OUR AWESOME PLANET

Vivere Suites' Skyline

"Vivere Suites nestled in the heart of Southern Manila's premiere business centers, Vivere at the Richville Regency Suites is the first 5-star 30-storey high full service residence -- hotel equipped with amenities for the discerning businessmen."

The Vivere Skyline view never cease to amaze me. When it first opened, we immediately fell in love with this place. This is a must place to visit when you are in the Filinvest area.

The infinity pool and the banahaw touches give a boracay feel to the entire 31st rooftop bar and restaurant.

I want to jump into the pool overlooking Laguna de bay.

This is the look of the room where we stayed last night.

The Need for Speed in City Kart

We just hosted our regional teammates two weeks ago for a teambuilding experience that they will never forget. Last September, I already treated my team to a City Kart racing session and that is why we know that it would be a memorable event. We decided to do it again for 42 people coming from ASEAN, Australasia and India. I personally had fun because the racing format was 90 minutes of non-stop endurance race.

We divided the team into 8 groups of 5 and we let them decide their strategy on how to change racers to complete the entire 90mins race. The only requirement is that each team member should race for 6 minutes at a minimum. The team who completed the most laps wins the race! Before the actual endurance race, we conducted a race leveling where we let every one have their test run for 6 minutes. Their lap times will be the basis for creating the group and we want to make sure that each group has a mix of fast and slow racers. After the leveling, the teams chose the main racer who would run the qualifying round to decide the pole positions at the start of the endurance race.

It was really fun. I actually got sick after this race because I was drenched with sweat in my suit and I did not change my shirt.. We started at 6pm and ended the race at 11pm. Overall, we spend about P150k for the entire teambuilding session for 42 members of our regional team. After this, it would be difficult to think about the team building for next year since the expectation was to top this one. If you have any bright ideas, let me know. Thanks to Jeff and the City Kart Team!!

Here is a glimpse of the endurance race team building we had two weeks ago.

Related Posts:
City Kart Racing, First Indoor Go Kart in the Philippines!

Hula Hula @ Westgate

I must admit if not for my readers, I would have miss visiting this place @ Westgate in Filinvest, Alabang. From the outside, you only have a glimpse of the white staircase and there are no visible signs of happy eaters. The name sounds cheesy and childish that you will make you think twice if you want to eat here. The place just opened in June so for the record, it was ahead of the hawaiian resto -- Polu Kai in Serendra.

It feels like Gerry's grill with Japanese, American, Portuguese and Asean cuisine fusion. Is this really how Hawaiian food should look and taste like? Polu Kai actually beats Hula Hula in terms of ambiance, warm welcome and space (*** it feels like it since Hula2 seems to be crowded). But this Hawaiian inspired resto in Westgate, is definitely much more affordable and you won't complain about the quality of the food. We were tempted to order the Luau feast which is good for 3-4 persons and the price ranges from P550+ for the Bora Bora to P695+ for the Japanese Hawaiian. The Luau feast is quite innovative since they put composition into the arrangement of ordinary food and it appears like food painting from the distance. Since it is only me and my wife, we decided to try the best sellers of the house which includes the Mess of Steaks and the Paella in Bamboo Sticks (this turned out to be more expensive though).

Overall, great affordable food that you would come back for more. I usually have a rule that once I've eaten in a resto, it is seldom that I go back since I would like to save our resto money for other new places out there. But for Hula Hula, we'll make an exception since by the looks of the Luau feast, not only is it a good photo opportunity but you can also see the happy faces of the people eating it :) Lastly (huling hirit na), this is a good place to treat your friends or family on your birthday or celebrating milestones like graduation.

Philippines, Restaurants

TheFrench Corner

October 18, 2006 Update: Formerly Voulez Vous which means "Do you want? ", I just recently went back to Westgate and realized that this place has a new permanent name "The French Corner". Here is my original post on Voulez Vous and I was wondering if only the name was changed or is there also something different with the menu and the chef?

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Original Post Title: Voulez Vous? Do you Want? (January 17, 2006)

Formerly C'est si Bon (which was registered already to a pastry store) , Voulez Vous offers Mediterranean cuisine -- I crave for this type of food :) This is manned by Billy King's proteges Larry Cruz and Chef Mauro Arjona. Billy King's claim to fame is having worked as the executive chef of Le Souffle which is one of Manila's Best Fine Dining restaurants. This is located in Westgate Filinvest, Alabang and if you look at the building structure, you won't be immediately attracted with its weird shape building facade.

Manila, Philippines, Restaurants

City Kart Racing, First Indoor Go Kart in the Philippines!

Before.

After the race.

This was my first time to try out Go Karting and I loved it! It is a great team building session that somehow simulates how it feels to race in a F1 circuit. (Ok, that might be an over statement but you need to imagine that you are in one to get the best experience :)

To tell you frankly, I was hesitant to try Go Kart and I can't understand what's the fuss about this. It is fortunate that Jeff, a French guy, decided to open City Kart, the first indoor Go Kart and most technically advanced in the Philippines, 4 months ago. Aside from being indoor, the City Kart circuit have an outdoor portion and an elevated track to go on a second level. It also boasts of a higher standard of safety better than any of our Go Kart racing circuit. This was highly recommended by my friend, Jovy, a passionate racer.

We had definitely had fun! I was already getting the hang of it during the third race that I'm more confident to turn into the tricky corners at high speed of maybe 50-60kph. Of course, what is a Go Kart without its racing suit and helmet. What a memorable experience for my team!

This is still a secret for most people and only popular to racers. You would normally see this on the right side (if you are going to Alabang) along the service road in between the Bicutan and Sucat exit of South Super Highway. Here's more of our experience.

Manila, Philippines