Rarely Ordered | Adventurous dining or insanity? You decide.

I was walking down Pearl Drive, Ortigas near University of Asia & the Pacific today when I noticed a stand with a name that got me curious:

Sprite ZERO.

The stand offered free taste: a tried and tested PR mechanism that lets people become familiar with a product line – especially effective if it is new.

They even had a cameraman get testimonials from people who got the free taste. I agreed to give my testimonial.

After drinking a cup I asked “So what is the difference between this and Sprite Light?”

“Sir Sprite ZERO has zero sugar and zero calories.”

Funny enough, Sprite Light already did not have sugar or calories. And some of you may even wonder at this: but neither did Coke Light. Check the nutrition labels: 0 sugar, 0 calories – all of them.

So you may ask so why is it that they created the ZERO variants in the first place?

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Shangri-La has always had the knack of doing something first class – then taking it above that level. They aren’t a top and reputable 5-star hotel company for nothing.

The 4th and newest addition to the Philippine Shang company is in an interesting location – Boracay. With beaches still being the number one attraction of foreign tourists and visitors inbound to the Philippines, it is no wonder why Shang put a hotel up with the current hottest beach destination.

I first stayed here when it was only a couple of months old or last April 2009 with my family. Take note: we could not have afforded to stay here had my sister-in-law not used a benefit being an executive for business development at Edsa Shangri-La. (Thank you Ate Jenny I love you!)

At that time, I was already impressed with how the service was – very personalized but more importantly, it felt sincere on the part of all of the staff. The Vintana breakfast buffet was awesome – serving no less than what you would want to eat for breakfast – sausages, cereal, yogurt, fruit, fruit shakes, tapa, pancakes, waffles, muffins – you name it, they have got it in the best quality possible.

Recently, as part of my job (and this is the official preview to my NEXT blog, which will be a travel blog O.J.T. – On the Job Traveler) I was sent to do dozens of resort oculars in Boracay. Sadly, it WAS work and thus I had only 1 hour of free time in 3 days. (I kid you not – I was in Bora and I did not even step on the water on the shore.) The different dining experiences from the numerous and generous resorts was what made the trip still vacation-worthy. And heading that list is none other than Vintana’s Lunch Buffet!

Here are a few pictures that speak for themselves:

My acknowledgements to the whole PHILTOA (Philippine Tour Operators Association) group that made this possible – especially President Cezar Cruz and my kind boss Ms. Clang Garcia who opted to send me to Boracay on my first day – not many people can say they started out work like this.

Rarely Ordered… is now officially UNDEAD. (Insert zombie moans here.)

I wish I could say the word “resurrected” but that would give the wrong impression.

UNDEAD is a good word -because it means that while we may be moving again, a few changes will be in order and we don’t exactly know what they are.

One thing is for sure though, we will now give focus not just on the food, but on practically any aspect of the rare dining experience – especially that in the Philippines.

Changes will come in small increments and we will let them come on their own – and I hope that we are able to obtain our readership again.

FIRST ARTICLE COMES OUT TODAY AS WELL!