I WON!

Yes, I won. Isn't this proof enough? 😀

Nanowrimo or National Novel Writing Month. A month ago I was still hesitant to join, thinking that I might not be able to finish on time ( as the rule calls for 50k words or more in 30 days) but, I guess I’m motivated enough; because last November 21, I managed to finish my novel at 67k+ words!

Today, I submitted my novel entitled Heart’s Tempo and voila, I won! 😀 First time to join and win!

Joining Nanowrimo has been a fun experience for me. It pushed me to finish a novel that I started ( I do have some stories here that remained unfinished because of lack of motivation and well, real life calling) Although the only part that I seem to raise an eyebrow at is my mentor who suddenly went MIA. Yeah, real life probably never let her go as her word count remained the same for the past two weeks.

Anyway, I’m definitely joining Nanowrimo again next year. It’s one fun experience for me, as I get to do something that I love – writing!

CADBURY BOSTON CREAM PIE

Just got a taste of Cake2Go’s Cadbury Boston Cream Pie. According to Cake2Go, this ‘cake’ got its distinction as the official STATE DESSERT of Massachusetts, in December 12, 1996.

And so, these are the layers of the ‘cake’.

1^st layer –cream

2^nd layer – custard

3^rd layer – vanilla sponge cake

4^th layer – very thin layer of meringue

5^th layer – custard

5^th layer – very thin layer of meringue (again)

7^th layer – Vanilla sponge cake

6^th layer – cream

All of these covered in Cadbury milk chocolate ganache…isn’t this heaven?

Cadbury Boston Cream Pie

Going back five years ago, I had a friend who often raved about Cake2Go’s ‘Toblerone Overload’ cake. I wasn’t quite familiar with the brand name at first, as the more familiar names when it comes to cakes here are Goldilocks and Red Ribbon. Cake2Go only has six branches at the moment and the good thing about it is they deliver cakes! I just have no idea how much the delivery charge is, I guess it depends on where you want to have the cake(s) delivered. Take note that they do NOT deliver just about everywhere yet. So better give the branch nearest your area a call to see if they can deliver.

They have different sizes and shapes of cakes which can serve up to ten people at the most and they also have a single serve available – that is, if you want to give your chosen flavor a taste test before buying a whole cake. Because let’s face it, cakes here don’t come cheap. I mean, quality wise, I’m thumbs up but with good quality comes a high price for each cake. Comparing with Goldilocks or Red Ribbon – cakes range from P250 and up for the rolls and P450 to P550+ for the round, square and rectangle cakes. Most people would end up giving cakes from these brands as a gift because 1) they have a lot of branches in malls and in business centers 2) the price, is for the masses – it’s something that can fit the budget. But as for Cake2Go, cake prices range from P95 to P165 for single serve cakes (a 3” cake) and as for their round, square or rectangle cakes, prices range from P400 to P695 and they only have six branches so far. Yes, like I said, the cakes here don’t come cheap, although it’s still inside my budget but I think these cakes deserve only to be served on very special occasions. I’m not comparing because I’m siding with Red Ribbon or Goldilocks (I’m a actually a Red Ribbon fan, hehe!) but sometimes, your palate deserves something new. I’m just saying that sometimes, it’s good to explore other foods/desserts out there and not stick to the more well known bakeshops/dessert stores that tend to, well…bore your taste buds sooner or later. Why not try something that’s about to become famous? Because sometimes, the lesser known names are the ones that provide high quality with their merchandise.

I was actually thinking it would be too sweet as soon as I was served my first slice – surprisingly, it’s not. Every layer has the right amount of sweetness and even the chocolate ganache does not overwhelm the perfect combination of cream, custard, sponge cake and meringue. It’s the perfect melt in your mouth goodness that will leave you smiling afterwards.

So if you get to be around the places where there is a Cake2Go branch and if you have the budget, try their cakes. I’m telling you, it will be all worth it.

This is the link to their FB page and twitter (as I don’t think they have their own website)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cake2Go-Cake-Outlet-Delivery-Service/218218251544867?sk=info

http://twitter.com/cake2go

I AM AN ADDICT…

“…now addicted to milk teas – Wintermelon pearl milk tea from Tutti Frutti and Matcha Red Bean Smoothie from Chatime”  is what my FB status says. And no, I did not write anything on my status yesterday about the Pacquiao-Marquez fight like everyone did. I’m writing this to get over my writer’s block – I joined Nanowrimo this year for the first time and I managed to get to 50k words already, but I’m now having problems on how to end my novel. But since I had milk tea last week, then yesterday and today, I decided to write about it.

Let’s begin with Tutti Frutti http://www.tuttifrutti.com.ph. Now, this is a frozen yogurt chain of stores with 50+ flavors of yogurt currently, with a new addition to their menu, the milk teas. They have several flavors of milk teas, fruit milk teas and yakult milk teas; (this one of those times I wish I took pictures of the menu) the ones we ordered were the Royal Milk tea and the Wintermelon milk tea, both with coffee jelly. You have to believe the staff when they say one of their best sellers is the Wintermelon milk tea. So the next time I get to order again, (that was yesterday) I bought the Wintermelon milk tea, but with pearls (tapioca) this time. For me, I prefer just 50% sugar for the wintermelon milk tea. It’s P85 for a 500ml order of this delicious milk tea. And while we’re there, my husband decided to order vanilla yogurt. Tutti Frutti is one of those yogurt chains which are self service – and they weigh the yogurt for the price, not with the size of the cups; and it’s P20 per ounce. I’m not a fan of frozen yogurt; I never really liked the tartness (I know, you’re probably screaming at the screen “because it’s yogurt!”) but Tutti Frutti changed all that. My husband and I were actually surprised that the vanilla yogurt had no tartness and tasted like a normal vanilla ice cream, although it was not that smooth (you’re probably screaming again “because it’s frozen yogurt!”). But considering that it’s P20 an ounce, it seemed expensive especially they only had one cup size (large) available.

Chatime http://ichatime.com (this page is in Chinese though) – is  chain of milk tea branches, which is quite new here. They also have branches in Taiwan, China, Hongkong, Singapore, Macau, Vietnam, Malaysia, USA and Australia. I’ve gone to their SM North Edsa branch twice, and tried their Pearl Milk tea for the first time. I had the choice to have my drink with normal ice and sweetness. But they do have these following options: 0% No Ice, 70%  Less Ice, 100% Normal Ice, and 110% Extra Ice and 0% Sugar, 30% Sugar, 50% Sugar, 80% Sugar, 100% Normal Sugar, 110% Extra Sugar. It was the usual milk tea experience for me; I didn’t quite smile or raved about it but neither did I hate it. But they do have these small, black, circle coaster like thingies which is given to you after you order, that flashes your designated number and vibrates when your order is up at the counter. The next time I went there, I ordered their Japanese Matcha Red Bean Smoothie – and I will rave about it now. I admit, I am a fan of Matcha, from simple Matcha tea to Matcha frap of CBTL but not Starbucks. Why? Starbucks Matcha frap is overwhelmed by too much sweetness. Matcha Red Bean Smoothie has that distinct, tea flavor that makes it stand out from other teas out there, aside from the color being green.  The matcha taste still stands out, but perfectly blends with the flavor of the sweet red beans, a perfect partner for matcha. I will definitely order this again, but will go for large next time! It’s a much cheaper alternative for Starbucks or CBTL, right?

Now off to finish my novel! 😀

National Novel Writing Month

I know I haven’t been writing much lately, it’s because I decided to join the National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo. I’ll be writing a novel with 50k words or more before this months ends. I already have a plot, complete with characters, and I chose the title “Heart’s Tempo”. I like to call it a love story and not a ‘romance’ since this is something that will probably remind you of an anime-ish plot of some sort; it’s a love triangle between 2 classical musicians Henry, Fourth and the girl they both love, Nisa. Common plot? I’m thinking of making it more complicated than it sounds.

I’m posting the chapters on a private blog, if you want to read my novel, (2 chapters as of now) just say the word – give me your email addresses so I can send you an invite to read the blog/novel posts.

It’s never too late to join the Nanowrimo, if you’re interested, please go to http://nanowrimo.org and register.

I’ll try to update this blog as much as I can, but until November ends, posts here will be sporadic…please bear with me, thanks 🙂