Summer And The City: A Midweek, Midday Break

The scorching heat that characterizes Philippine summers is best enjoyed at the beach or poolside, armed with an ice-cold drink, alcoholic or otherwise. On the other hand, there's something about being stuck inside a stuffy albeit air-conditioned office building, with its endless cubicle dividers and fluorescent lighting, that makes the summer weather rather unbearable. Basking in the rays of the sun while swimming in the cool waters of the sea or walking along pristine white sand under the blazing heat? No problem, in fact, I welcome it with open arms! But existing - the mere existing - as in literally just being there, in a place of drab and gray and concrete that is the urban jungle on a ridiculously hot and humid day? It's so unbearable that you're just compelled to take a break.

Luckily there are places of respite near our office building where we can quickly run off to for a quick summer break in the city. So one Wednesday afternoon, suffering through the midweek blues and hating the heat a little bit, my officemates and I decided to head on over to Burgos Circle in Bonifacio Global City to seek refuge. And in seeking refuge, what did we find? Macarons, gelato, and milk tea, thankfully.

Our first stop was at Bar Dolci:


The three little words everybody likes to hear on a hot summer day:


What welcomed us inside Bar Dolci:







My favorite macaron flavors, so far - Salted Caramel and Choco Chip:


One last stop, Serenitea!

Snapshots: Salted Caramel Gelato, Bar Dolci, Burgos Circle

My current favorite flavor, in gelato and in macaron form. Wait for my post on an afternoon in Burgos Circle coming out today!

Snapshots: Gelato at Lemon Cello, Senado Square, Macau

It was one of those serendipitous travel moments. On our second day in Macau, exploring Senado Square, my friends and I found ourselves wandering along a tiny alley that was slightly less crowded compared to everywhere else in the square. It was just after lunchtime, and it was intensely hot out (this coming from me, a resident of a tropical country, who spent many a summer day of her teen years playing tennis under the blazing heat of the tropical sun. I kid you not when I say the heat was near unbearable that day), but luckily, we found salvation in a tiny, hole-in-the-wall shop that sold gelato called Lemon Cello.

I'm a sucker for well-lit, dainty little shops, and Lemon Cello was definitely that kind of store. All the pretty colors of the gelato flavors on display totally distracted me from the unbearable heat (yes, I'm a kid like that, easily distracted by pretty things, and it doesn't take much to make me happy, really). One would think that it would've been terribly difficult to decide which flavor to choose, but surprisingly, I knew what I wanted that day - the lemon-flavored gelato, aptly called Lemon Cello. The store didn't have tables or chairs so my friends and I sat on a nearby bench after we made our purchase and enjoyed our gelato in the Macau heat, which didn't seem so bad after all.

Incidentally, this happened on the same day that I did my very first bungee jump in Macau Tower. And while the memory of throwing myself from a height of 233 meters I definitely won't soon forget, I think I will also always fondly remember the time I enjoyed a tiny cup of gelato on a random bench in a random alley in Senado Square a few hours after. That's the thing about traveling - it's not just the big travel moments you remember, but even the tiny, serendipitous moments in between are fun to look back on as well.

Lemon Cello - http://www.yp.mo/lemoncello/