Baguio's White House

trying to picture how it looked like back then is kinda hard with the banners on it's entrance :P

Filipino horror flick aficionados, "ghost hunters" and those whose curiosity over the years have been piqued by the alleged mysterious goings on in the city may have heard of #4 Laperal a.k.a. The White House (movie linked here).

The Laperal house was built in the 1930's, a fusion of Spanish and American architecture incorporating Art Deco Elements.

the living room ceiling. I'm guessing a chandelier once hung in the center rather than the conspicuous energy saving bulb

beautifully maintained Spanish styled hardwood staircases take you to the 2nd floor and the attic

It was formerly owned by the family of Tarcila Laperal-Mendoza; the 93-year old matriarch belongs to a landed family which had properties in Mendiola, Manila, and in Baguio City.(the same owners of the controversial Arlegui St. home near Malacanang, where President Cory and Ramos resided in.)

the bamboo exhibit is housed in the dining room

The White house is currently owned by tycoon Lucio Tan; the property is approximately 3,500sq.m. and is currently being used to house a bamboo carving exhibit.

bamboo art

...and the skilled carvers who make it in house

I have always wanted to see the interior of this house. Not to see if there are restless spirits hovering behind it's walls, but to admire it's construction.

the brightest spot in the home is surprisingly the attic. This would have made a perfect sunroom (typical 1930's house characteristic) or a children's playroom (if not for the widow's walk surrounding the room, 3 floors up from street level)

looking down from the attic/sunroom

the narrow stairs going down from the 3rd floor

They seriously do not build houses this way anymore. While I do appreciate a modern, minimalist look, the appeal of this Colonial revival home was just too good to pass up.

MAX explores the 2nd floor

a look at the pasilio (hallway)

Similarly, our old family house in Malabon was built around the 18th century(older than this house). To even get a chance to glimpse, even for a minute, what the walls have seen through the years would've been priceless.

art deco iron works cover the windows

For all the talks about the lady in white who allegedly haunts the entrance, all I could see was the somewhat whimsical geometric patterns on the wood and iron works that is common with art deco. 

my kids Kix and MAX felt surprisingly at home in this place

Upon entering the home, the typical gloom of lacquered hardwood floors, ceiling and walls was what caught my eye. 

wonder how it looked with it's original furnishings...

Thoughts of cocktail parties and family gatherings by the living room or it's occupants glancing outside what seemed to be three casement windows were impressions left in my mind's eye.

beautiful light from the living room windows bask what seems to be a  Rococo Revival canape and it's matching hardwood coffee table

The second floor had spacious rooms, huge bathrooms and small closets. There were even fireplaces that may be found in some of the rooms, perfect for those old Baguio nights.

MAX, crashing on the bed in the master's bedroom

feeling like a peeping tom :P looking into one of the many bathrooms of the place

small closet space..who would've thought that in a big place like this?

Kix doing ghoul impersonations in one of the fireplaces :p

If you've got time on your hands to spare, make a quick stop to see the Bamboo Art and a gem on it's own, #4 Laperal (Leonard Wood Road). Admission is 50 PHP.

"mumu" (ghost) ready with a cross on his shirt :p

the master's bedroom, complete with a fireplace and it's own balcony

From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!

My Latest Fave Hair Product: Semi Di Lino Illuminating Serum

Ever get those days when your hair just feels dull and lifeless? Luckily, my hairstylist, Neil turned me on to this product: Semi Di Lino Diamante Cristalli Liquidi.

Around since 1989 (wonder why I found out about this only recently, and what rock was I living under?!), This ultra-luxurious beauty fluid instantly adds more light, shine and softness to every hair type.

Just apply a pump's worth of liquid on damp or dry hair with your fingertips and style accordingly.

The linseed extract enriched serum with vitamin E provides strength and shine. It facilitates brushing and shields the hair from thermal abuse. The hair definitely become manageable and silky.

after about 3 months of an almost daily use

Available in 16 ml - 0.54 Fl.Oz., 30 ml - 1.01 Fl.Oz.  and 50 ml - 1.69 Fl.Oz. and available at David's Salon (the 30 ml costs around 500 PHP a bottle but lasts a loooong time).

If you haven't discovered this product yet, try it :)

From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!

Ketchup Is More Than Just A Condiment

cant wait to start eatin'! BTW, wear something warm when dining at night. Place can get quite chilly

Perhaps the best ideas are the simplest ones. What used to be a plain old  boring lot that would house an occasional restaurant of sorts is now a fully operational 5 restaurant food community.

the food map to this wonderful food place

Located at Romulo Drive, Barangay Lualhati (right across Wright Park-the horseback riding place), this place is open Mondays-Sundays, from 10 am to 10 pm.

Ketchup consists of five locally owned food establishments that offer Indo-Malay, Filipino, Thai, Asian-Fusion and American cuisine.

checking out the food at Rumah Sate

The fun part is that in this community, you can order food from any of the other establishments even if you're inside another.

The outdoor dining concept may get chilly on the cold months, but the nice ambiance and resonably priced fab food makes up for the cold.

grilled meat from El Rancho, fried rice from Happy Tummy as well their Crispy Catsifh and Mango Salad made us all smile :P

Located between these restaurants is a central open space for small casual events, outdoor parties and mini-concerts, that gives you that spacious appeal even though there are now a lot of patrons to the place.

the spicy squid was wonderful too (rectangle plate)

 Opened in March of this year, this foodie place is one of the popular places to eat with friends or family.

spicy hot kebabs from Rumah Sate! Ala carte or by the stick..it's all good

Our faves include the Thai Fried Rice and the Crabmeat Rice at Happy Tummy (150 PHP an good for 4 healthy eaters).

crabmeat rice

thai fried rice

 Then there are those real spicy kebabs, prawns and laksa from Rumah Sate:

gotta use the dip or the prawns can be a bit bland

authentic flavors. try the laksa

And some other stuff like seafood lomi (one huge bowl can feed six as a side dish) for 150:

thick, rich and sea food laden, this lomi is the bomb!

We've also tried the grilled dishes at El Rancho. Hopefully, we could try Canto's and Green Pepper's offerings the next time we drop by the place.

tender, juicy and spicy. looved the crispy anchovies too

A great place to be at, no complaints about the food and well the crowd is pretty decent. You gotta love Ketchup!

the laid back, casual ambiance makes it perfect for famil night

 From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!

very satisfied customers

Before You Head On Out For An Overseas Trip: The Bank Thing

it's only fun when you have access to your money :p

For us, traveling out of the country is always a new experience whether we've been in that country before or not.

As with all the travel tips, one must have cash on hand (of the country's currency), maybe a change of clothes in your hand carry just in case your luggage is delayed, or worst, lost or misplaced, and activating your phone's roaming features is always a good idea, just in case you encounter an emergency.

More often than not, we don't bring foreign currency, and just retain whatever Philippine Pesos we have in our pockets.

We've always had great faith in the banking system, and we feel that we get better rates when we just withdraw cash from an ATM, using our Philippine bank cards. I mean sure, you get charged around 150-200 pesos for every transaction, but the way we see it, you can withdraw all the cash you'd need on that trip and just budget from there to avoid more bank charges.

Unfortunately for us, on a second trip to Macau and nth trip to Hongkong, this didn't work. We tried desperately to withdraw from an X amount of ATMs in and out of the Hotel. We got Zip. Nada. Nothing.

It was a good thing that the trusty old credit card was available for most of our needs. We had our pesos converted to the local currency (Phil's cash for Patacas and mine for HK $). It was sort of a nightmare when you were budgeting your cash just in case something comes up (an extra cab ride, establishments that only take cash, etc.).

Not having cash in a foreign land is just too uncomfortable and well, a tad scary. And that fact that our last oversea trip a few months back (around April), happened without a hitch, as opposed to this September trip of ours, was quite baffling.

Upon returning to the Philippines, I called our bank and found out the reason for this bank mishap. Apparently, the Central Bank of the Philippines has issued an order for all banks to require registration of accounts that have access to international banking. Our initial access was stripped without our knowledge (our banks didn't even inform us, even when we were applying for our Chinese Visas and getting bank certificates and other requirements from them).

I had our accounts activated for international transactions immediately so as not to repeat what had happened to us in the Macau-Hongkong trip.

Thought you guys should know, if you haven't been informed of this yet.

From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!

Kingly Pursuits: King Parkview Hotel Review

Booking through our favorite hotel deal website, we came upon King's Parkview Hotel. Taking into consideration the location, appearance, reviews and cost, this place had a lot of potential.

To be honest, I felt that most of the hotels in Beijing were quite pricey compared to the other destinations we've been to.

Situated in the Dongcheng District of Beijing, the hotel is a good 30-45 minutes ride from the airport. Arriving early in the morning, we had no other option but to haggle in broken Chinese with the scammy cabbies at the airport's taxi stand. We paid around 200 RMB instead of the 80-100 standard fare.

Checking in wasn't bad. The front desk clerk had a decent command of the English language. Don't expect much from the lobby (as far as appearances go), just be thankful your cab driver brought you there :P There were a lot of other foreigners who were checked in the hotel. We made fast friends with a European couple from Dubai, a mother and daughter from Peru and another couple from Australia. They too were quite happy with the hotel.

Proximity:
Shatan Houjie, the street where Kings Parkview is located at, is quite close to a lot of tourist attractions. One of the most notable in the list is the Forbidden City. It's so close, that we could see some of its palaces from our hotel window. It's also a 10 minute walk to the historical site.

through the zoom lens: one of the palaces at the Forbidden City taken through our hotel window

Jingshan Park, Beihai Park, Wangfungjing Street (the exotic food/shopping destination) and Tiananmen Square are all a 5 to 15 minute ride away. The subway, is anything BUT near though, despite what everyone says. You might as well take a cab to the subway stop and from there, head off to the other places in the city.

being on the 3rd floor, we were a good 2 minutes away from the rooftop /view deck and to the adjacent bldg, that houses the hotel restaurant

Hotel Amenities:
Quoting from their website, here's what you could expect: "King Parkview Hotel provides 110 guest rooms with different kinds of guestrooms including standard room, business standard room, special offer room and double room. Each room equipped with lots of facilities, comfortable and clean room. Each rooms provides with hair dryer, television, internet access, laundry service, coffee tea maker, ironing facilities and other facilities. All of those facilities are provide to make the guests comfortable stay in the hotel. King Parkview Hotel is also provides with lots of hotel facilities such as, family room, meeting facilities, two restaurants, room service, coffee shop, 24 hour business center, gift shop, grocery store, bar and lounge, conference room, and others".

tv only shows CCTV (Chinese), internet via LAN was ok, it's just that you can't really visit a lot of sites as they are blocked in China, the bed was clean and comfy enough and the AC/heater worked fine

The Lowdown:
Perhaps Phil summed it up quite well in his Agoda review:(my comments in blue)

First of all, I enjoyed my stay and would definitely consider staying there again should I visit again. For the price I paid, the room was appropriately sized, although I've had bigger elsewhere. 

The shower was a bit cramped and water leaked out (from it's enclosure) and wet the rest of the bathroom (but not too badly). 

The temperature of the room is adjustable, but you can also open the window if you want to enjoy the fresh air, which I did quite often. 

air quality's much better here

The hotel is located near some parks so there are lots of trees and the air is quite clean. There is a very busy street nearby with several convenience stores and eateries in case you are the adventurous type who likes to sample the local fare. There is also some historical significance in this hotel which draws several tours daily to the surrounding buildings and the street, adding to the street ambiance of the place. (being the mansion of the Princess of the Qianlong Emperor and site of Imperial University of Peking)

spicy beef hotpot, ordered with my limited Chinese in an eatery, 3 minutes away from the hotel. Throw in some mi fan (steamed rice) and you're all set

The breakfast buffet was disappointing, but we had so many options around that we only tried it once. That was also the only time we ate at the hotel. The eateries nearby are owned and operated by Chinese who don't speak English. Some have menus with pictures but others don't, so check first, if that will be an issue.(Don't expect fine dining. It's really more like a small cafeteria with an occasional cat or two, and/or a cook who smokes while preparing your food). The cafe closer to end of the street towards the right serves western food and free wifi. Say what you will about standards, the food (including the street roastings) were good!

 

Chinese style BBQ - roastings and candied fruit. Everything costing 10 RMB

The front desk personnel have a good grasp of English and are very helpful. There are also tours available should you choose to go on one. We took a tour to the Great Wall section in Mutianyu and the Ming tombs and were quite pleased with the way it was conducted, although I would have preferred it if they didn't include the side trips to the Jade factory, Pearl store and Tea store, which were just glorified tourist traps. Those portions just made the tour longer than they should have been and were not advertised as part of the tour. 

a lot of convenience stores, eateries and various shops may be found in front of the hotel

There are a lot of smokers in Beijing, and even some areas of the hotel have that musty smell, but overall, the hotel did a great job of keeping smokers away from smoke free zones. I am very pleased with my stay here. 

Sightseeing/Attractions Tip: There are several sights which are within walking distance of this hotel including, but not limited to, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Mao's tomb, as well as several parks. Some may be farther than others and a long walk, but cab rides shouldn't cost too much. It would also help to get the hotel's card to show to cabbies so they know where to bring you.

From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!