Easterrific Feast at Dusit Crossover

The Celebration of Life
Rejoice, our Lord has risen!
Jesus Christ, My Savior, I love you.
God Almighty Father, all glory is Yours!

The Sacrifice
Hope all of you had some quiet time to reflect and pray. What sacrifice did you make? My friend Dyanie gave up meat for 45 days! Amazing isn't it? Remember the Gospel where Jesus didn't eat for 40 days and 40 nights and after that a Demon offered him wealth, power, authority, etc? Our parish priest said in his Homily that people who can control / can resist temptation on their meals can absolutely control everything too. Kaya saludo ako sayo Dyanie! Ikaw na ang bida! Ü

The Easter Feast
While everyone was enjoying their vacations outside the city, Dyanie and I were still working. Losers! And as reward (and to spend our premium holiday pays), we decided to have a grand buffet last Easter Sunday, also a perfect way to end her 45 meat-less days.

Crossover at Dusit Thani

Dusit Thani's Crossover offers 4 restaurants in 1 grand brunch buffet. Umu offers Japanese cuisine. Basix serves local and international dishes. Tosca offers Italian specialties. And Benjarong serves royal Thai cuisine. Amazingly priced at just P1450 net.

Thai lady playing music at the lobby
I like her outfit. (inggetera)

Overall, the ambiance is homey. Perfectly projects the theme "sunday family gatherings". Dyanie and I sat comfortably in the lounge, and kill time by taking photos (of ourselves).

I also want these in my room!

bokeh tutorial (ganito lang yan 'teh)

edi ikaw na ang star! Ü

At 11.30, we headed to Umu, our base resto (as per Doc Gelo's advice).

UMU

Umu - Japanese restaurant

way to Umu

Upon confirming our reservations, a lady in her Japanese costume assisted us towards our table. And no time to waste, let's start to eat.

Sukiyaki Lady

a taste of everything

We had the chance to taste almost everything except the Sashimi section. From the soup, to teppanyaki, sukiyaki, yakitori, etc, and sushi - everything is flavorful and tasty.

the sushi and sashimi station

BASIX

Basix - International Cuisines

Ok, this place is sooo crowded. Why? Because the Prawn Tempura, Lechon, Roast Prime beef, Peking Duck, etc are all offered here. Now this is a Feast!

Roast Prime Beef Master

Peking Duck

We took our plates from Basix and went back to our seats at Umu again. Here are our food:

Prime Roast Beef, Grilled Beef, Chicken and Shrimp

The meat are a bit hard to chew. Ewan ko, or di lang kami sanay sa pagkaing mayaman? Ü

Tempura Tempura!

Dyanie and I agreed to eat desserts last, but this Mango Crepe is irresistable..

Mango Crepe with Chocolate Syrup and Almond Flakes - heavenly!

Benjarong Royal Thai Restaurant

I've been liking a lot of Thai food lately and so Im excited to go here. This place is located in the Mezzanine Level.

Benjarong - Authentic Thai Resto

elegant place with the fewest guests

People are lined up here to taste her masterpiece.

Pad Thai Expert

And of course, I've been liking this salad a lot. Dyanie has to try this. And yes, she liked it.

Thai Salad station

Benjarong claimed to be an authentic Thai resto, and they really are! These dishes are the most delicious versions I've ever tasted.

Tom Yum and Crispy Catfish - Superb!

Pad Thai - the yummiest I've tried

TOSCA

Tosca - authentic Italian resto

chic ambiance

Pizza Guy

Pasta Pasta

We're already full and just decided to finally eat some desserts.

Desserts Time

On our list are the Flourless Chocolate Cake and the Home Made Ice Cream.

Home Made Ice Cream Station

Flourless Chocolate Cake topped with IceCream
this truly deserves the spotlight

our desserts

The Flourless Chocolate Cake is very rich. As in super. Kung nakakahigh blood lang yan, inatake na ko sa puso. Home Made Ice Cream compliments the cake well, kelangan ng balance.

All this time I've always believe na lobo lang ang pumuputok. But I guess I was wrong. After having those desserts, I felt my stomach was about to burst. Seriously! I have never felt so full in my life. Parang lahat ng kinain ko nasa esophagus ko na. It's really time to STOP eating.

Obviously, Dyanie and I enjoyed this feast. Dusit Thani's Crossover has the widest and yummiest dish offerings among all the Hotel Buffets Ive tried. Super sulit pa for the price of P1450.

Leaving the place VERY satisfied

○ See Dyanie's entry too here ---> LINK
○ 15 hours passed and I finally felt hungry again.
○ Earlier I ran for 2kms and biked for another 3kms. Needed to burn those calories and preparation too for next trip. Ü

Sunday Family Crossover Brunch
Dusit Thani Manila
Ayala Center, Makati City

Muang Thai Cravings

Been craving for some Thai food again and so I together with blogger Antonio and his girlfriend Teresa, met up for some authentic Thai restaurant outside the malls last weekend. Since they have not tasted any Thai food yet, I searched for our destination and just based everything on the reviews in the net. Good luck samin kung masarap dito.

I have a date too, his name is Vincent, my point and shoot camera. I miss you Vincent! Iwan muna si Harvey, my DSLR, sa bahay.

I chose Muang Thai. It is located in Diliman QC. The closest landmark is Sulo Hotel. And since I was not expecting much in this place, I was impressed that the ambiance is good. The details inside are far more interesting than Soms and Jatujak.

These pieces perfectly introduce Thailand.




The dining area is good for friends bonding, sunday family dine out, and dating places for couples.


Since Anton and Teresa haven't tried any Thai food yet, I was the in-charge of the food we'll order. Pressure? Not really. I know exactly what I wanted to eat that night. Di uso diet! Ü

Muang Thai Menu

Crispy Catfish Salad
Serving is generous, but this is more salty than Jatujak's version. This could have been better if there are more green mango strips and nuts. But still, I and the couple who were hesitant at first to try the catfish, we all enjoyed it.

Spicy Shrimp Soup
Tom Yum is a must try for newbies! It's spiciness is just right. I like it.

Pad Thai
What's a visit to a Thai resto without eating Pad Thai. We gotta have that too. Tastes like a normal pad thai. Just right.

Muang Thai Fried Rice
Rice with the combination of beef, chicken, shrimp, squid, etc. We loved their signature fried rice! Super yummy!

Red Curry Chicken
Serving satisfies the 3 of us. Another favorite of ours. Very flavorful and tasty.

Bill: a little over P1,000 only. Tax included. No service charge.

As of this writing, Im craving again for some Thai food. Kainis!

Go and find Muang Thai in your future Thai food craving!

Muang Thai
Malakas St., Diliman, QC
Banawe St., Sta Mesa Heights, QC

I had a great time with you again Vincent! ♥

Apuao Grande Island Resort

I strongly suggest you check these 2 related entries first:

Calaguas, we l♥ve!

Maculabo Island

Coming from Maculabo, we went back to Daet town proper and looked for a place to spend the night. The most decent place we found was Hotel Dolor. They charged us P1550 for a big room with 4 single beds and yes it comes with free breakfast.

And since we're already in Camarines Norte, our group decided to visit Apuao Grande the next day. It was located in Mercedes, a town 15mins away from Daet town proper. Jeepney ride costs P10.

a close encounter with a (live) stingray

the busy Mercedes port

Surprisingly, it was more difficult to bargain in Mercedes Port than in Paracale. Boatmen were charging us P1500 for the roundtrip boatride to Apuao Grande. The cheapest offer we found was P1000. Pwede na. Sayang oras kaka-negotiate.

take us there, mr. young boatman

Journey was around 45mins.
Nina, Leidy and I were just looking and smiling with grin as we reached our destination. This place is beautiful, no arguements about that. But after seeing Calaguas Island, ang taas na bigla ng standards namin sa beaches.

welcome to Apuao Grande

beautiful shoreline

and beautiful beach

But not enough to impress us.

This resort was abandoned 4 years ago. But tourists keep coming to this place for a daytour or overnight stay.

nipa hut for daytour/ picnic style

accommodation for overnight stay

fun fun fun in the beach

The care taker didn't charge us any daytour fee. But in case you want to spend the night here and use their house, rate per night is P3000/15pax already.

If we only have visited this place first before Calaguas and Maculabo, surely we would be impressed. Sadly, we did the other way around - and found Apuao unimpressive already. So in case you plan to visit Camnorte in the future, please do visit Apuao Grande first. *winks*

○

long stretch

our boat

and thank you too!

Yes, this place is beautiful, relaxing, and serene. But again, not as awesome as Calaguas Island! Be very excited to visit that place soon before it becomes commercialized. Im impressed with Camarines Norte.

Now meet my travel buddies, Camarines Norte edition:

Nina, Me, Ate Beth, and Leidy

(at Paracale Port)

I had fun doing this Calaguas, Maculabo, and Apuao Grande adventure with you. Next time ulit! And see you around the beautiful places here in Pinas! ♥