New Look: Serenitea Banawe

For those who still don't know, Serenitea Banawe has already relocated to a bigger and better place along Banawe Avenue in Quezon City. This new location is even more convenient and a lot safer as compared to their previous branch location.

They look so comfortable right?

Since almost everyone already know the different products of Serenitea, I'll just talk more on the new branch itself for this post. 

The first thing that you'll notice when you step into the new Serenitea Banawe is that their store space is big, really BIG! - a far cry from the cramped spaces at their old store. They have 3 comfortable sofas that are placed conveniently to accommodate groups of people who come here either to work on projects or to simply chill and have fun with friends without bothering the other groups.

Serenitea Banawe has also added those soft and elegant-looking couches that I first saw in their Eastwood Branch which I prefer to sit on rather than the plastic chairs because of course, they are much more softer compared to hard plastic, but I'm not complaining.

When it comes to space, this branch has lots of it, you are free to move around and not worry about bumping into and disturbing other customers. Based on my rough estimate, they can easily accommodate more or less 80 persons at this branch.

To handle the large number of customers during the peak hours, Serenitea has added an additional counter to take orders so that queuing time will be lessened and customers are not forced to stand and wait in line for a long time. This shows their concern in giving their customers a relaxed feel when coming to their store.

Every now and then, I chance upon the owners personally taking customers' orders. They are easy to approach and will gladly answer any questions that you might have. So, if you want to go somewhere to relax and chill, either with friends or just by yourself, consider dropping by the new Serenitea Banawe - safe and relaxing.

My personal favorite

Serenitea Banawe

Address: Banawe Avenue near Sct. Alcaraz St., Quezon City

Store Hours: Monday to Friday, 11AM -11PM

Saturday and Sunday, 11AM - 12MN

Tel. Nos.: 5599881, 2382545

Finance: Security Bank launches 7-year LTNCDs

SECURITY BANK Corporation (Security Bank) announced on January 29, 2012 that they are offering up to Php5.0 Billion in 7-year Long-Term Negotiable Certificates of Deposit (LTNCDs) to their individual and corporate clients.

LTNCDs are peso-denominated certificates of deposit that have a minimum tenor of 5 years and 1 day. Similar to regular time deposits, they give a higher rate of return for the depositor. LTNCDs are tax-free provided they are held to maturity; they cannot be pre-terminated, however, they can be sold in the secondary market to other investors or even used as loan collateral.

The LTNCD offer period is from January 30, 2012 to February 10, 2012 with target date of issue on February 17.

Minimum investment amount is Php50,000 with increments of Php10,000. The indicative rate for this offer is 5.25% net. LTNCDs are covered by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) up to a maximum of Php500,000.

Deutsche Bank AG, Manila and Standard Chartered Bank were designated as joint lead underwriters for this LTNCD offering.

The funds raised from this LTNCD sale will be used to augment funds for the bank's lending business and refinance maturing obligations, according to Security Bank.

Security Bank has recently embarked on an aggressive expansion program aimed at building their loan portfolio, expanding branch network, and increasing customer base. This program began with the recent acquisition of Premiere Development Bank.

Security Bank is a medium-sized universal bank in the Philippines; they have consistently been one of the top financial institutions in terms of ROE.

UPDATE: Security Bank has closed the LTNCD offer on February 7, three days ahead of its intended end date due to oversubscription. Final interest rate is at 5.50% per annum.

Food Adventures: Adobo Connection (500 Shaw Zentrum)

The entrance to Adobo Connection

When people hear the word Adobo, what usually comes to mind is mom's delicious homemade recipe that is sure to put a smile on our faces.

Driving along Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong the other night, I chanced upon Adobo Connection located at a newly-opened commercial center named 500 Shaw Zentrum, (right beside the Goldilocks cake plant / commissary) and since I was already hungry I thought I'd try it out.

At first glance you would think that the only dish they serve is adobo, but when I looked at the menu, they have a variety of Filipino dishes available to satisfy what your tummy is craving for. Aside from adobo, they also have sisig, kare-kare, and lechon kawali, to name a few.

Food Choices

What I had for that evening was Adobo Flakes, Pasta Adobo, Kuya's Adobo, Modern Adobo, Sisig, Beef Kare-Kare, Adobo Glazed Fried Chicken, Lechon Kawali, and a side dish of Gising-Gising. (don't worry, I didn't eat everything by myself)

The Sisig was crunchy and flavorful, while the Lechon Kawali was lean and not too fatty as other stores would serve. The Beef Kare-Kare pairs well with their bagoong; while the Adobo Glazed Fried Chicken has a similar taste to the two recent fried chicken restaurants that have opened in the metro.

And of course, who could forget the adobo? Kuya's Adobo had this garlicky taste that brings out its flavor while the Modern Adobo's sauce is made from a mixture of herbs and spices and topped with nuts for a different twist. Their garlic rice is a perfect match for all of the delicious dishes.

Because of the good food and the friendly restaurant staff, (even the owners were there to ensure that the best service is given to customers) everyone who dines here is sure to have a satisfied smile on their faces when they leave the store.

Adobo Connection

500 Shaw Zentrum

Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City

Business Hours: 10am-11pm, Monday to Sunday

HashBrown Burger?!?!!

Nice little packaging

OK, I admit, the first time I heard that there was this "Hash Brown Burger" the picture that ran through my mind was oil-dripping, heart-stopping kind of food. Even though they advertised it as "Made with Baked Hash Browns" I still believed that it was just a marketing strategy to sell it especially now that many people are health-conscious when it comes to food.

So what is this HashBrown Burger anyway? It is similar to a Regular YUM with cheese but instead of bread it has two BAKED hash brown patties for buns and ketchup for the sauce.

Earlier today I had the chance to see for myself how this latest offering from Jollibee looks and tastes like. After queuing for about ten minutes I was finally able to get my order with a softdrink. The packaging is similar to that of the Champ but wider and a bit shorter in height. As I opened the box I was quite surprised to see that it wasn't oily as I expected, in fact, it wasn't really oily at all.

Looks delicious right?

In less than ten minutes nothing was left of the burger and I was one satisfied customer with a smile on my face. Some may think that this product would taste weird but no, it actually tastes great! Especially for burger and hash brown lovers like me, this is a very nice merging of the two. I can't explain how, you just have to taste it to believe it.

Perfect combination

The HashBrown Burger retails at P70 solo and P88 with a regular drink. I don't know if this is just a promotional offer or a regular product so you better try it now while you still can!


(Disclaimer: I am in no way connected or related to Jollibee Foods Corp.)

Three fires in 30 minutes!

Wow that was a lot of fires in such a short time!

First was the report in Balubad Street, Barangay Nangka, Marikina at 11:09, this one reached 4th Alarm in 8 minutes and was put under control by 11:42.

Next is at Bonifacio Extension, San Dionisio, Parañaque which hit 3rd Alarm in 20 minutes. The structure involved here is a warehouse.

The last one was in M. H. del Pilar, San Juan but was quickly put out.

Whew! I pray that we won't have this much fires in such a short period of time especially in our Area of Responsibility here in Caloocan....

Stay safe everyone!

10-70 Task Force Alpha - Samson Road Caloocan Nov. 10, 2011

Newville Engine (Advanced Engine in foreground, left)

I was just getting out of the shower this morning around 9:20AM when I heard our Fire Chief on the radio shouting "may sunog ata!" which had me scrambling to get dressed to go and true enough in just a few seconds the alarm already sounded on APVFBI. The location of the fire was along Heroes Del 96 and Samson Road in Caloocan in front of UE.


Our Newville Engine and Pumper 191 arrived on the scene within 5 minutes just as the 2nd Alarm was raised and I arrived with Advanced Engine after the 3rd Alarm was raised. Our vehicles were positioned along Samson Road which is at the rear portion of the fire. The flames started from a residential area at Malonzo St. corner Heroes Del 96 and spread quickly fanned by strong winds which led to Task Force Alpha being raised by 9:40AM.

The fire also damaged part of Gomburza Elementary School as the 3rd Floor ceiling caught fire but thankfully a lot of firefighters were inside the school compound along with our fire truck and were able to control the blaze before it could do further damage to the school. A total of 6 classrooms and a library were affected.

The fire caused a traffic gridlock at Monumento Circle and Sangandaan since the roads were blocked by emergency vehicles as well as media vans covering the incident.

There was this one barangay kagawad who kept on shouting and berating us firefighters for not supplying water to a particular fire truck who had people inside. He kept on saying that he would report the incident to the news and so on until other firefighters told him to shut up since he does not understand how firefighters work during fire alarms.

Thankfully more and more units arrived from different parts of the Metro thus continuous water supply was ensured which led to a "Fire Out" being declared by 10:35AM or about an hour after the blaze started. Our heartfelt gratitude to all fellow firefighters who responded to this fire alarm for their assistance.

View along Samson Road towards Monumento Circle

New Village Volunteers would like to especially thank the following for their assistance: Quezon City Volunteers (Extreme Tanker), Malabon Filipino-Chinese Volunteers, Kalookan Stainless, Binondo-Paco Volunteers, Central District Volunteers, and all others who have kept their water supply flowing to our fire engines.

Again, a very big THANK YOU to all! Mabuhay ang mga Volunteer!

Qualitea drinks at Serenitea :)

The first time I tried the milk tea from Serenitea sometime last year, I knew right away that this would be my favorite drink from then on.

I used to drink iced coffee almost every week, that's why I always ask my friends what Serenitea is and why they keep on going back there. Now I know why and it's been Serenitea every week. And when I found out that the owner was a classmate of mine in high school, it gave me more reason to patronize the store.

My favorite drink is Hokkaido Milk Tea at 50% sugar and QQ sinkers. Okinawa, Wintermelon, Choco, and Royal Milk Tea are some of the others that I've tried which taste just as good. They also have a new flavor, Nutty Choco, which is not bad either.

Serenitea has already been around for a little over 2 years now with branches at Little Baguio and North Greenhills, San Juan; Banawe, QC; BF Homes, Paranaque; Robinson's Manila; Alabang Town Center; and soon to open at Eastwood Cyber & Fashion Mall; Burgos Circle, The Fort; and Gamboa St., Makati.

Be healthy, drink tea, drink Serenitea! :)


boredbumbero