Fernandina 88 Suites Hotel
222 P. Tuazon Blvd., Araneta Shopping Center
Cubao, Quezon City
18 November 2010
That afternoon was filled with unplanned blessings. I wanted to take K to the Sarao Jeepney Factory in Las Pinas, but we found out the gates closes at 4pm (we were still along C5 at 3:30pm). I wanted to take him to Quezon Memorial Circle instead, but we were quite out of the way. The van driver - Kuya Fernan - just suggested we drive around Bonifacio Global City and I then remembered the American Cemetery, which we visited after a stroll around Bonifacio High Street, Serendra, and Market! Market!
When we got back to the hotel and collected our room key at the front desk (we decided to leave the key so they could clean the room and so we won't misplace it), I saw a little poster about "Free 1 hour massage for 2 or Dinner for 2 for every 2 Days Stay). Since we were booked for two days at the hotel and it was our last night, we decided to grab the free dinner (as I am not comfortable to have the massage). I phoned the dining area to inquire, and since we would be eating at the restaurant anyway, the person at the end of the line just asked us to come and the staff of the restaurant would be ready to assist us.
The only WiFi zone at the hotel is available at the Restaurant, so K and I brought our laptops so we could update our family and friends about our whereabouts. When the wait staff talked to us, he basically told us that the free dinner is sort of different from the restaurant's menu. They asked us to choose our own soup, our own main dish (a choice between fish, pork, or beef), and our own drinks. The food blogger in me wanted to have more food pictures, so I let K choose first before I gave my own choice.
Cream of Mushroom Soup. K's choice of soup. Tasted pretty much like Campbell's Soup. :)
Cream of Asparagus Soup. It was creamy.... and that was it.
Beef Salpicao. They only had one dish per meat, and for beef they had Salpicao. The Beef Salpicao I know is just beef and garlic, but this had bell peppers and mushrooms. It was okay - the beef was tender and quite flavorful, and I love bell peppers, so I loved it, too. K never had problems with it - so I can say it was okay with him.
Sweet and Sour Pork. I have been eating a whole lot of chicken for this holiday, so I went for pork this time. It tasted just fine, though a little tangy for my taste.
Iced Tea. K had Mango Juice, so I went for Iced Tea. Well, this one tasted like any other Iced Tea.
Since dinner was for free, K asked the wait staff to hand him the menu because he wanted us to eat desserts (hmmm... he didn't forget my request for this holiday). Normally, we would just share one dessert, but since we (err...he, I mean) didn't pay anything for the dinner, he told me we will have two desserts tonight.
Banana Split. He was craving for ice cream and this (he said) looked beautiful to photograph, so he chose this. He's allergic to nuts, so after I photographed the dessert, I spooned out all the peanuts before giving it to him. Three scoops of ice cream - Ube, Chocolate, and Vanilla plus whipped cream plus bananas... yum yum yum! He enjoyed the Ube Ice Cream a lot (I told him it was a flavor that is uniquely Philippines), while I ate a few spoonfuls of the Chocolate Ice Cream.
Mango Crepe. When this was served, I went "wow!" Presentation is super pretty... and yes, it tasted heavenly as well! The chocolate sauce and the crepe were warm so eating it with the very cold ice cream resulted in a very contrasting, yet awesome food experience. The caramel and mango sauces around the plate also contributed to the taste.
I told K that the price of our desserts equaled to us having dinner somewhere, but he told me he was prepared to spend for every meal (if breakfast won't be for free as part of the hotel booking), so it was all good. He actually loved our trip to the American Cemetery (it was something he didn't expect), so he said the desserts was nothing compared to how happy I made him today.
...awwww. He's one heck of a friend, really.
I come from a family who loves cooking and eating. I never had any formal training in cooking and that I taught myself how to cook based on the handed down recipes, but I could say that I can cook good food. In 2008, I started documenting my food trips for my