Business (Foodie) Trip in Bangkok

It is our last night in Bangkok City. Tomorrow evening the wife and I will fly back to Philippines. We are on business trip; looking for latest fashion trends in Bangkok for Happy Stripes. To be honest, I am not shopaholic whereas, in contrast, my wife and daughter can walk and shop the whole day albeit sore legs and aching bodies.

Nevertheless, I am taking this opportunity to follow my heart's desire as well; indulging in my favorite Thai cuisine. I consider it as reward after hours of unending walk with ever increasing weight inside my TNF backpack while the wife lead the way in shopping.

Upon arrival in our hotel at 10:30 PM few days back, famished, we took our dinner at our favorite nearby Sidewalk Food and Drinks in Pratunam area.

Fried Rice with Seafoods - 90 THB

It was so satisfying to eat an authentic Thai cuisine again after several months.

The following day, we started shopping at Chatuchak Weekend Market. After getting tired, we had some rest and took our lunch in our favorite restaurant in Chatuchak Market, Ta Phlue.

We ordered 2 steamed rice at 15 THB each; my wife asked for shrimp rolls for 100 THB. As for me, I really missed their chicken in coconut milk for 120 THB. The chicken in coconut milk is perfect, very tasty chicken and slightly spicy soup. I can say that the rice is suffice to be eaten even with the soup only. However, the shrimp rolls were disappointing.

From Chatuchak, we returned back to Pratunam area for another round of shopping galore and took our dinner at Sidewalk.

instant noodle

I ordered Thai noodle soup with fish balls and shrimps. Initially, I was not that eager to eat my dinner since I saw the cook using instant noodles; I even used the instant noodle flavoring sachets. However, upon tasting the soup and noodle, my appetite returned back. The noodle was yummy while the fish balls and shrimps were very tasty. For 100 THB, I could say that my order was pricey due to instant noodle but it didn't matter since I was satisfied with it. My wife dined in Chicken Phad Thai. I told her that I would asked for the same thing tomorrow.

The following day, we surveyed Platinum Mall. Both of us decided to take our lunch at the food court at the 6th floor. As usual, we need to change our money into food coupon.

Thai noodle soup with steamed fish

My wife ordered her favorite "safe food." She asked for Fried Rice with Fried Chicken for 45 THB while I opted for another Thai noodle soup with steamed fish for 55 THB. This time the cook didn't use instant noodles. My wife also liked my noodle soup.

For dessert, I bought my wife's favorite, almond waffle for 19 THB each. Sweet waffle taste and sprinkled with almond nuts outside. To add, I also tried their cassava in juice. The cassava was cooked the same way we cook cassava in Philippines. Boiled and rolled in caramelized sugar but the juice was salty. It was a contrast in taste thus we end up draining the cassava and left the juice untouched. The cassava with juice costs 40 THB.

If you are in Pratunam area, I strongly recommend that you dine at Platinum Mall food court. There are countless selections of authentic Thai dishes at an affordable price. You won't regret, trust me.

sliced Mango

On our way back to our hotel, I bought sliced Mango from a street vendor. Actually, since yesterday, I have been searching for a fruit vendor that use plastic gloves in handling the fruits. I saw one and decided to buy sliced Mango from him for 30 THB. Both wife and I loved the sliced Mango. It was perfect as after meal snack. The Mango was crunchy and sweet. Moreover, the sliced Mango came with "Bagoong" or shrimp paste. The dried shrimp paste was mixed with sugar and chopped chili thus overpowering the sweetness of the Mango fruit hence the shrimp paste went directly to the waste bin.

Dinner time, as I told to my wife yesterday, I ordered Chicken Phad Thai at Sidewalk for 70 THB while she settled for Seafoods Phad Thai.

Chicken Phad Thai

Seafoods Phad Thai

Phad Thai seasonings

The Phad Thai normally comes with its set of seasoning composed of sugar, spicy vinegar, fish sauce and chili. Sometimes, you would see also ground peanuts among the seasonings like in Khao San road Phad Thai street vendors. In our case, the peanuts were already added to the dish. Nothing special with their Phad Thai though. I prefer the Phad Thai in Khao San road

Tomorrow would be a different scenario. Since we would be traveling back to Philippines, I would bring my wife to a fast food joint. We need to eat "safe food" so as to avoid stomach discomfort, just in case, during our travel.

daily breakfast

By the way, our daily breakfast at White Palace Hotel, aside from perennial bread and spreads, is consists mainly of fried rice, noodles, salads, fried eggs and chicken sausage. They change daily the type of noodles and fried rice while the rest remains the same. The hotel also offers pork sausage and bacon.

Dad's Review - Lenovo A800 Smartphone

Not all Dads are willing to splurge enormous amount of sweat in order to have top of the line smartphone so his alarm clock would have melancholic and surreal tune, lol. I have a Blackberry 8110 model 2008 and I use it only as an alarm clock while in jobsite since I need to use a company issued Ex mobile phone that is allowed in hazardous location.

However, my life turned-around few days back when I lost my Blackberry in my workplace and eventually found it again after more than a day of searching frantically. My Yemeni colleagues were amazed when I told them that I treasured my SIM card more than my Blackberry. They understood and laughed upon seeing my 2008 model Blackberry and told me that nobody would waste his time on my ancient mobile thus I found it again; I can't blame them since my family has the same observation. Moreover, they inquired whether my Blackberry can also change the channel of my room TV; just because they sport new iPhones, HTC's and Samsungs they look upon my old Blackberry as some sort of remote control.

Fast forward, I got hold of my newly released Lenovo A800 smartphone yesterday. It took me sometime before I was able to play my favorite rock songs on it. Sometimes I wonder why I can trouble-shoot and analyze complicated control system and still find it difficult to download my favorite "Angry Birds" game. Fortunately, my youngest kid was able to assist me in this regard without sweat.

textured backside for better grip

I chose Lenovo A800 due to its price and specs. It's bang for the buck smart-DAD-phone. Here are some details about this affordable smartphone:

* Dual Core - 1.2 GHz
* Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
* 5MP camera / 4GB ROM / 512 MB RAM
* IPS capacitive screen - 4.5 inches
* Dual SIM
* FM radio / Google Maps / GPS
* And other functions I am not familiar with (yet)

About the battery, it was fully charged yesterday and after intermittent wifi use, text with the kids, a call to the wife, photo shoots, few hours of Angry Birds, and self-study how to disable the vibration it still has some juice left; I believe it would last until tomorrow under normal use. You can't expect a Dad to be always online unless the wife is also playing City Ville, not to mention that he can't even use it while driving. Anyway, nobody would buy a mobile phone mainly because of its battery but I assure you that my Lenovo has a bigger battery (2000 mAH) than my wife's Blackberry Curve thus it is more powerful, if I may say so.

Panoramic shot from our roof top

Last night, my youngest kid informed me that my phone was capable of Panoramic shot. I was elated because I have seen this function in the new iPhone. He was correct. I looked stupid shooting our room while turning around several times and stopped when my wife shouted at me since I was blocking her view while watching her favorite primetime show. Shortly thereafter, I got dizzy hence I believe that a disclaimer should come with this function stating that continuous use of Panoramic shot can cause dizziness and possibly nausea, LOL. Surely age is catching up.

great shot for foodie at Mann Hann - zoom in at reduced size (800 x 600 pixels)

Lenovo's Indoor shot - Orange is the color of the day at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok

Thai noodle with fishball and shrimp at Sidewalk, Pratunam, Bangkok - at 2560 x 1920 pixels 

outdoor sample shot with HDR at 800 pixels

As expected, camera is not that great when use indoor. Grainy pics and dark spots would be visible when indoor lighting is not sufficient; the camera lacks an LED flash. On the other hand, once you have a good source of light such as making outdoor shots then the resulting pictures are generally acceptable and sometimes great. I am now playing with HDR setting. Once I have familiarize myself with correct setting this smartphone can assist me in producing decent shots in our future trips.

By the way, my Lenovo doesn't have a front camera; it is not a big deal for me since I always see my family during my vacation every month. At least, I know that I got a nice specs smartphone at affordable price in lieu of some features which I don't need.

I connected it to my laptop using the supplied cable and whoa! I was able to download many of my favorite songs to its external SD card; I can even use my Lenovo as external camera for my laptop. When I played my music using the built-in speaker, the sound was acceptable though it lacks the oomph compared to my son's Sony smartphone but mine can produce louder volume without sacrificing clarity. However, once you connect the earphone you can boost the bass level and manipulate the the sound effect.

airplane mode - drop down menu

The drop down menu was cleverly incorporated in home page, making it pretty convenient to control wifi / Bluetooth / GPS / Data and other functions such as Airplane mode. I bought a SONY (noise-canceling) Walkman MP3/MP4 players few years back since I can't use my mobile phone to listen to my favorite music while I am inside the plane for safety reason but now I can simply set my Lenovo in airplane mode and enjoy my music or movie.

I love Angry Birds! I can play its different levels without any lag or delay. More so, Subway Surf shows great graphic and clear sounds as well. The only thing I am not very fond of is when I return to home page after the game, there are few seconds delay before the widgets start appearing back on my home page.

I love the Google Maps application too since it can show me the way from my point of origin even up to  Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. I haven't tried the GPS function yet. This could had been a great help during our Pagudpud road trip last Christmas, eliminating my improvised printed Google maps. Nevertheless, we have several road trips ahead of us this year and hopefully my Lenovo can assist us in determining the correct road to travel.

In addition, unlike other large smartphones with smooth cover that can be a fingerprint magnet, my Lenovo has textured back cover thus improving the grip factor as well. Aside from that, the back cover is clip-type; just unclip the corner and you are free to pull the entire back cover. To return it back, just press it along the edges until the entire cover locks itself to the body.

I forgot to mention that my sub 7000 pesos Lenovo smartphone, aside from earphone and charger, comes with free 4 GB micro SD and small digital clock. The SD card is worth several hundred pesos and the best thing is it's free; all Dads love freebies! I bought my Lenovo at one of the telecom shops at 5th floor of The Annex, SM City. It comes with 1 year warranty in labor and parts. Presently, you won't find Lenovo A800 in all Lenovo shops yet.

By the way, I haven't found any accessory yet for this model even after visiting several gadgets and accessory shops. Even those universal pouches can't accommodate the large screen size of my Lenovo. Interestingly, due to its behemoth screen, it would be easier for any Dad to use its "SMS" function without the aid of reading glasses, LOL.

To add, I have been searching for two days in Bangkok and still can't find an appropriate pouch or case for my Lenovo though it makes great shots as long as there is sufficient lighting.

Revised: 23 Feb 2013

After few days of intermittent use, it would take me a couple of hours before I am able to fully re-charge my Lenovo's battery. I'd try to fully discharge and re-charge it several times. Perhaps, battery re-charging time will improve.

About the camera, its location at the corner can be annoying especially when you are taking shots in landscape position. While supporting my Lenovo to avoid camera shake, my left hand finger would sometimes obstruct the lens. Anyway, after a while I get used in holding it correctly while taking landscape shots.

To add, the wife enjoyed my Lenovo during our flight to and fro Bangkok City due to its airplane mode. She even fell asleep while listening to her favorite music; sounds was better than her Blackberry Curve.

Fortunately, I found finally a universal leather pouch suitable for my Lenovo at Pantip Plaza, Bangkok City. It costs me 150 THB or around 210 pesos. Great place for consumer electronics. By the way, my Lenovo got some attention from some locals while we were in Bangkok; I don't know if this model has been released in Thailand.

Revised: 27 Feb 2013

Due to an inquiry about the active dual calls below, I tested my unit with assistance form my Yemeni staff. We observed the following:

- Using two local GSM SIM cards, active dual calls are not working. I can receive call from any of the 2 SIM card perfectly but once I accept a call, the other SIM appeared to be in "OFF" mode to the caller. I can't find any dual calls settings or enable mode on my unit. Anyway, for a Dad, it is better this way to prevent confusion especially when your wife and girlfriends would call you at the same time. Perfect, LOL!

- My unit accepts WCDMA (3G) SIM card for slot 1 while it is limited to GSM (2G) SIM card for slot 2.

- To clarify, WCDMA is different from CDMA. My staff tried their CDMA SIM card to my unit and in case it works they would ask me to buy Lenovo A800 in Philippines for them. Unfortunately, their CDMA SIM card didn't work on my unit. Upon investigation, WCDMA (3G) is completely different from CDMA (2G) hence I suggest that you buy your smartphone in your country. Otherwise, make sure that the smartphone you plan to buy abroad is compatible to your home country's telecom standard.

Revised: 17 Mar 2013

I got hold with my new Samsung Galaxy S3 few days back. Well, you can't compare orange with apple. However, there are several plus in my previous Lenovo compared with my new S3. Aside from having bigger battery and dual SIM, the sound is a bit louder than my new S3. The Lenovo's built obviously has cheaper feeling but I prefer a heavier load and I missed the textured back cover unlike the finger-print magnet and easy to scratch S3 back cover. In addition, the airplane mode is built-in on the Notification or drop-down menu whereas for S3 you need to press the power button before you can access the airplane mode. Moreover, I can listen to FM radio even without the earphone unlike in S3 which requires the headset before it can play the FM radio. Of course, for other functions like camera, LED flash, etc. S3 outweighs my previous Lenovo.

By the way, I got my new S3 through a 24 months plan; no cash-out (ideal for a Dad like me). I need to pay 1500 pesos (41.10 pesos = 1 USD) per month for 24 months contract with Smart Philippines. The agent was offering me the latest Iphone for 2,500 pesos per month but I prefer a bigger screen due to my poor eyesight thus I selected the Samsung S3. I am planning to make a Dad's review for my latest telephone, lol. My wife is happy with her new Lenovo smartphone and she loves playing Temple Run 2.


Revised: 15 April 2013

11 October 2013

Read this: Don't use a microSIM with adaptor to this mobile phone. Both SIM card slots of my Lenovo can't detect any SIM anymore. The metal parts of the SIM slots can easily get entangled and damaged by removing/inserting the microSIM adapter. I have no option now but to visit their main service center at Greenhills. I am just wondering why in my other mobile phones, I can easily remove or insert a micro SIM with adaptor without damaging its metal connectors.

Moreover, unlike other mobile phones' SIM slot where you simply need to press the SIM card for it to be ejected this Lenovo's SIM slot is different. Once you have inserted a SIM card it is pretty difficult to remove it. In fact I used a tweezer just to remove the SIM card inserted at the 2nd or bottom slot.

16 October 2013

Visited the main service center of Lenovo at #19 (Jafer Place) Eisenhower Street, North Greenhills; just beside Club Filipino. Since it was holiday yesterday the service shop was closed for business but the owner entertained me upon learning that I drove from San Mateo area. They replaced the entire dual SIM slot assembly. I left my Lenovo at 11:30 AM and returned back at 1:00 PM. He asked me to bring a photocopy of the receipt for their record.

I paid 250 pesos service charge and 450 pesos for the dual SIM slot assembly. I can't ask for warranty service since the damaged was caused by improper use of microSIM adapter. Nevertheless, the shop's owner and his staff were quite nice to deal with.

My Lenovo is now working fine. I still used my microSIM minus its adapter.


Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post and Dad's review maybe different from trendy kids' expectations. 

See my post: Business (Foodie) Trip in Bangkok for other Lenovo shots.

Dad's Review - Beware of NAIA T1 Unscrupulous Yellow Metered Taxi Driver

Update as of 29th of May 2014

Since I posted this article I never took a yellow metered taxi anymore whenever I arrived from my work or trip abroad with the family. I always availed the coupon white taxi WITH AIRPORT NUMBER. Be aware though that there are also white colorum taxis especially at Terminal 3 that charge exorbitant fare; these colorum taxis look similar with the white coupon taxi with corresponding dispatcher except the airport number painted on the doors. Recently, coming from Tokyo with the whole family, by mistake I thought these taxis were the same with coupon taxis thus when I inquired their dispatcher charged me 2,600 pesos up to San Mateo area. Immediately I searched for the correct coupon taxi and paid the usual amount of 850 pesos plus 150 pesos tip.

Anyway, in case you are not aware, the House of Representatives was urged to investigate the alleged overcharging by yellow taxis at NAIA. See: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/105369/house-urged-to-probe-abusive-yellow-cabs-at-naia


My job requires me to travel every 4 weeks to and fro my country and workplace in Middle East.

I always arrive at NAIA Terminal 1 coming from either Dubai or Doha. Usually, upon arrival at NAIA Terminal 1, I immediately proceed to Nissan Car Rental counter just opposite the metered yellow taxi line near the passengers exit.

However, there were times that due to season number of arrival and traffic, Nissan Car Rental didn't have any available car. In that case, my second option was to take the airport yellow-color metered taxi.

Living in San Mateo area, I always pay a standard fare of 850 pesos to Nissan Car Rental whenever I avail their service whereas for the yellow color metered taxi my fare ranges from 800 pesos to 850 pesos depending on the traffic condition and route.

Last December, I took a yellow color metered taxi due to unavailability of car at Nissan Car rental. The metered taxi driver chose EDSA instead of C5. I agreed even if EDSA would have longer distance because the traffic was heavier at C5 during rush hour; the fare was 814 pesos.

Yesterday, I departed from Dubai at earlier time thus I arrived before 7AM at NAIA T1. Seeing that my favorite car rental was still closed I opted to travel by metered taxi.

The yellow-color-metered-taxi dispatcher would initially issue a dispatch receipt with your name on it and destination. Upon settling inside the metered taxi, I told the driver that I need a receipt from the meter so I can reimburse the fare from my company. To my surprise, he asked for the dispatch receipt instead and told me that he would write the total fare and sign on it. I agreed half-heartedly because I usually receive from metered taxi the small receipt from their meter. Aside from that, the driver asked for additional 200 pesos as tip. I told him that I would give him a tip on top of the fare expecting that the fare would be around 850 pesos. I normally give 1000 pesos to the driver; he keeps the change.

There was a light traffic build-up at Villamor Air Base area but after we have entered C5, I noticed that the distance counter started to go crazy.

If you will notice on a taxi meter, the bottom and bigger display indicate the total fare while directly on top of that you would see the smaller 300 meters counter. Whenever the taxi has traveled 300 meters an additional 4 pesos would be added to the fare.

On the other hand, the top leftmost counter shows the time. When caught in traffic, the top leftmost counter or time starts to increase but when moving the 300 meters counter would be the one decreasing depending on your speed; it is like a countdown timer. Normally, when slowing down, the 300 meters countdown timer should also slow down and when the taxi speeds up the 300 meters timer also follows.

However, yesterday, I observed that even when we slowed down at these places, Market Market,/Eastwood,/Ateneo area, the 300 meters count down timer was continuously counting fast. Upon reaching Tandang Sora, the driver noticed that I was keenly looking at the meter. He immediately flicked his wiper lever causing the 300 meter count down timer to slow down. From Tandang Sora until San Mateo area, the 300 meter timer functioned normally since I didn't remove my gaze on it.

At that moment, I knew that his taxi meter was tampered due to the fact that it was the second time I have ridden a taxi with tampered meter. The first time was with my family coming from SM Fairview many years back. The driver has a hidden button under the carpet and he activate the button by pressing it with his left foot; one press means additional fare.

December Metered Taxi Receipt - 2 hours 20 minutes travel time from NAIA T1 via EDSA to San Mateo area - 814 pesos

Upon arrival at home, I told him that his taxi meter was fast thus I demanded the machine receipt and he hesitantly gave it to me. He reasoned out that it was due to traffic however after telling him that I travel every month and I normally pay around 800 pesos he kept quiet. I added that he flicked his wiper lever at Tandang Sora area when he noticed that I was looking at his meter. Embarrassed, he tried to hand me back my change since I paid him 1000 pesos. I simply told him he can keep it.

Yesterday receipt - 934 pesos for 1 hour 22 minutes travel time from NAIA T1 to San Mateo area via C5 and Tandang Sora; less travel time and shorter distance but higher fare.

More than a year back. I remember that due to numerous complains, the metered yellow taxis in the airport were raided and checked by a government agency. I hope they would do that routinely. More so, tourists scammed by these cheating airport metered taxi drivers might think that it might not be fun at all in the Philippines.

In conclusion, some people assume that since OFW's are earning dollars then they have the right to scam these hard working people. They never thought that OFW's suffer homesickness 24/7 whenever they are away from their loved ones, not to mention the hardships they need to overcome in a foreign country. On their part, I can't imagine feeding my family from money taken illegally from unsuspecting individuals. I just hope that our government would try to kick the asses of these unscrupulous drivers trying to earn extra bucks by scamming their passengers.

Few months back when I was in Ho Chi Minh City, the airport taxi driver demanded extra pay on top of the meter fare; I gave in since it was better to demand and negotiate rather than trying to make a fool of yourself by cheating your passenger.

UPDATE:

There is a new modus operandi being perpetrated by Airport's yellow metered taxi. They won't use the taxi meter anymore in case you will travel outside Metro Manila. In my case, upon learning that my destination was Rizal province the taxi dispatcher mentioned that they only use the meter when the trip was within MM. Really? I just took the same yellow taxi a couple of months back and I paid based upon the taxi meter.

Anyhow, we had a contract price of 900 pesos for my trip regardless of the taxi meter fare. Knowing that the fare normally reaches 800 pesos I agreed with the price. Moreover, I noticed that though the taxi was indeed yellow color, it didn't show any mark, number or sign we normally see at Airport's yellow taxis' doors.

Since it was a contracted price, I paid the exact amount. I saved my usual 100 pesos tip.

Next time I would use the white color airport taxi.

Revised 07 May 2013

05 JUNE 2013

I arrived at NAIA T1 at around 7 am for my monthly vacation. Knowing that my favorite Nissan car rental wasn't open yet I proceeded immediately to white-color-coupon-taxis parked along the street beside the ramp. I asked for their standard fare for San Mateo trip and to my surprise they have the same rate with Nissan car rental. I paid 850 pesos for the trip and added a tip for the driver.

I would never take the yellow metered taxi again from the airport.

08 JULY 2013

I saw this on my FB page: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151228767984024&set=a.477028999023.261136.616804023&type=1&theater

Cambodia - Kompong Khleang, Siem Reap

During my temple hopping in Siem Reap, my friend and tuk-tuk driver, Moori, invited me to attend his friend's wedding at Kompong Khleang. We fetched his brother first before we started our journey to Kompong Kleang.

It was an arduous 45 minutes travel by tuk-tuk especially when we traversed the main and rough road going to Kompong Khleang. It was a dusty and unforgiving road, not to mention the crude shock absorber of the tuk-tuk. I think there wasn't any.

Upon reaching Kompong Khleang, initially, I found it thrilling to see the swamp on the right side of the road.

Shortly thereafter, I started to notice the stilts houses along both sides of the road and some of them were having stilts as high as 10 meters. I asked Moori why the houses were built that way; his brother was the one driving the tuk-tuk. I was stunned with his reply. According to him, during rainy season, this place is under water and you won't see any road; sometimes the lake water even reaches those stilt houses. Having learned about this thing, my curiosity was flamed even more.

While waiting for the wedding ceremony to finish, Moori and his friends invited me to play pool. We went to a place, near the public market, where many people were watching a film on a large and bulky old TV while having some snacks. Beside this makeshift movie house was the pool area. See my related post: Playing Pool at Kompong Kleang

There were 4 pool tables side by side and betting was allowed. Seeing those chairs and tables plus the pool tables I presumed that Moori was kidding me when he told me that this whole place would be under water during rainy season. To satisfy my curiosity I asked him what would happen to this place during rainy season. Everything would be tied up in a higher place including the pool tables, he replied. He added that people here were celebrating during dry season because that was the only time they have opportunity to socialize and enjoy their daily lives. By the way, that place charges entrance fee for "movie-goers" while an old man is manning the pool area. You can even order food and drinks from the small shop while enjoying the movie. In my case, my generous friends provided me a complimentary iced coffee.

Though all the houses at KK, except those floating, are built on stilts you can easily distinguish the well to do from the "not-so-well-to-do" family. Moreover, the houses are normally built side-by-side and again a piece of knowledge from Moori, they are built that way in order to have additional structural strength in case of a strong wind. I was impressed.

Before the wedding reception begins my new friends invited me to stay at the bride's house; it was interesting to note that neither table nor chairs can be found inside. Hence; we sat and dined on the floor. Furthermore, some rope hammocks are tied on the wooden posts that serve as improvised bed. See my post about the wedding: A wedding on dry season - Kompong Khleang

Later on, we hiked to a nearby pier where you can rent a boat going to Floating Village in Tonle Sap. I would make another post pertaining to this great lake and how the locals are able to cope up even when the lake swells.

Isabel Suites - Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

We stayed here for 2 nights and used this place as our "home base" in exploring Pagudpud and Batac, Ilocos Norte. Actually, due to good review, I tried first to book Balay da Blas also in Laoag City. Unfortunately, there wasn't any available room.

I ended up reserving 2 twin rooms at Isabel Suites with extra bed in my kids' room. Surprisingly, they didn't ask for any deposit or advance payment which was the norm when booking hotel room through internet. We simply correspond through emails. They just asked me to confirm our reservation one week before our arrival. I found it plus point for their customer service.

Due to traffic and on-going Damili festival, we were forced to take a detour few kilometers away from the hotel. Upon entering Laoag City, I was baffled by some one-way streets and found it difficult to locate Isabel Suite. Even so, the IS staff assisted us by sending SMS thus we were able to locate it at around 5 PM. Luckily, there was one empty parking space waiting for us in front of IS.

After settling in our rooms (306 & 307), we raced to SM Hypermart to replenish our supply since we would be leaving early the following day for Pagudpud and Batac. We were elated to discover that IS is strategically located near the Ilocos Norte Capitol. Within this area, you would find everything you need as a tourist; added treat were the touristy places nearby such as Sinking Bell Tower, Tobacco Monopoly Monument, and Pamulinawen Garden Clock and so on.

The lobby area of IS is basically a reception and several chairs while the restaurant occupies most of the ground floor. We took our dinner in the restaurant and we found the food fairly acceptable and affordable. However we noticed that wifi access is limited in the lobby and restaurant area only.

At the base of the stairs is a naughty parrot (?). I was surprised to hear it calling me "pangit" or ugly after taking its picture. I told this to my kids and the next day they tried to agitate it but it simply refused to utter any sound. The bird was lucky that I was in a good mood at that time otherwise..OK, going back to IS, there was also a huge and fluppy stuff monkey (?) at the wooden bench. Forgive for I am not well verse when it comes to animal category. My daughter finds the stuff monkey cute.

Our twin-beds-tiled-room with a small cupboard is good enough for two people but in our kids' room, it is a bit cramp for three of them. The extra bed broke down but immediately replaced by the staff. The toilet was fairly acceptable but could be considered small for westerners. The hot shower was not working in our kids' room thus they were taking their showers daily inside our room; fortunately our rooms were adjacent to each other. We raised this matter to the reception desk staff the following morning before we left for Pagudpud. Nothing changed when we returned.

The beds were comfortable while the bedding and towels were clean though not in pristine condition. Aside from two bottled water, we found it pretty convenient to have a telephone in the room making it easy for my wife to communicate with our youngest kid who was having stomach pain. Likewise, we have an old-school small TV inside our room. The wife didn't bother to check the other channels; she was stuck with her favorite teleserye for two nights.

Here is something about the complimentary breakfast, they serve only pinoy breakfast so don't expect any cereal or bread and jam. On our first day they served us rice with longanisa and egg while on our second day our choice was limited to rice with corned beef and egg. The meal comes with a 3-in coffee. Luckily, Jollibee drive through was beside IS thus I raced to it every morning because my youngest kid wasn't fond of eating fried rice.

The main drawback for car owner customer was the limited parking space in front but I always managed to find a vacant parking space whenever we returned back to IS.

Considering IS location and facilities I could say that the place was bang for the buck and I would recommend this place to any traveler that would make Laoag City as their home base too while exploring Ilocos Norte.

By the way, the staff were very polite and approachable. More so, instead of demanding full payment upon check-in like other hotels, upon our arrival, they simply asked us for a deposit and pay the remaining balance when we check-out.


To check our complete travel journal: Road Trip to Ilocos (Vigan/Laoag/Pagudpud) 

Happy Stripes - 28 Days of Style

Happy Stripes is having 28 days of style promo this month of February

It is now on its Day 2.

Happy Stripes is showcasing different fashion style each day for the whole month of February. Day 1 for extra girly attire while Day 2 went old-school; a rugged denim polo paired with vintage skirt. No matter what your style is, Happy Stripes got you covered

So, what are you waiting for? Visit Happy Stripes FB page HappyStripesss for more details and many thanks for the "Like."