FABULOUS DESSERTS YOU CAN ONLY FIND IN BORACAY

FABULOUS DESSERTS YOU CAN ONLY FIND IN BORACAY

I'm referring to Ube Mama and Coco Mama. Well, this is not completely true for Coco Mama but the only other location where you can find Coco Mama is in La Union. So when you're in Boracay, you should grab the opportunity to taste and enjoy these two desserts that is homegrown in Boracay. In a country like ours that exports coconut, it's ironic that coconut ice cream is not so popular so as to find it so readily in the local grocery store like in Thailand. When I was in Bangkok, I feasted on different brands of coconut ice cream from the grocery. 

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT UBE MAMA

For ube lovers, it's ube heaven. This dessert does not disappoint. It's heaping with everything ube with the rich taste of coconut cream. . Imagine 2 big scoops of ube coconut ice cream, drizzled with salted coconut cream, topped with a generous amount of ube pudding, sprinkled with cornflakes and palitaw balls on the side. It's a meal in itself.

My tip: The portion size is big so make sure to share it with another person.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT COCO MAMA

The coconut ice cream is so rich and creamy, it brings back memories of the coconut ice cream I tasted in Nataporn ice cream shop in Thailand. Nataporn serves homemade ice cream in a little alley near the Grand Palace. Their bestseller is the coconut ice cream.

My tip: If you're tasting Coco Mama for the first time, first try the coconut ice cream without mixing it with pandan ice cream or with mango. So you can taste the pure flavor and richness of the coconut ice cream, without other flavors interfering with it. Afterwards, try it with pandan ice cream and mango.

DINING AT CATICLAN AIRPORT DEPARTURE TERMINAL

DINING AT CATICLAN AIRPORT DEPARTURE TERMINAL

Below are the limited dining options at the Caticlan Airport Departure Terminal. Note that the arrival and departure terminals at Caticlan Airport are at different locations. 

MY TIPS WHEN FLYING CEBU PACIFIC AIR INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT FROM NAIA3

MY TIPS WHEN FLYING  CEBU PACIFIC AIR  INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT FROM NAIA3

1. Arrive at the airport at least 4 hours before departure.

Since most of the airlines have completed transfer to terminal 3 already, expect long lines at immigration. It can range from 30min to 1 hour. If your flight falls on a holiday or a 3-day weekend, the line at immigration can be more than an hour. Others have experienced 2 hours at immigration 

The Cebu Pacific check-in counter opens 5 hours before departure so you can choose to arrive earlier than 4 hours before departure. 

2. Make sure to check in online even if they don't issue a boarding pass.

The line is usually shorter for those who checked in online.

3. Pay travel tax online to reduce the time lining up at the airport.

You can go to tieza.gov.ph or myeg.ph. If you pay using credit card or debit card, the acknowledgement receipt is emailed to you in 5 min. 

3. Get the etravel.gov.ph qr code. It replaces the paper immigration card. 

Even if they don't scan it, sometimes they ask you to show it before you can enter the immigration area.

4. Make sure you're at the gate 1 hour before departure.

Cebu Pacific usually changes gates at the last minute and they herd the people to the new gate. The monitors don't get updated. It's OK if the new gate is near the old gate. But if it's far, you can be easily be left by the plane if they make the last boarding call and don't see people near the gate. People without check in luggage are easily bumped off. There's no luggage to unload from the plane.

SINGAPORE: Fraser Place Robertson Walk Breakfast Buffet Review

SINGAPORE: Fraser Place Robertson Walk

Breakfast Buffet Review

I love the accommodations at Fraser Place Robertson Walk!!! Among the things I love is their breakfast buffet. It's not overwhelmingly plenty but each item was of very good quality and well prepared. You can choose an American or Asian breakfast, have eggs cooked at the egg station in the way you prefer, either scrambled, boiled or sunny side up, and have limitless croissant, bread, cereal, pastry, salad, fruits, tea, juice, yogurt and of course, coffee. I love their cappuccino! Plus you can bring back to your room more food because they provide shiok shiok lunchbox in your room for that purpose. You can bring back more coffee to your room coz they provide disposable.

Choice of American of Asian Breakfast 
Choose just one 

Egg Station

Salad station

Bread station

Drinks station

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PAYING PHILIPPINE TRAVEL TAX ONLINE

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PAYING PHILIPPINE TRAVEL TAX ONLINE

I paid thru www.tieza.gov.ph. You can also go direct to www.myeg.ph.

1. You need to supply the following:

a. An email address and mobile number 

b. Your passport number

c. Your plane ticket or booking refence number

d. Your destination and date of departure.

2. At present, there are only 2 payment methods, over-the-counter or via credit card/debit card.

3. I recommend you to pay via credit card or debit card to get an acknowledgement receipt immediately sent to the email address you supplied, within 5 minutes of paying online.

4. You need a printer to print 2 copies of the acknowledgement receipt from Tieza. The airline counter keeps a copy of the acknowledgement receipt. 

Note: The acknowledgement receipt with the Tieza logo is the one you need to print not the payment confirmation sent to you by email by myeg.

5. There are additional charges by paying online. 50 php is charged by the portal. 1.4% is charged by the credit card company. 

Why pay travel tax online? If you don't have enough time at the airport or you're travelling during high season, paying travel tax online may save you time lining up at the airport. 

If you're a Cebu Pacific passenger, you can pay travel tax at their portal. They charge 100 php fee. It's cheaper at myeg coz total additional charge is only 73.38 php.

OVERNIGHT PARKING AT NAIA 3

OVERNIGHT PARKING AT NAIA 3

Level E (open air parking) of the NAIA 3 multilevel parking lot is now dedicated to overnight parking at NAIA 3. You can still park at other levels but they have reserved this level for overnight parking. 

My tip: Arrive at least 20 minutes earlier than the time you need to be at the check-in counter. It was difficult finding a parking slot in all the levels of the multi-level parking when we arrived at 10am on a Thursday. It took at least 20 minutes before we found a slot.

Parking fees: 300 pesos per 24 hours, and 15 pesos per hour thereafter.