Behind the Palace doors

If there was a weekend that was worthy of a countdown, the two-day holiday that just passed was well worth it.  To me and Mickey, it was a holiday we would like to spend with no specific schedule in mind.

Finally, we had the time to go to Shang Palace and sample their Dim Sum Plus lunch menu.  Shang Palace's Dim Sum Plus is from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm, Mondays to Saturdays (except holidays) at PHP 888++/person .  The menu consists of unlimited dim sum, endless servings of soup, appetizer, rice, noodles, congee, vegetarian dishes, dessert plus a choice of one main course per person.  Strictly no leftovers.  Leftover food will be charged regular a la carte prices, so be sure to just order what you can consume.  There's also a dress code for dining guests - smart casual.

The first thing that strikes you as you enter Shang Palace would be the glittering crystal chandeliers that light up the hallway as you make your way inside the restaurant.  They look like suspended ice crystals or even glittering rain.  It sets the mood for a delightful meal.

Swissness

My good friend Heny invited me to lunch at the Peninsula Manila yesterday, it was a good time to do some catching up over great tasting food since we haven't seen each other for quite some time.

When we arrived, we were delighted that Escolta is featuring Swiss cuisine. We found out that The Peninsula Manila together with the Embassy of Switzerland is featuring "Swissness: More Fun in the Philippines,” a Swiss food festival where The Peninsula Manila’s very own Swiss Chef Samuel Linder of Old Manila takes over all the hotel’s kitchens and showcases the very best in Swiss food and wine until August 11, 2012.

This food festival is doubly meaningful because this year marks the 150th anniversary of friendship between the Philippines and Switzerland. Today, the Swiss community in the Philippines is the second largest in Asia, and Switzerland is one of the Philippines’ top 10 investors.

Let me take you on a tour with these photos:

Disaster Preparedness

It is quite alarming that even monsoon rains can create such wide-scale disasters and can affect all of us.  The other night, while watching the news, Mickey told me that we really have to build that disaster kit urgently.

Museum Café

The best thing after a heavily-scheduled work week is looking forward to a relaxing weekend.  Whenever we can, Mickey and I start our weekend early at our favorite brunch place in Makati, Musem Café  (also known as M Café).  Situated beside the Ayala Museum and the high-end Greenbelt 5 shops, this place starts our weekend right with its visually appealing and relaxing interiors, calming playlist and most of all, great tasting food.

Let me show you the place:  

Paul Smith

1997 was a year that changed Manila’s fashion scene.  English fashion designer Paul Smith opened his first store in Manila and introduced his signature style of bringing twists to otherwise classic styles in fashion.  

Now on his fifteenth year (in Manila), Paul Smith still sticks to his sure-fire style.  He takes materials from upper-class tailoring and brings them together with something unexpected, uses floral prints for men’s shirts, lines tailored jackets with flamboyantly colored silks, uses vibrant colors for button holes, leather shoe laces and of course, his signature multi-colored stripes are still seen in his merchandise to date.

His Greenbelt 5 shop is filled with books, 1960s posters, vintage toys, quirky home décor alongside Paul Smith clothes, shoes and accessories as when he first opened 15 years ago.

Let me take you on a tour in photos:

Don't leave home without it: Urban Survival Kits

Certainly, this summer's olympic games in London will create a degree of chaos, including an extraordinary number of tourists in the capital and a congested transport system, with this in mind, some very creative and forward thinking folks at Selfridges has commissioned a series of ten limited edition backpacks from British and International designers to give their interpretations on what it would take to survive urban living during this tough summer of sport.  

The Urban Survival Backpack range exclusive to Selfridges includes designs from Anya Hindmarch, Mulberry, Vivienne Westwood, 3.1 Philip Lim, Paul Smith, Oliver Spencer, Barbour, Kiehl's, Nike and Selfridges.  

Anya Hindmarch
Anya Hindmarch's Urban survival canvas bag fully embraces the games with her spacious holdall which comes fully equipped with sports-inspired memorabilia, including a pair of Dunlop trainers, a metal trophy, a bottle of energy drink and a foil blanket.