Michi Photostory

September 27, 2023

Hanoi Daewoo Hotel

It’s been a while since my last blog post because I spent my time crafting. But I am taking a break for now so I am back to blogging. Just this month my husband went back to Hanoi and he stayed at the Hanoi Daewoo Hotel. His Vietnamese colleagues suggested this hotel because this is near the event place. This is the fourth hotel that he tried in Hanoi, he stayed before at Sheraton Hanoi, JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi, and Movenpick Hotel Hanoi.

It was my first time to hear about this hotel so I checked their website and learned that this hotel is one of the best 5-star luxury hotels in Hanoi. It has been one of the options of dignitaries and heads of state for more than two decades because it is near embassies too.

This hotel has been around for more than two decades so when you see the room and bathroom, it looks old already but it is still presentable. What you see on the website is what you get with a sign of wear and tear. The bathroom is small but it has a bathtub.

What is nice about this hotel is the view, My husband can see the Thủ Lệ Lake and the swimming pool from his room. This hotel has the largest swimming pool in the city.

Daewoo Hotel Restaurants

Daewoo Hotel has different restaurants that offer local and international fare. You can dine at Cafe Promenade, Ngah Dinh Hanoi Restaurant, Duc Bao Gartenstadt, Edo Japanese Restaurant, Palm Court Lobby Lounge, Brodard Terrace, Brodard Gourmet, and Lakeview Sky Lounge. Among the options, my husband was able to try three restaurants during his trip.

Cafe Promenade

My husband booked the promo rate room and he did not notice that breakfast was not included but he still ate at Cafe Promenade where the buffet breakfast was served. But unlike in other hotels, where you can charge the breakfast meal in your room and pay upon check-out; here you need to pay your meal immediately.

One of my husband’s favorite cuisines is Vietnamese pero iba-iba rin pala ang taste ng food per places. I noticed that when we went to Saigon and Da Nang, napapaisip ako kung bakit favorite ni hubby ang Vietnamese cuisine kasi yung sa hotel lang naman na food ang nagustuhan ko.

Anyway, there are so many choices in the buffet spread but my husband ate “pho” every single day. Hindi obvious na favorite niya. Hehehe! So whenever he is in Hanoi, nawawala ang diet sa vocabulary niya. Conclusion, yung food sa Hanoi ang favorite niya.

Edo Japanese Restaurant

My husband ate at Edo where you order your favorite teppanyaki, sushi, and sashimi dishes.

Duc Bao Gartenstadt

While waiting for my husband’s midnight flight, he went back to Daewoo Hotel for dinner. He ate at Duc Bao Gartenstadt, this restaurant serves German cuisine and beers with a swimming pool view.

My husband is on a business trip so he has no time for leisure but this hotel is on Kim Ma Street where you can find the colorful houses and Thu Le Park where you can ride a swan boat, and visit the zoo and garden.

Hanoi Daewoo Hotel

360 Kim Ma Street,

Ba Dinh District

Hanoi Vietnam

September 18, 2023

Birthday Getaway at Casalay Boutique Villas & Dive Resort

For my birthday celebration, we initially planned to have a food trip but I changed my mind because I gained weight so much so ayaw ko na muna magbuffet. Hehehe! There were two long weekends last month so pwede naman magtravel.

We usually go to Batangas for a quick getaway pero sa totoo lang, wala na ko maisip puntahan sa Batangas. My husband informed me na may nakita daw siya sa Facebook na resort and I was surprised when he said Puerto Galera because I thought, ayaw na niya bumalik doon. During pandemic days, I suggested a resort din sa Puerto Galera but he was not interested so in my mind, hindi na ko makakabalik sa Oriental Mindoro but people changed.

Casalay Boutique Villas & Dive Resort has a rainy daw promo of 25% off so my husband called the resort to inquire about it. And I immediately computed our possible expenses including the food, transportation, and other fees; and it turned out na same lang sa gastos namin sa Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar.

We were supposed to book the first long weekend but the only available room is good for 6 people so we changed our travel dates to save money. For our family of three, we chose the 1 Bedroom Seaview Villa, the total is PHP20,398 (3 persons) for 3 days and 2 nights. To confirm the booking, a 50% downpayment is needed via bank transfer or GCASH. The 25% discount will be deducted upon check-out.

But as of this writing, when I tried to book this room again for the 1st and 2nd week of November (Sat to Mon), our total is only PHP 10,876.32 and PHP11,229.12. What!?! Mas mura pa rate nila kahit wala promo. Toink! I did not proceed with my booking, I just checked the curent rate.

Casalay Boutique Villas & Dive Resort

Moving on, let me share my birthday getaway at Casalay Boutique Villas & Dive Resort. This resort is located in Sitio Daluran, Puerto Galera so there are few transfers and we traveled by land-sea-land-sea; we drove to Batangas Port, rode a ferry to Balatero Port, rode a tricycle to Muelle Port, and lastly, boat to Casalay Resort. You can read more information in this post “How to Go to Puerto Galera from Manila and Vice Versa” (our travel experience)

Traveling to Puerto Galera takes a lot of patience, sa dami ng waiting time namin from parking, buying a ticket, and waiting for the resort boat. We left the house before 5AM and we arrived at the resort around 1:30PM, nalipasan na kami ng lunch. I’m thankful that I brought bread pero gutom na gutom pa rin kami sa biyahe.

Upon arrival, the staff welcomed us with juice and we went straight to the reception. The staff asked for our IDs and after a few minutes, we received the key and voucher for the free wifi (one code per gadget). But before we went to our room, we already ordered food for our late lunch.

Food Trip at Casalay Boutique Villas & Dive Resort

There is only one restaurant in the resort so we ate our breakfast, lunch, and dinner there. Read my blog post here.

1-Bedroom Seaview Villa

I am aware that our villa is located in the mid-level of the resort so niready ko na sarili ko sa 80+ steps pero nakakahingal pa rin. The exterior of the villa looks good but once you enter the room, you will notice the signs of wear and tear.

The bedroom is small and the space is tight, it features a loft where the extra bed is located. According to their website. they are using Award-Winning Emma Mattresses so the bed is comfortable.

Even if the room feels cramped, it has a fridge, coffee, and tea facilities, and a safety deposit box. For our 3-day stay, they didn’t refill the coffee and tea.

I’ve read about the “Outdoor bathroom with a shower” but I didn’t expect that it would be an open bathroom. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I am not a fan of glass bathrooms, semi-open bathrooms and mas lalo na ang open bathrooms. I experienced that in The Farm at San Benito, Sheraton Manila Club and Chateau Hestia.

I’m not comfortable with an open bathroom kasi and for safety reasons na rin. Just like what happened during our stay, may nalaglag na dahon, fortunately, wala naliligo.

The bathroom is spacious, it has the usual toiletries like shampoo, body wash, conditioner, and lotion. There is no towel rack so we use the hanger for our towels pero hindi natutuyo so the following day, we requested new towels. We were advised that they would clean the room but it didn’t happen and no new towels too.

What I love about our villa is the balcony, we have a nice view of the garden and the sea. Unfortunately, hindi namin gaano naenjoy kasi maulan at the time of our stay.

Things to do at Casalay Boutique Villas & Dive Resort if you are not a diver...

During our trip, there was Typhoon Goring in North Luzon but I didn’t expect that it would affect Oriental Mindoro. Feeling ko dahil malayo naman hindi na aabot but I was wrong, there is Southwest Monsoon so we experienced heavy rainfall and strong winds.

At that time, napapaisip ako na “gumastos pa kami para lang magkulong sa room. Nakakarelate tuloy ako sa mga ‘’meme” na nakikita ko sa Facebook “Tinuloy ang lakad kahit bumabagyo kasi non-refundable”. hehehe!

Despite the harsh weather, God is still so good because we have good weather every morning so nakalabas naman kami ng room. We experienced snorkeling, clear kayaking, and paddle boating; both are complimentary use for 1 hour. And kapag low tide na, we transfer to the swimming pool.

So overall, we still enjoyed our quick getaway at Puerto Galera. And despite the bad weather, I still prefer this trip compared to our first trip to Puerto Galera at white beach. Being an introvert, we prefer a resort that is not crowded.

P.S. I am aware that there is power crisis in Mindoro but I am not updated kung hanggang ngayon pa ba, so I’m not sure kung rotational brownout ba yung naexperience namin during our stay, because of the bad weather or if the resort is run by generator only.

Watch the video here

Casalay Boutique Villas & Dive Resort

Sitio Dalaruan, Puerto Galera,

5203 Oriental Mindoro

September 11, 2023

Food Trip at Casalay Boutique Villas & Dive Resort

We stayed in Casalay Boutique Villas & Dive Resort for three days and throughout our stay we just ate inside the resort. This resort has a restaurant and bar that are also open for outside guests but keep in mind that you need to ride a boat just to reach Casalay Boutique Villas & Dive Resort. On a positive note, they provide a complimentary boat shuttle from Muelle Pier, Sabang Pier, and nearby resorts; just call the resort for a boat schedule and to reserve your seat.

I’m sharing with you what we ate during our stay. Let us start with breakfast since this is already included in our room package. They offer the usual Filipino Silog Meals, Omelet, Pancakes, and French Toast. If you want Western Breakfast, it is available too but there is an additional fee of PHP120 per order. We only ordered from Filipino Menu; served with two eggs of any style, garlic rice, pickled papaya, a slice of fruit, and a choice of coffee or tea.

There are five choices which are Pork Tapa, Pork Tocino, Longganisa, Corned Beef and Daing na Bangus. Among the options, yung Tocino lang ang hindi namin na-try. For drinks, we requested hot chocolate since my son and I are not fond of coffee, buti na lang available.

For lunch and dinner, we ordered the following meals: Among these food, we personally liked the Chicken Curry and Tanigue Steak. Kung hindi naman malakas kumain, their meals are good for sharing except for the Pork BBQ Skewers and Fried Chicken. Plus 10% Service Charge sa price.