ETC No Longer in Manila Cable

Rumor has it that ETC is moving from cable television to free television for Filipinos starting March 2, 2011!

Thai Dara in Gilmore

I want to share a hangout place to go get cheap and good Thai food in Manila. Do you have a place that when mentioned with your partner, you would both nod in agreement and forget every other option you were arguing about? Thai Dara is our choice. 

As much as I'd want it to be our little quiet place, I think telling people about it might not be as bad since we openly advertise it to our friends every now and then.

Aquanox Vietnamese Kitchen

I have told you about the tasty pho in Rockwell under an older post. We came across another Vietnamese kitchen with a weird name - Aquanox in Ortigas Avenue. I still haven't figured out the story about it yet.

Blog: Occasions of Joy

I have wanted to do this for a long time. Let me help you meet some Filipino bloggers and introduce you to blog-hopping Manila-style!

The Real Thing Diner

Ever since the Minute Maid contest, I had been wishing to have the time to go to my kitchen and cook something out of my ancient Classic Cooking with Coca-Cola recipe book. Imagine my surprise and thrill when I heard of a diner-themed restaurant that serves food mixed with Coca-Cola products. I didn't have to experiment and get my hands dirty for now. I devoted the time instead to gather some friends and insist on going there to have a great time and try out the food in one swift go.

I Love To Sing and I Love Rent!!! - Rent is Back this 2011!

It's been a few days since I've watched Rent live in the Rockwell Cinema. 

I just want to say that it was really the first time I ever listened to a musical, as in really listen to the songs and the story of a Broadway hit. Sure I like music and musicals but I just discovered before this that I wasn't really paying attention to anything I've watched before. Maybe that's why I couldn't recall the story and the characters in all these years. I know I watched Rent before in a much bigger setting but I can't even recall that time very much. I'm glad I watched it like it was the first time again, with an opened mind about hope and love and within the context of the songs tuned just right for the melodies. It will be easier to sing along and relate to if I know the story, especially now with the Last Song Syndrome of Rent songs in my head. "I Should Tell You" and "Light My Candle" are slowly gaining popularity.

Eat a 10-Course Meal This Holiday Season

I never considered that there are restaurants who will open their restaurants and make your Noche Buena for you. I guess I always thought of Noche Buena as a homemade treat. This years' Noche Buena for me was more about the gathering of people and eating together as a family no matter where you are, even if you come from different families (http://meloyco.blogspot.com/2010/12/noche-buena-in-xintiandi.html). Thank you for welcoming my sisters and I with open arms (you know who you are). Since more than half of our family was away this Christmas, the rest of us decided to eat a 7 to 10-Course Meal for Christmas as a way of spoiling ourselves until we drop with our holiday bellies. 

I did not expect that Aubergine will be full of holiday diners when Manila seems like a ghost-town every Christmas day when you go out of the house (well, it's one of those days when cars are scarce in the streets). Since it's almost New Year, I am looking forward to another round of holiday treats (there's post-Christmas, last-minute reunions, Media Noche, New Year, post-New Year).

Yikes! Toll Rates Increase, NLEX SLEX and SCTEX

NLEX Sample Toll Rate Increase in 2011

Balintawak to Pampanga 

Class 1 (cars, jeepneys, vans) - P174 to P195

Class 2 (buses) - P435 to P486

Class 3 (cargo trucks, trailers) - P522 to P583

There's more and it will make you go "Wow". Transportation to provinces in Luzon and Visayas will probably spike (I love airplanes...). Delivery expenses will balloon. Prices for goods coming from provinces like vegetables will probably go up, too. By the way, what is the advantage of increasing toll rates? Better take advantage of the 2010 Toll Holidays. Here's the list (http://meloyco.blogspot.com/2010/12/overheard-in-news-about-toll.html).

The Limited Edition BPI Globe Tattoo Stick

BPI is one of my favorite banks in Manila. Globe is my preferred telecommunications provider in Manila. Both teamed up and just made the impossible possible. Let me tell you my story and my issue with the current Globe Tattoo stick I have. I am a travel blogger, always on the move and attached to the online world. I don't want to enable the internet on my mobile phone lest I accidentally or it automatically selects the wrong billable connection. I usually bring my laptop with me so I need that Globe Tattoo stick and it works well once it has been loaded. 

Things I Just Learned About MMFF!

I came across the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) Gabi ng Parangal on TV and learned a few things I never knew (or paid attention to) about the Festival before. I didn't finish the whole episode and incidentally watched the best of the rest - Ang Tanging Ina - a day after Christmas. 

Image Taken from the MMDA website

Here's what happened. Somehow, it left a number of questions unanswered.

Caught on Camera!

My Real Me-Time Moments with Dove Chocolates! 

Manila's Bellagio Lugang Cafe

It was a few days before Christmas and I was to attend my last Christmas party of sorts with friends. We decided to try out the newest restaurant in Greenhills that everybody was raving about. Turns out I tried this in Beijing a long time ago already (2006), only I know it as the infamous Bellagio and not by its Chinese name Lugang. These were some of the pictures of 鹿港小镇（原满星楼）a.k.a. Beijing Bellagio.

Bellagio is a go-to place in Beijing, known for its towering bean desserts.

Check out my latest Beijing Experience in this link - http://guiltlessgetaways.blogspot.com/2010/09/beijing-10-day-13-saying-goodbye-with.html.

Connecticut Greenhills Lugang Cafe - The menu was extensive and we ended up ordering a lot of good stuff for 10 people.

Me-Time Moments With My New Lumix and Dove Chocolates

You probably won't see me or my Lumix here but you will see my subjects, a lot of moments and what my new Lumix can do. Behind those moments is actually my moment with my camera and my desire to capture my friends' and family's first moments with Dove Chocolates and to improve my photography skills. Of course, some of them ate the Dove Chocolates so quickly so I have an excuse as to why the pictures turned out that way. I got my Dove Chocolates and Lumix at the same time so these were some of my first shots.

I used to see Dove Chocolates in supermarkets abroad. Now, this world-renowned silky smooth chocolate is available in Manila.

Noche Buena in XinTianDi

I spent the first installment of the Christmas holidays differently this year starting with the Noche Buena. I don't think I have eaten this much for 2 consecutive days in my entire life. My Christmas Eve was spent with a very late dinner at a hotel restaurant. By 10 p.m., I was so hungry and was ready to eat anything. I sampled everything that was in front of me with gusto... We ate the night away until Christmas. 2 hours passed by so fast.

Pho Love

Did you go to Rockwell and watched Rent live? It was such a fun musical. Here's my story that night: http://meloyco.blogspot.com/2010/12/i-love-to-sing-and-i-love-rent.html

Prior to the movie, I sampled a bowl of Pho Beef Noodles at Pho24 located a few floors below the cinema.

Looking for Cooked Japanese Food

I am still on the road to finding that Japanese Restaurant. I must say finding one is hard since I don't eat raw food. I am sure there's more to Japanese food than this. 

Any Japanese food suggestions?

A BIG BIG Toy Store

Do you know who this pink cutie is??? I found this in the newest store of SM Megamall.

12 A.M. Craving Satisfied!

Having that craving at 12 a.m. but can't decide where to go? We went to a place I swore I'd never try and I was more than 100% satisfied. This place is open until the wee hours of the morning. It can actually be a date place for those who just love to eat.

Lots of NomNomNom, None For Me

I can recommend something I've tried in NomNomNom, it was the best one for the night. Here's the thing: I think it's chicken or fish but I'm sure it was not my order.

Overheard About the Toll Holiday

Ready for the Christmas Holidays? Go to this link if you haven't heard of it yet: http://meloyco.blogspot.com/2010/12/2010-christmas-holidays-in-philippines.html

Are you also up for a toll holiday this 2010 Christmas season? Those people living in the South or those going to Tagaytay or Laguna would be thrilled, that is, if they are in the area on these dates and times.