The Temple in La Union

The trip to La Union was a bit unexpected. It was supposed to be a trip to Singapore but flights got cancelled so me and my friend just decided to go to Thunderbird Poro Point. A few weeks before the trip we thought to visit other places in La Union since we are already there.

There are only few place to visit in La Union. The province is popular as a place for surfing. Most of the resorts offer surfing lesson. Aside from surfing, one of the places people visit in La Union is the Macho Temple.

The temple was built in 1975 and can be found in San Fernando, La Union. The temple is towering high in the highway that it can be easily seen however its gate is just small that you might not notice its entrance. The place has also a magnificent view of the sea.

The temple is decorated with ancient Chinese arts. The whole place is brightly colored by red and green. The place is visited not only by worshipers but also people of other religion like Catholics and Christians. Visitors can also offer incense and say their worship.

Outside the temple are deities carved in stones. When you go up, there you can see the sculpture of Kuan Yi Ma, the God of Mercy.

Below are other pictures of the Macho Temple.

Gastronomy at Thunderbird Poro Point

I have truly enjoyed the beautiful place of Thunderbird Poro Point. The whole vacation was completed by their foods. It has been planned that dinner will be at Thunderbird. It was raining hard that night and going outside at the resort to get food is really a big hassle.

Thunderbird Poro Point offers a buffet of Asian cuisine for dinner. Their dinner is located at the Patio Santorini where you can view the sea. They have four sections of foods. The first section is the Nachos and Tacos, second is the Mediterranean section, third is the Main Course section and the last is the Dessert.

I was very excited because I love nachos. So my first serving of that night is their nachos. Their nachos and tacos are laid on the buffet table. Next to it is a variety of different vegetables and sauces that you can put on your nachos or tacos. The guy at the back of the buffet table advise was it would be much easier to separate the toppings of the nachos. You may just dip the nachos on the toppings you have chosen.

For the Mediterranean cuisine, guest can choose on the ingredients to put on their noodles. After placing in a bowl or plate their choices, a chef will cook it for them. I'm not a fan of Mediterranean cuisine so I skipped this one.

They only have a limited choices of food for the main course, however, I believe it's not about the number of the food choices but on the quality. For the main course, they have mixed vegetables, spicy prawns, chicken and beef. I love the prawns because its not that spicy.

Their dessert is composed of halo-halo, fruits, marshmallows and small cupcakes. Guests can make their own halo-halo. You can choose the ingredients you want to put in your halo-halo. Their fruits are pineapples, melon, papaya and watermelon. They have two chocolate fountain where you can dip your marshmallows.

Breakfast at Thunderbird resort is more delectable. Their breakfast is located at the Olives Restaurant. It has very pleasing and welcoming ambiance.

They have waffles, pancakes, cupcakes and breads. However, they only have pandesal and wheat bread. You may choose butter and other fruit jams like orange and blueberry to go with the bread. For the syrup of the waffles and pancakes they have honey and chocolate. Beside the bread area are choices of juices. 

Aside from bread, of course they have rice meals. They have sausages, bacon, tapa, dumplings, danggit and eggs. Guests can request on how they want their eggs to be cooked.

I'm a coffee lover so I love the overflowing coffee. You may choose if you hot chocolate, coffee or tea.

Aside from these, they also offer  fresh fruits during breakfast.

You will not only enjoy the Santorini atmosphere at Thunderbird but you will also love their foods.

A Vacation at Thunderbird Poro Point

No further introduction is needed for this hotel and resort as Thunderbird is widely known all over the world. There is a Thunderbird Resort in Rizal and another one in La Union. 

I have always wanted to go to Greece and spend even just a day at the island of Santorini. Fortunately, Thunderbird has crafted its resort in Poro Point, La Union based on the structures of the houses in Santorini. The white and blue paint and the big dome resembles the old houses in Santorini. Just like Santorini, the resort is situated near the cliff.

I was able to get a discount price on the hotel because of their rainy season offer. I was able reserve a room for two in one of their villa. The place was called El Mundo wing which is on the left side and near the golf course. The villa is a two-storey house which is divided in four rooms. You have an option to reserve the whole house which can accommodate a whole family or book just one room. The room is fully furnished with a living room, kitchen, bathroom and bed room. Each room also has their own veranda. 

The door of our room

The whole house

The house is a bit far from the main hotel however there is a shuttle service that requested to pick you up at your room. Aside from the beautiful house where I stayed, of course there are other beautiful place in the resort.

The swimming pool of the resort has a very relaxing structure. It also has a small blue dome with a structure like a bar. 

The resort has a boardwalk where you can sit and relax. It gives a spectacular view of the sea and how waves crashes to the rocks. It is strictly prohibited by the resort to go near the cliffs. There are roving guards to ensure that guests will not try to go to the cliff side.

Unfortunately, the beach was closed on my visit. I suspect that it's because of the large waves that keeps on crashing on the shores. Well, its better that the management ensures the safety of their visitors. The water activities like jet ski, wake boarding and surfing are on the beach.  

Thunderbird also boasts their golf course and Fiesta Casino. I have tried their slot machines but I didn't have much luck that night.

Aside from the different amenities, the resort also caters nice foods. You may check about their dinner and breakfast at my post gastronomy-at-thunderbird-poro-point

Below are other pictures of the resort.

Another view of the dome

The painting at the ceiling of the lobby

It's Heat Time at Edsa Shangri-la Hotel

There has been a lot of buffet restaurant that is appearing in the metro. Some are very affordable while other  are very expensive. There are buffet that only offer specific type of cuisine like they may only have Chinese food or Filipino food or Japanese food. While there are buffet restaurant that have food choice from different part of the world. 

Last night I have an opportunity to have dinner at Heat, Edsa Shangri-la. I have a small appetite, so  I don't often eat at buffet. Good thing is that I'm familiar with the foods at Heat. I already know the foods that I will eat which means less hassle on deciding what to choose and then being disappointed in the end. 

Food choices at Heat ranges from Filipino, Chinese, American, Indian and Japanese. They also have a wide variety of salads and breads.

To start with I had some seafoods. I had a curacha, tempura and green mussels. I only took two pieces of the tempura and mussels because I know that too much of these may cause high blood pressure.

My friend even though she's thin was able to eat three curachas. She even knows the right sauce to go with it. What is more amazing is that she ate the curachas without any difficulty. 

After a serving of seafoods, I headed out to the buffet table again to have my meat. I always have a slice of their steak whenever I eat at Heat. But last tonight was different, I requested for two slices of steak. I had a generous serving of steaks that everyone in our table was staring at me. They don't believe that I can eat it all up. 

Aside from the steaks, I also had a piece of chicken in curry sauce, grilled chicken and another type of beef. I also put two potato wedges that has just the right kick of spice.

Aside from the foods that I ate, Heat also has a variety of dumplings, makis, sushi and sashimi. 

Dinner at Heat will never be complete without their dessert. They have a chocolate fountain with choices of fruits and mallows. Beside the chocolate fountain are the different cakes, panna cota and puddings. They also have an ice cream corner where you can ask for an ice cream teppanyaki that you can watch while being made. 

Beside the ice cream station are the crepes. You can also watch the chef do your crepe. You have banana, peach and mango as fillings for the crepe. 

They also have fruits for dessert. Heat usually have melon, pineapple, watermelon and papaya for fruits. 

 There are a lot of good reasons to eat at Heat. It might be pricey but its worth it!

All About Meat at Meat Plus Subic

Its already past 2PM and everybody is undoubtedly happy with the trip to Ocean Adventure but our stomachs are grumbling up. Its not the time to be picky on what to eat but of course we want our Subic trip to be really special. So to top our vacation we decided to have lunch at Meat Plus Cafe.

Meat Plus Cafe is the mother company of Tender Bob's. It's a perfect place for meat lovers. Their menu is obviously all about meat.

The best part about Meat Plus Cafe is that they have a fridge near the counter where you can choose your steak and with just a price of P150 you have an option to have it cooked just the way you like it.

To begin with our lunch, our friend ordered Potato Skins. The slices are very thin and crispy. They offer two dips, the cheese sauce and creamy garlic. Both dips goes well with the Potato Skins.

Potato Skins

Most of us ordered the Oven-Roasted Beef Belly which is worth P220. It already includes rice, soup and your choice of soda or iced tea. The beef is cooked into perfection with fat linings in the edges. The meat is very soft that its you don't have to use the knife to cut it into pieces.

Oven-Roasted Beef Belly

  

Another must-try is their steak. One of my friend is a definite steak lover and she would definitely take this as an opportunity of having a steak at Meat Plus. Her verdict, steak at other restaurants are much better but the quality of meat and affordability makes Meat Plus a worthy visit.

The Steak

Mashed Potato and Soup

Spacious Place