Shakespearean Experience with the Chipmunks

One thing I love with Ramadan is its short work timings. Last month I was able to meet the CHIPMUNKS! They are my friends - the couple, Adrian and Ems are my kumare and kumpare and former colleagues too while me and ate Maribel is still working in the same company. Oh we miss you here, Karen.

It started when Ems gave a comment on one of my post in FB to have coffee since its Ramadan, after two days we ended up together. It supposedly a "girls' night" but since Adrian dropped us in the mall, we asked him to join with us in the dinner.

Its our first time in Shakespeare & Company. I eyed this place everytime I passed by, I really love the ambiance, oh their furniture and frames, the Victorian theme!

 I really love Victorian and "modern-vintage" theme. I am hoping I can get  at least one good piece of these chairs at least in affordable price...hayss kung mura lang at madaling ipa-cargo nakapaguwi na talaga ako!

Lovely and comfy chairs

 Look who's at the mirror?

I really love the place. 

Even we're not in the same office, it doesn't mean na wala na kaming pagkwekentuhan or maguusapan. Hindi matatapos na kwentuhan.

And since its our first time in Shakespeare, we are not familiar to what they serve. Its good thing that most of their crews are Filipino and super accommodating talaga nila and nakasmile, nakikipagkwentuhan pa, mas masarap balikan ang isang place kapag alam mo na welcome ka talaga; even their manager approach us.

Menu book

According to the crew in charge for us, all of their servings are for sharing. We decided to order variety of choices at least 1 each. Before our order they gave us complimentary "shakespearean" bread and butter. Tinapay pa lang nila masarap na and sympre mas masarap kasi complimentary, libre!

And here are what we ordered.

 Their seafood Caesar salad looks dry but believe me its not. You can really feel the crunchiness of their veggies. Perfect for our taste buds!

 They have their authentic taste of pizza, the crust is very different from others and look the cheese and the toppings, healthy na healthy.

 One of their best seller, chicken with gravy and mashed potato. Don't miss to order this when you visit them and aside they have a big serving of this.

It only looks that it has a small serving in the photo but its enough for 4 persons. You can taste talaga na ang ginagamit nila even sa sauce nila is fresh tomatoes or so whatever man na ginamit nila. 

Guys, I'm really encouraging you to give them a try, super kakaiba talaga ang lasa ng food nila, I mean these food na inorder namin cos yan pa lang ang natry ko sa mga menu nila.

They have also fresh fruit drinks na masarap and refreshing talaga.

The price of their food is affordable since their serving is for sharing, mejo mukha lang nakakatakot yung place kasi nga maganda which is some of us kapag maganda ang place naiintimidate kaagad and iniisip mahal pero if we will not try paano natin malalaman. 

We deserve a good place, good food and good service after working so hard.

And the supposedly not included to be with us in the plan, paid our bill. Oh my! Thank you Adrian! We had so much fun, and super thank you kasi treat na nga kami special hatid pa sa bahay. Thank you Adrian and Ems!

There will be a Shakespeare and Co. in The Pear Qatar soon! According to their crew iba nga lang daw ang menu nila doon but definitely the theme of the place is the same or mas maganda pa. And she added that all Shakespeare and Co. restaurants even in UAE ang nagdesign ng place is Filipino! O di ba nakakaproud, iba talaga ang Pinoy, artistic!

And one more thing, if you know someone who wants to be a part of their team, they can go to American Prime agency in Manila, you can search their complete address and phone number on their website.

 The Happy Chipmunk, The Happy Me

Shakespeare & Co.

Dar Al Salam Mall, Abu Hamour Doha

Telephone Number: 66768812

Opening hours: 8:30 AM to 11:30 PM

"The Singles" at the Vega

Its been a month that we're planning to meet again but due to conflict of schedules and other reasons laging napopostponed and at last on Sunday natuloy rin kami. I'm talking to my "the singles", they are my friends and sibling from one of my bible study group in our church here in Doha, Qatar. But since I transferred other group minsan ko na lang sila nakikita though we exchange emails and messages nman but still mas masarap magkwentuhan kapag in person di ba.

Since M's sisters are now both back in the Philippines, we're down into three na lang - Genie a.k.a. "NG" and Renan a.k.a "Nan"  I love how their names rhymed.

Friends and some colleagues of mine always ask me where here in Doha they can find nice place, good food and at the same time affordable price, its because alam nila that I can find those places. For me kasi aside from the place and food its who with you that matters, I mean mas memorable if you're with someone na gusto mo talagang kasama, parang kahit anong sarap minsan ng food and ganda ng place madali mong makalimutan di ba kasi hindi mo "masyadong" feel ang kasama mo but I know minsan lang mangyari yung mga ganong cases..hahaha.

Join us as we invade the privacy of Beverly Hills Tower.

Its not my first time here in Beverly Tower. The first one is when my Tita Sylvia and Tito Abet gave us a treat for their anniversary and the second one is when I hosted a baby shower for my former colleague. I always advise if new sa inyo yung place don't hesitate to check from their websites or to give them a call sa mga inquiry nyo, mas ok na yung sure kayo sa kung ano mang expectations na dadatnan nyo. Genie gave a call first to Vega Lounge to check some prices. And according to her its affordable. 

The weather is still good, hindi pa ganong ka-humid or kainit dito sa disyerto kaya you can still enjoy outdoor actvities like kwentuhan beside the pool but we chose to go inside of the lounge.

THE VEGA LOUNGE
The lounge is located beside their pool area.
It seems na pina-reserved ni Genie for us ang buong place :-) 
The palette of the place is cream and orange. So cozy!  pero since may si Nan is working from a 5stars hotel sabi nya ganda na daw talaga ng setting except using artificial flowers in the table...hahaha.

Vega Lounge is a cafe restaurant not only for the tenants of the tower but they also caters some outsiders including us.  They can also accommodate small meetings or small gatherings. They offer coffee, fresh juices, sandwiches and pizzas, ice cream, etc. But if you prefer a heavy meal, there's still one restaurant beside them.

 I recommend you guys to try the one that I ordered the lime mint fresh juice.

 We ordered chicken ranch pizza. Thumbs up! I love its crust.
And for those who love Sushi, here is their promo...

We preferred to have a pizza and fresh juices only, as we plan to have coffee somewhere after. 

Without minding the time, a light meal become sumptuous because of sharing stories and advices - from relationships, getting married, handling finances and even our personal spiritual growth. Ang sarap magkwentuhan kapag alam mong totoong tao ang kausap mo, you know what I mean, no hesitations to share your views and opinions and to even share your life kasi alam mo that they will not judge you or stab you at the back after the night. And dahil sa sarap ng kwentuhan hindi pa namin halos naubos yung 1 whole pizza, diet ba tayo guys? hahaha. 

Around 10:30 I asked them na tumayo na kasi until 11:00 p.m. lang ang Vega e for sure magpipictorial pa si Gen ..hahaha and aside pwede namang sa poolside na lang namin ituloy ang pagkwekwentuhan.
Here are some of the photos we took...

 Our Official Photographer  :-)

 The Model :-)

Hindi po kami ang subject ni Mr. Photographer, extra lang kami. Ang subject nya ay yung bulaklak ..hahaha

 Ayaw magpaawat ng super model..hahaha
The Happy Single Lady...
The Happy Me

Sometimes being a friend means mastering of timing. There will be a time that you are tired and all you want to do is to rest after work but here comes a friend asking for some of your time. Time is the best expression of love we can give to someone. I think this is the best thing I've learned from past relationships (all kinds) I've been - to have time and to have ears for people especially to those who are really matters with you. If you have time now to meet them and spend some hours with them, do it. Don't take tomorrow do the things that your today can do.

Till next time!

Vega Lounge 
2nd floor Beverly Hills Tower, West Bay Doha, Qatar
Telephone number: 44145751
Timings: 7:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.

The Great American Bagel

Breakfast as they say is the most important meal of the day, it must be the heaviest meal nga daw  kaya naman pala most of the food chains, restaurants and even hotels ang lalaki ng serving ng breakfast meal. Usually breakfast meals are only available until 10:00 a.m. pero what if bigla ka nagcrave ng breakfast meal pero its either sawa ka na kung anong meron sa fridge mo or tinatamad ka ng magluto? hmmm, worry no more Doha peeps I found someone who are always willing to serve breakfast anytime :-)

Last Friday, after I enjoyed the company of my cousins at  Elegance and did some shopping, sympre ano pa nga ba ang last stop namin walang iba kundi kainan...

Since we are in Barwa Village no worries ka na magugutom, madaming choices of restaurants and food chains yun nga lang dahil weekend maraming tao and usually mahaba ang cue. Anywhere daw wag lang sa "happy ko 'to" planet kasi my cousin Jep is 3 times within that week na yatang nakabisita sa kanila. We checked Shateer Abbas but would you believe how long it takes to serve the order? one to two hours! OH-M-GEEE with matching GRRRRR...

So we decided to take THE GREAT AMERICAN BAGEL

 

THE PLACE

Red and brown for the wood furniture surrounded by paintings on its wall. Big, neat and cozy. Sabi nga ng cousin kong si Jep pwede ng magreception sa kasal kasi nga malaki yung place...so bagel wedding party yon.

Upstairs...

It really looks like cozy naman talaga, ako honestly aside from food and its price, gusto ko ng restaurants, or food chains na talagang cozy yung makakarelax ka kasi maganda rin ang interior and designs ng place. Kaya naman while waiting for our order, picture picture muna.

THE MENU AND PRICES

I was really amazed seeing their menus :-) You have a lot of choices, parang mapapaisip ka talaga na kung pwede mo nga lang orderin at tikman lahat, you will. And mind you they are the only food chain in the city that's serves breakfast anytime, as in ANYTIME. And since I skip my breakfast that day, I ordered on their breakfast anytime meal.

We ordered from BREAKFAST ANYTIME

Aside from bagel they also serve in panini bread. Here are some bagel and panini classic the offer.

 

They have salads and soups too :-) They even gave us free taste of soup. The next that we will visit them again we'll give it a try to their coffee.

And if you have to have your bagel party, they can accommodate you too.

OUR FOODS

Its not my first time to taste bagel pero that's the first time na makatikim ako ng ganong kalambot at kalasang bagel. Honestly, I don't have any idea that they can make different flavor of bagel.

Bagel according to wikipedia is " a bread product, traditionally shaped by hand into the form of a ring from yeasted wheat dough, roughly hand-sized, which is first boiled for a short time in water and then baked.^[2] The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior. Bagels are often topped with seeds baked on the outer crust, with the traditional ones being poppy or sesame seeds. Some also may have salt sprinkled on their surface, and there are also a number of different dough types such as whole-grain or rye"

Natulala sa laki pala ng isang serving :-)

 Supreme Omelet in Chocolate chip bagel - scrambled egg, beef bacon, American cheese - 23QR

 Asiago Omelet in Asiago bagel - scrambled egg, turkey, roasted red pepper, parmesan cheese - 26QR

 I forgot what's this exactly but if I'm not mistaken this is the smoked salmon that Jep ordered.

 And this one is a supreme omelet too, but not sure what flavor of bagel.

 

Tama na ang picture picture....kainan na!

 the "mual bite" :-)

 the "pakiyemi bite" :-)

the "delisyoso bite" :-)

Super sulit super busog! You must really try guys and I suggest talagang tikman nyo ang scrambled egg nila, honestly first time ko nakatikim ng ganong kasarap na scrambled egg. Half lang ang nakain ko and the next day kinain ko pa ulit as my breakfast in the morning :-)

I personally recommend it to you guys, to visit THE GREAT AMERICAN BAGEL.

The Happy Bagel-er, the Happy ME!

The Great American Bagel - Qatar
Barwa Village
Al Wakra Road Shop # 46 & 47
Building # 16
Phone number : (+974) 55519500