Cebu Century Hotel

hotel lobby

CEBU CENTURY HOTEL

        Cebu Century Hotel was our option when we stayed in Cebu City for an annual convention last October, this year. It is located in downtown Cebu City. From here, we preferred to travel by taxi to save time to go to the venue for the convention, which is the University of Cebu.
           The hotel is basically low priced for those who want to look for a venue that is accessible with jeepneys in and out of Colon at Corner Pelaez Street to be exact.

Buenos Aires Mountain Resort

resort's main gate

Buenos Aires Mountain Resort

         A renowned resort in the province of Negros Occidental is Buenos Aires Mountain Resort located at the upper portion of Bago City. Regardless of the weather condition, people do come here for family gatherings and other activities.
          It was good timing for the MESS members to schedule their acquaintance party here and had booked a nice spot in the resort. Below are the photos I took outside and inside the resort.

Destiation Vacation: Disneyland, Hong Kong

Destination Vacation: Disneyland, Hong Kong

Disneyland ticket

guidemap

                Everyone was so excited early in the morning to get into the bus to see Disneyland for the first time. We have the whole day to enjoy all the rides and take pictures inside the very famous theme park in the city. As soon as we arrived at the theme park, everyone was busy taking pictures of themselves with everything that we found amazing.

Destination Vacation:The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel

The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, Macau

             It was almost 5 o'clock in the afternoon when we arrived at the Hotel Venetia, just the right time to see the bright lights of Macau and the hotel itself. From the entrance, the hotel was already crowded with people, a sign that something is up inside the hotel which we were all excited to see. The Venetian Hotel is known worldwide for its unique interior structure and design.

Destination Vacation: Fisherman's Wharf Amusement Park, Macau

amusement center

Fisherman's Wharf Amusement Park, Macau

     Our first stop in Macau was the Fisherman's Wharf Amusement Park. This is the famous amusement park in Macau and the most entertaining especially at night time.

     Obviously the park was quite boring when we arrived because the adventures, the exciting sceneries and rides here start in the evening. There are a number of unique structures in here which are basically new to us. Luckily at this time, we have the entire area to wander around and take pictures because visitors do usually come here at night time.

Destination Vacation: Macau Fisherman's Wharf Convention and Exhibition Centre

Macau Fisherman's Wharf Convention and Exhibition Centre

              It was mid-afternoon when we visited the Fisherman's Wharf Convention and Exhibition Center. This is just located at the right side of the main entrance of the amusement park. Actually, there was no important event occurring when we came in. We just simply roamed around and captured every thing that we found interesting both inside and outside of the convention center. Visitors at that time were only allowed to stroll around the ground floor of the convention center. The exit leads us to some areas of the Fisherman's wharf.

                    

Convention Center's lobby

Destination Vacation: St. Paul's Ruins, Macau

St. Paul's Ruins, Macau

             We had the entire day to visit the tourist spots and go around Macau. Macau is a one-hour trip by ferry from Hong Kong Island. We noticed that the road signage especially in St. Paul's Ruins are written in Spanish. This is because Macau was once colonized by the Portuguese empire hundreds of years ago. The structures of the buildings here are also influenced by Portuguese architectural design. Macau is very famous for its gambling activity as the source of the country's economy. That's why we were all so excited to stay here 'til 9 o'clock in the evening just to observe the sparkling and busy night life of Macau. We visited the notable St. Paul's Ruins, which is the remaining structure of the Cathedral of St.Paul that was built centuries ago at Rua de Sao Paolo.

Destination Vacation: Aberdeen Sampan, Hong Kong

Aberdeen Sampan main entrance

Aberdeen Sampan Tour Company

            It was almost lunch time when we dropped by Aberdeen Sampan, a tour company in here in Hong Kong Island. They have boats available for touring around the Aberdeen shore for 30 - 45 minutes. From afar, we saw small and large yachts and the tourist boats known as Sampan.  In addition, hiring those boats is the best way for tourists to get an excellent view of the harbour of the south shore of Hong Kong Island. As for us, we hired a boat good for 15 persons with a female operator.

Destination Vacation: Avenue of the Stars, Hong Kong

Destination Vacation: Avenue of the Stars, Hong Kong

         T'was our first day of tour here in Hong Kong, so we left Rambler Garden Hotel as early as 7:30 in the morning. Our itinerary for the day was the City Tour and we were heading to the Avenue of the Stars, where hand prints and autographs of the City's famous stars are printed and set in cement on the wide alley of Victoria Harbour Waterfront located at Tsim Sha Tsui.

Destination Vacation: Rambler Garden Hotel, Hong Kong

Rambler Garden Hotel's main entrance

    Rambler Garden Hotel

           Destination Vacation posts are my blog's special editions since these posts talk about my one-week vacation in Hong Kong and Macau. Everything we did such as, places we went and food we tasted are all listed and featured in Destination Vacation posts. Please allow me to tour you around two (2) of the famous places in the Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Macau.

PICS Convention at Business Inn

Business Inn main door

Philippine Instrumentation and Controls System Convention (PICS), Business Inn, Bacolod City

            The latest annual PICS convention dated last July 19 - 20, 2012 was held at Business Inn, Bacolod City. Business Inn was chosen to be the venue for the said convention because of the large numbers of participants who confirmed to join the said event. This was my opportunity to roam around the hotel and capture some photos of both the participants and the venue.
           Honestly, this is my second time to visit the hotel. I came here an hour earlier just to have some ample time to take pictures inside the venue despite of the bad weather. Below are the photos of some of the areas in the ground floor. Honestly, I could not get up to the second floor due to some policies imposed by the hotel.

Wara Wara

The Korean owner of Wara Wara

    A Family Dinner at Wara Wara

     Wara Wara is a relatively new Korean restuarant in the city at Central City Walk, Robinsons Place. This is also one of the famous Korean restaurants in the city that provides two ways to cook your own foods, namely Shabu Shabu and Yakiniku. The Shabu Shabu area is for those who love to cook soup, while to those who enjoy grilling their foods must proceed to the Yakiniku area. As we entered the restaurant, I noticed a Korean owner (shown in the photo) personally assist some of the hungry customers who are quite confused on what foods and appropriate ingredients for grilling or for the soup.
     The Shabu Shabu area has tables with a large stove in it. You can cook your ingredients at your own desired taste and style. As for Yakiniku, each  table has a grilling apparatus where you can have your meat grilled either medium rare or well done.
     At the right side of the entrance of Wara Wara is the array of various ingredients for grilling and soup which include the beef, pork, chicken, vegetables, spices and sauces. At the opposite side is the display of different types of kimbap, salads for desserts, plain rice and fried rice.        

21 RESTAURANT

Afternoon Snacks at 21 Restaurant

     Another famous restaurant along Lacson Street in Bacolod City is the 21 Restaurant. This is a fine-dining restaurant which provides the best delicacies of the city. The restaurant is also famous for its Batchoy, a noodle soup with thin slices of pork, pork liver, pork chicharon and egg. Most of the time when we come here for batchoy, the ingredients are already out of stock especially during rainy days, which shows how good their batchoy is.

     One afternoon we decided to stop by and have some hot batchoy and cheese sticks for our afternoon snacks. Cheese sticks and batchoy are our favorites here and are at very reasonable costs. Aside from their best delicacies, the restaurant is a nice and cozy place for all diners who wish to have a comfortable place while enjoying their favorite meals. The place is very clean, the service is good and the food is a must try.

Surprise Birthday Lunch

Surprise Birthday Lunch at the School

         It was July 25, a day with morning and afternoon classes, papers needed to be returned, and deadlines to be done before the day ends. This was no special day for anyone else in the office with deadlines to catch and classes to meet. As for me, I have to find time with friends in the college because today is my birthday. Actually I already asked them to have lunch with me a week ago so they could save the date. We even decided the particular foods to buy just for a lunch enough for us.
               Well, hours before lunch time when I asked my friends to buy some additional foods or drinks for the lunch and they told me we had enough already. However, while I was in the office I never knew my friends were busy preparing something I did not know, a big surprise lunch!

Birthday Lunch at Tagamolila's Residence

with the Tagamolila Family

Belated Birthday Lunch at Tagamolila's Residence

        My second birthday celebration was at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Juan Tagamolila at Puentebella Subdivision. It was scheduled on the 28th of July, Saturday to make sure everyone was at home and could have lunch together.
       Most of the foods we prepared are our favorite dishes, such as fresh fish kinilaw, birthday misua, spicy chicken adobo and sinugba pork chop. Neneng also baked her masterpiece, the rich and sumptuous chocolate cake as our dessert to be teamed up with chocolate ice cream, and of course paired with cold softdrinks. Shown in the photo above, from left to right: Tita Miriam, Tito Johnny, David, and then me, the birthday girl.

My Birthday Dinner at ShabuNiku

A Special Birthday Dinner at ShabuNiku 

       It was July 25, a special day for me with a planned dinner with David and Tita Miriam at a relatively new restaurant along Lacson St. in Bacolod City. According to one of the restaurant crews ShabuNiku is owned by some Korean businessmen who bring about the Korean delicacies to the Philippines.  Outside the main entrance are the tall baskets of flowers displayed at each corner of the main door.

Free Starbucks Refresher Drink

              Starbucks Refresher Drinks

            Most of our available time is spent here in Starbucks Coffee at Lacson St., Bacolod City. This has been my favorite place to have a hot cup of decaffeinated coffee mocha during my leisure time at least twice a week. As a result, two of us were given this special coupon. It's all about their limited offer from July 31 to August 12, a buy one, get one Starbucks refresher beverage for lucky individuals. Well, I am not into iced non-coffee based drinks but this time, I truly wanted to try and enjoy the special privilege.

Overcharge with Sweets at Calea Pastries & Coffee

    Calea at Balay Quince

           Calea Pastries & Coffee is one of our favorite dessert havens in the city. This is located at the ground floor of Balay Quince, situated along the business district of Bacolod City, Lacson St. 

            The photos I posted here are mixtures of two (2) events. One was just an after-lunch dessert with my boyfriend, while the other was on my birthday right after our heavy dinner. Calea Pastries & coffee is famous even outside the region due to its irresistible cakes and sumptuous pies which all mark the uniqueness of Calea.

The Park and the Farm at May's Organic Garden

A Quick Stroll At May's Organic Garden

         We had an unplanned organic buffet lunch on the weekend because we knew there is a new restaurant at Pahanocoy, Bacolod City. This restaurant offers organic buffet lunch at reasonable cost. May's Organic Garden is famous for their vegetables freshly picked from their garden and organic meat directly from the farm just within the area.

vegetable vendors

         Aside from the food, a spacious park is currently under construction although there are areas that are partially done and we, and the rest of the customers got the chance to roam around. Apart from the recreational park, a farm was built at the far end and some animal houses were under construction. 

           The photo above shows the large cottage near the entrance. I guess this is for large group for family gatherings or meetings. Likewise, a large area near the restaurant with array of tables where display of fresh vegetables, fruits, and some organic products are sold here.

Healthy Buffet Lunch At May's Organic Garden

Buffet Lunch at May's Organic Garden, Pahanocoy, Bacolod City

     It was an unplanned lunch when we thought of going to Pahanocoy to try the healthy Eat-All-You-Can lunch at the new organic restaurant owned by Ramon Uy. This was my second time to visit the place, yet this was my first time to dine and try their buffet. We came in a little bit earlier than the usual lunch time because we knew a lot of health conscious individuals come here for lunch. Luckily, we were able to choose a nice spot inside the open restaurant, an area where the display of foods was just next to us. Indeed, early birds get the best spot to eat their foods! The picture above shows the streamer hung at the back entrance of the open restaurant.

Milk + Tea Station at Balay Quince

Balay Quince building

           Milk + Tea Station at Balay Quince, Bacolod City

           It was a fine sunny Saturday afternoon that made us decide to look for some refreshment before going home. Since we were already driving along Lacson St., it was better to stay at any of the famous dessert and coffee shops along the area. Until finally, we parked the car in front of Balay Quince and was able to catch the vivid photo of the colorful rainbow above the building.

        Balay Quince is one of our favorite stopovers along the business district. We agreed to go to Milk + Tea Station for some cold and refreshing milk teas with various enchanting flavors mixed with your favorite flavored jellies. Milk + Tea Station is located at the second (2nd) floor of the building where people from all walks of life come here to savor the healthy and famous milk teas in town. In addition, Milk + Tea Station also offers hot coffee such as espresso, cappuccino, etc.

Organic Overload at Fresh Start

            Fresh Start at Central City Walk, Robinsons Place, Bacolod City

     It's now time to go green and healthy! A lot of health conscious individuals come over here at Fresh Start to try not only the vegetables and fruits but also the organic chicken served in delightful style with green leaves and fresh sauce. As for us, gradual transformation into being a vegetarian is not that hard to do anyway. Organic meat is also tasty aside from being a healthy food.
     As we entered Fresh Start the scent of strong  and fresh herbs was the first thing we noticed.  They do not have much various food options to choose from, so I guess that was one of the reasons why the menu was written on the wall or blackboard at the cashier's space. Homemade piayas are displayed at the cashier's area at very very low price. I did try their piaya because most of the people I know assured me that it has a unique, rich filling and one of the best in town.

Nature Tripping at Mambukal Mountain Resort

  Strolling around Mambukal Mountain Resort

     Mambukal Mountain Resort is one of the places in Negros Occidental which people love to visit. This mountain resort is very famous in and out of the province. Similarly, the resort is very much affordable where lots of people mostly locals come here as often as they want either to take a family day out or stay overnight. My pictures posted here are mixtures of two events that occurred in this resort. Some were taken during the last year's MESS, Materials Engineering Students Society,  Teambuilding and some during the recent 16th Mudpack Festival.
              The resort as I have noticed is surrounded with rooms built starting from the main entrance which can accommodate both small and large groups of occupants. It has cottages for those who desire to either wander around or utilize the pools and other amenities with peers and family members.

Heavy Dinner at Chikaan, Central City Walk

                Heavy Dinner at Chikaan

     The Central City Walk of Robinsons Place, Bacolod City is relatively new in the city. There are a number of restaurants, boutiques, cakes and coffee shops, etc. outside the mall where people love to have a lazy walk during the weekend and also right after office hours. Although Robinson's Place mall is one of the best malls where we could shop our basic necessities and latest fashion trends, but with the new City Walk most people would prefer to hang around here for food. There are various category of restaurants to choose from, such as Mexican, Filipino, Korean, Thai, etc.
       For us, we opted to have a meaty dinner with a Filipino twist at Chikaan. Every time we come here at Central City Walk most of the restaurants, including Chikaan are already full and tables are reserved, that was why we hurried up to come here a little bit earlier than dinner time.

English Cafe, USLS, Bacolod City

Afternoon Snacks at English Cafe

       For students, faculty members, and staff of University of St. La Salle (USLS) who crave for desserts or hot drinks after every meal but do not have adequate time to go out, English Cafe has the capacity to provide the common types of coffee, tea, softdrinks, juice, shakes, cakes, noodles, korean ice cream, etc. English Cafe is established within the USLS campus near Gate 1 and Coliseum. Some students love to do some of their homeworks here, surf the net, or just take a break with friends and classmates while waiting for their classes. Likewise, Korean students love to stay here maybe because the La Salle Language Center building is just beside the two-storey, fully airconditioned English Cafe building.

Coffee Break at Starbucks, Bacolod City

            My favorite place to unwind at any time of the day is Starbucks Coffee. We come here at least thrice a week for a hot cup of coffee or tea with chocolate-covered donut, a slice of sweet cakes or some vegetable sandwiches right after a heavy meal. Its building is very much accessible because it is located along the business district of Bacolod City, Lacson Street.
              I am 101% sure that this is the right place for me for the reason that it is very cozy and amicable especially to those who wish to make oneself at home. This place also alleviates me after a whole day of work. In addition, I would like to stay here even for the entire day due to the sweet aroma of freshly ground coffee before it is served. Likewise, the people who come here are those who find time to take time out with friends, and hear them discussing each other softly about weightless topics.
           Gladly most of the baristas here already know us and they know exactly our favorite drinks and the usual time we come here.

Gelato Break at Kuppa Coffee & Tea, SM, Bacolod City

               We had a busy afternoon  at SM, Bacolod City. We paid some bills and bought some personal things in the grocery store. We even passed by some of the boutiques and tried to peep in if there was anything on sale. We noticed most of the boutiques were on sale that day but I was not so lucky to see a new pair of shoes and bag because the particular style I want was literally out of stock for the moment. After a few hours of walking around and window shopping, our feet started to ache, so we chose Kuppa Coffee & Tea to give ourselves a short break.

MUDPACK Festival 2012, Mambukal Mountain Resort

16th Mudpack Festival, June 23, 2012

                It was Saturday, and  time for us to go and witness the annual Mudpack Festival in Mambukal for the first time. We left for Mambukal around 7:30 in the morning and arrived at the festival site around 8 o'clock. We paid P50 for the entrance fee and P15 for the parking space. 

                 The resort was quite crowded already when we arrived. Good thing there was an available parking space for us at the main pathway into the resort. There were a number of kiosks already setup at their own favourite spot in the resort. 

                 We were informed then by some of our friends here that the Mudpack Contest will start at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Unlike last year, and the previous years it usually starts in the morning. Well, it was still good news for us though. We have the whole morning to take still photos, take some refreshments and stroll around the resort. But before wandering around, we first heard the Holy Mass at the open area in front of the Ishiwata Bathhouse.

Red Corner, Plazuela de Iloilo

Lunch at Red Corner

               Our main intention of coming to Plazuela is to try the best foods served by the various restaurants here. While thinking what to eat, we roamed the area to take some pictures and to look for a restaurant that is new to us. Basically our purpose was to eat lunch here in a restaurant not found in Bacolod City. It was almost 11 o'clock in the morning and there were only a few people in the area. It was advantageous for us since we had plenty of restaurants to choose from.

East Block Veranda, Bacolod City

              A new place to hang out with friends and barkadas in Bacolod City is the East Block Veranda. We tried to have an early light meal here in the late afternoon prior to attending an important event held inside the East Block building. We were quite curious of this place maybe because mostly young adults and professionals come here. I guess it must be the place, or the food, or it could be both. When we got there, there were families taking some afternoon snacks and some were having their beers already.

              Now it is time for us to look for food and we have plenty to choose from. While still searching for the best meal, I also took the chance to take pictures inside Veranda.

The Recreational Park: Garin Farm, San Joaquin, Iloilo

The Park

             Here is the white gazebo located in the middle of the pond. Although some areas surrounding the gazebo are still under construction, the view was still awesome. The water was clean, and the pond is surrounded with a thin layer of water lilies. Shown in the photo is a formation of water lilies in front of the gazebo.

Shown in the photo below is the price list of the services taped on one of the main posts inside the restaurant.

Available Rides:
Zipline:
Sitting	P250.00
Superman	P350.00
Golf cart rides:
Gate to Pavilion	P60.00
Pavilion to Cross	P90.00
Cross to Pavilion	P60.00
Boating:
Pavilion to Gate	P60.00
Water Bike	P50.00
Kayak (single)	P40.00
Kayak (for 2)	P90.00
Pedal (for 2)	P40.00
Rubber boat (for 4)	P120.00
Other Amenities:
Swimming pool	P80.00
Horse back riding	P60.00
Goat Cart ride	P30.00
Scooter (for 5 min)	P30.00
Billiard	P60.00

Zip line platform

               This is the zip line platform framed at the right side corner facing the main entrance of the restaurant. Every thrill-seeker individual is required to put on all the necessary gears and harnesses at the ground level before going up to the platform.

The Restaurant: Garin Farm, San Joaquin, iloilo

The Restaurant

              We arrived at San Joaquin at almost 10 o'clock in the morning and we were very much hungry so we wanted to have brunch as soon as possible. After 15 minutes of taking pictures of the farm from the main gate, we hurriedly went to the restaurant to eat. Shown in this photo is the cozy, clean, non-air conditioned, simple but elegant restaurant overlooking the farm and the pools. Its  main entrance is facing the main entrance of the Pilgrimage.

Pilgrimage: Garin Farm, San Joaquin, Iloilo

    The Pilgrimage

             The Pilgrimage in Garin was one of the main reasons why I was so willing to visit the Garin Farm just for a day. When I saw the big white cross that is firmly standing on top of the rise, I assured myself that I will climb up to the church of the Pilgrimage which stands at the base of the big cross before the day ends.

            This photo was taken from the balcony of the restaurant. While waiting for our brunch to be served within 20 minutes, I took the opportunity to view the omnipotent symbol across the balcony. I was a bit tired from taking pictures in the farm, so the thought of climbing the Pilgrimage will probably start after lunch. Our itinerary was readily arranged and systematic so we could use most of the park's facilities before sunset.

The Hotel: Garin Farm, San Joaquin, Iloilo

The Hotel

                After taking pictures of the animals and vegetables at each side of the main walkway from the entrance, we followed the path turning right going up the restaurant (shown in the photo) because we were so hungry that we could eat a cow. From a distance, we can see the restaurant that is built at the top of the rise overlooking the farm animals. At the right side of the walkway are the plants, and at the left side is where we saw the Bahay Kubo described in the previous post.

The Farm: Garin Farm, San Joaquin, Iloilo

The Farm                  

             Garin Farm is widely known for its home grown fowls, farm animals, and as well as a recreational park in Iloilo. These are some of the reasons why we were so determined to visit Garin Farm despite the fact that none of us had ever been to this place. We arrived at Iloilo City early in the morning, then we immediately went to the Robinson's mall near the San Joaquin terminal so we can have our breakfast first. Unfortunately, no fast food restaurants were open yet at the time, so we opted to buy some peanuts and butterscotch to fill out our empty stomach.

The Lagoon, Bacolod City

The Lagoon

               One famous spot in Bacolod City to take time out is the Lagoon settled in front of the Provincial Capitol Building of Negros Occidental. For me, the Lagoon alleviates the strong and authoritative figure of the building, which some of my friends call 'The Mansion'. Some health conscious people come here as early as 5 o'clock in the morning to walk or jog around the Lagoon. After office hours, people start to gather around the Lagoon to relax and cool off due to their long stressful hours at work.

Morning exercise around Rafael Salas Park and Nature Center

            Some of us woke up as early as 4 o'clock in the second morning to continue writing the research output because everyone was tasked to present their output by 10 am. For our group, instead of cramming just like the others, we opted to take a walk as a morning exercise within and outside the Rafael Salas Park and Nature Center.

This is the garden full of calla lilies surrounding the stairs going up the monument

The Hotel at Rafael Salas Park and Nature Center

              Thank goodness, we arrived at the park! The weather was good, and after almost two (2) hours of travel, we had nothing else in mind except, breakfast. I was really hungry although I ate french fries and a burger before we left. There were about 25 participants and facilitators who were invited to join the three (3)-day research workshop held at Rafael Salas Park and Nature Center.

Rafael Salas Park and Nature Center

Research Workshop, May 17-19, 2012

                A research workshop was scheduled at Rafael Salas Benedicto Park and Nature Center, Guintubdan last May 17 to 19. The participants were faculty members who initially passed the preliminary screening of research proposals done by URC in USLS. We traveled by land for almost two (2) hours from Bacolod City to the park. On our way, we felt our ears start to pop due to the pressure change which was basically a sign that we were increasing our altitude and the temperature was getting colder as we moved up the mountain.

The Ruins, Talisay City

            My boyfriend and I decided to go to The Ruins in the afternoon to gather as many pictures of the sunset as we could. The Ruins is the most famous historical mansion in Talisay City. The mansion was owned by Don Mariano Lacson, a sugarcane haciendero, and was built after the death of his wife, Maria Braga. Physical make-up was added to modify the wide and grassy ground surrounding the ruined mansion, such as shown on the photos below.

The two (2) mini golfs at the entrance near the parking area.

Artistic Diving Beach Resort and PADI Dive Center, Sipalay City

Sipalay Escapade with colleagues and friends - May 12-13, 2012

           After almost five (5) hours of travel by land from Bacolod City to Sipalay City. Finally! We arrived at their market and stopped by to buy some fresh meat and fish. This photo shows the white sand highway of Sipalay City and, right across this highway is the Ukay-Ukay store.  Across the Ukay-Ukay store is the market. For me, it is indeed a peaceful and stress-free place.