This was the start of a very long day as we headed out to the airport at around 3:30am. On the way, we had breakfast at Jollibee... my second time there in 3 days already and my first breakfast meal. I wasn't sure what to order until I saw the sausage, egg and pandesal sandwich. It's basically the Filipino version of McDonald's Sausage Egg McMuffin w/ Cheese. It had a similar taste, but with the enhancement of pandesal.
By the time we finished breakfast and got on all of the ridiculous lines in the Philippines airport, we were already boarding the Tiger Airways flight to Singapore. It was my first time flying the budget airline and it's very different than the US ones. While JetBlue is cheap, it doesn't cut down on any of its services. In fact, it actually has more than many non-budget lines. Tiger Airways is truly budget. The plane is basic with no technology. There's no complimentary service at all... not even a free pack of nuts or drink. We were warned that the flight would be turbulent. While most airlines try to avoid turbulence, especially if known beforehand, Tiger Airways flies right through it. A good portion of the flight was rocky for a long period of time. I probably got 1 hour of sleep out of the 3 as I got through a movie and part of a TV episode.
We landed on time and were ready to proceed with the plan. The travel agent at Mandarin Vacations suggested we travel by train to the hotel to avoid a ~$40 airport limo fare. We first took a shuttle bus to Changi Airport, the main airport. From there, we caught the SMRT EW (East-West) line and got to Bugis (EW12) shortly. The first train we were on was relatively empty as they were mostly airport passengers. When we transferred, the next train was packed with rush hour commuters. At EW12 (stop names are logically numbered), we looked at the map and exited. Just a few blocks away, although it felt longer because of our luggage) was the Victoria Hotel.
Jerick stayed back to rest while the rest of us scouted the area near the hotel. We browsed some restaurants across the street and then came across Bugis Junction, a mall/marketplace/food court. We were pretty sure that our first meal would be in that area. We headed back to the hotel to get Jerick and I also had to figure out how to make phone calls.
Related: Changi Airport, SMRT, Victoria Hotel, Bugis Junction
Monday, October 10, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
C2 Classic Cuisine
Location: Greenhills, San Juan, PhilippinesCuisine: Filipino
Hours: DAILY (10am-9pm)
Phone: 723 2347
Website: www.facebook.com/C2.Philippines
Prices: $10/person
Credit Cards: All major
Food: 8
Service: 9
Value: 7
Environment: 7
Frequency: Unique
For my last meal before the side trip to Singapore, I went with Ifore, Jiselle and Uncle Charlie to a local non-chain Filipino restaurant. C2 Classic Cuisine is a restaurant run by Center for Culinary Arts Manila, specializing in traditional Filipino food. We didn't order anything out of the ordinary... just the usual stuff people order in any Filipino restaurant like adobo, bangus and kare-kare. The food was good, but I thought the presentation was a little weird. It was the first time I saw kare-kare with the sauce served separately. The adobo was the same.
The place was pretty clean, but it may have been because we were there early on a slow Sunday night. Our flight was set for 6am, so it meant we needed to wake up at around 3am. Dinner was at 5:30 and I went to sleep at around 9pm.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
Philippines Day 1
The flight yesterday was pretty uncomfortable and I had a hard time sleeping. Out of the 20 hours in the air, I probably only slept 2-3 total. That probably helped with jet lag a bit because I woke up at 6am today... my normal time for a weekday.
Jollibee
Jollibee, my main food goal in the Philippines has never come on the first day of my trip. I've even missed it on some trips, but it was crossed off right away this time around. My parents when with aunts and uncles to a nearby Chinese restaurant while I went with Ifore and Jiselle to Jollibee. I had my usual champ burger, but this time tried the popular Chicken Joy... finally.
Greenhills Mall
After Jollibee, we walked around Greenhills Mall, which is an Asian style mall with shops and flea market-like stands. I had no idea what to buy, but there were a lot of t-shirt stands filled with Angry Birds products. Since everything is unofficial, the prices were several times cheaper than licensed items in the US. I just browsed and didn't buy anything yet. This will be a last minute thing if I find nothing else on the trip.
Razon's
After the mall, we dropped Jiselle off and then went to Razon's, another place that's on my list for dessert. When I came here the first time, the chain was relatively new in Metro Manila. Everything was pretty much consistent this time... same menu... same halo-halo. Even the table arrangement was the same.
Marriott Cafe
With this trip in October, planned well over a year ago, there's no way I could make a second trip in the same year in December for Alvin and Cheryl's wedding. So the first dinner of my trip was reserved for Alvin's family. I got a chance to meet Cheryl for the first time. We all spent a good 5 hours catching up and playing with Nadine.
Jollibee
Jollibee, my main food goal in the Philippines has never come on the first day of my trip. I've even missed it on some trips, but it was crossed off right away this time around. My parents when with aunts and uncles to a nearby Chinese restaurant while I went with Ifore and Jiselle to Jollibee. I had my usual champ burger, but this time tried the popular Chicken Joy... finally.
Greenhills Mall
After Jollibee, we walked around Greenhills Mall, which is an Asian style mall with shops and flea market-like stands. I had no idea what to buy, but there were a lot of t-shirt stands filled with Angry Birds products. Since everything is unofficial, the prices were several times cheaper than licensed items in the US. I just browsed and didn't buy anything yet. This will be a last minute thing if I find nothing else on the trip.
Razon's
After the mall, we dropped Jiselle off and then went to Razon's, another place that's on my list for dessert. When I came here the first time, the chain was relatively new in Metro Manila. Everything was pretty much consistent this time... same menu... same halo-halo. Even the table arrangement was the same.
Marriott Cafe
With this trip in October, planned well over a year ago, there's no way I could make a second trip in the same year in December for Alvin and Cheryl's wedding. So the first dinner of my trip was reserved for Alvin's family. I got a chance to meet Cheryl for the first time. We all spent a good 5 hours catching up and playing with Nadine.
Friday, September 30, 2011
(fluff)Art Through the Ages
(fluff)Friends is being abandoned after 4.5 years. The game will still run, but it will not be maintained or updated. This usually means a gradual death, so I quickly saved out all of my (fluff)arts or "habis" as we call them in the game. I installed the game way back in 2007, but didn't save out any art until 2008. Check out the graphics below for parodies of life, art movement and movie reenactments!
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Ai Passion
Location: 20-02 Utopia Parkway, Whitestone, NY 11357Cuisine: Asian
Hours: SUN (1:30pm-10pm); MON-THU (11:30am-10:30pm); FRI (11:30am-11:30pm); SAT (12:30pm-11:30pm)
Phone: (718) 352-8100
Email: eat@aipassion.com
Website: www.aipassion.com
Prices: $15/person (Lunch)
Credit Cards: All major
Food: 8
Service: 8
Value: 7
Environment: 9
Frequency: Uncommon
This is an update to the original review from last December. I'm still happy with the food in Ai Passion as we ordered all completely new dishes this time around and none of them missed. I lowered the service by a point because I felt the staff was a little bit off. Last time I thought it was because it was a new waiter, but they all seem to be like this. The more skilled waiters will take an order and remember who ordered which dish. Our waiter tonight had no idea, so he placed everything in the middle. Also, 2 of our dishes included either soup or salad and we weren't given that option. I also gave the environment a -1 from last time because they seem to have a mosquito problem. Other than that, the place is clean and well-designed.
Ai Passion is still a great restaurant outside of the downtown area... a gem in a residential neighborhood.
Note: The album above is the same one from last time. I just added the new dishes from tonight.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Cleaning the Table
This was from September 4, during our visit to the Siews. While we were all talking, Bradley just decided to pick up a napkin and wipe the table. He ended up spreading watermelon juice + drool instead of actually cleaning. That's a spit shine!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Visiting the MacDonalds
Andrew and Joanne will be moving back to Australia in October, so I was happy I could get together this them over the weekend. I wasn't able to make it up there in the beginning of the Summer since I had so many out of town guests, but things have slowed down since then.
Everything worked out well today. I had to work early in the morning at 6am, but finished at a reasonable time (8:30am). I left the house at about 9:15am because there were a lot of variables that could have slowed me down. There's the usual slowness of the Q12 bus, possible 7 train slowdown because of US Open traffic and typical weekend MTA construction. Everything went error free through. The bus came right away, which is rare for a weekend. The 7 was normal. I took that to Times Square to pick up a Junior's Cheesecake at 45th St. Then I headed over to the A line. Last time I went over their place, I remembered the A was really bad and took about an hour including wait time. This time, I had a surprisingly short wait and it went all the way through without delay. I was in Inwood by 10:50am. That much earlier than I expected, so I walked around a bit and came across a nice farmer's market. I looked around a bit and picked up some organic apple cider and apple cider donuts.
I still made it to the apartment early, which meant extra playtime with Liam. And I had lots of time to catchup with Andrew and Joanne, who I haven't seen for about a year. The change in routine threw off Liam's schedule though as he missed his nap time. Even after multiple walks and running around the apartment, he was still full of energy!
Everything worked out well today. I had to work early in the morning at 6am, but finished at a reasonable time (8:30am). I left the house at about 9:15am because there were a lot of variables that could have slowed me down. There's the usual slowness of the Q12 bus, possible 7 train slowdown because of US Open traffic and typical weekend MTA construction. Everything went error free through. The bus came right away, which is rare for a weekend. The 7 was normal. I took that to Times Square to pick up a Junior's Cheesecake at 45th St. Then I headed over to the A line. Last time I went over their place, I remembered the A was really bad and took about an hour including wait time. This time, I had a surprisingly short wait and it went all the way through without delay. I was in Inwood by 10:50am. That much earlier than I expected, so I walked around a bit and came across a nice farmer's market. I looked around a bit and picked up some organic apple cider and apple cider donuts.
I still made it to the apartment early, which meant extra playtime with Liam. And I had lots of time to catchup with Andrew and Joanne, who I haven't seen for about a year. The change in routine threw off Liam's schedule though as he missed his nap time. Even after multiple walks and running around the apartment, he was still full of energy!
Monday, September 5, 2011
Labor Day Weekend
Our office was closed the day after Hurricane Irene because most of the mass transit was not ready for the morning rush and a lot of people were still without power. Fortunately Cindy went into labor that day and not during the storm. And I had the day off so I was around to watch Wesley. Because of that, I wasn't able to make it to the hospital to meet to latest addtion to the family, Bentley Ryan Siew. So we all went over last night for a visit...
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