The Adventures and Misadventures of Mrs.Panda

Saturday, January 11, 2014

1st Anniversary of the Panda Couple + Shang Palace Lunch!

Overdue Post:

For our first wedding anniversary, my Mr. Panda treated me to a Ty Po Huat Shopping Spree :) we went to Binondo on a sunny saturday morning and waited for the oldest jewelry store to open haha :) Mr. Panda sort of surprised me with this one......but I'm really happy! hihi :) Alam kasi niya this is part of my childhood, nuon kasi instead of buying expensive toys, Papa will always tell me "what do you want lets got to Mr.Ding (Ding Velayo Jewelry Store near Domestic Airport) or Rustans/Landmark? (my favorite toy store places)" I will always answer "Mr. Ding!"

Bata pa lang, investment na iniisip haha :) Anyway, after our Binondo Trip, we rushed to Shangri La Makati for our Dimsum Buffet at Shang Palace. For P888 per person super sulit!!!!

I was not able to take all pictures of all our dimsum batches :)

They learned that its our anniversary and surprised us for a very sweet and orgasmic treat!

The cozy area of Shang Palace

We stayed at the second floor to relax our stuffed tummies and listened to Christmas Songs :)

Tea... again!

The Piano :) <3

A Sparkly and Snowy Christmas at the Shangri La Lobby :)

Peso Power:

5/5

Mrs. Panda's Foodie Reviews

- super sulit! unlimited dimsum, tea,appetizer, noodles, congee, rice, dessert and 1 choice of main course :)

- service is superb! kahit may konting waiting time sa pag serve ng dimsum..i mean hindi yung pag order mo serve agad minsan 5-10 mins din, so kahit marami pa laman ng table nyo. order lang ng order :) usually good for 1 naman ang serving :)

- go there at 11 if pwede then stay until 2:30 para may pacing sa buffet :)

- if weekends, please call for reservation. Luckily, we made reservations that day, full seating sila.

- enjoy your food! if you're a dimsum lover, this is h-e-a-v-e-n sabi nga ng aking full blooded chinese hubby :) :)

Will post the dinner anniversary tom! :)

Will I come back? Yes! we were there twice last December and we really enjoyed the buffet :)

Christmas Staycation at Acacia :(

A month before the Christmas Day, we made reservations for 2 Christmas Staycation Packages at Acacia Hotel.We always have our staycations ( long holiday weekends, mom's birthday, mother's day with 4 families!, our first valentines as a married couple) there for the past 2 years and we were always happy with their services. I actually "advertised' the hotel to our friends and some of them really stayed their because of our recommendations. But last Christmas, we were very disappointed with our stay :( :(

1. We arrived at Acacia at 1:30 pm and my brother fell in line to check in. Mr. Panda and I left to bring my niece and her son to Laguna. We were back by 2:30 pm and we are only given 1 room, the 2nd room is still getting cleaned-up. Ok, we waited at the my parents' room ( room 501).

2. 2:30 - 3:30 pm, my brother called twice to follow up for the second room. They informed us they are still cleaning it (how long should they clean the room? standard cleaning usually takes 30 minutes....)

3. 4:00 pm, by this time we are all pissed. Brother called again and they said our 2nd room - room 502, is being checked by the VA and ready for turnover. They are just waiting for the keycard. (Ha, e sa looby galing ang keycard dba. Iba ang keycard na hawak ng mga nasa housekeeping dept di ba?)

I went to the other room and found the door ajar, heard someone talking inside. With a couple of gentle knocks, I went inside and saw a personnel talking to the radio. "sir, ano problema ng room? kanina pa kami nag iintay?" i asked calmly. "mam, barado po yung bathtub, tinawag ko na po" he replied. GRRRRRRR. Akala ko ba for turnover na.

I went downstairs and approached the same lady who assisted us earlier

"Miss, what happened to our room 502?" seriously pissed...

"Mam, its ready for turnover" all smiles

"Really?! , I just checked room 502 and barado the bathtub hindi pa nagagawa anong ready for turn over kanina pa kami dito nagiintay! You should inform us honestly naman. DO something get us another room!"

I know its Christmas but pagod na din ako and kaya nga ako nagcheck in sa hotel to relax.

The lobby ladies are still smiling but walang sagot. GRRRRRR

A hotel butler approached us and told us confidently "Mam, I got your room its.....(tingin sa screen) you're in 504"

YUN PALA.... Pwede gawan agad ng paraan ng mabilisan.

While getting our keycards, some guests started complaining in loud voices too na ilang oras na din sila waiting for their rooms.

Kaya lang, sablay pa din ang Acacia that day.... Una, Meron Welcome Mr. John ______ with a basket fo fruits sa room namin, hindi man lang nila natanggal the name....

Then,

there's a cigarette looking hole sa duvet

ants on the coffee tray, i wiped them off

after a couple of minutes, may tropa pala yung ants na inalis ko, meron ulit

we can't close the shower door, yun pala bumaba na yung shower door, sana naman they maintain their rooms and bathrooms :(

Sad talaga, because we really love this hotel and hindi naman excuse kung maraming tao. Peak Season expected yun dapat and they have promos pa that time. Honestly, mas maraming tao last Mother's Day, we stayed in line for almost 1 hour to check in pa lang. But mabilis naman the turn over of our rooms, 4 pa na rooms yun and ok lahat the rooms. And sana they gave us the real status of the room turnover, nakakainis kasi yung puro paasa yun pala hindi talaga available yung room. Hope Acacia Hotel will do something about it.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Overdue Post: Anniversary at Spiral Sofitel

For our 5th year anniversary as a couple, Mr. Panda surprised me with a Tagaytay Trip :) Since our actual special day fell on a weekday, we did our Tagaytay trip the ff weekend. But I surprised Mr. Panda with Spiral Buffet Dinner on the actual day! :) Its been ages since our last Spiral visit.

Photo Overload!

Greens! Greens!

My favorite part! Roast Duck and Sweet Pork or Roasted Asado!

Hotpot :) Mr. Panda enjoyed these :)

Yummy Eggtarts!

Noodles!

Pizza!

Freshly baked breads :)

Coldcuts!

Assorted Teas :)

Tempura! love!

L' Epicerie Spreads!

L' Epicerie aka The Cheese Room! Cheeselovers will find this place as their wonderland :)

L' Epicerie aka Cheeseroom Fridge!

Pinoy Sweets! Puto Bumbong and Bibingka :)

Ice Cream Bar!

Fresh fruits!

For the Choco Fountain :)

Dark, Milk and White Chocolate Fountain :)

Sweets!

One day, I'll have this chest of drawers with sweets! sa bahay ko hihi :)

Gummies and Jellybeans!

C-h-o-c-o-l-a-t-e-s!

Gummies!

Mini Cakes!

Pannacotta and Creme Brulee! YUM!

Mr. Panda and I enjoyed our dinner so much we forgot to take pictures of the food that we got from the buffet. We were seated at the La Veranda (bar and extension of the Spiral) where the lights were too dimmed and we have to request for lightning adjustment in our area :)

http://www.sofitelmanila.com/en/spiral.html

Peso Power
5/5
I got our vouchers from a groupon site! :)

Mrs. Panda's Foodie Reviews
- over 300 dishes super sulit! you just have to pick the dishes because you wont be able to taste everything naman talaga :)
- avoid the La Veranda area - madilim siya for me

:)

Weekdates: Saboten @ Serendra

Overdue Post:

One of our frequent weekdate's place is Serendra :) :) Less than a 5 minute drive from our first home and if masipag ka maglakad, pwede siya lakarin. Mr. Panda is into Japanese food pa din and we tried Saboten for their famous cutlets!