Oh No! No more Spiral!?!?

One of the places worst hit by Typhoon Pedring was Metro Manila, particularly those places near the Baywalk area or near the Manila Bay. At the time of Pedring’s wrath, we were ‘trapped’ in Tagaytay to facilitate a seminar-workshop for the office. So we were unaware of the havoc that Pedring was then wreaking across the country. It was only much later when we saw in the news what really happened. We saw Roxas Boulevard looking like a huge river so some famous establishments along it were expectedly also flooded – like the US Embassy and our favorite hotel – Sofitel! It’s like Manila Bay was trying to reclaim the sea that was originally part of it.

From the news feeds, we saw Sofitel’s pools totally flooded and what’s even worse – Spiral (its famous buffet resto) was totally destroyed. The people they interviewed claimed that huge waves crashed towards the hotel and so its glass walls just broke open and all their state-of-the-art kitchen equipment and wall-to-wall carpeting was just damaged by the sea water – oh no! Later on, when I was finally able to talk to my aunt she says even their entire offices (located in the basement) were affected. Good thing, though, that her car was saved when it was taken by the valet service to higher ground before the floods reached the parking lot. They said everything was just so unexpected and happened so fast so they didn’t have time to save much else. Their primary concern was the safety of their hotel guests so they immediately evacuated them since they had to cut the power off lest someone die of electrocution.

But I guess all of these would be rebuilt soon. My aunt says they’d be closing Spiral for good – and from its ashes a new restaurant shall be born. I just hope it would be as good or even surpass the old one! Go…go…go Sofitel! I hope you’ll be good as new the next time we go for a visit!

SOFITEL FOR THE WEEKEND

Funny how time flies, barely a few weeks ago we picked up my brother from the airport for a vacation from UAE then this weekend we’d be spending our despedida get-together for him with a Sofitel overnight stay. There were still so many places we want to visit, so many food we planned to eat but all of that would now have to wait until the next time that he comes back. Maybe in July again of next year or better yet in May in time for the Mandaue fiesta. Maybe then the long-planned cousins’ reunion would finally push through!

In fact, I thought for a while that Puloy still had another weekend here in the country so I had planned for us to spend another weekend at Auntie Jing’s house (also her bienvenida for TJ naman) but I was wrong pala and so they decided to hold the get-together on a Friday (without me and my family, because I can’t bring the kids since they’re in so far away Bulacan!) But still, I helped arrange the event and coordinated with Marn and Puloy to be there, I also sent Myk to guide them to Aunt Jing’s house in Pasig (and also to act as my rep)












The next day, we went straight to Papa’s condo in Makati because they spent overnight at Auntie Jing’s. We ate lunch there and left at 2:30 for Sofitel and just waited for the others there. Jun and I just watched TV in the room while the kids swam at the pool with Kuya Kit watching over them. Puloy (with his kids), Marn and Auntie Jing’s kids arrived at around 5 and so after they ate some meryenda, we all went down to the pool to watch the kids swim and for some picture-taking. It’s just too bad that it was raining so I didn’t feel like swimming. In fact, as far as I can remember I do not recall ever finding the guts to swim at Sofitel’s pool no matter how often we’ve been here (it’s our third actually for this year!) Maybe it’s because of the sexy bodies that I see all around me??? Maybe when I have the body for it, I would!

After some time (and when the kids have had their fill of the pool), we went up to our room to eat dinner. Auntie Jing’s kids decided not to be picked up by the driver and stayed overnight since they had fun playing hide and seek in our room and watched TV all night long. The kids all slept in the sala outside Papa’s room all laid out on the floor on two mattresses (like a refugee camp).














After eating breakfast, the kids went swimming in the pool once again. While I stayed in the room with Sam playing Angry Birds in Marn’s laptop while she slept on. At around ten, the kids went up to take a bath in the bath tub so I took my bath in Papa’s room. Everyone else took their baths and ate breakfast of corned beef (from the hotel kitchen) and got ready to check out.














We finally left at past 12 and reached the ‘dampa-style’ restaurant atop Baclaran market. It was a seafood-galore festival and we had such a great time eating and taking pics while waiting. All of my brother’s favorites (and even mine!) was laid out on the table. So I am quite sure everything he tasted would last him another year more of waiting till it is time for him to come home and savor once again his favorite Filipino food Goodbye bro! Take care always and see you again next year!

SOFITEL FOR FATHER’S DAY

Today, we held a simple Father’s Day celebration at Sofitel - simple really despite the grandeur of the hotel because we did not really dine at their premier restaurant buffet at Spiral. But instead, we dined inside the hotel room eating takeout from Amber’s – palabok, crispy chicken, barbequed pork, chopsuey and lumpiang shanghai. Sure, we were a tad disappointed because we were expecting another Spiral treat (hehehe) but I guess what’s important is that we were able to spend the day together, even if we just watched TV inside the room while the kids swam in the hotel pool.

Anyway, we all had a sumptuous dinner at Dencio’s at Harbor square, just outside Sofitel. The food and company was just fine with me. I guess what made me a bit disappointed was the fact that we weren’t able to spend another’s father day with the father of my children. I am not really sure why but he doesn’t seem to want to join us whenever we go to my father to celebrate father’s day. I would have wished that he was here with us even if we don’t spend much to go somewhere nice at least we are all together? Maybe next year I could get him to change his mind…

SPLASH ISLAND WITH SOFITEL FAMILY

It’s the Sofitel Family Day at Splash Island today and we got invited by my step-Aunt though my father was not around and so for the sake of the kids who had not been to Splash Island yet, we agreed. We had to get up early and travel all the way to Makati then again thru the monstrous traffic at SLEX before reaching the place at around 8:30 a.m. We stayed to watch the program (of Sofitel) for a bit since the pools did not open until 10am and by then the kids were itching to take a dip in the numerous pools. So we passed the time, lounging around in our assigned nipa hut while the kids loitered around the park and took part in some activities like wall/rock climbing (though it was only Alex who was adventurous enough)

Then, finally the kids started swimming and though I was hesitant at first to take a dip, I relented because I wanted to be with Kaye when she takes the major slides. We first started out slowly with the Balsa River ride where we just let the slow waves of the river take our inflatable tires down the entire length of the river-pool. Then there was also the wave pool called Agos Grandes though the waves were not on all the time but only during certain times during the day. But what sets Splash Island apart from the other resorts I had been to was the numerous slides! We started with a few short but twisting slides like the Big Bamboo, Twisted Palms and King Pilipit (a real heart-stopper!). But Kaye and I had the most fun with the Rio Montanosa wherein four persons can ride a family raft down a huge slide. We rode that for about 2 or 3 times and would have wanted to do more except that the lines were long and there was quite a bit of distance to walk from the pool to the stairs that would take us to the slides but it was worth it. What I didn’t try was the Magellan’s drop...well, my daughter still was not eligible to take it since she was still young while I was afraid of the quite steep slope that I can see from below so I passed and just let the other kids try it. Maybe next time when we get the chance to return to Splash Island...

Since this trip was a Sofitel-sponsored event, our food was likewise sponsored by them but we had to buy our own snacks since bringing in of food was not allowed. This would have been OK if not for the highly priced chips and drinks...oh well, our tickets to the venue are free anyway so we might as well splurge na lang on food hehehe. The hubby slept lang the entire day in the cabana and my eldest slept too though he did take a few slides/rides with us. The events were finished by 5 and we got dressed and was surprised at the traffic in SLEX that it took us two hours just to get to Makati...oh no, the hubby’s surely pissed now! Papa had just arrived from the airport by then and we had dinner first before we finally went home...tired but happy that I was able to have great bonding moments with my kids at Splash Island, admittedly the largest water-theme park we have been able to visit. Thank you Tita and also to Sofitel for making this possible...

LAST HURRAH AT SOFITEL


We spent the eve of father’s day at Sofitel… yup that swanky five-star hotel with the breathtaking sunset view of Manila bay. In fact, this is not our first time to spend special occasions at the hotel… not because we’re ultra-rich folks who frequent such places… no, we don’t have that much money to throw away. It was only because my step-mom (yes my dad’s second wife) ‘worked’ as a personnel manager of the hotel and often our overnight stays were discounted(??? by how much I really have no idea) I highlighted ‘worked’ because this is now a thing of the past --- she’s leaving for Dubai at the end of the month so this weekend here at the hotel would be our last – hence this piece’s title…

We arrived at around 4 pm on Saturday via a taxicab… we had to wait a bit for our rooms to be ready. In less than an hour we already went up to our room on the 6th floor… it had a huge queen-sized bed and they added 2 single beds for my 2 other boys. The huge bed was for me, the hubby and our little princess. My dad and his wife stayed in another suite with a receiving room – it had two plasma screens, one in the bedroom and another in the receiving room/sala. The sofa in the sala converts into a bed and this is where my half-sister and her family spent the night. My dad’s bathroom had a bathtub while ours didn’t have one, but it was still quite cool with all those glass doors and amazing shower spray that my kid and I just went crazy over and wished we had something like that in our own bathroom.


We were a bit hungry so the hubby and I went over to Star City to buy some grub. By the time we got back the kids have already grown tired of watching TV and being cooped inside the room so they checked out the pool with my half-sister’s husband, Jon. I followed them down to the pool in a little while and brought them some food to snack on. I would have wanted to take a dip in the pool but the sky was overcast and I didn’t want to get wet in such cool weather so I contented myself watching the kids frolic in the pool and gazed at the other guests swimming.




And as luck would have it, who should we run into swimming at the hotel pool but Ms. Claudine Barretto, her adopted daughter Sabrina, her son Santino and husband Raymart (whom I almost didn’t recognize though I was already standing beside him as I waited to take a pic of the sunset)… she was truly very pretty even without much make-up on and was quite accommodating because she relented to have a pic taken with my daughter and my half-niece. I told her, my daughter’s a fan because she watched her in her latest soap “Maligno” and she smiled and told the kids not to be afraid because that was just an on-screen role. The kids would have played longer with her daughter Sabina in the pool but the rain suddenly fell in such huge drops that they all left in a fluff – yayas, kids and all with a brief promise to meet up and play again at the poolside tomorrow morning.















My hubby took his own sweet time going down from the room so by the time he got to where I was lazily lounging, it was already raining and so he failed to get a glimpse of Claudine… too bad for him, huh? After a while, we all went up to the room so the kids can take their baths and get ready for dinner. We had dinner at past seven at the Spiral restaurant of Sofitel and I was literally overwhelmed by the buffet spread that the resto offered. So much so that I was totally unable to get any pictures at all of all the good things I savored…there was Filipino cuisine with the usual fiesta fare like lechon, kaldereta, etc; they had Japanese food like sashimi, tempura and sushi (my favorite!); Italian fare like pasta and pizza; American food like salads (with so many dressings to choose from), hams, steaks which they cook according to your wishes, and different kinds of bread/rolls. But the real winner was their dessert table ---- I have never seen so many cakes (even mini ones) laid out on a buffet, there were even candies, ice cream, and different flavored crepes wherein you can choose any filling and topping you want ( I had mango with chocolate syrup). I was so full that it was only after I was through eating that I realized I haven’t taken any pictures at all… too bad! This may be the first and last time I would have eaten here at Spiral…oh well…at least I’ll have sweet memories of this dinner that could last me a lifetime.


























The next day, we had breakfast served in our room (talk about having all the indulgences!!!) Well, after all this may be the last day we spend here at Sofitel so we might as well take advantage of it huh!?! This time I took pictures of everything we ordered and it was all so delicious... and the prices quite steep - but what the heck we're not paying for it anyway!!! I ordered a healthy breakfast and was quite surprised that the breakfast was big enough for two people – it had a fruit bowl, oatmeal, egg-white-only omelette, hashbrowns and some yogurt. Good thing I shared my breakfast with my daughter. My husband and other son had the Filipino style breakfast with sinangag, eggs, tapa and longganisa. My eldest son had his favorite food (even if it was still breakfast and too early for it, but thankfully the hotel already served it) - carbonara.

After eating, we all took our bath, got dressed and checked out of the room to leave. We dropped by Papa’s suite and learned that he has already left so we also took our leave after a brief kiss to and a thank you to my stepmom for our peaceful overnight stay at Sofitel (although my husband said he wasn’t at all able to sleep very well because he could hear our two sons snoring loudly)Well anyway, it was a brief and welcome respite from our normal weekends at home and truly an unforgettable experience for our family, especially for the kids... one which I hope I would be able to replicate with them --- at a place truly far away - like Bohol or Palawan - a true blue vacation for our entire family... well, it's not too bad to dream huh??? who knows, one of these days, it may just come true...