Clawdaddy’s Great American Picnic Dining Experience

Clawdaddy’s Great American Picnic

I had a great lunch at Clawdaddy’s Restaurant in Bonifacio High Street, BGC Taguig last week. It was my first time to try out their Menu but I had some idea of what they offer, typical American foods that Filipinos also love. And again, I found a 499 worth of 1,000 pesos voucher in Metrodeal so I bought two. Same like other promotional offers, there are terms & conditions you must take note, you can’t use it on any announced public holidays, call in advance to reserve a seat & bring the printed vouchers. Me & my two good friends used up the vouchers worth a total of 2,000 pesos and i thought it’s worth it.

Me & friends

Garlicky Mussels

Free while waiting for your order

Cheese Corn Pops..this is very yummy

Clawdaddy’s High Street is a spacious, with American inspired wall designs that group of friends & families would appreciate. It is located at a strip mall where most of the people hang out after busy day at work. Their Menu has handful of seafoods, pasta, appetizers & kid’s meal. We had a total of 6 different kinds of menu and did not bother ordering any drinks coz it’s going to be too much. I would surely come back o this restaurant.

Fried Coconut Shrimps, A must try

Macaroni & Cheese for Kiddos

Salsa Verde Linguine

Clawdaddy’s Original Baby Back Ribs, half slab

Clawdaddy’s Great American Picnic

Bonifacio High Street, The Fort, 9th Ave

Fort Bonifacio Taguig

(02) 856 4785

A Perfect Getaway in Camaya Coast

Beautiful Beach View of Camaya Coast (photo credits to Joy)

Going out for vacation on a weekday? why not? I never thought that this is going to be a great idea to relax and just enjoy the being in beach. I am extrovert type of person and I love being around with my group of friends when out of town. But this  vacation is different amongst any of my travel experiences. There is something in this place, that made me want to come back.

My travel buddy Joy convinced me to purchase a discounted voucher in Metrodeal for an overnight accommodation in Camaya Coast, I was hesitant a first since I know it’s far! And I was right! 😛 Paying Php 2,800 per night instead of Php 7,000 is not bad at all, which can be used up to four persons per room. We scheduled it for Nov 12 & 13 since I am off work on those days.

A week before our travel date, we did some research on how to get there, some sites says we can take a ferry from Manila to Orion or take a Mariveles route via Genesis or Bataan Transit. I am skeptical about that ferry route so we went to PICC Manila port to ask if they are still operating. We were disappointed after knowing that there is no ferry going to Bataan and only Sun Cruises goes to Camaya coast but limited schedule. It could’ve been nice to take the ferry route coz it will save us time but I guess we really have to stick to traveling by bus.

And the looong wait is over! Yay! Our bags are packed and we are so ready to treat ourselves and not think of anything but to sleep in, eat & have a quiet time away from busy life of Manila. We left exactly at 9:30am from Five Star Cubao station where you can take Bataan Transit to Mariveles.The bus ride took 4 hours with 2 stop overs ( 1 in SM Pampanga to get some passengers & 1 in Lubao Pampanga where you can take a pee break or buy some snacks/beverages) We both want a stress free travel, so we arranged for a special trip shuttle pick up from Mariveles town to the resort. Camaya charged us Php1,000 for pick up and drop off, yes it is pricey for double occupancy so better to go by group or with family members. We were just in time for check in, we arrived at the resort 2:33 pm though the shuttle trip to Camaya only took us 45 minutes.

@ the Reception Area

Panoramic View of the Beach

Enjoying the Beach

Sunset @ Camaya Coast

As soon as we get off the shuttle, it made me think, does my 5 hour trip is worth it? And just standing by the reception area, I can see the sands, the beach & a beautiful sunny weather…trying to invite me to run for a closer look.  We took some nice photos of the room amenities. This is a must! Whenever we travel, I always tell Joy not to touch anything yet until we’re done taking pictures 😀

Keycard

Reception Area (photo credits to Joy)

Veranda View (photo credits to Joy)

Deluxe Room

Bathroom

Bathroom Amenities

Camaya Coast’s Infinity Pool

Breakfast by the beach

So we pretty much had a very relaxing vacation, dine in Wood Pavilion near the beach area and watch the sunset. Their food is OK but there is still a room for improvement, few selection on the menu is understandable since it not a high season plus it’s a weekday. All hotel staffs are courteous & responsive to our needs. They did a great job maintaining the cleanliness of all facilities. No cellphone signal for Smart carriers, only Globe but the WiFi works really great, I can even use Skype even on the beach! Seriously with a full WiFi signal is a bonus

Camaya Coast Hotel & Resort

Sitio Wain, Barangay Biaan, Mariveles, Bataan, Philippines

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camaya_Coast

The Super Woman of Our Family

Last Sunday, May 11,2014 is probably one of the happiest time for my Family. We celebrated Mother’s Day at home with full of love, laughter and favorite foods.

My Family..My Everything

My Lovely Mother Carmelita

A Mother plays an important role in the household, they deserve to be treated in the most special way we can.

I surprised my Mom with a nice bouquet of flowers. I thought it is perfect for her and I was right. She loved it! When I am on my way to work, I was trying to think of a way how will I convince her to be at the gate of my house because I want to give it as soon as I arrive. So here’s what I did: I sent her an SMS “Ma, I need Php 20.00 my fare isn’t enough, I’ll wait for you at the gate” (but I am already standing outside when I sent her that message) Then I heard her running towards the gate, she immediately saw the bunch of flowers and she looks totally surprised. And all I said was “Happy Mother’s Day Mama! I love you! I kissed and hug her so tight. That was a very emotional moment I had with her and it feels good seeing her happy.

Beautiful Flower for My Mama

Me & Mom..Isn’t She Lovely?

Love your Mother, because you can never get another 🙂

History of Mother’s Day Celebration

 

 

My Fun Dining at Chef Mickey Restaurant, Hong Kong Disneyland

Entrance to the Restaurant

Chef Mickey Restaurant Price list  as of March 2014

During our one night stay in Disney’s Hollywood Hotel, Joy and I grabbed the opportunity to dine at Chef Mickey Restaurant. We had a sinful dinner & breakfast…and yes… it was both buffet *insert blushing icon*

I see ears everywhere, from a chair design, ceiling lamp, wall , even pastries and desserts are Mickey shaped!! I am totally stunned when I got inside the restaurant.

Cute Mickey Dining Designs

This place is highly recommended to those who are Mickey lovers like me. You can also take a nice picture with Chef Mickey who roams around the dining area.

Me & Chef Mickey!!

Me & Joy during buffet breakfast

Cute Mickey shaped waffles!! Kids are going crazy with these!

Starting my buffet breakfast w/ these

Talking about food variety, they did a great job on this one, both for breakfast & dinner buffet, food never runs out. Pastries & desserts are the best I’ve ever had, it was baked well & not too sweet. Come take a look on the pictures and enjoy 🙂

Me & Joy during dinner buffet

Cold Cuts & nice Mickey wall tiles

Table Set-up

Fresh Seafood..FTW!

They are so YUMMY!

Sushi Corner

 

My Two-Day Magical Experience at Hong Kong Disneyland Park

The Happiest Place on Earth

Dreams do come true..And yes, my dream to visit Disneyland and meet my favorite cartoon character Mickey Mouse finally happened. This is the highlight of my Hong Kong vacation and I enjoyed every minute of it. It’s our 4th day and we saved the best for last. Actually, we started our Disneyland trip on day 3 after we check in at Disney’s Hotel.
Using our 2 day pass, we watched the spectacular fireworks display held inside the Disney Theme Park every 8:00pm. It is easy to get to the park because of the hotel’s shuttle service, but when we reached the park, we have to do a looooong walk before we reached the main entrance. Gladly, it was a nice and cool weather that day.

Lots of Balloons!

It’s already 4:00 pm and there’s still a lot of tourist inside Disneyland, everyone seems to enjoy the place, some wandering around, shopping, taking pictures and lots of people piling up for park rides. I was eager to try some of the ride but waiting time is normally 20-45 minutes so that’s kinda waste of time. It’s our lucky day! I spotted the gazebo where I can have a photo opportunity with the Disney Characters like Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse, Winnie The Pooh, Goofy and Pluto. I get to hug Mickey, that moment was unforgettable! I’m like a happiest kid on earth during that time. I know it sounds crazy but it’s true! LOL

Michelle finally meet Mickey Mouse

Me & Mickey

Me & Minnie Mouse

With Goofy!

With Pluto, Mickey’s Pal

Winnie The Pooh

It started to get dark around 6:00pm and we took a break from the long line and walking, we sat down nearby the castle facing the Main St. and looked for a spot to watch the fireworks. We could’ve walked more if we

Variety of snacks and refreshments is pricey inside the park. Mickey Shaped Waffles costs $50 HKD & a bag bucket of caramel popcorn is $98 HKD. We chose not to buy some foods that night since we are getting ourselves ready for a buffet dinner at Chef Mickey 😀

Here is the clip of the Disneyland Fireworks display, the total duration is 15 minutes and I just took the last portion of it 🙂

 

Park closes after the fireworks display so everyone is heading out. We went back to the hotel and had a buffet in Chef Mickey Restaurant. After getting full, we’re back in our room watched TV until we flaked and get ready for another busy Disneyland day. We woke up 6:30 am and we were so organized with our activity, we had breakfast, went back to the park to watch the parade at 3:00 pm and try out the Mickey train. I’m glad that our flight back to Manila is in the evening, we had the whole day to spend in the park and enjoy.

with one of the band member

Parade time! Happens every 3:00 P.M. Hong Kong local time

Pretty Tinkerbell

 Before I planned this Hong Kong Disneyland vacation, my friends who have visited here been telling me to try out the MTR Disneyland Resort Line located at the park which has access to other cities of Hong Kong. Of course I will not let the chance slip away! and yes the train is sooo cuteeee! Here are the photos I took during my short trip from Disneyland park to Sunny Bay & return. The Singe Journey ticket is $6.50 HKD only.

MTR Station at night

Entrance to the station

Adult Single Journey Ticket from Disney to Sunny Bay cost $6.50 HKD

Everywhere has ears!

Cute Mickey Train!

while inside the train

Self Service Ticket Vending Machine

 

Hong Kong Disneyland

Lantau Island, Hong Kong

+852 3550 3369

A Happy Day in Disney’s Hollywood Hotel

Disney’s Hollywood Hotel Sign

Free Disneyland Shuttle Bus

This is the most awaited day for me, we spent 1 night at Disney’s Hollywood Hotel and I got so excited see it! Before I planned this trip, I did some research which is the best deal I could get to stay in this hotel. I’ve checked the Hong Kong Disneyland official site it costs an arm and a leg!! Until Joy & I went to Travel Tour Expo 2014 held last February 14-16 at SMX Convention Center MOA and found an affordable package including 1 night accommodation in Disney’s Hollywood Hotel. Thanks to Wintrex Travel Corporation for this great deal.

Traveling abroad can sometimes be challenging especially if you are going to countries that does not use English as their primary language, but I appreciate the effort of some people who tried their best to communicate with us. The shuttle bus is supposed to pick us up in The Emperor Hotel and bring us to Disney’s Hollywood Hotel on March 20th. Jackie said the driver should send a message to the hotel front desk what time they will arrive, the midnight when we got back to the hotel from our Macau trip, I approached a guy in front desk if there is any message left for me, he said none. When we woke up in the morning at 8:00 am, we still haven’t receive any communication from the driver so we went down the street for breakfast and decide to pack our things when we get back. To my surprise, the receptionist handed me a piece of note from the driver that he was waiting for us from 9:00 am to 9:20 am but we weren’t there and he said we should make our own travel arrangement going to the next hotel we will staying. I was totally annoyed that morning and had an argument with Jackie on the phone. How could you blame the tourists if they were never informed what time the driver will arrive in the first place? Of course we will follow the schedule if we should’ve known the time they will pick us up right? I told her that I will not pay for our cab nor ride a subway going to Disney, that will not happen, there is no point of arguing, I want a resolution and we flew two hours to get to HK to have fun and not stress out myself. Finally, she told me to get a cab and ask for the receipt and they will reimburse it once they sent us to the airport the next day. So she really waited for me to get angry before she thought of a way! Ann’s Travel Services Corp, get your act together and provide the service that we’ve paid for.

Main Entrance of Hotel

Cute Mickey Mirror Wall Design

Hotel’s Front Desk with Friendly Staffs

Disney’s Celebrity Gift Store

After that stressful moment we finally reached Hong Kong Disneyland in Lantau Island around 12:30 pm and it costs us $269 HKD from Emperor to here + annoying morning my travel agent gave. Disneyland Resort have free shuttle service that will drive you within Disney vicinity. The route is from the theme park to the Disneyland Hotel & Disney’s Hollywood Hotel. Hong Kong Disneyland has 2 hotels and we chose the Hollywood Hotel, less cheaper & more Mickey designs. I started having a good mood when we arrived at the hotel lobby, there are lots of kids running around though but that’s expected 🙂 The check in time is 3:00 pm, check out is 11:00 am but you can ask for late check out until 12:00 pm at no cost. We left our things to the luggage station of the hotel and started to take some photos. Every inch of this hotel is so Mickey Mouse inspired, even the mirrors & bench has ears! hahaha OMG it’s cute!!! Please see photos and judge yourself how nice it is. For a Mickey fan like me, staying in this hotel is like a paradise for me! take note, I haven’t seen our room yet, we were just seeing the hotel exterior but I can’t get enough of it!

More Mickey cute Designs at the back of the Hotel

Cute Mickey Mouse Bench

Convenient Luggage Station for the Guests

Pool Entrance

Brrrrr! So cold!

Swimming time!

Hotel’s Piano Pool

Elegant Mickey Design along Hotel Hallway

Hotel Lobby

Mickey Classic Posters along hallway

We had quick lunch at Hollywood & Dine Restaurant, they mostly serve snacks for kids and some rice meals but small portion. Look what I ordered? when I’m telling to the cashier what I menu I want she said “this is for kids, you sure this is enough for you?” LOL this is literally a Kiddie Meal! hahahaha!

Cute Dining inside the Hotel, like a theater snack store

Meat Bolognese w/ Mixed Fruits & Steamed Veggies & OJ…Kiddie Meal 😛

Finally, we were able to check in, got our key card and our room is in 9th floor. The guest rooms elevator has Mickey button!! soooo cute! And there is one thing that made me so surprised, when we get it to the elevator, Mickey’s giggly little voice will greet you and mentioned the floor where we supposed to get off. It really made me smile! Their front desk always gives a personalized and warm greeting whenever you call them if you need something. I also asked for a wake up call by 6:00 am and they set it for me, when the phone rings, it’s Mickey’s voice who will greet you “Good Morning Pal!, time to wake up and rise & shine!”, no matter how sleepy I am, it woke me up and smiled after hearing the automated wake up call. That was awesome and really made my day

 

Cute elevator button design

I can imagine how nice our room will be! And I did not get disappointed!! I lost count how many times I said the word “WOW” when I get in to the hotel premises. Take a look of our Garden View Room of Disney’s Hollywood Hotel 🙂 I hope you will like it as much as I did. I love the color combination they used and this is not just for kids, I bet even adults who will stay here would love it too! 🙂

Garden View Room

Selfie inside our beautiful room

Had a goodnight sleep 🙂

Nice Pool View from our room

Mickey Abstract design of my bed linens

Excited for our Disneyland Park tour! 🙂

Inserts & Postcards that you can send to your friends 🙂

Room Amenities

Bathroom Amenities..soooo cute!

Cute Mickey Bedroom Slippers

Nice & Clean Bathroom

The room has great AC, clean bathroom and spacious, it has 2 comfortable double beds and can accommodate at least 2 adults & 2 kids, perfect for family whose going on Disneyland trip. And their cable TV has English channels! 😀 I’m done taking pictures of the room and I jumped on the like a kid! hahaha! but I can’t be lazy, so I took a quick shower and go to Disneyland to watch the fireworks display. I am going to create a separate blog posts that will discuss more about my Hong Kong Disneyland trip so watch out for it 🙂

Hotel Facade at night 🙂

I am all smiles while I’m writing this blog entry, my Disney experience still lingers in my mind and it always bring happy thoughts in me. Such a great memory that I’ll keep and be able to share this stories to my future kids 🙂

 

Disney’s Hollywood Hotel

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort

Lantau Island Hong Kong

+852 3510-5000

 

 

 

Wandering Around The City of Hong Kong & Macau

DAY2

It’s our second day in HK and we are so ready to see more about this country. We woke up as early as 6:00 am and had breakfast at McDonald’s, luckily, there is one just down the street. As a part our the tour package we paid for, they gave us breakfast coupon good for 2 days. I was actually expecting a buffet breakfast in Emperor Hotel but that did not happen. 😛 We are on schedule and the tour shuttle bus picked us up in the hotel lobby.

McDonald’s Breakfast Coupons

McDonald’s Happy Valley

McDonald’s Deluxe Breakfast

A Chinese lady named Jackie Mak who works for Ann’s Travel Services Corp. is our tour guide for this trip, she is also the same person who picked us up in HK airport. So she started telling stories about HK while on the way to tourist locations. As per Jackie, their country is really small compared to their total population, that is the main reason why all of their buildings are high rise, because they don’t have enough land to build wider ones, even their roads are narrow which causes traffic especially during peak hours. Also, condominium units in HK is too pricey, even the Government Housings costs too much for an employee whose working on an average salary. So most of them are still living with their parents, typical Asian set up. I can say British Government did a great job improving this country before it was sent back to China.

First stop is  in Hong Kong Convention Center facing the Kowloon Harbour. We also saw the Golden Bauhinia Square. Jackie said that is HK’s most famous landmark; Bauhinia is similar to Orchids but bigger, it is their National flower and that’s the same one you see in Hong Kong’s Flag.

Tourists of Hong Kong 🙂

Kowloon Harbour

Golden Bauhinia Square

Ann’s Travel Services, our seat in coach for the day tour

Next is the Aberdeen Fishing Village, we tried the river taxi operated by the locals in HK who speaks Cantonese language only. The youngest fishermen in the Village is 62 years old now, so they can no longer paddle and that’s when they came up of putting a motor engine in to the boat and easier to maneuver. Tourists who visits the Village is tipping $60 HKD  per person and that’s what they do for a living. We saw the Jumbo Floating Restaurant which is pretty famous in some Jackie Chan’s films. Expensive yachts are also parked in this Village and they are huge and shiny! Total boat ride is about 25 minutes.

In Aberdeen Fishing Village

The Famous Jumbo Floating Restaurant

Me & the Cantonese Local

Expensive Yachts & High Rise Buildings

This City Tour is part of the package, so it is compulsory. The total duration took us 5 hours and 30 minutes. Whether you will participate or not, you are required to pay the tipping of $50 HKD, it’s adding up..hmm. Spent most of the time in Hong Kong Jewellery Shop and I’m starting to get hungry. I just can’t wait to get this tour done and we have to get ready for our Macau Tour .After the Jewellery Shop, we went to some Buddha temple and outlet store where the tourist can buy some local foods, it costs $150 HKD for 4 and can choose variety. They also have Disney items which they claimed way cheaper than buying in Disneyland since they transact directly in the factory who makes it.

Buddha Temple

What annoys me is the tour guide keeps on selling items in the coach like key chains and a plate with my picture on it which I am not aware of until they hand it over to me. They are selling it for $200 HKD which i found total rip off. I did not buy it anyway. I asked the tour guide to drop us off at the China Ferry Terminal which is located in Kowloon, from here, we bought the ticket going to Macau via Turbo Jet. It is actually convenient for the passengers because the ticketing booth is located exactly inside the mall that connected to the boarding gate. As soon as you get to the ticketing area, you will see several booths that sells tickets to Macau, they are in same price range but I am wise enough to walk on the right corner of the mall to find a cheaper one! We got it for  $278 HKD instead of $340 HKD for round trip ticket .Thanks to the blog I read about getting a not so expensive ticket but using the same ferry, saved me money! 🙂

Boarding Pass to Macau

Macau Ferry Terminal, in Portuguese Language

The ferry trip took 55 minutes to reach Macau, went through Immigration and got a Macau permit to entry. Macau did not stamp my passport and they only give a landing slip/visitor pass like what I got in Hong Kong. Too bad my Macau permit to entry already faded few days after I taped it on my passport 😦

Free Shuttles in Macau

Transportation going to casinos and hotels are free in Macau, each of them have their own shuttle service whichever destination you want to go first. Since it’s getting dark, we only had limited time to do some sight seeing and we have to make sure we will be able to catch the last trip back to Kowloon. We decided to go to The Venetian Hotel, it is very beautiful!! Like a huge golden palace! I took some nice photos while inside the hotel.

The Venetian, Macau

The Venetian Hotel Reception Area

Beautiful Ceiling Design Inside Venetian

Hotel Lobby

Night in Macau

One of The Venetian Wall Design

I’m an Angel!

Upscale Mall with Artificial Cloud Ceiling Design

It’s Always Daylight here!

Inside the Venetian Mall

Gondola Ride at The Venetian

Too bad we weren’t able to go to the other side of Macau where Wynn,  MGM,  Sands are located. I also heard that St. Paul Ruins is one if the tourist spot you must visit when you’re in Macau, I guess you really have to spend an entire day to maximize your time with other tourist spots in here. That means there’s going to be next time ya? 😀

Other Hotel & Casinos in Macau

We headed back to the ferry terminal for the 10:45 pm trip back to Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, we had a Chinese dinner at Noodle & Dim Sum Kitchen located at the 3rd floor of the terminal and again, it’s another yummy Chinese food! NOTE: (Macau Pataca is = HKD currency)

Restaurant’s Menu

Neat & Organized Table Set-up

Steamed Rice w/ Beef Brisket & White Turnip in “Chu Hou” Sauce, MOP 50

Me & Joy, My Travel Buddy

Shrimp Wonton Noodles , MOP 36

Iced Soya Drink , MOP 10

I fell asleep the entire boat ride and reached Kowloon terminal before 12mn, we are already tired and only our option to get back to the hotel is by taking a cab. It sure is too dangerous to travel in a foreign country in wee hours especially for us two girls, it’s going to be a long drive from Kowloon to Happy Valley area and we are just thankful enough that nothing harmful happened. It’s been a long day so I had to sleep as soon as we got into the hotel room. Watch out for my Day 3 blog which talks about Disneyland & Disneyland Hollywood experience 🙂

Know more about Macau

My Hong Kong Travel Experience

DAY1

I’ve spent 4 days vacation in Hong Kong and I enjoyed it so much. I decided to blog this to give some tips for those who also plan to visit Hong Kong and I’m going to create a day by day blog entry to make it more detailed. Took a morning flight from the Philippines and surprised we arrived 20 minutes before the actual arrival time. It was indeed a smooth 2 hour travel in a beautiful weather in both countries. Hong Kong International Airport is very huge but you wouldn’t get lost because all the airport signs (English & Chinese) are informative enough to follow. There is also a short train ride going to the Immigration and baggage claim. I am excited to have additional passport stamps, it’s been 3 years since I traveled out of country but when I arrived in Immigration line, I noticed that they are not stamping the passports anymore, they will just hand you a small piece of paper which they call a landing slip where it  indicates how long you can stay in their country. This new policy took in effect since March 19,2013. Oh well, I taped it in my passport page anyway and hoping that it won’t fade since it is printed in a thermal paper.

Airport train used to transfer passenger from arrival hall to Immigration & baggage claim

Hong Kong’s landing slip & Immigration Card

 Since it is my first time to visit Hong Kong, I decided to get a land arrangement so at least someone will guide us during the trip. It took an hour before we get to the hotel and it is great opportunity to do some sight seeing. All cars are right hand drive like Indonesia so it looks kinda different for me. Hong Kong is a small country but they have well maintained roads, nice landscapes, long bridges & tall buildings both for residential & commercial use. Pretty impressive!

One of many residential buildings in Happy Valley, Hong Kong

We finally arrived at The Emperor (Happy Valley) Hotel by 12:30 pm but the check in time is not until 2:00pm, so I completed the check in process, filled up some guests form and get our WiFi access. Keep in mind that the hotel front desk asks for $300HkD per night security deposit and refundable upon checkout. Then we left our luggage, walked round the neighborhood and look for a good place to have lunch. We saw a variety of restaurants, drug store and convenience store.

When in Hong Kong, it is a must to try authentic Chinese cuisine, and we found the “Hong Kong Cuisine” located at 2/F Tsoi Tak Street, Happy Valley. They have great selections of Chinese dishes and luckily, they offered discounted  lunch special for the month of March so we took advantage of it. 🙂 I took photos of the food that we ordered and it is very yummy! The best Chinese food I have ever tasted by far!!! We spent more than what we have budgeted  for lunch but this is worth paying for! I wish they have a branch here in the Philippines though.

Entrance going to 2nd Floor of the Restaurant

Meat Dumplings in Chili Oil, $24.80 HKD (original price, $35 HKD)

Wok Fried Jowl in Spicy Salt, $38.80 HKD (original price, $68 HKD)

Me & My friend Joy with delicious lunch on the table 

Smoked Duck, Sichuan Style (Half), $160 HKD  This is foodgasmic!! so yummy!

Seafood Fried Assorted Rice, $98.90 HKD (original price $148 HKD)

We headed back to the hotel after the very delicious lunch, good start for our first day of the trip. We got to our room and here are my observations:

-The hotel’s elevator is kinda narrow, it must be a challenge for some to have big luggage.

-The room size is average with an elegant gold accent of the bathroom. You can choose either 2 single beds or 1 double beds, for this trip we had 2 single beds

-They have no English channels in their TV listings, so I did not bother turning it on.

-There is only one power outlet!! and it needs to have an adapter. I wasn’t aware that they have three-pin power outlet, so we have to borrow an adapter in housekeeping, seriously!? this became our problem and it’s kinda annoying.

Here are the photos of our room we stayed for 2 nights.

 Hotel’s Main Entrance

Where they are located at

Our room’s window, nice spot to do some photo shoot 🙂

Two single beds of The Emperor Hotel

Shower & Bath Tub, I love the gold accent!

Spacious bathroom counter top

Bathroom amenities

Since our flight is early in the morning, we felt we needed to take some power nap and get ready for some walk to Causeway Bay in the evening. The bus stop is just right across of our hotel and we took mini bus, it’s just a short trip  and we saw Time Square, huge malls and clothing store. This place is busy and it’s looks like New York City of Hong Kong. Stall sign boards are so colorful and vibrant to take photo at night. Very nice and modern place.

The sign 30 is used to determine which mini bus it should stop on this spot

Their convenience store doesn’t have a door?

Busy Night of Causeway Bay

It’s been a long day, we went back to the hotel after dinner and call it night so we’ll have enough energy for the HK City tour & Macau Tour for our Day2 . Stay tuned 😉

**For Filipino travelers, Travel Tax fee is Php 1,620 for International Flights & a Php 550 terminal fee shall be paid at the airport upon departure.

About Hong Kong

PHP to HKD Currency Converter

 

 

Disney Mickey Mouse Waffle Maker- Adds Fun To Your Breakfast Table

I received a Classic Mickey Mouse Waffle Maker last Christmas and I’m like a kid who got the best gift ever from Santa Claus. Yes I religiously collect Mickey stuff, you name it, I have it! 😀 I finally had a chance to use it since its my day off and I made some for breakfast. Here is the outcome:

My cutie pancakes! I started eating Mickey ears! 😛

Isn’t cute? I just want to look at it and I kinda feel sorry eating all of them..soooo cute to nibble! hahaha!

A 250g waffle mix can make five of these. Do not worry on your waffle getting burned because there’s a small mickey icon will light up to color blue as an indicator that it’s cooked. It is easy to use and please be mindful on the hot surface, let it cool down for few minutes before cleaning it.

Have a nice and fun breakfast with these cute Mickey pancakes! Be creative, you can also add cheese, banana or any fruits you desire to combine with . I’m sure your little ones would love it too! 🙂

Wanna have one at home too? Find it here:

Bed Bath & Beyond

ToysRus

Amazon

Tune Hotel Makati – It’s a Small World

We’ve spent 3 nights in Tune Hotels Makati and had a chance to see what’s new in the neighborhood. Makati is one of my favorite place to hang out with friends and my fiance whenever he visits Manila since it is nearby international airport, malls & restaurants. We booked via hotels.com for a good price of $39 per night for a standard double room inclusive of WiFi access but no breakfast. I usually read reviews from previous guests when choosing a place to stay, for me it is more reliable source of information since it is a first hand experience then being blinded with every hotel website.

Hotel entrance

Main switch & a small safety box

Standard Double Bed inside the 14 sq.m room

bathroom amenities, Minnie on the bed, LCD TV mounted on the wall & a ceiling fan if you won’t pay for a cozy package

i need to squeeze myself to take a different angle of the bed

inside the bathroom

Here are the things I took note during the stay:

– accessible to main roads of Makati City, transportation, malls, restaurants and bars/clubs for those who prefer nightlife.
– it is located in a small street of residential area of Makati, I noticed some  garbage scattered while walking and gives awful smell.
– parking space is available for the guests.
– the hotel has entrance & reception area. I admit that they did a good job maintaining the cleanliness and it is noticeable as soon as you get in.
– all of their rooms has the same size of 14 sq.m. Yes you read it right! the room space is just enough for the bed & bathroom. Bed sides are narrow even for a petite size like me, what more for my fiance.
-no fridge, no decent table to work with your laptop if needed, only a fold-able one but not too comfortable to use. there’s only 2 electrical outlets available in the room, this is a challenge if you have to charge more than 2 gadgets.
-take note that the check out time is 11:00am, late check out until 2:00 pm will cost Php 300.
-bed is OK with decent linens and comforter, good air-conditioning and you can set it at your preferred temperature.
-bath towels with shampoo & soap placed in a red reusable bag is provided upon check in. You can ask the housekeeping to replace it everyday if you wish.
-they will no longer make up your room after 5pm, they just gave me a garbage bag and I ended up cleaning the trash myself. Really?!
-there is a sports bar called “Team Insider Philippines” open 24/7 that has a variety of food & drinks (both alcoholic & non-alcoholic beverages)

Team Insider Sports Bar

Billiards Table & a Mini mart

Enough said about what I observed, I am not disappointed because I did not expect a lot. Normally, people blog about anything they went through if they were unhappy with what they experienced or totally satisfied and wants to share the good things to other readers. I wrote this not to give bad impression to those who may want to try staying in this hotel or at any Tune Hotels in different country. Their website is informative enough to help the guests set expectations with the costs, other fees, room size and amenities. That’s why despite of the things they lack about, they never mislead people. So I am not surprised why people left them good reviews to keep them in the hotel industry and continuously expanding.

Tune Hotel – Makati
E. Mercado corner, F. Calderon St.
Kalayaan Avenue, Makati City, 1210 Philippines
Makati City, 1210, Philippines
Tel:+63 2 8170888

http://www.tunehotels.com

http://www.insider.ph/sportsbar.htm