Okada Manila in A Glimpse

For my first post since coming back to blogging, I will post about our recent trip to Okada Manila.

This trip is not expensive, but en-joyful, given my current status as a mom/ wife. Me and my husband see to it that during our dates, we will both have fun while not spending too much.

I've longed to go to Okada Manila since the announcement of the Miss Universe' s Candidates' stay there. But unfortunately, I couldn't because of me being pregnant. So I always remind my husband after giving birth that I really wanted to go there to see the fountain show. And long last, we went there to celebrate our Anniversary. Hooray!!! :)

You can go to Okada using Uber, Grab or any private vehicle. There are no jeepneys that stop by there. But you can ride their shuttle(bus) from Mall of Asia if you're opting to go by commute.

Try to arrive there early to avoid loss of parking space or having too-many-people-visiting-that-you-cannot-take-good-pictures-anymore. Around 4pm is a good time to start touring.

Their parking lot was big, but gets full anyway during peak hours (8-10pm). Upon parking, a big golf cart shuttle will pick you up and take you to the lobby area.

The lobby and facade was pretty impressive, mejestic by my eyes. I've been to Genting Highlands in Malaysia, and it is nowhere near Okada' s elegance.

 There are performances every time in the crystal lobby, courtesy of World of Wonders. 

Their performances are so clean, smooth and astounding indeed, given a very small stage.

In the lobby lounge, you can buy beverages and pastries, and hang-out by their comfy sofas and tables.
Expect the prices to be expensive, because yeah, its a hotel nyahahaha its not a regular mall :)

Anyone can enter the casino, except for minors, but the security is not that tight.

Inside, you can smoke cigars, good for smokers, but not good for non-smokers, because we can smell the smoke lingering inside the casino area.

You can bet as low as 1 peso in the slot machines. But with minimum credit of 100 pesos.

As usual, you cannot take pictures near the slot machines or poker area. 

You can take pictures inside the casino's lobby area.

There are raffle draws every time, with prizes ranging from Ducati motorcycles to Ferrari cars.

There are also performers inside the casino: sexy dancers, violinists, singers, etc.

There are restaurants inside the casino: the expensive ones like Ginza Nagaoka, Kiapo, Red Spice and Goryeo, and the not-so-expensive choices like Pink's, Pepper Lunch and others. 

You just have to ask the ushers there for the location of the restaurants.

We ate at the shabu shabu store in the food court inside the casino, one bowl is 300 pesos, quite pricey, but its the cheapest choice there haha 

Near the fountain, there are also food outlets like Pink's, TWG, Starbucks (automatic haha), Mary Grace, Tokyo Cheesecake Factory, and Chatime.

And for the reason we went there, the fountain show.

The fountain show occurs every clock hour starting from 6pm and ends at 10pm.

The fountain show was superb, given the fact that Okada's fountain was the biggest multi-lighted fountain in the world.
The choreography of the fountain and lights was awesome. 

People say that its better than Las Vegas'.

Watch the video below for the fountain show with music from Adele' s Set Fire To the Rain.

Click here to re-direct to youtube  or watch video below.

We spent not that much, but we enjoyed our sight-seeing there.

And by the way, their toilets are remote-controlled, amazing for a commoner like me hahaha
Watch video below.

https://www.facebook.com/jamienueca/posts/1645705835504374

Hope you enjoyed reading too.

Till next time, stay tuned for more posts :)

Casa Verde - Cebu

One of the must-tries in Cebu is Casa Verde steaks and burgers.

Originated at Cebu, Casa Verde is an American style casual dining restaurant that has expanded and planted branches in Cebu and Metro Manila. 

For locations, click here.

They've been known for serving the best and affordable ribs in Cebu. Their menu is composed of a variety of specialties that food lovers would enjoy. They're steaks are affordable too.

Their ribs and steaks ranges from 200-400 php per meal. An order of their brian' s ribs can be shared by two.

The place was packed with people when we ate. Mostly Filipino foodies, koreans and other foreigners.

The Menu.

The gang.

 Here comes the food.

I ordered David Dean's Tenderloin, the meat was so juicy, savory and tender. 

I finished it fast, but didn't got full, because the serving size was not enough.

Roasted Seasoned Chicken

Bacon Mushroom Cheese Burger

We ordered The Big Bang Burger. And it was shared by three of my friends.

The fries were not enough for three though.

This is Brian's Ribs. It's quite big. 

The marinade is sweet. 2 of my friends shared with a serving, they just ordered extra rice.

Be careful with the parts though. Most of the ribs we ordered had many glue stick-like tendons, which made the eating difficult, because they had to remove them first. And the meat got less because the slab contained more tendons than meat.

We enjoyed this food experience. We'll definitely come back to try these again.

More posts to come, so stay tuned! :)