Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort & Spa

Last weekend was once again spent in Cebu. I've always said that Cebu is my second home and this trip was really so good that I actually felt sad coming back to Manila. It's not the drinking, eating nor the partying that I love most about Cebu but its the people, most specially my friends.

One of the things I was able to do on this very very short trip was to visit Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort & Spa (whew, that's a mouthful!) located in Lapu-Lapu City. Ever since Imperial Palace opened in Cebu, majority of the Korean market has been booking with them. Imperial Palace is primarily owned by Koreans and they even have their main hotel in Seoul, South Korea.

The first thing I noticed when I entered the lobby of Imperial Palace is that....hey this reminds me so much of Mactan Shangri-la.

Although the similarities end there as you instantly get a sense of a different character when you get to roam the grounds of the hotel.

Front Desk. I find the Front Desk area to be a tad small for such a huge resort. Although there the Reception area itself is huge to accommodate group check-ins.

Basically, the hotel is divided into two types of living quarters. You have a choice of staying in one of the 6 towers (which are all connected to each other) or you can opt to stay at a villa.

a. Tower Rooms

All the deluxe rooms were occupied the time I visited so I was shown a higher category room which is equivalent to a Junior Suite (comes with a living area and a bedroom)

I like the addition of the bar in the room as you can use this as an eating area as well for all the Cebu delicacies that you may purchase during your stay.

b. Villa

The villas are a no-children zone. The main reason for this is that the resort is thinking about the safety of the children eg. falling off the 2nd floor or drowning in the pool, etc. So the villas area actually perfect for honeymooners.

An elevated view of the villas...

...and a closer look

With the villas, you either have a choice of having a room with a jacuzzi (2nd floor) or a room with a private pool (ground floor)

Sun deck to do some sunbathing in the privacy of your own villa.

Modern looking buttons found inside the villa.

The resort is sprawling so naturally, some guests may find it tiring to walk to and from their rooms and the restaurants. Fortunately, there are golf carts on call that you can summon to pick and drop you off at any location in the resort

Imperial Palace prides itself on its waterpark (you can see this from the first picture with the pool area located between the towers and the villas). So it was not surprising that their beach area was really really really small (I can't emphasize enough how small the strip of beach is).

There are cabanas in the beach area that are actually for rent. Cost is approximately Php2,000++ per person. You can use the cabanas to laze around, watch TV or play some video games.

Day tours are also an option at Imperial Palace. For Php2,900 (weekdays) per person, you can use the hotel facilities (pool, beach, etc) and have buffet lunch at the main coffee shop. If you prefer to pass on the buffet, they can instead give you a Php 1,000 voucher which you can use on any of their food outlets.

I would love to bring my nephew and nieces and perhaps stay two nights at Imperial Palace. It's a place where I think it would be great to either bring the kids or to spend a quiet time with your partner.

Room Rates go for as low as US$ 175 per room per night with a minimum of 02 night's stay

Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort & Spa

M.L. Quezon Highway

Brgy. Maribago

Lapu-lapu City, Cebu 6015

Tel (+63 32) 4945288

Website: www.imperialpalace-cebu.com

iShield by Zagg

Buying a hand phone nowadays is no laughing matter. Recently I bought my 3rd blackberry unit which is the Blackberry Torch. At a cost of more than US$ 20k (US$ 454), I wanted to make sure that its protected from bumps and scratches.

I first read about iShield by Zagg on one the pop up advertisements on my blog and I clicked on it, curious as to its purpose and its being effective.

So what does iShield basically offer:

-Maximum Coverage includes 0.2 mm thick invisibleSHIELD the entire gadget

-Military grade patented material engineered for your Apple iPhone

-Unique properties provide self-healing qualities

-Helps reduce the appearance of fingerprint smudges and smears

-Includes free lifetime replacement warranty for the life of your device

I also searched the net for reviews on it and it turns out that this is one of the most highly recommended protective 'case' not just for the screen but for the entire phone/tablet/camera/watch/laptop. They're biggest market though are the Apple products (iPhone, iPad, and iPod)

I was already willing to have them ship me a iShield set for my Torch for US$ 24.99 plus shipping (around Php 1,232) when a friend of mine told me that there are several iShield stations in the Metro Manila. I highly doubted this since I never imagined Filipinos to be that protective of their devices but upon checking the website of Zagg, I found out that there is indeed a branch at Mall of Asia (they also have branches inside SM Megamall, SM North Edsa, and other major SM malls). I emailed iShield Philippines if they had the Full Maximum Coverage for Blackberry Torch at Mall of Asia and I got a prompt reply that they did but only on limited stocks.

I lost no time in going to Mall of Asia and had them iShield my phone.

Firstly, don't go there on a weekend. There's just too many people having their phones protected and a normal procedure would take about 30 to 45 minutes including the air drying. What I mean by normal is when they do iPhones, iPods and iPads. While waiting for my phone to be done, I already saw at least 5 iProduct being serviced.

Now, when it came to my phone, it was a different story. I spent more than 45 minutes waiting (more like an hour and 15 minutes) getting my phone covered by the plastic as there was just too many 'parts' to stick on my phone.

First they clean it. Then they spray this liquid thing on the phone to have the plastic thing stick on it.

They they use that yellow eraser thingy to remove all the excess liquid between the phone's surface and the plastic protection.


Now they have to do this to each and every component of the phone that needs protection and on my phone alone, there could easily be at least 10 to 15 sticky plastic parts.

After ensuring that all parts are perfectly stuck to the phone, the unit is put inside this oven looking device to air dry it

I have to admire the lady who did the iShield on my phone. She was really really really patient as she had to check that each part was perfectly stuck on my phone. The amount I paid for was all worth it (I even dropped in a tip for her meticulous handiwork)

Now I don't even have to buy a case for my phone. Nor do I have to worry about throwing my phone inside my bag and have it being accidentally scratched by who-knows-what.

As one of the credit card companies unforgettable tagline goes...

Cost of Maximum Coverage iShield: Php 1,500 (US$ 34)

Ease of Mind: Priceless!

For iPad, full coverage is at Php 2,500 (US$ 57)
All other phones and even iPods, full coverage is at Php 1,500 (US$ 34) as well

Visit their website to learn more about iShield at http://www.zagg.com/ (I'm not an official endorser...just a happy customer)

Origami

Normally when choosing a restaurant to dine in, we tend to avoid those that are empty of diners. We immediately conclude that the food or service might not be good, hence, no diners. So on the night that my cousin Allen wanted to treat us (rather belatedly but who's complaining) for dinner, we were scouting around the area of Greenbelt 5 in Makati and could not decide which restaurant to dine at. The first time we passed by Origami restaurant and we did not even consider going in since it was empty...as in not a single diner! As we have been scouting for a while already and everybody was hungry and tired, what the heck, why not give Origami a try (nobody has died anyway from eating in a not-good-food restaurant).

Origami (ori=folding, kami=paper) is, of course by the name itself, a Japanese restaurant. Im usually not a fan of Japanese restaurants since I am, honestly, fazed by what to order. Everything on the menu is unfamiliar to me even though I have eaten in numerous Japanese restaurants. Its just that I have to make sure that my companions would know what to order because definitely, i will be of no help when ordering food in a Japanese restaurant.

The interior is typical Japanese in the sense that its design is based on simple lines and feels uncluttered.

The restaurant is really not very big. Enough to make you fell cozy once you enter the air-conditioned section. They do have a sprinkling of outdoor tables should one insist on smoking cancer inducing cigarettes (ex smoker who has successfully quit and would be happy to live in a tobacco/cigarette free world)

Behind the bar/counter, you'll find these diagonal square designs that break the monotony of an all-white wall.

Now on to the food. For starters, we had:

California Maki

Sashimi

And, Unagi Rolls

I was only able to taste the California Maki and it was very good. Add to that that I was already very hungry so if I had a choice, I would have finished the entire Calimaki dish.

I didn't get to try the two other dishes since I am allergic to fish! But my cousins told me they were equally good as well.

Next, we ordered individually and I opted to have the Chicken Teriyaki Bento Box

The chicken teriyaki tasted good but I would have to say there was nothing exceptional about it. (perhaps we have been so used to eating at Teriyaki Boy)

One of my cousins ordered this beef dish and I managed to try a bit of it and it was quite tasty...I wouldn't mind ordering next time I dine at Origami.

For me, one of the most unappetizing dishes that one of my cousins ordered was the seafood curry with rice. For a not at all cheap restaurant, the presentation is indeed lacking. Taste wise, my cousin said it was just ok.

We also ended up sharing a plate of Tempura (shrimp). Sadly, it was not very delish.

Our bill came out to be around Php 3,600 (US$ 81.81) averaging around Php 720 (US$ 16.36) per person (with a round of drinks for everyone). Not exactly cheap if you ask me but at least we almost had the restaurant to ourselves (eventually 4 other people ate at the restaurant but they decided to sit at the smoking section). Service was quite good (I guess it should be since we were the only clients around hehehe). I wouldn't mind going back to Origami though, at least now I know what are the items that I need to order.

Origami Restaurant

Ground Floor

Greenbelt 5

Legaspi Street, Legaspi Village

Makati City

Tel: (+63 2) 5013815 or 5013817

Hong Kong Emperor Seafood Restaurant

It's the second day of the year and after being cooped up inside the house for the entire day yesterday, I couldn't say no to my friend Kim (who's based in Singapore) when he asked us out for brunch (which eventually turned into an early lunch since timing was a bit of a difficulty). We decided to meet up at Mall of Asia because Perks still had to work and we ended up having a dimsum lunch at Hong Kong Emperor Seafood Restaurant. Hong Kong Emperor Seafood Restaurant is actually owned by the same owners of Yakimix (known for their casual Japanese/Chinese buffet) but this one is actually a proper Chinese restaurant.

I was told that just like with the Midas touch that the owners experienced with their Yakimix restaurants, the Hong Kong Emperor is always full of people even if the dimsum prices are a bit on the higher side.

Steamed Shrimp Dumplings or Hakaw as they are more popularly known. Priced at Php 108 (US$ 2.45) per order, you are provided with 4 healthy sized shrimps that are wrapped in barely-there wanton wrappers.

Steamed Siomai at Php 98 (US$ 2.22) gives you four Chinese dimsum staple. Although you could feel that the ingredients are tightly packed into the wrapper, the taste was a little bit bland.

I've always been partial to radish cakes and the Radish Cake with X.O. Sauce was no exception in providing the great joy in eating radish cake. I like it that its sliced into smaller pieces so one doesn't tire of the taste easily. Php 120 (US$ 2.72) per order.

Kuchay Dumplings at Php 108 (US$ 2.45) are of course, dumplings stuffed with Kuchay vegetables. I love how the vegetable's texture blends in with the smooth texture of the wrapper. Plus it tasted good as well.

Taro Spring Roll at Php 120 (US$ 2.72) per order. Loved the flaky and crispy wrap that covered the almost pasty taro filling.

Asado Rice Roll. This was something that we didn't order but arrived at our table nonetheless. We didn't eat it though so I can't really say if it was good or not. But if you do want to order it, its priced at Php 120 (US$ 2.72) per order.

We also had our birthday Misua noodles. Definitely prefer this over the standard birthday Canton noodles. (forgot to look at the price, my apologies)

And the lechon kawali looking dish. I normally am adverse to this kind of dish since I abhor eating the fat part but when I bit into it, I could hardly feel/taste the fatty part. (forgot to look at the price, my apologies)

In the end, Perks decided to pay for our lunch (thankyouverymuch) and I must say I'm not surprised why the restaurant is always packed. The food was amazingly good. Prices are a bit on the higher side when you compare it to the other Chinese restaurant but it was definitely worth every penny. I didn't feel that the dishes were too oily unlike in the other chinese restaurants.

Hong Kong Emperor Seafood Restaurant

2/F Entertainment Mall, SM Mall of Asia, Ocean Drive

Pasay City, Metro Manila

Philippines

(+ 63 2) 556-9520 to 22

iPod Shuffle

Happy New Year! 2010 was a good year and am really looking forward to 2011! I was very lazy with regards to posting on my blog last December as there were lots of things that had me preoccupied but to start things off in the right foot, I'm writing this entry with only a few minutes into 2011.

So my last purchase of the year for 2010 was an iPod Shuffle. I was originally wishing for an iPod Touch (see Wish List) but I realized I usually listen to my music when I jog around the park. And I never even have the opportunity to look at the screen much less tinker with the control so my best best was an iPod Shuffle. Plus, my music player is always on shuffle mode so this was perfect. Plus a Shuffle was so cheap! Costing only Php2,450.

First, I had to look for the perfect Shuffle for me. And this meant finding the silver/stainless colored one with a black dial since the rest of the Shuffle models had white dials and I believed a black dial will be harder to get dirty. Not that easy. A lot of the apple reseller shops had run out of Shuffles. Guess its Christmas time and a lot of people were buying them and giving them away as gifts. On my third Apple reseller store, I was told the same story that they didn't have it on stock. I was about to be content with either buying a Nano or waiting for a few more weeks for the stocks to arrive when my friend Perks, MOA Mall Manager extraordinaire, told me why not try out the Digital Walker store at Mall of Asia. I've always thought of them as selling only bags and sleeves and such but when I entered the store, they had a wide array of gadgets on sale.. Plus they had Shuffle in their stock...and a silver/stainless one on hand! I immediately bought it, of course, and so far, I am one happy camper (plus I only had at a discounted price of Php 2,300 since I paid in cash and they give discounts for payments made using cash). Can't wait to try it out on my first jogging activity on Monday....

Unpacking my iPod Shuffle...