Michi Photostory

On the first weekend of the year, my siblings and I went to Manila to visit my late father. While waiting for them, my family ate lunch at Curry House Coco Ichibanya. This restaurant was founded in 1974 at Aichi, Japan by Tokuji Munetsugu and his wife Naomi.

It is the world’s largest curry restaurant chain. They have branches all over the world, so aside from Japan, they have restaurants in the USA, China, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, United Kingdom, and the Philippines. The first restaurant in Manila was opened last March 2015 but it was only two months ago when we first tried it at Robinsons Place Manila.



The restaurant was packed, we’re just lucky that we secured a table after the guests left. We took our time in browsing the menu and since this is a curry house syempre ang must try dishes ay yung may curry sauce. We ordered Chicken Wing Basket - P280 + SC, CocoIchi Curry Udon P240 + SC and Pork Cutlet P340 + SC.



For the meat curry meal, you can choose your desired rice volume, spiciness, and toppings. You can choose standard rice or 15-grain rice, price varies depending on the grams and types of rice. You can choose from 150g up to 550g of rice. For spice level, you can choose from mild, standard and level 1 -10. Of course, we chose the mild for the pork cutlet.


I thought my son will eat the chicken but he chose the Pork Cutlet. Waah! Maybe he missed the Curry Pork that we ate at C&C Curry Shop in Tokyo, Japan so I ate the chicken basket. The basket is good for sharing, it includes chicken nuggets, chicken wings, and french fries. I was not able to taste the pork cutlet, my son finished his meal except for the curry sauce.


My husband ate the CocoIchi Curry Udon, you can choose spiciness and toppings too. The Spice level is from standard and level 1 to 10. Add-on items are onsen egg or rice bowl. The price of topping ranges from PHP100 to PHP180, there is cheese, seafood, beef, chicken and pork. I can’t remember the spiciness level that he chose pero ang alam ko, pawis na pawis siya and nakailang request din siya ng water. If ever we will visit Robinsons Place, I will dine here again so I can try the Pork Cutlet Curry.

It is already March and I’m not yet done with my holiday post and my Scandinavian trip series but slowly I’m getting there. Hehehe! Last December, we didn’t have travel trips but life was still so busy because we had so many things to do and buy. Since we were on a holiday break, my son and I went with my husband to Makati.


Insurance Company 

My husband needs to go to his office and while he was working. My son and I went to my insurance company so I can submit my documents needed for my Living Cash Benefits. I bought my memorial plan when I started working and now I am claiming the benefits because I’m still alive and kicking.

Philcare 

My son and I went to Philcare clinic for a check-up, my son has colds and I have a dry cough. The doctor did not give me medicine, he just advised me to buy strepsils max and surprisingly, gumaling naman dry cough ko after few days.

Pag-ibig Office 

It’s more than a decade already since we bought our house but it is not fully-paid yet because we chose 30 years payment plan. We chose that because we know that it is the only amount that we can pay every month. At that time, I just resigned from my job and we were living in a single income but we took a risk and bought a house.

Then last year, I computed everything and I was so shocked sa total kasi lagpas na siya sa total ng housing loan namin so it means I’m just paying for the interest na lang. And because of that, we went to Pag-ibig office so we can apply for repricing so now, mas maliit na yung monthly amortization namin.

The Pag-ibig staff informed us “bawasan niyo po ang principal para mabilis kayo matapos.” so that is why we went back to Pag-ibig office para magbawas sa principal and hopefully we can finish our housing loan soon. How I wish, dati ko pa siya ginawa parang nasanay na kasi ko na kasama siya sa monthly bills namin. Dapat pala ang goal ko, mawala siya sa monthly expense namin. 

Yi Fang Tea 



On our way to Pag-ibig Office, we saw Yi Fang Tea store and wala tao so we took advantage of it. When I saw Yi Fang Tea Store in BGC, mahaba pila so tinamad ako pumila. Since this was our first time, I just ordered kung ano yung una sa menu, the Yi Fang Signature Fruit Tea PHP140. It is a blend of fresh fruits and mountain tea, hindi lang namin type is may buto ko na naiinom but the taste is good.

Read: Food Trip in Bonifacio High Street

Funny story, after ordering, the staff asked me about sugar level and ice level, napatulala ko ng slight kasi hindi ko alam ang choices. Napaghahalata na first-timer ako, hehehe! I chose 80% Sugar Level and Less Ice. If first timer ka rin, ito yung mga choices just in case hindi mo siya mahanap agad sa menu and para alam mo na agad issasagot mo sa staff. You also have the option to choose hot drink or add some jelly or pearl for an extra fee.

Add-ons: 

Aiyu Jelly: PHP25
Grass Jelly: PHP25
Pearl: P15

Sugar Level: 100 / 80 / 50 / 30 /0
Ice Level: Normal Ice/ Less Ice / No Ice
Hot Drink: add PHP15

Lunch at Kanin Club 


After our Pag-ibig office visit, we had an early lunch at Kanin Club. It’s been years since our last visit and I’m missing their crispy dinuguan. It was past 11AM so the restaurant was not crowded yet. We ordered Crispy Dinuguan, Bistek Tagalog and Rice. Kanin Club is one of our favorite restaurants if we want to eat Filipino dishes, check below my food review.

Read: Food Trip ay Kanin Club

Imarflex Outlet

I’ve been meaning to buy an air purifier at home but the price is too expensive for my budget. Hindi lang naman kasi siya one time buy lang, you have to maintain it pa because you need to buy a filter. There is a brand na napagtanungan namin and P10K ang filter niya so ang bigat sa bulsa kung every year di ba.


Fortunately, my husband found an affordable air purifier so we dropped by at Imarflex Outlet in Makati. We bought one big PHP6700 and one small air purifier PHP2500 for our home. This air purifier helped a lot lalo na nung hindi kami nagbubukas ng windows during Taal Volcano eruption.

Sesou 

Last year, while I was browsing my Instagram feeds I discovered Kurin Water and because of that nacurious ako at hinanap ko talaga siya. I bought one for me and for my siblings so they can try it too. As of this writing, I bought my second bottle of Kurin na and next time I will buy online na lang, wala kasi refill sa Sesou store.

After that, we went home na, sobrang nakakapagod na araw and I even checked my health app. Naka-16,456 steps ako and 11.75km lang naman ang nilakad ko. Waah!

I’m a Filipino so I love Filipino cuisine. Of course, it is very important that we should love our own dishes. Even though I love Filipino foods, there are dishes that I don’t know how to cook or some I tried but I don’t like the result. And because of that, I visit different restaurants so I can order food that I don’t usually cook at home.

One of our go-to restaurants when it comes to Filipino dishes is Kanin Club. We’ve been here for the nth time already so I decided to compile my old blog posts in one article.

March 22, 2013 Dinner at Kanin Club 

The first time we ate in Kanin Club was four years ago, we’re not satisfied with our order so we never dare to try it again but two weeks ago we revisited this restaurant. We had our dinner here because my mom wanted Filipino food.

We ordered Sizzling Squid P210, Sigarilyas Express P140, and Crispy Dinuguan P244. To my surprise, we all enjoyed the food and we even ordered extra rice. Hehe! No doubt that crispy dinuguan is their signature dish.


April 20, 2015 Lunch at Kanin Club 

If we are in Paseo de Sta Rosa, Kanin Club is our go-to restaurant because I love their crispy dinuguan. I ordered crispy dinuguan + ginataan na gulay when we went back last December 2013. I did not like the ginataan gulay but my husband liked it.


Last March, we ate at Kanin Club before going to Nurture Wellness Village. It was an early lunch so the place was not packed yet. We ordered Crispy Dinuguan P260, Sigarilyas Express P150, Kare-Kare P350 and Pork BBQ P110. I love Kanin Club because the price is very reasonable and the serving is good for 2 to 3 persons. So we took home our leftovers for dinner. 
April 19, 2016 Dinner at Kanin Club

My husband has a business trip in Cebu and this time, we’ll join his trip so we can also have a summer vacation. It’s been a while since we had a family trip, most of the time overnight lang. So to save money, I used my Mabuhay Miles to book our ticket. My husband called PAL reservations to book our ticket and off we went to Philippine Airlines to pay and get our ticket. They moved their office to Westgate Center from Petron Station. 

It's almost 7PM so we decided to eat our dinner in Westgate, we don't frequent this place because there is a parking fee of PHP20. I have no idea na marami pala kainan dito, I though Contis lang. That's where we ate last year.

We ate at Kanin Club and we ordered our all-time favorite which is Crispy Dinuguan P290 and Pork BBQ P125 for my son. I did not enjoy my crispy dinuguan, nasobrahan yata sa pagkacrispy at ang hirap ichew.


We also tried the Turon KC ala mode P150 and Leche Flan P85. We were surprised to see the dessert, ganun kalaki yung turon. Kanin Club’s turon has ube jam, sweet coconut strips, monggo beans, and banana. One slice is already enough, it is like eating halo-halo without the ice and milk. 

It was also our first time to see a Leche Flan topped with Macapuno. My son likes plain leche flan so he removed all the coconut strips. Their leche flan is not sweet and we prefer sweet leche flan. 

March 3, 2020 Lunch at Kanin Club

It’s been years since the last time that we ate at Kanin Club so when I saw this in Makati Ayala Triangle, ito na agad kinainan namin. As usual, hindi mawawala ang Crispy Dinuguan sa order namin. We ordered Crispy Dinuguan P380, Bistek Pinoy P280 and Plain Rice P132 (3 cups). 



Medyo mahal na yung crispy dinuguan kasi yung last time na kain namin, wala pa sa PHP300. It is really nice to have a blog kasi may price watch list ako. Hehehe! As always, we were satisfied with our food. Care to share your favorite in Kanin Club.

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