Mandarin Oriental Manila

This visit is long overdue since we’ve been meaning to go there even before our Baguio trip but for some reason we only managed to do it the day after Valentine’s.

Mandarin Oriental Manila is rated 5-stars and was voted the Philippines’ Best Business Hotel. Needless to say I had high expectations. When we arrived, I noticed that the front desk people were accommodating and friendly. Not bad at all. Problem was, I remembered reserving a king size smoking room a week before but upon arriving there they gave us a dual bed smoking room instead saying that a king size smoking room is not available at the moment(!!!). What’s more, they didn’t have a bellman around to help us carry our things. To his credit, the guy at the reception offered to carry our bag but we politely declined since it was just one (hefty) gym bag. Even though we only planned on staying overnight I still believe they should have a bellman ready to carry the luggage of their guests. I don’t know if they only keep bellmen for VIP or expat guests or those people who look they’re going to an expedition to Antarctica.

Thankfully, the room they gave us was not bad, the carpet was nice to the feel and the sheets were spotless. The wooden furniture had a touch of understated class and elegance. My husband for one liked the lighting and the mood it sets. The bathroom was clean and spacious and had more than the usual number of towels you can expect from other hotels. We also had a nice work desk complete with internet connectivity. That was really helpful since my husband brought our laptop along as he’s been waiting for some important email. The internet connection however seemed to be unreasonably pricey at PhP 1,000/day.

A mini-bar, a safe and a TV set rounded up the room’s amenities. The TV however was ancient and the remote barely worked (good job!). Later in the day we dined out in Glorietta and did some shopping before we retired to our room at around 9pm. The next morning, we had breakfast @ Paseo Uno. I enjoyed the pastries, Pizza omelette, German Franks, hash brown, bread and butter pudding and coffee but I still find the buffet breakfast in Island Cove a lot better in spite of the relatively limited choices there. After breakfast we headed for the pool and I was very thankful to see that it wasn’t as crowded as I’ve expected. The pool was sizeable enough and we splashed around for an hour or two. I was told that when Beyonce went swimming there during her visit, she was swimming alone but the entire perimeter of the pool was surrounded by her personal retinue of security personnel.

Shortly thereafter, we started changing and packing our things. Check out time was 12 noon but we left at 11:35 am. All in all, I’d say our stay at the M.O. was just average. I rate it 2.5 out of five.

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Cafe by the Ruins (Baguio)

My husband and I have been planning to go to Baguio for the longest time and finally last February 1, 2009 at 11:45 PM we found ourselves sitting in the waiting area for Baguio-bound buses in the Victory Liner Terminal in Pasay. I’m so excited that I can’t sleep for two days. It’s not my first time in Baguio but thinking that I and my husband are going to be alone for three days really excited me, plus the fact that it’s his first time in Baguio. For the past 2 weeks I’ve been planning our itinerary and when I Googled where to eat in Baguio this café came out, It’s called Café by the Ruins and it’s located at Chuntug street. I have no idea what kind of food they serve I told my husband that the first thing I want to do while in Baguio was try this café. I’m not a history buff but when I searched more about this café I learned that it was once a house owned by Phelps Whitmarsh, the first civil governor of Benguet. The house was built early in the last century and destroyed in World War II. The governor maintained a famous garden where Mrs. Whitmarsh, an Ibaloi, propagated flowering plants and introduced strawberries and vegetable seeds. The bougainvilleas that still bloom at the Café’s entrance adorned the front doors of the family home. Those vines have witnessed the comings and goings of Baguio’s last 100 years.

Café by the Ruins is really cozy and the ambiance is really warm and great. The staff were knowledgeable and accommodating. They readily answered all our questions with a smile. For dinner, we ordered Beef Sinigang and I was very surprised to see that instead of kangkong like we do in Manila, they used pechay baguio instead, which was a welcome change from the usual. We had a generous helping of mountain rice and tasty as it is, I also learned that it’s very healthy and rich in fiber.

As for the drinks, I ordered a cup of hot chocolate inspired by Rizal’s Tsokolate e/a in Noli. My husband ordered Iced Tea that came with honey and frosted sugar on the glass’ rim. For dessert, we had the Pain au Chocolate, a crispy pastry stuffed with warm, oozing dark chocolate in the center. Overall, it was a truly appetizing and delightful experience.

If you’re health conscious and you’ve found yourself in Baguio one of these days, you should try Café by the Ruins.

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Italianni’s

One morning, when my husband got home from work, he surprised me with this gift certificate from Italianni’s. Knowing that I love to eat he knew it would make me hysterical. Actually he’s right – until I saw where it’s from. You see, I love food. In fact I can eat anywhere – from a five star hotel to a jollijeep (food carts that used to be on jeeps normally found in Makati) but I’m not really a fan of Italian food. Anyway, back to Italianni’s, the GC is valid only if you purchase at least 1000 pesos. I said to my husband that that was ok since with 500 pesos worth of GC that means theoretically we only have to pay 500 if our bill runs up to a grand. Besides, Mark, the friend and colleague of my husband who gave the GC, said that at 1000 pesos, his family of three plus his baby sitter were able to eat at Italianni’s with enough remaining for take out. Since he gave us 3 GC’s and we wanted to share the blessing, I gave the other one to my sister and the other to my cousin. Even then, I was having second thoughts. Here’s the thing, when we got the GC it was actually the expiration date the day after so we can’t postpone our lunch date which my husband really wanted. Anyway, when we got there, I noticed that the staff were really friendly and very accommodating. The ambiance was good too. While we were waiting for our order they gave us some bread loaves and some strange sauce. I forgot to ask what’s in the sauce it’s really good and a little spicy. Now the food! I ordered pork chop Au Poivre with sauce and potato, carrots and mushroom and spinach as the side dish. My husband ordered Chicken Marsala Risotto and we both ordered a frap espresso. I sampled the risotto and I was so impressed that I googled the recipe. The frap is a pleasant surprise as well since it’s a lot smoother than most concoctions I’ve tasted from other cafés!

So do I like Italian food now? Let’s just say we left Italianni’s with a full stomach and a smile.

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Heaven and Eggs

Last Thursday, June 5, 2008, I, my oldest sister and her husband and their two kids went to the mall. They intended to watch The Chronicles of Narnia – Prince Caspian and I needed to buy things for my Grandmother’s 75^th birthday. After 2 hours of window shopping we went to the supermarket in Landmark to buy the things needed for the party. After of almost four hours we were hungry and exhausted and hungry (did I say that already?). Anyway, the kids of course are very energetic. You know sometimes it makes me think where those kids getting all that energy!!! Well, my sister ask me where to eat I told them we can eat in Heaven n’ eggs since it’s been a year since me and my husband went there. From Landmark we went to Glorieta 4, and found it just beside Breadtalk. After browsing through the menu, I got the Saint Benedict steak. My sister got herself adobo flakes and my brother-in-law ordered a pancake for himself and the kids. I recommend the Saint Benedict Steak which comes with deep fried potato, poached egg, gravy, bread, lettuce and carrots. I got mine well done and all I can say is it tastes really good compared with other steaks of the same price. And should I say that service there is great too? If they say you’ll need to wait for ten minutes, the food is there even before 10 minutes is up. So if ever you’re somewhere near Glorietta, I suggest you try Heaven and Eggs.

St. Benedict’s Steak (the actual steak is partially hidden by the lettuce hehe)

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