COMMA by Vishal

Philippines Dairy Part I

Just got back from 10 days in Philippines and I have to say it was a glorious break even though we were there on a business mission.

Adore & Yolanda (just before a spa treat)

Before I begin I have to mention our hosts:

Mrs.Yolanda De Castro & Mr. Adore Reyes.

They are not only the sweetest and most hospitable people on the face of this earth but also genuinely fun loving. Hats off to you both and a big, big THANK YOU for 10 wonderful days.
Due to economy of space and the frequency of mention they will be henceforth known as Y&A in the blog. Cheers!

We left UAE on 16th June and were frankly quite disappointed with the quality of the Business Class on Emirates. Seats barely bigger than Economy, Service that was just about Perfunctory and Champagne that tasted like cat’s piss. As their slogan says, “Fly Emirates, Keep Discovering”. We did! And we’ll probably never fly Emirates again.

Anyway after 9 long hours we landed in Manila at 4:30 pm local time and while we were walking to immigration we were quiet pleasantly surprised to see a trio of local musicians standing bang in the middle of the walkway singing local music to welcome visitors. A simple gesture but it was just the beginning of, what would in the next 10 days become, a master class in customer service.

At Immigration I was mistaken for a Filipino till they checked my passport. This also was the beginning of a routine for the next 10 days where I would be greeted in the native tongue at almost every turn.

Drove though an area which was quite similar to Delhi before reaching the hotel. At the entrance our car was checked for bombs and at the door we were all frisked. Coming from UAE where security is good but not obvious we were quite surprised and scared but later found out that this was quite common all around Manila and even in malls.

Entrance of The Peninsula Manila

The Peninsula Manila is part of the Peninsula group and though not quite in the same league as their flagship property in Hong Kong (with a fleet of almost 50 Rolls Royce cars) it was still very beautiful with wonderful, wonderful service.

front facade of The Peninsula Manila

The Shangri-La next door, I was told, is more in vogue with the jet set but the Peninsula with its old world charm still is the favourite of the old-money aristocracy. And they have one thing that I am most finicky about, great bathrooms. Large, spacious and airy.

lobby of The Peninsula

The Marcos’s I believe are frequent patrons of the hotel but alas I cannot report having run into any one of them. Would have loved to have met Imelda though.

I am a big fan of hers for the sheer crazy self-belief she has, that she is a ‘common’ person. Her interviews are always great to watch as she professes her role as the representative of the poor even as she is herself draped in furs and dripping in diamonds. Farce does not come better than that. If any of you get a chance to watch a documentary of hers called “Imelda” don’t miss it. She initially gave her consent and even gave interviews etc for it but later went to court to prevent its release. A Great watch.

Anyway moving on…

After checking in and a quick bath later we were again picked up by Y&A for an evening out. Dinner was at Le Soufflé @ The Fort.

Friends of mine know that I am an absolute foodie and as Y&A had mentioned that the food was great in this restaurant I decided to test the theory.

For appetizers I selected a salad of scallops & foie gras.

Foie Gras (which is French for ‘fat liver’) is the liver of a goose that has been specially fattened by gavage (force feeding). Since goose foie gras is very expensive people began been making them with duck liver. Even then it was out of the range of most common people and therefore it remained a delicacy. Then of course the Chinese got into the picture and like everything chinese, foie gras began to spring up on menus all over the place.

I love the taste of liver and can rustle up a pretty good pate myself but foie gras is more silky, rich and buttery without the acidic taste that usually accompanies liver.

Unfortunately all the foie gras that I’ve ever tasted has been either duck (average) or Chinese duck (just like normal liver) so while ordering I discreetly asked the waiter if he knew what type of foie gras this was. So imagine my surprise when he snapped back and puffed his chest and proudly said that all their foie gras was imported from France and was most definitely goose.

When it arrived, the scallops were slightly tough and bland (sad for a restaurant in a coastal city) but the foie gras was to die for. The chef had only quickly pan fried it to crisp the edges and but had otherwise left it alone. Why mess with perfection must have been his judgement and quite rightly so. Exquisite!

Filipinos are known to be quite regular and fastidious eaters so I was not surprised with the quality of food and the coming days would only reinforce that theory.

The You-Are-In-Philippines-Not-UAE-Anymore Moment NO# 1
Woke up late and went down to the lobby for breakfast and stood gob smacked at the buffet. Apart from bacon and ham, there must have been atleast 6-8 different preparations of pork. For Breakfast! I could happily move to Manila tomorrow.

If that wasn’t enough there was also a sushi counter. I personally was never quite fond of fish and its only been a year or two since I become a sushi convert. It is an acquired taste which gets addictive and very healthy too but as much as I love my sushi, raw fish for breakfast was too much for me.

Here it would not be fair if I did not mention two things.

a) The croissant at the Peninsula was the best I’ve eaten in 6 years. Flaky, fluffy and light as air. The only other time I had such good croissants was at the Radisson hotel in Kathmandu where the pastry chef was a quiet local nepali chap who was regularly underestimated. That is till a Swiss guest tasted the pastries at the hotel and offered him 12 times his salary and took him to Geneva.

b) The Peninsula is still thankfully old school enough to serve the tea in a pot with actual tea-leaves and a strainer on the side. No sign of the dreaded tea-bag anywhere and their Earl Gray is aromatic bliss.

After a quick ‘meeting’ (don’t ask) with the other members of our delegation in the lobby, Y&A then offered to take us out for the day, an offer which all the others declined (thankfully) leaving just myself and Valerie with Y&A.

Valerie by the way is a delightfully plainspoken Canadian from our Recruitment dept who speaks in a delicious french accent and says things like ‘if they don’t like it they can take it up the bum’.

First we went to Balikbayan Handicrafts to do a little bit of Retail Theraphy while still contributing to the local artisans.

We were next scheduled to go to a spa but we decided to stop over for a quick bite. At UCC coffee house in Rockwell's in Bel Air, Makati I opted for just a juice as did Yolanda. Val wanted to eat something so Yolanda suggested she try the Cliffhanger sandwich which was her 13 year old son's favourite.

Yolanda & Valerie at the UCC Cafe before the invasion of the Cliffhanger

We should have wondered why it was named Cliffhanger, but maybe it was the mention of a 13yr old or just the word sandwich that made us complacent and we were not prepared for what arrived. A HUGE sandwich stuffed with bacon, eggs, cheese etc dunked in bread crumbs and deep fried. Forget just Valerie, all three of us had to dig in to finish it.

With our appetites more than satiated we headed to the Spa.

It is just called “The Spa”, but behind the frugality of its name lies a cornucopia of pleasures.

reception at The Spa

After a quick shower and visit to the sauna and steam room I was ready for my massage. I love a good massage but have been constantly complaining about the lack of good ones here in Abu Dhabi. They are either too expensive (AED 500 and above at most 5 star hotels) or too experimental (masseurs learn by trial and error rather than through an actual masseuse course) so imagine my surprise when I got one of the finest massages in a long long time.

massage room at The Spa

The masseuse expertly kneaded and pummeled my sore muscles till every one of them gave up and relaxed. Almost comatose we came out with the fervent wish that we would visit it again before we left Philippines (a wish that would be granted many times over).

Yolanda, Valerie & myself at Cafe Havana @ Greenbelt Mall

Next stop was Café Havana at the Greenbelt Mall where for some weird reason and to our utter amusement, there was a security fellow trying to hide among the foliage. (see below)