January 2020 – Page 2 – Jellybeans in the City

Become a coffee expert at UCC Coffee Academy

Fancy yourself a coffee connoisseur?

Well, you will be amazed at what more you can discover and learn about your favorite brews at the UCC Coffee Academy.

Located at Uptown Parade in Bonifacio Global City, the academy culls eighty-five years of UCC Japan’s coffee expertise, from crop cultivation, procurement, research and development to roasting and processing, creating a coffee culture and serving the precious cuppas to coffee lovers.

Key to imparting these coffee knowledge is its use of an interactive Japanese method. Aside from lectures and presentations from knowledgeable instructors on various areas of coffee production, preparation and appreciation, students also benefit from hands-on learning experience. Here, students can expect to learn to learn to value the quality of a good coffee bean, from where, by whom and how it is sourced, how it is prepared and served to bring out its best qualities, and how those qualities are evaluated and ranked by coffee experts worldwide.

Together with my fellow foodies from #WeLoveToEatPH, I went through an extremely condensed crash course on Coffeeology: Coffee Fundamentals from Farm to Cup at the academy.

UCC Coffee Academy Head Instructor Robert Francisco took our group on a journey of coffee discovery. Having authored the book A Coffee Journal as an effort to support local farmers, he holds the local coffee industry very close to his heart.

Assisted by another UCC Coffee Academy instructor Joems Lichangco, Instructor Francisco gave our group a customized coffee preparation and appreciation workshop which includes brewing at home, tasting and – my favorite – latte art.

Here are some tips I picked up along the way:

Coffee Brewing.

The ratio of coffee to water is important for product consistency: use 20 grams of coffee to 300 grams of 92 to 93 deg C water.

Always pre-heat your equipment – drippers, filters and catchers – by slowly pouring a bit of hot water on them. Washing the paper filter, in particular, removes any papery or bleachy taste that can mar the flavor of the coffee.

Pour the first 40 grams of water on the ground coffee to let it “bloom.” The hot water allows the gas from inside the ground coffee beans to escape and the flavor to be extracted. This process is called blooming because the ground coffee seems to bloom or expand with the water it absorbs. After twenty seconds, you can already pour the rest of the water.

Coffee Tasting.

Freshly brewed unsweetened coffee may taste sour because coffee actually is acidic but not strong enough to curdle milk nor bring about acid reflux. What triggers acid reflux is the caffeine. Here’s a tip: eat something buttery like cake to line the stomach walls before drinking coffee to weaken the acid reflux.

Coffee has various aspects for consideration during coffee tasting. These include aroma (how it smells), flavor (how it tastes), body (how it feels in your mouth), finish (its aftertaste) and roast (whether the beans are lightly or darkly toasted). To draw out these aspects, here’s how to taste your coffee:

Step 1: Smell your coffee.

Breathe in your coffee’s fragrance. Much of the nuances of coffee’s flavor are contributed by its aroma.

Step 2: Slurp your coffee. Slurping allows more of the coffee to cover different areas of your tongue letting you identify more flavors.

Latte Art.

Latte art is made with steamed milk poured into coffee with variations in the speed and height of pouring.

It is important not to heat the milk to the point of being frothy. Otherwise, you will lose the silkiness of the milk that makes good latte art.

Whether you’re a foodie who wants to explore more about coffee, a barista-in-the-making or an entrepreneur looking to enter the coffee business, you can discover everything you need to learn at UCC Coffee Academy.

UCC Coffee Academy is located at 3rd Floor, Uptown Parade, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. For more details or to get a listing of the courses available, visit its webpage or call +63 966 531 1843.

New HBO limited series THE UNDOING, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant, debuts this May

From Emmy®, Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning director Susanne Bier and the Emmy®-winning creator of “Big Little Lies,” David E. Kelley and starring Emmy® and Academy Award and Golden Globe-winner Nicole Kidman (HBO’s “Big Little Lies”) and Emmy® nominee Hugh Grant (“A Very English Scandal”), comes the six-part limited series The Undoing, debuting same time as the U.S. this May, exclusively on HBO GO and HBO.

Directed by Susanne Bier and created and written for television by David E. Kelley, who also serves as showrunner; executive produced by Susanne Bier, David E. Kelley through David E. Kelley Productions, Nicole Kidman and Per Saari through Blossom Films, Bruna Papandrea through Made Up Stories, Stephen Garrett and Celia Costas.

The limited series, based on Jean Hanff Korelitz’s novel “You Should Have Known,” follows Grace and Jonathan Fraser (Kidman and Hugh Grant) who are living the only lives they ever wanted for themselves. Overnight a chasm opens in their lives: a violent death and a chain of terrible revelations. Left behind in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster and horrified by the ways in which she has failed to heed her own advice, Grace must dismantle one life and create another for her child (Noah Jupe) and her family.

The Undoing also stars Edgar Ramirez (Emmy® nominee for “American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace” and “Carlos”) as Detective Joe Mendoza; Ismael Cruz Cordova (“Berlin Station”) as Fernando Alves; Matilda De Angelis as Elena Alves; Lily Rabe (“American Horror Story”) as Sylvia Steinetz; Noma Dumezweni (“Black Earth Rising”) as Haley Fitzgerald; Noah Jupe (“Honey Boy” and “A Quiet Place 2”) as Henry Fraser, Jonathan and Grace’s precocious and artistic 12-year-old son; Sofie Gråbøl (HBO’s “Gentleman Jack,” “Fortitude”) as Catherine Stamper; and Donald Sutherland (Emmy® winner for “Citizen X”) as Franklin Reinhardt, Grace’s father, a retired financier and loving grandfather who is tasked with protecting his family when turbulent revelations come to light.

HBO is available on SKYcable Ch. 54 SD/Ch. 168 HD (for Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan, Lipa-Batangas) or on Ch. 402 SD/710 HD (for Bacolod, Baguio, Cebu, Davao, Dumaguete, General Santos, Iloilo). SKYdirect subscribers can watch it on Ch. 22 HD. HBO Original Series as well as live channels are also available for streaming on HBO GO. To subscribe, call your local SKY office or fill up this form.

Show details and image provided by HBO in a recent press release.

Disclosure: I work for SKY and part of my job is promoting its products and services, especially the content it provides to its subscribers. I consider being able to share my love for TV shows and movies and the experience of watching and talking about them with like-minded people some of the biggest perks of my job.

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New HBO limited series I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE, starring Mark Ruffalo, debuts this April

From acclaimed writer and director Derek Cianfrance (“Blue Valentine,” “The Place Beyond the Pines”) comes I Know This Much Is True, a six-part limited drama series debuting same time as the U.S. this April on HBO GO and HBO, starring Mark Ruffalo (Emmy® winner for HBO’s “The Normal Heart”), who also serves as an executive producer, as identical twin brothers Dominick and Thomas Birdsey in a family saga that follows their parallel lives in an epic story of betrayal, sacrifice and forgiveness. The series shows Dominick and Thomas at different stages in their lives, beginning in their present with both brothers approaching middle-age, filled in with Dominick’s flashbacks to their young adulthood.

Melissa Leo (Emmy® nominee for HBO’s “All the Way” and “Mildred Pierce,” Academy Award winner for “The Fighter,”) stars as Ma (Concettina Ipolita Tempesta Birdsey), mother of Dominick and Thomas; Emmy® winner Rosie O’Donnell as Lisa Sheffer, a social worker for unit two at the Hatch Forensic Institute; Emmy® nominee Archie Panjabi as Dr. Patel, Thomas’ newly appointed psychologist; Imogen Poots as Joy Hanks, Dominick’s live-in girlfriend; John Procaccino as Ray Birdsey, Dominick and Thomas’ stepfather; Rob Huebel as Leo, Dominick’s best friend; Philip Ettinger as the young adult Dominick and Thomas Birdsey; Aisling Franciosi as young Dessa Constantine; Michael Greyeyes (HBO’s “True Detective”) as Ralph Drinkwater, a former classmate from Dominick and Thomas’ youth whose life intersects once again with Dominick; Guillermo Diaz as Sergeant Mercado; Marcello Fonte as Domenico Onofrio Tempesta, Dominick and Thomas’ maternal grandfather from Sicily; Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Hume, head of the board at the Hatch Forensic Institute; Brian Goodman as Al, an older cop; with Academy Award nominee Juliette Lewis as Nedra Frank, a self-absorbed grad student hired by Dominick; and Emmy® nominee Kathryn Hahn as Dessa Constantine, Dominick’s ex-wife.

The limited series is written for television and directed by Derek Cianfrance. Cianfrance executive produces along with Ben Browning & Glen Basner for FilmNation Entertainment, Mark Ruffalo for Willi Hill Productions, Gregg Fienberg, Lynette Howell Taylor, Wally Lamb, Anya Epstein; Jamie Patricof co-executive produces.

Show details and image provided by HBO in a recent press release.

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El Chante, Poblacion

Denizens of Poblacion in Makati are probably already familiar with the previous site of the Johnny Walker House in Pobacion. Located at the corner of Dona Carmen Street and Kalayaan Avenue, it is a touchstone for those seeking the night life.

In fact, a few months back, a special viewing party for the premiere for Game of Thrones Season 8 was held right here.

Today, it is the place to be for music, food and drinks have a hot Latin flavor under the name El Chante.

Chante is a colloquial Spanish word for “home.” And those who prefer their nightlife eats and entertainment to have that saucy Latin quality would surely feel at home here.

Together with my fellow foodies from #WeLoveToEat, I ventured to Poblacion and its newest nightlife destination. The Latin-style bar chow and eats we sampled include:

Salchipapas (Php200 for single | Php250 for platter). A portmanteau of Spanish words salchicha (“sausage”) and papas (“potatoes”), this Peruvian street food consist thinly sliced pan-fried sausages drizzled with ketchup and other sauces.

Beef Empanadas (Php200). Baked pastry turnovers with savory ground beef filling. Be sure to ask for extra servings of El Chante’s special sauce. You’ll know why as soon as you dip the empanada (or any of the bar chow) in it.

Buffalo Chicken Wings (Php200 for single | Php380 for platter) and Buffalo Chicken Tenders (Php250 for single | Php420 for platter). Unbreaded and deep-fried chicken pieces coated in zesty and spicy buffalo sauce prior to serving.

Cheesy Cheese Sticks (Php200) and Chili Cheese Sticks (Php200). Sticks of cheese wrapped in egg roll wrappers; the spicier ones – also called dynamite rolls – have chili peppers in them along with the cheese.

Mozzarella Sticks (Php250). Breaded and deep-fried slices of mozzarella cheese.

Nachos (Php200 for single | Php380 for platter). Freshly made tortillas deep-fried to a crisp and topped with cheese sauce, pulled pork, special mayo and salsa.

Salivating yet? Well, these bar chow are just half the fun. Wait ’til you get a taste of El Chante’s house cocktails that are just full to the brim of pop culture references!

The Irish Trash Can (Php250). Made with vodka, gin, rum, peach schnapps, blue curacao, triple sec and one can of red bull. If this doesn’t get you in a partying mood, I don’t know what will.

Mermaid’s Drink (Php250). Here’s something to cheer Ariel up! Lemon juice mixed with simple syrup, vodka, midori and blue curacao make up this drink that brings you to the seaside with every sip.

White Walker (Php250). Named after the chillest (literally!) characters in Game of Thrones, this drink consists of orchata liquer, vanilla cream soda, cream, rum and blue curacao.

Butter Beer (Php250). This is definitely NOT the Hogsmeade drink as this has beer and Liquor 45. Drink your heart out, Harry Potter!

Planning a fun night out with the gang? Check out El Chante’s special take on tequila shots. Instead of salt and lemon, brown sugar and orange slices accompany the shots of Olmeca tequila. Toast among your friends with this for just Php500 for every five shots.

Plus, there’s an open bar for just Php600 from 9pm to 12 midnight everyday.

Well, it sure looks like Poblacion’s party people have a new rockin’ destination.

El Chante is located at the Third Floor, 8456 Dona Carmen Street corner Kalayaan Avenue, Poblacion, Makati City, open Sundays too Thursdays from 8pm to 5am and Fridays to Saturdays from 8pm to 7am. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 995 8651999 or +63 917 6395487.

Disclosure: Together with my fellow foodies, I was invited to join a foodie meetup held at this restaurant. Food items mentioned here were served to allow us to sample the fare and were not paid for by the attendees, including myself.

Photo Credit: Alex of BoyEatWorldPH for the barkada shot.

Hashi Donburi, Tomas Morato

Got a sudden hankering for Japanese food?

Why not drop by Hashi Donburi’s newest branch in QC?

Step up to the second floor of the building across ABS-CBN and you will enter what appears to be a laid-back izakaya where you can sit back and have a hearty serving of your favorite Japanese food.

Here’s a sampling of what you can enjoy here:

Salmon Sashimi (Php299). Slices of fresh salmon served that’s great for starters.

Tantanmen (Php299). Slightly spicy ramen with a peanut-based broth topped with pork slices and egg.

Tonkotsu (Php269). Savory miso-based ramen topped with pork slices and egg. This is quite hearty and well-suited for a rainy day.

Gyudon (Php199). Rice bowl topped with beef and onion simmered in a sweet sauce with dashi.

Tendon (Php179). Rice bowl topped with battered and deep-fried prawns in donburi sauce.

Oyakudon (Php159). Rice bowl topped with simmered chicken, egg and sliced scallions.

Chicken Teriyaki Bento (Php199). A meal set that includes chicken teriyaki, rice, sauteed veggies, potato croquettes and miso soup.

Chicken Karaage Bento (Php199). A meal set that includes chicken karaage, rice, sauteed veggies and potato croquettes. I suggest you request for a serving of Japanese mayo (and add a bit of wasabi to that) as your dip.

Among Hashi Donburi’s menu items, I found the bento boxes the best value in terms of price, serving size and taste.

I now count this resto among my lunch choices in the area.

Planning a party? Hold your gathering at Hashi Donburi and take advantage of these value-packed party packages:

Set A (Php4,499 good for 10-15 pax). Two servings each of edamame, ebi furai, yakisoba, tonkatsu, chicken karaage and chicken teppan plus three rice platters, 60-piece maki/sushi platter, four pitchers of drinks and 4 servings of tempura ice cream.

Set B (Php4,999 good for 10-15 pax). Two servings each of korokke, tempura, ebi furai, seaweed salad, yakiudon, beef teppanyaki, chicken karaage and chicken teppan plus two rice platters, 48-piece maki/sushi platter, one big ramen serving and 4 servings of tempura ice cream.

This Hashi Donburi branch is located at Second Floor, 139 Mother Ignacia Avenue, Barangay South Triangle, Quezon City, open Mondays to Saturdays from 11am to 11pm. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 2 77206040.

The original branch is located at 1607 Dapitan Street, Sampaloc, Manila.

Gather all your friends for AJ Mitchell’s Manila mall shows!

American pop sensation AJ Mitchell is set to serenade and meet his Filipino fans for an upcoming series of mall tours.

The eighteen-year-old pop singer-songwriter will be performing in select Megaworld Lifestyle Malls, from January 17 to 18, 2020 with the following schedule:

Jan 17: Uptown Bonifacio (Friday, 7pm)
Jan 18: Venice Grand Canal Mall (Saturday, 3pm)and Eastwood City (Saturday, 7pm)

“This will be my first time in the Philippines,” the teen heartthrob reveals in an interview. “I’m so excited to experience the culture and see as much as I can while there. I can’t wait to eat the amazing food and hopefully see some of the beaches as well.”

With Nathan Huang of Nathan & Mercury and featuring Any Name’s Okay as opening act, the American recording artist will perform some fan favorites, including the mid-tempo jam “All My Friends” and the global smash “Slow Dance.”

Getting to know AJ Mitchell

With a slick and show-stopping voice, charismatic personality, and sharp songwriting chops, it’s no surprise that the fast-rising star has already charted three hits on the US top 40 radio chart in a span of less than two years: “Girls,” “All My Friends,” which peaked inside the top 25, and the Ava Max duet “Slow Dance,” now ranked #29 and still climbing.

In terms of streaming, AJ Mitchell has racked up more than 100 million streams and 4.15 million monthly listeners on Spotify, cementing himself as 2019’s most promising male artist.

Outside the US, the Philippines is considered to be one of the biggest music markets of AJ Mitchell, whose latest single “Slow Dance,” a collaboration with hit-maker Ava Max, is currently making waves in local streaming playlists and top 40 radio stations. “I was pleasantly surprised when I first learned this and I’m so excited to finally get to meet some of my Filipino fans,” the young musician/performer opens up about the warm reception on his previous and recent releases.

As for Ava Max, the pop phenom who has shown significant international attention with “Sweet and Psycho,” which topped the charts in 26 countries and landed a top 10 peak at the Billboard Hot 100 last year, the All My Friends singer has always been vocal about admiring her work ethic and talent. “Working with Ava Max was such an incredible experience. After sending her the track, she sent back her verse within hours. Even on the very first take she sounded so amazing that we immediately knew she was the one for the song.”

New album in the works

This year, AJ Mitchell will be releasing his debut full-length album under Sony Music.

“This has been a wild ride so far and every day I think of how blessed I have been,” the budding pop personality reflects. “Over the next few years, I have so much more I hope to accomplish. Right now I can’t wait to finally release my first album called Skyview. Beyond that, I hope to have a #1 song, win a Grammy, go out on an international tour, and so much more.”

Details and header image provided by Sony Music in a recent press release.
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A taste of home in the South at Serye, Santana Grove

Whenever a group of diverse people need to sit down for lunch, chances are, they would agree to go for Filipino food.

And why not?

The familiar dishes and comforting flavors of Filipino food have an easy appeal to most of us.

That’s what happened when my officemates and I stopped over for lunch at Santana Grove on our way to our fieldwork in Paranaque. Most of us live quite far from this area so we were happy to find a chill place to eat before we go back to work.

After doing a quick scan of the options available, we agreed on Serye as our venue for out midday repast.

Serye’s owner Alvin Reyes Lim is part of the well-known Reyes family of restaurateurs who brought about time-honored establishments and brands such as Aristocrat, Alex III, Reyes Barbecue and Mama Sita’s. In fact, he pays tribute to his heritage through his restaurant’s name as it is an anagram of Reyes.

Serye also means progression, as denoted by his restaurant’s well-crafted menu of classic Filipino favorites, some of which feature strong Spanish influences.

Our lunch that day consisted of:

Hototai Soup (Php195). Light yet flavorful broth with pork, chicken, shrimp, vegetables and wisps on wonton thickened with a fresh egg.

Deep-fried Chipirone (Php320). Seasoned baby squids deep-fried to a golden brown.

Serye’s Sisig (Php295). Serye’s version of the Kapampangan classic with seasoned pork cheeks sauteed in onions and chili peppers, topped with a fresh egg.

Pinakbet (Php220). Serye’s take on the Ilocano dish with choice veggies sauteed in homemade shrimp paste sauce.

Binagoongan (Php515). Hearty pieces of crispy and meaty bagnet and steamed veggies on a bed of homemade shrimp paste sauce.

What a lucky find: a delicious taste of home in the South.

Serye is located at Santana Grove, Dr. A. Santos Avenue, Barangay San Antonio, Paranaque City, open daily from 11am to 10pm. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 2 88269317 or +63 2 88254691.

Celsius, Lamp Quarters

As part of our makeshift food crawl in Marikina’s Lamp Quarters over the holiday break, my friends and I proceeded to its newest coffee shop after our lunch at Chives Bistro.

Celsius has been cited as the place to be for students who want to a place of peace and quiet where they can study or regroup with their pals over cups of artisanal coffee.

It has also been hailed as part of the third wave coffee movement in Marikina. It certainly does its share in featuring high-quality coffee with beans sourced from coffee countries such as Ethiopia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia and Indonesia, as well as our home-grown beans from Benguet Atok and Mount Apo Sablan.

These beans are brewed fresh upon order, bringing the aroma and flavors of premium coffee to a new generation of would-be coffee connoisseurs.

Well, the titas and titos our group joined the young ones in their coffee hangout where we enjoyed our orders of of:

Foamless Latte (Php145).

Lounge Latte (Php160).

Lounge Fine Chocolate (Php150).

Cappuccino Frozen Cheesecake (Php150).

The coffee and chocolate drinks were full-flavored and served steaming hot while the coffee-based frozen dessert will surely appeal to lovers of sweets. These treats fueled a lively round of good-natured ribbing and gossiping among the titos and titas present.

Word of advice, though: try not to sit on the triangular stools. They’re bad for your posture and posterior. (Trust your tita on this!)

I’m so looking forward to coming back here and enjoying a round of coffee mocktails with the titas.

Celsius is located at Lamp Quarters, Gil Fernando Avenue, Santo Nino, Marikina City, open daily from 11am to 11pm.

HBO drama series WESTWORLD returns for its third season on 16 March on HBO GO and HBO

The Emmy® winning drama series Westworld returns for its eight-episode third season same time as the U.S. on Monday, 16 March at 9am, exclusively on HBO GO and HBO. A dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the birth of a new form of life on Earth, the show was created for television by Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy, who are also executive producers.

Returning cast members include Evan Rachel Wood as Dolores, Emmy® winner Thandie Newton as Maeve, Ed Harris as Man in Black, Jeffrey Wright as Bernard, Tessa Thompson as Charlotte, Luke Hemsworth as Stubbs, Simon Quarterman as Lee Sizemore and Rodrigo Santoro as Hector Escaton.

Joining the cast this season are Aaron Paul (“Breaking Bad,” “Bojack Horseman”), Vincent Cassel (“Black Swan”), Lena Waithe (HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” “Master of None”), Scott Mescudi (HBO’s upcoming “We Are Who We Are”), Marshawn Lynch (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), John Gallagher Jr. (HBO’s “The Newsroom” and “Olive Kitteridge”), Michael Ealy (“Stumptown”) and Tommy Flanagan (“Sons of Anarchy”).

The first two seasons of Westworld received a combined 42 Emmy® nominations. The second season’s 20 Emmy® nominations resulted in three wins, including: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Thandie Newton), Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) and Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series.

Westworld was created for television by Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy, who are executive producers with J.J. Abrams, Athena Wickham, Richard J. Lewis, Ben Stephenson, and Denise Thé. Production companies: Kilter Films and Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television; based on the film written by Michael Crichton.

Show details and image provided by HBO in a recent press release.

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Start rockin’ the new year at Hard Rock Cafe Manila

Let Hard Rock Café Manila start the year on a high note with bands that will surely rock the start of a new decade!

Let your swag out on January 2, 7, 9, and 20 from 8:00 pm to 11:30 pm with the 80s and 90s tunes of Verse Two while sizzling retro tunes will entertain you courtesy of the Spirit of 67, on January 15, 12, 22, 23, 29 and 30. Blue Grass band, meanwhile, will grace the stage all Sundays of the month and on January 27 and regale you with the best of The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, with hints of bluegrass, rock, and jazz. Jam to the tunes of The Beatles as Love Me Dudes rocks out to their greatest hits on January 17.

Groove via the fast lane with Highway 54’s 60s, 70s, and 80s retro music—with a mix of other genres—all of which are definitely going to be a blast from the past. They will take you on a trip down memory lane on January 14, 18, 21, 25, and 28.

Then rock even harder with Ice Bucket onstage. Catch this all-male band belt out your favorite Queen, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and other rock music icons all Fridays of the month and on January 4, 6, 11, and 13.

So, whether you’re in Hard Rock Café Manila for the merchandise or the food, one thing is sure during this first month of the year: the music has only just begun!

(Hard Rock Café Manila is at the 2nd Level of S Maison at Conrad Manila, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City. Contact us at +639162524119 or (02) 89909809 and follow us on our social media accounts and be up-to-date with the latest: (Facebook – Hard Rock Café Manila; Instagram – @hardrockcafemanila ).

Details and images provided in a recent press release.