Forever 28~

MATTA fair 2011 in August is being held in PWTC these few days. Tomorrow (14/8/2011) will be the last chance for all travelers to get their affordable travel package. I love to travel, but I didn’t visit to MATTA fair this round.

Apart of getting cheaper traveling package in MATTA fair, there is another thing you can do while visiting MATTA fair. In my previous visit to MATTA fair, I collected information about Australia and The Philippines. There would be official booth for certain countries. I visited Australia booth which they provide informative booklets and discount coupon in the booklet too. So, don’t forget to eye on those booths and give them moral support.

Not every time we have to buy travel packages to go travel. You can also plan your own travel. Besides saving money, you would enjoy more because you will get to know more about the place. I am planning about my Melbourne trip for end of this month. I will blog about it when I am back~!

One of the new attractions in Manila is Resort World Manila. It is located opposite of NAIA airport Terminal 3 in Manila. So, the easiest public transport in Manila to access to Resort World Manila will be via taxi. The launch of this new casino was in 2010. I visited to Resort World Manila in my recent trip.

There are two hotels attached with the casino, they are Maxim and Marriot respectively. From outside, you can see the hotel is really grand. Apart of hotels, you can find many restaurants in Resort World Manila. The restaurants all are inside the building, but you won’t feel like you are in a shopping mall. Of course, there are retail outlets for shopping.

During my visit, I went to a restaurant which serves the Philippines cuisines. The restaurant is called Crisostomo. We ordered two dishes (vegetable and chicken), one starter (mushroom), and two drinks. The total bill is P1300. I think it is quite pricey because the portion is not so big

I did try my luck in the casino. The first visit was quite lucky; I won the money which enough to give my friend a treat at Crisostomo restaurant. But, when I visited there again for the second time, I lost money, so my friend has to pay the dinner. Haha!

Apart of visiting Fitness First in Manila, things that I did the most in my recent trip to Manila was eating. I have visited to many restaurants in Manila and generally they are not bad. The only buffet that I visited was Yakimix (新天下日韩料理) restaurant. In this restaurant, you can enjoy Korea cuisine, Japanese cuisine, and Cantonese cuisine in one time!

There are few Yakimix restaurants in Manila. I went the branch which is located in Greenbelt 3, Makati. They have other branches in SM Mall of Asia, Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard, Tomas Morato, Trinoma Mall, Podium, and SM Masinag. From the number of branches, you can see how famous it is in Manila.

In term of pricing, it is considered cheap compare to same style of buffet that serves in Malaysia. We paid P599 (about USD 14.50) per pax for dinner in weekend. I heard there is promotion for weekday lunch which is P499 (about USD 12) per pax. So, I believe this is very good deal for a buffet in a nice environment. The buffet price stated is not inclusive of drinks, but they do provide free flow of drinking water. So, it is optional for you to order extra drinks.

Now you see the price is affordable, so you can expect to see crowd waiting outside before the restaurant open for business. I will advise you to call for booking before you visit to Yakimis restaurant to ensure your seat. At the same time, please be there slightly earlier before they open for business. Below are the business hours:

• Mon - Thurs: 11:00 am - 2:00 pm (lunch) and 5:30 pm - 10:00 pm (dinner)
• Fri - Sun: 11:00 am - 2:30 pm (lunch) and 5:30 pm - 10:30 pm (dinner)

So, if you are visiting to Manila and finding place for buffet, this is the place that I would recommend to you. You can see the pictures below for the crowd, the environment, and the food in Yakimix restaurant in Manila.

My Fitness First Malaysia membership allows me to visit other Fitness First club over the world, so I am taking this advantage to visit Fitness First in Manila while I am here. Two club that I’ve visited during this trip; they are Fitness First in Fort Bonifacio and Fitness First Platinum in Trinoma mall. Now I would like to share my experience about Fitness First in Manila.
Generally, both clubs do not provide soft drinks and tea such as in all clubs in Malaysia. Fitness First in Manila only provide coffee and drinking water. Then, only Platinum Clubs provide towel service to members. I went to Fitness First in Fort Bonifacio for workout and I didn’t bring towel, and then I was told that only Platinum clubs provide towel to members. However, there is CineFit room in Fort Bonifacio club. The CineFit room plays movie in big screen and you can watch the movie while running on treadmill or cycling. I like this idea.
Fitness First Platinum in Trinoma Mall which provide bath towel and extended toiletry such as powder and body lotion for members. Besides that, the lockers use access cards instead of key. I found there is drawback for this method because members have to remember locker number that he is using. I always have problems to memorize it.

As conclusion, I still prefer Fitness First in Malaysia. It is much better than those I had visited in Manila.

I’ve never participated King of the Road (KOTR) that is organized by Adidas. This year, Adidas organizes KOTR 2011 in five different countries; there are Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and The Philippines. I was thinking to register for KOTR 2011 in Malaysia, but the registration was closed on 19th July 2011.

The dates for each race are as follow:

• Thailand: 31 May 2011
• Singapore: 28 August 2011 (Venue: The Padang)
• Indonesia: 25 September 2011 (Venue: Pantai Carnaval Ancol, Jakarta)
• Malaysia: 2 October 2011 (Venue: New Pantai Expressway Sunway Pyramid)
• The Philippines: 23 October 2011 (Venue: Bonifacio Global City)

If you are the winner and runner-up of each country’s 16.8km category win an all-expenses paid trip
to the Philippines to compete with the best of the best in Southeast Asia. The details are available in the official website: http://adidaskingoftheroad.com

I have friend who is staying in Bonifacio Global City. It is a nice place. Since KOTR 2011 in is already closed for registration, I am so tempted to register the run in The Philippines. Any runner from Malaysia wants to join me?