Cuz Itz Mah Birthday.

Staycation at the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn & Suites...

Every year my sister and I go somewhere special for our birthday, anywhere far from home preferably. We started traveling to celebrate our birthday back in 2008. First to Sagada with our parents, then the city of Pines the year after, on our own to Vigan the next (2010) then Singapore (2011) which was the farthest we've travelled alone. We're not new with travelling since we grew up travelling with our family a lot to mostly out of town trips. We enjoyed all the experiences we gained from travelling on our own though, the pain of raising money to further the trip down to all the getting lost here and there trying to find this and that place. Nevertheless, the memories you gained from those trips, priceless.

Crown Plaza Manila Galleria, our home
for couple of days...

Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria, Ortigas

We weren't able to spend our birthday anywhere far last year because of our move to the north and all. The new job compelled us to spend our birthday in the office due to training and stuff. We both hate spending our birthday at work, the most annoying thing but we never had a choice anyways. So, this time around we decided to come back down to Manila, our hometown to spend our birthday there at one of those fancy hotels where we could use our employee discounts for.  We tagged our other sibling along so she could experience the perks of working for the hotel industry.

We left the north early because it'd be a seven hour trip then as soon as we reached Ortigas we took a cab to Robinson's Galleria then took the elevator to reach the wing attached to the Crowne Plaza. It was such a pain commuting with our luggage bags and all, it was such a hassle. We loved the Crowne Plaza, it looked kind of old but It was cozy. We were assigned a room on the 17th floor overlooking the Highway. A birthday cake was delivered to our room the day of our Birthday with notes from hotel staff, how cool. We enjoyed the complimentary hotel amenities although we craved for some donuts came night time. I love hotels attached to malls, everything is just right around the corner. We spent a couple of days at the Crowne Plaza then hotel hopped to our new hotel in Makati, the Holiday Inn and Suites. Again, we took a cab from Ortigas to Makati and it was a hefty fare of course because of the traffic.

Holiday Inn & Suites Makati

The Holiday Inn in Makati is not so easy to find compared to Crowne Plaza although it's attached to Glorietta. I guess because it's within Makati's outskirts. The staff seemed very busy for some reason when we arrived. I don't know what's the fuss about but they seemed understaff the day my sisters and I got there, barely anyone at the front desk. It was different at the Holiday Inn Makati, you have to use your key card to reach your floor as oppose to the basic press the button scenario at the elevator whilst at the Crowne Plaza,  the old school way. I hated that because getting to your floor made it quite confusing. I don't despise change but at a little help would

Holiday Inn and Suites Makati

be better. We were assigned a room on 12th floor as far as I can remember and the room was nice except it was a little small. The fixtures were obviously spanking new because It was a brand new hotel what to expect. I enjoyed the free wifi by the way which the Crowne Plaza doesn't offer yet. We spent one night there and off we go the next day, back to homey! Where to next? Hoping for an out of the country trip next year! Hopefully...we're crossing our fingers. It's been a while since our passports were stamped. Had a great birthday though despite all the inconvenience commuting.

chicken soup for dieter's soul..

it's all about dieting baby! seriously, the book is a compilation of success stories of people who went from plus size to happy and fit! i was able to relate to majority of them because i used to be overweight and unhappy with how i looked before. being fit is not just about losing those extra pounds but it' s also about veering away from health constraints as a result of obesity.

weight watchers-- this is a points based system of dieting..you eat more calories the harder you need to work out to be exact. i hope i learn how it fully works so i can put in to use and incorporate it on my diet. over all..it's an inspiring book for those who are battling with health issues intertwined with being severely overweight. it takes one step at a time.