gifts – Jellybeans in the City

The holiday season comes with festivities, get-togethers among family and friends, and, of course, gift-giving. Filipinos, in particular, revel in exchanging tokens of love or appreciation.

However, shopping for gifts comes with the usual stresses of traveling to stores while navigating through holiday tradfic jams as well as straining the budget.

Fortunately for Pasiguenos like me, The Food Tent PH organized a weekend Holiday Bazaar located at our own turf.

Fridays to Sundays, from 2pm to 10pm, until January 6, 2019, merchants offering food, clothes, toys, housewares and more, will converge at the front parking space of the Hampton Gardens Arcade located along C. Raymundo Avenue, quite easily accessible from almost any point in Pasig City (given our dire traffic situation :-)).

I was invited by The Food Tent PH to check out the bazaar so together with my kids, #ExhibitA and #Exhibit B, I ventured to Hampton Gardens Arcade after work for some retail adventure and bonding time.

In this Holiday Bazaar, we discovered great deals shoppers can score such as:

All original overruns from brands such as H&M, Nike, Zara Man, Forever 21, Pull & Bear, Adidas and more, discounted up to 70% off their retail prices.

Tester vials of popular fragrance brands such as Lacoste, Polo, Daisy by Marc Jacobs and Fantasy by Britney Spears, retailing for only Php80/vial as well as makeup, cosmetic kits and skincare items selling for Php500 and less.

Stuffed toys imported from Japan of popular cartoon characters like Disney’s Stitch and Angel priced at Php300.

Cute socks designed after popular characters.

Housewares and decors, gift items and gadgets and so much more!

If you find yourself hungry after all that shopping, check out the stalls offering various food items you can munch on right there or bring home as pasalubong.

Being Korean food lovers, the kids and I feasted on affordably priced offerings from Soondubu Jigae, all of which are cooked to order.

Soondubu Jiggae (Php100). The Korean soft tofu and noodle stew with shrimp, sliced pork, chicken and beef where the food stall got its name from. Served boiling hot in a clay pot, it’s mildly spicy but very hearty.

Samyeopsal with Rice (Php90). I was delighted to see that this very affordable meal already comes with ssamjang paste and lettuce, giving diners a close taste of the popular Korean grilled pork.

Rib-Eye with Rice and Mixed Veggies (Php179). The freshly grilled meat dry rubbed with Asian spices is juicy and tender (I ate it using a plastic fork!).

Other food items we sampled include:

Yummy Strawberry Cupcakes (Php30) from Purple Angel.

Dessert-and-Drink-in-One Mango Graham Shake from Mango District (Php65).

Hubby requested I bring home something for him so I got Chicharong Bulaklak (Php120/order) from a nearby stall and a Korean BBQ (Php90) from Soondubu Jigae.

And since I’ve been a good girl all week, I treated myself to a Chocolate Dreamcake from Gracie’s Kitchen (Php350).

There are lots to do, discover and enjoy at the Holiday Bazaar. If you’re in the area, do drop by for a quick meal or some Christmas shopping. Stay for a bit to enjoy open mic performances at the central stage area as well.

Interested in becoming a vendor? Stall spaces are at Php550/day. Just contact Hazel Hina of The Food Tent PH at +63 967 263 2866. This Holiday Bazaar is located at the Hampton Gardens Arcade, 100 C. Raymundo Avenue, Barangay Maybunga, Pasig City.

Photo credits: Hazel Hina of The Food Tent PH for the header photo and #ExhibitA for the Soondubu Jigae pics. All other photos are mine.

Every holiday season brings the same struggle: what to give to all of the family’s relatives, friends and co-workers for Christmas that will be unique, can be useful to or enjoyed by the recipient, and won’t go over the family’s gift budget?

Last year, we gave out over 100 bags of Chocolate Chip Cookies which my daughter and I baked and packed as our gifts. Thankfully, I know a baking supplies store nearby so I was able to save considerably on ingredients.

This year, while surfing through Pinterest, I discovered a new gift idea: Hot Chocolate on a Stick!

The recipe below is further simplified from the one I found on Pinterest, but still quite yummy! Best of all, ingredients and tools are easy and cheap to come by, thanks the nearby baking supplies store.

Ingredients:

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 tsp peppermint oit
15 large marshmallows
additional milk chocolate chips and candy sprinkles as garnish

You will also need:

Coffee stirrers or plastic straws to serve as sticks
Individual plastic wrappers
Gift ribbons
Gift labels

Procedure:

Melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave. (Medium high power for 30 secs and High power for 15 secs; resulting melted chocolate should be thick and have a nice sheen)
Mix in the the peppermint oil.
Pour the mixture into 2 tbsp chocolate molds (I used a small ice cream scoop to measure out and pour the mixture into small puto molds)
Spear each marshmallow with a plastic straw then placed it in the middle of each mold
Place in the refrigerator for 5 hours or until set.

I wrapped these with individual food-grade plastic wrappers decorated with red satin ribbons. I included a tbsp of milk chocolate chips and 1/8tbsp of candy sprinkles per package as garnishes. The label should indicate that the hot chocolate on a stick should be stirred into a cup of hot milk until the chocolate is melted.