Therapeutic Swimming.

This year marks the sixth year of love and happiness I felt since day 1 we met. For that reason, it calls for a very special celebration – we decided to explore a new place while staying within the budget. LOL!

I took a leave - again (Like a boss hahaha), for two days because I wanted to have a nice and intimate celebration. Due to many factors, I could not afford to go outside Manila, say Tagaytay, to celebrate. We had to make a way.

Weeks before the event, we were searching like mad dogs on which place is better over the other one and so on. I was writing on my planner, when it hit me.

BDJ Planner = Ace Hotel and Suites.

I have this discount for a hotel within Manila that has something unique to provide its patron. I immediately called the hotel; asked a few queries; had an ocular tour around the rooms and finally made reservations a week ahead of our desired date.

Prior to our short vacation, I was really giddy (As in THIS GIDDY) because I have been planning to visit the place long time ago, when they first opened. Boy! Was I glad we went there! The experience was not like the other hotels I’ve been to. The water spa was the highlight or crème of the top of our stay.

• How to get there?We went to their Pasig branch, since it has a hotel to stay overnight. If you are bringing your own car, they have a secured parking on the fifth floor of the hotel. You can also commute by flagging down a cab (which may cost around less than 500.00 PHp in my gauge), or good ol’ Filipino way: jeepney and tricycle.
• Via private car: If you are taking the EDSA route, turn along Shaw Boulevard (corner of Shangri-la Mall) and go straight ahead until you see the new Capitol Commons (which is still under construction by the way as of this writing). In front of the Capitol Commons, there is a Petron gasoline station, turn right to it. Then turn right again on the second block. Just a few meters and you can already see the Ace Hotel and Suites.On the other hand, if you are coming from C-5 area (I know, I know, this is a bias tip on where you are coming. These are the only general routes I am aware of haha. Sorry one homebody gal in here LOL), you can take the Shaw route again through Bagong Ilog, Pasig. When you see the Capitol Commons area, take a left turn in the Petron gasoline station.
• Via jeepney and tricycle: Point of reference is along Shaw Boulevard. You need to ride a jeepney with a signage of Pasig Palengke or Antipolo or Quiapo. It will be able to stop in front of Petron gasoline station. Walk a few distances and you can ride a tricycle to the hotel. Not a fancy way to ride towards the hotel, but hey, we can ride PUV as long as it passes by the hotel. You can shell out around 100.00 PHp (back and forth)

·         How much to shell out? For our overnight stay, with complimentary breakfast buffet and use of water spa for two – total cost is around 4,300+ PHp. I availed of the 30% discount from my BDJ planner (Yey! For being a BDJ girl). There will be additional cost of 100.00 PHp if you will be borrowing swimwear from them.
·        How was the room? We had two choices for our discount – Deluxe Queen and Deluxe Twin. We opted for the Deluxe Queen. You can also choose between The Fort view and Ortigas view. Personally, for me the view was so-so (I was able to book a room facing the two areas).Upon entering, it was clean and well-maintained. My thought was, maybe because the facility is relatively new. The ambiance of the room was comfortable - something I look for when staying at hotels. The bathroom was also well-maintained and spacious which I love. The drawback we had was the difficulty to set the A/C in the correct temperature. The control button near the door was not working and we had to call housekeeping to manually position the A/C. Oh, by the way, they have to contact their cable provider. The reception was not good with blurred lines and all. Plus, the TV might not be the appropriate size. The screen does not capture the whole thing (Hello to heads being cut off because the screen only shows the neck part downwards).
·         How was the food? We were able to taste their breakfast buffet and took orders at their Ace Coffee Lounge on the ground floor. The most memorable for me was the danggit served during the buffet. It was my first experience to see this Filipino delicacy served at a hotel. I had about three servings of rice with this viand haha! They also cook omelettes according to the ingredients you want (if available). Now, I wonder if someday they could also take pancake orders with custom ingredients. The pancakes served at the buffet were small and not fluffy at all. But over-all the food was great (I had the curious eyes of the people on me as I came back for the nth time LOL. They might be wondering why a thin girl like me eats like a man haha). The thing is the hotel is surrounded with various unique concept restaurants from Japanese to Filipino cuisine. So eating at the hotel might be your last choice (maybe if it gets too late already or it is raining hard or you’re plain lazy to get out haha).
·       Overall experience? Totally memorable. The water spa definitely offered something exceptional to the hotel stay. We were like kids trying out all the different hydro massage systems, the hot herbal pools and the lapping pool. And there is the lazy pool. I swear you can sleep floating idly there. Ahh! The life free of stress.  

You just have to remember the following when entering the water spa: wear only swimwear clothing (I saw a girl who was not allowed inside because she was wearing a push-up bra that looks like a swimsuit), no gadgets inside, always wear the head cap (I was whistled at because my head cap fell out of place).

Evidence of me pigging out HAHA!

We will definitely go back when we need a short staycation experience.

How about you? Have you tried staying at Ace Hotel and Suites?

‘til next post.

Ciao,

Maddie <3

Spotless a.k.a. First Luggage Cleaner.

I formally caught the travel bug when I purchased my own luggage. Actually it was my mother who insisted on having my luggage, saying it is a wise move considering I am usually deployed for business trips.

Now that my highlighter fenk luggage has been to a few trips, it also gained few but horrible travel marks. One of the major problem - sticker marks; minor problems - black marks due to plane position, scratches due to collision with other baggage and so on.

I tried various methods in removing the stains:

1. Alcohol

2. Plain water

3. Ajax with scrub

4. Soap with Ajax using scrub

5. Throw. (Just kidding! LOL)

In search for something to do miracle I stumbled upon Spotless!

Product description: The texture and smell is very much like that of Ajax (Specific brand of cleaning agent). It has a thick formulation, somewhat like dry clay – if there exist such a thing. The color is leaning towards ash grey.

Product Performance: At first I used only my fingers to scoop and gently rub the cream on the mark. Later on, I also used a semi-wet cloth, to scoop out a little and rub in soft circular movements on the dirt (See pictures for reference). Upon thorough cleansing, I noticed that my luggage has brightened a bit. It did shine as if it was brand new and the black skid marks were easily removed without much effort.

Price and Placement: Locally available at Ace Hardware store for PHP 199.75.

Here are the before and after photos:

NOTE: Maybe due to me being lazy on the day I cleaned my luggage, I was not able to totally remove the sticker marks. But there is a big difference on how it looked before using blank.

I would recommend it, but I believe there is still a better formulation out there.

TIP: Upon landing at the terminal, immediately remove the sticker since you won’t be needing it anymore. Or buy a luggage that has special texture so that the stickers will not leave any visible marks.

Starting the year right!

Backlog - indeed they are my most guilty vice when it comes to writing. Thank goodness I don’t write for a living, or else I might have been fired already haha!

The year started with so many blessings. I have been at seven places (Outside Manila) in just two months. Imagine that! It is so surreal that I can’t explain my happiness! You know, it actually made me realize that my dream board works. Thank you, Universe! I am so eternally grateful to God for all the blessings and the challenges with it.

Let the year of beautiful attractions begin.

When I went to Boracay last year, man was I totally clueless where to begin. You see, I am absolutely a dummy when it comes to airplane flights and bookings and everything travel-related (Poor me LOL). Out of the blue, I thought of using the same agency my boss contacted during our company outing - Southwest Tours.

So how did I find their service compared to the service they provided with someone who purchased a bigger package than me?

Let us start with the initial interaction. Their website is easy to use. They have an online chat readily available on times you wanted to clarify something (Regular office hours). The hotel choice ranges from the bulsa-friendly to the feel-ko-mayaman-day (bongga di ba? Haha) located on stations 1, 2 and 3.

NOTE: If you wanted to get the lowest possible price, better book at least two months in advance. I viewed the rates a month before we were leaving and was shocked to see our hotel rate increased by 2,000 bucks. Shucks.

However, I did find their payment schedule quite confusing (which made me really annoyed). You can see in their website that upon reserving the hotel; the payment can be deposited two weeks before your travel. I even asked through chat just to double check if the payment schedule is accurate and their CSR confirmed it. In our case our flight was on October 20, by the time I booked early September I was confident that my budget will not be ruined (Hey I strongly believe that any working girl should be aware of her financial matters). Imagine my surprise when I received an email stating that I need to pay on September 12 for our reservation (It was a week after my booking).

I called Southwest to clarify the matter and they said that in order to secure the hotel room type, I need to pay on the date stated. Well, excuse me for not knowing but they should have indicated that in their email and they should have told me when via chat clarification.

The day of our travel interaction. The vehicle used were all air conditioned and is actually spacious to accommodate a number of people (in our trip from Caticlan port to our hotel, the L300 had about a family of 7 plus me and my friend). What I did not like about the transportation is their fast craft (Okay so I am being biased here because I have a very erratic sea sickness. I feel like throwing up even if the boat/ship/canoe/yacht is anchored. See I told you, I am that bad with sea travel). Riding on their fast craft is like riding in a boat - Venetian style.

On the other hand I can vouch that southwest was on the dot. They arranged pick up with leeway as not to be delayed with our travel back. During the second night, someone called to remind what time our pick up for our departure the next day.

Overall, I am willing to try again the services of Southwest (Except for the payment arrangement issue I had. Hoping that could be transparent in the future to avoid that matter). Anyways, they are legit, secured and efficient.

How about you, which travel agency do you prefer for travel?

Til next post!

Ciao,

Maddie

I am a Registered Voter.

It’s this time of the year again. Yeah, I know it is summer but I am talking about another momentous national movement that will happen this quarter – elections. I am a registered voter since I turned 18 (If you are wondering I am just 20-ish something girl LOL). During the time I registered, what the COMELEC in our municipality gave us were stubs only. We were informed that formal Voter’s ID will be released after a year or so. I did not bother to anticipate that I will have my ID within a year, after all based on my experience with my SSS unified ID, well you know already.

Drum roll to this year. We heard from our neighbour (Take note: No official announcement or whatsoever) that the Voter’s ID in our municipality are already available. My mom wanted to get ours.  I had no option but to take a leave from work.

We left early since we know how people flock to government offices every day. The office where we shall be claiming our ID’s was easy to locate and since we went there super early, only a handful people were lining up to claim their voter’s ID.

A step-by-step process on how I got my ID:

1.    Queue up on Window 1.
2. Mention your name and give the stub.
3. Queue on Window 2.
4. Confirm and sign on the paper with your name (It is a list of registered voters).
5. Claim your ID.

There you have it, folks. I was actually happy that I have my Voter’s ID. Finally, a physical evidence that I did voted which President I really want. Call your municipality to check if your ID is ready for claiming.

Voter's ID 2013.

Claiming Area.

NOTE: Do not laminate anymore your ID. The ID itself is protected by a special type flexible lamination. For those who are asking if someone can get your Voter’s ID, I heard that you really need to be present to claim it. However, on the day I was at the office, I heard a man say if he can claim his wife’s ID. The personnel at the window asked his wife’s name and granted the request. I don’t know if I did hear it right though, I was already on my way out of the claiming area.

Exercise your right to vote wisely!

‘Til next post!

Ciao,

Maddie :)