Travel Itinerary Asia to New Zealand

Coming from Asia, here're some tips you may appreciate if you decide that New Zealand or The Middle Earth is your country of choice in 2013.

New Plymouth Coast, New Zealand

The Airlines To Choose - Flight - Asia - Australia - New Zealand
Budget Conscious - Scoot is the best budget airline I have tried. You know that complementary cold water they give on flights is enough to me make want to flyscoot as often as I can. Scoot is headquartered in Singapore. So wherever you are from Asia, you really need to fly into Singapore. You may have a choice of Airline to Singapore - Air Asia, Cebu Pacific, Jetstar

Direct flight - the 2nd best rate and value you will get is with Jetstar. Mind you, Jetstar is not cheap. It just posits itself to be cheap. But try booking from Phils to New Zealand a one way flight Manila to Auckland at this time of the year and you'll have to pay $900 at least - note that's ONE WAY.

Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Air New Zealand - these are good airlines too.. but I would suggest using Air New Zealand from Australia to New Zealand.

There is no better airline in NZ than Air New Zealand. The service is very nice but then of course you do pay for the smiles ;)

Accommodation

New Zealand is a fully-blown tourism country. It has highly astute and professional hoteliers, tourism entrepreneurs who have thought about every type of accommodation plan per customer. There are budget conscious tourists, luxury tourists, families, honeymooners, adventure seekers - name it. They have all the types of accommodation you can possibly need. So when you get to Auckland, here are tips.

Auckland - Proximity Apartments - Never fails. Clean, decent, close to airport. Affordable.

Address: 17 Amersham Way, Manukau, Auckland 2104, New Zealand
Phone:+64 9-263 5450

Coromandel Peninsusla - Admiralty Lodge - you'd like a bit of luxury don't you?  This one is affordable.  Fantastic views, warm waters, swim with the dolphins! Everything you experience here is worth every penny spent.  http://www.admiraltylodge.co.nz Free phone 0508 236 472 Address: 69 Buffalo Beach Road, Whitianga 3510, New Zealand

Rotorua, Bay of Plenty - Everyone HAS to go to Rotorua. It is the most affordable adventure, holiday destination in New Zealand. It's complete attractions - from nature to culture to arts - caters to all ages... at really affordable rates. Family accommodation also abound and the best one is MALFROY http://malfroymotorlodge.co.nz/ 51 Malfroy Road, Victoria, Rotorua 3010, Bay of Plenty Phone: +64 7 346 8053

Skip an overnight in Taupo - you can just drive through it and spend a bit of time a cafe near the Taupo Lake


Wanganui - Head straight to Wanganui! A lovely, picturesque old English town. There are about 35 (or more) cafes in Wanganui. The only city in NZ with free wifi! This town is nominated to be the smartest little city in the world. I kinda miss this town actually. A lot of lovely people. Stay with Tamara Backpackers. Spend a bit of time touring the countryside going up to New Plymouth, Holland gardens.

Wellington - Well end the north island tour with a bit of class. There are nice little boutique hotels in Wellington. It also has a lot of lovely little restaurants. This city is considered the coolest city in New Zealand. Stop over for at least a couple of hours and/or stay over night. This is actually the port where you have to go to on your way to the South Island.

Stay tuned for my next post on "Going around the South Island"

Restaurant and Food Reviews Accommodation Tips Personal Health Investment Ebooks Travel in the Philippines Living in New Zealand

Antonio's Tagaytay Review

I've heard a lot about Antonio's in Tagaytay. Antonio's is known to be Tagaytay's #1 restaurant, serving gourmet food.

It took time for us to find the place. We were told the place is full so we really hurried to take the last spot.

When we got to the area, the gate itself was already impressive. It did look like a secret garden but instead of flowers, there were glaring SUVs and luxury cars and a noticeable helicopter on a helipad. Well that just meant maybe this place is really that good, I thought.

Upon entering the restaurant, the austere ambiance of old Spanish elaborate architecture engulfed me. With servers dressed in black and white, it seemed to take us back in time when slavery was accepted and not frowned upon. I wasn't a fan of their choice of uniform style.

One of the staff members handed me the menu, a little greasy and untidy but I thought, that's fine. The "servers" seem to know what to recommended and at least they know that the menu contains. They were able to describe the quantity of the meal, what it consists of etc. For example, I asked, "how do you make a flourless chocolate cake?" The server said, "we use mocha / chocolate powder instead of flour." Ok I can accept that but I am not sure if it can work yet.  Anyway they know what gnocchi is.

Quite remarkable are the huge windows and chandeliers and high ceilings. I loved the green surroundings. The weather was hot but I was comfortable with the breeze. The only discomfort maybe would have been the incessant fly-looking-bee.

Well we all ordered the set menu:
Lamb with Gnocchi side dish(1)

Crab Ravioli

Salmon and pasta (2)

We had salad, which was ok. A bit modest serving. Notable was the candied walnut.

Then we had soup which had a nice touch of coffee. They called it mushroom cappucino soup (something like that). Forgive me for not remembering exactly. I liked the twist in flavour.

Then we were given a complementary sorbet "to cleanse the pallatte". Well thank you. That just means that chef is sensitive with customers. Although that may also suggest the main course meals will be a tad bit delayed.

So the main course... well my Crab Ravioli was nice and tasty. I could have more though, not that I'm a pig but I thought the serving was a too small. My dad was so happy with his Lamb rack... my mom was slightly happy with her salmon... but my partner thought the salmon tasted as if it was frozen and not fresh. Well my partner's a bit picky because he's used to NZ salmon and it's understandably quite hard to source that fresh in the Philippines.

Since this is supposed to be gourmet food, I thought dad's and my main meal were the most "gourmet" of all that we had. The Salmon dish was not at all impressive. Even the pasta it came along with.

Then we had the dessert - a long awaited surprised. We were prepped first too, just before the start of the meal that we will be given a huge choice of dessert... so our verdict?

Again Dad picked the best dessert! Spicy chocolate - different and memorable.

My partner ordered chocolate mint, which he adored.

My mom ordered some kind of rich chocolate mousse with pistachios which she didn't really like.

I ordered flourless chocolate cake - yes it was the best chocolate cake I have ever had but too rich for me to have again ever in my life.

The table setting was great. Loved that they used the local flowers.

We even visited the rest of the area - Antonio's breakfast area, which had really creative furniture and interiors.

My verdict? Of course we will visit Antonio's again.

A little treat for all of us. The entire meal cost $40/person on the average. Still good compared to western standards for a three-course meal.

I would love to see some competition though. Surely someone else can create better food at a slightly lower price ;-)

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Marcia's Restaurant Tagaytay Review

This is my review of the little restaurant in Tagaytay called Marcia's.

Tagaytay is very close to Lipa City so it's a perfect spot for us to go to when we're tired of the cafes in Lipa, namely Coffee Bean, Starbucks.

I found out about Marcias from Tripadvisor. I became curious because I read reviews from foreigners, Filipino expats and picky locals. Marcias is located at the border of Tagaytay and Alfonso, specifically in Brgy Sikat. About 10 minutes drive from the Rotunda, just exactly after the usual arcs that welcome tourists to a new town, you'll have to go to Brgy Sikat. Marcias doesn't have a sign on its door so we almost missed it. Thankfully, I have a reliable photographic memory so I noticed the rustic door on one of the properties. Just remember, the property is almost right next to the entrance to the Brgy from the national road.

The immediate entrance is leafy which gave me a refreshing feeling. I noticed that there's a house next to the garden, probably the owner's house. There's also some noticeable development before we arrived to the main restaurant area.

The first thing I admired were the following:
1. The walls, cobbles which I don't know how to get in the Philippines
2. The exposed wood in the ceiling
3. The mud coloured flooring which I adore
4. The fresh flowers
5. The cool feeling

There are other notable areas of course. Every spot in the restaurant seemed cosy. It's just that I didn't want to sit so close to the bathroom and the area where there's a view of the fields seemed quite warmer. We opted to stay next to the entrance of the restaurant.

The place is decorated just pleasantly. Though I don't appreciate the stuffed animals, I liked very much the wrought iron decorations, the stained glass windows, the tiled tables, the different types of chairs on the table, and the table setting is a little bit more generous compared to other high end restaurants in Tagaytay.

This is almost like one of the garden houses I love in Queenstown, NZ.

So our group of four ordered our meal - as usual my meat lover parents ordered Italian pork and aromatic pork, while diet conscious people like myself and my partner ordered beef and chicken stew. For appetizer, we tried the salad, the shrimps, the bacon soup.  For desert, we tried the roasted orange with vanilla ice cream, fried banana in home made liquer, roasted banana with chocolate ice cream and lavender custard. We also tried the lemon lime drink which was recommend by the waiter.

The cost of the entire meal for four is Php 3900+ There is 10% service charge.

I was pleased with the experience and I appreciate that there's a place like this in the Philippines.

I wonder though if this is a viable business model or if the novelty of the experience will fade.

The price is affordable at Php 800 per person (including service charge and/or the drinks).

The question then boils down to the taste. The food is certainly presented creatively. Except for the main course... surprisingly plain (didn't bother upload my photos). The taste is ok, albeit amplified by the beautiful ambience. The food is filling.

To be more exact:
Appetizers - different choices, nice presentation - Salad is generous, loved the fresh leafy vegetables, the light dressing, the peach. The soup was ok, not very sure of the taste but it's due to a personal dislike of meats in soup (in general). The shrimp was spiced up, didn't like the wafer beneath, it was tasteless.
Main course - my beef stew - it was a generous serving, plain rice, plain presentation. Meat was tender. I preferred my mom and dad's pork dishes - both nicely spiced. But theirs too were quite heavy meals. My partner's chicken stew is interesting, it seemed to have 'bagoong' (not sure). Bagoong is some kind of local anchovy paste. Maybe that's why it seemed to salty.
Deserts - I had the roasted orange with vanilla. I loved my desert. Nice presentation. I liked the presentation of the banana split with chocolate too. I thought the fried bananas with liquer was quite plain and I didn't like the purple sauce (liquer). My partner didn't like it so much too. I think it lacks something as a package. The custard was not very interesting.
Drink - We tried the lemon lime drink, about Php 300 for a pitcher. We shared it. I didn't have much of it because I realized it's carbonated. I didn't like that. So this drink could be better and probably I'd rather have ginger beer next time.

So back to the question - the taste ... It's not uber special - so some people might not be raving about it. But bear in mind, the price is only about $20 per person for a 3 course meal! So I'm not sure if the other online comments are fair when they say that the food isn't authentic or special.

Anyway, I think it's best to compare also with the alternatives - Bag of Beans (Php 450 per head) and Antonios (Php 800 - Php 1000) per head. Just in terms of place and ambience, I'd visit Marcia's any day of the week. My last choice would be Bag of Beans but I think Bag of Beans quality has severely decreased (I had breakfast with family there 3 months ago). So safe to say, I would not go back to Bag of Beans for a year.

I would also like to share the comments of the other people I had lunch with:
My mom - She absolutely loved the place, very much inspired by it. My mom said very complementary comments about the talents and the courage of the cook - Marcia, noting her hard work and her attention to detail.
My dad - very happy with the desert, happy with this little trip, overall happy with the experience except of course he compared the price to having 4 meals at Yellow cab...
My partner - liked what they've done with the place. He didn't like the chicken stew, he thought it was a little too salty. Thought the place was overpriced for the food...and wasn't too happy there's construction going on.  My partner and I love cafes and always visit as much restaurants as we can in NZ, Australia, Philippines

Much more is to be said about the creativity of the couple - Marcia and Neil. My mom even said that Marcia is quite an inspiration having created and developed such an atmosphere in the Philippines.

The restaurant is only 2 years old. According to Neil, they started in 2010. They are growing and building a reception area and some rooms for a bed and breakfast accommodation. Exciting times ahead and we can only wish them the best.

Restaurant and Food Reviews Accommodation Tips Personal Health Investment Ebooks Travel in the Philippines Living in New Zealand