Earlier this year, I dedicated my weekends to resting in God. No work, no work disguised as "preparations", no studies.. only rest. I have just joined a new company and in the middle of the week I got an invitation from Robbie and Elixa to join them at KapeCon. I believe this is God's way of reminding me of my promise.

Coffee Festival

Coffee Home Brewers organized this festival featuring 40+ local cafes, bakeshops, and other exhibitors. There were familiar brands but also many small coffee shops that we would normally not be able to visit within the metro.

A few of the booths we checked out:

• Humpayan Cafe - Partnering with Manila Espresso for this event. I tried Mahinahon, an iced mocha drink. Chocolatey. 🍫 Even this cafe is about rest. HAHA I am far from being mahinahon in real life HAHAHAHAH
• Masa Ceramics - Bought two new coffee mugs for Mama and me! Added to our ceramics collection ☕️
• Butterboy - Kouign-amann. So soft. Thanking Elixa for introducing me to this bakery 🥯. We went back to buy pasalubong ♥️
• Namiyaki - Peanut butter Japanese pancake! 🥞 My friends got cheese and cream cheese pancakes. You can ask if they can accommodate a filling combination not listed on their menu.

Omotesando Koffee

Chilled at Omotesando Koffee. My friends talked about shows they were so passionate about. To be honest, if it was my old self who heard their discussions, even without knowing the show, I would have been so fired up as well. But the feeling would have come from real life experiences.

This afternoon I silently listened. I was just grateful for the safe space I am in now and for the friendships that crossed the chapters. Whenever I let God take the reigns, I experience the softest landings. There may be turbulence, detours, and waiting times, but I am safe. He takes me to destinations that I love, but I cannot ever dream of. So here I am in a new chapter that is just unfolding, but I am not afraid for He holds me.

I was pleasantly surprised when Robbie shared that he found it inspiring that I was freely posting just about anything that makes me happy. Robbie's not just a friend. He is an artist I look up to so this really meant a lot to me.

Dinner at Purple Rice

After Omotesando, we went back to the festival. We craved for something savory after all the drinks and pastries we tried so why not get Thai food?

Our dinner was at Purple Rice.

• Pad See Ew (prawns)
• Fluffy crab omelette
• Pad thai (pork belly)
• Salted egg seafood - probably better paired off with rice but we already stuffed ourselves with noodles; not listed on the menu but available

If you are like me who is not fond of sweet and sour flavor profiles, you would probably favor the Pad See Ew over the Pad Thai and the crab omelette over the salted egg dish. But everything was good. 👍

This was a beautiful culminating activity for my first week back in the workforce. I have been showered with love by family and friends who were genuinely happy for me and wished me well in this new endeavor. God is so good. Thank You po, Lord. ♥️