Pico de Loro Reef Bar, Grilled Food and Cocktails

Reef Bar is Pico de Loro's resto-bar by the beach.  The food is more on grilled seafood and meat.

We decided to end our day with dinner and cocktail by the beach.  Perfect night for senti convo with friends :D

I ordered Pinaputok na Pla-pla.

 

My friends ordered Griled Liempo.

 

Margarita.  Already a little too strong for me.

 

My cocktail - Strawberry Mojito.  I liked it coz I can barely taste the alcohol.  But we were surprised that it came on a tall glass (lol).

Tipsy selfie!  As usual, I ended up looking red like this :p

Pico de Loro - Chapel on top of the hill

When we were in Pico de Loro last 2013, this chapel wasn't here yet.  My friend said that she heard that this chapel was built for the wedding of Henry Sy's daughter. =)

The chapel is the Saint Therese of the child of Jesus.

 

With glass walls and a spacious viewing deck or veranda.

View of the cove from the Saint Therese Child of Jesus' chapel. 

 View of the beach club from the chapel on top of the hill.

 View on the other side of the chapel

Tadaaa!!! Solo pic of course :P 

Pico de Loro - Dining at Lagoa

While waiting for our room, we decided to have lunch at Lagoa, one of the available restaurants for the hotel guests, members and member's guests.

Dining with a pool view.

Beautiful blue skies and pool view if you chose to dine outside, alfresco. 

Right across Lagoa, you'll get to see the pool, lake/lagoon and condominiums.

Back to the food, we we're given a plate of nuts while waiting for our orders.

We ordered this roast beef because of the very attractive description in the menu.  It was described that the beef was roasted for 4 hours so we were expecting the meat to be very tender.  Unfotunately, the meat wasn't that tender though taste-wise it was good.  It would also be nice if there's a little bit more of the gravy or sauce.

My friend wanted to eat fish and avoid meat since it was Friday so she ordered this Fish (Bangus Belly) Bistek.  Anyways, we ended up sharing everything so in the end, she ate meat too (lol).

Decided to order Phad Thai too.  Unfotunately, I didn't like it.  

It was too sweet and less spicy and less peanuts.

If you are a hotel guest, you will have your breakfast buffet at the Lagoa restaurant.  Breakfast starts at 6am until 10am.  I wish I was able to take pictures of the food at the buffet table.  Anyways, I only had this for breakfast and felt full already.  So even if I wanted to eat more, there's really no room for it :(

After my pancake, bacon and eggs plate, I just had a plate of fruits, hoping that it will lessen the bloated feeling.  I just wished we had more time so I had taken advantage of the buffet breakfast hehe.  I love buffet breakfasts when on vacations like this!

Pico de Loro - Pico Sands Hotel

It was a tradition for my friends and I to travel on our birthday.  It started in 2003, when we first had our vacation in Puerto Princesa, Palawan on our birthday.  Since then, we made it a point to travel every year to a new destination.  Although, there were years when we either weren't on vacation on the exact days of our birthdays or we didn't get to travel, the tradition lives on. :)

This year, we decided to have an overnight stay at Pico de Loro in Nasugbu Batangas.

This is actually my second time in Pico de Loro.  My first time was in June 2013 with my family.  I organized it when my sister and her family went home from the US.  But that time, we rented a condominium unit of a Pico de Loro member so we were declared as guests of a member.

Last Friday, my second time, we stayed at the hotel, the Pico Sands Hotel.

Entrance and lobby of the Pico Sands Hotel

While waiting for our room.  

We arrived at around 12:30 but check in time is at 2:00pm.  We ate lunch first at Lagoa restaurant but when came back at the lobby at past 2:00pm, our room was not ready yet.  We waited for a few more minutes until around past 2:30pm we were given our room.

Our room at 612 with 2 queen size beds.

The room was quite plain.  Was maybe expecting a little bit more because it's quite expensive to stay for a night here.  There was an LCD or LED TV, a working table and a terrace.

Full length mirror and a cabinet.  There was a mini pantry where you can have hot water for tea or coffee.  The room was quite spacious though but really plain hehe.

The bathroom was also plain.  Contains just the basic lavatory, toilet and shower with towels and toiletries.  I like the shower though because the on/off switch or whatever you call it is located right when you about to enter the shower and not under the shower.  That means you can turn it on and not get wet :P  Too bad, wasn't able to take a picture of it.  Not sure if I described it enough for you to be able to get what I mean :p

Mountain view.  The less expensive view.  The more expensive view is the lake or lagoon view :p

That's me while waiting for my bathroom turn to change :p

Simple Steps on How to get a Tourist Visa for South Korea

It's really very easy.  I'm sure you'll find a lot of blogs detailing the steps on how to get your visa.  I'll make it simple this time and we will stick to the 3 basic steps.

1.)  Downloand and fill up the application form here:

http://embassy_philippines.mofa.go.kr/english/as/embassy_philippines/visa/announcement/index.jsp

• Read first the instruction on how to fill up the form on the second page before you start completing the application form.

2.)  Prepare the following supporting documents.  These are the basic requirements for single employees and not personally invited by Korean.  If you are a businessman, a housewife etc., you may refer to the site mentioned in #1 to see the other requirements.  But for us, here are the list of documents we submitted.

     a.)  Passport, valid at least 6 months or more.  

Please bring your old or cancelled passports if you have any and attach them to your current passport.  

     b.)  Photocopy of the first page of your passport.

This contains your name, picture and passport details.

     c.)  1 passport size picture

Paste this on your application form.  Do not stable or use tape.

     

     d.)  Original & Photocopy of valid visa/s and arrival stamps to OECD member countries for the past 5 years.

I had UK, Japan and US visas but they are all expired (US visa was from more than 5 years too).  But I still submitted the original and photocopy of these visas to support my application.

     e.)  Certificate of Employment.

It should contain your salary and contact number / address of your employer.

     f.)  Photocopy of your ITR or 2316 form

Of course, you need to submit your latest ITR.  In our case we got our 2316  for 2014 just in time when we applied for a visa.

    

     g.)  Bank Certificate (original copy)

You may request this to your bank and get it on the same day.  It usually states the balance of your bank account as of the time your requested for it.  I remembered that when I requested for abank certificate when we applied for UK visa, it included the average balance in a year or a quarter.  But when I requested for Korean visa, it only stated the current balance.  So I guess they are more lenient for Korean visa.  

• However, effective March 1, 2015, applicants are now required to submit bank statement aside from the bank certificate as a new requirement.  We did not submit this since we went to the embassy before March 1.

• Always check their website in case there are new announcements on visa application.

3.)  Once you have completed the application and all the requirements, just go to the embassy, Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 11:00am .  No need to schedule your visit.

• If you submitted visas from the OECD countries, you will get your passport/visa in 3 working days.
• Otherwise, you will get your passport/visa in 5 working days.
• Releasing time is from 2:00pm to 4:00pm (Monday to Friday).

Location:
Embassy of Republic of Korea
122 Upper McKinley Road, McKinley Town Center, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig city 1634, Philippines
http://embassy_philippines.mofa.go.kr/english/as/embassy_philippines/mission/location/index.jsp

Show me the money?

One of the most common questions when applying for a visa is how much money you should have in your bank account to ensure that you'll be issued a visa.  I have read in some blogs that states that you should have P80,000.00 to P100,000.00.  However, some blogs say that atleast P30,000.00 is enough.
Actually, if you are not confident with the amount of savings you have, you can always temporarily borrow money from your family or friends and deposit it in your account to increase your balance.
One of us got only P50,000.00 in our bank account and got approved.  Nobody really knows the reasons why one gets approved or denied of a visa.

I think what is important is that you submit all the required documents and to make sure that the details are consistent and believable.

For example, if your salary in your certificate of employment is only P7,000.00 but your bank account contains P100,000.00, it would be hard to believe that you can finance your travel with your salary even if you have enough in your savings.  They may figure out that someone else has put in the money in your savings account just to get approved for a visa.

Of course, it is possible that you have saved P100,000.00 on a P7,000.00 salary but it may give them room to doubt that you are declaring real information about your financial status.
This just my personal thoughts and opinion based on our experience when we applied for a visa :)

I hope this helps! :)


Note:
Also planning to write about how to get U.K. and Japan visa.  Actually, planning to post about my previous travels.  Will try my best to remember as many details as I can and share them with you :)

Bigoli - Breakfast Buffet

I have been getting this flyer whenever I pass by the area after work.  I want to try it one of these days specially since Bigoli is famous for pastas (my favorite :))

Unfotunately, by 6am, all I want to do is go home and sleep.  Goodluck! :p

Will surely share my experience once  I get to try this :)  Maybe soon :)

Update:

You may also check my recent post on Bigoli:

http://wanderingroses.blogspot.com/2015/05/bigoli-eastwood-city.html

Something Fishy - Midnight to Morning Buffet

Another great deal for buffet is the Midnight to Morning Buffet, brought to you by Something Fishy in Eastwood City, Libis, Quezon City.  

As the name suggests, the buffet starts at midnight, 12:00 am until morning, 10:00 am for only P199.00.  This does not include drinks but you can order bottomless softdrinks, iced tea etc. for only P60.00.  

I have to commend them for serving water whether you order drinks or not :) 

Bread choices from dinner rolls, tasty bread and pandesal.

Pancakes, Waffles and French Toasts.  Syrup choices are strawberry, chocolate and maple.  Toppings include marshmallows and rainbow sprinklers.

How do you like your eggs?  Scrambled, Omelette, or Sunny Side up?

Some of our breakfast favorites - Longganisa (Garlicky or Spicy), Chorizo, Tocino, Tapa, Sardines in Tomato Sauce and Oil and Adobo.

Meat section includes Fried Chicken, Chicken Fingers and Ham.

Dumpling section - All types of Siomai and soup (I think it's ramen).

Kakanin of your choice - Palitaw, Maja Blanca, Bibingka, Puto Bumbong.