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.

If you are traveling in Manila and will be departing to other placing by flight, then don’t forget to keep some peso for paying the airport tax. At the NAIA airport Manila, you have to pay P 200 for domestic flight and P 750 for international flight. The airport tax is collected for departure flight only. This is because the tax is not included in your air ticket.

The airport tax is various in the Philippines. I went to Bohol few months ago, and when I departed from Tagbilaran airport, the airport tax is only P 20. So, don’t spend all peso you have in the city, you have to keep some peso to pay for airport tax in the Philippines.

Basically, public transport fare is considered as affordable in Manila, Philippines. Once I arrived to Naia airport terminal 3, I took taxi to Fort Bonifacio to visit my friend. It is about 15-20 minutes ride from the airport. Usually the charge is around P 120 to P 150. Taxi fare is really cheap in The Philippines. The flag fall rate is P 40 and P 3 increased for every 300 meters distance or 2 minutes ride. So usually I will travel around by taxi.
However, if I need to travel for long distance, I would choose to take MRT/ LRT. If you depart from Bonifacio Global City, you can choose to take West Route bus which will stop at Ayala Avenue Station. The fare is P 12. Then, you can go around to the places you wish to go by referring to the MRT/ LRT route below (courtesy of MetroPlanet). The fare is from P 10 to P 20, very affordable.
Perhaps of the cheap MRT/ LRT fare and heavy traffic jam in Manila, you will see a lot of people taking LRT/ MRT at all the time! I tried to avoid peak hours but it is still a lot of people. I missed two trains (due to the crowdedness) and only get into the third train coming. That was 11am.
Travel in MRT/ LRT and bus will definitely save your money, but if you want a pleasure ride, you can consider taking taxi instead.