And Then Its November

It’s 51 days to go before Christmas and my eBay haul is still ongoing. I already picked up one of my parcels last week from the post office and I’m still waiting for a few more to turn up possibly before the end of this month or the latest, early next month. I hope someday the turnaround time for goods purchased abroad will be cut short to just a couple of weeks instead of 1-2 months. I'm also not happy with the fees currently being imposed by the post office for imported goods because it totally defeats the purpose of 'free postage' from international sellers. I often buy stuff on eBay because of how affordable they are just to be charged a hefty P112 ($2USD and some change) at the post office per parcel (yes it is hefty because the parcels I bought online only cost less than five bucks a piece lol).  if you’re going to ask me why I still buy stuff overseas my answer is simple—I enjoy cashless shopping and eBay is a haven for quirky and eccentric finds that’s all. 

~All Saints and Souls Day.

November won't be complete without All Saints and All Souls' day as it is the only time of the year where everyone gets the chance to visit their dearly departed ones since it is a non-working holiday. I am thankful that my Mom's urn is nestled inside a columbarium since it's never crowded there compared to cemeteries and we get to frequently visit her. It's also convenient that the columbarium is housed at the back of the church which made it even more accessible. I know not everyone in a country like the Philippines is open to the idea of cremation and majority still prefer to lay their loved ones to rest inside a casket, all in one piece which I totally understand considering the cost of cremation and niches nowadays. However, the thought that you could visit your departed loved ones all year round is always worth it. 

~Halloween School Break.

Moving on, since school is out, my sibs and I decided to take our niece to interesting grub spots in the city of Pines to take advantage of her break from school. We just would like to scour pretty much all the holes in the wall the city has to offer just for kicks and also to pretty much round up all the freak shake spots in town and see which ones are worth coming back to. 

Ze Creamery

Is the home of monster burgers and freak shakes located in Baguio's outskirts. It's not easy to locate if you're not a local though because it's not along the road. We skirted Legarda road twice before we found it and the best landmark would be V Hotel since it's pretty much just across.

The café is housed at the ground level of what looks to be a condominium building in Bukaneg St., Legarda. They do not have many parking slots available and we're just lucky to chance upon one during our visit. Ze Creamery isn't as spacious which is why their social media accounts indicates that a reservation must be made first prior to your visit otherwise they won't be able to accommodate everyone. We sat near the entrance door during our visit because that's the only space left able to accommodate all four of us which was quite an awkward spot. I have already checked out their menu online beforehand that's why we pretty much already have an idea what to order. 

Since we already grabbed lunch prior, we just had their monster fries which I think is just good for two pax, couple of baby freak shakes and two regular sized freak shakes.  I loved their monster fries though, the dip was oh so good. Their baby freak shakes are literally baby sized which I definitely recommend if you have a child in tow. Their freak shakes are definitely Instagram worthy as expected, the presentation was not sloppy compared to other freak shakes we've tried where the melting ice cream drips all over the mason jar. The good thing about Ze Creamery, they serve their freak shakes before they even start melting. The red velvet freak shake I had looks more like a dessert ordered off from a four star hotel's menu, very aesthetically pleasing. Taste-wise it wasn't as sweet and is just on the alright level, not really to die for. My niece though wasn't happy with her strawberry shortcake baby freak shake because the sweetness was overwhelming. 

If you're looking to visit Ze Creamery I  highly suggest be an early bird (before lunchtime at least) since they open at 10AM. Any (rainy) week day would be the best time to visit them because generally most establishments are like ghost town in Baguio few hours after they open so a reservation won't be necessary. We just decided to swing by a little past 10AM yet it was almost a full house since it was All Saints Day. 

The Unicorn Dream Café

Our house almost caught fire the night before due to a single unattended candle my sister lit for All Souls Day but thank God we doused the fire on time and still managed to swing by at the Unicorn Café as planned.

The Unicorn Café is located walks away from The Coffee Library in Upper Bonifacio. It was peculiar though why it's even called 'Upper' considering it's downhill. Anyways, the whole café is unicorn themed from the walls, stuft toys, headbands, throw pillows down to their food menu. I also read somewhere the café is fairly new since they just opened few months ago yet they're making noise in such a short period of time probably it's 'cuz their theme is very unique. My niece couldn't contain her happiness and was giddy and all the moment she set foot inside the colorful café what more when she tasted the food. Since we visited few days after halloween, the staff gave my niece couple of freebies (a pack of candies and a pink balloon with 'happy halloween' on it). We even teased her we didn't know it's her birthday that day lol.  

the whole unicorn syndrome stick
with me thus inspired me to make
  these homemade rainbow pancakes
topped with rainbow sprinkles. 

We arrived at around eleven past in the morning and we were the only ones there that time that's why we were able to unabashedly snap some photos. We took pictures for a good ten minutes before we placed our orders and the service was surprisingly swift for three tediously decorated freak shakes. We had their 'premium freak shakes' a.k.a 'monster freak shakes' and they were all good. The 'Unicorn Scratch' freak shake btw is to die for. We also tried their colorful group Nachos (which in my gauge is good enough for 3-4 pax), we had a hard time devouring the whole plate. It took me a while though to finish my jar because the sugar from the candy toppings alone will send you to sugar coma lol. The donut which helped hold all the candy toppings together was sweet enough to sort of neutralize everything. Overall, The Unicorn Dream Café by far serves the best freak shakes I've had in the summer capital of the PH. Annnnd, before I end this blog, I made a YouTube video compilation of some of Baguio's best food joints and freak shakes haven.