Crocolandia: An Animal Park

     Crocolandia is a very nice place to spend your time into. Just a few minutes ride from the heart of Cebu City, you can locate this animal paradise Talisay City, Cebu, Philippines. 

(Located in Talisay City, just South of Cebu City proper)

     Although if you don't own or rent a car, getting there might be tricky, aside from riding a taxi, you can just ride any south bound jeepneys such as the ones going to Tabunok. Then from there, you can ride a trisikad, or a tricycle going to Crocolandia for a fun experience.

     Once you get there, you just pay for the entrance fee and you're in! One resident of the park is the one you wouldn't surely miss, the ostrich! It's elegant form and height, this one's an eye catcher. But the fun doesn't end there, as you could also be greeted, or taunted, by the playful mayna birds, or the formidable stare of the park's horned owl. 

   If you're right on occasion, the gamekeepers would sometimes place on display their collections of tarantulas and other exotic animals, such as poisonous snakes. 

     Others in the collection include the famous bear-cat of Palawan, mouse deers, warthogs, and exotic birds.

     The remainder would be the sprawling ponds and cages for their multitude of crocodiles and caimans. 

     If you happen to visit Crocolandia on Sunday, you will luckily witness their famed crocodile, Magellan, named after the Spanish conqueror who came to Philippines and specifically to Cebu, many centuries ago. His partner, Lapu lapu, of comparable size, already died of old age. All other crocodiles you see in the park is their offsprings.

     Sunday is the feeding day for Magellan, who is fed just once a week since just like any reptile, crocodiles eat on long intervals. 

     Shown here is a piglet being fed to the large predator. Sometimes, the crocodile is fed chickens, or sliced meat. Know however, that visitors are not allowed to feed all the animals in the park. 

     Crocolandia is usually a destination for relaxation, but it can also be a destination for recreation such as what most schools do to hold their events or parties. 

     This animal park is a treasure trove worthy of a visit. It reminds us just how magnificent these creatures are, so that we may contribute in the preservation of their natural habitat. Take some time off work, from the busy buzz of the city and have a serene walk in this little patch of nature in Cebu, and admire what it has to offer.

     Just don't forget to bring your cameras!

Bigby's Cafe

Photo by SoloFlightEd.com

Last semester, before going home to our hometown, we had tried out Bigby's Cafe. We're quite interested when we heard that their dishes tastes good.

This Bigby's Cafe branch is located in Ayala: The Terraces in Cebu City, as usual :). Since it's our first time and we didn't stay long, I have nothing much to say except that their staff are good, and of course their dishes are really good. I forgot the name of the dish but similar to Casa Verde's best sampler where parts of different dishes are served in one plate and the combinations are really good. But as we thought that we got Calamares included, we we're disappointed to find out that it was Onion Rings, we didn't read the menu thoroughly, we just looked at the pictures.

Anyway, we had our fill in there and this place is really recommended. To traveling tech geeks, they also have free WiFi!

Golden Cowrie (Hukad)

Next stop is in Golden Cowrie also known as Hukad. This one's in Ayala: The Terraces in Cebu City's Business Park.




Photo by the ChicTraveller

Being placed in Ayala's new park or zone, The Terraces which looks really classy, one would think that all restaurants and fast foods here are expensive and can really burn a hole to your wallet.

Not with Hukad. True that their restaurant sure looks classy and expensive, but try to dine in and you'll be surprised to find out that most of their dishes are very affordable compared to other restaurants of the same caliber. Here in Hukad,
P300.00($7.00) to P500.00($11.00) is already enough to fill 3 to 4 person's stomach with their delicious dishes coupled with unlimited rice!

We went here twice already and their staffs look friendly so we have nothing to complain about them. They attentively come to your needs like when you want another serving of rice, or you want to order for more.

During our visit here, the dish that we really liked was the Baked Scallops. They also serve Chicken Pandan, and their Lechon Kawali also tastes great! And if you want to be tropical, you can have coconut juice for your drink!

By the way, there is also a Hukad branch in SM City Cebu. Can't wait for our next visit to either of their branches.

To tourists and locals alike, I recommend you Hukad.

KFC's Krushers

Ok. So I based this one on the KFC branch in Metro Ayala in Cebu City. So what do I have to say?

It's not so long ago that they've released to the public their new product "Krushers". A sort of shake that was available in three flavors namely, Caramel, Cookies and Cream, and Strawberry Yoghurt. People have different tastes and in this case, I like them all but my most favorite is the Caramel followed by the Strawberry Yoghurt.

KFC Krushers
Photo by FlairCandy

The Caramel Krusher is a very nice complement to their wide array of choices of food. I usually dine in with "Chinese Imperial" paired with Caramel Krusher. By the way, when you dine in a food with accompanying softdrink, you can upgrade the softdrink to a Krusher instead by adding P 40.00. If you're buying the Krusher in solo, it's P 60.00 for you.

So then, Caramel Krusher was great and it's really commendable. In its early release, it is loaded with chocolate crumbs inside until about three months later, there are no more chocolate crumbs for you but just pure ice shake with caramel flavor, but at the same price. It is somewhat tolerable to some extent but now, they have phased out the Caramel flavor for unknown reasons. One speculation is maybe the ingredients are not feasible or too expensive for them? I wonder. But the surer thing is I don't like the flavor they have replaced for Caramel: Mocha.

I do love Mocha, I just don't like the way they make it. Or I like the way they make it but it's not worth my money anymore. They didn't change the price but they made their products cheaper in quality.

I hope not all KFCs compromise their food quality over savings. Customers are your greatest assets. Until then, have a good day to all. :)

Disclaimer

This blog is intended only to inform, warn or otherwise to recommend vacationists, tourists, locals, students and professionals who would want an honest review of places and spots in the Philippines particularly in Cebu.

All of what appears here is self motivated. I do not work for a rival company of the companies being criticized here. This is purely based on personal experience and not from other persons' that I would want to share, not to destroy other people's reputation, but to give them idea that they can improve better. And also to let people know what place to avoid and what place is recommended.

May you have an enjoyable experience while you're staying here!

Experience in Casa Verde In Ayala: The Terraces

Ayala: The Terraces

Have you been to Ayala: The Terraces in Cebu Business Park, Cebu City? If so, then you might have happened to come by Casa Verde restaurant on the 3rd floor level of Terraces side of the mall. They serve grilled foods as well as some desserts.

Yeah, because of some recommendation that the food they serve was good, we went there, on one very special occasion. We chose the place for that special occasion. What we got in return was very noteworthy. They served us a rotten dish.

Are you familiar with Carbonara? It is also available in KFC, it tastes good. Although it does not smell really appealing, it is delicious.

Casa Verde has some variation to Carbonara. It is flavored with sea-food, specifically octopus or squid. It served as a side dish to the main course which is the back ribs.

The moment it was served, you can literally smell that it is rotten. At first, I suspected it was the back ribs meal but it wasn't. It was the Carbonara. But as it is a new variation to us, we thought it is its natural smell since Carbonara is reputed as not good smelling, so we dismissed it as normal, but we did not ate it! It's too much to handle. We just thought that sea-food carbonara is not for us.

We ate the main course, along with some other dessert, but not the carbonara. We are full, so we decided to have the carbonara packed for take out. If you're the waiter packing the carbonara you're so used to serving, you can immediately notice when something's wrong. But later, the waiter came to hand to us the packed carbonara, so we thought it's fine, it is its normal smell. Conscious of looking ignorant, we did not ask about it and we left.

When we got home, we showed the packed carbonara to my girl friend's sister who frequented to Casa Verde and have known its Carbonara dish long before us and to her disgust, confirmed that it was rotten!


Ayala: The Terraces "Casa Verde's" Carbonara Served To Us Rotten and Stinking

Too late for us to complain for a refund, or a compensation, and you may think it is common sense to detect a rotten food, it is not usually the case. Who would have thought that they would want to piss off their customers? Who would have thought that their staff are into something? I'd say its intentional, they have been given the chance to check it out when we handed it for packing, but they did not seem to care.

To the manager of Casa Verde, if you're internet savvy enough that you may reach this post, and that you care for the future of that STINKING restaurant you're managing, know that your staff served us a ROTTEN CARBONARA, a stinking rotten one, last June 9, 2009. So if I were you, you have to retrain them, or give them seminar how to maintain quality in the food they serve before it will cost you your business.

To customers, I do not say that Casa Verde as a restaurant is not recommended. Yes, they serve good dish, but their staff, is what you will have to worry about, they WILL serve you ROTTEN FOOD. So, you know what you will have to do, avoid them.

But let's hope, that maybe someday, they will change, or improve in a good way, so that their reputation will be redeemed. Their food tastes good after all, it's only in the service that we have a problem.

Ok, we hope they did not do it on purpose. No one in their sane mind will. Let us just give them another chance. It's just that, we are disappointed.

--Ayala Photo by sinjin.ph

Our Not So Good Experience in Wowowee

For those who does not know what Wowowee is, it is a program hosted by Mr Willie Revillame inside the ABS-CBN compound in Mother Ignacio St., Quezon City, Philippines.

This program is a game show intended to 'help' our poor countrymen by giving out cash, vehicles, and other goodies as prizes through their numerous games. The funds that constitute the prizes in turn comes from advertisements made inside the game show as well as contributions or donations from our more privileged countrymen especially OFWs and subscribers of TFC(The Filipino Channel).

Helping other people in need is a really good way that you care for them. But I'm not sure if this thinking is what motivates Mr. Revillame into doing this, because the other reason would be his daily salary of at least 500k PHP. Now, who would think twice of hosting Wowowee? Whatever the case, I do not fully agree with the way they help people. They give people fish, not teaching them how to fish. On a more elaborate discussion regarding the way they help people, visit this page by fir3st0rm.

About the main topic here today, it is about our experience when we last went to Wowowee last April as part of our educational tour 2009 as incoming graduates of Computer Engineering of University of San Carlos. Of course, when we went there, we are accompanied by a tour guide of ABS CBN, because each of us "paid".

First Issue

The first disturbing thing now is this, they did not let us all inside Wowowee. They limit us to 80 persons, when we are about 85 all in all. It would not hurt for them to include the other 5 in, but they did not, even though they also paid. The entrance fee to Wowowee is free for those who wait in line. Those who wants sure seats will pay, but as already said, 5 of us were not let in.

Second Issue

Many of their staffs have bad attitude towards us. What you see on live TV is not what it seems. Off cam, they are different. They treat every visitor as if the visitor is stupid enough. The marshall for instance, the female guard who is assigned in the back portion of the upper stage where we are seated, she keeps on scolding us as if we are little kids. She is hostile towards visitors, why is she still there?

Third Issue

As I've said, what you see on live TV is different off cam. When the camera is not on the roll, they, most of the staffs, and "almost" all of the actors and actresses are cold. My classmate who is a contestant had a chance to get near Willie in the backstage during a commercial break. He described Mr Revillame as an arrogant person who dictates like he is commanding slaves. I don't know if that was true, but it's what he said.

Fourth Issue

They are fond of humiliating a person on camera and off camera. I do not know if it's for entertainment purposes or whatever, they just do. Do not say I did not warn you.


And now, the timer counts down, we prepare ourselves to clap, as the camera rolled, the lights turned on again, then a "FAKED" 'lively', 'enjoyable' and 'sincere' is once again restored for all the world to see. Try for yourself, watch Wowowee in person! It's a good experience anyway.