Fairmont Makati: My Spectrum Experience

If you know me personally, you'd know for a fact that the best way to cheer me up is by serving me really yummy food! Buffets would be a definite bonus. :)

I've been to a couple buffets already. HEAT, Circles, Spirals, Jeepney, Escolta, Yakimix, Sambokojin, you name it... This happy tummy has gone. Some of which were outstandingly yummy, but no buffet has ever made me go "WOAH. the dessert is really something..." 

Being a Pastry Chef and a HUGE sweet tooth, dessert would obviously be the cherry on top of all sundaes! It's what I look forward to after every meal. So having served mediocre / cheap tasting dessert after a scrumptious buffet would have to be the BIGGEST of turn offs for me. 

Which brings me to my blog entry today. Let me share with you my Spectrum experience! For some of you who may not know, Spectrum is the buffet of the newly opened Fairmont Hotel in Makati. I've stayed in the Fairmont during my last visit to Singapore but never got to try their buffet.. so glad that they decided to build one here in Manila!

Before entering Spectrum you will see their Macaron Bar! Yes, a Macaron bar where they serve giant macarons *like the photo below* and other delectable goodies. 

This was actually my second time coming, wish I documented my first experience but I left my camera at home. 

One of the reasons why I loved this buffet so much was their outstanding pizza! It's the first stop I go to because they make the pizza in their wood burning pizza oven upon ordering so you know it's absolutely fresh! 

They come in mini and regular sizes.. I opted for the regular size this time because I was famished and didn't have breakfast. :(

The Margarita pizza is my absolute fave. The dough is baked to perfection, they put the right balance of sauce and cheese, plus the burst of tomato is just divine! It's definitely a must try. :)

I can say the same for the four cheese pizza which I got the last time as well. After my first Spectrum experience, I haven't stopped thinking of these pizzas since.. Lol. 

I'm not big on Persian food, but if you're big on kebabs I hear their pretty yummy here!

I only opted to try their Pork Siomai and Hakaw which were both equally great! I even went back for seconds. Hihi.

I got their Bolognese and Carbonara the last time (which were both yummy!) but I wanted to try something new so I asked for their Pasta of the Day. No regrets! It was definitely something I'd get again. It actually reminded me of my favourite 'Allio Olio with Chicken Teryaki' from MOGU. :)

You'd be crazy to skip this part of the buffet!! They serve a killer crispy salmon skin roll! ;)

I'm not a big fan of any salad, so I didn't even bother trying those.. 

Now for my favourite part, the dessert!!! YAY. :)

With Mango as the Philippines national fruit, it would only be fitting that they'd show case it in different types of dessert like mango creme brûlée (which I loved!), roasted mangos, mango pudding, and mango cakes. :)

I forgot what this was called, but this was part of their 'Mango Station' which they had heated and served with a scoop of their outstanding ice cream and drizzled with caramel. It was delish! 

Their chocolate chip cookie wasn't so good, but this chocolate one was pretty yummy! It was chewy and flavourful, just the way I like it. :)

I LOVE ICE CREAM! and actually loved Escolta's ice cream, but looks like I have a new favourite!! :")

Their flavours are all equally yummy but my personal favourites would have to be 'White Chocolate Raspberry' and 'English Toffee' -- Really mouth-watering! The texture is so creamy (I hate when ice cream is icy), and the flavour is just SO impeccable, it's crazy good! 

I got the same crepe as last time because I absolutely just died! Spiced mangos with a scoop of my favourite English Toffee ice cream. :") Definitely a must try!!

Close to the salad section is their honey section where these lovely bees do their work and give us the best tasting honey! It's pretty cool to look at. ;)

*sigh* I could go on and on about how much I loved their buffet but I hope that this blog entry at least tempted you to go and try it for yourselves. :) 

Sure, Spectrum does not have the biggest variety of cuisines and has limited stations.. but I assure you, it's worth going to! To me, it's always been quality over quantity and Spectrum gives you just that! 

Hope you enjoyed this mouth-watering, photo heavy blog entry of mine! And hope that when you do visit, it's just as wonderful as my experience or better! Let me know how it goes. <3

Here's Spectrum's Buffet Prices and Business Hours:

Breakfast: 6:00am - 10:00am, Mondays to Fridays

6:00am - 11:00am, Weekends and Holidays

PHP 1,336 net (inclusive of service charge and applicable taxes)

Lunch: 11:30am - 2:30pm daily

PHP 1,596 net 

Dinner: 6:00pm to 10:00pm daily

PHP 1,842 net

Buffet is also inclusive of coffee and tea! Mint is my favourite of theirs. ENJOY! ;)

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HEHE couldn't help but put this song! So literal, but I love it. Hope you give it a listen!

My Japan Adventure: Day 1

I feel extremely annoyed at myself for becoming so lazy. Not really the best thing to be, especially just because the years only starting... 

Apologies aside, I'm here to talk about how I began my year with a bang! A lot of you may know that my dream really is to go around the world and one of the countries I dreamed to visit was Japan. Well, surprise surprise, guess who got to check that off her bucket list last January! 

I was so thankful to have passed the Japan airport without having to be quarantined!! A few days before our trip, I felt really ill. I had a body ache like I'd never felt before, cough and colds which I rarely even get, and a fever. Talk about BAD TIMING?! 

So because of that, I didn't get to go to the Swedish House Mafia concert. *tears* I was bedridden and was given a whole lot of medication. From antibiotics, anti-allergy medicine, and vitamins. Eeeek. 

Thankfully my fever went away the day of our departure. Albeit, my body ache and cough and colds still stayed. 

This was right outside the airport. We're all smiling yet dying for warmth on the inside. It was about -2 degrees when we arrived!! Brrr.

Meet my brother, Josh plus my two family friends Alby and Pam. I traveled with them to Japan along with our parents and baby sister, Toni. :)

We stayed at the Universal Studios hotel, which I really loved! Funny thing was, we didn't even get to go to Universal Studios because we decided to go to other places around Japan instead. We also figured it probably wouldn't suffice to the one we visited in America anyway. 

Was room mates with Josh and Alby! Only girl, again. :( #WhatsNew HAHAHA. 

I loved how the room had three beds! We all got to sleep well without having to share. Haha. Also loved how the shower and toilet had separate doors. WHICH I forgot to take a photo of, shucks. They had complete toiletries and more which we all absolutely loved and a toilet that automatically did things like flush, clean, and massage. It was amazing!

Because we arrived quite late, we decided to go to Lawsons (somewhat like their Mini Stop / 7 11) and get some dinner. 

Check it out! Ready made soft-serve. Hihi.

Lawsons food wasn't all that bad! We actually all enjoyed it very much. We all actually wished that the convenience stores here in the Philippines would serve good quality food like theirs. 

You've got NO IDEA how excited I was to wake up the next day and really start my Japan Adventure. :D 

So watch out for my next post!

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Resorts World Made Me Miserable!!

How ironic is it that when I do actually feel like this year is gonna be a great one, my first blog entry of the year isn't the wonted happy or positive entry... 

Last night, I was invited by VISA who was invited by Resorts World Manila to partake in the advanced screening of the much awaited film 'Les Miserables'. Being the "broadway-buff" that I am, I've been counting on the days 'till the film. So when I found out that we had tickets to the screening a week in advanced (for the reason being that it will start showing publicly during the 16th) I was exuberant!! 

The event was quite elegant as people were dressed up in gowns and the like. A number of socialites partook in the event as well, probably just as excited as I was. (I mean, who ISN'T excited to see this film!?)

 I've attended a number of premieres at Resorts World Manila, but this was the first premiere I attended that was going to be held in their "renowned" Performing Arts Theatre. The event was quite promising as a few of Philippine's pre-eminent singers sang 'Les Miserables' songs and paid tribute to the movie. The performances were okay. Not bad but not great either. I guess it was because of the sound system or their lack of voice control over the microphone. Some parts were actually painful towards the ears... 

After their "fifteen minute" intermission before the showing, they announced saying that they needed five minutes more. *my impatient self began to time them..* Five minutes then turned into forty... I was getting so antsy!! I could already spot people leaving here and there. I would've probably been less pissed if they allowed food inside or the theatre had good working wifi. But, NO. Resorts World Manila, made everybody wait an excruciating one hour just to say that they were having technical difficulties and that they couldn't show the movie. I was undeniably pissed and seriously at loss for words!!! I was just like "WTF?!JSHJD?!" I honestly felt bad for the people who took their time to get ready for this poorly planned event. 

They even announced saying that everybody inside would have access to watch Les Miserables for free only due to AVAILABILITY!? GEEZ. The least they should do is reserve one whole cinema to accommodate the ones who wasted their time just sitting there... 

Resorts World Manila, seriously does have to think of a way to make-up for this horrible experience!! It was pure disappointment.

Despite this rant, how was your New Years? I wish you all a great year ahead and hope you keep reading my blog. :)

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