Eco's Birthday and Then Some

Eco celebrated his special day with us at home last Wednesday. Eco went a bit overboard and ordered quite a lot for such a small group. Two boxes of pizza that were almost untouched, a KFC feast, a couple of chocolate cakes, and Abby's special Filipino spaghetti.

We continued Eco's birthday celebration yesterday at Holiday Inn's Window on the Park.



Apart from his birthday, the couples also celebrated Valentine's,



and we also celebrated Analyn's first job here in Singapore.


Even though it was a particularly busy week for me at work, it was made better by the different fun things that we did.

Second Stop: Resort's World Manila

Oliver told me that Resorts World Manila is a must. I wanted to go to a casino and we originally planned to go to Casino Filipino but after having been to RW Manila, he says that there's just no comparison. A room was booked in Marriott in case we stay till the wee hours of the morning playing.

Only the casino, Marriott and a few restaurants were fully operational but I imagine that it would really be a nice place to spend time at once finally open. 

After having a late afternoon snack at McDonald's, Melvin and his friends drove us there. Oliver and Melvin headed to the casino while I tagged along with Analyn to check in at the hotel. 

I loved the vibe of the entire place. I also loved the front office decor. 

We then proceeded to check the room which was spacious and impressive. I love the room even more than RW Singapore's Hard Rock Hotel's. 

After freshening up a bit, we proceeded to the casino. Too bad cameras were not allowed in the gaming area. While the casino here is cramped, it was the opposite there. They also have free flow drinks and shakes unlike the dispensed coffee and tea here. Live entertainment from foreign acts were also provided. Best of all, minimum bets are cheap. 

First timers were also given breakfast vouchers which I enjoyed the morning after. Members then only have to accumulate 88points to partake of the buffet as well. Great deal. 

A few more pics below:

First Stop: Megamall

Late Wednesday night, I headed to the airport to meet up with Clarice. We were both flying back to Manila. I've booked my ticket last year since we planned to buy one show of Legally Blonde. That plan didn't push through but I didn't want to waste my ticket.

Clarice was very hungry and since we were at the Budget Terminal for Cebu Pacific, there really weren't a lot of choices so McDonald's it is. Here she is looking like a supervisor:

I also saw huge Ritter chocolates. I wasn't able to take a picture to emphasize how big they are because I was told that taking of pictures was not allowed in the store. It's not obvious but they're big. I wanted to get one but they're more expensive here than in Manila.

The flight was a bumpy one and we wanted to sleep throughout the flight but the passenger in front of us has some kind of a throat problem and made loud irritating mouth noises the entire time. I took a picture of the seat in front of me, parang bus lang.

We arrived early morning and went our separate ways. I met up with my brother and slept till lunch time. I then headed to Megamall to get a haircut. I then called up Oliver to see if he's already had lunch since he's working nearby. He quickly headed to the mall with Analyn and Badette.

They then went back to the office to finish their shift while I went back to get my luggage since we're heading to Resorts World later in the afternoon. I went back to the mall but wasn't able to get anything thinking that I would have enough time in the succeeding days to buy whatever it is that I needed. I was wrong. I wasn't able to go back to Megamall after that day.  

My trip would not be complete without a Razon's halo-halo so Oliver insisted that we eat. This is barely a couple of hours after our heavy lunch.

Clarice followed soon after and they ordered heaps of sisig. I was so full but it just feels wrong to say no so I had no choice but to give in. :p

What's for Dinner?

Clarice and I went shopping late afternoon yesterday. By 7pm, I told her that I was a bit hungry and that we should have dinner. While I was thinking of what I wanted to eat, she told me that we can just have dinner at home because she bought some delicious noodles that I have to try. We got home at around 9:30pm since we still went to another mall to do our grocery shopping and the wet market to get some plantains.

This is the noodles that she was bragging about...

I left her in the kitchen preparing our meal and I was surprised that she prepared just one cup saying that it's already good for two. Lol!

We also had fruit, however, since it was a bit pricey we had to share this many between us. Really sad. 

Good thing I bought some salmon sashimi earlier which she refuses to eat. Oh well, at least I have the entire tray all to myself. 

A Whole Lot of Bus Rides

The following day, most of us were already up by 6:30am. Too early by my standards, it's either we're all excited for the day ahead or we all just can't sleep because we all stayed in one room. I don't remember what we had for breakfast but after a quick bite, we all went downstairs for a swim.

Over lunch, we all decided to go to Johor Bahru, Malaysia since the bus interchange is near where we're staying. It took forever for all of us to finally be ready.

So off we went to the bus station. 

We boarded the bus to JB, however, upon reaching the checkpoint, we needed to head down and take another bus. The bus station was chaotic and hot. It was swarming with people, think Holy Week at bus stations. After queuing for a short while, we all decided to just head back.

We saw a shuttle heading straight to Resorts World so we took that. It turned out to be a not so good decision since the trip seemed to take forever. By this time, we've already had 4 bus rides and we've gotten nowhere yet. 

A Whole Lot of Eating

A couple of days before my birthday, I received this courtesy of Melvin. Three more past seasons of 24 to while my time away. He was apologizing as he wasn't able to get DVDs but I'm fine with it. So long as it's 24, I can't really complain. 

He also gave heaps of chicharon with laman. I had a few cause I couldn't really eat much. The fat is making me cringe but they're delicious. 

On the 16th, I invited Clarice to have dinner over at Pastamania. We have been salivating over their pasta as we have been passing by the restaurant every single day on our way to the MRT. Em-J mentioned that their food is really not that good but I'm like, how can a highly popular chain that specializes on pasta not be good? I was wrong.

I had the meatball spaghetti while Clarice had the seafood pasta. The pasta is cooked well and wasn't soggy, that much I'll give them but both dishes were bland. It seems as if they forgot to put salt in it. Even the meatballs tasted boring. Add to that the fact that the dish was swimming in pasta sauce which I don't really like. 

Oh well, at least we know now. We're not coming back. When we did get home, the rest of our flatmates surprised us with pizza, cake and ice cream. Too bad we're already full but the gesture was much appreciated. 

Thanks much! :)