The Philippines (Manila and Borocay) + video of Buffet at Sofitel Hotel

October 2014

I went to Manila in the Philippines a couple of weeks ago for a holiday.

First time for my partner to visit an Asian country for the first time in his life... he described it as an eye-opener. Always is when you come for the very first time. But he loved it! <3   He had loads of fun meeting my relatives and trying the food. 

Only natural to put on a couple of kilos/pounds while on holidays ;) Should try not to, but the food is so darn good. As you can probably tell, I have unintentionally turned this blog into one all about food. I cross my heart and promise I will have non-food related blogs in future.

Anyhoo...

I was born in the Philippines but have spent most of my life growing up as a child/teen/adult in Australia. 

If you have never been to the Philippines, I recommend visiting the tropical island paradises - Borocay and El Nido!!

This trip, we spent time in the city of Manila and on the island of Borocay (I will have video footage of my Borocay  highlights available on Youtube, coming out in the next couple of days).

My highlight would be Borocay, Why this is so....

• (In my opinion) Best Mango shakes in the world. Buying Mangoes in the Philippines are like the ease of buying apples in Australia.
• Hour long massages on the beach with the sound of the ocean in the background - conversion at the time, it cost us only AU$10.00.
• The clear waters and fine as powder sound. It was was bliss!

Fun fact... They have a Starbucks on the island ... with air-conditioning :)

Highlight during my time in Manila would be the Malls & Shopping and the Sofitel Hotel, is a destination all in itself. One of the best stays & the lunch buffet is like nothing I have ever seen (the video below can give you an idea of how amazing this buffet was).

On returning home to Australia, we relished in the fact we could once more drink tap water freely and   safely in large amounts. As we had to be diligent in drinking only bottled water and asking every single place we ate at in the Philippines NO ICE please! Otherwise, we would have been very ill.

On a side note, if you are wanting to find some affordable and delicious Filipino snacks to take home for other to try in your home country the following are highly recommended... (Took them to work as my souvenir to my colleagues, or as other Filipinos would refer to as Pasalubong) and they went down like a treat, ALL GONE by the end of the working day, every last crumb!

From Left to right, Jovy's Crispy Pili Nuts, Choco Uron Chocolate Coated polvoron (Graham flavour, 2 in 1 coated) and Philippine Brand Dried Mangoes.

Keep it sweet <3

Thanks for reading my blog ;)

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