Is your car high enough?

Can you make it through the rain and flood?

Barcelona, Spain

Follow me as I bring you around the city where Sagrada Familia is located

Make the most out of your visit at the happiest place on Earth

Expert tips and tricks when visiting Hong Kong Disneyland

To cruise or not to cruise?

7 advantages of taking a cruise vs doing a land tour.

Sharks in the Philippines

7 of the 10 most dangerous sharks in the world are possibly in the Philipines? See the list and map.

Friday, June 7, 2013

Coke X Glee

Happiness is what Coke is known for and the Glee casts exudes such personality as they entertain people with their show and personalities. They came here with a little over 24 hours before the countdown timers in the red crates placed inside the malls expires.

Jacob Artist
Melissa Benoist
Becca Tobin
Dean Geyer
This reinforced what was before a hunch, to a teaser and today, a press conference was held to close the guessing game as to what the Glee casts will do here in the Philippines. The 4 Glee cast members are Becca Tobin, Melissa Benoist, Jacob Artist and Dean Geyer. Also, 4 "Happiness Ambassadors" will be present as well namely, Julia Montes, Joseph Marco, Enchong Dee and Kathryn Bernardo.

But the mystery is not yet over as they will go around the malls unveiling the mystery crates tomorrow simultaneously in different malls.

To check out the LIVE countdown timer, head over to Youtube.com and above the page, you'll see there a countdown that is in sync with the countdown timers placed on the crates in several malls (Glorietta, TriNoma and Market Market).

Host for the presscon, Iya Villania
Such a huge mysterious event is something I won't definitely miss and I invite you to visit the mysterious crates tomorrow as well. In the event that you cannot, I will be doing a live tweet with live video clips via VINE to fill you in the details, real time.

Remember: Trinoma. 2pm. Glee unveiling the mystery crates. See you there!
Hashtag for this event: #itona and #GleeforCoke


Cheftonio
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Thursday, June 6, 2013

Glee Cast and Happiness Ambassadors will Launch Mystery Crates

I just came from Siem Reap, Cambodia and I was surprised on how they have no malls there. The biggest grocery there was this:

The guide said that this was where most of the smaller stores and restaurants buy their stocks from. Imagine that!

In Manila, it's like almost each city has their own mall! Huge malls, community malls, super stores, grocery stores and even mini grocery stores! The one I photographed above is considered a mini grocery when placed in Manila.

Malls in Manila now has to create extra efforts to calling the attention of customers because of the huge selection of malls you can visit when in Manila. Take for example a new mall in Taguig. They even invited a Hollywood celebrity to join them in opening the mall. (But I still won't visit that mall because of their violations).


Now, there are red boxes with a timer in some malls. Not sure if this is another gimmick or a new promo to attract more customers but it sure looks intriguing enough that I will try my best to be there when the countdown will be finished.

I was informed that 4 Glee cast members, Becca Tobin, Melissa Benoist, Jacob Artist and Dean Geyer PLUS 4 "Happiness Ambassadors", Julia Montes, Joseph Marco, Enchong Dee and Kathryn Bernardo will be present to reveal the big surprise in the said malls where the red boxes are present (Trinoma, Market Market and Glorietta)


Check out my next article about it as I find more information for you guys about this big surprise. Glee for coke! Yey!

Cheftonio
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Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Apple iPad Mini On Sale!

Thinking of getting an iPad mini? Here's your chance to get it at 9000 pesos off or at 0% interest!

Details:
What?
iPad Mini on sale!

Why get there?
1) Smart has the best LTE coverage
2) As per my personal experience, it exceeds 40mbps
3) Who doesn't want 0% interest?
4) Who doesn't need that additional 9000 pesos you can spend on other things?
5) Best device with the best network = perfect combo

How?
Be there!

Where? 
EDSA Shangri-La Plaza Mall

When?
June 8 and June 9, 2013


Twitter Hashtag: #GetMini
http://smart.com.ph/getmini

Cheftonio
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Monday, June 3, 2013

Siem Reap to Phnom Penh via Bus (Giant Ibis)

On this trip, we planned to visit Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. Since our plane lands in Siem Reap, we have to travel by land to Phnom Penh because of budget constraints. There are several ways to do so and one is via bus.

Our bus leaves 7:45am and we left Bunwin hotel around 7:00am. We arrived at the terminal around 7:25am and since we were already pre-booked online (search for Giant Ibis in google), there was no hassle already. We just gave the porters our luggage and we board the bus.

The bus was spacious and has good service as well. Among the buses parked in that station, our bus was the best as per my own criteria. They even have their own onboard wifi which is a huge plus for me. There are times though that the signal will be gone because you're traveling on the outskirts and upon approaching the city, you get signal again. Password hasn't been changed in awhile and I know because upon checking-in via foursquare, the password  was also mentioned there. Password for the wifi onboard is 'ibis2012'.


Our driver was a bit crazy because of all the overtaking but it was bearable. Throughout the ride, they showed three movies. Fantastic 4, Dark Knight Rises and Journey to the mysterious island. I just watched portions of it as I was also blogging and sleeping at times.

There are two stops. First is at the 2 1/2 hour mark and second is around the 5 hour mark. The first stop lasts for 30 minutes and the second is for 10 minutes, just enough for a restroom stop.

For the first stop, we ate at Banyan Tree restaurant. Here's what we ate:
Fried noodle with beef and fried egg. Noodles was good! This was the best out of all the food we got at this rest stop. Tasty and not that oily being it fried noodles.

Beef Lok Lak. Just so-so. Beef was just right with it being hard at times. 

The beef fried rice was better in Bunwin hotel and that's why the standards are set a bit higher already so this was just okay. If you haven't tasted the fried rice from there, then this is okay.

Iced coffee tasted like a mix of chocolate and coffee. Good and a must order!

Overall, it was a comfortable ride and I highly recommend Giant Ibis whether you are traveling from Siem Reap - Phnom Penh or vice versa.

Giant Ibis fare: $13 USD
Travel time: Around 6 hours
Website: www.giantibis.com

Bunwin Boutique Hotel in Cambodia

Some first impressions last and some don't. With this hotel, I'm glad it didn't. From the airport, we were picked up by our hotel service. The problem is not the service of the driver. Upon reaching the corner of our hotel because which wasn't along the main road (highway 6), we entered this dark bumpy alley and traveled around 500 meters until we reached the hotel. We were already thinking how the hell we would go out of the hotel when it is that dark and quite a walk from the main road. The good news is, the bad first impression was just up to that point.


All the semi-negative initial impression was removed as we entered the hotel lobby. Even though we arrived around 10pm, we were still warmly welcomed. Cold towel and a refreshing lemongrass juice was served perfect for the warm weather.


(Photo of the pool above taken the next day. Beside that lounge chair is a short skimpy path leading to our room)

Check-in was fast. Just present your passport and fill up a quick form. It was again quite dark on the way to the room but it was okay because the moon was bright that night. I recommend that you bring a flashlight if you have eyesight problems just to be sure. 




The room was impressively huge. There's are chairs and a table behind the bed, a queen bed in the middle of the room, a bath tub inside the room decorated with floating flowers, a sink area which is also inside the room. Inside the bathroom, there's the usual loo and a rain shower with pebbled stones by the gutter. Very zen like design. 
(Bath tub inside the room)


Below are some images of our room cropped put from a panorama:

The good service doesn't end there. Even though it's already late, we wanted to grab a quick bite before going to sleep. We went to the famous tourist-y  pub street but how sis we manage to walk out of the hotel? Well, transportation services are also included via their own tuktuks! Their service is only up to 11pm though so we had to take out own tuktuk back to the hotel for a bargainable fee of $2.50 which started at $4 I think.

Breakfast was also i cludes in the rate it was you choice or continental, american or asian breakfast. I ordered the American breakfast (poached egg, ham, sausage and bacon). They also provide bread and juice with coffee or tea.

To continue on with Bunwin hotel's tuktuk service, on the second day, we had a dinner reservation at the Touich Restaurant. It was atound an 8-10 minute ride I think. Their tuktuk dropped as there and we called the hotel to pick us ul and brought us to the night market. After night market, we called them again to fetch us. This is really service deluxe in my opinion.

Another great service was the mobile phone. Why? They lent a phone to use to use if we were to call the hotel! This is the first time I've experienced this kind of service. 

These are just some of the obvious why I will highly recommend Bunwin hotel when you're visiting Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Here are some photos of the place:

Bunwin Boutique Hotel
National Road #06, Samaki Market Zone
Phum Banteay Chas, Siem Reap, Cambodia
E-mail: reservation@bunwinboutique.com
Website: www.bunwinboutique.com

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Cambodia: First Impression

Just landed in Siem Reap via Cebu Pacific tonight around 10pm local time here. Prior to landing, I noticed it was almost pitch black. Just a light here and there but as soon as we landed, I was impressed with their airport!

It reminded me of Balinese design. Even though they have a small airport, it was organized and neat!


It just took us a few minutes to get out of the plane and out the airport. Once out of the airport, we were met by our hotel pickup service.

On the way to the hotel, it felt like I was in one of the more modern provinces in the Philippines. Our driver was also kind enough to introduce us to some of the basic information about Siem Reap. He also told us that Filipino series 'teleserye' is very hot in Cambodia right now. After telling me that, he whipped up his phone and showed me a photo of Marian Rivera. He told me that everyone in Cambodia knows Ding Dong and 'Marimar', which I assumed that it was Marian she was talking about with a follow up question, "are they really a couple?" Honestly, I do not know because I don't know much about showbiz but I just said yes because I didn't want to disappoint him and I have a hunch that they really are. So, sorry if they are not.


We arrived in our hotel and I loved their service! First class! They hand you a cold towel, a refreshing lemon grass juice drink while they  ask you to fill up some forms and your passport. After that, we left our stuff inside the room and went out to have late dinner.

The hotel also gave us a mobile phone we can use to call them while we are out and they also provide tuktuk service to and from the city up to 11pm.

Their drivers dropped us along pub street. Let me put it this way, pub street is like you being transported to another city not very cambodia-like. Full of life and music and partying!



The streets might look empty but the restaurants were not. We are not here to party but just to grab a quick bite before we end the day. 

Going back to the hotel, we got our own tuktuk service and paid $2.50(yes, they accept USD) and it was already 1230am Cambodia time (130am Manila time).

Long day tomorrow visitng the Angkor Wat. Goodnight!:)