Cafe Maru (Part I: Fail)

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I fist passed the new coffee shop a few months ago and I was already dying to drop by. Who couldn't resist a Cafe Maru coffee shop. It sounds so foreign. I really didn't have an idea what it was until last week when I already decided to drop by. I searched for the cafe and found a blog. That was the time I knew it was a Korean cafe.

I went there along with the boyfriend. We asked a close friend to come with us but he was hesitant. Good thing was, he changed his mind and came. He also tagged along another friend which was happier. 

Their mini freedom wall. Cute!

The place was cool and overwhelming. It was filled with little knickknacks on the walls and on the shelves. It had a really cute design. I must commend whoever designed the interiors of the place. It was all cuteness! No wonder why most of the people who are in the cafe were girls.

Teach me how to dowgy?

There were usual tables on the cafe, but what we tried were those little tables made for squatting. Of course, we have to take our shoes off. It was a fun experience. There were puzzles and board games available for bored guests like us. We decided to take  the scrabble to test our knowledge for words. This was probably the best scrabble game I've ever had. It was really fun. It's funny how words also came due to desperation. (See above photo)

White mocha on the left. Choco mocha on the right.

The boyfriend got himself a cold choco mocha. It tasted good and was served in a cute glass with adorable stirrer. My "choi" friend, Jay, ordered white mocha. He said it was okay. It was also served with the same cute stirrer and glass.

Pitcher?

Another friend, Chardey, ordered this certain drink which I failed to ask about. Sorry! It was a really cool drink with an exquisitely tall glass. It looked like a pitcher. It was so interesting.

There's a unicorn! *little girl shriek*

Cafe Maru is a really great place to hang out in especially when you just want a good ambiance. Although the place is filled with lots of cute stuff, it's relatively pricey. The drinks cost as much as Starbucks. But in my opinion, It's not as satisfying as Starbucks. Undoubtedly, they have good drinks but it doesn't seem to justify the price. I think the customers are paying for the place. I was also disappointed that they had this policy of not allowing anyone to come to the cafe without that person buying anything. A friend of ours came over and he didn't buy anything, the barista asked if he was only staying for a while and I said yes. So you can't really group study here when not all of you will buy drinks.

The bill.

The boyfriend and the cute wall displays. ♥

So, that's it. That's what I have to say about Cafe Maru. I'll be back though next week with some friends who want to try out the place. I promise to take more pictures so I can give you an idea how the place looks like. I'd also note the prices next week so you know why I think it's pricey. Maybe, I'm just being too frugal. Anyway, watch out for the part II of the Cafe Maru reviews. Teehee!

PS. For those who are loyal readers of this blog, no it's not a giveaway, I already have a Facebook like page. Yaay! I created the page a month or so ago but never had the courage to let other people know. I  was hesitant, I think. If you have time, please check it out. And please, give us some love: like! ♥

The Art of Cheap Date (Part II): Korean Ice Cream

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So, we got nothing to do and I just wanted for us to hang out. Like the old saying goes: idleness is the work of the devil. Not that I believe in devils, idleness is an uneasy feeling that makes me want to chew my hair out. Good thing, I (or we) didn't. 

We decided to visit the grocery store and grab something that I haven't really tried. TIP: When you are in a budget, you can find great treasures hiding among the shelves of your local grocery store.

We got ourselves Korean ice creams. Do't get me wrong, I'm not transforming myself into a Korean or some sort. It's that I wanted to try something new. It's like experiencing Korea at your own country. The boyfriend is already into Korean ice cream since he has tons of Korean friends here. Mine have gone back and so far, I've only tried homemade Korean food and drinks courtesy of my former student.

Our picks for that day.

Anyway, I was having a hard time figuring out what I really wanted. There were a number of Korean-looking ice cream displayed that it got so confusing. If only I tried to learn Korean I wouldn't have any issued with choosing which one said it's the best Korean ice cream. I picked up the watermelon-looking ice cream just because I have no idea what the others were. The boyfriend got himself the sandwich-looking cream.

We sat down at the Suisse Cottage just near the grocery department. I also ordered the intriguing chocolate silvanas. Since I first tried silvanas at Sans Rival, I've already had this thing for silvanas from different bakeshops.

Watermelon-y! ♥

I was so happy with my watermelon ice drop of some sort. It looked like a watermelon! You can't imagine the beam on my face when I opened the wrapper. It was just so cute. It was shaped like a cut watermelon. It has red and green colors like just a watermelon. It also has seed-like candies, just like watermelon! The ice drop was fulfilling. It was sweet as expected and tasted much like watermelon flavored candies. It's also interesting to note that the the green and red parts have different flavors which are complementary. The change of flavor is quite fun.

Weird ice cream . xD

The boyfriend's ice cream was queer. It looked like a sandwich. It doesn't really look as yummy as you want it to be. But when you take a bite, it has a good mix of soft sandwich at the outside and the sweet ice cream at the center. Talk about good looking food.

Chocolate silvanas.

The food I was really excited about was the chocolate silvana. I was intrigued since it was cheap (P14) and also looked yummy. The chocolate toppings fell when I took a bite. It was difficult to eat the entire piece clean. With every bite, the silvana breaks apart. It seemed too fragile to even hold. It was good but they didn't keep it cool enough to keep everything intact. If the silvanas were kept in the fridge, then the real taste would come out and eating it wouldn't be an ordeal.

The boyfriend's signature look (in his school inform). LOL.

So all-in-all, we spent below P150 for the fun snacks we had. My watermelon ice cream costs around P40 and the boyfriend's weird ice cream costs P 60ish. It's not bad for having something new and interesting. It was exciting to try out ice cream that you can't read. It's like an experiment and it's so much fun!