#lagro

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It All Begins With A Beef Shawarma

August 2014. I decided to visit…

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The Ozine Fest Halloween Special, held at the Fairview Terraces, will be the third anime/cosplay event I attended for this year, after the Pinoy Otaku Festival 2023: Shizen (Robinsons Novaliches) last May and the Best Of Anime 2023: The Reunion (SMX Convention Center Manila) last September. I never got to visit Coshabatsu, which was also held at the Fairview Terraces a few months ago.

Anyway, my awesome weekend should begin with a post-birthday celebration, with a cup of caramel macchiato iced coffee, cinnamon roll, and bloody velvet cupcake from Cafe Luca. I was initially planning to have a slice of Basque burnt cheesecake, but I changed my mind at the last minute.

I managed to take a lot of selfies, as well as food photos. I even took a couple of videos of the fork cutting a piece of the bloody velvet cupcake (one of the Halloween items).

I then uploaded the first batch of photos to my Instagram accounts. At that point, I was probably enjoying myself too much, knowing that I’d be attending the Halloween-themed anime/cosplay event later.

I only stay for about an hour since I need to get to the Ozine Fest. It was already 4:00 PM when I left the cafe.

Next stop, Fairview Terraces. I immediately headed to the event center to check some of the booths and bought a few souvenirs, including a couple of anime pins, a small Pochita plushie, and a book by Sskait (yup, he had a booth at the event).

As it is a Halloween-themed anime/cosplay event, the cosplay competitions are, of course, Halloween-related. There are also some mini-games as well. And there’s the trick or treat.

By the time I got there, the Worst Nightmare Cosplay Competition was about to begin. Seeing that most of the booths took up the event center, there’s very little space left in front of the stage. Not only that but some of the booths are located in the eastern hallway near Owndays.

From the second floor of the mall, the event center looked incredibly crowded.

Back at the event area, I had a few selfies with some of the cosplayers.

At the fountain area, I took some more selfies. The wacky ones.

The first day of the event ended as soon as the winners were announced. It was almost 7:00 PM, but the stage was empty. But the booths remained open until about closing time, I assume.

I then head to SM Fairview and visit a couple of bookshops. I managed to buy a second-hand manga at Booksale (Bodacious Space Pirates) that was on the shelf for almost four years. I remember seeing that book a lot of times whenever I passed by that branch, but it seems like no one bought it nor it was pulled out. But on that day, I finally decided to pick it up, and that was that.

I only checked the lower and upper ground levels and had dinner at Bonchon Chicken at the mall’s second level. I checked the department store after that (there’s a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf branch inside the department store aside from the one at the Parkway) and bought a couple of items at the supermarket before going home.

I must have spent a lot of money on these items, but they all serve as awesome souvenirs from the event. The manga, however, was bought outside the venue and may not be considered one of the souvenirs from the event, but I decided to include it anyway.

I'll definitely read the comic book very soon. Wish I also bought the eggplant plushie as well.

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That day was really special to me since that was the first time I celebrated my birthday at my favorite hangout place post-pandemic. I bought some awesome souvenirs from the Ozine event too. I never got to eat out at a Japanese restaurant (which I did a week later) or shop for some clothes to replace the ones in my wardrobe (I only bought a Shoyo Hinata shirt at the department store a week later as well). The small Pochita plushie and the recent book from Sskait serve as my birthday presents to myself. Too bad I never got to visit the second day of the event, but I somehow managed to squeeze almost everything in one day.

And that’s how my post-birthday celebration/first time at an Ozine event went. Hopefully, I can plan my next mall-hopping trip by November, as soon as I can procure some potential additions to my wardrobe.

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Anyway, the moment I finally decided to visit Lagro…

It rained heavily while I was about to leave the house, much to my disappointment. I mean, the sun’s been shining brightly since morning, so the sudden heavy rain is a real downer for me (I should’ve expect that to happen since it’s rainy season).

I decided on my usual outfit, though I wasn’t able to wear my black slacks since they don’t fit me anymore (not to mention that I’ve been wearing those kind of pants since my college days, as part of my school uniform). Also, I had a feeling that my feet had grown a little bigger but it still managed to fit on my olive green Converse. I’ll probably need a new pair very soon.

I left the house at around 3:30 PM while it is still raining a little bit, but it gradually weakened along the way. And just as I was about to wear my black fingerless gloves, I realized that I’ve actually packed a mismatched pair... an Attack On Titan gloves (left) and the Hitman Reborn gloves (right). Oh well, I decided to wear that mismatched pair anyway, knowing that some people won’t probably care about how a person looks, as long as I don’t look kind of disheveled.

At first, I was planning to visit the Daily Coffee Grounds right next to where Jits Café is supposed to be (they’re still closed during my recent visit to the area), but they’re closed at the moment. I only learned about it later that evening that they’re closing for the weekend. Of course, there’s the other newly-discovered café in the area, Drip’n Cafe, which is right across to my high school. And so, I immediately head there. Come to think of it, I was really planning to go there the next time I visit Lagro, but I had this sudden urge to check my old hangout place so I went there first.

I had a caramel Frappuccino and a slice of blueberry cheesecake. The caramel frappe is kind of too sweet for my liking, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. The blueberry cheesecake is pure cream cheese goodness, I instantly loved it at first bite. I sit right beside the window and enjoyed the view. The sun finally shined a few minutes later. I finished my caramel frappe and blueberry cheesecake an hour later, taking a few minutes between sips and bites. I’ll definitely going to visit the place again, probably in a month or so.

I didn’t feel like walking all the way to the Fairview malls so I took a short ride to my next destination. I did some shopping, which include a couple of grocery items, four manga books (Life volumes 6 to 9), a faux silk curtain from Daiso, and a few others. And I passed by a newly-opened shop, CoolectZone (SM Fairview), which sells various collectibles, including anime and action figures.

I decided to go home a little earlier than usual, and I decided to skip Fairview Terraces for some reason (I passed by it earlier this afternoon, though). I decided not to have an early dinner in some fast food restaurant, knowing that I’ll eat dinner at home anyway.

And so, this makes the third time I visited Lagro since the pandemic. Two years, and a lot of things changed. My malling experience had drastically changed too. I don’t know why, but it’s got anything to do with the dreaded coronavirus.

Now that I think of it, I kind of missed going to anime conventions and book fairs, as well as planning my mall-hopping trips around Metro Manila. Maybe one day, I’ll probably sneak my way into the three malls in North Avenue next (especially Vertis North). But first, I need to shop for some new black slacks and probably some new shirts, and maybe a new pair of shoes. It’s time to revive my stylish self once again.

I decided to go to my usual hangout spot near my high school, but the milk tea/coffee shop I frequented, Jits Cafe, is closed at the moment. But then, I saw a new coffee shop right beside it, the Daily Grind Cafe DGC. I decided to try it out.

It was indeed a coffee shop, and it mostly features coffee drinks. Looks like I’ve found a new place to chill.

Without any further ado, I ordered a strawberry cheesecake Frappuccino, obviously a non-coffee drink. No coffee drinks for now, since I had it for a month (four weeks of various Javakulas from Seattle’s Best Coffee, delivered via a food delivery app) and I’m starting to feel jittery from too much sugar (the last one I had, the salted caramel Javakula, is incredibly too sweet) and caffeine. Anyway, I decided to stay for a moment while sipping my drink and writing this post.

I couldn’t help but take a good look at the place. I love the ambiance, the smell of brewed coffee, and their Frappuccino (I might want to try some of their coffee drinks next time). I decided to finish my drink within an hour, though, as I’m heading to the Fairview malls next to do some shopping. I also find another coffee shop near my high school as well (Drip’n Cafe), where the internet café/clinic/salon used to be.

I only visited SM Fairview (where I bought a new umbrella, the same one I bought years ago) and Fairview Terraces. As usual, I checked some of the shops in these malls. Well, I didn’t find any interesting (second-hand) manga books in Booksale branches in both malls, and I wasn’t able to find a certain pair of cool socks (the embroidered ninja socks from Iconic), though I’ve already bought a pair last Christmas and was looking to buy a second pair.

Later on, I passed by a Greenwich branch in Fairview Terraces, initially thinking of having a meal of seafood pasta (the creamy shrimp spaghetti), but I’ll probably eat dinner at home anyway so I passed on it for now. Maybe next time, I guess, though it’s just a limited time offer.

I decided to go home earlier than usual, since I couldn’t really enjoy doing what I used to, you know, walking past the shops and checking every part of the mall area, but I guess it’s because we’re still in the “new normal” part of the pandemic. Besides, I was having anxiety issues at the time (even before leaving the house), though that kind of dissipated after reaching the house.

The new coffee shops near my high school gives me more reason to visit the area often (like I did pre-pandemic), and that alone makes me happy. And so I’m looking forward to visit the other one very soon.

I might not be able to frequent the area more often in the meantime, as we are still in the “new normal” stage. Don’t worry, I might resume my weekend rituals once everything goes back to normal. Until then, please stay safe!

It's been three weeks since POF: Ai 2018, two weeks since that canceled-at-the-last-minute trip and a nice buffet, and a week since the Manila trip. This time, I'm off to celebrate my 10th year as a blogger, as well as the Kin Keihan Times' tenth year in the cyberspace.

By the way, am I done with wearing all-black, at least for the time being? Well, not quite. Anyway, my outfit consists of mostly black clothing with a splash of color. For this trip, I only visited a mall in SJDM-Tungko area, a dessert shop in Lagro, and the Fairview malls.

I started by wearing my favorite anime shirt, a brown button shirt that serves as my jacket, and a pair of red socks. Nothing special, this is what I normally wear when I go out.

I only visited a few shops in SM San Jose Del Monte while skipping the viewing deck area. By the time I was heading to my next stop, however, it started raining. I find it quite unfortunate, as usual, since it nearly ruined my past trips, especially the supposed Manila trip which was later rescheduled. Anyway, I find it impossible to walk along the quiet streets in this heavy rain so I have to wait for a few minutes until it gradually stops.

I was initially planning to celebrate it with a caramel frappe, but the milk tea shop is closed at that time. I then head to the dessert shop, which is now The Cake Corner after weeks of renovation. It basically has the same offering as the former Vanilla Bakery And Cafe, but with some additions.

I then have a winter melon milk tea and a brownie. Checking the menu, they're also serving snacks, pasta, and rice meals in addition to milk tea/fruit tea drinks, cakes, brownies, and cupcakes. I sat down at one of the tables and started working on this post.

Heading on to the Fairview malls, there was a food festival at SM Fairview and a car and motorcycle show at Robinsons Novaliches. I then had an early dinner at Paotsin and continue checking every corner of the three malls.

And that's how my day went. Anyway, it's just a simple celebration for my tenth year as a blogger, as well as the KKT's tenth year in the blogosphere. Maybe I go grand once TWATKcox-WP reached its tenth year in 2023. Who knows?

It's just another rainy weekend for me, Keihancarl. A remarkable one, that is.