Tag Archives: Travel & Walks

Holiday Inn Galleria

As stated on the previous post, I enjoy hotel living. When I’m Manila I tend to stay at Holiday Inn Galleria.

You should know that I love my hotels and I’m a loyal customer. When the head chef remembers you running around the breakfast buffet at 10 yrs old and has enjoyed watching you grow up… and remembers your grandmother when she sat with you.

Say hi to Chef Bien for me if you see him :) He’s always there, usually frying up omelette, sunny side ups or treating people to Taho at the breakfast buffet.

Holiday Inn Galleria Manila
1 ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center
Pasig City 1655
Philippines
+63 2 633 7111

Seven Corners, Crowne Plaza, Manila

Growing up travelling to different countries, I have grown to feel at home in hotels. And if you are a regular reader, you will know how much I enjoy restaurants. So, finding an excellent hotel restaurant is something I can’t not blog about.

Seven Corners at Crowne Plaza, Manila was very impressive. After dining in their relaxed, but elegant atmosphere in the early days of my holiday I had to return before I flew back to the UK.

Their dinner buffet was a huge selection of dining experiences: a pasta station, fresh seafood, pizza / bread bakery and wonderful smelling curries. I could barely get half-way through the dishes (I really tried!). Including the best rib eye roast I have had in a long time.

The service was friendly, but not overly much, which is a plus. Last thing I need is someone standing nervously by my elbow waiting to top up my water glass. It’s happened before in other restaurants in the Philippines and is…awkward.

The only downside was I wasn’t too impressed with the wine selection. Maybe I’m not looking at the right places, but -really- good wine is hard to come by in Manila. Of course given the opportunity I would like to taste more of what they have in store to be proven wrong. ;)

The Cost: Well, pricey compared to other Philippine restaurants, but very reasonable compared to European fine dining. The selection and the quality of the food has beat any buffet I have had in years.

Hoping to dine there again next year!

Seven Corners
Ortigas Avenue Corner Adb Avenue,
Quezon City, Philippines
+63 2 633 7222

Philippines 2010

There’s nothing like a trip home to my favourite islands to give me a stronger perspective of life. The Philippines has a way of allowing me time to breathe, evaluate my life when at crossroads and decide on a direction.

So, quite a few upcoming posts will be dedicated to my trip to this beautiful country, but first a summary of my exploits and thoughts (all jumbled up together due to jetlag):

  • Nothing like home sweet home
  • I actually enjoy being a software developer / waitress / lifeguard / secretary so long it means I get to be in the sea at least three hours each day :D
  • Kape Barako can be bought in large quantities from the palenke
  • There is hope for my Tagalog :)
  • Good friends can pick up where we left off, even if you haven’t seen them in over 12 years!
  • Bawal ang alak – a sad state to be in. :(
  • More should be done for schools and medical clinics in Quezon
  • I will attempt to do more for the people in Quezon.
  • Chicharon bulaklak is ridiculously tasty. Especially when drunk on margarita / tequila.
  • Seafood in the province is better than seafood in Manila.
  • Gorging on food in the Philippines for three weeks equals to a loss of 2 lbs in Europe. WTF?! YAY!
  • Windsurfing is fun, but hard work! Before you can fly you need to learn to fall :)
  • Who needs TV when you’ve got lightning storms over the sea
  • Geese are not as scary as turkeys and not as stupid as guineafowls
  • Snakes come in extra large sizes. Their only fear is men with beer. :D
  • There will always be jellyfish in the sea. They won’t disappear just because you want them to.
  • I want to go home more often. How about in 6 months time?

Grenoble Food Guide – L'Epicurien

Starters

Lamb

Rabbit

Beef

Crème brûlée

Assortment of Sorbet

Tiramisu

Our first taste of Grenoble was Restaurant L’Epicurien and it couldn’t have started better. We decided on having the three course menu (ca. 25 Euros) and a bottle of wine.

The food was wonderful, traditionally French, served with high quality produce. The wine was excellent (and I soon learned that French wine suited me very well). The setting was elegant, but on a Sunday night, full and loud at times, but that’s not always a bad thing. You could hear people enjoying the company around them as well as their meals.

The service was lovely as well, although we didn’t speak a lot of French they tried to ensure that we knew what we were ordering. The service isn’t as quick as some restaurants, but when you’re holidaying in France, what is the rush?

1 Place aux Herbes
38000 Grenoble, France
04 76 51 96 06

Grenoble, France – The Sights!

From March 14 to 21 I was in Grenoble, France. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in France, the last was Paris when I was a very young teenager. This was new France to me. Mr H and I stayed at our friend, Hannah’s, place. She’s been living in Grenoble for 9 months now, so was a brilliant guide.

This was the breakdown of the stay catalogued by my Facebook updates :) Will be creating more posts on our foodie journey in Grenoble.

Grenoble, France – Day 1: Got off the train too early, saved by public transport and Hannah. Cable car up to the Bastille to do some wine tasting, cable car back down to the Irish Pub for more wine (& strong beer), crisps and chatter. Walk to a restaurant for too much wine and food. Tram to watch some folks swing dance. Run for the tram to get back. Success.

Grenoble, France – Day 2: Wander around the historical sites of Grenoble, lunch at Bistro Romain,wine at Irish bar, dinner Couscous with mutton (and extremely fast French) and then more wine at Ace of Spades. Wine is so cheap, but so good. I am in heaven.

Grenoble, France – Day 3: A walk in the woods, art exhibition on neurons, le Dîner de cons, Italian for dinner and an evening wander around the city. French is a hard language, need to learn the correct pronounciation for l’eau.

Grenoble, France – Day 4: Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation, attacking a duck-ish sandwich on the main street, Musée De Grenoble, staring at beautiful artworks and making fun of others, buying earrings and rings in little shops, dinner at Crêperie (and wine!) before singing our way home… I own ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ in English, German and, as of today, French.

Grenoble, France – Day 5: Cycling by the Isere river, doing a bit of shopping then sitting in a cafe at Place Saint-Andre working on ink sketches.

Grenoble, France – Day 6: Quiet day, sitting in cafes and parks observing French behaviour and culture, overdosing on beef during lunch and then cheese during dinner before meeting some lovely people at the Druid’s.

Grenoble, France – Day 7: Cable car up the Bastille, visiting the caves and then a drink at the terrace enjoying the amazing views. Lunch at Les Archer, tasty Moules Mariniere…Back after a night at the Druid’s watching England v France Rugby. England lost, but such a great atmos, the French are such a lovely bunch!

Keswick & Oakthwaite House

With everything going on in our lives at the moment, Mr H and I definitely needed a getaway. After living in the UK for almost six years I was ashamed to say I had not yet visited the Lake District so I took this opportunity to check that box.

We stayed in Oakthwaite House, a lovely little Bed and Breakfast recommended by the many good reviews I found on the internet. I was happy to say I was not disappointed at all. The owners are a friendly couple, who not only maintain this pretty little cottage, cook one of the best breakfasts in the world (the homemade granola pot is to die for!) but are also knowledgeable in the walks around the Lake District. When we mentioned we were going up Blencathra they suggested the routes for us, where was best to park and what to look forward to. There were many little treats for travellers such as chocolates, biscuits, tea and coffee in the room, goodie bags, brochures/maps and a good DVD collection if you just want to stay in for the evening.

The beautiful view of Skiddaw from our room.

After tasting the breakfast on the first day, I was looking forward to the next. Note: when they say large on the menu, they mean LARGE. Thankfully we burned it all off with our hiking.

Oakthwaite House

Keswick centre

Keswick is full of lovely little shops for artists, tea lovers, jewellry addicts and hikers.

What we looked forward to after our climb (besides the hot shower).

Oakthwaite House
35 Helvellyn Street
Keswick
Cumbria
CA12 4EP
Telephone 017687 72398
http://www.oakthwaite-keswick.com/

The Decade's Jetsetter

A few hours into the new year I was shocked to realise that I had traveled to only three (3!!!) new countries in the past decade. Totally unacceptable, seeing the decade before that I made it to 11 new countries. Now that I am greeted with a new start, 2010 is going to be a year of planning and dreaming.

Countries to revisit in the next few years:

  • France – Paris again and explore hiking routes in Grenoble
  • Switzerland – climb Santis
  • Philippines – home. Explore Cebu and Palawan. Hike up Banahaw!
  • Indonesia – Bali!

New countries I would like to visit before 2020:

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • South Africa
  • Russia – Moscow!
  • Scotland
  • Czech Republic – Prague
  • Netherlands – Amsterdam
  • Iceland
  • Greece
  • Morocco
  • India
  • Japan

The already visited list:

Europe

  • Switzerland
  • England
  • Germany
  • Liechtenstein
  • France
  • Italy
  • Spain
  • Austria

Africa

  • Nigeria

Asia

  • Philippines
  • Indonesia
  • Malaysia
  • Hong Kong
  • Singapore

Things I love… the Philippines

Villa Escudero

I love these river cottages, they hold many good memories for me. Unfortunately the few days we stayed in Villa Escudero weren’t as pleasant as I remembered.

They tried to offer a bedroom to some of our party as a room with two mattresses on the floor, with some bedsheets and pillows put on the side. That was incredibly disappointing. Also, the service bell was useless for it called no one. And you might argue that maybe they were broken, but could they be broken in three separate accommodations? The food presented in a buffet was also very poor and for the number of guests present, not very much. The evening entertainment was also quite cringe worthy, which comprised of simply a man and his keyboard belting out old pop tunes in midi form.

What really hurt was to see how the place seemed neglected. Grass left uncut, plates left scattered. I hope they take control of this soon and stop what to seems to me to be a downward decline. Such a beautiful setting deserves better treatment.

At the end I decided to skip the free lunch offered with our booking to make our way early to Sariaya, Quezon. I was desperate to go home.

Booking details:

Mobile: # 09089916526 and # 09083456300 and # 09392453333

Hidden Valley Springs

I’ve been visiting Hidden Valley Springs in Laguna since I was a child. It’s my favourite jungle hot springs retreat, not far from Manila. It was great to see that my memories have not deceived me. It was better than I remember.

The sunlight streaming from the jungle canopy was a very relaxing sight, which pushed my ‘holiday mode’ button. It was lovely being surrounded by lush greenery and what always amazes me is that it’s all natural.

At one point I was floating in the main pool, just gazing upwards to the sky and the leafy canopy when an eagle flew across my line of sight.

The service did not fail the setting either. The night was warm enough for us to have our buffet dinner beneath the twinkling stars and fairy lights. The food was excellent, a brilliant way to start my holiday.

Mobile: # 09089916526 and # 09083456300 and # 09392453333