Serenitea: Not your ordinary cup of tea

For those who are working in BGC, particularly near the Burgos circle, I’m pretty sure you’ve tried and been to Serenitea. It’s quite popular already for those tea lover peeps and they also have several branches in Manila so I believe you know what I’m talking about.

So what can I say for those who haven’t taste it?, I’m hooked! I’m always a tea drinker and I love the mix of milk into it. The craze spread at the office and so until we use the term ‘Heaven tayo’ meaning mag Se-serenitea na kami. That’s how we are so addicted.

You may need extra patience in waiting because of the queue (most of the time). Any way, they will surely give you a disc after ordering that will buzz and light up when your tea is ready.

They offer variety of mixes, (listed here are my favourites: Okinawa, Hokkaido, Black Dragon, Strawberry Toffee) and sinkers (still my favourites: pearl, panacotta, egg pudding and crystals)

Customize your tea by, STEP 1: Tea Selection, STEP 2: Sugar level (from mild to full sugar level), and STEP 3: The Sinkers. The price is very reasonable, and hindi nakakasawa. Few walk lang naman sa office so go lang kami.

Daldalan and picture mode lang while waiting. Thanks Katie for the pics! Btw, don't forget to visit Katie's Tumblr here -> Keightie's World

For those satisfied customer, you can get your Loyalty Card for a free drink!

Try it and give me your thoughts pls :p

One Happy Customer here! More about Serenitea.

Day 2: Spelunking at Bayukbok Cave

After the Mt. Manalmon hike we decided to explore the Bayukbok Cave. We chosen to use the zipline to get across the Madlum River and start exploring.

The climb started with the sharp rocks, pointed and rough and some are shaky. Our guide kept on saying that its easy and the cave was just near but every step is a challenge as we need to be extra careful because of the sharp and rocky edges. Too bad my camera ran out of battery and Bheng's camera were on low battery as well. So tipid na sa mga shot to, most of these were grabbed from Bheng's camera already.

Every passages and twist and turns inside the cave is a challenge. Bawal ang maarte and hindi game madumihan. Test the limits talaga, worth the experience kahit mahirap.

I may not be able to give justice on our experience on this post because of few photos not to mention the beautiful and sparkling rock formations but if you want an adventure, you’ll definitely have it. I wanted to show more of the cliffs and death defying stunts on some chambers but no more shots to show. By the way, I would highly recommend using protective gears for more safety.
It was already getting dark when we set back home, sulit ang overnight experience and will surely recommend the place for those who want new challenge.




You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Day 1: Mountaineering Experience: Mt. Manalmon

Every first experience worth a risk, I was invited by friend to try hiking. It’s a minor climb so it’s good for beginners. I tag Chiz along on this trip. So then we found ourselves with Roseann a.k.a. Bheng and her Mountaineer friends on Mt. Manalmon located at San Miguel, Bulacan.

I’m expecting a long and sunny walk already. What else? We arrived at Sitio Madlum Brgy. Sibul community where we had our group explore the area and fix our things up and put a sun block all over. Picture mode rin for us. It was the Juxtapoz Mountaineer Group who organized the hike and took in charge of the registration and the guide.

The trek begins. We first passed the Madlum cave, then the Beach like river, slopes from the cave are quite challenging but exciting.

The cave is part of the Biak-na-Bato National Park and the place itself is also known for other outdoor activities such as swimming, crossing the Monkey Bridge, river rafting, spelunking, diving, rappelling and rock climbing.

With Chiz, my personal alalay I mean boyfriend pla. :p

Meet Bheng!
Tropa ko since college and luckily my office mate din who invited us to join the trip. She’s a runner and a mountaineer. Astig noh. :p

Parang mini beach lang in the middle of rock formations.

The Juxtapoz Pup
Visit them - The Juxtapoz Pup

We rested for a while after taking our lunch, pwede rin daw kami mag camp on that location pero inde pa yun yung peak. Pictorial mode muna kami ni Roseann while others were taking a nap and others were drinking.

We heard from other group na madami daw padating na mountaineers kaya mag set na daw kami ng camp agad so we can find a good place. So without warming ourselves up, nagmadali kami getting to the summit.

At last! Nang hinayang talaga ako for not having enough exercise and preparation before the climb. Dagdag pagod ung init at pressure sa kasunod na climbers. Did I mention galing kami ni Rose sa night shift duty. Kami na ang umakyat ng bundok ng puyat.

Few of those na nag moment sa summit.

It was a rewarding experience to be able to climb a mountain. Now I can say that this is what the mountaineers feel in every hike and why they have the passion to climb. Ika nga kanya kanyang trip lang yan. So for them it’s more than a fulfilment. For me a new challenge, will I hike again, yeah maybe. Why not, Chiz and I are now investing hiking gears pa so no hassle on the next trip, We must be gear up especially for major climbs so it would not be very difficult.

Our camp site, having socials and being able to see the sunset and sunrise at Mt. Manalmon.

Packing up and group shot sa peak before going back. Kami ata pinaka last na nag pack up, kaya again ang init na. No litters should be left behind, kahiyaan nlng kay Mother Earth diba so everybody should do our part.

We thought the climb will end there, easy nalang for us going down as we used longer trail but easier than the first trail. Going back to the Brgy. We ate our lunch again and then had another one of a kind adventure, Spelunking at Bayukbok Cave.



“In every walk with nature one receives more than he seeks.”
-- John Muir