PAL Website: Dummy or Real?

This is my third time to book an online flight with PAL's website but unfortunately after every payment transactions entering card number and verification, it always states: "your transaction has been cancelled...."

Oh well...i guess something's wrong with their server. I've been wanting to go back to our home province soon so I took the risk of double payment in my credit card and did the transaction again delivering frustrating results. Same scenario occurred. Something is wrong with their site I guess. Maybe it was just a dummy site.

I also tried booking online few weeks back when they had their Real Deal Promo on cheaper international flights which turned out to be not so real after all since same dilemma occurred. Please go and check out their site at www.philippineairlines.com and see if same scenario applies to you.

Let me know if it works for you so that I could try it out again.

Davao's Best Dining Places II

I was quite fortunate to be back in my hometown for a few days despite my busy work schedule. We were able to go to a few dining places and I suddenly remembered I used to write about Davao's best dining places. Here's a few more venues of gastronomic delight that the Durian Republic offers:

1. Ahfat - I am always delighted with my meal in Ahfat. Whether it be any of their seafood offering or their pancit or their spareribs. Ahfat is one of the dining places where we frequent bringing along our visitors in the city. Proof that Davaoenos and visitors alike love to eat in Ahfat: the place is always full even if there is already an extension of Ahfat's dining area nearby. One should not miss eating in Ahfat especially if it is their first time in Davao City.

2. Lisa's - Offers a wide array of fresh seafood delight at an affordable price. Located near Time's Beach, the place is always full at lunchtime and dinner time. I always love their crispy fried hito! I was so delighted that I need not to drive far in Tugbok whenever I crave for crispy hito as it is already available in Lisa's. It is best to go to Lisa's in the afternoon almost dawn as lunch heat can be quite scorching. After going to SM, you can drive along the Times Beach area. Once you hit the place, you will never miss Lisa's as it is the one with most cars parked in front. Parking sometimes a hassle especially during peak hours but don't worry as it will also lead you to nearby alternative seafood dining places.

3. Miggy's - In case there's no more parking space available at Lisa's try Miggy's also along Times Beach area.

4. Roadhouse/Antonio's - If you happen to be in SM, try dining either at Roadhouse or Antonio's. My family always take us either to these 2 places for Sunday lunch.

5. Bigbys - A great place to dine with family and friends in case you need to chat and catch up with each other's lives.

6. Colasa's - Their chicken barbecue is one of the best that I've ever tasted.

7. Picobello - For great pasta and pizza!

8. Cecil's - For afternoon snack, we love best their dinuguan and pancit luglug.. Try also their caramel cake.

9. Bistro Rosario - If you love cakes, drive along Torres Street and you will never miss the white building facade of Bistro Rosario. Choose a slice or a box that you can take home to. A family friend used to bring Bistro Rosario cakes back to Manila whenever they are here in Davao for a visit.

10. Sutukil - it's near the Central Bank and food is great and affordable for working professionals. A lot of sales people dine here during lunch or dinner.

Davao's Best Dining Places

During the holidays we were able to go around Davao and discovered a few great dining places mostly with families..Some are quaint while most of them are ideal for families.. Here are a few of my favorite dining places in random order:

• Paparazzi - A great pizza place near Mabini St. I loved Papa's Pizza! I was disappointed when they closed down their Ilustre branch but was ultimately pleased when I found out that makers of Paparazzi pizzas are one and the same of Papa's Pizza. I loved their Prego Pizza so much!
• Sugarmunch - A great dessert place tucked in Marfori Subdivision. You won't miss the gold and white stripes beside Gigz party shop. Most coffee shops in the city serve Sugarmunch delicacies. I would recommend to try their Dark Moist Chocolate Cake. Its super delicious and easy on the pocket!
• Papa Ching's - If you loved Molave's Chicken recipe, then you would definitely love Papa Ching's greaseless chicken. I couldn't believe I finished an order of half-sized chicken by myself!
• Aseya - A door away Humberto's place, one would love their own version of fusion dining of Thai, Indian and Malay cuisine. Check out their Aseya salad and their version of spring rolls and Pad Thai. Their chocolate cake is a must try in which my lovely guess would come from Sugarmunch.
• Hola Espana - Finally, an authentic Spanish cuisine in Davao City! One should try their Paella dishes and steak! Be prepared to shell out some money though.
• Tadakuma - It used to be situated at the back of Chowking Bajada. I loved how fresh their makis and sashimis are! I frequent their place near Central Bank. I recently learned that they opened a site in Damosa.
  
• Harana - a nostalgic place for me! We used to spend our childhood playing in their big playground. Now, its our children's turn to play. We never got tired of playing that we dined out here twice during the holidays.
  
• Sarung Banggi - we normally have dinner at this place to celebrate my parents wedding anniversary. This time around we had lunch here during my birthday. I loved all their steaks - Pepper Steak, A la Pobre, Porterhouse are a few of my favorites.
• Banoks - We are Colasa's lovers but when I observed that Banoks almost became ubiquitous in the city, I got curious and tried out their Chicken Barbecue. We dined in their Torres branch. Loved the chicken (but not as much as Colasa's) and downed it with fresh buko juice. I got extra curious with Allegro' s ice cream freezer standing nearby and tried out the Durian Ice Cream. Yummy for a non-durian lover like me.

There are still a lot of great places to dine out in Davao. The list will continue hopefully in my next visit!

Iloilo Breakthrough

We went to Iloilo for  a business trip. It was my second time to visit the place. The first time was about 6 years ago enroute to Boracay from Davao City. I never had a chance to visit the place since then. 

I used to remember that Iloilo's airport was near the sea. I was quite surprised that we were about to land in an airport amidst green fields. The airport was relatively new - clean and sleek. It reminded me of a junior version of the Davao City International Airport. 

The city was a few minutes away from the airport. We were billeted at the Westown Hotel in Smallville area(I hope I got the names correct). My colleagues and I decided to be adventurous then as it was mostly our second time to go to Iloilo but we never had a chance to tour the place during our first visit. Included in our list of things to do list in Iloilo was to try their Batchoy, eat in a great local restaurant and try out Chicken Inasal as well as fulfill our business duties of going on trade checks, cascade to the Iloilo team our plans for next year and attend the provincial Christmas party. 

After checking in, we decided to go out for lunch. Unfortunately, most of the establishments near the hotel are only open from 5pm onwards as the area was known to be a gimmick place. We asked the taxi driver on where it would be great to eat for lunch and we were led to Breakthrough - a seafood lover's delight. The place was quite far from the city proper but the long trip was all worth it after savoring their version of Aligue rice, fried and grilled version of hito, Halaan soup, sisig na lechon among others. We even had a refreshing Buko Juice! We loved everything that we ordered. Moreso, we were shocked to see that our bill was only half of what we've expected it to cost. We had a hard time looking for a taxi back to the city but we cared less as we were fully satisfied during lunch time.

Afterwards, we did our trade check at SM, bought a few pasalubong from BongBong's stall and proceeded with our cascade to field sales in the afternoon. At night, we attended the area's Christmas Party held at Nelly's Garden. I was relatively impressed with the set-up that I would like to commend the organizers for putting up a great show. Since we were not able to eat Batchoy and Chicken Inasal for lunch, after the Christmas party we decided to try La Paz Batchoy at Deco's and had to give up trying Chicken Inasal since we were already full.

In my next Iloilo business or personal trip, I would definitely try out Chicken Inasal and hopefully visit the famous Miag-ao Church which is a few miles away from the city.