Amari Atrium Hotel - Bangkok

Amari Atrium Hotel
1880 New Petchburi Road
Bangkok 10310, Thailand
Tel. +66 (0) 2718 2000 to 2001
Fax. +66 (0) 2718 2002

Whenever we have trainings or workshops scheduled in Bangkok, 90% of the time it will be in Amari Atrium ... simply because it is near our office ...

I actually do not mind ... It will always be in my favorite list of hotels ... I have so many fond memories of this hotel .... For me, Bangkok is equal to Amari Atrium ...

What I like :

• For a "first class hotel", the rates are very affordable (our corporate rate is only THB 2,500 Nett)
• Breakfast is always superb ... even if you stay a week, you won't get tired of the selection they offer
• Service provided by the staff is excellent ... always very helpful and accommodating
• Near the new airport ... less worry that I would miss the flight :)

What more do I wish :

• flat iron & ironing board per room
• would be perfect if it is near the city center ... it would take you around 20mins by taxi to go on shopping to Siam Paragon, Emporium, MBK (traffic is really bad in Bangkok specially during rush hours)
• there is free shuttle service to the city center, however it would be great if they can increase the frequency ... example, to MBK only 10:30am and 12:30am available ... for us, who normally are on business trips, it would be great if they would have something after office hours ...
• wifi in the guest rooms ... it is only available in the Lobby (for free)
• cheaper room service rates ... i paid THB 575 for dinner - Asian Noodle Combo & Fresh Fruit Plate

Favorite Place in the Hotel : Vivaldi Restaurant ... had a Valentine's day dinner here with a friend way back 2004 and they made sure that it was special! :))

Pinoy Dream Academy - Season 2 (PDA 2)

After 13 weeks, the Pinoy Dream Academy had finally crowned it's Grand Star Dreamer for Season 2 --- Laarni Lozada (originally Losala) *clap*clap*

The rankings :

1) Laarni Lozada

2) Bugoy Drilon

3) Miguel Mendoza (boy, your family sure is rich!)

4) Liezel Garcia

5) Van Roxas

6) Cris Pastor

I normally watch Reality TV Shows however, that is just what I do --- watch! ... but for this PDA Season 2, I was really hooked that I even voted for Laarni ... for several days, I was making sure that I voted 30 times for her (max per day per SIM) ... well, it was worth it because she won (amidst all the challenges inside the Academy)

When the PDA 2 started, Laarni wasn't really my first choice ... I know that she has probably one of the best voices if not the best voice inside the Academy, however, there were times when I got turned off her emotional outbursts ... But then, I discovered this Channel in You Tube which shows the PDA 2 LiveStream 24/7 ... That was where I found that what is shown in Channel 2 in Primetime was not the complete story ... It was normally edited in such a way that Laarni would appear bad in public eyes ...

Scholars : the other scholars would normally back stab her but she would never retaliate if she can still withstand it ... Inaki, Apple, Bea, Bunny (with her infamous Round 1, Round 2 achu-chu-chu) are oftentimes the culprit ... Miguel is sometimes good, but would sometimes quarrel with Laarni just so he would be "felt" inside the Academy ... Liezel is fine until the "green monster" would overcome her, yup! she's really one envious girl! I think she would have landed in the top 3 if she didn't irritate lots of fans with her attitude ... Bugoy played it safe, one time he said he does not want to comment against Laarni because he knows Laarni has lots of fans ... Thank God for Poy who I think was Laarni's one & only friend inside the Academy ...

Mentors : I felt that the mentors were not really fair in their treatment of the scholars. It was evident that they have their favorites --- Liezel & Bugoy ... Imagine, they'd always assign unflattering songs to Laarni (Di Ko Kayang Tanggapin, Bohemian Rhapsody, Waray-Waray) ... While all the rest of the scholars would get songs that would suit their voice and would appeal to the audience ... As mentors, Teacher Monet, Teacher Kitchie & Master Ryan C should never play favorites! Direk Joey was so-so (he chose the Bohemian song for Laarni) ...

oh well, that's all in the past ... what's important is that Laarni won! ... It was unbelievable how the Laarnians bonded together to make Laarni win ... Some didn't sleep at all to ensure that the voting would continue til the Sept 14, 2pm deadline ... The ABS-CBN forum was down but they were able to find a way to communicate with each other ... Others were in PinoyExchange (PEX), others were in You Tube Dlightshines channel ... E-pins, Cellphone Loads and E-mails were constantly being exchanged till the deadline ... Laarni is surely lucky to have such loyal fans!

by the way, thanks "dlightshines" for all the videos! No matter how heavy my workload was, I never failed to check your channel for the LS videos ...

... after this experience, I think this would be my first & last "go ga-ga" over a Reality TV Show ... I wasn't able to accomplish anything during this "Grand Star Dreamer" weekend because I glued on TV and my computer to check the updates :)

Mactan Cebu International Airport - Domestic Terminal

Terminal Fee (Domestic) : Php 200

Arrived early in the Airport for my flight from Cebu to Manila ... Good thing there were places to eat ... There was Bo Coffee which serve sandwiches and a restaurant (forgot the name) which serve Pasta ... I tried the pasta place ... Had to pay ~Php270 (Php220 for pasta and Php50 for Iced Tea)

Kris Aquino had mentioned that the best danggit in Cebu can be bought inside the Cebu Airport ... I'm not sure if there are still some "Pasalubong Centers" after check-in ... As a precaution I bought already a few packs in the Airport Lobby while waiting to check-in ... After the Pre-Departure gate, I was glad that there are more to chose from ...

There are also more choices if you want to eat at the Pre-Departure Lobby ... there were Fruits (shakes & juices), Dunkin' Donuts, etc ...


Airport facade before landing :


Goodies before Boarding :



Baggage Claim :

Tacloban - D Z Romualdez Airport

Terminal Fee : Php 30

After my trip to Borongan, I had to pass-by Tacloban as my gateway to Cebu ... It was my first time in Tacloban ... Airport was not that far from the City ... had to take a tricycle (yup a tricycle!) and pay Php120 ...

Upon reaching the airport, had to wait a couple of hours for check-in ... Unfortunately, the waiting area is small and a bit hot ... I wanted to eat since it was lunch time already but there was no place to eat ... The security guards pointed me to the canteen which is quite a walk under the sun from the airport ... With a luggage it was inconvenient to walk all that way, I had no choice but to wait after check-in so that I could get some food inside the Pre-Departure lobby ...

What turned me off this airport :

• Cannot enter immediately the Pre-Departure Area after paying the Terminal Fee ... Was asked to wait because the police are still having their lunch ... there was a battalion of them! Cannot understand why they have to eat at the same time so that the passengers wouldn't be inconvenienced! ... I wanted to eat already as it was already 1:30pm but I had to wait until the police are done eating!

• Upon entering the Pre-Departure Area, there was no one in the mini-kiosk to serve the hungry passengers ... As it turned out, all 3 of them had to eat lunch at the same time! ... had to wait until almost 2pm to buy food! ... by this time, I was counting the hours to leave this airport and vowed to avoid using this airport as much as possible ...

Castle Peak Hotel - Cebu City

Castle Peak Hotel
F. Cabahug corner President Quezon Streets
Villa Aurora, Mabolo, Cebu City 6000, Philippines
Trunkline: +63 32 233 1811
Fascimile: +63 32 232 6838
Email: reservations@castlepeakhotel.net
Website : http://www.castlepeakhotel.net

A friend from Cebu had recommended that we stay in Castle Peak Hotel instead of Parklane as originally planned ... The rates of Castle Peak are definitely cheaper compared to Parklane ... Of course it's not a few steps away from Ayala Center Cebu but not that far (~Php 45 taxi fare)

The staffs are really friendly ... The prices of food for Room Service are reasonable ... Mini Bar goodies also not that bad - mineral water (Php 40), softdrinks in can (Php 50) ...

Room Rates :
Standard - Php 1,188 NETT
Superior - Php 1,388 NETT
Business Deluxe - Php 1,688 NETT
Executive - Php 1,888 NETT
Castle Peak Suite - Php 2,488 NETT
Extra Bed / Person - Php 400

I chose to stay in the Executive Room while a friend chose the Superior Room. What are the difference?

• Executive Room is more spacious


• Bathroom : Executive had a bath tub


• Freebies : Free Tea/Coffee in Executive


• The closet of the Executive is also bigger

But the Superior Room is not also bad ... The "perks" of the Executive compared to Superior is not really significant ...

Bedroom :


Executive Bathroom :




Superior Bathroom :

Toilettries provided :

NAIA Terminal 3

Termnial Fee (Domestic) : Php 200

Had a chance to use the NAIA Terminal 3 (or NAIA T3 as they call it) when I travelled to Cebu via Cebu Pacific. At the moment, it is only used by flights from Cebu Pacific (both domestic & international), Air Philippines and PAL Express.

What can I say about it?
... after years of using the Terminal 1, boy am I glad that T3 had finally opened! I wish other international flights will soon use T3. It sure is something which we can be proud to show the foreigners. Finally, there are lots of chairs to sit while waiting to check-in! ... Finally, several choices when you want to eat! ...

It is still a work in progress ... Evident in the construction still on-going inside the terminal ... But it already has a promise of something wonderful after everything is finished.

I just noticed one thing though, it looks a bit similar to Frankfurt Airport! ... But not surprising since the Fraport AG of Germany had been involved in the construction.

What can be improved?

I had to wait 2 hours to get a taxi! ... I'm not sure if the timing was just wrong because I arrived after a strong rain ... The Nissan Metered Taxi personnel informed me that they have 270 taxi in their fleet but unfortunately the streets are flooded that's why it's taking longer for the taxis to come back.

Plus, there were also taxis from MGE and 24/7 that were allowed to enter the arrival area ... Apparently these taxis were not fully accredited ... There is no guarantee on your safety when you use these taxis ...