I Heart Cafe Mary Grace

Mary Grace Squares

During my time, students and young adults in the Philippines only had fast food chains to hang out to until coffee shops began sprouting like mushrooms in various parts of the country.  I must admit, I was also victimized by the phenomena of these coffee shops.  If you knew me personally, you must have bumped into me in one of the many coffee shops situated in Luzon.  I may be from the south but I have been to the farthest coffee shops from my place.  However, there were times when I found myself looking for something else, or maybe, I was really looking for something new, until I found Cafe Mary Grace at the Alabang Town Center (ATC) in Muntinlupa City.

The location of Cafe Mary Grace at the ATC is nothing new to me because the shop that used to occupy that same place was ... you guessed that right, a coffee shop.  At first, I thought that Cafe Mary Grace was just any other coffee shops I have visited before, so I decided to try it a few days after its launching.  Well, I was wrong.  It is more than just a coffee shop. In fact, it is actually a cafe and restaurant with a homey ambiance.  I just knew I fell in love with the place, that’s why I keep on coming back again and again... and again.

Well, it is not only the place and ambiance that make me keep on coming back to Cafe Mary Grace.  More than anything else, I keep on coming back for their foods. Every time I go there, I order the mouthwatering Cheddar Cheese with Tomatoes and Capers.  It forms part of their appetizers, which also include Mushroom Pate, Grilled Kesong Puti, and Cream Cheese and Artichoke Heart Dip.  Their soups are also must-tries which include Seafood Chowder, Summer Squash, and Wild Mushroom.

Cheddar Cheese with Tomatoes and Capers

Salad lovers are recommended to visit the place as it has a variety of offerings including Fried Kesong Puti and Calamansi Vinaigrette, Prawn Salad with Mango Papaya Vinaigrette, and Local Greens With Chili Daing Dressing and Crunchy Garclic.  Its Mary Grace Caesar Salad is a must-try.  As the description in the menu states, the caesar salad is consisted of “breaded chicken fillet on top of crisp Romaine lettuce dotted with croutons and bacon bits, tossed in a tasty Caesar dressing.”


Cafe Mary Grace also has a food selection for pasta lovers.  Its menu includes several types of cream-based pastas including Mary Grace Mushroom Cream, Smoked Salmon and Cream, and Leek and Saffron Cream with Fillet of Cream Dory.  It also includes several types of olive-oil based pastas including Chorizo and Green Olive Pasta, Pasta Vongole, and Spicy Lemon Scampi.

For dessert, the Mary Grace Squares are recommended.  The delectable choices include Brownies, Food for the Gods, and Lemon Squares. Indeed, Cafe Mary Grace offers a whole lot of choices for people with the sweet tooth but among the cakes and other types of desserts it offers, no customer should leave the place without trying its luscious ensaymadas and cheese rolls.  Besides, they are the specialties of the cafe.

Peppermint and Fruits

I may be a coffee lover but I must admit that I fell in love with the refreshing homemade iced teas of Cafe Mary Grace.  The choices include Apple and Cinnamon Honey, Peppermint and Fruits, Wild Raspberry, and Sangria.  Customers should not have a hard time choosing which iced tea to order.  They can order any of these four offerings.  All of them are delicious, thirst-quenching, and are guaranteed to be refreshing.

There are a whole lot more in their menu and this is the reason why I love this cafe.  There are absolutely a wide array of food offerings to choose from.  It caters to various types of people, even to the techie ones as it offers free wi-fi too.

While I still love those popular coffee shops, I just know that there is something special between me and Cafe Mary Grace.

Apple and Cinnamon Honey

______________________________________

The author is a blogger working for Valve eCapture. You may reach her at valve.ecapture@gmail.com or valve.ecapture@yahoo.com.

______________________________________

Detour Photo Exhibit

Taken in Bangkok, Thailand by Borsoto

I was one of the privileged people to be invited to the launching of the photo exhibition “Detour: Capturing the World from a Different Perspective” at the Filipinas Heritage Library in Makati Avenue, Ayala Triangle, Makati City on May 16, 2011. The event began at six o’clock in the evening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by exhibitors Cheryl Borsoto and Jackson Tan.

“Detour” features photographic works taken by the exhibitors while travelling in various parts of the world including Singapore and Thailand.  I am no expert in photography but I do appreciate such type of art.  The photos taken in foreign countries are awe-inspiring but what will also catch the attention of visitors, especially the Filipinos, are the impressive photographs that Borsoto and Tan have taken of the Philippines.

Here are some of the highlights of the exhibit:

Bangkok, Thailand, by Borsoto

Universal Studios, Singapore, by Tan

Batanes, by Borsoto

Baguio, by Borsoto

Mr. Jackson Tan

L-R:  Aimee Lin Borsoto-de Chavez, Vera Paquiz, and exhibitor Cheryl Borsoto

Borsoto and Tan were among the top students of professional photographer Jay Alonzo in the workshop “Photo 102:  Beyond the Basics.” “Detour” is a work-in-progress which Borsoto and Tan intend to continue as an online magazine featuring works by other photographers enrolled in the workshop.  The exhibit may be viewed until May 31.


***Note: The photos featured in this article may not be copied or downloaded for any purpose without permission.
_______________________________________
The author is a blogger working for Valve eCapture.

"Plain" Housewives As Opposed to "Sugar-Coated"?

Is there really such a term as “plain housewife”?  Or is it only being used by Filipinos?

I don’t know where that term came from but whoever coined it did not know what he was talking about.  A housewife is everything except plain.  A blogger once wrote that the term “housewife” is synonymous to “survivor”, “warrior,” or even “magician." Well, that's more like it =)

Happy Mother’s Day in advance to all career and “sugar-coated” moms!

No, I Am Not a "Plain Housewife"

I’m a homebased worker and not a "plain housewife" (a term used only in the Philippines, I guess).

I bet most, if not all, moms who work from home want to say the same thing to everybody.  I also bet that not only moms but all homebased workers want to tell everyone that we are not bummers.  I ALWAYS try to understand non-homebased workers’ notion that we, homebased workers, have all the time in the world to do everything anytime anywhere we want to.  Well, let me tell you one thing:  We are homebased workers, not superheroes.

There are, of course, a lot of perks involved in being a homebased worker.  First, and the most important of all, we don’t have to deal with bosses and co-workers.  We do deal with clients on a daily basis but the thing is, we don’t have to talk to them face to face.  Conversations are all done by phone or by e-mail, preventing us from having personal and professional conflict with them.  Everything is pure business, nothing personal whatsoever.

Second, as an online worker, I get to read articles of various topics like law, religion, and entertainment.  I get to read more than a hundred articles on a daily basis which I all have to finish whether or not they are interesting.  I don’t get to watch the news often but I get to read them...with pay.  Now, aren’t you jealous?  I get paid while reading the papers!

Third, working from home is way cheaper than working in an office.  We don’t need to worry about what to wear at work.  Ever since I became a homebased worker, I have stopped buying work clothes and started buying shorts, shorts, and shorts.  I stopped buying stillettos and have began to love flats.  I don’t need to worry about money for gas, the toll fee, and the parking fee (Now, you ARE jealous, aren’t you, Makati peeps???).

These are only three of the perks.  Yes, there are a lot more but being a homebased worker also has its downside.

First, homebased workers are not entitled to any benefit.  Unlike employees, we do not have vacation leaves, sick leaves, and emergency leaves with pay.  We do not have a human relations officer to handle our SSS, PAG-IBIG, or Philhealth.  We handle all of these on our own.

Second, employees do not pay their company’s electric bill while we, homebased workers, pay for our own energy consumption.  If our computers break down, we use our own money to have them repaired.  We are our own Management Information Systems officer or Information Technology officer.

Third, it’s not true that we are different from office-based employees.  If employees need to work from 8 to 5 and they need to work overtime, it’s basically the same for homebased workers.  We may not need to start working by 8 AM, but we need to work for at least 8 hours to finish the job.  We also work overtime if needed.  Homebased workers are more like commission-based salespeople.  We don’t get paid if we don’t have an output.  In other words, we don’t have all the time to watch TV, to go to the mall, or to do all household chores.  Just like employees, we have deadlines to meet.  We are also providers and we put food on the table.

Basically, we’re not far different from office-based employees.  If they have something to complain about, we have our own share of grievances.  If office-based employees are busy, we are busy too. If they are multi-taskers, SO ARE WE.

So, what am I doing in this kind of job?  Simply put, I love it.  I mentioned this in my previous blog and I’ll say it again, a wise man once said “Choose a job that you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

True enough, it’s like getting paid for doing a hobby. But then, again, I am not a "plain housewife."