Enjoying a European Brunch at Hatch 22 Café & Bakery

Being the sucker that I am for brunch, meeting up with friends for just that on a lovely Thursday morning was just the excuse I needed to check out the Heusaff siblings' restaurant, Hatch 22. It had opened at the Rockwell Powerplant a few months ago and I had yet to check it out. Jericho, on the other hand, came along in the hopes of being able to make googley eyes at Solenn. And to try the food. But mostly the googley eyes at Solenn part. Haha!

I initially thought Hatch 22 was a very American kind of bakery-cum-café, but was pleased to be proved wrong. Not that I have anything against American food, I was just looking for something a bit different. I found most of the food (and the drinks) quite European in terms of flavor and presentation, which I realized was probably the influence of two of the owners being Fil-French. Duh.

Getting Very Cheeky at Pink Panda #WhereIsPinkPanda

Where is Pink Panda? That's the question that has been going around for the past two weeks, so Jericho and I made it our life's mission (at least for this week) to discover where the hell the new Pink Panda Southeast Asian Diner is and what kind of food they serve.

As it turns out, Pink Panda is located right next to the A. Venue mall, at the Y2 Residence Hotel. We almost passed right by it, but stopped to admire the quirky bamboo furnishings and decor only to see the small pink sign outside. So that's where it was! We went through the bamboo door, having no idea what we were in for, taking a seat by the comfortable, tufted blue booth. As it turns out, this place has me written all over it: It's cute, cheeky, and neon pink!

Ogetsu Hime Opens at SM Aura Premier's Skypark

The people behind Dad's and Saisaki have a surprise for everyone - and that's their newest baby Ogetsu Hime! After giving Filipinos a taste of Japan at a pocket-friendly price, the group is now introducing how Japanese food should really taste like at the Skypark level of SM Aura Premier.

Named after the goddess of food, Ogetsu Hime serves high-grade sushi and sashimi, makimono, robatayaki, tempura, teppanyaki, and sukiyaki. The only thing they have seemed to have left our are the katsu, ramen, and dessert!

My Top 10 at Pinoy Eats World's Romantic Eats

I had been wanting to check out JJ Yulo's Pinoy Eats World since it first launched last year, but the thought of schlepping over to Podium for an afternoon of perusing food, food, and more food, was enough to make me snuggle even deeper into my duvet in a pseudo food coma.

But when I was told that Irene from my foodie fambam would be selling her delectable cheesecakes at Pinoy Eats World's Romantic Eats this weekend, Jericho and I made the effort to go over to Podium Mall so support her as well as our good friend Cecille Chang's Silk Road.

The second floor of Podium was set up with flowers and a big sign, ushering curious customers in to take a peek at what everyone had to offer (there were a whole lot!). From everything to organic cotton candy to  classic Thai favorites with a twist, there was a little bit of everything for everyone that weekend.

Here are my top 10 vendors from the weekend's Romantic Eats:

Celebrate a Sweet Valentines at Rastro

With the popular malls and Bonifacio High Street filling up with couples on Valentines day, the trend this year seems to be to celebrate at home, to go out either the day before or the day after, while others would rather celebrate the Hallmark holiday sometime in the month of February, not necessarily on the 14th, which is pretty smart. And if your ideal romantic evening consists of sharing shucked oysters, delicious cocktails, great food, and good music with your special someone, then I suggest you bring your date to Rastro.

Haven of Comfort Food at Speakeasy Makati

The newest place to fulfill your comfort food cravings - and swing back a few choice cocktails while you're at it - is at Chef Mike Santos' Speakeasy in Makati. As the Head Chef and part-owner of the restobar, Mike trained under Chef Cyrille Soenen of Brasserie Cicou, before putting up his own place, putting an elegant spin on some of the classic comforts we all know and love.

Being a total fan girl for Anglo-American comfort food (i.e. lots of bread, lots of cheese, lot of potatoes), I was excited to check this place out with some of my other foodie friends one hot afternoon.

Unboxed: Crumpler's Boom Camera Strap

As much as I love my FujiFilm XM-1, I hate the flimsy camera strap that came with it. The leather case looked really, really nice online, but after using it a few times the webbing started to fray, and the clasp kept slipping, resulting in a few screams of terror followed by miraculous split-second catches as my camera plummets to the ground, lens first.

Last week, Crumpler changed all that when they sent me their latest Boom Camera Strap (P650) to try. It was a happy surprise. There I was, minding my own business, when I got a knock at the door and the delivery dude handed me a small package I wasn't expecting. So it's goodbye to accident-prone camera strap and hello sturdy, colorful Crumpler strap for yours truly!