Calypso Boutique Hotel

During our vacation in Hanoi, my sister and I stayed in Calypso Boutique Hotel located in the heart of Hanoi's old quarter. We were given free pick-up service and welcome drinks upon arrival. The staff was extremely friendly and accommodating.  

We got a special 4 Days/3 Nights package from the hotel that includes the following:

- 2 nights stay in Calypso Boutique Hotel

- 2 days/ 1 night deluxe cruise in Halong Bay (overnight on board)

- Roundtrip shuttle from Hanoi to Halong (and vice versa)

- Meals (3 breakfast, 2 lunch, 1 dinner)

We stayed in a cozy 25 square meter superior room with ensuite bathroom, air conditioning, mini bar, DVD player, and even a desktop computer with internet connection. I really adore the red and white details of our room! It's so neat and stylish! I definitely recommend Calypso Boutique Hotel to everybody who's planning to visit Hanoi in the future!

Trung Nguyen and Pho

Trung Nguyen: Vietnam's Number One Coffee. My sister has been raving about this coffee brand since she first tried this in Ho Chi Minh City way back in 2008. When we went to Hanoi recently, my sister could not stop bugging me about trying this coffee. Good thing we were able to find a coffeeshop near our hotel which serves Trung Nguyen Coffee. Guess what's the name of the coffeeshop? Hi Friends. Haha so weird! 

Pho: Vietnamese Noodle Soup. For our last dinner in Hanoi, my sister and I ate at the airport. We were so famished that night so we ordered to our hearts content. Midway through our meal, we realized that we forgot to compute how much our food would cost us. We only had 343,000 Dong, our last remaining money after our four-day vacation in Hanoi. Patay! When we got our bill, guess how much was it? It was EXACTLY 343,000 Dong. Haha! What a coincidence!  

Cha Ca Thang Long

The friendly receptionist at our hotel recommended the Vietnamese Restaurant, Cha Ca Thang Long, for my sister and I to try. We braved the rainy streets of Hanoi to search this restaurant located a couple of blocks away from our hotel. We got a little lost along the way because the street signs were not so clear. On top of this, there was a citywide blackout on our way to the restaurant.

Cha Ca Thang Long literally means Vietnamese style fish with Turmeric and Dill. We ordered their set menu complete with vegetables, peanuts and noodles. We also tried their Vietnamese beer. The restaurant, Cha Ca Thang Long, only proved that authentic meals need not be expensive.

Cha Ca Thang Long is located in 21 -31 Duong Thanh Street, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi, Vietnam.

Two Million Dinner

On our first night in Hanoi, my sister and I found ourselves strolling in Ba Dinh District after we checked out the nearby Truc Bach Lake. We were taking pictures outside Sofitel Plaza Hotel when my sister joked about having dinner in the said hotel since we haven't eaten a decent meal since we arrived earlier that day.

I don't mind spending a little more than usual for a good meal in a luxury hotel so we decided to enter the hotel and inquire about their restaurants. I love how the lobby of Sofitel Plaza Hotel exudes a certain air of grandness. 

We discovered that one of their restaurants, the Brasserie Westlake, was offering an Asian and International buffet dinner that night. 

While we were checking out the long buffet table in the restaurant, our hungry tummies started growling. It was then that we decided to ATTACK!!! Haha!

Our total bill was more than VND 2,000,000 or about Php 4,000. A funny moment took place when we were about to pay our bill. We didn't have enough Vietnamese dong because we failed to have our Philippine pesos and Singapore dollars changed in the airport! They won't accept my local Philippine credit card as well. My sister had to rush to the lobby of the hotel to have our moneys changed into Vietnamese dong despite the high currency exchange rate. 

Singapore: Round 4

Singapore has been my second home ever since my sister started working here three years ago. I've visited this sunny little city quite a lot of times. My first time was back in January 2009 during Chinese New Year together with my siblings. Meanwhile, I was alone the second time I came back in November 2009 after my trip to Kuala Lumpur. My third time back in March 2010 was totally unexpected because the trip was our prize for winning the business case study competition during Singapore's Global Entrepreneurship Week. 

A couple of days ago, I was back in the Lion City for the fourth time because my sister and I had a scheduled trip to Hanoi, Vietnam via Singapore. It's been 19 months since I was last here and I am so surprised that the entire Marina Bay has been fully developed. It was still under construction back in 2010. The Marina Bay Sands is a world-class luxury casino and hotel in Singapore capped by Sands Skypark.

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands is a luxury shopping mall offering a wide variety of international brands and emerging labels.

Of course every trip to Singapore would not be complete without the food! I went back to my favorite restaurant, Wee Nam Kee and also tried several others.

LSS: Happy Songs

Epiphany

Today is Pia's 38th birthday! She'll kill me when she finds out I publicly announced her age here in my blog! Haha! But she has no reason to be ashamed of her age. In fact, she should be proud that she looks like an 18-year-old kolehiyala until today. My cousin ordered this giant Oreo cookie cake for her.

We had lunch at Epiphany, a restaurant located at 26. N.Domingo, Quezon City. It is near the corner of Gilmore and N. Domingo, going to Sta. Mesa area. The unique thing about this restaurant is that they change their menu every week so there's always something new to look forward to. Many celebrities have dined here, including Kris Aquino.

Love This Nook

I just saw this photo from Freshome's Facebook page and I can't help but repost this. This is definitely my dream nook. I wish I could recreate this cute little nook when I'll have my own flat someday. I could already imagine myself spending lots and lots of lazy weekends here in this nook.

October Photoblog

 *** Random street performance in Ljubljana, Slovenia ***

Westlife Live in Manila

Last September 29, the Irish boy band, Westlife, had their one-night concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum! I grew up listening to their songs that's why I was thrilled when my friend, Gui, invited me to join her at the very last minute. Until this very day, I still kept my old cassette tapes of their past albums!

We arrived at the concert venue quite early so we did lots of camwhoring first. 

When the lights were dimmed, the crowd shouted in excitement!

After the opening act, the guys from Westlife came out and started singing their hit song, “When You’re Looking Like That”.

My favorite Nicky Byrne looking younger than ever!

Some lucky fans were invited on stage and were serenaded by the Westlife guys.

They described the Manila crowd as absolute mania!

They changed their clothes quite a number of times during the concert.

Farewell Westlife!