Epilogue

Hi All,

It seems that I have reached my photo limit on this blog.  I am happy to connect you to the continuing chronicles of Rich St. Deli in RSD Chaper 2, which I will use from hereon.

I hope you enjoy!


RR

Kit Kat Green Tea

My friend arrived from Sapporo and she gifted me with a unique treat from Nestle.  One usually associates Kit Kat with chocolates, but in this case, I didn't even sense the chocolate flavor in the coating.  The wafer coating is green tea paste, quite unique in taste and texture (I found it a little grainy, which was exciting to the tongue).  And yes, to balance it all, the inside has a thin chocolate filling for the chocolate purist.  I understand that Kit-Kat was originally produced by Rowntree (England) in 1912 and the brand was essentially a chocolate coated crisp wafer.  In 1970, Hershey acquired the rights to produce the candy bar in the United States.  What is unique about the product is that since Nestle acquired Rowntree in 1988, the whole world knows that Kit-Kat is produced by Nestle, but in the United States, the brand is produced by its competitor.  Nestle has experimented with a lot of flavors like orange, peanut butter, white chocolate and hazelnut (usually labelled as limited or special editions), and this has done much to generate continued excitement in the confectionery market.  I lIke it!  Have a break, have a Kit-Kat!

Expendables 2

*photo from imdb.com

I enjoyed watching Expendables 2, featuring the ensemble cast of several hit-makers--Sly Stallone, Jason Statham, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Bruce Willias and Arnold Shwarzenegger.  The plot isn't much, one watches these movies to get a break from it all and enjoy wham-bang no-brainer action scenes.  Truly, the overused movie phrases of these actors were punned to death!  Well, in spite of it all, the same lines were still funny for me, hahaha... take this from someone who diligently watched their movies over the past 35 years.  On a positive note, I think the gem in the rough is Nan Yu, a Beijing actress whose character becomes the first female in Stallone's team.  I like her nonchalant air amidst all the stars around her, both in-character, and, it seems, off-character as an actress.  She doesn't come across as a stunning beauty, but I find her very charming and, as an added feature, she can kick butt like the rest of the action stars!  Yup, my kind of lady!

America

It was by some twist of fate that our stay at the Waterfront Hotel coincided with the performance night of Amercia, one of our favorite folk-rock bands of the early seventies.  Apparently, the band, composed of Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell, is a big hit on the nostalgia circuit, and they informed the audience that they do some 140 shows every year!  This is their 3rd time around in the Philippines, and the concert hall at the Waterfront Hotel was jam-packed, with an estimated 5,000 people in attendance.  The front act was the Hawaiian group Kalapana, and because we got in a bit late, we only heard them perform their last song "The Hurt," which was one of their bigger hits.  After a brief intermission, America quickly came onstage and in quick succession, performed some of their big hits including "Ventura Highway," "Tin Man," "Don't Cross the River," "I Need You," "Daisy Jane," "You Can Do Magic," "Muskrat Love," "Sister-Golden Hair."  They even had "California Dreaming" in their repertoire, apparently in reference to several collaboration shows with the Mamas and the Papas.  The audience, including myself, couldn't help singing along and clapping to the beat. Of course, the finale was "A Horse with No Name" one of their biggest hits.  As they introduced the song, they told us that the most asked question of them is that if they every got to give the horse a name!  Yup, one nostalgic night, with plenty of memories in the background...

Waterfront Cebu Hotel

We were booked at the Waterfront Hotel in Lahug, and my room, shown above, was a simple yet elegant suite at the casino block.  This hotel is a huge one, with around 550 rooms, a casino and a convention center all in one location.  I understand that the location used to be the site of the Lahug airport, which serviced Cebu City while the Mactan airport was still on the drawing board.  The room was priced at around P8,500 per night, and my booking agent was already able to get a discount at that.

We asked for a tour of the different suites and were lucky to be shown the Presidential Suite--finely done with intricate Filipiniana decor.  Quite spacious, I estimated that the suite was around 250 m2 in area.

The executive lounge was on the 18th floor, and was just right for small gatherings and business meetings.

The tour guide also took us to one of the older suites, which had a different feel compared to the renovated rooms (done maybe 3-4 years ago).

We were also shown the reception area for the tour groups--wide and spacious, right as you get off from the bus drop-off area.

Shamrock

It seems that no visit to Cebu is complete without buying some local delicacies, and this time, we were taken by our guide to Shamrock, right along the Fuente Osmena Circle in the heart of the city.  The bakery is famous for their otap, which is a crunchy puff wafer biscuit that is sprinkled with sugar and sometimes cinnamon.  While the first few bites are delicious, you have to take the biscuit with some liquids, otherwise you wind up choking on a dry throat.  Packs of otap are available at less than P100, which are reasonable for pasalubong (gifts given to people who receive and assist weary travelers).  The bakery also makes other sweet biscuits, like rosquillos (flattened donut-shaped butter biscuits), ladyfingers, barquillos (rolled butter crunchies and shaped like cigars), galletas de patatas and hojaldres (which is also like an otap).  I was a bit worried about my luggage weight, so I only purchased a couple of packs, but my friends bought boxes of goodies to take home!

Imperial Palace

Our first stop on our tour in Mactan was the Imperial Palace Resort, a wonderful five star resort with around 550 rooms and villas.  I understand that this was built as a time-share around 7 years ago by some Korean entrepreneurs, and the concept was expanded to include a water park, some villas and a spa.  I also understand the project was partly funded by the Land Bank of the Philippines, and that the hotel is now owned by some Cebuano businessmen.  The hotel was bustling with activity when we arrived, and I noticed that a good 70% of their target market were Koreans on family vacation.  I would suppose that since Cebu is a mere 5 hour plane ride from Korea, the resort is sold as the ideal long weekend getaway--a boon for Philippine tourism!

Facilities are top notch.  Dining at the resort will probably go for around P1,600 per head on the average.  We were informed that room rates would be placed around P10,000 per night on the average (a bit above US$200). 

The main attraction for the kids is the Water Park, which has a river-like feature that runs around the complex.  Water slides are another favorite, and the water park also has a feature that injects man-made waves in the swimming pool.  I understand that the resort also has a day-rate, which includes swimming and lunch for around P3,500 per person.

The beach area isn't anything spectacular.  It's not a true beach, but you can see in the picture below that they have a stairway gently sloping into the water.  The water is very clean, no jellyfish or stones, and I could see that the water was waist deep for around 30 meters into the sea, which is good for swimming and snorkeling.

The villas are very near the beach and are popular for bigger families.  I like the relaxed and private atmosphere the villas project.  A good place to bring the family--I was hoping that Vicky and Monique would approve my vacation plan, but since they are not beach people, it doesn't seem plausible for the summer of 2013....