Astoria Plaza Hotel Manila Pasig

... And I had it with blue cheese on top. Ok, that's not the all-American burger we've been talking about with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, etc but it was a perfect combination with a glass of cabernet. At least it was MY perfect combination. Everyone has their own idea of the perfect burger. I was discussing the perfect burger with my Australian co-worker. We were in ...

... to take it home and have Russ sign his full name and bring it back. She also gave me new signature sheets so we could each sign our name again for the banks records. I'm not sure where the checks and balances are in all this since Russ wasn't doing this in person and he also wasn't signing the signature sheet in person but that is neither here nor there. Then we got back to the balance in my account. She could run me a statement. I told her to ...

... have a Filipino twist. Most of the burgers I've sampled also have lots of very sweet mayonaise to enhance the sugary flavor. Russ may like mayo on his burger but not me. All I see when I look at mayo is extra fat on my thighs. Stay tuned. The Great American Burger may be out there. And if it is we'll find it - even if we have to grill it ourselves.

... the Taiwanese tourists to this list, too. They are certainly one for the books. Our last stop was an old Chinese temple, situated right beside a port where sidewalk vendors sold an array of New Year adornments all in blazing red and gold. Ms. Chen and I decided not to enter the small temple anymore, for we felt that we've had enough of those in Taiwan. We just sat on a bench next to the sea and admired the sight of boats, kingfisher birds, and the colossal Macau buildings just across the ...

... instead of letting you grab a ton just in case. Rolls of paper towels are not nearly as wide or absorbent although I understand warehouse shopping has arrived in Manila with access to Brawny and other macho paper products. In the US we live in a throw-away society but here the expense of that would be a luxury for most people and seen as wasteful. Why use a wad of paper towels to clean up a mess when you can clean it up with the same reusable cloth ...

I believe I have officially been knighted. Since I've been in Manila, people have only addressed me as Sir Peter or Mr. Peter. Filippinos are extremely polite, to the point of it being uncomfortable sometimes. It takes some getting used to. Manila traffic is ridiculous. The road network is horribly underdeveloped to be able to support the 11+ million people that live in this area ...

... a few days in Malate I was suprised to see the amount of skyscrapers present in this city. By the time Pasig City rolls around, the surroundings are very respectable. Skyscrapers and office buildings rival many business districts I've been to and chain restaurants and fast food joints are everywhere. The personality of the city is mostly gone. One thing that is present all throughout is the ...

Our journey to the Philippines did not start well...our flight from Hanoi was delayed by over 3 hours - the people on our flight seemed to be the only people left in the airport after it had closed down for the night, but before long we were onboard our Cebu Pacific (low cost airline of the Philippines) flight to Manila (capital of the Philippines), which meant we touched down at the civilized time of 7.30am, as opposed to the planned time of 4am. Once out of the ...

Ortigas Center is known to be the second-most important commercial and business district after Makati. Ortigas Center has numerous high-rise corporate edifices, residential condominiums, and commercial establishments ...

I'm going to Podium in Ortigas to bring Nico to Church. After that it's time to stay in a coffee shop to come up with new ideas for the several projects I have at present. Hmmm... what coffee will I have? The regular kind is brewed coffee with one sweetener... but this time Mocha sounds inviting. Looking at the countries in the list I find having coffee in the neighborhood is really boring. I don't know what happens after bringing Nico to his mom. Another entry I guess...