Estancia Mall's Vast Imaginarium

What you're looking at right now is real. These are found at Estancia Mall grounds in Capitol Commons. Now if you are looking for a place to hangout with family and friends, and take tons of selfies, you should visit these light installations this seasonat Estancia Mall. This place is at Meralco Avenue in Pasig City and is almost at the end of the road right before Shaw Boulevard. It's owned by Ortigas & Co. and according to their VP Renee Bacani, they want this place to be enjoyed by friends and families, especially children. It's one of the reasons why they have come up with bright new concepts this Christmas, truly it is.

The first one is wrapped like a gift box outside the mall, specifically at the Capitol Commons Park. Now I know this thing looks like those of the work of Yayoi Kusama, albeit high end I'm sure this will be enjoyed by the whole family, but these are more like nice locations for selfies if you're looking for one.

This one is on the ground floor. There will be attendants in every room so it still stays organized. But please be wary of others, try to keep your session of taking photos limited to three minutes so the others could also enjoy the place :) this is the Green Room.

If you go to the basement floor where the restaurants are, the Abyss Room is located there. I actually like this a lot because of the lines and how they did the lighting here.

Just use the escalators and find it right beside the arcade that looks like an unfinished space. This is the Lit Room. I like how it dances, perfect for an instagram shot or a quick Boomerang. The possibilities are endless! While you are there, you can also enjoy shopping because the best local and international brands are there too! Not only that, you could win tons of prizes just by taking photos in these displays by using the hashtags #OrtigasMallsChristmas #EstanciaVastImaginarium and tagging @EstanciaPH on Instagram. 

For other things than that, they've got Christmas Mercato on November 16 to January 7, Pre Holiday sale on December 2 and 3, National Open Fencing Cup on December 10 and tons of other things lined up for the holidays. Just check out Estancia's Facebook page because it's all there! 

Now who's excited!?

KUMAGCOW

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The Beauty That Is... Azalea Residences

I've been to Baguio twice and I must tell you I wasn't a fan of this place because I felt the distance from Manila wasn't justified when it just feels like Tagaytay "weather wise". I know, I'm so judgmental. So I went back there a few days ago and had a couple of friends along with me to attend Google's conference in Luzon. Before, I used to stay in small hotels and transient houses and always feels short changed (thanks to my friends then who wanted everything cheap LOL). This time, we were staying at Azalea Residences. It's a posh living space North of central Baguio City. It's near all known landmarks and establishments in this area and the place is just a taste of tranquility and modern convenience amidst the tourist filled metropolis of Baguio.

 

We arrived in the wee hours of the morning since we had events that afternoon. The place was indeed grandiose, it felt a little like a lodge on a mountain. The cool breeze, the dozens of wild flowers and the nipping fog covering the lush greenery outside was all but beautiful. I already felt I was wrong to treat Baguio City that way and compared it to Tagaytay. It had its own charm, it had its own personality if we can call it that. Azalea Residences in Baguio is pretty new. It's now on the lines of the other Azalea Residences like in Boracay, Davao, Cebu and Angeles City. I would have stayed here if only I had known about it years ago. I'm more glad I'm doing it now.

 You know those Chalet's in the Alpine region in Europe? That's exactly what I imagined when I saw this place. I guess they pretty much pegged it with that. That huge ball in front isn't actually just something to look at, it's a functioning fountain and it adds more pizazz to the place at night time.

 Checking in was a breeze. They didn't actually give much hassle as long as you have the papers filled up. They also gave us extra keys since we probably would end up going in and out of our rooms for the conference. That is quite convenient. 

Just look up and you'll see this huge space endowed with flowers on the wall. Props to the people who designed this space because they didn't sacrifice and put in so much rooms. It never feel cramped, plus I can't believe the rates of this place since I can pretty much stay in a lower class hotel in Manila for the price to pay for a family room here.

The Eight Degrees Lounge on the left side of Azalea was truly inviting. I can already smell the booze from where I stood while we waited for some participants that afternoon. Plus it's mighty nice to chat or have small meetings here too.

This place was packed since experts from Google applications and the social media industry converged in Baguio City to teach small and medium enterprises how to take advantage of technology. We did connect on different levels. I must say, I'd like to do that soon too.

Our Room In Azalea Residences

Our room was huge. It can pretty much house a family of around 4. We were three big guys that day and it was awesome to have that much space. This restored my faith in Baguio as a destination. The fairytale of having a pretty good room was happening right before my eyes. Take a look!

This is a full functioning kitchen. You can choose to cook or just order from their house restaurant. For china, extra spoons or forks and kitchen utensils, don't be afraid to ask the front desk for it and they'll gladly oblige. There's a place to dine and an almost 4 cubic feet refrigerator to keep your wine and drinks cold. Make sure you bring in snacks which you'll need while lounging around the TV.

This is where the magic happens LOL. As I say to my friends... A good blogger deserves a a good bed. This was housed on the right wing of the room. Yes, there are actually 2 rooms inside one room. So all in all, we had sections of it to ourselves. This one's mine. It could pass perhaps for 2 people if they were smaller than me. 

I couldn't remember if we had air conditioning. But then again in Baguio, why would you need air conditioning right? My room had a fan and an LED TV for kicks. I like how it's intimate and a little isolated. I published quite a few entries here because I had some peace and quiet even if they were just in the next room. Which brings us to the living room.

This is the living room. Azrael took dibs on this part of the room, probably because it's spacious. The actual sofa turns into a bed and it can fit two people. There's also a chair you can lounge around in if you would like to read a book, that's if you brought one of course.

This is perhaps the Masters bedroom. It was bigger than my space and had a bigger bed. Each of us had a TV to play with so there's no shortage in shows. We didn't have to quarrel about the remote and had space for all our luggage.

The toilet and bath we had was more than enough. Since this space was designed for a LOT of people, its pretty understandable that we had two inside the unit. So we don't have to scuffle around when it's time for a tour or to go home. It's pretty sad that we had to but we did have a LOT of adventures in between. I'll tell you more about our Baguio and Benguet escapades in the next few days. Stay tuned.

For more information about Azalea Residences (PLUS DEALS ON ROOMS!)

Please visit their official website

http://www.azalea.com.ph

Millie's at Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham Manila

A skip and a hop away from SMX Convention Center and SM Mall of Asia is Microtel Inn and Suites by Wyndham Manila. I seldom go to these parts in the metro because of its geographic location; but I never knew I was missing so much. I visited the hotel's restaurant and fell in love with a few dishes.It was small but classy. It was upscale but accessible to everyone who wanted to grab a bite. A lot of contradictions but mostly, I got schooled about this quaint place right beside gigantic malls, hotels and casinos in Pasay City.

This restaurant is located at the ground floor of Microtel Inn and Suites. You might fear the place because you would think everything's expensive but in my standards it wasn't at all. The lovely interiors are laced with modern chairs, tables and a couple of compartments where they showcase the actual things of Millie. She was a woman and a mother who enjoyed to travel; and it was shown evidently on the shelves of this restaurant. From perfumes, suitcases, memorabilia it had that sense of powerful matriarch personified in this establishment.  

Best of all, you can feel that you can come home and she'll whip you up homey Filipino, European and International dishes that's unpretentious, nothing fancy and just straight forward comfort food. It's a thing you would love to have while on a vacation. It's like what Mom would have made for you if she were an Italian modern woman.

First up was my drink!