We heard about this new hotel in Toranomon Hills so we went to check it out!
How “hipster” are these valets at Andaz
Beautiful modern interiors
This is the front desk – how “out of the box” 🙂
Japanese crackers for anyone to take 🙂
Lounge where you can sit and hang out
I am always watching this table 🙂 They always have something to snack on here 🙂
The flowers changed. And as I was touching the arrangement to check if it was fresh, the staff told me, “we don’t put anything that is not fresh” 🙂 This was the breakfast offering
Croissant and chocolate croissant
Another time was doughnuts and a raspberry pastry
Cocktails
Canapes with salmon and caviarClick below to go to their website
We came back just in time to go with the 2pm Boat tour to the lagoons. We joined the group this time. We had not eaten lunch yet so we asked for some food from the beach resort and since we were boarding we had to leave it since it was not yet ready. Then we see another dingy bringing the banana bread to our boat 🙂 Service deluxe 🙂
Here he is bringing the banana bread 🙂
Thanks to our friend Mart for lending us this waterproof bag and box! They were really handy because water was splashing from the boat ride so it kept our gadgets dry
We went to the small lagoon first
Kayaks for rent 🙂
We had our own kayak with our boat. It was hard for me to take our photo so I took a photo of my feet ( haha! ) at the same time advertising for Havaianas 🙂 I enjoyed the kayak ride into the lagoon!!!!
I was able to take the hubby behind me! HOW HANDSOME! 🙂 We were two kayaks only in the lagoon so it was so peaceful. We practically had it all to ourselves
Again we had to enter a small opening to get inside the small lagoon
Just amazing!!!!! How could we have left Palawan without seeing the lagoons???
After the small lagoon, we took the boat to the Big Lagoon. Here we transferred from the bangka to a smaller boat and then entered the lagoon
Fish!
TRULY BLESSED to have been able to see this!
Cookies and refreshments on the way home!
We met Vincent who was part of our group. He is a diver and took 3 months away from work to visit Asia and tour different countries. So glad he chose the Philippines.
Arriving back home to the resort with cold towels to refresh 🙂
We were supposed to leave on the third day since the promo was good for two nights, and as I was telling James, “it was our anniversary yesterday but we didn’t get to do anything. I joked him and said maybe it’s a sign…. A sign for us to go back” haha!! A few minutes after that conversation, we received a call from the front desk (about thirty minutes before we were going to leave for the airport ) to say that the plane has technical difficulty and if we are willing to stay one more night. “Hmmm… but we have a meeting to catch! Hmmm…but okay we are willing to be stranded for another night!!” LOL! What an anniversary gift!!! They transferred us to the Canopy villa which is treetop and so another view and another adventure starts God definitely had something to do with this!!
So that morning, we rushed and rented our own boat so we could explore. We had missed already the early morning boating trip that was included already in the package.
Map of Bacuit Bay which has many islands and is really more for people that like to go diving/snorkelling. Many come here just to do that. Hoping to visit Coron on another trip
Our guide, Jimboy, who is from the resort. He sort of reminds me of our friend, Jim Alvarez, who is also known as Jimboy 🙂
The boat trip starts with a dingy that takes you from the resort
to a bangka. We had that bangka all to ourselves 🙂
Our first stop was Cudugnon cave
You go to this side
And you have to crawl into a small opening!! The guide will teach you exactly what moves to do so you can get to the right position! Gosh! Good thing he has towels to line the stones or else you would get hurt :-O
It’s beautiful inside the cave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s peaceful and it’s just an amazing experience. There are 2 caves inside, so you get down the first one which has sand flooring then you have to climb to the second level
Which is this
The guide directs us to take a photo by Mickey Mouse! 🙂 I noticed that Filipino guides are good in taking photos whether it be in Bohol, Boracay, Dumaguete etc etc
I just love the limestone islands in Bacuit Bay! After Cudugnon, they took us to Cathedral Cave
We just passed by it because the waves were too strong to go inside
Then I requested to check out the other El Nido resorts – so this is Lagen where we were supposed to stay originally. This used to be the best till they opened Pangalusian. I wish we had more time so we could visit all the islands. Apparently you can go visit the other El Nido resorts but you cannot visit Pangalusian unless you are staying there to keep its exclusivity.
Miniloc ResortAgain if we had more time, we could have gone here to feed the Jackfish or even swim with them!! ( Photo from the Visual Traveler )
Heart2Heart is so happy that El Nido respects and preserves the environment
In your villa is a brochure containing images of the different animals you may see at the island – You should take this with you and use it as a checklist as to what animals you saw and where you spotted them
Due to the winds, we could not go out boating so I suggested we do the trek.
In the morning, we went trekking to the highest point of the island. It should take around 30 minutes but we took our time and made it up in 45 minutes. We did not have the proper shoes so we took it slow. It’s quite a trek but worth it. You need to go up to the canopy villas
And in the middle of canopy villa 39 and 40 is the start of the trek- the beginning is quite steep. James and I went up on our own and it was an experience. James said he would not have done it if it were not our anniversary! haha!! 🙂
Alleluia!!! 🙂 Still another climb to get up. They told us that someone made a marriage proposal here with champagne and all 🙂 How romantic is that?? 🙂
Time capsule 🙂 TO be opened ten years after the opening of the resort
From here, you can get a 360 degree view of Bacuit Bay! BEAUTIFUL!!
On our second day in Palawan, we were scheduled to do two boat trips. The wind was so strong that we were not allowed by the coast guard to boat outside the resort. The morning island tour trip was cancelled due to bad weather and we continued with the second tour after lunch but only to Snake Island
Snake Island is known for its Sandbar which makes it look like a snake but that afternoon – it was high tide and the Sandbar was not seen 🙁 So we just walked to the Sandbar area but it was underwater at that time
It should look like this
We only did Snake Island and went back to the resort. It’s a good thing the resort has many activities. There was cooking lessons 🙂 The chefs came out and taught us two recipes
I usually like having unique dining experiences when planning a beach trip – but since I thought we were travelling on a package promo with food included, I did not anymore pursue. But El Nido resorts can definitely arrange different kinds of dining – On the Sandbar of Snake Island, on a beach island nearby, by the Big Lagoon, by the beach etc etc.
In Pangalusian, there are two permanent place to dine – the Pool Bar and Amianan at the Beach Club
As soon as we arrived in the resort, we had our late lunch at the Pool Bar
It’s beautiful here!!
The view!
We shared a Pangalusian pizza
We came back for dinner
We requested for Panga which was not on the menu! James wanted to have the same experience we had in Bais but there was a misunderstanding so they served the Pork panga instead of the Tuna Panga. But anyway it was still okay
Another request of James was Liempo! James was craving for liempo after having experienced a super sarap liempo from our Tumalog Falls lunch by the waterfalls in Oslob
We received a complimentary coupon, it was timely because we were looking for a place to go to for our anniversary. So we availed of it Love the wooden boarding passes of ITI and it saves on paper 🙂 We got the best seat in the house – Seat 2 which is facing another set of seats but they don’t let anyone sit there 🙂 Even just in the airport of Palawan, it is already beautiful! This airport is for customers of EL Nido resorts I am so happy it is a 50 seater plane! From the plane, a short jeepney ride to the terminal I love this jeep! LOVE – DREAM- ADVENTURE Welcome 🙂refreshments and native delicacies upon arrival and while waiting for your transportation to take you to the pier I have a funny story to tell! When we arrived at the ITI airport in Manila, the guys in the check in counter were asking me – “Pangalusian?” My reply was “Lagen per on kung dadalhin mo ako sa Pangalusian okay din :-)” Then when we arrived in Palawan, another guy asked me – “Pangalusian?” Then I decided to look at my sticker which was stuck on my blouse – they stuck this sticker while we were in the Manila terminal apparently to identify which El Nido Resort you are going to. So it was at this point I asked James – “Are we going to Pangalusian? Tell me!! :-)” And apparently he changed the plans and upgraded our promo to Pangalusian which is the latest El Nido Resort. I love the Hubby!!!We got to the ferry port of Palawan to take a boat to the resort. Just the port alone was already beautiful!!! We had to take a dingy to get to our speedboatBeautiful views on the way From the El Nido Website
Palawan is an archipelago of 1,780 islands on the western part of the Philippines. It has the most concentration of islands but is the most sparsely populated region in the country. Because of its scenic landscapes and high bio-diversity, Palawan is known as “The Last Ecological Frontier of the Philippines”.
The northern part of Palawan province is blessed with crystal-clear waters, pristine beaches, and a wealth of flora and fauna. It is here that El Nido and Taytay, home of the lovely El Nido Resorts, are located. Spectacular ancient limestone cliffs tower over marine sanctuaries teeming with innumerable species of tropical fish and coral, as well as five species of endangered sea turtles. Lush forests abound with more than 100 species of birds. It is a truly exotic destination.
The best anniversary gift ever!!GRATEFUL AND BLESSED!
We were so lucky to get a reservation even with short notice! I have been wanting to try Otto E Mezzo
Truffles season
They have private rooms – love the view of this one 🙂
Because were were quite a big group, they told us they could only prepare a degustation for us. Come to think of it, we should have pre ordered and had the free hand to choose what dishes we liked but we did not
Love the accessories 🙂
So we had the degustation. It was good but I felt we could have had a better meal had we been given the chance to order what we wanted and we would not have had to spend so much. Gaita told me that their Veal Milanese and Bolognese is good and the peach tart. We did not get to try any of that. She said we could have just ordered 3 of the big Veal Milanese’s ( the best according to her ), some bolognese and Peach tart for dessert 🙂
After all the Chinese food, Japanese food for a change.
Thanks to Tony, we were able to get a seat on short notice. There are only two seatings and we got the second seating which was at 8pm and is already late for us but we still went for it
A 16 seater restaurant – 8 by the bar and 6 in the private room,
but they sneaked in 8 of us
We feel at home right away!! Aina is Pinay Japanese 🙂 She was our server! Intersting sushi etiquette:-)
The Executive Chef used to be the Sous chef in their Tokyo branch and now he is a Three Star Michelin chef! He cooks for 8 people in the bar and comes inside our room every dish to explain each dish. We love Chef Yoshiharu he is very down to earth and very nice and funny 🙂
*****
Awarded three Michelin stars in the 2014 Hong Kong/Macau Michelin Guide, Sushi Shikon is the quintessential Ginza sushi experience, now available in Hong Kong. Sushi Shikon is the first branch of Sushi Yoshitake in Ginza, founded by Master Chef Masahiro Yoshitake, which has held three Michelin stars in Tokyo since 2012. Each day, the finest fresh ingredients are flown to Hong Kong live from Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji market, and extraordinary lengths have been taken to provide not just world-class Japanese cuisine, but also a complete cultural experience. The restaurant is overseen by executive chef Yoshiharu Kakinuma, who worked with Chef Yoshitake in Tokyo for several years before taking over Sushi Shikon in Hong Kong. Dining at Sushi Shikon is an unforgettable experience, served in an intimate atmosphere, where guests interact with and observe the master chefs craft each dish over the course of a two-hour meal from just across a beautiful, 8-seat wooden Hinoki counter.
Sake
I am not a sushi and sashimi person but I enjoyed it. I could not eat everything and really appreciate it. So I felt maybe it was not worth it to pay for me, but went to go along and be with the family. But those who love sushi and sashimi really really enjoyed the meal! There were 15 dishes all in all
Snow Crab Female with lots of eggs. He takes out all the meat and eggs then chops it and puts it back in the shell. With Caviar and Japanese citrus
The tenderest octopus in the world!! 🙂 It is just octopus but Chef has a way of making it tender. Flounder. I don’t eat octopus but because he said it was the “tenderest in the world” I just had to taste it and it was actually good!
with flounder bone soy sauce
Signature dish – Steamed abalone with Abalone liver sauce
Abalone with liver sauce and Japanese risotto – YUM!!!! I could eat a bigger portion of this 🙂
Best Smoked Bonito with Hay and Seared with charcoal – Crispy skin, meat is smoky with ginger scallion and Hokkaido horseradish. YUM! I am familiar with seared tuna and this is the best I have ever had! I could also eat plenty of this!!
Steamed male crab custard – more meaty sauce from crab shell with Japanese citrus inn top
Preparing for the Sushi – use your hands to eat the sushi and just wipe it on the towel
Palate Cleanser – ginger
More sake 🙂
Golden Eye red snapper and squid
Sanma and Saba Shiso Leaf, ginger and plum
Sea Urchin and Green uni. Akegai Ark Shell
Japanese Tiger Prawn dashed in salt water and Anago with eel sauce. I love Anago so I could eat plenty of the Anago:-)
Tamago which has no flour and no sugar
Fish broth wheat miso
Mochi with fresh strawberries – YUM for all of us!!!
Click below to go to their website
It’s in the Mercer Hotel
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