Michi Photostory

February is my favorite month because it is my anniversary month. There are so many things to celebrate like our 17th year as a couple, our 14th wedding anniversary and my 9th blogversary. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough time to celebrate because we're busy with our home office improvement, my son has Saturday classes and the NCOV health scare, parang nakakatamad magtravel muna.

Last year, we were not able to celebrate our wedding anniversary because my husband was on a USA business trip and my grandmother passed away so this year, hindi pwedeng walang celebration. Hehehe! Since we have limited time and budget, we decided na kumain na lang kami sa labas. My husband reserved online but he did not receive any confirmation so he called the restaurant and he found out na close pa pala yung restaurant. Toinks!

Read: Courtyard Forth Worth University Drive by Marriott Hotel Review
Sheraton Greensboro at Four Seasons Hotel Review 

The restaurant is temporarily closed after the Taal Volcano Eruption. I guess, we’re not ready to go back to Tagaytay yet so I’ve looked for Valentine’s Day promos, hotel and resort promos, credit card promos and Deal Grocer site. We found the Cafe Ilang-Ilang Buffet promo, they have a buffet for 1 or a group of 4, lunch or dinner buffet for weekdays and lunch or dinner for weekends.


We wanted the lunch buffet since mahina kami kumain pag dinner so my husband called the hotel to check if they can still accommodate us for lunch but the staff told him na fully booked na daw sila, sa dinner pwede pa. He reserved the dinner slot and I bought the voucher at Deal Grocer site. The staff just gave him the email address so he can send the voucher.

We celebrated our son’s 7th birthday at The Manila Hotel so we already tried their breakfast buffet, my husband also tried their lunch buffet during their business meeting so we’re excited to try the dinner buffet at Cafe Ilang Ilang.

Read: Staycation at The Manila Hotel
Breakfast Buffet at Cafe Ilang Ilang
Watch the Video of Lunch Buffet at Cafe Ilang Ilang 

Café Ilang-Ilang Dinner Buffet for 4 with Iced Tea (Sun-Wed) for PHP6,540 
Merchant: The Manila Hotel
Redemption Period: Dec 09, 2019 - Mar 31, 2020
Redemption Hours: Sundays to Wednesdays | 6PM - 10:30PM

I bought the dinner buffet for 4 persons so my husband invited my in-laws to celebrate with us. I printed the voucher but they did not ask for it, we just paid additional PHP1,387.49 for my 11-years old son, 50% off the regular rate. The total dinner buffet is PHP7,927.49, it is quite expensive for one night meal but it is already a good deal because the regular rate is PHP2775 per person. The buffet rate depends on the day that you are going to visit so check the rates below for reference.

Cafe Ilang Ilang Buffet Rates

Breakfast Buffet (Mondays to Sundays): PHP 1,550.00 NET per person
Brunch (Sundays only): PHP 2,725.00 NET per person with bottomless chilled juices
Lunch (Mondays to Saturdays): PHP 2,475.00 NET per person
Dinner (Themed Nights):
Mondays – International Buffet: PHP 2,775.00 NET per person
Tuesdays – Mediterranean Night: PHP 2,775.00 NET per person
Wednesdays – Asian Night: PHP 2,775.00 NET per person
Thursdays – Surf And Turf Night: PHP 3,370.00 NET per person
Fridays – Seafood Night: PHP 3,370.00 NET per person
Saturdays – American Night: PHP 3,370.00 NET per person
Sundays – International Buffet: PHP 2,775.00 NET per person

For dinner buffet, they have themed nights so we had International Buffet. Cafe Ilang Ilang restaurant is spacious pero napupuno pa rin and kahit mahal, marami pa rin kumakain. Maybe because of the late booking, hindi na maganda pwesto namin. Nandun kami sa Japanese Station na medyo madilim and kung nasaan ang storage ng table and chairs. But anyway, we still enjoyed our dinner buffet.




The buffet spread is not comparable to Spiral of Sofitel but still, it offers a wide array of international cuisines like Asian, Mediterranean, European, and Western. It is indeed a culinary journey for the guests. They have 14 stations that serve appetizers, mains, and desserts. They have 8 live cooking stations, an open kitchen, a churrasco station, a carving station, a fresh seafood station, a wood-fired pizza oven, and a dessert station.

Read: Breakfast Buffet at Spiral 









My personal favorites are ebi tempura, salmon teppanyaki, roast beef, mashed potato, cakes, traditional Filipino desserts, and gelato. I was not able to check all the stations because I was busy eating na. Hehehe!

Watch the Video

Cafe Ilang Ilang at The Manila Hotel
One Rizal Park, Manila
(02) 8527 0011
restaurantrsvn@themanilahotel.com
Website: manila-hotel.com.ph

 

It is no secret here that I have psoriasis and because of this, I have to take a certain medication to control my flare-up. Unfortunately, the medicine was out of stock since last December so I was already in pain last month. I really need my medicine but it is not available. My doctor doesn’t have stock and we look everywhere.

Naikot na namin ang mga pharmacy sa Alabang, Makati, Bambang, Laguna, Cavite and naghanap na rin sister ko sa Valenzuela pero wala. And dahil sa paghahanap namin, napadpad kami ng Robinson’s Dasma and we found out na may San-Yang doon. We have no plans of buying anything but we checked their store since nandoon na rin kami.






February 2, 2020

As I mentioned, we have no plans of buying but we ended up, buying a shoe cabinet. Lol Actually, I’ve been meaning to replace our shoe cabinet because we need more space pero hindi siya naprapriotize. At last, napalitan na rin ang 9 yrs old shoe cabinet namin. There is an ongoing sale that time so we got a 10% discount and to save money, pinagkasya namin siya sa kotse. Si hubby na lang mag-aasemble pero hindi pala madali mag-assemble, kasi ito lang yung instruction. Toinks! Shoe Cabinet is PHP12,495 less 10%.



After we discovered San Yang, my husband and I were contemplating if we will wait for our contractor or we will just buy ready-made furniture for our home office. We’ve been planning na gawing office room yung extra room namin so my husband contacted this person. After our The Farm at San Benito trip, the contractor/carpenter went to our home, we gave our design for our home office and nagsukat-sukat na rin siya. He asked, kung willing to wait ba kami kasi may ginagawa pa siya so baka by January pa daw niya maumpisahan yung sa amin. So we agreed kahit 2 months ang waiting period.

Fast forward to first week of February, hindi pa rin nauumpisahan yung home office namin and 4 months of waiting is no joke. So we decided to buy ready-made na lang kahit hindi na masunod yung design na gusto namin, ang importante matapos and may magamit na kami. So we checked Mandaue Foam Home Store, Furniture Source Philippines and San Yang website. Mandaue Foam has limited office furniture. I liked the furniture in Furniture Source Philippines since yun din yung gusto ko bilhin sa IKEA but our concern is, baka matagalan na naman sa pagdeliver so we ended up with San Yang.

February 9, 2020 

My husband went back to San Yang to buy our office furniture, this time pinadeliver na namin. PHP800 delivery fee and included na daw ang pag-aassemble. Oh di ba, mas tipid kami kasi sa Furniture Source Philippines, PHP500 per furniture ang assembly fee nila. We bought 2 Computer Tables, 2 Office Chairs, 2 Kitchen Cabinet, and 1 Office Drawer (with 10% discount)

PHP3,450 Computer Table 1
PHP3,550 Computer Table 2
PHP3,550 Office Drawer
PHP8,295 Kitchen Cabinet x 2
PHP2,495 Computer Chair x 2



Instead of bookshelves, we chose the kitchen cabinet para close lahat at hindi kita ang kalat and less alikabok.

February 15, 2020 

San Yang advised us na after lunch daw delivery so hindi kami umalis ng bahay pero dumating sila ng 6:40PM. Imagine gabi na sila dumating and nasayang ang buong araw namin sa kakahintay. But anyway, at least dumating and semi-assembled na rin yung cabinet so tapos na sila ng 7PM.



February 22, 2020 

My husband went back again because my son wanted to have his own computer chair too. Hehehe! He also bought the aluminum rack for the microwave and oven toaster storage.

PHP2,250 Computer Chair without Armrest
PHP2,595 Aluminum Rack

I don’t know kung buong month ba ng February or lagi talaga may 10% discount sa San Yang. May discount ulit itong nabili namin kahit wala naman nakapost na may Sale sila. Anyway, si hubby na ulit nag-assemble, mas okay naman ang instruction nito kaso may kulang na parts. Waah! He called San Yang store and bumalik pa siya para lang makuha yung kulang na parts.

Photo from San Yang website.

Ito ang story kung paano naubos ang pera namin sa San Yang, hehehe! I do hope tumagal ang mga furniture na ito.

Read: Buying Furniture at Mandaue Foam Home Store
Buying Furniture at Furniture Source Philippines 

I’ve been seeing the Hot Air Balloon Festival 2020 on my newsfeed and this reminded me of our first time experience of the festival. Sobrang tagal na nga, it was way back to 2009 when we decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day at the Hot Air Balloon Festival. Since Clark Pampanga is so far from where I live, we decided to book our accommodation at the Oasis hotel.

After check-in, we went straight to the festival.  As I expected, the place was crowded and it’s hard to look for parking space, thank God that we were able to park our car near the entrance. The entrance fee was only P100 but now it’s P500, but don’t worry it’s all worth it because there are so many things that you can do and experience. It is best to arrive early para sulit ang day trip mo, we arrived late na pero madami pa rin naman nagawa.

Photo from Freepik

I will share some of our pictures so you will have an idea of what to expect. Some photos are blurred because I used my cell phone and remember, this was year 2009 pa so hindi pa maganda ang mga camera ng cellphone. hehehe! There are so many activities that you can do depending on your preference budget, in our case doon lang kami sa free at mura like food trip and kite flying activity. Do not forget to bring cap, umbrella, and water, sobrang init.









Fast forward to the year 2020, the 23rd Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Festival will be held in Cavite and for the very first time hindi na siya sa Pampanga. Yes, you’ve read it right. The Flying Carnival 2020 “A Weekend of Almost Everything That Flies” will be held at San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite on March 6-8, 2020.

Gates open at 4:30AM, events start at 5:30AM
Night Glow at 6:30PM and Fiesta grounds close at 9:30PM

How much is the Entrance Ticket/per Day?

PHP500 - Economy Class Ticket
PHP3,500 - Business Class Ticket
PHP6,500 - First Class Ticket

PHP3,500 - Photographer’s Pass
PHP40,000 - Prenup Pass

You can buy your ticket online, at the Ticketnet, Air Ads Office, or Ticketing Booth at San Lazaro Leisure Park on March 6 to 8, 2020.

*Ticket selling will start at 5 AM to 7PM.
The Fiesta Gates are open from 4:30 AM to 9:30 PM.

And para sa may budget, you can avail the following activities.

PHP25,000 - Hot Air Balloon Ride
PHP4,500 - Tandem Paraglide (10-15minutes)
PHP10,000 - Helicopter Discovery Flight (15 minutes)
PHP20,000 - Tandem Skydive

Schedule of Activities 

Morning

5AM Ticketing Gates Open
5:30AM Balloon Inflation with Paramotors & Dancers
6:30AM Baloon Take Off
7AM Helicopter Take-Off with Sky Divers & Helicopter Rides
7:15 Paramotor Fly-By
7:30 Sky Diving Flag Jump
8AM Paramotor Slalom Race
9AM Electric Airplane Race and Combat
9:15 AM Unified Flyers Philippines Open Bird Show
9:30 AM Winch Tandem Paragliding Ride
9:45 AM Paragliding Spot Landing
10AM Helicopter Take-Off with Sky Divers and Helicopter Rides Aviation Career Seminar (3rd Floor) 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
10:15AM Jump Dogs Sky Diving Formation Flying
10:30 AM Extreme Motor Sports Exhibition and Rides
11AM First Person View Drone Race Exhibition

Afternoon

12PM Kite Flying Exhibition
1PM Extreme Motor Sports Exhibition and Rides
2PM First Person View Drone Racing Competition
3PM Winch Tandem Paragliding Ride
3:30 PM Paragliding Spot Landing
4PM Extreme Motor Sports Exhibition and Rides
4:30 PM Helicopter Take-Off with Sky Divers and Helicopter Rides
4:45 PM Jump Dogs Sky Diving Formation Flying
5PM Paramotor Slalom Race
5:30 PM Paramotor Fly-By
6:30 PM Balloon Inflation
7PM Night Glow and Paramotors with Dancers
7:30 PM First Person View Drone Night Race Competition
8PM Fireworks (Sat & Sun only)
9:30 PM Fiesta Gates Close

Sheraton Saigon is a 5-star accommodation in Saigon, located in Dong Khoi Street which is accessible to corporate offices, entertainment districts, top restaurants, and popular tourist attractions. You can visit Reunification Palace, Opera House, War Remnants Museum, Opera House and the famous Notre Dame Cathedral.

Read: Glimpse of Ho Chi Minh Vietnam 



When my husband first visited Saigon, he stayed at Le Meridien Hotel. But last December, he stayed at Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers for three days and two nights. Sheraton Saigon offers 484 rooms that have a Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon River view.

Read: Le Meridien Hotel Review 


He booked the cheapest room but was upgraded to Deluxe Room. The room is located in the Main Tower where you can have the city view but don’t worry because you have a soundproof window so you won’t hear any traffic noise. The room space starts with 37 sqm so it is spacious for one person.


I like the modern design of the room, it offers a King-sized bed, sofa by the window, office table, coffee maker and tea service, and mini-refrigerator. The marble bathroom has a separate bathtub and shower area.



Breakfast Buffet at Saigon Cafe 

The room package includes Breakfast Buffet at Saigon Cafe, this all-day dining restaurant offers a buffet or ala carte meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They serve international and local cuisines like crab sticks, fish cake, or noodles.

Breakfast Buffet breakfast, fee from 560000.00 VND
Continental breakfast, fee from 400000.00 VND
Full American breakfast, fee from 530000.00 VND

Breakfast: Monday through Sunday, 6 to 10am
Lunch: Monday through Saturday, Noon to 2:30pm
Sunday Brunch: 11:30am to 3pm
Dinner: Monday through Sunday, 6 to 10pm






Sheraton Saigon has a world-class dining destination, 24-hour gym, outdoor pool, and luxury spa. The Aqua Day Spa is the first luxury hotel destination spa in Saigon. During his stay, he was surprised when he saw a sticky note on his mirror, he has 20% off discount at Aqua Day Spa.



Sheraton is known for good service but there is one instance where my husband was a little bit disappointed. As I mentioned before, my husband only stayed for two nights. He requested to extend his stay for one more night but he was advised that there is no more room available but they will inform him just in case there is a cancellation.

After breakfast, my husband did not check out yet because he was waiting for the advice of the hotel if he can extend his stay or not. Past 12 noon, he received a call from Sheraton that he needs to check out already. My husband has late check-out benefits so he can check-out at 2PM but he immediately finished his lunch and went back to the hotel, only to find out that his luggage was no longer inside his room. His luggage was already in the concierge room and there was a new guest in his room. For a loyal guest of Sheraton, this is not something that he would expect. Anyway, after check-out, he immediately booked a room at Le Meridien Hotel for one night stay.

Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers 
88 Dong Khoi, District 1,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

We believe that calories don’t count on holidays and vacations so we literally don’t mind our diet last December. We don’t have travel trips so food trip na lang kami and napahinga pa ko sa pagluluto. Hehehe! So far, I already shared our food trips at Romantic Baboy, Zubuchon, and Balay Dako.

Read: Lunch at Romantic Baboy 
Lunch at Zubuchon 
Breakfast Buffet at Balay Dako 



Now, let me share with you our Breakfast Buffet at Restaurant Verbena. It’s pretty obvious here in my blog that if we like the restaurant, we keep on coming back. One of our favorite restaurants in Tagaytay is Restaurant Verbena because we love the food, service, and ambiance. This was already our third-time visit so it means 3 out of 6 Christmas breakfasts since we started our Christmas traditions in Tagaytay.

As usual, we attended church service and then we went straight to Discovery Country Suites. The traffic was so bad, imagine 8AM pa lang yun at sobra na ang traffic. It took us more than an hour to reach the restaurant and gutom na gutom na talaga kami. Feeling ko nga baka hindi na namin maabutan yung breakfast sa sobrang traffic.

We arrived quarter past 9AM so occupied na yung malapit sa window. For the past two visits, ala carte yung breakfast nila so we were surprised that last Christmas it was a breakfast buffet. Napalaban na naman ang tiyan ko. The rate is more or less PHP655 for adult and PHP315 for kid. I’m so happy na pasok pa sa kid’s rate anak ko since sa age sila nagbase. Yey!

Read: Christmas Breakfast at Restaurant Verbena 2016 
Christmas breakfast at RestaurantVerbena 2017 





The buffet spread is limited which is understandable since konti lang din naman ang guests. They have bread, cereals, fruits, waffle, bulalo soup, cheese fondue, hash brown grilled tomato, and main course. For the main course, they served scrambled eggs, fried chicken, beef stroganoff, daing na bangus, ham, and longganisa.



Even the buffet spread is limited, we have no regrets because kahit konti yung food, masarap naman. The service is good and the most important thing is konti lang kasi tao so peaceful ang ambiance.

Restaurant Verbena Buffet Breakfast Rate

Adult  P533.39 + VAT, Service Charge and Local Tax (P655)
Kid P255.80 + VAT, Service Charge and Local Tax (P315)

Read: Holiday 2019 
Food Trip in Tagaytay 
Christmas Breakfast at Cafe Voi La  

Watch the Video