thanks to @stacydejesus for giving me heads up that it’s available online already. Lurve you, girl!:)

P.S. This trended last Sunday no. 1 in the Philippines!!! So proud of you, Moonleaf Tea Shop! Like them in Facebook, Follow in Twitter, and also in Tumblr! :)

Kiong Hee Huat Tsai!!

吉慶有餘 | Jiqing youyu | May your happiness be without limit

2012 is all about FRESH!

Starting anew, starting afresh! Get your fruity and fresh drinks at Moonleaf Tea Shop. I’d try Fruity Yogurt later!!!

The Moonleaf 2012 Planner

We interrupt this backlog-killing spree for a very important announcement —

MOONLEAF 2012 PLANNER IS ALREADY AVAILABLE AT YOUR FAVORITE MOONLEAF BRANCH! *Imagine me shouting out of freakin’ excitement* And yeah, they require no stamp collection, no drowning in caffeine, just you and your Moonleaf 2012 Planner.

And yeah, I quit a five-year habit (a guilty one, yes) for this. I’m so excited for my own!!! I recommend you buy one to see its contents. Well, I had the chance to see it first, but I won’t kill the excitement :P

GO. BUY. NOOOOOOOOW!

Congratulations to the Moonleaf team for the very successful launch of new branches, a trending spot in Twitter, and this beautiful planner (that I can’t quite get my head off until I have my hands on one!) Follow them on Facebook and on Twitter!

Freego S/S12

I was surprised when Wrangler’s PR invited me to PFW, knowing that they are not participating in this season. Then they cleared it out to me that it’s Freego doing the show and not them. My bad for not checking the schedule, tee-hee!

This time around I went with my friends at work, Jen and Nica. It was their first time to watch PFW. We kinda arrived late, so we didn’t have any seat AND my camera battery was drained! LIKE HOLY MOTHER OF ASDFGHJKL!!!!! I was freaking out and good thing Jen has her very convenient Lumix in her bag. That really saved my day. I should buy one of those soon.

MOA atrium is soooooo packed! 

I like the Midnight Hunter collection making use of the assassin-007 theme. I love oo7 and assassins!!!

And then JC de Vera came out. Gawd those pandesals!

Adamson Falcons and San Beda Lions came out with their undies only! The whole atrium was in uproar. Like, who wouldn’t?

The Cool and Dry collection was very summer. I can almost see myself wearing those in the middle of the summer heat.

Danica Magpantay

It was a great show! Props to Freego for the innovative runway. I didn’t have an establishing shot, but it is beautiful nonetheless.

Boys…

Boys

Boys

Boys

and boys! LOLJK!

Rex Clothing cross tee, Thrifted gray denim jacket, Penshoppe semi-glossy pants, Thrifted military boots, Wrangler denim tote

I love denim!!! Almost all of the shows that I watched this season are denim brands and I love them all. It’s so flexible I can wear it anytime – Summer, Holiday, Fall and Winter (chos lang!) Also it’s not that difficult to style. It goes along with almost every piece in my closet. Convenient, indeed!

Jen and Nica flaunting their animal rings

Went to Gong Cha for a quick refreshment

But Nica is quite disappointed with their Honey Dew milk tea

I just stuck with my Earl Grey milk tea instead… more of this in a separate post for The Milk Tea Project

Ciao for now!
J

TMTP Cha Dao… WIP

The Milk Tea Project continues on Cha Dao Maginhawa branch. I marched straight from the Bloggers Congress and a quick dinner at Megamall, capping the night at this tea place.

Is it just me, or tea shops are starting to look alike #justsayin. Anyway, I love how welcoming the shop is. They have tents outside so customers can enjoy their tea al fresco. It was still  the soft opening period, so it is understandable that the crowd is still somewhat sparse.

This menu is on a table and is very convenient. You have to give it that they have warm service. Props to that.

I have to be honest here. I really do not like how they did their tea in this place. I ordered the Classic Milk Tea and it really reminds me  of Nido (which I run away from when I was a kid.) No offense to Nido and Nido lovers, but I really loathe the taste of powdered milk – ANY powdered milk. I cannot taste the tea in the drink and I can’t forgive the powdered milk taste (sorry.) I’d like to believe that the tea is just so awkwardly sweet because the crew made a mistake.

Please believe me that it disheartens me to give a bad review. I do not want to destroy any brand name, and the sole purpose of this project is to promote the tea lifestyle – the diversity of each and every shop and how they are making a good and sustainable competition in the Philippines.

In light of this, I am going to give Cha Dao a second chance and this post will serve as a work in progress. I hope that this will be a push for the tea place to improve their tea.

Come to think of it, the sweetness of the macaron from The French Baker numbed my tongue a little to taste a little tea from my drink.

But still, a milk tea drink should be able to stand in itself.

Til we see each other again, Cha Dao! :)