Fine Life On A Budget + + +

Relatives had to stay at home for a week, so I found it as a perfect opportunity to hotel-hop during the work week until the weekend. I had a shortlist of budget hotels in the San Juan City, Mandaluyong City, and Quezon City areas that offer standard rooms that go no more than Php2,000 a night. The low-end hotel needed to be near Ortigas Center where I work. This means that Lancaster, Richville, Horizon, Fersal and other similar establishments were instantly out of the picture.

Enter Orange Place Hotel of San Juan City and Tri-Place Hotel of Quezon City.

My specifications were simple: the room must have windows and WiFi connection. Plus, the rate has to be below Php2,000.

Orange Place Hotel's Standard room goes for Php1,570 a night while Tri-Place Hotel's is Php1,500. They are both good for two persons.

Both establishments have internet connection. The Orange Place room I got doesn't have one, so I had to surf in the reception area where there is no air conditioning. Tri-Place staff members gave me a net cord to connect inside my room, but the connection there was intermittent. I tried its WiFi connection downstairs inside the adjoining restaurant, but the staff had difficulty operating the system. I never got online.
.

As for my window requirement, I was satisfied with Orange Place's room with a view. The hotel is situated along a curve of Santolan Road near the San Juan Municipal Hall. The building is on an elevated plane that gives the location a higher view of the Greenhills residential area from the second floor where I stayed in. The Tri-Place room that I got has a window alright. However, when I peered through the blinds, I saw the fire exit stairs instead. During my first five hours of stay there, I saw more than five maintenance people go up and down that area from my bed.

When it comes to both hotels' interior design, I commend Orange Place for its room's quaint feel that its wooden flooring and wall-ceiling fixtures exude. The room layout was evidently designed as a home away from home setting. It somehow simulates rooms of high-end hotels for having the cabinet, bed, and bathroom where they should be.

The Tri-Place room I was given, on the other hand, looks more modern in a way that made me feel unnecessarily disconnected to the place. The wall paint works on pastel which is soothing to the eyes. The fixtures are evidently current, but one could tell that they were probably purchased from just one store or maybe from various ones and eventually haphazardly installed. The only saving grace is the flat-screen TV.

The air conditioning is good at Orange Place in spite of the appliance having to be manually operated. I managed to stay indoors for most of the time sleeping like a baby.

With Tri-Place it was a different story. I had a problem with my room's air conditioning. I had to summon maintenance to check up on it twice. I was supposed to sleep upon checking in at 12 noon, but that didn't happen as I was inconvenienced by maintenance representatives visiting my room to test the faulty air conditioner. The power inside my room obviously had a problem because the electricity would fluctuate every five minutes. I had to request for an electric fan. I ended up sleepless and agitated for my appointment that night. I made sure that I got transferred to a different room with a functioning air conditioner which Management appropriately arranged. It might have taken two more hours for them to do so, but the new room was worth it. It finally has a small window that opens to the real outdoors -- sun and all.

I was even accommodated a two-hour extension for the inconvenience although I would have preferred an additional three more hours of it to make up for the total of five grueling hours that I had to contend with the day before. Bad experiences like good ones, after all, are priceless. Any hotel management must ensure its guests the convenience of service. I was informed that the room I was transferred to was an upgrade. It was worth Php200 more than the first one. Does this mean that the three more hours  on top of the two hour extension is worth Php40 per hour of goodwill service? I guess it is. That's Php200 divided by five hours of extension, by the way. What a way of putting a price on one's convenience.

As for hotel security, Orange Place uses the old-fashioned key for its rooms. Hotel guests need to surrender them in the reception area for their room safety giving the hotel staff the responsibility of taking care of your well-being.

Tri-Place goes the other way when it comes to room security. Electronic cards are used and hotel guests are advised to keep it wherever they go whether inside or outside the building. Hotel lurkers or unwanted visitors are automatically kept at bay because the card is also used to open a security door per floor aside from the guests' own room doors.

With pun intended, I have a gut feeling that the Php70 in Orange Place Hotel's Php1,570 a night rate is actually for the so-called FREE breakfast. Served every 7:00 am to 10:00 am, the free meal is considerably healthy because I noticed that the selection was not too salty and unnecessarily fried.

Tri-Place hotel's standard room rate does not come with a free meal, so the flavorful grilled liempo shown above set me back for Php170. It is available at Don Luis Restaurant that's inside the hotel premises, specifically beside the reception area. The plain rice I ordered is "first class" according to the menu. The so-called "overflowing coffee" I ordered with it is anything but. I found out later that the overflow is up to three cups only.

After a week of hopping from one budget hotel to another, I learned that low-end rate is really what it is -- low end service. One must not equate it with high-end service-oriented rates. The only expectation one must have is purely about accommodation. Add-ons such WiFi connectivity and package freebies are not supposed to make the accommodation anything less than convenient because the only real inconvenience in budget hotels is when its staff members are not doing their jobs. All in all, I enjoyed discovering all these... even the minor detail of an Orange Hotel staffer returning to me the bottle of supplements that I accidentally left on the bed when I was on check out already. It gave me the idea of leaving the same bottle on purpose in my room at Tri-Place during my check out just to see if the staff member there was as attentive as the one in Orange Place. Case in point: not as attentive. I was told that the room was cleared and I was free to go without my Vitamin C that was on the bathroom sink.

FOOD ORDERED: Tender and flavorful/ SERVICE: The dining area is quite big for a customer to be noticed during busy lunch or dinner hours
 
Working on graveyard shift is not that horrific as some opine. It's got its perks. You don't get stuck much in traffic most of the time. Taking coffee breaks at 3:00 am usually gets a boost from the jolt of the cool morning breeze. My favorite perk is getting past my 11:00 am snooze for a hearty lunch. Daytime lunch for me becomes extra special because I get to not mind the time.

I had one of those memorable lunch outs last week at Mannang, Mann Hann's Filipino equivalent. The restaurant is situated at the basement level of Megamall B. Before its necessary renovation last summer, the restaurant had a darker interior which made it look more like a bar than a family food place. This time, though, customers can expect a more vibrant dining experience because of the pristine white dining area and neutral wall colors.

I had Lechon Kawali Rice for my meal which came with crunchy string beans (sitaw). It set me back for Php195. The rice was sticky and larger than the usual serving, making it good sharing with a companion.

I've tasted other restaurants' take on the lechon kawali. Forget Dencio's because Mannang so far takes the crown for the most tender and flavorful one.

To try a new drink that I haven't tasted, I went for Mannang's fresh sugar cane juice (Php80). I won't recommend it to anyone who's after quenching one's thirst only when it comes to ordering a meal drink. Besides, it's got a distinct acquired taste. Try it only for a delightful kick to go with the meal because you eventually need to wash down the taste with ice cold water if you are the iced-tea type of foodie.

This post is long-overdue. I was feeling a bit under the weather that's why I only managed to blog about this food-tasting event that I did for a college classmate and his wife's restaurant now.

The food-tasting event was intimate in that the food critics invited are friends of the hosts. As we found out halfway of being served various Asian cuisine flavors, the whole activity was supposed to revolve around so-called controversial delicacies that the restaurant is offering. After much prodding I came to realize that we were being served viands that either compelled the customers to be indifferent with the menu or be drawn to it in unexplainable ways. The verdict was common among my friends. We all loved the Thai-inspired Pineapple Chicken Stir-fry (above) and the Japanese-inspired Oyster Salad with Wasabi Dressing (below).

A female college classmate of mine is not the perpetual food critic but she's been to Europe and a few Asian countries enough to articulate what she should be tasting instead of what she shouldn't be. Her friend whom she tagged along also seems to know her way around the kitchen. As for me, I approach food as an infant does his milk. If it's not properly done, I knew what to cry about. This only means that the rest of the viands served for us to comment on were forgettable. We had to be brutally honest. Besides, our friends' business is on the line. And, the title of this post says it all. We were there more for our friends than for the food.

It was a rainy weekend, but the restaurant I was in got lights that made the dining area light up like a bright oven. All I could see were shades of yellow and red. The place is called Prince of Persia. I managed to find it while looking for a post-dinner meal in Eastwood, Libis, Quezon City. It's this small Persian cuisine-oriented restaurant that's been there in Eastwood for as long as the other old restaurants have been. It somehow escaped my notice (much like this other Middle Eastern restaurant in Megamall) because I subconsciously am not into such kind of food on a daily or weekly basis.

Not that the food was forgettable, but I just failed to remember the dishes I sampled.  Anyway, they look exactly like the ones below. Each set me back for no less than Php150.

You might like:
+ Middle Eastern cuisine at Persian Grill

C A S U A L   D I N I N G   R E S T A U R A N T S   I   W E N T   T O:

YakiMix Smokeless Grill  +  Teriyaki Boy  +  C2 (Culinary Cuisine)  +  Cafe Bola
Red Ribbon  +  Stackers Burger Cafe

You might like:
+ My June Recap Card of other restaurants I dined in

I always believe that a tasty drink must earn its merit on its own. It can't depend on the meal to get its reputation. Case in point: I ate a lousy tasting meal in this restaurant which I didn't bother blogging about because I don't want to spoil its name. However, the drink I ordered there was outstanding. This got me looking for more tasty drinks in the metro. The beverage doesn't necessarily have to be thirst-quenching. I am looking for that soothing taste that makes the drink remarkable.

Enter Guinumis (gee-NU-mis). I had this traditional Bicolano beverage at Classic Cuisine Restaurant. After a month-long search, I consider this my winning drink. Guinumis is a coconut milk-based drink with panocha syrup at the bottom, crush iced in the middle, sago and crispy pinipig on top. The treat glows in the middle simulating a lava lamp.

MALIBU DREAM by Coffe Bean Tea Leaf
I ordered this after a tiring morning at the office. I was on a hunt to satisfy a sugar craving. This set me back around P150, but it was worth the money. The combination of vanilla, strawberry, and banana got me on a sugar fix.

VANILLA MILKSHAKE by Eskimo Bob
I've tasted lots of milkshakes already. I personally dislike the type that's just ice cream one left alone to melt under the heat of the sun. Eskimo Bob's version is not that type. It's got rich vanilla flavor and the whip cream is as rich as the body. It's a bit pricey, though, at Php128.

STRAWBERRY VANILLA SHAKE By Eat & Go
My meal was a mess. This was the saving grace. The rich vanilla and strawberry syrup got me by. I totally forgot how much this cost me because I was stressing at my meal to a fault. Plus, when I was having the meal with my college friends, there was a singing performer right outside the restaurant. The female vocalist literally was ear-piercing.

CHINESE MILK TEA by Chef Choi
I ate at Chef Choi when it opened at Megamall because I always want to be the first one to sample new treats. I was disappointed. More than six months after, I returned to test them if things have changed. It has not unfortunately. I thought their new beverage -- the traditional Chinese milk tea -- could make me change my mind. Chowking's milk tea tastes better. The Php60 crushed my soul...

You might like:
+ Expecting Krispy Kreme's ice cream flavors

As part 2 of last Sunday's buffet battle, this is a short feature on the crazy desserts I had over at YakiMix Restaurant.

There were trays of fruit salad, fresh fruits, gallons of various ice cream flavors and even cupcakes. All of which I didn't try except for the fruit salad and the ice cream. I had scoops of vanilla ice cream and sprinkled them with every sweetener I saw on the selection -- marshmallows, chocolate bits, etc. And, oh, I also went back to my table with a slice of ube cake and a mini-slice of strawberry cheesecake.