Food review: Koi Restaurant at Thunderbird Hotel and Casino Binangonan

 I've read so many bad reviews about the restaurant here and I've also experienced it myself when we tried their dinner buffet back in 2009. I was so hesitant to eat here last Saturday but since it was a long drive from the hotel to the nearest resto in Antipolo, we decided to stay and try the resto again.

BAD IDEA.

We ordered yang chow fried rice and beef kare-kare (which boasted of having US beef angus). The yang chow fried rice was so bland, I felt like I was eating plain white rice especially if I closed my eyes. The beef kare-kare was the biggest disappointment. Priced at P450, you'd at least expect a little bit of goodness in there. The serving looked promising but that was where it all stopped. The bowl had so much creamy sauce in it but with very little of the actual food you were supposed to eat. The US angus beef they boasted of were so few and so little! Grabe ah, eh sa Kanin Club nga 4 na kame hinde pa namin naubos yung kare-kare sa dami! I didn't want to complain too much cus I knew it would upset my husband who wanted to try the resto but I stopped eating after a few spoonfuls. I couldnt take the blandness and the absence of beef in our food.

Obviously, I didn't even bother taking pictures of the food. What for? 

We shouldve taken that extra 30-minute bakc and forth trip to Hap Chan instead. I wouldve been a very happy girl. Oh well..

4-Day Birthday Celebration -- Part III (Thunderbird Resort)

We initially didn't plan on any staycation nor out of town trips so this part was actually more of a last-minute decision (which I do not regret at all). I booked an overnight stay at Thunderbird Hotel and Casino in Angono so that we can spend some well-deserved relaxation. Also, it was mostly because Zoe has been wanting to swim in a normal pool for the longest time.

I made the reservation through Asia Travel, which is my favorite online booking agency. They're very reliable (and cheaper too) based on my past experiences with them. They were able to secure a room for me in less than an hour despite the fact that the hotel was already booked at that time. Our superior room cost us Php 4800 for 2 adults and 1 child plus Php 1000 for my yaya.

I've never stayed at Thunderbird Hotel before; we've only dined and tried the casino, plus my best friend got married there in 2007. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that their rooms are BIG. The reviews were pretty accurate. We got a pool-facing room with balcony and I just loved it so much. My daughter loved it too, she kept on saying 'it's nice here' =)

The hotel facade

View of the pool from the reception area

 Our very large superior room

Pool area side view

Goofing around before bedtime

By the pool side

Dinner at Koi Restaurant (which I do highly DO NOT recommend)

4-Day Birthday Celebration -- Part II

On the day of my birthday, I kick-started the day off by renewing my license at LTO Robinson's Metro East. It was a breeze though compared to my experience in getting a license the first time. I was done after 1.5 hours and only spent Php817. Yey! =)

So anyway, I had dinner with my family at Gerry's Grill SM Marikina. My eldest brother was stuck at duty so he wasn't able to make it (boooo!).

Instead of getting a traditional cake (which I'm not so much a fan of except if it's sansrival), Dan decided to get an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen which was a hit!

To cap off dinner, we all headed to Starbucks for brewed coffee. Of course, only the grown ups got to enjoy this treat.

4-Day Birthday Celebration -- Part I

It's my 31st birthday. I'm not super thrilled about the increase in the age category but I still decided to have several mini-celebrations to commemorate my impending exit in the calendar numbers. 

So to start off, I had dinner with Paula and Lainey at Kanin Club in Ayala Triangle Gardens on Monday:

We ordered beef kare-kare, sinigang na sinangag, pork binagoongan, and bagoong rice. The first 2 were actually just for me while the latter 2 were shared by Lainey and Paula. That's how much I love those dishes.

I filed for vacation leaves on Thursday and Friday so Dan and I decided to do a birthday salubong by catching a last full show of Iron Man 3. Boy, it was really good. I'm totally in love with Robert Downey Jr.

8th anniversary celebration at 7 Corners

Dan and I celebrated our 8th anniversary by having lunch buffet at 7 Corners in Crown Plaza Hotel. The last time I dined here was back in 2011 when we checked in for my birthday.

Can't resist a little vanity picture right there

7 Corners isn't comparable to Sofitel's Spirals when it comes to the spread. Not even Vikings nor Buffet 101. It was fine with me though because I easily get overwhelmed with the abundance of food and end up not eating too much. Sayang. In my husband's words 'parang nadaya nila ko'. So, I was pretty ok with 7 Corner's spread, not to mention that the ambience was still relaxed and quite serene even during the peak hours.

Welcome to 7 Corners

Some people ask why it's named 7 Corners. Well, it just represents the seven food corners/counters that they have. Here's the collage of the food we've eaten. For some reason, I deleted the photos after I made the collage :P

The food was ok. I most especially loved their steak. Big, juicy, tender, slices. I also loved their pasta and dessert station. I can say that I had the most out of this buffet even if I didn't get to eat at every station. yes, I only choose my favorites unlike som (like my husband) who would literaly hop from one dish to another just to maximize everything.

Overall, it was a good anniversary celebration. Not only did I get to bond with my husband over something that we both love so much (FOOD) but we also got to squeeze in a little bit of cardio after lunch: SHOPPING :P

Happy 8th anniversary Babykins =)

They say that it doesn't matter where you go or what you do in life, it's who you have beside you. 8 years ago, I met the man who has given me a perpetual fairytale. Though sometimes I star as both the lovely princess and the wicked witch, nonetheless, it is our fairytale. To my prince charming, gossip/shopping buddy, shock/anger absorber, proxy daddy, and wonderful husband, cheers to the colorful 8 years of life with you. Here's to looking ahead the rest of our story together. God could not have given me a better partner in life and my daughter a perfect father  =)

Prayers for Boston Marathon Explosion Victims

I woke up to grim news today. I will never understand such extreme hate and violence. Let us all pray for the victims of the explosion especially those who have lost their loved ones under such senseless tragedy.

Moreover, let's pray for peace and a stop to all these violence. May God be with us all.

Insanity: 4th week

It's my 4th week in doing the Insanity program and so far I've lost 5lbs. I'm very careful about not losing too much weight because I'm quite happy with it now and I do not ever want to go back to looking like Smeigle for being so skinny. My aim really is to trim the squidgy edges and jiggly thighs.

So here's my current picture, this was taken as of Sunday, April 7. Please forgive my shameless pink workout gear. I just went mad-shopping cus I've given my 'obsession over Insanity' as an excuse.

If you're waiting to hear me say that I can happily breeze through the routines like Tonia, well, you will wait in vain because I'm still pretty pathetic. I try my best to push hard and dig deep, and I think I'm doing better compared to how I was doing before, except that I still can't fully keep up with Shaun T and his crew.

If there's any consolation, yes, as the photo shows, my abs are getting more defined and my thigh muscles are getting firmer. My endurance is slowly improving and it's already a little success considering I suck at cardio.

Insanity Fit Test: April 1

April, my favorite time of the year. I decided to welcome it by going through Insanity's Fit Test to see if I have progressed in the last 2 weeks that I have been religiously doing the program. 

And progressed I have. Here are my results in comparison to the first fit test I've done in March:

Even without going through the fit test yet, I knew I was already progressing. Not that I can breeze through the workouts like it was a sprint. Honestly, I still couldn't even go through the 9-minute warm up without picking my lungs off the floor. However, my endurance is slowly improving unlike the 1st week and so far I can keep up with most exercises although I need more rests in between. 

By the way, have I told you that I fell in love with Cardio Recovery and Cardio Abs? These two exercises have a lot of leg and thigh work that have brought my jiggly jel-o's to its tighter form. Yes, and it's only been my 3rd week. How can I not love them? At first I was even skeptical on how Insanity can tone my problem areas being that it just does a lot of cardio compared to Jillian Michaels' work out videos. But seeing the results as early as now have put my faith back to Insanity. I love that it not only works on my strength and endurance but also does a good job in working on my trouble areas.

Til next time. DIG DEEP!!