It’s hard to miss The Heritage Hotel Manila’s iconic façade. When I used to frequent Las Piñas, I usually pass it en route to the city right before the Baclaran Church. When going to the airport, I can’t help but notice its windowed rooms facing Manila Bay, making me wonder what its interiors looks like. And last month, after an invite to try their monthly buffet specials, I finally did.

PLUSH LOBBY

Located at the corner of EDSA and Roxas Boulevard, The Heritage Hotel Manila stands proud along Pasay’s skyline. The four-star hotel opened its doors to guests in 1994 and has 450 well-appointed rooms with balconies angled towards the Manila Bay. Outside, its architecture is modernist, but once you enter its airy lobby, it transforms into a much more classical look.

I don’t like sweet things but sometimes I just have to give in, especially if everyone in your group wants to have desserts right after meals. And so it went that after our fantastic Asian lunch at the Mian Restaurant in Marriott Manila, we—or should I say—my companions hurriedly trotted to the nearby Crema café right at the lobby of the same building. I slowly followed, nursing my still full tummy.

THE PERFECT PLACE TO LOUNGE ABOUT, PREFERABLY WITH A GOOD BOOK

CREMA’S SWANKY INTERIORS

Crema opened last 2014 and is located on the ground floor left wing of Marriott’s Grand Ballroom. The place opens right up to the lobby and is tastefully furnished with comfortable loungers, chairs, and low tables. We decided to seat ourselves on the less formal built-in couch lining the windows overlooking the streets of Resorts World Manila.

► CHECK OUT: MARRIOTT MANILA STAYCATION

Two rice bowls, a couple of noodles, some soups, plates of appetizers, desserts, and drinks; a food feast more than good enough for eight persons. We were at Mian, one of Marriott Grand Ballroom’s in-house restaurants (a hop away from Marriott Hotel Manila) and we were only four in the group. How we’re gonna finish everything off boggles the mind.

MIAN ASIAN RESTAURANT AT THE GROUND FLOOR OF MARRIOTT GRAND BALLROOM

WATCHING THE ACTION AT MIAN’S OPEN KITCHEN

The restaurant is located at the ground floor of the ballroom, just right off the lobby. They serve mostly Asian dishes set on a modern interior setting. From where we were sitting, an airy open niche beset by bamboo enclosure, we can see the staff preparing our meal on the open kitchen.

► CHECK OUT: CREMA MARRIOTT MANILA

After killing time at Marriott Manila’s Executive Lounge, we sauntered to the hotel’s in house restaurant for dinner. Dressed in our finest—we would be attending a musical later at the nearby Newport Theater—we sat on one corner of Marriott Café and surveyed supper; we were indeed ready (and dressed the part) to eat.

MARRIOTT CAFE LOBBY

Marriott Café became our go-to place when our stomach dragons beseech us during our two-day stay at Marriott Manila. We ate here twice, during our first night’s dinner and for the next day’s complimentary breakfast buffet.

► CHECK FOR MARRIOTT’S DISCOUNTED ROOM RATES

It was quite a night. Seven o’clock found us dining at the Marriott Café buffet. By eight we were running towards Newport Theater to catch the Bituing Walang Ningning musical. By midnight we were belting songs at a KTV somewhere in Pasay City. It was almost six in the morning when the night ended. We walked back to the lobby of Marriott Hotel Manila, heads spinning, finally ready for some shut eye.

MARRIOTT MANILA’S LOUNGE AREA

THE HOTEL’S PLUSH LOBBY AND RECEIVING AREA

Our day didn’t start out so hectic. We checked in at Hotel Marriott Manila at around lunchtime. We were told that check-in time was still at three, but we took the chance since we were already in the area anyways. The receptionist we talked with was quite accommodating—he let us check in ahead of time.

So up we went to our rooms, hopelessly fumbling with the electronic key cards at the elevator.

You can’t believe how happy we were when we finally found a restaurant serving mee goreng in Metro Manila. It has been more than a year since we first tasted the said noodle dish in Jalan Alor Food Street, a street food mecca in Kuala Lumpur, and we were instantly hooked.

MARTABAK CAFE AT MOA (MALL OF ASIA)

We tried various substitute, even finding instant mee goreng noodles in groceries, but it simply wasn’t like the ones we tried at KL. And so it was that one happy weekend, we finally found a restaurant at the Mall of Asia serving our favorite Malaysian noodles, Martabak Café.

Named after a popular Indonesian street food, martabak is a pancake stuffed with eggs and meat. Unfortunately, we were too excited to find that they have mee goreng on their menu that we totally forgot to try that.

► CHECK FOR AFFORDABLE HOTELS NEAR MOA

Dirty swords swing and steel clashes with steel. C and I were running through the first season of Game of Thrones—years late in catching up with this crazy medieval series from HBO when my phone rang. “Wanna tag along at Networld Hotel for a staycation?” Came the voice from the other end of the line. “When?” I asked. “Today,” he replied.

I packed up my iPod, my laptop, a couple of boxers and shirts and was off in a jiffy. I’m gonna finish the rest of the GOT episodes in the luxury of a soft hotel bed.

VIEW FROM OUR ROOM

Networld Hotel Manila is located right at the corner of Buendia and Roxas Boulevard. Getting there was a breeze. An LRT ride and a quick hop in a jeepney and we’re there. As we entered the lobby, I immediately noticed that the hotel caters mostly to Japanese tourists. Magazines and signs in Katakana are scattered around the place and smoking is allowed inside the building.

GLITZY KIND OF HOTEL

The hotel is as old-school as a hotel gets. It’s all glitz and glamour here. Plush sofas, heavy drapes, crystal chandeliers, and gold-plated surfaces everywhere. I’m really not used to this kind of opulence, my taste usually running along the bare-white modernism that’s everywhere these days. But yeah, it’s not hard to get used to this.

► BOOK ONLINE FOR DISCOUNTED TOURS IN MANILA

OUR CORNER ROOM

We were led to the seventh floor where our room is located. Our jaw dropped as our door opened. We have a corner room, ladies and gentlemen! And yes, we do have a curving panoramic view of Manila Bay from our beds. Wow. Simply wow.

►NEAR HERE: MANILA OCEAN PARK

NO FREE WINE, LOL

The Royal Room, our room is called. Its beds are soft, there’s complimentary water, coffee, tea—the usual works. There’s champagne on the table but we were told it’s not free. But no worries, the free Wi-Fi more than made up for that. I set up my laptop and immediately began searching for the second season of Games of Thrones. Amazing download speed, I tell you!

►CLICK FOR DISCOUNTED ROOM RATES

VERY OLD-SCHOOL TOILET AND BATH

I hooked up my laptop to the 32” flatscreen, opened a bag of chips and resumed the sixth episode of the series. After some mighty twist and turns in the story, I paused to take a CR break. Lo and behold, we have a bathtub in the house! Although I doubt if we’ll have time to really use it. If only they have a TV set right in the bathroom, haha.

AND A VERY OLD-SCHOOL BEDROOM

The room started to glow orange from Manila Bay’s setting sun as the phone rang. It was dinner time. We were told we’d have Japanese tonight and we didn’t have to go anywhere. Networld Hotel’s own Kaishu Restaurant is just an elevator ride away.

KAISHU RESTAURANT

And so, there we were, four hungry staycationeers led by kimono-dressed ladies into a traditional Japanese dining room. It reminded me so much of my first dinner in Tokyo at Sakura Jaya some years back, sans the tatami mats and Geisha face paint on the ladies.

A JAPANESE FEAST

We were given free reign on what to order and order we did. Varieties of ramen, gyoza, sushi, tonkatsu, tempura, bento boxes and everything else we can think of flooded our table. It was a proper Japanese feast, if I ever saw one.

RAMUNE OR, JAPANESE SPRITE, LOL

For drinks, a bottle of hot sake (₱200.00) was served along with Ramune (₱150.00). “What’s Ramune?” We asked one of the chirpy ladies in kimono. It’s like the Japanese version of Sprite, but taste more like lychee, she says. Alright we’d all like to have a taste of that Japanese Sprite.

STAMINA RAMEN

Everything’s good, but I especially loved the stamina ramen (₱320.00) I ordered. I honestly have no fascination over ramen, never even tasting one while in Tokyo, but this one’s really good! It went especially well with the gyoza (₱190.00). I also love the chicken they serve with the tonkatsu set (which was huge), very tender and flavorful.

After finishing everything up, we ordered cans of Sapporo beer (₱250.00) and transferred to their videoke room. Videoke on a Japanese restaurant? Well, it is a Japanese invention after all, right?

SM KENKO SPA

To cap the night off, we all went to Networld Hotel’s spa services. Dubbed as SM Kenko Spa it’s a Japanese-inspired spa facility complete with hydrojet massage, dry sauna, and steam rooms. I passed off on the sauna and headed straight to the massage area for an hour of Swedish massage and foot spa.

LE AMORETTO CAFE AND BAR

The next morning found us at the Le Amoretto café and bar for breakfast. Located on the second floor of Networld Hotel, they serve (as you guessed it) Japanese breakfast buffet. Yakisoba, pink salmons, korokke (breaded potatoes), yakitori (barbecued chicken), and veggies litter the spread. They have an egg station but it’s too bad they don’t served tamagoyaki (rolled egg).

STAYCATION AT NETWORLD HOTEL

The rest of the day was spent in bed. More chips in hand and swords clanging from the flatscreen. We’re almost at the end of Game of Thrones first season. The only thing I can ask for really, is that Networld Hotel extend our stay some hours more. I want to have a crack at the second season, in style.

 

 

Networld Hotel and Spa ►ROOM RATES
Address: Jipang Building, Roxas Blvd. cor. Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. Pasay City, Metro Manila
Contact Number: +63 (2) 536-7777 | +63 (2) 536-5828
Email: reservation@networldhotel-manila.com
GPS Coordinates Map: 14.552987,120.9897

The usual restaurant haunt for birthdays and special events in our family is at Dampa MOA (Mall of Asia). Here, seafood dishes are so affordable, it’s almost like a buffet for the whole family clan. With a slew of birthdays for the month of September, the gang decided to once again head to the Mall of Asia for a seafood fest at Aling Tonya’s Dampa.

After braving the strong rain, lo and behold, all the the Dampa stalls in MOA were closed. Not because of the bad weather or the lateness of the hour, but they’re simply closed. Everything’s boarded up—no notice, no nothing.

►BOOK DISCOUNTED MANILA FOOD TOUR

Like most hotels, Microtel at the Mall of Asia provides free breakfast for their guests. I like it when hotels give a free-for-all buffet rather than a set meal one. It means I won’t have to choose what I’m going to eat, I got to have them all haha.

The breakfast is set at Millie’s Restaurant at the ground floor of Microtel. Warm morning light was filtering in through the windows of the place. The restos’s furnishing looks modern and chic, red plush chairs match the textured placemats on wooden tables. Travel-themed artworks hang on walls reflecting the character of the person the restaurant is named for.

I love eating al fresco and I was delighted to find out that we would be having our staycation dinner at Microtel’s roof deck with the stars above and the city lights below.

The food would be provided by Millie’s Restaurant, Microtel MOA’s in house food place. It was named after the hotel president’s mom who, we found out, has also got a bad case of the travel itch too. She proclaimed that a big part of roaming the globe was the gastronomic delights that a traveler encounters on the places one visits. The restaurant reflects that theme with its dishes.

I have been traveling almost non-stop the past few months and although I really love what I’m doing, being a travel junkie and all, it does get to you after a while. Constantly being on the road can be tiring.

And so when Microtel extended an invite for a mini vacation within the Metro, I didn’t even blink, I immediately grabbed the opportunity.

I would be staycationing with a group of travelers; L of Anny’s Chocolate Skies, D of Tracking Treasures, C of Adventurous Feet, E of The Shade of Grey and J of The Backpack Chronicles. Relaxing with like-minded individuals would surely double the fun.

We entered the posh lobby of Microtel at five in the afternoon. Puffy white clouds sailing across Manila Bay were already being lit by the already setting sun. We immediately headed towards the roof deck of the hotel.

The annual Philippine International Pyromusical Competition has been attracting photographers from all corners of the metro each and every Saturdays of the week like metals on magnets to capture its colorful skyshows. I guess it is but natural that a photo contest has been set up this year by the SM Mall of Asia for shutterbugs entranced by the fiery night glows.

The theme for the competition was “Capture the Spark”. The competition rules state that entries should capture moments that happen during the Pyro events like amazed kids, sweet couples and enjoying crowds. Being a photo and contest freak, I submitted seven entries for the contest.

February is just loaded with colorful things that fill up the sky. First there was the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Clark, and now the yearly Pyromusical Competition! Now on its 3rd year, the Philippine International Pyromusical Competition has been mesmerizing its audience at the SM Mall of Asia year after year without fail.
The night sky will again be lit for six Saturdays of February and March. The first salvo was held last Saturday with South Korea battling it out with Malta. It was a glorious start for this year’s competition.

The next display of fireworks will be held this Saturday, February 18, at the Bay Area of SM MOA with the United Kingdom and Spain showing off their sparks. And I’m sure Finland, Portugal, China, The Netherlands, Australia, Canada and Italy wouldn’t let the crowd down with their fire prowess in the coming weeks too.

I was introduced, years back, to a seafood paradise called Dampa in Paranaque by an old friend. True to its name which means kubo or hut, the place was really not that posh and was even bordering on being seedy. But what brought us there was the seafood being served by the restaurants inside its compound which were simply fantastic.

But seafood is really hard to badly cook, so what’s the difference between these guys and the thousand other restaurants out there. Well, as I was soon to learn, we literally had to do the shopping for the fare that we would be soon eating from their wet market. And besides the assured freshness, there’s also the case of the total bill, which is generally much much lower than what you’ll cough up for the same dishes in mall restaurants.

 

UPDATE: AS OF SEPTEMBER 2013 ALL DAMPA STALLS IN MOA ARE NOW CLOSED
I SUGGEST THAT YOU HEAD TO DAMPA MACAPAGAL INSTEAD

The online photography community had been buzzing for months for the date of this year’s Canon PhotoMarathon. Speculations for the venue and date had been flying around the forums like ninja stars. And finally, Canon came out with it; 12^th of November at the Philippine Trade Training Center. Dang, I have work on that date.

I kneeled in front of my boss, begging for a quick notice leave. Luckily she’s kind enough to let me go.
Straight from a nine-hour night shift, I headed straight to the venue, led by throngs of red-shirted photographers milling over the gates of the PTTC. A huge Canon inflatable camera flanks the front of the building as drumbeats electrify the air.

The lobby was filled with an ocean of photographers wearing the free Canon shirt and caps registering for this year’s event. Later on Canon’s head honcho would be announcing that the Philippines got the top spot in Asia for the most number of participants for this Photomarathon at 1,600++ photographers.

I used to frequent the CCP grounds every weekend to shoot and eat years back. It has always been a favorite spot of mine for photography when I was just starting out.

I have however overgrown the spot and had not visited it for quite a while and it took an awarding session for Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photowalk to made me come back to my once imagery playground.

The sky was cobalt blue with fluffy white clouds sitting low below the horizon; sea birds were gliding above seemingly competing with the racing regatta boats below. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and I was glad that I brought my cameras just for the occasion.Morning exercisers were all over the brick-paved grounds, gyrating to the latest pop tunes sounds emanating from loud speakers, weekend fisherfolks were right where I left them at the breakwater hoping to catch a bounty from the polluted bay, and all sorts of weekenders were at the promenade walking and sitting along with their kids and pets for a quick break from the hustle of the previous week.
The restaurants, which were starting to fill up with joggers done with their routine were still there; although some had already closed shop some new ones had  already sprouted up replacing the old ones.
The Manila Bay breakwater over at the Cultural Center of the Philippines was exactly the same as I remember it from my previous years’ mini excursions. It was as if I never left.
I leisurely strolled along Manila Bay’s bank and took out my cameras; back to basics for me.

Harbour Square
CCP Complex
Pasay City, Metro Manila