A Very Scent-Sational Menu

Today's a holiday you guys. It's no work for me though, since I guess most of my clients decided to be laid back today.

On the other hand, it was pretty and proper for me. Donning a (very) little black dress, slipping into leopard print wedges, and totting my usual humongous clutch which holds half of my life, I sped off to the Rigodon Ballroom of the Manila Peninsula Hotel for a very interesting event. Along with the members of the media, including some of the country's most influential bloggers, I was there to witness the launch of Downy's perfume series.

If you've seen the ads, the new Downy Perfume Series has an advanced, touch-activated Perfume Microcapsule technology, which places the blend of perfume oils within the Downy formula. These capsules slowly release more fragrance when rubbed or touched. So everything smells good even way after we get our clothes from the laundry.

For this blog however, it was interesting to note the menu, which included some of the ingredients of the perfumes in the Downy Perfume Series, of course not meaning pouring soap on the food.

Upon registration, I was welcomed with Rose wine. This I find most addicting, I think I had four of this during the entire duration. What's good too was that I didn't feel like I was seeing exponential numbers of everything around me, and I was able to answer questions without slurring.

As a refreshing non-alcoholic treat, we were given red iced tea, which was infused with apple.

For soup, we had Pumpkin soup with coconut cream and coriander.

Appetizer was Smoked citrus-scented Atlantic salmon with petit mesclun greens with orange mustard dressing. The salmon melted in my mouth and the orange provided a refreshing contrast with rich fish like smoked salmon.

The main course had Honey Glazed chicken breast. On the sides, we had vegetables which I think were infused in herbs plus Jasmine rice. I love jasmine rice. Screw the fact that my dress was skintight. The rice went straight to my tummy. It was a great compliment to the honey and ginger. I finished off the vegetables first, since I love veggies and I totally drowned my chicken with the sauce.

For dessert, we had chocolate fondant with berry compote and vanilla ice cream. Vanilla ice cream or any ice cream for that matter is an uh-oh to me, you all know that, but it went absolutely well with the chocolate, which I finished up to the last crumb. The berry compte provided a tart contrast to the sweetness and richness of chocolate and ice cream, two of everyone's favorite comfort foods. We all know from my previous post how chunks of fruit could be annoying to puréed things. The cute little scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream rests on a sweet peanut brittle cup, by the way.

So how do these ingredients relate to the all-new Downy Perfume series?

Here we go. Let's start off with a little discussion on the red variant, which is Passion.

Passion was described as "sweet and vibrant". Passion incorporates what we would call sugar, spice, and all things nice - French pastries, flowers, and fruits. Hence we've got apple, raspberry, and vanilla, which were exhibited in our dessert and drink. Apple blossom, freesia, and vanilla make it to the top and middle notes, and fresh mulberry and cedarwood are in our bottom notes. Remember how the scent of apple pie reminds us of home? Or how chocolate would make us feel good after a bad day? Same idea.

The purple bottle, Attraction had a very fresh and alluring floral fragrance. Attraction is inspired by nature hence we've got the bouquet of different flower notes like jasmine, ylang-ylang, rose, and iris. It sort of fades to a soft musk, tube rose, and wood fragrances for the bottom notes, for a floral and oriental blend of fragrances. Among the two, it was Attraction that my friends like, since the scent is fresher than the warmer one of Passion. In our menu, we got the Jasmine in our rice and Rose in our wine as representatives of this fragrance. Jasmine and rose are interesting variants to food. Rose ice cream and pastries have this distinct exotically interesting taste, sort of something intriguing that you can't put your finger which it is. Jasmine rice is usually my choice in Thai restaurants, giving an interesting twist to a plate staple, South Beach diet begone.

Quite interesting, really, how they incorporated fragrance components to food, and vice-versa. I', sniffing my passion-scented red shawl right now, and I do smell a hint of apple. As I type this, I'm craving for warm apple crumble with a scoop of nonfat vanilla ice cream

Thesugarbug's Spiral Experience

Spiral Restaurant at Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila is known to have the widest array of food choices available to mankind. If you're a foodie lover who loves good food and lots of it, then this is a total indulgence for you.

The sugarbug on one Saturday was surprised with a lunch at Spiral and of course, being the food lover that I am could not contain my happiness. I've been wanting to dine there since forever and do reviews about it.

So there, we drove to Sofitel (formerly known as Westin Philippine Plaza). When we got there, here's what I saw first:

Well whadya know? A spiral staircase! I was told that that's why it's called Spiral, but uhmm... could it be coincidence too? Plus the staircase is a good place to walk off what you eat. By the way, if you look at the architecture of Spiral, you'd notice its similarity to CCP, PICC, and NAIA. The reason? The architect is all the same - Leandro Locsin, so notice the ceiling, the columns, and everything would remind you of the airport.

From French, Japanese, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Indian, and a truckload of desserts, Spiral had it all... it was impossible for me to try every single dish, so I tried a selection of dishes. As I learned, I opted for water as my staple drink and to forego rice (although I had a little bit of paella, which I could not resist)

An ice mountain of crabs, shrimps, and oysters.

Hey dork, you pry the meat from the shell!

I could not resist the sushi, which they served fresh and slice in front of you. The salads were crisp and fresh. I indulged on crabs and shrimps and the grillery, which they gave me a choice of lamb, fish, poultry, or tiger prawns. I opted for grilled salmon head, which they grilled into melt-in-the-mouth flaky goodness.

They also had a pasta bar where you could customize your own pasta from their choices of sauces and fillings. Here's my take on tomato-base pasta with sundried tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, and capers (dang I forgot to add shrimp!)

After my round of dimsum and grill, I took a rest from eating and ordered a cup of tea. Then, the server approached us and asked us if we would like anything because the buffet would close by 2:30. Thesugarbug just had to run and get her most favorite part of all - DESSERT!

Desserts were cuplets of various cakes and pastries including tiramisu, chocolate creme brullee, christmas pudding, freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies, candies, fruits, and the highlight of my day were two chocolate fountains, one white and one milk, both I didn't skip and I dipped 2 marshmallow skewers and a mango slice each.

Plus I made my own sundae:

Chocolate droplets on strawberry ice cream (made from scratch!) with a PINK marshmallow, and red and white gummy bears.

Feature beauty: Strawberry Panna Cotta with champagne jelly. Of course the magic word "champagne" made me grab the treat. I love the balance of the sweet-tart of the strawberry with the flavor of champagne. Very sexy!

The almost-two hour meal was capped off with another round of tea and 10 minutes of rest since both our tummies were distended from eating. But sure, it was definitely worth it! So much fun and so much food. Plus... guess who I saw?

Stanley Ong and his adorable baby girl, Naima!

I recommend Spiral for food lovers and who would want to indulge once in a while. It's definitely a mind-boggling gastronomical experience you would surely enjoy. I recommend too, not to miss out the chocolate fountain! :) Yumm yumm yumm!

Pampered by the Richmonde Hotel

Got to spend the night at the presidential suite at the Richmonde Hotel for work. Not only did we just stay there but, but we also got to dine (breakfast and diner) at the Richmonde Grill.

Dinner: Shrimp Tagliatelle. Yummmm!



Cream pesto sauce with fresh shrimp. Yummm!!!!!!! It was a bit heavy though, but it filled me and prepped me for work quite nicely.

Despite my pre-sunrise snack of Tortillos and milk tea, I, along with the crew still had buffet breakfast at the same place:



Just a warm-up.... not to worry...


Braised veggies with tofu, wheat bread, and assorted cheeses.

Not in picture and in my tummy: tapsilog, sapin-sapin, fresh fruits, french toast, and cereal.

The Richmonde Grill crew was also prompt and alert. They went to each table assisting each customer. There was a waiter with a pitcher of coffee and tea. After I refused coffee and asked for tea instead, he poured the warm tea on my teacup. I requested for nonfat milk. They had creamer. I was okay with that. Seconds later, they haded our table a saucer with packets of creamer. Very very efficient! They're always there on call when you need them, and they're even there to assist you when you have no idea what the foods are.

Whaddya know, when we got up, we had complementary snacks, sandwiches, fries, and iced tea/coffee to nourish us as we went by working in our photoshoot.

View from the window as the sun starts to rise:


Thanks to the crew for choosing The Richmonde Hotel as our place of stay!