Michi Photostory

Modern Shang is formerly known as Modern Shanghai. I have no idea kung gaano na katagal yung restaurant sa Pilipinas pero bago-bago pa yung branch nila sa SM Sta Rosa. It just opened last July 2023 but I only saw this restaurant when we ate at Texas Roadhouse. 

Modern Shang’s mission is to provide quality and innovative cuisine in Beijing, Sichuan, and Shanghai. I have never been to China so I can’t compare but after eating at Modern Shang, I finally appreciate Chinese cuisine so feeling ko hindi lang masasarap yung nakainan ko dati. Hehehe! 

Prior to our visit, I checked Modern Shang’s menu online so I already had an idea of what to order. We ordered some of their best-sellers like Deep-Fried Squid with Spicy Salt and Pepper PHP418, Yang Chow Fried Rice PHP228 (per cup) and Signature Xiao Long Bao PHP198 (4 pcs). My husband also added Steamed Tofu in Shallot Oil PHP248. 

After ordering our meal, they immediately served water, hot tea, and crackers and they even refilled the tea and crackers nung nakita nila na naubos agad namin, hehehe! Gutom na talaga kasi kami. After 15 minutes, they already served our food. 

We were so happy with our order so I knew that we would go back again, siguro sa next check-up ko ulit.

I seldom go out of the house but when I do, ginagawa ko na yung dapat gawin para isang pagod na lang. Hehehe! First, I had breakfast with my friends at Ambos Panederia + Cocina, and then we went to Pag-ibig office because we planned to continue our contribution as voluntary members. Next, we went to SM Sta Rosa because my friend needed to buy something and we had a late lunch at Modern Shang.

This has been my go to restaurant na kapag napapadpad sa SM Sta Rosa. My friend ordered from Shanghai Wok Bowls, Orange Chicken Bowl, but she could not finish this dish because it was too spicy for her. My son ordered this before during our last visit but did not mention that it was spicy or maybe because he loves spicy food.

I ordered Porkchop Egg Fried Rice PHP498. It looks like a small meal pero nahirapan na ako ubusin ito. And because of that, take out ko na lang yung supposed to be dessert namin na Deep-Fried Glutinous Dumplings. PHP208.

I went to the hospital for my routine check-up but the staff informed me na 1PM pa daw darating yung doctor so I was contemplating kung uuwi pa ba ko or maghihintay na lang. My husband and I decided na maghintay na lang so we went to SM Sta Rosa to kill time.

I went to SM Customer Service to claim our PSA Birth Certificates, I was crossing my fingers na hindi sayang yung pinila ko. Naexperience ko na kasi yung hindi pa available yung order ko. Fortunately, naclaim ko lahat. 

Then we went to Modern Shang to eat our lunch, we wanted to avail of the 50% off promo sana but unfortunately, hindi pala every day available. Toink. So ito lang naorder namin, Shrimp with Preserved Egg Yolk Paste PHP528, Steamed Tofu in Shallot Oil 248, Yang Chow Fried Rice PHP498, and Deep-fried Glutinous Dumplings PHP208.

A few days before our trip, napaisip ako about the food because we also stayed at The Farm at San Benito before and sa isip-isip ko baka vegan cuisine sa Nawa Wellness. Ayaw ko magutom. Hehehe! So my husband asked for the menu and I was so happy kasi hindi naman pala pang vegetarian ang kanilang restaurant, the downside is presyong The Farm at San Benito din ang food. 

On the day of our trip, we had breakfast at La Creperie - Twin Lakes Tagaytay, and from there we traveled to Nawa Wellness. We arrived at the resort before lunch so before we went to our room, we already pre-ordered our meals. For lunch, we ordered Margherita Pizza PHP950, Quattro Formaggi Pasta PHP620, and Carrot Cinnamon Cake PHP190. 

When we got there, we only waited for a few minutes and they already served our meals. We loved their pizza and pasta; my son is not fond of pasta but he enjoyed the Quattro Formaggi. Actually, after trying their pizza and pasta parang gusto ko ganun na lang ulit sa dinner, ibang flavor naman. 

I was fortunate to participate Hilom and Likha activity so we had snacks during our painting session. My husband and son joined the “Meal Prep” activity so they had 3 smoothies. In addition, when they went back to our room they also received fruits for snacks so nabusog na kami. 

As I’ve said before, I planned to eat pizza and pasta for dinner but my husband disagreed and he said, anniversary celebration namin so mag Set Menu daw kami. One Set menu is PHP2600, which includes soup, salad, appetizer, main course, and dessert. Mahina kami kumain sa dinner so we only ordered two set menu and magshare na lang kaming 3. 

Come dinner time, busog pa kami sa mga snacks na nakain namin but we had no choice but to go to the restaurant kasi napaschedule na namin yung dinner. Good thing that we only ordered 2 Set Menu or else, masasayang yung ibang food. We ordered Set Menu B and Set D. 

Soup: Goddess Soup 

Salad: Edible Fern Salad (not available) 

Appetizer: Vegetable Tempura 

Main Course: Hainanese Chicken 

Dessert: Cashew Cream 

Soup: Spinach Soup 

Salad: Hummus Salad 

Appetizer: Fresh Catch Fish Ceviche Con Pico de Gallo 

Main Course: Beef Rendang 

Dessert: Carrot Cinnamon Cake 

Whenever they served the food, they always provided an extra bowl and plate for my son kasi nga good for sharing kami. Anyway, from soup to dessert, we enjoyed every bite, ang hindi lang namin naubos is yung Hummus Salad. Alam mo naman hindi kami magulay so si hubby lang kakain, tapos 2 serving pa. Hehehe! 

Our most favorite food is the cashew cream, it looks so plain pero nung natikman namin, nasurprise kami. It is cashew pero yung taste and texture niya, may similarities sa Good Shepherd Ube Jam. Sobrang smooth and creamy ng taste. Unfortunately, wala sa dessert menu nila. 

The chef even went to our table to ask about the food. Of course, we only have positive reviews, because from lunch to dinner sobrang naenjoy namin yung food. We went back to our room with a happy tummy. 

Breakfast is part of our room accommodation so just like our lunch and dinner, we already preordered our food. We ordered Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict PHP310, Sweet Potato Rosti with Poached Egg and Smoked Salmon PHP430, and Ham and Cheese Quinoa PHP560. 

After our Breathwork and Meditation activity, we went straight to Dalisay Restaurant for breakfast. It was past 8AM so we were really hungry because we usually eat breakfast before 6AM. While waiting, they served 4 pieces of pandesal, I thought per person yun, hindi pala share na kaming tatlo. Hehehe!

For drinks, they only served coffee or tea and no other option for kids or teenagers. I just hope may milk, hot chocolate or juice man lang pero wala. Anyway, since sabay-sabay ang mga guests na nagbreakfast. Medyo matagal ang service. 

When they served the food, I was a little bit disappointed kasi ang konti lang pala ng breakfast nila. I ordered Eggs Benedict before at Cafe Voi La pero may kasamang salad and fries pa pero this one, dalawang maliit na serving lang talaga. 

Freshly baked English Muffin topped with applewood smoked salmon and poached eggs, coated in Hollandaise sauce with a dash of smoked paprika. 

A crispy and sweet potato pancake topped with poached egg and smoked salmon.

My son finished his Ham and Cheese Quinoa and nagsisisi tuloy ako na sana yun na rin ang inorder ko. I won’t lie, my husband and I did not like our breakfast. Yung order namin ni hubby, same lang pala. The only difference is bread yung ilalim ng egg niya and yung sa akin is shredded sweet potato na ginawang nest at prinito. Yung sweet potato pancake na order ko, I was expecting na parang pancake na napapanood ko sa mga Korean Drama pero hindi pala, sa sobrang crispy niya, parang ayaw na ipakain kasi ganun katigas. 

I just let my husband ate my food, thanks to pandesal may laman pa tiyan ko. I was tempted to order Ham and Cheese Quinoa but I changed my mind kasi matagal nga yung service. 

I was looking forward to breakfast pa naman kasi ang sarap ng lunch and dinner namin pero nothing special pala. Anyway, since soft opening pa lang naman sila, I hope mag-improve ang breakfast meal nila. But overall, the service is good. 

We were fortunate to experience Holy Week in Norway so it was a different kind of Easter. We’ve seen stores that are selling Easter decorations, candies, chocolates, and other stuff. My mom and aunt are decorating their houses before Holy Week too and because of that may mga binili at inuwi din ako na pang Easter. 

In my mind, I will display those pieces of stuff in our new house. But fast forward today, we’re still living in our present house. I had no idea na matagal pala magpaayos ng bahay. Anyway, it didn’t stop me from doing my Easter Craft Projects, may next Easter pa naman. Hehehe! 

I have a long list of Easter Craft Projects that I wanted to do but for now, I am only doing small craft because just like my St. Patrick’s Day project, I wanted to use my scrap paper. Sharing the finished projects that I also shared on my Cricut Design Space Profile. Some of these craft projects need an Access Subscription but if you don’t have one, you can search for the designers’ websites and download the files from there. But some designs are paid files. 

I don’t have Cricut Access Subscription right now so I searched for images that I can use on Cricut Design Space for free. Then I found so many eggs and I decided to make an Easter Eggs Layered Craft. Using the contour function, I turned the images into layered crafts and I am so happy with the outcome. This is a nice activity for kids, you can cut the design and let them glue the pieces. 

I found these 3 cute Aussie Easter designs on Cricut Design Space, there is a koala, a bunny, and a kangaroo. This is an easy project because I just flattened the design, changed the size, printed, cut, and lastly attached them to a toothpick. For this design, you can make different projects using cardstock, stickers, vinyl, or photo paper. I used photo paper for these cupcake toppers. 

This Easter Blessings Easel Card is from Main Road Digital Creations, you can make an easel card or regular card for this design. I used both cardstock and vinyl for this card. 

I made a mini version of the Easter Egg Banner since I am using scrap paper. You can increase or decrease the size depending on where you want to display the banner. The design is from Main Road Digital Creations. 

There are several Easter Egg Slot Together designs on Craft with Sarah’s profile that you can recreate but I only did four designs that I downloaded from her website. I like the blank version because you can use patterned paper to create a different look. 

I like the Easter Egg boxes in Norway but since we don’t have that in the Philippines, I tried other chocolate holder designs. This Chick Chocolate Holder is from Digital Gems, this is a draw-and-cut project but I also used markers to color some parts of the drawing. 

I also cut this Easter Bunny Chocolate Holder from Digital Gems. It is the same process; draw, cut, and color. You can use this as Easter decorations too. 

That’s it for now!

I know we don’t celebrate St. Patrick’s Day here in the country but since one of my crafting goals this year is to reduce my scrap, I decided to cut these designs by Craft with Sarah and Digital Gems. I have so many green and gold scrap paper from all the Christmas Craft Projects that I did so I want to use it.

But, of course, I did some research about St. Patrick’s Day. From what I read, St. Patrick's Day is a religious holiday that started in the 17th century. It is a celebration of the arrival of Christianity in Ireland which happened every March 17, the death date of St. Patrick. 

This religious holiday turned into a secular holiday when Irish immigrants started a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston in year 1737 followed by New York City in year 1762. The St. Patrick’s Day symbols are green color, shamrocks, leprechauns, parades, harp, corned beef, cabbage, and beer. 

February came and I decided to finally try this restaurant, as I mentioned in my previous post, we were supposed to eat here last Valentine’s Day kaso late opening kapag weekdays kaya sa Cafe Agapita kami kumain. Then I remembered na sa Tagaytay nga pala ang daan namin papunta ng Calatagan, Batangas so finally nacrossed out ko na ito sa list ko. 

I was browsing my old posts and ang tagal na pala nung last na nagpunta kami sa Twin Lakes Tagaytay. We celebrated Mother’s Day here in year 2016 pa, sobrang tagal na. Why? Malayo kasi and mahirap din magpark since puntahan din siya ng mga tao. 

Our check-in time at Nawa Wellness is still in the afternoon but we decided to leave early. From our house, we traveled for 1 hour and 21 minutes, yes, inorasan ko talaga. Oh di ba, ang layo, considering hindi pa ganoon katraffic. We were there just in time for the opening which is 7AM (weekend) so we were the first diners. 

La Creperie is a cafe that offers galettes, sweet crepes, and comfort food inspired by the best places all over the world and with a touch of French soul. They serve breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and dessert. 

The best table here is on the balcony but it was so cold and windy that time, nilalamig kami so we had no choice but to eat inside the restaurant. I already checked their menu online but when we got there, nagdadalawang isip ako kung crepe ba o breakfast meal ang ioorder ko. In the end, we all ordered breakfast meals. 

We ordered Chorizo Hamonado PHP365, Hungarian Sausage PHP375, Angus Beef Tapa PHP465, La Creperie’s Hot Chocolate PHP270, and Espresso PHP120. 

All Filipino breakfast includes 2 eggs, plain or garlic rice, and side salad so it is really a complete meal. Taste is good naman pero sa angus beef tapa, parang naovercooked. 

Whenever we order hot chocolate, we always prefer our homemade hot chocolate but after trying La Creperie’s Hot Chocolate, I won’t lie we love their version of hot chocolate. My husband said, lalagyan din daw niya whipped cream yung luto niya. Hehehe! 

By the way, when we asked for water, the waiter asked if we wanted warm, cold or room-temperature water. Wow, may choices na rin for water. 

We immediately left after finishing our breakfast and off we went to Nawa Wellness for our anniversary staycation.