Joyfully Yours

Wingman - as the name says it, its interiors and theme are that of a fighter plane.

A few years ago, Erik Waldie, a Canadian who came over to the Philippines was looking for a place that makes good buffalo wings, he cannot find any. Having this problem, a solution was born and this is creating his own restaurant that sells authentic tasting buffalo wings!

Erik Waldie, owner of Wingman See the jersey behind him? The place shows basketball games during the UAAP season.

No wonder the past 5 years of Wingman have been quite a breeze! It's problems like Erik's that gave birth to innovation and now every Juan gets to enjoy saucy, crispy and juicy buffalo wings the way it should be! From Wingman's very first store in The Collective, Makati, they have grown into 4 stores (others are in Newport, Acacia Estates & UP Town Center).

Since it's quite cooler this Christmas, I suggest sitting al fresco at Wingman to enjoy this beautiful view!

To give a taste of Wingman's culture (yes, the restaurant has its own culture itself!), I was invited in their Bloggers Quiz Night event at UP Town Center (their newest branch).

A poster with our teams & photos was on their entrance!

With my fellow bloggers together with Erik and Benj (Wingman Marketing)

According to Erik, they have the Quiz Night regularly on Thursday evenings at their Acacia Estates branch where the team that wins get free shots & the team that loses also get free shots! Pretty cool, eh?

My team is called Team Jetsetters because of our love to travel! The night was fun and quite educational answering questions like "Which social media platform was bought by Justin Timberlake?" Do you know the answer? I'll let you know by the end of this article!

Team Jetsetters

While we were draining our brains with answering questions at the Blogger Quiz Night, our palates were full from trying out some of the buffalo wings flavors which Wingman offers together with their other best sellers in their new group package called "Squadron Meal" which can be shared by 5-6 people. The "Squadron Meal" consists of 30 pieces of buffalo wings with 5 flavors to choose from, 5 sidings (choice of onion rings, classic cut, curly twists, shoe string fries, potato wedges) and 1 pitcher of your choice of drinks (iced tea, lemonade, soda or draft beer).
For our buffalo wings, my team chose the following flavors:

Garlic Parmesan
This is our team's favorite that we have to get 10 pieces of wings in this flavor! It's not very greasy, light to the taste, cheesy with a hint of garlic! It's just the perfect mixture of salty and heaven in a bite!

Garlic Parmesan

Classic
It's a must to have this flavor since this is "The Original Buffalo Wings" whose recipe was brought into the Philippines by Erik from his hometown Canada just for Filipinos to get a taste of what real buffalo wings taste like! There's a choice if you'd like this mild, spicy or very spicy! Being such a girl, our team of all girls chose mild. The wings are so mild, it just leaves a light tingling feeling after every bite with a hint of sourness, the right amount of sauce and crunch!

Classic (Left) Garlic Parmesan (Right)

Wing Dela Cruz
A familiar taste to every Filipino home! It's actually chicken wings in adobo sauce but it's crispy with every bite! A very unique way of enjoying a familiar taste that's salty, garlicky and sweet.

Moroccan Chermoula
This is actually my personal favorite that I think is for the brave palate! It's not the usual Filipino friendly taste of salty or sweet but I love how aromatic the wings are when it came out! The smell reminds me of Middle Eastern food like shawarma or kebabs which are one of my favorite comfort food. As I bite into the chicken, it has a lot of sauce but still has the crunch and juiciness but what is mind-blowing is its richness in flavor. It's salty and you can taste the herbs and spices that went into the chicken. It's just so mouthwatering on how the different herbs and spices run around my tongue making every bite just oh so delicious! If you love Middle Eastern food, you'll definitely love this! I was also told by Benj (Marketing of Wingman) that the recipe of Moroccan Chermoula was actually learned by Erik in Morocco because he loved the flavor! How authentic can you get?

Wing Dela Cruz (left) Moroccan Chermoula (right)

Our team got all the 5 sidings to be able to try all of them:
Onion rings, Classic cut, Curly twists, Shoe string fries and Potato wedges
I've got 3 things to say about these 5 sidings! They're crunchy, soft and flavorful. I didn't want to even dip it in sauce but I did a few times just to try the sauce which is on the sweeter note. However, I already love it as it is.

For dessert, we had the ultimate best-seller in Wingman, the Deep Fried Snickers. It's crunchy outside, warm and soft melted chocolate inside with very soft caramel and still crunchy peanuts! Very tasty when eaten together with ice cream and a bit of whipped cream.

Deep Fried Snickers

Overall, I love my food experience in Wingman and I can see myself eating there again especially their Moroccan Chermoula!
Now, the answer to "Which social media platform was bought by Justin Timberlake?" It's Myspace! Did you get it right?

What does Katniss Everdeen, Legolas, Hawkeye and me have in common? We're all archers! Yup, I am an archer because I studied in DLSU! Haha! :)

A few months ago, I was invited by Rica Tai to try archery and visit The Archery Academy at their new home in 5/F Intrawest Center, Annapolis St., Greenhills. Ever since I've given birth, I've never really worked out because of my new role so I've decided to go give archery a try and called up my brothers to come join me.

That's an Olympic bow right there!

For first timers like me, Coach Gio Endaya is there to teach the different types of bow, the right way to hold the bow, the correct way to put an arrow and the most important part of it all, the proper way of shooting an arrow.
After the orientation, it was time to shoot!


Coach Gio was there the whole time I was shooting and so he continues coaching to make sure my archer posture was right and how to target effectively to avoid missing a target. As you see above, I didn't hit any rabbit, which means no lunch for me if I'm a hunter! However, I kept hitting the same spot which means I have the right form, just need to adjust my aiming a bit.

One by one, as I shoot my arrows, the popping sound of each arrow hitting the cork board is actually relaxing. It's like all my stress are coming out of each arrow I shoot. Holding the correct form is actually quite tiring to the arms and shoulders but I didn't feel it and I just wanted to hit a bullseye.

Using up all of my arrows from the belt quiver (it's a belt bag where you put all the arrows), Coach Gio also taught how to retrieve arrows. The first rule of them all is to make sure no other people around or beside you is shooting. The second rule is to get the left most arrow then slowly move to the right or in going out. This is to make sure that there's space for your arms to move.

That's my brother retrieving his arrows. He almost got a rabbit for lunch! Almost, but not yet.

With all the shooting and retrieving arrows, it gets more challenging when one doesn't hit anything yet. It becomes addicting to keep on shooting and there's a feeling of excitement when the arrow is near the vicinity of the target. Of course, it's absolutely blissful when the target is hit!

Finally, killed a dinosaur! Bwahahahaha! *evil laugh*

What I like most about the place is that it has this artistic, free-spirit and positive vibe that makes one feel that anything (or getting a bullseye) is possible. Actually, Rica even encourages people to bring their own food and drinks while hanging out at The Archery Academy. She said that they're thinking of putting a microwave at the seating area. How cool is that, right?

Below are some of the wall paintings that can be seen:

"There's the enemy!"

Interested to try being Katniss Everdeen, Legolas or Hawkeye for a day? Schedule a session today! Contact 0917-8037422 for reservations to ensure a slot. The Archery Academy also offers classes which includes a coach, personal protective arm, guard, string, finger tab and t-shirt.

Check out their social media sites for more updates:
Facebook - www.facebook.com/TheArcheryAcademy
Twitter - @archerymnl
Instagram - @thearcheryacademy

For the past months, my blog has been inactive because of my newest role in this telenovela called "Life." Last October 8, 2014, I have given birth to a 9.3 lbs baby girl! The first time I looked at my baby, it was magical. I fell in love with her easily. For me, she is the most beautiful baby I've ever set my eyes on. For a 9.3 lbs baby, my Lil Dumpling doesn't look big but she was quite tall at 53cm for a newborn. Since my baby was tall, it was difficult for my body to give birth to her naturally and I had an emergency caesarian section. Glad everything went well and until now I still can't believe that I was able to pass through all that.

My Lil Dumpling when she was 2 months old. As you can see, she hates the sun! Haha! :D