五十四：YMCA Hostel Baguio CIty

Just this year I have been going back and forth Baguio City for a total of three times already. Usually when my family goes to Baguio, we either check in at a hotel or rent a transient house.

Just last year, I brought my friend to Baguio because she has not been there ever. We were supposed to just do a day tour when we decided to stay overnight. 

We were walking along Session Road just in front of SM Baguio when we saw this YMCA Hostel. We immediately inquired inside and were told that they have a couple of rooms available.

We were given a choice whether to get a room for two or stay at their dormitory. For the private room, you get either two single beds or one queen sized bed with a private bathroom with hot and cold shower, an LCD Cable TV, fresh linen and complimentary bottled water. The dormitory has 30 beds in a room with a shared bathroom. The en suite room is 1,200 PHP per night and the dorm bed is 600 PHP per night. We of course went for the en suite room.

Check in time was 02:00 PM and we arrived at around 11:00 AM so my friend and I decided to continue our tour but the receptionist was so kind to let us leave our things inside the room and gave us our keys already but we were not allowed yet to stay in our room.

The corridors leading to the rooms is very clean. The tiles and walls are white so you can see any dirt but at YMCA, you can definitely tell that they maintain their place really well.

When we got into our room, the sheets and pillows were not placed yet but it only took about 5 minutes for the staff to set everything. Again the walls and tiles are clean. 

My friend and I liked the colors of the sheets and the theme of the room. It's white with wooden and red accents and our bags matches it really well haha!

Baguio is in Benguet which is a plateu and so the climate is cold all year round so do not expect electric fans or air conditioner because it will be useless.

The sheets provided are thick and comfortable enough for the cold weather. Their pillows and the bed itself is also nice and comfortable.

We checked the bathroom and again, it's clean. From the tiles, shower curtains, sink, we really liked how everything is clean in this place. The hot and cold shower is also working really well, we did not encounter any problems at all in this hostel.

For those who want to visit Baguio City, I highly recommend YMCA Hostel. It's just along Session Road almost right in front of SM Baguio, very near the famous Our Lady of Atonement Church and all the restaurants and cafes especially if you want night life or just want to stay up late. They do not have any curfew so you can go home anytime. Do not worry, they have security guards in front of the building and the place is quiet except for Sundays because you might hear some singing from the next building due to some Sunday service but it is tolerable.

By the way they also have a family room for the larger groups. During peak season which is from December to April, try to have your room reserved at least a month before.

Visit their website at: http://ymcabaguio.org/

YMCA HOSTEL

(YMCA BAGUIO)

Post Office Loop, Session Road, Baguio City, Benguet, Philippines

Phone: +63(74)4424766

四十一：Wensha Spa and All-You-Can-Eat Buffet

The reception.

 My friend invited me to go to Wensha Spa Antipolo sometime around summer. I haven't been to Wensha and I've heard some good and bad reviews and I thought why not come with her and check it out myself. We arrived at Wensha around 10PM and you don't need to worry about time because it's open 24/7. 

Price list of the services.

When we arrived we went to the reception and paid for the package that we chose. We chose the package with includes the Massage, use of jacuzzi, steam room, sauna and All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet. I think it was around 700. We were then given slippers and we surrendered the shoes that we were currently wearing and we were also given our locker keys which are in a bracelet form.

The lounge.

 There are seperate rooms for the ladies and the gentlemen. When we got inside we were given bathrobes which looks like kimonos and two large towels. The lockers are high tech, you just point the key on the door where the lock is located and it automatically opens and once you close it, after 10 seconds it automatically locks.

We changed clothes and a funny experience was when a door inside the ladies locker room flung open and us girls were all shocked especially the youngest among us which was my friend's sister who was only 15 years old. It was the jacuzzi room's door and when it opened we saw old ladies naked coming out of the jacuzzi. Our eyes enlarged from shock and we looked at each other as if stoned. I go to saunas but never have I seen a sauna room or jacuzzi room that is so well lit you can actually see every inch of skin of anyone inside there and it's their rule that you are not allowed to wear any clothing once you dip in the jacuzzi. Imagine how the guys would feel..

The dining area.

 Since we haven't eaten dinner, we went to the buffet room first. At first we thought they ran out of food but they were actually about to replenish it soon. There were rice, vegetables, noodles. dumplings, spring rolls and stews. There was a soft serve sundae machine as well and had two flavors, vanilla and taro. Their buffet includes drinks such as iced tea or orange juice. I grabbed a plate and filled it with the food that I wanted to eat. My friends decided to go for shabu shabu. I remember the last time I ate at a shabu shabu, I got so full because of the soup absorbed by the food that we boiled in it so I decided not to join them in eating shabu shabu. 

The food that I ate

Buffet area.

 We then went to check the bar. The buffet includes beer and a hard drink if I remember it correctly but we did not take advantage of it. The bar did look cool and outside the window is a view of Metro Manila since we're on top of Antipolo.

Nice lighting fixture.

 We then went to the spa to get a massage. We each have our own masseuse and they let us choose from different oils such as mint, ginger etc. The massage lasted for an hour. I think the masseuse did well but then after the massage we were presented with a paper for us to sign and give them a tip. It felt, for me, like they were trying to rob us because I thought it was already included in the package. I mean, I would gladly give a tip and they do not need to do that. They can just give the paper to us and let us give it at the counter freely but no they will really wait for you to sign the paper with the amount. So I felt like I was obliged to not give just a tip but to pay them. I gave my masseuse 100. 

My taro sundae.

 Last stop was the Jacuzzi. It was already midnight so the jacuzzi room only had us as its guests. We took a shower first. There were 2 jacuzzi tubs. One has hot water and one has cold water and take note it has hot not warm water. We dipped our foot and we can barely dip in it but we forced ourselves so our body can adapt to the temperature. What we noticed was that the water had some oils or conditioner in it because it seemed that our skin felt smooth. They also provide ice cubes for those who cannot stand the heat and those who want to go inside the sauna. They have mint and lavender oils that you can put on your ice cubes for aromatherapy.

View of Metro Manila from the bar.

 We tried both the steam and sauna room but both were too hot. I felt like I was going to faint inside the rooms and there is no way for any guest to control the temperature. Lastly we tried the cold jacuzzi tub to close our pores and it was ice cold it felt like the water was piercing our skin so we just jumped right in and got out right away.

We took our shower and they provide the shampoo and liquid soap and they have hot and cold water in their shower room. Back at the locker room they have disposable toothbrushes, toothpaste, cotton buds, hair dryer and even hair gel.

The bar.

Overall it was a so-so experience. Not good but quite okay. The place is nice but I feet like 800 pesos is too expensive for the so-so buffet and 1 hour massage but I do think one can enjoy the place if you can eat a lot because I don't or I can't. I think I'd rather get a massage then eat the food that I want at a restaurant and the cost might just be the same.

I think Wensha has two branches. The one that we visited was in Antipolo along Sumulong Hi-Way. It's about 15-30 minutes depending on the traffic from Masinag intersection going up to Antipolo. You won't miss it because it has a large sign along Sumulong.

三十八：Hong Kong Street Foods

Lots of Variety

 During our trip to Hong Kong, we tried to save some money by eating some Hong Kong street foods. Street Food in Hong Kong is almost every where and it is as common as the 7/11 Store. You should see one beside every 7/11 Convenience Store.

Mini Sausages and Fried Squid

It's really tempting to eat one of these because of the variety and it's cheap. The price is from 3 HKD to 15 HKD only. That is about less than 20 PHP or 50 cents in USD to 50 PHP or a little more than a dollar per order.

Chocolate Egg Waffles

 Each stall sells a different variety. Some would sell grilled street foods and some would sell more of the fried ones. Some also sell noodles or soup with fish cakes and the famous curry fish balls and other ball shaped stuff like lobster, chicken, beef etc. Some sell my favorite takoyaki which is the ball shaped Japanese street food made with batter and vegetables with octopus inside but in Hong Kong it's big like the size of a golf ball and the octopus piece is also large and it's just 12 HKD for 4 large pieces.

Gigantic Takoyaki

Lobster Balls and Beef Balls and Spicy sauce

 There are also stalls that sell sweet stuff like the egg waffles which tastes like waffle cones that you use in sundaes or ice creams but it is round shaped like an egg and is hollow inside but taste good. It's around 10 - 12 HKD and has different flavors like Regular which is the normal batter, Chocolate and Black Sesame.

Mini Sausages with Curry Sauce

 Hong Kong people like spicy foods and curry so when you order, you have the option to choose whether you like your sauce sweet, spicy or curry. Curry is also sold in almost every restaurant even the famous fast food chains have curry in their menu. Curry is very common in Hong Kong and it's so common that you can smell it everywhere even on people. Don't go near people who just ate curry and smokes, it's deadly.

Fried Sausages

Food tripping in Hong Kong is fun but what I don't like when it comes to buying stuff in Hong Kong is the aggressiveness of the sellers. Hong Kong 's people are very business minded and when you buy something from a stall, make sure you don't buy the same stuff that they sell on the stall that is just beside them or you'll get cursed like what happened to me. What's even worse is that, you don't understand what they're saying because they speak Cantonese and speak very few English words.

Besides the language barrier and their aggressiveness, it's still fun to eat from the street food stalls in Hong Kong. Just pretend you understand whatever they're saying and enjoy your food. ^_^

二十四：Cafe Review of Shimino Japanese Crepes

Just in front of the Cinemas.

I was strolling along the hallway of One Utama (1U or also known as Bandar Utama) which is one of the popular malls in Malaysia when surprisingly, someone called my name. At first I thought it might just be a coincidence that someone would have the same name as I have in Malaysia but there isn't no harm if I try to turn to the direction of the person calling me. I slowly turned to my left side and it was actually a fellow mountaineer back in Manila who's been staying there for months already. I told him I was there for a vacation and he was there managing a food establishment.

 

There's a heart shaped decor and a map of Malaysia's Metro Rail system for customers who want to take pictures.

Being a foodie and since I haven't eaten yet that time I asked him if I can take a look at the shop that he was managing. He said there were two stores but the other one is just a food stall while the one that we visited was definitely bigger and had tables and chairs and even free wifi for customers.

 

 

The shop is located at the top floor of One Utama's new wing just in front of the Cinemas.

 

I ordered their chicken sausage crepe since I haven't eaten lunch yet. You may choose if you want a medium size or a large size crepe. I chose the large one and it was around 10RM which is about 130 pesos or 3USD. My friend gave me a free iced tea and also a staff discount so I only paid about 7RM which is about 100 pesos or 2USD.

 

The crepe was soft almost like a very thin pancake and it has a sausage cut in half lengthwise with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet corn kernels, mayo and sweet chili sauce. It actually tastes good but the crepe was sweet and too soft that it would not even hold it cone shape so I had a hard time eating it. They gave me a spoon and fork but I think it did not help much.

 



Sausage crepe and iced tea.



While eating, I gave my friend my opinions regarding the store. First I told him that the idea is good and is something new to the Malaysians and the place itself looks cute but it looks as if something is missing or it looks a bit bare. I told him that if they are after the teens, it should look more like a place where you can hang out, maybe place couches or play Japanese music or videos. Oh, and they actually have free wifi but there isn't any sign that they do.

 

On to the food, the crepe itself is too soft in my opinion that it cannot hold the fillings inside and breaks right away because of the fruit or vegetable fillings. I think Japanese crepes are meant to be a little crispy to very crispy that is why it is shaped in a cone so it can mimic an ice cream cone in some way. They also had too few selections on their menu. They don't even have a "choose your own filling" type of crepe and they actually serve "dripped coffee" which is the same coffee served in UCC Cafe but you won't notice that unless you go to the counter.  They do advertise it on a LCD screen but the screen itself is at the wrong angle so the passers by cannot actually see it. I myself did't notice the advertisement.

 

So Shimino is for those who like Japanese crepes but doesn't like the crispy type of crepes in a cone. It tastes good I promise it's just I prefer mine to be crispy. It's somewhat a nice place to hangout especially if you like the idea of free wifi. I hope that when I come back to Malaysia they've listened to my suggestions and implemented it. ^_^