Starbucks Philippines

ABBEY: At the end of each year Starbucks releases a planner. Since we were back in Philippines during that period we started our quest. My wife wants to have that planner. Its easy for us to have those 17 stamps as we pushed our relatives and friends to have coffee after dinner. In four days we got it. What I like he most on their Christmas blend is hot white chocolate mocha with cranberry (both hot and cold); next is the toffee nut.

WILL: I am not really a fan of this cafe, I really found their frap to be to bland. But I want their 2012 planner so Abbey and I hit the place not just once. Hehe. 
      I first tasted their holiday coffee in Baguio. Since then, I love Starbucks hot coffee. Haha. Even here in Singapore asked Abbey to buy the Venti hot white chocolate mocha
      Hmm. I hope there will be more seats in every cafe. Oh!, one more thing, in Philippines, Starbucks serves as one of the status symbol. Haha. Once you have a picture with Starbucks coffee you can consider yourself "sosyal". Argh! Haha

Choco-Late de Batirol

ABBEY: A cup of hot chocolate made in an old fashioned way? Here is the place to go. This is located inside Camp John Hay. A cup costs less than 100php. You can also add to your list is their delicious arrozcaldo and tokwa't baboy (the soy sauce and vinegar combination has a very distinct taste). The hot choco as well as the porridge complement well the coldness of the camp. In here you can relax and enjoy nature while having a good chat with your loved ones and friends.

WILL:  I miss the chocolate batirol of my Lola and even I will ask her to prepare something for me, she can't do it because she do not know where she should buy the ingredients. Hehe. 
       So here at Camp John Hay, we headed to suffice my cravings. For Php80 per cup, you can linger on this very delicious chocolate de batirol. 
      I asked Abbey not to order any food because we are just almost 2 hours away for dinner. But he insist. He ordered to Lugaw and Tokwa't Baboy. OMG! I am so happy, haha! The lugaw and tokwa't baboy is such a perfect couple. The tokwa't baboy sou sauce has this unexplainable taste. Hehe. Sweet, sour, salty and spicy in one. I am drooling thinking back the taste. Hehe. 

Cafe by the Ruins

ABBEY: This cafe is located across Baguio city hall. They not only serve coffee and sandwiches but lunch and dinner as well. A meal starts at 150php but its very reasonable. I got my BLT sandwich. The buns were made from kamote. The sandwich is juicy and tastes great. Bacon is crispy, the lettuce and tomato are fresh. Wooden chairs and tables are used and vines covers the roof. By the way this cafe also serves wine.

WILL: This restaurant is very famous here in Baguio City. Almost everybody knew its location. From Burnham Park, it's just 5 minutes walk towards in front of Baguio City Hall. 
      Its place's designed as if you are in a era of 1960-1970's.  It might be like a homey place for your mom and dad. I ordered a tuna sandwich. But i do not expect that this tuna will be look like just burgers. Hehe. The bun is amazing, the veggies are so fresh that once you crunched up on it, the greenery aroma is there. 
      It is quite pricey for budget travelers. 

Hotel Veniz Baguio

ABBEY: This hotel will take only 1 ride from the bus terminal. An overnight stay costs 1795. This includes a standard room and a buffet breakfast. The place is within the Kilometer 0 of Baguio. It's near Burnham park, Session Road, Central Market and jeepney terminal to Strawberry Farm. Check-in time is 2pm and out is 12noon. Early check-in depends upon the availability of the room. Staffs are accommodating and friendly. They are offering free wi-fi hotelwide :)

WILL: I am the in-charge to look for a place where we can stay for a night, many options but almost were fully-booked. Then we finally have a confirmed reservation to this hotel. Their check-in time is 2pm but they allowed us to have an early check-in at 1pm. 

      The room is quite big as expected but the age of the hotel was blatantly seen. The bed seems not that clean and the bathroom has a serious cockroach issues. The room is not properly lit. 

Their buffet breakfast few foods to choose from and this is the only hotel breakfast that I went without any hot tea. 

     In fairness, they have this very polite people who serves their customers well. I hope for more improvement to this hotel. 

Inbetweeners

ABBEY:  We won the premiere tickets one month back. They were distributed on the night of the premiere. As advised and rated the movie will contain nudity and offensive language so its for grown-ups. It lines up with the movies like American Pie and Road Trip. 

The movie is about four guys that graduated recently from high school and preparing themselves in college. Before heading to college they went for a vacation/holiday. On this vacation their adventures and misadventures happened. The guys' antics were hilarious. They were very funny. It's a good movie to laugh your heart out.

WILL: First, thanks again Incinemas.sg for this great opportunity to see this premiere night. I got four tickets, isn't great? 

      We went at GV Plaza Singapura to see this film. And yes, there some explicit scene and languages. This is a story of four friends who looks for something new. Haha! 5/10. 

Victory Liner Deluxe Bus to Baguio

ABBEY: We booked our tickets for our Baguio trip at this liner. One way ticket costs 750. The bus has comfy seats for the customers during the long ride. You can do also "number one and two" as it is equipped with a comfort room. 

Added perks are the drink with biscuits. We didn't have the time to eat them; we're asleep most of the travel time. You can reach Baguio 4-5 hours one-way.

WILL: I am quite hesitant to ride on this bus, why?, this is expensive. The air conditioned bus from Manila to Baguio is just Php445 whereas this deluxe bus is Php715. 
      The air conditioned one has 4 stops for the passengers can alight out of the bus and do some stretching and can go to the bus stops' toilet, this ride can take up to 6-7 hours. 
      While, the deluxe one has no stopovers and have its own toilet. The ride was awesome we reached Baguio 4 and half hours. The bus is so clean and comfortable, you can recline the chair and have its own footrest. The ticket comes with free biscuit and a drink. Steward is there to assist you. Lovely isn't? Its like you are in a plane. Oh by the way, their seat is bigger than budget planes' seats. ;) 
      Hooray for victory liner. Try this one, you'll never regret paying almost double. ;) 

No Other Place Like Home

ABBEY:Its Christmas and in Philippines the season starts in the "ber" months and will last until the Chinese New Year. The festive spirit is very high that you will not see an individual without a smile on his face.


My parents were surprised and almost fainted when they saw us. They can't believe that we were at their midst.
I don't know which food to eat first or place to go. I was ecstatic. I know i have limited time so be wise spending it. Good thing that in Philippines time seems so slow. We got almost everything covered and we found other time to spare and do other things beyond what we planned.


We managed to bond time with our both families and friends; like dinner, food trip, spa and malling.


As our vacation comes to an end I was like a prisoner on the death row. I don't want to leave but we have to. It was hard to bid them farewell. As I remember the moments we had I was more eager to strive and work hard knowing that we'll be together again someday.

WILL: For me, when I am hearing the word "home" I am not thinking of a place or our house but the people who continuously loving me. 
I miss all of the people I used to spend my life with and specially my bratty niece and nephews. 
      I miss my parents and siblings. I miss my elite friends. I miss my in-laws. Swearing... I miss everything about in the Philippines. 
      I love it when Abbey approved me to buy some tickets to spend 9 days with our love ones. He is such a very understanding husband. Blessed me! 
      There is no place like home. Nothing can compares spending time with family and friends!  I love you all! 
I love you my Abbey more & more... Abbey... my new home. 

Baguio City Philippines

ABBEY: This is my second trip to this summer capital. The first one is an officer's retreat of our church. I just visited PMA and central market due to limited time.

On the second trip we stayed at Veniz hotel located at the center of the city (near the KM 0 mark). We went also to Mines View, Wright and Burnham parks, SM Baguio, had a dinner at Session Road, strawberry farm, and Central Market for pasalubong. We took the deluxe bus of Victory Liner for the trip.

WILL: Okay, okay, okay this is my fourth time in here, but until now, Baguio never fails to give me a shivering experience. 
Baguio is the summer capital of the Philippines. As this is one of the coldest part of Luzon that metro people can go. From Manila you can take Victory Liner Bus from its Cubao terminal or Monumento and take the 6 hour journey. I will suggest to take the night trip as it will save time for you. This city is very small that you can explore all the great places just for a day. 
Some that we explored with Ate Beth and her husband were the following. 

1. Strawberry Farm - a one jeepney away from the city. If you have a chance to pick some strawberry do it but be cautious because this is more expensive than the packed one in city's market. Do not forget to taste the strawberry flavored taho! Sarap-sarap! 

2. Still, the fantastic Mines View. The bustling sound of Pine Trees is priceless. I hope government will still protect this tourist attraction. 

3. The Wright Park. Due to many horses staying in this park, beware of their poops and its stench.  

4. The Mansion. Philippines' President home here in Baguio. 

5. The Botanical Garden is under renovation. Nothing so much to see here. This place is so much commercialized. So many stores inside. :( 

6. Burnham Park. Here you can rent a boat, do some picnic.

7. SM Baguio is now one of the tourist spot here. Why? This is their only mall that not uses air conditioner. Haha! They have a scheduled fireworks show too. 

8. Session Road. This is most crowded place that I can see here in Baguio. Traffic Jam never leaves that road. People were like ants flocking and roaming around. Banks, restaurants were all here. ;)

9. Camp John Hay. The high ranking officials place. Scenic and very serene. You can play golf here, do some outdoor activities and even rent a room for a night. 

     There's more places to go and visit here. Try to visit Baguio, choose Philippines. 

Tiger Airways - Singapore to Manila

ABBEY: At first I was hesitant to book out flight in this airline but we tried it when they conducted a fare sale. We got our ticket for 5k php. An additional 15kg check-in baggage costs 1071php.  

Upon checking in an hour before our flight we were accommodated warmly by their staff. Any flight-related query that we have were answered politely. The seats and food are almost the same as the other airlines. 

The flight is smooth and We arrived at Singapore on the expected time.

WILL: Tiger Airways is one of the budget airline that Filipinos can avail en route from Singapore to Manila.  Their plane lands and departs at NAIA 1 & Budget Terminal. Now, they also offers Davao and Cebu destination. 

      Plane is similar to other budget-fare planes. They have this black seat covers and I think they have more than 5 stewards on board. But I have some concern on this, If they have a lot of people on board, why the magazine holders have some trashes?

      Happy to experienced to ride this plane. I hope we can get more fare promos soon ;) 

Circles Event Cafe - Makati Shangri-la

ABBEY: I have heard about this restaurant back when I'm still working in Philippines. My co-workers kids our manager to have out team dinner there. It didn't happen as its too expensive and the price is out of the budget. 

I asked Wilma if we can have a buffet when we have a vacation. We landed a reservation for three at Circles at Shangri-la Hotel in Makati. One person is charged 1590php. They serve western, Turkish, Indian, Chinese and Japanese cuisines. 

I like the most is their roasted sweet pork. I had pasta in red sauce, asado siopao, grilled pork, longganisa fried rice, leche flan, watermelon and ripe mangoes. That dinner is great. I'm very full. You can have unlimited drink of different iced teas for top-up of 200php per person.

WILL: Circles is very famous for the buffet world in Manila. It is located at Shangri-la Makati ground floor. 
       Plane landed and directly from NAIA1 we headed to this sinful world of Circles. Gluttony it may seem but yes, we are very excited to do some buffet. Yes excited for food but more excited to fill out stomachs with my ever missed  Ate Francia. Aside for being an ATE, she is a true and loving friend. Huhu. Teary eyes. Anyways back on food. 
       They have selection of different cuisines. As usual, chinese, japanese, & indian foods are there, what u Love most? Their stake with this mushroom sauce. The sushi? Not enough variants to choose from. The dumplings? Not that quite tasty as I tastes others. A meager selection of fruits and desserts. 
For me, I am still in love with Sofitel's Spiral. It costs Php1,590+++ each and you can book online at 
rric.SLM@shangri-la.com