7-Eleven Slurpee Bring Your Cup Day

I think all of us just love Slurpee. I for one, loves filling up the cup provided by the 7-Eleven staff, trying to fit as much product as I can to the point of tapping the cup into the counter, because admit it or not... filling the cup is part of the fun.

Well now... not only do you get to pour your own Slurpee, you can also bring your own cup and enjoy the goodness of Slurpee for only 29 pesos!


On November 07, 2013... 7-Eleven, in partnership with Coca-Cola will have the Bring Your Own Cup Day, wherein you can bring whatever kind of cup you want to bring - no matter how small or big. Of course, there will be rules. All 7-Eleven stores will have a standee with a hole, and if your cup fits the "maCUPangyarihang bilog," you can use such container.

Other things to consider:

• The container has to be fixed in shape. Even if there will be curves and even if the container has a crazy shape, as long as it is fixed, it's good. What's prohibited is the usage of plastic bags (sando bags, garbage bags, to name a few).
• It has to be clean and watertight.
• There should be no leaks or drips. You can bring your tall pitcher and tilt it to fit the hole, but there should be no spills on the floor. If you're going to bring tall containers, better bring its lid as well.
• Strictly one cup per customer. If you have a lot of unique containers, pay for one cup first, then line again for the other containers.
• No refills, of course. Let's not abuse this awesome opportunity to splurge on Slurpee.

There will be two flavors for the Slurpee Bring Your Own Cup Day at 7-Eleven - the cool and classic Cola and Rad Raspberry. Take your pick among the two and enjoy your frozen drink.



I still don't know if they will allow combining two flavors come BYO Cup Day, but this event is going to be available for one day, so be creative and choose your container well. Whether it's a thermos, a kettle, a blender, a hard hat... or your pet's dish, as long as it fits the maCUPangyarihang bilog, it's fair play.

Here's the best part of all - 7-Eleven is going to give away 5,000 pesos to the customer with the best container. On November 07 until November 08, all those who availed of this treat can upload their images on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag - #BYOCupDay.

I am now thinking of what crazy container to bring, but I have to select carefully because this event has already happened in Australia and Malaysia, and people there have already brought all sorts of crazy containers. Save the date - November 07, 2013... and don't forget to Bring Your Cup!

This promo is open at all 7-Eleven branches nationwide.

Cooking with Leftovers

Last Friday, good friends from Jollibee sent us two Chickenjoy Bucket Treats. Each bucket contained 8 pieces of fried chicken, and because it's just us three girls here at home, eating all the chicken pieces was a little overwhelming. We did send some to our next door neighbors (the essence of eating Chickenjoy is to provide joy, and I think the kids next door were happy for the treat), but we still had too much to eat. Thankfully, one of the buckets contained all breast parts, so after we ate our share of the chicken, I decided to take out all the breading and skin from the breast parts, flaked the meat, and store it in the freezer for future use.

What we did to the flaked chicken meat?

Siklab Filipino Favorites {Glorietta 3}

I love to eat foreign cuisine, but I always find myself wanting to eat Filipino food. I believe there is just nothing like it, and the comfort it brings doesn't just fill the tummy, it feeds the senses, too.


If you're someone who just love Filipino food, there's another restaurant to try - Siklab Filipino Favorites, located at the third level of Greenbelt 3.

"Siklab," which literally means “to catch fire” or “burst into flames,” serves dishes that are in their best hot-off-the-grill goodness. Guests can also look forward to nothing less than an explosion of flavors even in the most simple of dishes.

“At Siklab, the story doesn’t end with serving all-Filipino dishes but we present these dishes creatively, the Bistro way,” Chef Josh Boutwood says. “Both usual favorites and some unique Filipino dishes will be served with interesting twists. The taste, however, is still traditionally Filipino — but richer and more flavorful,” he further hints.

The restaurant’s interiors are accented with wooden planks and black droplights that lend a laidback, almost rustic vibe to the place. But it’s this homey and inviting ambiance that heightens the dining experience at Siklab, creating just the right kind of setting for a satisfying meal.

Dishes to try at Siklab Filipino Favorites?

The First Time We Used Our Enjoy Philippines Card

As soon as my sister and I decided to use the resort accommodations we won from the Enjoy Philippines Mid-Year party, we immediately consulted our Enjoy Philippines' member's booklet to know where we could use our card and enjoy its perks.



Some of the food establishments offer discounts, but the Lemon i Cafe was the only place that offered Buy 1 Take 1 on Main Course dishes, something that really got us super excited. On our last meal at Boracay, we went to the Cafe to enjoy their food.


First thing we did was to consult the cafe's staff regarding our Enjoy Philippines cards and vouchers. I asked so many questions, which the staff answered graciously. Since both my sister and I are members, we were advised to have separate bills so both of us could use our vouchers. We either choose two dishes with the same price, or choose two differently priced dishes and pay for the one with the higher price. The main course section of their menu wasn't that extensive, so we had to carefully select which dishes to choose.


Lemon and Thyme Roast Chicken with Sauteed Potatoes
It may just be 1/4 of a chicken, but it was very big for us three to share. The chicken meat was tender, juicy, and very flavorful, even without the glaze. The potatoes were cooked just right and the bell peppers as well as the young corn were crunchy. It had enough vegetables that rice was no longer needed to enjoy the chicken meat.


Tiger Prawns with Spinach and Coconut Risotto
We might have had shrimps for dinner last night, but my mom still wanted to eat shrimps or prawns, so when we asked her to make a choice among the dishes, this was her only choice. I loved how soft the risotto was, made creamy with the coconut cream. The spinach added a very interesting flavor and texture, but it was also good to eat as is.


Chicken and Pancetta Carbonara
This was heaven! Although I am not a fan of crispy bacon - or pancetta - I appreciated that it was topped on the bed of pasta and not mixed into the sauce. I also opted for the freshly milled pepper, which made the pasta much better.


Poached Salmon with Penne Tossed in Creamy White Wine Sauce
This was another great tasting dish, and the salmon was cooked and seasoned perfectly - such a great pair for the pasta, but I guess even if we carefully planned the dishes to choose, I had a little regret for choosing this one because one creamy pasta after another was a little too much for our tummies to handle - especially for me who cannot really tolerate a big amount of dairy products. The only thing I reminded myself was that this dish had a big chunk of salmon... that even without the pasta, it was already worth our money.

The first two dishes were something sister chose, with the prawns as the more expensive dish compared to the chicken. I chose both pasta dishes, with the salmon having a more expensive price tag.


Lemon Merengue
The Lemon i Cafe is also known for their baked goodies, and we didn't pass the chance to buy one of their pastries. Since the place bears the name "lemon," I chose the Lemon Merengue as our dessert. It might looked burned, but it didn't taste like that, actually, it tasted great. The merengue had a light sweetness that went well with the tangy, tarty lemon filling, that us girls totally raved about. It was a little expensive for 160 pesos, but it was big enough to share and the taste was definitely amazing!


Mocha Coffee
Mom and I opted to go for bottled water, but sister asked for a cup of coffee just to perk her senses. This cup of goodness wasn't only appetizing to the eyes, it's richness and good balance of sweetness and creaminess was also drink-gasmic!

Despite the two free dishes, we still ended up paying more than one thousand pesos, because the prawns dish was already 600 pesos. Although expensive, the servings were good enough for sharing, and the experience wasn't something you can put a price tag on. It may be the second time this year for me to travel to Boracay, but it took me 20 years before my dreams of setting foot in the island came true, so the amount we paid was just fine, considering that we didn't know when to travel to Boracay again.

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Lemon i Cafe
D'Mall - Station 2
Boracay Island, Aklan

Baking My Very First Rocky Road Brownies

Baking is something we truly want to learn and enjoy. My sister and I have been eyeing this oven for so long now, but we still can't decide whether we'll buy it or not, because #1 we don't want to blow up our electric bill and #2 we are not sure if it is something we really want.

We have used quite a number of Maya baking mixes, but whenever we use it, we usually opt to steam the batter and even if it gives us a good way to enjoy good tasting food, we still want to try baking it. Some Maya cake mixes are made for oven toaster, so we wanted to try that route first.


One of the Maya baking mixes we had was the Celebrations by Sharon Fudge Brownie Mix. It was near its expiration date, so sister and I decided to bake it using the oven toaster last weekend.


What was needed to make the basic brownies were - 1 box of Maya Celebrations by Sharon Fudge Brownie Mix, 1 medium egg, 1/4 cup oil (we used corn oil), 1 tablespoon water, and chopped nuts. But then, we still have marshmallows and chocolate chips from previous "Kitchen Lab sessions" so I also added them in the recipe.

Mixing the brownie mix, egg, oil, and water resulted in a very heavy and thick batter and at first my sister was questioning if I read it right that it only needed 1 tablespoon water. Let me tell you that you just have to keep mixing it and soon it will all come together.


To make the brownies, we could use the oven toaster tray, but because we wanted to make Rocky Road Brownies, we used one of our loaf pans. Before popping it in the oven toaster, we wrapped it with aluminum foil first so that the heat from the oven toaster would not shock the surface of the brownies. We baked it for 15 minutes at 5 minute intervals, allowing it to rest for a few minutes before baking it more so that the residual heat would cook the inner part of the brownies. Last one minute of baking I tore off the aluminum foil.


One boo-boo about leaving it open for 1 minute was that the marshmallows got toasted... really toasted. I realized, using itty bitty marshmallows would burn toast very fast. It resulted in a slightly failed Rocky Road Brownies, but not totally wasted because even if the top was okay... burned, the brownies were chewy and very delish!


I didn't put all the batter in the pan, I also tried making some Rocky Road Brownie Cups, and it was much better because I didn't take off the aluminum foil cover, but it still toasted the marshmallows because they were much smaller.

I totally love the Maya Celebrations by Sharon Fudge Brownie Mix! It made baking brownies easier, and both my mom and sister expressed that it tasted the brownies we used to buy at this bakeshop (won't tell what). Now that we knew how it tasted, we will definitely just bake our own brownies.

Lessons to consider - mix the marshmallows and chocolate chips in the batter and just top it with cashews, use unsalted cashews, and don't peel off the aluminum foil covering.

We are now really going to buy that oven soon... but before that, we would attempt to bake Carrot Cupcakes using the oven toaster first.

Jollibee is Giving Away 35 Bucket Treats!

What's your favorite Jollibee treat? Personally, I love their Jolly Hotdog and Burger Steak, but whenever the family would dine at Jollibee, I always find myself ordering the Jolly Chickenjoy + Spaghetti meal. My mom always choose the Jolly Chickenjoy + Palabok meal. I have a lot of fond memories about the Jolly Chickenjoy... back when we were kids, the only time brother and I could taste this was during Christmastime - as this was the usual choice of food during Christmas parties at mom's office. I remember mom would always opt to take home her share of Christmas party food just so we could enjoy it.

From then 'til now Jolly Chickenjoy still satisfies us. Currently, eating at Jollibee has been one of the ways us sibling bond with our dearest mother, because whenever we are out and we are thinking of where to eat, her vote would always go to Jollibee.




Every week until the 27th of October, Jollibee is giving away Jolly Chickenjoy Bucket Treats (8 pieces of Jolly Chickenjoy, 4 rice, 4 regular drinks, and 4 regular Crisscut Fries) to 35 lucky Jollibee diners. It is open to all interesting participants at least 18 years of age and is currently residing in the Philippines. To qualify, first thing to do is to register for the promo, which can be accessed through the Jollibee website. If you want to join, visit www.jollibee.com.ph/promos, for the full mechanics.

All of us have a particular fondest Jollibee moment. I'm sure those moments were spent with people dear to us. The Jolly Chickenjoy Bucket Treat is available until the 27th, giving you less than 10 days to join, so go and join now!