Food Review: The Beanery- Dinalupihan

Looking for a cozy place to hang out with family and friends if you're in Bataan? I suggest to try the The Beanery.

Photo (c)

Our friend Diosa invited us to dine at the The Beanery- Dinalupihan to talked about our whereabouts. Two of them just came from other countries so we seldom see each other and talked serious matters personally. These was an awesome time to see each other because it's my rest day. I'm always not available due to hectic working schedule so Diosa's invitation was perfect!

Getting inside, the interior is tasteful and pleasing. According to Fchel, the place was a former events area named Brickyard. It's my first time yesterday. I always dine in Subic, I'm not familiar with any of the nice eating places here in Bataan. Since my first time, I thought you'll call a waiter then you'll order so I raise my hand. Then my friend informed me that you have to fall in line at the counter to order, ha ha ha so don't judge the place by it's interior. 

Looking at the counter, I noticed that they have a lot to offer. The board at the counter was quite chaotic for me. I understand that the purpose was for less queries how the food will look like and to verify easily what the diner will order upon approaching the counter but I suggest better put those pictures in a menu then just list the names of the meals on the board. For example, if the food is under pasta then list the name under pasta category and so on then the photos will be at the menu if in case the diners wants to know the appearance of the meal. Anyway, the menus will be useful I think when going in big groups because not everybody can see the food from their seats and it's not convenient to stand up to fall in line just to state your order one by one.

 After long minutes of choosing and making up our minds, we ordered these:

Kani and Mango Salad

Fchel ordered kani and mango salad. According to her, veggies were fresh, the amount of dressing was just right on the portion served and tasteful. Kate agreed with the dressing however the kani's are bland but the mangoes are good.

chicken tenders, buffalo tenders then mojos

For the appetizers, we ordered chicken tenders, buffalo tenders and mojos. There's no so much comment with chicken tenders because you'll taste the same on what you expect on it. Buffalo tenders was fine for all of us however the spice that we are expecting was not there, yes you can say that it has spice on the sauce but not the kind of spice that you usually taste on buffalo's. I always order buffalo wings and had tasted different kinds so I know what's missing. I suggest better improved the chili flavor on your buffalo tenders because if you say buffalo, the spicy tingly taste that will round on your tongue was expected . Compare to Shakey's and Pizza Hut, mojos here are better. According to Shella it's not oily that's why she liked it.

Pork Sisig

Pork Belly

Kate ordered sisig. According to her it was good but the one in SM food court was tastier than this.

I ordered pork belly. Safe food. I don't get the chives and tomato pieces on the top, perhaps garnish but I love the vinegar, the grilled tomato on the side and the atsara. I suggest to cut the brittle fats for us for easier eating and avoid serving pork belly with bones.

Shella and Cheradee ordered baked macs with cordon bleu on the side and the other one is with chicken tenders. According to Cheradee, their food was delicious but the fact that it's too yummy you get fed up (umay) tasting other meals.

For the cakes, Shella is the best person to ask since she often bake. According to her " I don't like the cheesecakes, all are no-bake. I can't taste the cream cheese". For me, that is a cheesecake fan, I agree but I still love the three especially the rocky road cheesecake but Kate and Fchel has a different preference. Fchel added that it seems the cake slice got smaller. Almost the same price with other coffee shops but the portion is different. Kate termed it as a "budget cut slice!"

People has different opinions in terms of food. For the The Beanery, it's still commendable, no wonder why you have a lot of patron diners. You can tell because the flow of the guests are continuous, I think 80% of people from Dinalupihan had tried your place. Your coffees are great too! Kudos for your delicious food. I enjoyed and had a great time in your place. We also suggest to have faster service in terms of attending additional requests. We follow up twice before getting what we needed. For the comfort room, please consider re-designing it. Comfort room matters too.


For those who will  try the The Beanery, you can also visit their Orani and Balanga branch if you are in that area.

'Til my next review

- JackieKnowsIt

Room Review for Networld Hotel Spa and Casino

Every year, our company participates in a travel fair and expo here in Pasay City. Most of the time, I stayed here in Manila for three to five days. I always look for hotels where I can be comfortable while away from home. When choosing an accommodation, I consider the following: the hotel must be near at the M.I.C.E. center I'm participated in, second it's accessible too by a PUJ and third, there must be a lot of eating places near the area. Today I'm here in Pasay again to ingress and stay until Sunday. I booked at Networld Hotel Spa and Casino, it's near at the World Trade Center.

Why I chose this hotel? First, its 15 minutes drive from World Trade Center, actually it's just 7 minutes walk, if you prefer walking from Buendia going to Macapagal Road. Second, I'm curious how the Japanese brand of service is. More than that, I can enjoy my free sauna during my stay. It's accessible by jeepneys and there's a lot of restaurants to dine at the Macapagal area or at SM MOA.

Tired coming from travel, I directly went to my room after checking in. Look what's inside:

Their standard room is for single occupancy. Perfect for solo vacationer. The room price is Php 4,300.00 per night.

They have a Japanese channel and cable channels. They provide an instruction manual on how to use the remote controls. Because I'm lazy to read, I have a hard time opening the cable at first ha ha ha but I figured it out after. I also checked their mini bar. The prices are a bit expensive. For example, the San Miguel Beer costs Php 140.00 per can where you can buy it for only Php 35.00 per can, so if you feel to quench your thirst, better buy outside. 7- Eleven is just walking distance from the hotel.

Checking the cabinet, they provide bath robes, slippers, shoe mitt for shoe shining and a stick. I thought the stick is for scratching the back when it's itchy, but I realized later on that it's for the shoes when fitting in. There are hangers too but they are fixed at the cabinet. 

There's also a safety deposit box, I also noticed two ash trays inside the room.

Also, it's a habit to check the bathroom. I just realized that most hotels here in the metro are using an organizer for soap, shampoo and conditioner instead of the conventional round soap and bottle of toiletries

Shampoo, conditioner and soap organizers

Well you can save a lot on this than throwing slightly used soaps and replacing bottles daily.

The cool part of staying here was after I discovered a new way of washing your behind after the call of nature. Check this out!

No more bidets. 

I mentioned earlier that I have a free sauna during my stay. It's free and included when you checked in here. Actually I tried their SM Kenko Spa last year of September. The owner gave us a free massage with hot and cold jacuzzi and sauna. 

The massage is highly recommended!  I really felt relaxed and it soothed all my tired muscles due to exhaustion at work. I remember that it took me 5 minutes to decide on the oil that I like. Taking pictures are not allowed inside so I only took one at the receiving area. 

Photo grab from google search

They gave us a key for our own locker and you'll see the following stuff inside: three hangers, one big towel, green shorts. Actually the shorts in the locker is too small for my size so they looked for a bigger wider one! Ha ha ha. There's also a yukata, it's like a kimono that serves as a robe that you can wear inside the premises. Once you're inside, they will asked you to remove everything even the underwear you're wearing. I was so shy walking naked while going inside the jacuzzi room, take note no towels allowed inside. But it was a fun experience though. You just need to mind set that they are not sexy too and you have the same body parts and fats just like others ha ha ha.

I commend their high speed WiFi. One of my problems when checking-in is the hotel's weak WiFi connection that I badly needed everyday. In Networld Hotel, the phone signal is good and the Wifi is very reliable. If you're a businessman and your transactions are always on-the-go, this hotel can provide you a stable connection.

You can also see this:

rechargable Flashlight in case of power failure

Setting up the wake up call on the phone

Alarm clock and AM FM Radio

flyer for pasalubong

'Til my next review

         -JackieKnowsIt

Savor the flavors at Las Vegas Bistro only at Subic Bay Venezia Hotel

When you are in Subic, most common places you go at are the duty free stores, theme parks, beaches and hotels that offer great food. Subic Bay is one of the best places in the Philippines to enjoy the leisure of life because everything is here. Since I'm working here for so long and I make it a habit to visit every eating place in town, I'll recommend one restaurant that you can add to your bucket list when you visit Subic Bay, the Las Vegas Bistro!

The Las Vegas Bistro is just new. They convert it into a cozy place where it offers international courses like Mexican, Asian, Italian, Chinese and American.

The Las Vegas Bistro is inside of Subic Bay Venezia Hotel.

Really love the vibrant colors that will whet your palate just by looking at it

The Nachos.  Crunchy and good.

I and the Bloggers invited by our Marketing and Branding Head Engr. Grace Nicolas came here for lunch. I refer the Las Vegas Bistro to them because I've heard that the food was really good. Well actually, it's more than just good. The food was really fantastic!

Beef Quesadillas. Like the spice rounding on my tongue.

Beef Mango Dish, my favorite! Recommended by the Resident Manager of Subic Bay Venezia Ms. Flor Jalandoni.

King Dao Pork Spareribs. Compare to other spareribs that I've tasted, this one is not too sweet, it's just right.

Braised Fish Brisquet. The fish really melts to your mouth

Honey Spicy Chicken.
                                             
The chicken is tender, but I like the vegetables mixed in this dish.

The dessert? Yummy!

We all gazed in awe on the food served on the table. We all get excited to taste each and every dish we saw. I tasted every piece one by one and assessed how it will excite my tongue. I say this to you, it is commendable! I'm sure that you will agree with me once you've tried and tasted these wonderful dishes.

Invite your family and friends to dine here at Las Vegas Bistro. It's inside the Subic Bay Venezia Hotel. They also have Wooza Bar & Cafe, Rooms and Casino.

If you want to make reservations or inquire about Las Vegas Bistro, please contact the following numbers:
         
Telephone No.: (047) 252-1888/ 8399/ 8403
Mobile No.: 0917-8362942 (VENEZIA)
https://www.subicbayveneziahotel.com

-JackieKnowsIt

Do your Corporate Meetings at Subic Bay Yacht Club

Subic Bay Yacht Club is known for its perfect paradise with safe harbors and pristine flat water that's why it perfectly suits its description as the Premiere Marine Country Club inside Subic Bay. Since I'm working at Subic, I know what kind of events the Subic Bay Yacht Club can accommodate. Most are elegant weddings and themed debuts; the yachts are really great for background for such events. But don't you know that it is also a nice place to hold your meetings?

(Photo courtesy of Ms. Dianne Salonga during the workshop)

We chose Subic Bay Yacht Club to accommodate the Social Media Marketing Workshop from March 28-29, 2016. Attended by Bloggers and professionals from Sales and PR Department. The event was organized by Tag Media & Public Relations brought by Tree Top Adventure.

We like the hospitality treatment given by their staff. Conference rooms are perfect for meetings and conference. All conference rooms are carpeted, well lit and comfortable. They can provide the set up that you need or any arrangement that suits your requirements.

At the workshop, we invite speakers like @tweetnirizal for us to know how he gain millions of followers and how infulential his account was. This gave us an idea on what we can do to create personal branding, how to ride along with the trend and what captures the interest of the public. We're also amazed on the facts presented by Engr. Grace Nicolas about the power of digital marketing, its effectiveness, why people are in social media and the trend in the digital world.

We also tackle the use of voice with Sam and Mard, the Voice of the Youth members and radio DJs, where they discussed how to us the right pitch for Sales and Marketing Professionals. We did some exercised like sharing, how to communicate using the animal sounds, how to transmit a message using the tone of voice by saying a different phrase and played tongue twisters.

It was fun and educational being with this people from different industries who still wants to learn and share their knowledge.

I enjoyed the breakfast the next day because you can see most of your favorite Filipino and American breakfast in this buffet and it’s only Php 499.00 per head for a taste of a hearty kind of meal.

(Photo courtesy of Engr. Grace Nicolas during her breakfast)

The restaurant also offers a wide-array of wine selections. Over time, it has evolved and now a fusion of modern Italian and Asian cuisine. It is famous for its Calzone - a rich Italian stuffed pizza that is filled with variety of meat, cheese, and vegetables.     

They also have recreational facilities like the pool, basketball and tennis court, beach volleyball and children's play ground.                                                                   

You come and visit this place, have your corporate events and experience Subic Bay Yacht Club.

'Til my next review

- JackieKnowsIt

The Azalea Experience...your holiday haven

I'm always excited going to Baguio because that's my only time to taste some relaxation though my visit was always because of work. The reason why I travel there was to attend a seminar and to visit our Tree Top Adventure Baguio Branch. That was January so the cold breeze feels like you have a centralized air condition with you wherever you go compare to Subic Bay that is always warm. 

Whenever I have a business trip, my first concern is where to stay. I'm good on cheap hotels but the comfort and accessibility is very important. Before I went there, I was advised that the Baguio branch made an ex-deal arrangement with one of their hotel partners, at Azalea Baguio Hotels & Residences.

       

I can't believed that I'm going to stay for the first time in that cozy hotel. I made it a habit to check the hotels that I'm going to stay before I booked. This time I didn't do it because I want to have a fresh experience in that place. I know the hotel because I often see Azalea in every travel expo that I joined, also in some magazines. 

Me in this beautiful place...

When we arrived together with our Consultanton February 10, 2016, morning I was impressed at the front facade. You can literally say "Wow, this place is beautiful". I even asked my colleague to took a photo of me in that fountain and making a sad face for my Instagram and Facebook, the sad face is to project a lonely traveler but also I want them to see that I was in a beautiful place, too.

A hot chocolate was served as a welcome drink and it's really delicious while waiting for an available room for us. It's only 7:00 in the morning and only one room is available, others will be available by 2:00 in the afternoon (standard check in time). So before we took a breakfast, we entered on the available suite. The first thing I checked was this:

Bed matters

The bed really matters to me because I'm far from home and it's very difficult to sleep in a different bed that can't give you comfortable nap. When this bed satisfied my judgement and standards, I checked other stuff inside the room. And you'll be happy to see this:

 Azalea Hotels and Residences is Baguio's first and only 4-star serviced apartment hotel that has a complete kitchen equipment for light cooking, dining and entertainment area.

This is awesome because you can cook inside the room. It's modern design will really entice you to stay for long and this is perfect for a family or barkada getaway. I will also give kudos to their wifi access, it's really fast and stable. This is great because I can still do my work even I'm out in the office. As I read their brochure, they also have function rooms so this is suitable too for those who travel for business and for corporate events. I noticed too that their suites are spacious. 

The night after the dinner, they gave us a complimentary fruit platter and chocolate in our bedroom. Sweet!

Speaking of dinner, their restaurant, the Tradisyon Coffee Shop has a different effect in me. I love the ambiance because of the color. It's warm and light in the eyes. I experienced their theme buffets during my stay. They have this Mexican theme on my first dinner where I saw nachos, buffalo wings, my favorite spices and fillings, paneer, naan etc.

1 Then on my second dinner, they have this sumptuous Mongolian Buffet.

The experience is truly wonderful. It's true that staying indoor is as fun as outdoors. Baguio has a lot of place to visit, stay and enjoy and Azalea Hotel & Residences must be one on your bucket list. I guarantee you that you will truly enjoy your stay at the City of Pines if you experienced this kind of holiday haven.

'Til my next review

- JackieKnowsIt