F1 Hotel Manila

We decided to spend a city staycation for my birthday weekend. F1 Hotel Manila has been my first and last option because of two main reasons. First, I want an easy access to almost everything (malls, coffee shops, restos, parks, etc.) and second, they got three pools which my little girl will truly enjoy. We didn't get a chance to go to the beach this summer but I don't want to end the season without dipping in the water.

I booked directly through F1 Hotel Manila's official website. They allowed early check-in starting 12noon instead of the usual 2PM. Check-in was a breeze and the reception staff handed me two key cards plus the wifi password. You need to use the key cards to access the floors except for the reception lobby and pool area. Note that they will also require you a Php3,000 deposit during check-in which will also be refundable upon check-out. If you notice, the hotel lobby has a minimalist design and it definitely looked pretty neat to me. On that day, we saw two beautiful brides with their own photographers.

Pandora

Just this February, my sister-in-law from Australia told us that the Pandora branch near them will be on a holiday sale. Although I wanted to respond quickly "yes, please get me one!", I tried to contain to my excitement hoping someone would humbly offer it as a gift. LOL! I've posted my birthday wish list last year here so the hubby surely had an idea how much I'd love to own this charm bracelet. Imagine how my heart melted when he asked if I'm interested to have one as my early Mother's day present. Oh my, isn't it the perfect occasion? The search for the perfect design immediately started.

The Mind Museum: Two Years of Wide-Eyed Wonderment

 

The Mind Museum marks two years of science, exploration and creativity this month with adventures that have taken kids and kids-at-heart on an unforgettable journey. Together with my daughter and Mom, we got invited to participate this year's Media Family Day. It was our first to visit The Mind Museum and on our way to the venue, my 3 year old daughter could not contain her excitement when I told her we will be seeing a big dinosaur. I, on the other hand, was really curious to discover what this Science museum has to offer for an adult like me.

 

Upon entering the premises, the robot Aedie welcomed us which made my little girl more enthusiastic. I guess she was in awe to see a real one in person, aside from the cartoon shows she's often watch. Today's theme is Wide-Eyed Wanderer's Exploration.

 

As we wait for the program to officially start, we were handed passports that entitles us to delicious treats from their partners - Kyle's Lab, Sophie's Mom, Uncle Cheffy's and Sebastian's Artisan Ice Cream. The food were wonderfully presented that prepared the kids (and kids by heart) for an energized afternoon of Science exploration. I personally liked the Salted Butter Caramel of Sebastian's!

Fifth Season Spa

 

The holiday season took so much of our time and energy that we may have felt a bit overwhelmed with all the reunions, gatherings and non-stop feasts. I bet you also had that tired feet hopping from one mall to another and queuing to the cashier section to get all those fabulous gifts. So to help myself stay rejuvenated, I went for a little spa pampering at Fifth Season Spa.

 

I purchased a 50% promo via Deal Grocer that includes a relaxing 60-Minute Swedish Full-Body Massage plus a 20-minute Express Foot Massage. The price is originally Php1,100. Click the link to see this ongoing promo.

 

My spa treatment started with a hand ritual from this area. I picked the eucalyptus bath salts over rosemary to wash my hands with. The relaxing properties of the aromatherapy helped me breathe better after being patted dry.

 

The therapists will take you to this area for foot therapy and nail care services. I was ushered to one of  the couches for my express foot massage. Boy, it was really good! My sore feet loved the pressure and the rosemary scent made it more tranquilizing. Apart from whole body massage, Fifth Season Spa also offers other spa services such as face therapy and body therapy.

 

The individual treatment rooms are of course named after the four seasons - Autumn, Winter, Summer (photo above), and Spring. While the Fifth Season is for the couples room. Very clever! :-)

 

To sum it all, my spa treatment was a pure bliss! I still had a bad cough and colds when I came here so imagine how my muscles felt so soothed after the massage. The receptionist asked if I want to upgrade the service to traditional massage or hilot but I had to decline as too much pressure might constrain my body more. Back-pain has always been my issue and I'm glad I went out with a lighter feeling. 

 

And here's the obligatory restroom selfie. I felt so much relieved, no more stiff shoulders! 

Thanks to the wonders these professional therapist's hands can do. On a different note, I think it would be best to book a room too at Astoria Plaza - that would definitely be 10x R&R!

FIFTH SEASON SPA

3rd level of Astoria Plaza, J. Escriva Drive,
Ortigas Centre, Pasig City

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Posh Nails

Part of my 2014 goal is to help myself feel good and look good at all times. I am someone who can leave the house with a bare face and pale lips, but this year will be different. I don't mean to overdo myself even if just heading to the nearest grocery store, but I am now open to render a little effort in fixing my eyebrows or applying a bit of pink blush as a good start.

 

So one afternoon, instead of de-stressing myself with some sweets or so, I decided to step in to this lovely hot pink and bright purple nail salon of Posh Nails. It's impossible to resist peeking at the cotton candy colored interiors and fluffy pillows.

 

Like any other girls, I am a frequent visitor of nail salons to, of course, make my nails look pretty and neat. It's been months since I last had a foot spa so I checked out the rates for the spa services. Foot spa + pedicure Php460, manicure Php150.

 

The SM Megamall branch is right across the MegaTrade Hall of Bldg B. 

 

The staff soaked my feet in a bubble foot spa machine for a little less than 5 minutes as she prepared for her tools and scrubs.

 

They use Orly and O.P.I. nail lacquers with no extra charge. Glad to see a number of Orly variants.

 

At this point, I am struggling wether to doze off or not. The staff's hands were too light I could easily forget she's doing my foot spa!

 

I had stuffy nose that day so I barely recognized the scent of the scrub used. She said something like "lemon citrus scrub". All I know, it was very cool on my skin when she applied.

 

And for the nail polish, I chose Orly Frisky in Teal Creme and French Manicure for a natural look on my hands. My nails were perfectly and professionally done! Hats off to their staff named Meya who didn't hurt my always-injured big toe.

 

The verdict:
As much as possible, I only want one person to do my foot spa and mani/pedi, so this one's a big check. For a total of Php610, I think the service is quite okay for the price. I just wish they have this UV light lamp to dry my nails. Quick dry can be too messy, plus the nail salon is inside a mall so we can't be that helpless just because of wet nail polish. The staff were kind enough not to talk loud while customers take time for quick naps. The fluffy pillows and comfy sofa helped a lot during my short stay. It can be full even before 4PM so expect to walk like in a maze on your way out. Also, I wasn't sure if the tools used were pre-sterilized. Perhaps to me, they fall short on 'modern' equipment to keep up with newly-opened competitors in the metro.

POSH NAILS
5th Level, SM Megamall Bldg. B,
Mandaluyong City


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ACE Hotel and Suites

Before anything else, I'd like to greet you all a Happy New Year and wishing more success in all our future endeavors. I hope you all had a safe and wonderful celebration with your loved ones!


My family and I decided to spend our new year stay-cation in one of the famous and newest hotel situated near the business district of Ortigas Center, Pasig City. Before I give you an in-depth review, let me just tell you that we literally had the ace experience during our overnight stay. First off, they accepted early check-in from 10:30am onwards. That was exceptional!


Since we were a group of four, I chose to book a junior suite at Php4,950 (excluding VAT and other taxes, breakfast for two included). Of course, we won't fit in a queen-sized bed so I requested for an additional bed. So that was roughly a total of Php7,500+ for a holiday overnight stay.

 
I browsed a few reviews prior to booking at Ace Hotel and Suites and have found interesting comments from the guests. It was only in 2012 when they opened the business to the public, technically the hotel is still new. Though I have set my expectations, I am still caught by surprise to what welcomed me and my family.


The room was simply yet elegantly designed and quite spacious for a junior suite. We had a mini living area where we were comfortably seated as we watched cable channels in our 32" LCD TV. Our room was really clean and neat. I forgot to take a "before" photo of our bed but it was queen-sized by default and the pillows were fluffy, I can hug it all day. In fact, my daughter really had a good time sleeping and curling under the duvet. I hope this photo below can describe it for you.



There's also an office space where you can work/blog during your stay. WiFi is available, an iPod dock should you wish to listen to your playlist, and a digital safe for your valuable items.


A mini-bar with complementary wine and drinks. The small fridge is beneath the cabinet.


Fruits were also served right after we settled in our room.


This is Mom's favorite spot as she's into coffee and tea set.


How cool is this? Doing work with a glass of red wine!


While here is my favorite area - the toilet and bathroom! I am very particular with the cleanliness of bathrooms and lavatories. Thankfully, Ace Hotel and Suites did not disappoint. And look at the rain drop shower head! I want this for our future home!


Complementary toiletries ready for use. I didn't need a bathtub and some may find the entire T&B a little small, but in general, it was orderly and really clean. I did not have this feeling of "namamahay" whenever I had to sit down on the throne. :-)


After a quick rest, we checked out the Sky Garden located at the 8th floor. The weather made it really possible to take good pictures with my family.

 
We also checked the Sky High Bar at the 21st floor. Cool spot for a happy social drinking session. You will be overlooking this Ortigas skyline, really nice view. That night, they were selling tickets for the New Year's Eve countdown for Php1,399 (drinks + dinner buffet). We didn't try it though as this stay-cation is exclusively for family bonding.


We had our dinner buffet at the ground floor. Didn't take a lot of food pics but we all had an epic dinner with sushis, shabu shabu, Chinese and Korean dishes, lots of cakes, pastries and desserts. I'm glad the new year's eve was free from doing all the cooking at home. Everything was served completely.We were really full that we decided to go back to the Sky Garden for a little walk and viewing the early fireworks display across Manila skyline. We did our own countdown inside the room - fireworks display for free viewing from the window. Thankfully, we did not smell the smog brought by the extravagant celebration.


Breakfast buffet is still courtesy of ACE Coffee Lounge. We stayed a little late so we're only up by 7am. This is what greeted our morning.


The buffet area was jam packed unlike the night before, probably because this one's included in the room rate.


We were ushered to the right part of the resto but that was quite far from the food. So I requested to find us a closer table once there is one available. The waiter came back after three minutes and table is ready in front of the coffee lounge that's also facing the other side of the pool. Spot on!


Hubby and I love breakfast food. He was more happy to see the crispy fried danggit. I got hash browns, bacon and blueberry pancakes! Little girl enjoyed her Coco Crunch, while Mom had fruits and omelet. Again, not much food pics.


One of the reasons of choosing ACE Hotel is because of their water spa, but sad to admit, I didn't get to use the complementary pass. But since this is just a 20-minute drive from our place, would definitely want to go back and try this. There were a few people swimming but I think it was too cold to enjoy the water.

Overall, we had the best overnight stay at ACE Hotel and Suites as we welcome 2014. Hoping to do this more often with the family, so I'm looking forward to feature more hotel reviews for you this year. :-)

ACE HOTEL & SUITES
United Street corner Brixton Street near Pioneer
Pasig City Philippines
Reservation: (632) 462-8283

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Discover English with Ben and Bella

I know most Mommies like me would still want to influence our kids the love for books. Though a lot of tablet apps are free and ready for download, it is nothing compared to smelling a newly-purchased book, flipping the pages and being excited to finish the whole story. Or even re-reading your favorite part over and over again, right? That's why I'm so happy that I finally get a hold of Discover English with Ben and Bella.



Look how cute these educational multimedia sets are! My daughter grabbed them right away upon seeing the colourful cover. At her age, she loves to identify farm and zoo animals. She'd give you that sweetest smile whenever she answered correctly each animal you point at.


The Discover English with Ben and Bella multimedia set is comprised of a story book plus a video book, a sticker book and a DVD. I believe they are perfectly combined so the kids don't easily get bored just doing one thing. I'm sure we all agree how effective teaching is when it is rather engaging than forced.


The story book has 32 pages of text and colourful visuals. It helps our kids expand their vocabulary in a more entertaining way. You will notice how the keywords are repetitive to encourage our non-reader kids to develop a good grasp of the meaning of every individual word.


Some of these words are farm animals, fruits and vegetables. These words also re-appear in a full-color sticker book. My daughter enjoyed sticking them after we identify each picture! It was really fun!


She would even point the blank object that pairs each sticker.


The video book on the other hand is the expanded version of the story played in 15 minutes. My daughter also enjoyed the sing and dance part in the DVD, like Counting Apples, where a child is taught how yummy apples are and how easy they are to count. That's Math, English and Physical Education trio!


One thing that made me overly impressed is how they included a Parent's Guide book to effectively teach our young ones. They explained "immersive learning", how children constantly learn from birth onward through listening, to closely observing, to being exposed, to mimicking, and to finally playing and living in it.
Here they also created a sample lesson plan that will help us check our child's understanding. What a useful tool to guide us during our child's early learning stage!


She can't get enough of her pretty books! And just this morning, my Mom told me that she immediately looked for them even while half-awake. Many thanks to Ms. Bianca Aquino, School Marketing Coordinator of Phoenix Educational Systems Inc., for sending these book sets to us.

To get more details about Discover English with Ben and Bella, you may visit their website http://www.benandbella.com/ or official Facebook page.
For other inquiries, please email info@earlylearninggroup.com or call 470-8775.


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