Croque Cafe + Bakery: Committed to Freshness and Comfort

Wazzup Pilipinas!
"Croque pronounced as “Krohk” came from “croquer” which means crunch in French. It describes us well, as crunch pertains to freshness and comfort which basically who we are and what we serve." - Croque Cafe +Bakery

Croque Cafe + Bakery, a business venture of chef couple Alexa Abala and Paco Lao offers European-Filipino inspired dishes aside from their freshly-baked breads and pastries, and coffee classics. They also have other offerings that you would soon find out as you read this story of my dining experience at their restaurant.

Just like the other famous chef couple that I know (the Laudicos - Chef Roland and Chef Jackie), the lady chef specializes on the pastries, while her boyfriend would always be in the kitchen in charge of the hot dishes. I believe Alexa was the one who conceptualized the homey look of the resto which is now a trending look for other restos who want to project a cozy ambiance that's conducive to hanging out while reading a book, or for today's Millennials, browsing online through an iPad, smartphone or tablet, or simply passing the time chatting with friends.

It is not my first time to visit the cafe as I attended an event that was held there a few months ago but I never got back to visiting them on my own. However, I met Alexa in a certain gathering of people managing hotels, resorts and restaurants where they raffled off a gift certificate for the restaurant which I won. So that basically how I found my way back to the cafe to try again their dishes.

Busog Bonding Moment for the Family at Skippy's Bar and Grill

Wazzup Pilipinas!

There's a popular saying that goes something like "The family that eats out a lot together, grows fat and chubby forever," or something similarly like that. I just added a twist to make it a little bit personalized and appropriate for our family.

Needless to say, we are a happy bunch who loves every opportunity of going out to eat. Thank goodness there's always an endless array of blessings which keeps us going out to share festive meals together.

We are the family that's always "busog" every time we decide to go out on a weekend or during special occasions where we celebrate a birthday, anniversary, an accomplishment or a long holiday when there's a longer vacation from school.

Thus you would guess that summer would be a time when we would mostly be out enjoying a family vacation, a hotel staycation, a restaurant visit - that's done usually after mass from our church morning visits - or simply going shopping at the nearest malls.

Among our weekend escapade is our visit to Skippy's Bar and Grill, an Australian restaurant that's not only open at night time for their beer-loving customers, it also welcomes families who want great Aussie-inspired dishes conceptualized by it's Australian owner together with his lovely Filipina wife.

Over 1,000 Public Libraries to Expand Services Via Tech4ED Project

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The Department of Science and Technology–Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICT Office) and the National Library of the Philippines (NLP) forged a partnership to implement the Tech4ED project in over 1,000 public libraries towards community empowerment.

Led by the DOST-ICT Office, the Technology for Economic Development (Tech4ED) project establishes centers in rural and underserved areas to expand access to ICT services, learning resources, and opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment.

The photo above shows the Department of Science and Technology–Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICT Office) and the National Library of the Philippines signing of the Memorandum of Agreement led by Blesila Velasco, Chief of the Public Libraries Division, NLP and Bettina Quimson, Deputy Executive Director for eSociety, DOST-ICT Office. Joining them were (standing from left): Jilven Amar, Librarian III, NLP; Clarissa Navarro, Tech4ED Project Manager; Irma Saligumba, Molave Development Foundation, Inc., and Program Manager, Beyond Access Phillipines; and Michael Pinto and Roilingel Calilung, Vice President and President of the Association of Librarians in Public Sector (ALPS), respectively.

The establishment of Tech4ED Centers in over 1,000 public libraries affiliated with the NLP will be a breakthrough in addressing digital inclusion. “We aim to make our public libraries more relevant to the community and further increase their utilization. With Tech4ED in our libraries, we can bring the benefits of ICT to more Filipinos,” said Jilven Amar, Librarian III of the NLP.

“Tech4ED is about creating equal opportunities for everybody,” said Bettina Quimson, Deputy Executive Director for eSociety, DOST-ICT Office. “Librarians are very essential in enabling a person to be trained on special skill sets toward employment and entrepreneurship,” Quimson said. “If the public library has at least three computers and Internet connectivity, we will work with them immediately to set up the Tech4ED platform.”