Rarely Ordered | Adventurous dining or insanity? You decide.

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.

Ren: “Ponds” and “Taste Asia”? Seems to be an uncanny combination, but the event itself seems to be pulled off quite nicely. The motif being pink, I was shivering at the pinkness, but they pulled it quite nicely with lights giving people good environment to mingle with other bloggers. With food by Taste Asia you just can’t go wrong with the choices of food they have right there. But it was more of a ladies event so I, being male, couldn’t participate much and couldn’t win the supposed Iphone that was up for grabs. Still the event gave a good venue for new bloggers to learn about other bloggers aside from the online side (ahahaha…) Oh and we were able to make a new friend Christa Uymatiao.

Fiel: It was interesting to be at a bloggers’ event for the first time – and more interesting so were the people I met! There was the organizer who did a pretty good job – Aileen Apolo of Google Philippines. Just look at the pic – see how nice and different Taste of Asia was in accordance to its sponsor Pond’s on this day. There was Jane Uymatiao and her daughter Christa, a fellow Atenean student yey! They are damn good writers actually and I’d highly recommend their blogs Here’s to Life! and A doll’s mask, unmasked – both are interesting and worthwhile reads for anyone. Lastly there were the Mall of Asia Management guys specifically Mr. Karlo Magtira, Brand Officer – I did some formal card magic for them and they seemed to be entertained. They told me they were interested to get me for MOA in order to promote the place. I hope it works out between me and them!

From left to right: Jay, Fiel, Cybele, Ren and Christa.

RJ: I wanted to go but I was kinda in the Middle East. Darn!

For updates on blogging events and really cool stuff like how malling can be beneficial for your physical and mental health, you can’t go wrong by going to Aileen Apolo’s blog: http://aileenapolo.blogspot.com

What: Taste of Beauty at Taste Asia
When: July 4, 2008, Friday, 7:00 p.m.
Where: Taste Asia (beside SM Hypermarket) at the Mall of Asia