Our Overnight Sofitel Experience

My sister from Canada is here on vacation and we decided to stay overnight in Sofitel Philippine Plaza since my Dad has membership and we can book their de luxe room cheaper and enjoy 50% discount. Membership is affordable and is worth it. We might apply for membership next year if my Dad will not renew his membership. We'll see. Anyway, I love it there. The buffet breakfast is just awesome. Too many choices for breakfast if you ask me. Their rooms are clean and the service is awesome. We will surely come back there this December. Anyway here are the pictures.

The De Luxe Bed

Love this Armoire

The Mini Bar

The room has a terrace

A view by the poolside

With my sister behind us is the famous Spiral restaurant

Visit their website here.

Securing the Future

There are two coins that I know have value, the silver and the gold coins. But I’m particularly interested in gold since I think they have more value. Gold has been recognized to give a status of wealth and power to whoever acquires much of it. In this day and age, gold has a deeper value than money, it also can secure your future as your investment. I know friends who invested on gold and are doing pretty well right now securing their family’s future. In United States Gold Bureau, they learned so much, bought and still buying precious metals from them to invest more. If I have the extra money in the future, for sure I will not have second thoughts in investing with US Gold Bureau.

Casa Manila Museum, Intramuros

From the Intramuros Admin Site:

Casa Manila, a "colonial lifestyle" museum, is only a section of Plaza San Luis Complex, a commercial-cultural complex. As with all new structures built within the walls of Intramuros, facades here are based on colonial period designs.

The facade of Casa Manila was copied from a house (c.1850) at Calle Jaboneros in San Nicolas, a district across the Pasig River. In that area, the first floor of houses were rented out to shopkeepers. In Casa Manila, you will find shops in the ground floor where you may buy antiques, art objects and souvenir items.

The walls of the ground floor are made of adobe stones. In the Spanish colonial period (late 16th century to late 19th century), "adobe" or volcanic tuff was quarried from Makati and Meycuayan, Bulacan for building material. The stones in Casa Manila were quarried from Bulacan. The uppermost floor, the living quarters, was made of wood. Since wood was lighter than stone, it was less hazardous during earthquakes. Notice that the uppermost floor extends outwards, helping to shade pedestrians during the day. Its real use though was for the stability of the living quarters during earthquakes. One will find the structure adjoining Casa Manila is stone on both floors. When the Spaniards first arrived, they built in this manner. This had to be revised though because it could not withstand earthquakes. Neither could inhabitants of such structures.

Open Daily except Mondays from 9:00am to 6:00pm

ENTRANCE FEES:
Adults Php 75.00
Children / Students / Teachers / Php 50.00
Senior Citizens / Disabled

(Students and teachers subject to presentation of school i.d. )
(Senior citizens subject to the presentation of senior citizen i.d.)

Eat Pray Love

I hope to watch this.


Plot:

Liz Gilbert (Roberts) had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having - a husband, a house, a successful career - yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wanted in life. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy; the power of prayer in India, and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali.

Gold for the Future

Are you a collector? Do you value stuff even if they are not that valuable? What if you are given a chance to collect something and it is very valuable, what will you do? I have a friend who got lucky when he decided to invest in gold coins, he used to just collect ordinary coins from way back and a colleague of him saw his enthusiasm in collecting and suggested why not invest with US Gold Bureau and earn from this enthusiasm. He hesitated a bit but when he got extra money, he seek help from the United States Gold Bureau and decided to take the plunge. Now he is earning more than he is earning in his corporate life.

Cats and Dogs 2010

My husband and I are planning to take our son to watch a movie again, I'm not sure if we will take him tonight but I see a 6:20pm showing today in a nearby theater. We'll see if we can see this movie this weekend.


Plot:

In the age-old battle between cats and dogs, one crazed feline has taken things a paw too far. Kitty Galore, formerly an agent for cat spy organization MEOWS, has gone rogue and hatched a diabolical plan to not only bring her canine enemies to heel, but take down her former kitty comrades and make the world her scratching post. Faced with this unprecedented threat, cats and dogs will be forced to join forces for the first time in history in an unlikely alliance to save themselves -- and their humans.

Palitaw

Palitaw is a small, flat, sweet rice cake eaten in the Philippines. They are made from malagkit (sticky rice) washed, soaked, and then ground. Scoops of the batter are dropped into boiling water where they float to the surface as flat discs - an indication that they're done. When served, the flat discs are dipped in grated coconut, and presented with a separate dip made of sugar and toasted sesame seeds.

And since this is the first on my list of favorite Pinoy desserts, I am including a recipe in this post.

Ingredients:

5 c. of rice flour
3-1/2 c. of water
1/3 c. of linga (sesame seeds)
1 c. of white sugar
3 c. of niyog (freshly grated coconut)

Cooking procedure:

1. Boil about 8 c. of water in a large saucepan or casserole. 2. Toast the linga(sesame seeds) in a small skillet, stirring often to avoid burning. Cool completely before mixing with the white sugar. Otherwise, the sugar will melt. 3. Mix the rice flour with the 3-1/2 c. of water until a soft dough forms. Take a teaspoonful of the dough and flatten it with your hands. Drop in the briskly boiling water. Cook a few pieces at a time. As soon as the dough rises to the surface, lift it out with a slotted spoon and roll in niyog(grated coconut). 4. Repeat until all the dough has been cooked. 5. Serve with the sugar and linga mixture.

To prolong the life of the cooked palitaw, freeze the palitaw (rolled in niyog but without sugar) in an air-tight container. Steam to refresh.

Coins to Invest On

Do you know that there are two popular coins that you can invest on? There is the gold coin and the silver coin. The gold coin is actually known to be the status symbol for wealth and power for hundreds of years. It has been the means of trade during ancient times. It's value never depreciates and it is always stable when it comes to it's value. The economy may have a downfall but the gold's value will stay the same. While the silver coin is now making it's way too. World demand for silver now exceeds annual production, and has every year since 1990. If you have enough money to invest on, I think this kind of investment aside from real estate of course, is a very wise investment which will secure your wealth and your family's as well.

Pampanga's Best

Pampanga's Best is known for their meat specialties like tocino and longganisa but I was surprised to receive a "pasalubong" from my husband when he came home tonight. A platic bag with Pampanga's Best Silvannas that taste so heavenly. Sinfully sugar overload for tonight but I don't care, as I type this post, I already had two and I have no plans of stopping. It's for me anyway so I can finish the whole box.

If you are interested to have a taste, I think these are only available at their Pampanga branches. Too bad my husband only bought a box. Oh well maybe next time.

Here is their site.

My Dad is from Quezon and though he is from that province I never witnessed the Pahiyas Festival. I want to take part of it next time and I wish to take my boys with me.

Pahiyas Festival is a colorful feast celebrated every 15th of May by the people of Lucban, Quezon in honor of San Isidro Labrador. It is the farmers' thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest with a grand display of colorful rice wafers, fruits, vegetables, and handicrafts adorning every house in the town.