Staycationing at the Sofitel Manila

I cannot begin to describe how wonderful it is to stay at the Sofitel Manila. With everything perfected to a tee, there isn’t much to say even by way of fault finding. Their beds are some of the best I have tried and proof of this is my deep, dreamless sleep. It’s like I closed my eyes and time-warped to the following morning in seconds. The service is impeccable, as expected from a five-star hotel. The Sofitel Manila is a national treasure itself. The building joins other structures in the CCP Complex that were designed by National Artist Architect Leandro...

Chinese Food Festival at The Strand Cafe

They still had me at P499. The Strand Cafe is the restaurant of One Pacific Place Residences, a serviced-apartment located along H.V. Dela Costa St, Salcedo Village, Makati City. In preparation for Chinese New Year, the Strand Cafe invited me over for lunch to try out their Chinese Food Festival buffet. Though the offerings are not complete as what they would offer on February 8, the food was already delectable. I can’t wait to try their full buffet come Chinese New Year. I don’t think most people are not even aware that there is a restaurant that offers a...

The Strand Cafe at One Pacific Place Res...

They had me at P399. Now who wouldn’t want to take advantage of this wonderful buffet? The other day I was in the area and I met my friend and former co-worker. She is in the big leagues now, and she wanted to treat me to lunch, to which I did not hesitate and said ‘yes’ to the offer. For a P399-peso buffet, this is wonderful. The food was very good for the price. Aside from the price I like their selection. They had vegetables, meats and seafood, well balanced in that way. Strand Cafe has local and international cuisine. I think it is value for money,...

My Shang Palace Dimsum Buffet Lunch

One lazy weekday afternoon, I decided to walk over to the Makati Shangrila Hotel and have some of the best-tasting dimsum in town. This could only be enjoyed at the Shang Palace restaurant. From 2010, they still have the P888++ per person (P1,091 nett) dimsum all you can. I was delighted to know that they still have this promo to this day. I love dining at the Makati Shangrila because of the service and the quality of food. It may be slightly pricey, but you get your money’s worth. At Shang Palace, dimsum because extraordinary. The waiters are very knowledgeable...

Sofitel Manila is now online!

Please forgive the unflattering pictures. I just used my phone’s camera to take pictures around the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila. Only goes to show that despite using a low end camera, the images are still breath-taking, just as they were back in the 1970s when it was pretty much still named Philippine Plaza Hotel. This luxury hotel is a part of my childhood. I’ve had some of my fondest childhood memories visiting this hotel with my father back in 1977. I remember they used to refer to entire CCP complex as Philcite back then and the hotel was this big...

The Bayleaf Hotel in Intramuros: Manila&...

If you want to see this view for yourself, all you need to do is come to the Skydeck Restaurant of The Bayleaf Hotel in Intramuros and you’re going to be in for a very special treat. Buffet at the rooftop, the best possible view and all for only P699 nett per person. It was a very special treat when my sister invited me to have dinner there. I took the night image of Manila City hall with a lousy four-year-old, 8-megapixel camera that has seen better days, but still it came out nice. It gets better when you take the pictures yourself. The spread is not as...