OUR AWESOME PLANET

Balloon Fiesta - 11th International Philippine Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

Our Awesome Planet and Pinoy Travel Blog presents OAP and PTB Live in the 11th Intl Phil. Balloon Fiesta in Clark Field Pampanga!
Just join us if you want to witness these Awesome Balloons and have fun with photo hobbyists. Here are the details:

What to expect?
A Day Trip full of fun and laughter with Photo Enthusiast and Travel Addicts
FREE Photography Lessons from Anton of Our Awesome Planet
This is a Photo-travel-cum-food trip in Pampanga. Let me tour you to sample the best of Pampanga cuisine :)
Bonus side trip to Zoobic in between the Hot Air Balloon departure/ arrival

How to Join?
Simply put a link to this post from your blog, multiply or friendster site expressing your interest to join us this coming February 10, Saturday. Call or Text me @ 0928 558 8500, Anton (for further questions)

You can cut and paste the html code below:

<a href="http://anton.blogs.com/awesome/2007/01/balloon_fiesta_.html">Philippine Hot Air Balloon Fiesta </a>

Travel Itinerary

Meet up: 3.30am (Yes!) at Shell North Luzon Expressway, February 10, 2007 Saturday
4am enroute to Omni Aviation, Clark Field Pampanga
5.30-7.30am Hot Air Balloon Takeoff Shoot out
8.00am - Breakfast @ VFW along Friendship Road (a secret cozy american place in Clark)
9.00am -- Enroute to Zoobic in Subic
12.00nn -- Lunch @ Meat Plus in Subic
3:00pm -- Go back to Omni Aviation, Clark.
5.30pm-7.30pm Hot Air Balloon Arrival and Night Glow (Bring your tripods!)
8:00pm -- Dinner is a surprise :)

What to bring:
Jacket (it is freezing in the morning)
BYOT - Bring your own transpo -- we don't plan to arrange a common transpo we will do convoy throughout
Photo Camera and preferably Tripod (if you have one)
PAYO - Pay as you order -- you manage your own expenses. Bring 1,000/ head as a budget for this day trip event.

Check out the Photos below. Simply Awesome as Sidney would agree :)

Related Posts:
Balloon Fiesta - 11th International Philippine Hot Air Balloon Fiesta
[10TH Hot Air Balloon Fiesta #1] The 5am Balloon Fiesta
[10TH Hot Air Balloon Fiesta #2] All Balloons Pumped Up, Up, Up and Away!
[10TH Hot Air Balloon Fiesta #3] What to do in the Balloon Fiesta?
10th Philippine International Hotair Balloon Fiesta (PIHBF) @ near Clark

A Suite Romance Anniversary

I thought twice if I was going to post this. In the spirit of the valentines season, we decided to share this with you. January 11 was our 4th year anniversary and it was kinda difficult to plan surprises these days for my wife. Here is a sneak peek...

Admittedly, it was hard to plan an anniversary surprise for my wife. On our first anniversary, we went to the land of the Samurai's in Kyoto, Japan. Our last two anniversaries was forgettable because of the pregancy in 2005 and I was on travel in Cebu on our anniversary day (which I learned to be a no-no). So this year's anniversary would be different and I learned not to take it forgranted :).

We always wanted to try out Westin's Couple's Spa Room ever since we saw it 2 years ago. When we tried it this year, we realized that the entire Philippines Westin Hotel is now bought by Sofitel Hotel group. They offer three (3) packages under the brand name Suite Romance Package:

Passion (180 minutes) - P7,500
(2) Fresh Fruit Shake
(1) Bottle of Champagne
(2) Passionate Massage
(2) Body Moisturizing Treatment with herbal lotions
(2) Foot Spa treatment
(2) Four-course gourmet meal by Spiral!
30-minute private time for the couple
Use of bathrobe and slippers

Sensual (120 minutes) - P4,500

(2) Fresh Fruit Shake
(2) Sensual Massage
(2) Body Moisturizing Treatment with herbal lotions
Box of hand-made chocolate pralines or truffles
Pot of hot tea infusion
30-minute private time for the couple
Use of bathrobe and slippers

Tender (90 minutes) - P3,000
candlelit whirlpool bath of crystal bubbles
(2) Tender Massage
(2) Chilled bottled mineral water
30-minute private time for the couple
Use of bathrobe and slippers

We tried the Passionate package primarily because of the 4-course Spiral dinner and the foot spa pampering! The photo above is the how the couple's room looks like. This was featured in Us girls, and so I wanted to share with you the actual experience. Bottomline, the massage was great as expected but the Spiral food was so-so. I expected too much I guess on the Spiral dinner but we both agree that the package would have been worth it if the dinner was very good. The room looked old but I must admit it was well maintained. It was a great way to spend our anniversary :)

Roshan's Lemon Torte

I love this cake! The tangy lemon fights with the taste of sweet walnutty meringue. I would call it the yin-yang of cakes. I would not even attempt to describe this cake further. The Queen of Desserts, Lori, described this perfectly and I cannot agree more.

"A torte in this case is three layers of crunchy meringue with roasted (whole!) walnuts baked right in. When eaten, the walnuts shatter in the mouth, giving way to the meringue’s subtle crunch of complaint before melting on the tongue in a sea of sweet, releasing a dazzling tang of lemon. Roshan has said that she can actually vary the intensity of the lemon curd in the torte, depending on the request of the client. (Oh, in that case then, maximum intensity for me, please.)" (see: Roshan’s Lemon Torte by Lori, dessercomesfirst.blogspot.com)

Balducci Birthday Bash

It was great to capture this photo moment! Thanks to my sister-in-law, Clauds who took this picture -- priceless !

Aidan's Birthday is on January 19-- last friday. Coincidentally this falls always within the Sto.Nino celebrations which usually happens on the third Sunday of January. My little Sto. Nino is two years old already and I can't wait to experience what they call the terrible two stage. We were planning a birthday celebration for him and we thought whether or not to plan a children's party.

I liked last year's celebration at Je Suis Gourmand -- private and a time when our two families are together once again. I kinda like that setup at the moment, since I'm sure Aidan won't still remember and appreciate a children's party. We might just plan a grand celebration on his 4th or 7th year :) I actually told my wife that I prefer to celebrate it with family and if possible to just travel during his birthday. When he is old enough to appreciate disneyland in HK, we might do that on one of his birthdays.

There were two choices for us, the new Tagaytay China Palace Restaurant in MOA or a Balducci Italian Restaurant in Serendra. I preferred the China Palace place but it would be far away from most family members and it was a little bit expensive. When we saw the second floor area of Balducci, we thought that this would be a nice cozy place for the family birthday dinner. A place where Aidan and his cousins can roam around freely without disturbing other customers.

We liked the golden chinese tseongsam that his Sachimpo gave last Christmas. It would have been perfect for China Palace but admittedly, Balducci is relatively cheaper than a chinese lauriat.

Overall, Balducci was not as great as we expected. It was OK for us and we loved the ambiance -- very conducive for chit chat and group dinners

Happy Birthday to our Little Sto. Nino, Aidan!! Thanks to all the greetings!! One of these days, he would see and appreciate them. Here is a sneak peek of the Balducci Birthday Bash @ Serendra....

Wanted: someone who has had a food-borne illness and is willing to share his or her story with Reader’s Digest Asia

Maybe you know someone who fits the profile below...

*****************

Dear Mr. Diaz,

Congratulations on your engaging and upbeat blog!

May I request your assistance? I am a freelance writer-editor-photographer who's writing an article on food safety for Reader’s Digest Asia. It will focus on food-borne illnesses in Asia and how they can be avoided.

And I need to interview someone who has had a food-borne illness (that is, an upset stomach due to microorganisms such as Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, Norovirus, or Vibrio bacteria). There has to be laboratory confirmation that the bum tummy resulted from any of these food bugs.

Would you know of anyone who fits the above description? Please email me or text me.

I’ll be grateful for your help in promoting food safety in Asia.

Thanks and regards,
:-) Dinna

Congratulations to UK -- 2nd World Pyro Olympics Champion!

Congratulations to UK - 2nd World Pyro Olympics Winner!! Congratulations to China, who won the People's Choice Award!

Not only did we got the best view last January 7, Sunday of the World Pyro @ Highland Steakhouse, we also witnessed the Champion of the 2nd World Pyro Olympics! Now, the official website of World Pyro Olympics is down so I'm sure most of you are wondering who won during the last World Pyro championship.

Now there was a confusion. In the website, Germany was the first to show their fireworks @ 8pm followed by UK @ 9.30pm. But in the flyers and in the posters, it was UK first and Germany as the last. So now, I am confused which was UK and Germany. I called La Mancha and was told that the flyers and posters were correct. Indeed, the UK show was the most creative one with the awesome finale! They were the ones with the screeching sperms and slow rocket ships fireworks which was imitated by the Philippines as well. See super-exposed shot below and this is the only time I was shooting at 1600 ISO instead of 100 (ouch) .

Congratulations to China for winning the people choice award! I would argue they could have won the contest because of their elegant display and kung-fu like graceful show. Congratulations!!

Memories of Philippine Kitchens

There are the two restaurants I want to feature in the US, one is Cendrilon (www.cendrillon.com) in the Soho District and Bistro Luneta (www.bistroluneta.com) in San Mateo, California. I'm curious that a few readers recommend these places as a must try in the U.S.

So for now, I'll be contend with reading a book by the owners of the Cendrillon restaurant. I'm intrigue by this book ($23.11 in Amazon) and so far, a perfect 5.0 rating among 9 people in Amazon...

Opa! Cyma in Greenbelt, Makati!

Cyma (pronounced as see-ma) is now the hottest place in Greenbelt after it replaced the struggling Magnum bar in the GB2 row of restaurants. At last, you can now hear the greek cheer "Opa!" in Makati; I'm not surprised that this became an instant hit during lunch time for Makati yuppies and during dinner time for the gimmick crowd. The greek fusion food is full of flavor and distinctly different from your usual asian restos. You won't go wrong from choosing any of the dishes from the menu. Although for a maximum Opa! experience, you should order the flaming dishes which includes the Saganaki - Flaming Cheese and Flaming Mangoes.

Eating in Cyma is always a "flourishing" experience, as they would claim, with lively crowd, funky waiters, delicious and healthy food. The food presentation makes you hungry complemented by very good service-oriented waiters. With the promise of healthy and appetizing food, you can easily overeat with the large servings good for 2 people.

The Bora branch is still the best while the Makati branch suffers from poor ventilation inside the air condition room. Try to eat al fresco or in the second floor or else you will be singing "smoke gets in your eyes" throughout your meal. The prices in the Makati branch is also a little higher with noticeable 10% increase and as much as 25% for the Salad to share. You can easily spend P600/ person if you decide to order one dish for each person. Anyway, the greek dishes are good for 2 persons so better to eat family sharing style with your friends and companions.

Related Posts:
Top5 Bora Resto! [ The Bora Life #3 ]
Cyma in Manila!! Opa!!