Kindle 3

I've always loved books ever since college. Before that, I was just any normal teenager who would read teen novels like Sweet Dreams and Sweet Valley series. When I was in high school I always wondered what it's like to hangout in the library. I think I tried once or twice but got intimidated by the studious people there. I knew I wasn't one of them and don't want to be thought as one. How small my world is back then. It's those times I just wanted to be invisible. In college I moved and boarded in Manila, became a little independent... and lonely as well. I guess that's when I found books to be a good and patient friend, always there waiting to entertain when you find yourself in between classes with nothing to do or when your roommates went home to their provinces during the weekends. Of course I was eager to read novels than to study my texts back then. I even went to this cute little place in the mall. It's like a library but you have to pay for your membership and you can hangout there and drink coffee and tea. I love that little place and would go there during my free hours to read and to borrow books. When I started working that's when I started to buy books. It was a bit of a drag because most books aren't available in our country and you have to pre-order and wait for months. By this time the internet was already at full bloom so I know what are available in the market. Over the years I have come to buy less than five books a year because it was expensive. Of course I like watching movies as well and going out with friends so paying a small fortune for books is not a priority for me. And ebooks online doesn't interest me at all. I work on a PC all day and tire my eyes out so I don't want to spend my leisure reading time there as well. Until the Kindle came.

I was already hearing about e-readers but I thought they were the same as the tablets out there (iPad, Galaxy). Knowing that it's just a mini PC didn't entice me at all since it will hurt my eyes. It's only recently that a friend introduced me to the third generation Kindle. She told me it uses electronic ink so it won't hurt my eyes and will be like a real book. It also has Wi-Fi capabilities. I got interested but I didn't think of buying it at first. Then I realized I need something that has Wi-Fi so I can monitor my work wherever I go. I didn't want another cell phone. I still love my old pink one. The tablets are way expensive and useless for me. The Kindle was perfect. It's cheap, has Wi-Fi, it's an e-book reader and it's good looking. So, I bought my very first e-book reader. Now I have access to millions and millions of e-books now and they are so much cheaper than real books. I'm so happy!

So here's my Kindle 3. It's been with me for more than a month now and there's not a night I haven't slept without picking it up first to read. It's been a good companion and I don't have any reason to be bored anymore. I love its style and sleekness. I love the screensavers. I love the page turning buttons. I love the screen. It's any book lovers dream.

The Amazon Kindle box that was delivered to me

Opening the box. I already took out the Kindle and this is what's underneath

USB cable and electrical plug

The Kindle Third Generation

The current screensaver is the Hercules constellation

It's very light

Longer than a pen...

...but thinner than a pen

I've also ordered the Amazon Kindle Lighted Leather Cover as well. It's a bit expensive but it will be useful when I put my Kindle inside my bag for protection. The light inside the cover is so cute. It's very useful when there's a power outage or if you don't want to disturb your partner during his/her sleep.

Amazon Kindle Lighted Leather Cover box

Simple but tough

When you first open it there's an instruction booklet inside

Fitting my kindle in the cover using the metal hinges

My kindle with the leather cover

Leather cover with the light pulled out

When you wake up the Kindle you turn on the light as well

The light is pretty bright even on daylight

There's three LED light bulbs in there

I've also bought a silicon case to use when I'm at home only. It's great protection for your Kindle. I'm sure it'll absorb shock when you drop it. So far I haven't had an accident to test it yet and will not likely to do it on purpose. I tried putting an anti-glare screen protector as well but there were bubbles on it so I had to take it off. You cannot read with even the smallest bubbles. Many people say they like using the Kindle naked anyway since the screen is pretty tough and scratch resistant and putting screen protectors just add glare. The following pictures will show the silicone case as well as what the Kindle looks like when in use.

Kindle with silicone case

Kindle at Home screen showing my book collections

Kindle at Home screen

Kindle while reading a book

Kindle while reading

The Kindle I bought is the one with special offers. It's cheaper but it will have ads on the screensaver and home screen when you register your Kindle at Amazon. The previous pics shows that I haven't registered yet and the pictures below will show what the ads look like after registration. The advertisements only shows in the screensaver and the home screen only and will not pop up while you're reading. I wouldn't mind the advertisements at all if only they were more artistic like the screensavers before registering. But I am interested in downloading the latest ads. I'm hoping they would make it prettier and more Kindle appropriate though. I think if they just put some classic art on it and put a text somewhere about their product I would love them (the sponsors) more for it.

Home screen with ads

Screensaver with ad

Screensaver with another ad

Screensaver with an automobile ad

Home screen with the automobile ad

Kindle with browsing capability

bookbooksebookskindlereading

Cielin's Mango Cake

Out of the blue we just decided to buy Cielin's Mango Cake since the price isn't that too high unlike the commercial cakes out there.  And we added our favorite cupcakes as well!

This Mango Cake became my older sister's favorite cake. Well  not really favorite but she plans on giving this cake to her friends. She said it's great to give as a gift or for parties. It's refreshing and not too sweet. The icing tastes like whipped cream with mango bits and it served as a filling as well. I actually love the icing and wished there was more of it. It reminds me of my mom's refrigerator cake with lots of cream. The cake itself as usual is soft and fresh as what you would expect of Cielin's. This mango cake might look simple but you can't go wrong with it. I'm sure everybody will love this one.

Cielin's Mango Cake

Cielin's Mango Cake (slice)

Cielin's Mango cake (better view of filling)

Cielin's cupcakes - strawberry (for me), mocha (for younger sis) and cheese tart (for older sis)

food
desserts
cakes

Cielin's Pandan Cake

On my payday I decided to try one of Cielin's cakes to treat my family with and their Pandan Cake is what I chose. I've been wanting to try it ever since I saw it in their Facebook page. I love everything green especially in food and I also love the refreshing taste of pandan so that explains my craving for this one. This particular cake you have to order one day ahead. They don't keep it in stock probably because it taste best fresh. From my experience with it, it taste great even in the next day and the next.

The pandan flavor is in the cake itself and not in the icing. It's not really overpowering but you can taste right away the flavor on the first bite. I was expecting the icing to be refreshing but it's made up of butter with green coloring in it and no pandan so expect the icing to harden a bit when it's cooled. The brown you see on top are grated chocolate. I thought it was muscovado at first or some kind of brown grated coconut hehe. As usual the cake is soft probably because Cielin's cakes are always fresh. So, this was just a simple Pandan cake with butter icing. I guess I was expecting too much of a traditional Filipino dish like buko pandan and expected everything to be refreshing. Also I don't like butter icing too much. When I was a kid our birthday cakes are usually made up of this kind of icing and maybe I got tired of it. But for those who love butter icings or old fashioned cakes this will be a real treat.  My family actually loved this pandan cake and it's become a favorite of my mom and brother. Me? I would buy it again but not anytime soon unless my siblings are craving for it right away. All in all I think this is a fair cake especially for its price and would go great with tea.

Cielin's Cakehouse box

Cielin's Pandan Cake

Cielin's Pandan Cake

Cielin's Pandan Cake (slice)

Cielin's Pandan Cake (cross-section)

food
desserts
cakes

Cielin's cupcakes

Cielin's cupcakes was an instant success in our family. We all have different tastes so everyone found a flavor to their liking. All cakes are soft and just right, the icing not too sweet since I think they're all made of whipped cream (which I dearly love!) unlike the other cupcakes out there that has a towering icing of pure sugar or whatever. I just really don't get that. Anyway below is a pic of the cupcakes. I imagine it would be hard writing down the cupcake flavors saying L-R, clockwise, etc, so I made a pic with the details below.

Cielin's Assorted cupcakes, chicken pie and tarts

I love the Strawberry cupcake most of all. It's not too sweet. The cream on top has a refreshing strawberry flavor and the cake soft with a strawberry filling inside. Whenever I have this cupcake in front of me I have this urge of burying my face in the cream and lick everything afterwards. I just wish I have tasted this during my childhood. I'm pretty sure I would've been the happiest girl back then knowing that a cupcake like this existed (that goes also with Yulo's strawberry shortcake). Lol. I know what I would want for my birthday! My younger sister loves the Mocha cupcake. You can really taste the mocha-ness in this one. The cake is bursting with mocha flavor and goes well with the cream on top. It would be my fave as well if not for my overly fondness of strawberries. My older sister's favorite is the cheese tart. Oh yes not all are cupcakes in this assorted box. We have a chicken pie and tarts as well. The Cheese tart is somewhat similar to the egg tart but oozing with cheesy goodness. Not too salty and not too sweet, just the right amount of cheese. I think everyone in my family loves this tart. The Chicken pie is great for merienda. It doesn't have sauce inside like other chicken pies but it's flavorful and satisfying to the stomach. The Walnut tart is a tart on the sweet side so you would want to eat this one slowly. I love it  especially when I'm craving for something sweet with some crunch. The Mangoes and Cream honestly I can't remember tasting it. I think I have but maybe I was too smitten-ed with the strawberry cupcake I totally ignored this one. It would be one of my favorite flavors as well.  The other cupcakes I find just normal probably because it's not my favorite flavor or there's none left for me to taste it. Next time I'll revise this post and add more pictures of the cupcake fillings. By the way the most expensive one in this box I think is around P24. The price for each cupcake or tart or chicken pie ranges from P18 to P20+. Not bad eh? Enjoy looking at the pics!

Cielin's cupcakes including the choco cupcake from my Mother's day post

Cielin's cupcakes (without the text)

Cielin's cupcakes (another view)

food
desserts
cakes

Cielin's Lemon Meringue Torte

My younger sister discovered this cake house at BF, Paranaque and she was able to convince me to try out one of their cakes since the pics in their Facebook page looks appetizing. We also found out that the delicious 'free' chocolate cup cakes we availed from Shopwise during Mother's Day was from them as well. Knowing that, I decided to try one of their cakes since the price is quite reasonable as well. I asked my sister to buy me Lemon Meringue Torte to try one day while she accompanies her three-year-old son to preschool and will be passing by there.

I chose this flavor because I haven't tasted a lemon cake before and I have a soft spot for lemons. Why I ask myself. Hm let me see. When I was a kid I had these pretty pencil translucent erasers that are shaped and colored as lemons, limes and strawberries so I've always thought of them as pretty things. It reminded me of preschool, of soft sunlight, of grass and leaves and the cartoon Strawberry Shortcake! Lemons don't grow in our country so I was only able to taste it when I was older since trade liberalizations only started in the 90s . When I tasted lime I found them too strong. When I tasted lemon and found out about their soft tangy sweet taste it has earned my respect. Strawberries on the other hand... that's another story and will be having a different post for it -- for the perfect cake!

Oh! I have to mention my older sis's lemon squares. She did make one before when she was first trying out her cooking skills. I was so smitten-ed she's making a lemon dessert. But alas she mistakenly put salt instead of sugar so the pastry was a disaster. Imagine eating a sour salty dessert. I think the family still managed to finish it all since it's still food, and we don't waste food, but my sis never recovered from it and hated baking ever since. While me I'm still looking for that perfect lemon dessert.

Cielin's Cakehouse box with address

Cielin's Lemon Meringue Torte

Lemon Meringue Torte

Getting a slice of the torte

 I almost truly love this cake. It just had the right sweetness and tang and I love the nuts and meringue inside. But I think it was lacking crunch and has too much cream. Well actually everybody in our family said it had too much icing and less of a cake. I think if you take a thin slice it would be okay but we're accustomed to slicing as much as we want. lol. Also I think if lemon zest were added to the icing it would just be fine. I just taste too much of the egg whites and it's almost like eating a Brazo de Mercedes without the yellow filling. Well for those who love icings I would say this is for you. I do hope they improve it a little because it's almost perfect.

Me and my sis do plan to try out their other cakes as well. Will keep you posted :).

food
desserts
cakes

Mother's day with Bizu and Cielin's

I've been so busy with work lately I haven't had time updating my blog. Also most of my free time I give it up to reading ever since I bought a Kindle. Even when I finish my work at 2am I still find myself reading before going to bed. Anyway I'll be posting about my Kindle soon enough and all my appreciation about it will be included there :).

So, Mother's day this year was  on May 8, 2011, Sunday. It was a perfect day to celebrate because Pacman Pacquiao's fight was on that day as well (well here in the Philippines that is). Me and my older sister decided to surprise the mothers in our family with a cake, some flowers and a pay per view show of the fight. It was a bit hard concealing about it for a week pretending we've forgotten the date but I could honestly say that we pulled it off beautifully. Both my mom and younger sis were surprised.

We decided to try out Bizu's Mother's Day cake special called Cheesecake Camilla.

Bizu's Cheesecake Camilla with box

Cheesecake Camilla front

Cheesecake Camilla side

Cheesecake Camilla eaten

My mouth is kinda watering now when I look at these pics. I do miss it a little. I say 'little' because I remember I'm not much of a fan of cheesecakes and too sweet desserts. Cheesecake Camilla is both. For those who like sweets like my sister and mom and those that love cheesecakes then this is for you. It's creamy, it's sweet, it's yummy. Hm the taste experience reminded me actually of 'yema' but in a cheesecake form. It does look small at first but we realized it's small for a reason. A little really goes a long way. Usually a cake in our family is gone in one or two eating but Camilla I think it lasted a week. So, I think the price (1k plus) is just right when it comes to quantity.


Another treat we had for Mother's day was chocolate cupcakes from Shopwise. It was a free gift from them for the mothers who are members of their store.

A gift from Shopwise on Mother's Day

How sweet

This is actually from Cielin's Cakehouse where a branch can be found in Shopwise

Since we have two mothers we got two gifts ^^

I really love this chocolate cupcake. They're moist, chocolatey and not too sweet. Their moistness is quite surprising I guess since most cupcakes nowadays are a bit exaggerated on the toppings and don't focus much on the cupcake itself. I don't even like the big toppings on those other cupcakes. Most of the time they're too sweet. Anyway this one from Cielin's is just right! I can't wait to try their other cupcakes as well. I'll be uploading a post soon with another Cielin cake.



food
desserts
cakes