Cafe UK, A Taste of Royalty

Dingdong! Oh wait, “I think someone’s on the gate but I am not expecting anyone to come over plus the fact that we actually don’t have a doorbell.” These were my thoughts when I suddenly remembered it was my mobile phone alerting me of a message. I checked from whom it came and smiled; it was an invitation to try out a café in Manila. For someone who loves coffee as I do, I know you would understand if I was very thrilled on such invitation to which I instantly said “YES!”

Strategically located near prime universities and colleges like CEU and San Beda, it is not that hard to look for this place, seriously, even with your eyes closed. Walk straight along Mendiola then turn left on C. Concepcion Street. Once you get there you’ll see a big banner bearing this name: CAFÉ UK .Co.

I kind of find it cute finding these two royal guards guarding the doorway into the café.

I wasted no time the moment I saw the entrance to the store. Once I got in, these things caught my attention: iPads which are free to use by the customers where you can browse the internet using the fastest internet connection in town running at 10 mbps.

The place is conducive and relaxing which made it so friendly to its target market, the students. With chairs and tables crafted with comfort in mind, they truly value learning. While my eyes were going around, one thing caught my attention, this….

Nothing would really beat the combination of a book and a good cup of coffee. Aside from these wonderful things which I consider ‘POSH’, Café UK still has a lot to offer: A highly trained and cheerful staff plus the technology to provide the best coffee to its clients.

It was my first time to see this appliance which looks like something from a laboratory and to be honest I didn’t stop myself from asking the staff, “What on earth is that?” to which she kindly replied, “It’s a coffee vacuum pot Sir.”

Of course let’s now go to the main event of the day: THE FOOD and BEVERAGE.

We were first served with what they call as Aerated water.

It looks like your ordinary flavoured water but wait, it is not carbonated therefore it will never make you feel like bloated. It is simply water with a twist, no more, no less. Aerated water comes in 5 different flavours. So it is your choice, your drink.

After some refreshments, came in the moment of truth. The main course: a platter Pesto and Spanish sardines pasta with garlic wheat bread on the side.

The pesto is topped with authentic parmesan cheese full with herbs and spices. It is so good that I even brought it home.

What I love the most is the Spanish sardines pasta. Complete with olives, tomatoes and topped with of course sardines this dish is truly delectable. It’s as if the pasta itself is saying, “Hola! llegadotienen un sabor de España!” Take note, the sardines they used for this dish came in straight from Spain.

Did I mention that most of their servings are served in large volumes? Yes, you heard it right. A platter is actually good for 2 people though it would still depend whether you’re hungry or not.

Lastly, it will never be complete without the thing that most of us wait the most, the dessert. They served us two of their best-selling sweets, blueberry cheesecake with whip cream and sliced apple on the side plus their delectable chocolate lava ala mode topped with cherries. They served it together with our Vietnamese coffee de leche.

I admit that their blueberry cheesecake is the best that I’ve tried so far. The sweetness of the blueberry matched with the saltiness of cheese is just superb. The taste of whipped cream topped with sliced apple added character to the taste.

Then I tried their chocolate lava ala mode. I was actually curious because of its appearance. I grabbed my fork and started cutting the cake in half then a gush of melted chocolate came out. I took a bite then there, the hotness of the chocolate which is Belgian, mixed with the coldness of ice cream blew me away.

The cakes went really well with their Vietnamese Coffee de leche which is a balanced blend between the rich tastes of Vietnamese roasted coffee with the fullness of milk. The bitterness and sweetness were just the right.

Café UK still has a lot to give and it’s for you to discover. So the next time you find yourself craving for something to eat, don’t hesitate to pay them a visit at Café UK .Co located at Ground Floor, Dona Carmen Bldg, 2nd Street corner C. Aguila Street, San Miguel, Mendiola, Manila.



This blog was originally posted at Alyzza Sanchez' Blog.
Photo credits to Alyzza Sanchez

Puting Buhangin at Kuwebang-Lampas, Pagbilao, Quezon

It was supposed to be written last summer but due to my laziness, I wasn't able to do so. Well even this blogsite had been created for a while now but also, because of my laziness and procrastination nothing had been posted here for all eternity.

A chance for some photo-op haha... :D

Eversince I was a child, it has been my dream to go to a white beach (I just don't know if it was every child's dream). I used to think that it was an awesome experience to see white sands and I was also thinking that it would look good put those sands on our lawn.

It was the summer of 2013 when this dream came to reality. Me and my colleagues decided to hit the beach and we found Kwebang-Lampas in Pagbilao, Quezon. Thinking that it was just like any other beaches near Metro Manila, I was never really thrilled. Not until such time that we need info about how to get there that I asked Mr. Google to provide us with some data about the place.

I typed, Pagbilao and there were a lot of suggestions but I chose Kwebang-Lampas, Pagbilao, Quezon then hit ENTER. The first images that came were pictures of a beach that has white sands. Oh wait, yes my eyes aren't fooling me, they are indeed white sands and the rest is history.

We searched for route and what to ride on:

How to get there: 

The rough road with the QUARRY SITE??? and the lake...

Ride a bus going to Lucena City. (Jam Liner, Lucena Lines, Jac Liner and DLTB Co.) get off at SM City Lucena and ride a jeep going to Pulo. In our case we rented the whole jeepney because the driver offered and they knew it better than us. If you have your own car, once you get to SM City Lucena, you have to take the road going to Bicol but don't take your eyes off the road the because you have to make a right turn (which is a bit unnoticeable) going to Pagbilao Power Station. Once you made the right turn, just go straight ahead until you reach dead-end, seriously. Once you reach the gate, oh I forgot to say that there are two gates there, you have to go to the second one which would lead you to a quarry site (I think that was a quarry site) and you will pay P5 per head for I don't know really. You will traverse a rough road
till you reach the end where there is a lake.

TREKKING TIME!

You have to cross the lake using a motorboat
(I'm sorry I forgot the price) for about 5 minutes. Once you get to the other side, you will see more boulders and the open sea. You have two options: you can walk or you can ride another motorboat going to Puting Buhangin but, I suggest you go trekking, it is more fun.

Be careful with the stones, they're quite sharp.

After the long hours of travel this view would welcome you. It welcomed us.... :)

The beach with its white sands and the the cave (the namesake of the place) :)

Inside the cave... That's me in white sando when I was still fat haha (KWEBANG LAMPAS)

We went home at around 5 pm because it will be hard and dangerous to trek during night time according to some local folks unless you will stay there for an overnight... yes they do accept overnight accommodations. They have cottages for the price of around P300 and they charge P50 per head as an entrance fee. 

I think the only thing I disliked about it is that you really need to buy the water that you will need to rinse yourself. They sell it for P50 per container because there is no water installation in the area. Other than that, the place is good.

Consider this place the next time you go on a summer escapade...

Till next time guys...