Museum of History

  

Hong Kong has obvious high regards of its history and culture.  For such a small country, it boasts more than 50 first class museums. They have a museum for just about everything... 

 

One of our favorites, whenever we are visiting is the HK's Museum of History. 

 

My kids love the replicas and re-creation of old Hong Kong. 

 

A visit to this museum was more like a make pretend game rather than a education fieldtrip. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 If you are travelling with kids to HK, I suggest you go museum hopping and experience first class museums which are actually both fun and informative.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tok's Manggahan Foodhaus (and everythingelse)

 

 

Lunch at Tok's Manggahan Foodhaus was purely accidental! 

 

We were on our way home from Porta Verde in Cavinti Laguna to Taytay Rizal via the National Hi-way.  It was  running late and everyone in the car (including my husband-driver) was near irksome from hunger!!!

 

My husband stopped by the first food house/restaurant he saw and before we knew it, we were already seated at Tok's Manggahan Foodhaus for lunch!

 

The restaurant's façade looked exotic and rather expensive. 

 

My family loves trying new things and exotic seems appetizing at the moment.  We were celebrating a special occasion, so I thought an exotic restaurant would be perfect. 

 

However, lo and behold, we were dumbfounded to learn that we entered a canteen "turo-turo" type restaurant (lol, my dad was easy on his pocket this time and offered to foot the bill - he was of course just joking)! 

 

 

 

 

The food was decent and the place seemed clean.

 

The bill:  We were a party of very hungry 9 pax (7 adults and 2 kids) - my husband ordered: everything on the food display table, rice, drinks and dessert and ended paying P500. 

 

Plus: The restaurant doubles as a "pasalubong" center.

On one corner they have sweets, native delicacies from Laguna and nearby Quezon.  On the other is a gift shop, where you can get cute, inexpensive fashion jewelries, trinkets, bags and blouses, slippers.  Talk about maximizing space!

 

 

Tok's Manggahan Foodhaud is located along the National Hi-way of Fami, Laguna.

Please see my related post on Porta Verde Resort.

Taal Vista Hotel Tagaytay

 

We are frequent Tagaytay travelers, but this is the first time we have actually stayed at Taal Vista. 

 

We got a Premier room at the Lake Wing with a grand view of the Taal Lake. 

 

Reviews weren't exaggerating, when they said it is a long walk to the Lake Wing of the hotel, but it was well worth the extra walk. It was a cozy room with a balcony with Taal Volcano as the backdrop! 

 

A sip of a regular 3-in-1 coffee, almost tasted brewed (hahaha!) and expensive, while seated at the balcony! 

 

Who cares about the room, when you have this as your view?

 

 

Bed was comfortable, but not heavenly...



They could have done a lot better in terms of toiletries... Ace Suites were way better than this!
Also their towels are quite worn out and needed replacement.

Bathroom is 3 way - I am not a fan though! It has no door (I honestly thought it must have broken and instead of repairing management decided to just take it out :P)!

The shower, sink and toilet were separated only by smoked-glass doors.

RATING:

• LOCATION - Perfect
• SERVICE - AAA+++ Check-in  and check-out were a breeze, Staff were all very attentive and efficient!
• PRICE - On the expensive side
• ROOM - Average
• GROUNDS - The hotel grounds is expansive.  Garden is well manicured, picture perfect and overlooks Taal Volcano.
• AMENITIES - There is an outdoor pool, gym, kids' play room and activity/game room, however, these were all located on the old wing (it was quite a walk from where we were staying - it was really far!) of the hotel.  Never got to try any of them.
• FOOD - Just good.  I was expecting better :P

The location makes up for the little peeves. I don't mind staying again and paying a little extra just for the view, which was really breathtaking especially on a clear sunny morning.

 

Taal Vista Hotel is located at  Kilometer 60, Aguinaldo Highway, Tagaytay City
Contact Number: +63 (2)917-8225 and +63 (46) 413-1000

Vigan River Cruise ~ a missed cruise :(

 

We were so looking forward to this river cruise.  Unfortunately it was closed on the day of our visit :( 

 

We would just have to make do with picture taking by the river cruise dock!

 

 

 

 

BSA Twin Tower Pools

I was quite impressed to know that for a small condo-hotel, BSA Twin Towers in Ortigas has two (2) pools. 

 

My boys love the water and swimming is a must whenever there is a pool around!

BSA has a lap pool and a lagoon (sort of) inspired pool. 

There was also a jacuzzi, but it was close when we went there, hence can't say much about it.

 

 

the pools were clean and pretty decent, but the water was chilling... that however, will not stop my boys from swimming!

My boys fooling around as usual!

The pools were small but it was okay, we were the only one there...

We were having such fun, when my husband cut himself on one of the pool's broken tiles.  He ran a deep cut on the sole of his foot, so we hurried the kiddos out of the water (my poor paps... ). I don't want them to hurt themselves, those broken tiles are dangerous).
 

Post script: We reported the broken tiles to one of maintenance staff before leaving and I do hope the hotel fixed it soon before somebody else gets hurt.   

Wiling-Wili sa Willy's Rock

My 5 year old calls it, a "huge rock - with trees".

We were quite fascinated with this unique rock formation found 30+ meters away from the beach front.   You literally would have to wade across into a waist deep water to reach Willy's Rock.  It was quite fun really and my boys were giggling as we made our way towards the rock.

Water was just about hip deep and there were plenty of small fishes swimming around Willy's Rock.  My boys were excited they finally got to use their snorkels and play freely around the rock (water was the calmest ever...).  "Sayang" we should have bought bread for fish feeding with us.

Best time to go there is in the morning, while there are still few people. It can get pretty crowded mid-day and late afternoon. 

Buggy Adventure

 

The boys so enjoyed this thrill ride! 

It was really fun and a good treasure moment to look back to when they are older.

 

I can still hear the kids - shrieking from too much laughing...

 

 

CAUTION: The drive up Mt. Luho could be a little tricky as there are steep curbs and other vehicles driving along the ATV/buggy trail, so please be careful!

 

 

Boracay Beach Club

The decision to stay at Boracay Beach Club (BBC) was primarily influenced by the high ratings I have read about BBC on the net.

As we were travelling with kids, the hotel were are to stay in needs to be accessible, secured and children's friendly. I saw just that at BBC. 

• BBC is located at Station I (meaning less crowd and more of the tranquil Boracay experience that we have been dreaming...)
• The hotel is not beach front, which was away from the rowdy night crowd, perfect for peaceful night sleep especially for the kids. 
• However, it does have a beach front restaurant "Ariel's Pub" which gives you a spectacular view of the beach. 
• Breakfast that come with the room package were very good (hefty serving and complete meals). 
• The hotel has a pool, perfect for after beach dip.  Water was warm and we have it mostly to ourselves for the duration of our stay there.
• We got family rooms at the ground floor (since we wanted direct pool access). The room we stayed in was basic, but clean and spotless.
• The hotel owner is very hospitable, she made us feel so much at home.
• Staff were also great (really friendly and accommodating). 

 We enjoyed every bit of our stay in BBC. 

It is as they say, "Your Home Away from Home".

Boracay Beach Club
Malay, Aklan, Philippines 5608

Phone: +63.36.288.6770 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting

Fax: +63.36.288.4854

boracaybeachclub@gmail.com

Boracay - Last Summer 2013 Hooray!!!

I am ashamed to admit that I have not set foot in Boracay - I simply shun away from Boracay small talks. So when the chance finally came ~  I never thought twice and booked my family airplane tickets to this esteemed piece of paradise.

Day 1 (Friday)

• 1pm - Arrived at Kalibo Airport - We took Zest Air (Our first time and our LAST ~ bad-bad-bad experience. A 7am flight turned into an 11am flight, with no reason!  The kids were already irritable and tired by the time we boarded.) from Manila via Kalibo.
• 4pm - Arrived at Caticlan (We have pre-arranged our transfers from Kalibo to Caticlan through the hotel.  I found out after that it is cheaper, if you arrange transfers on your own, however, this could be troublesome especially if you have kids travelling along, so we opted for the hassle free transfers)
• 4pm - So tired and hungry, we finally reached our destination. Our home in Boracay "Boracay Beach Club (BBC), Station 1". The owner was there to greet us. She was so nice and felt sorry for our uneventful journey.  She offered us cold towels and complimentary merienda.  It was really nice of her.
• 5pm - White Beach walk 
• 6pm - Dinner at Red Coconut, Station 2  
• 7pm - D' Mall for some pasalubong window shopping (prices here is quite touristy, suggest you go to the D' Talipapa for better bargains). While there, we munched on real yummy crepes from Crazy Crepes.   
• 8pm - Budget Mart to get some supplies (mineral water, etc. for the kids)  
• 9pm - Back to base (big day tomorrow) 

Day 2 (Saturday)

• 630am - Breakfast at Ariel's Pub (Breakfast was hefty and very filling)
• 7am - White Beach walk ritual (We enjoyed the morning walks better.  People are mostly still asleep from the previous night's partying. The crowd tends to come in, mid-day to late afternoon and the beach stretch almost impossible to navigate night time).
• 9am - Island Hopping (Went to Giligiligan Beach and Puka Beach - we enjoyed Giligiligan more as it was secluded and simply serene!)
• 11am - Back to base to freshen up
• 12nn - Jonah's Fruitshake (I had to try and taste for myself)
• 1230pm - Aqua Fresh Paluto - D' Talipapa for lunch (There goes my diet...)
• 2pm -  More shopping at D' Talipapa (it is a whole lot cheaper to buy your pasalubong here - nice buys include: shell paper weights, Boracay shirts and beach dresses)
• 3pm - Buggy trek to Mt. Luho (This was a real thrill for my boys.  I was, however, a little disappointed to see piles of trash dumped on the side of the trail). 
• 5pm - Back to base to freshen up
• 7pm - Dinner at Aria Cucina at D' Mall
• 8pm - Walk back to BBC via White Beach
• 9pm - Coffee at the BBC Restaurant (We were meaning to go to Real Coffee to try the much raved "calamansi muffin", but it was already closed when we got there - so sad...)
• 10pm - Off to dreamland (Zzzzzzzz...)

Day 3 (Sunday)

• 7am - Breakfast at Ariel's Pub (again...)
• 830am - Willy's Rock
• 10am - Back to hotel (ready our baggage for a 4pm flight)
• 11am - Lunch at BBC Restaurant
• 12nn - Off to Kalibo
• 4pm - An unbelievable on time flight via Zest out of Kalibo back to Manila

View from the Top (Mt. Luho View Point)

 

Mt. Luho is the highest point in Boracay.

It gives you a 360degrees view of the entire island.

 

We made the climb using rented car buggys and paid extra to enter the view point.

 

The vista from above was sure worth the extra pesos...

View from the top ~ simply breath-taking!!!

 

 

 

 

Red Coconut Boracay

Boracay's White Beach stretch is actually a stroll along numerous resorts, hotels and restaurants.  Deciding where to eat was simply nerve racking.

 

For our first night in Boracay, we gave Red Coconut (I was looking for red coconuts or slightest hints why the name Red Coconut, didn't find any) a try.

 

Red Coconut is located at the beach front of Station 2 and is just a few steps away D'Mall.

 

 

Red Coconut's facade...

The bar. Too bad we never got to try it  -
with kids, our drinks are mostly limited to water and shakes :P

My boys had strawberry and choco-banana shakes. 

Both were spot on, up to the last drop! 

 

We ordered fish and chips (which my youngest wouldn't share) and spiced sea food viand (it was very tasty, what a shame I can't remember what it is called...)

My family love Red Coconut, I don't mind going back and tasting their other dishes. 

I have read, they also serve superb oven-baked pizza.

 

For certain there is going to be a next time.

OMJ (Oh my JONAH's)

Oh, I was so excited to see the well reviewed "Jonah's" fruitshake.  I was so thrilled when I walked in to get my first famous Banana-Peanut Shake.

 

I was a little worried to see, that they serve their shakes in take-out plastic bottles.  Hmm, so much for going green...

 

 

My order was a little too sweet for my taste. 

Maybe I should have just ordered a less fancy fruit shake, maybe then I would have enjoyed it more.

 

VERDICT: Just average!

 

I have honestly tasted better shakes... elsewhere... (Red Coconut's Banana-Peanut was way so much better. We also tried their Strawberry, worth every penny.)

 

Haiz, I passed on my half-finished bottle to my hubby and went our way.

 

 

 

 

 

Aqua Fresh - Paluto Restaurant

Two words for Aqua Fresh Boracay: Fresh and Deliciously Sinful (Opps I guess that's three words already)!

 

Hubby ordered buttered lobster, grilled shrimp and tempura... a little much for two adults really!  But we manage to finish everything (takaw max!)

 

I can just imagine how much calories there is... 

 

 

 

 

Aqua Fresh has a branch at

Boracay D' Talipapa, Station 2

Tel. No. 2881636