After enjoying our high tea at the Connect Lounge, we explored the facilities offered in the hotel and started with FLOW Pool Area! It really is so luxurious despite its size.
At the end of the room is a jacuzzi!
There's also a fitness center that's designed just as stylishly!
You can also enjoy some detox water or...
The Flow Smoothie! I really wish I tried this one. Haha!
The last part of this floor is the FLOW Spa.
Getting a massage here must be so relaxing!
After the quick tour in the FLOW facilities, we headed up to the Vu's Sky Bar for some wine and aperitifs!
The indoor area of the Vu's Sky Bar is probably my least favorite in terms of design and ambiance. It just didn't seem as nicely modern as the previous facilities we visited in the hotel. It's still a nice place to hang out though!
The outdoor area is actually very cool but I wish there was an outdoor area that was smoke-free other than just one where people can't enjoy the scenery without being bombarded by secondhand smoke.
The food here is by buffet which is fun! The choices lean towards quick bites and snacks.
One of my favorites has to be the Grilled Artichoke Hearts (Photo above) because they're so garlicky and delicious. They're a bit oily but I think it's slightly necessary for alcohol consumption so I'm not complaining. Haha!
The Assorted Cold Cuts is a platter filled with guilty pleasures.
There are options for salads and healthy eats as well!
The Vegetables & Chorizo Couscous is really good as well. I especially enjoy it with Babaganoush.
Lastly, they have unlimited wine! The wine we were served was dark, very sweet, and fruity, which anyone can enjoy. I know I certainly did. Haha!
After a quick drink and taste of the dishes offered in Vu's, we went one floor down to have dinner at Lung Hin!
Lung Hin is Cantonese Cuisine so it was a nice contrast to all the Western food we've been having throughout our stay so far.
The interiors are pretty gorgeous with all the gold and black!
I ordered the Earl Grape Iced Tea because it sounded so good when I read it on the menu! It comes with sugared jelly cubes that you can eat as a snack. The jelly cubes are strangely sweet with all the sugar. The small shot glass is grape syrup. You pour this into the iced tea to flavor your drink. I suggest putting in half of the shot glass for a subtle grape tea that's refreshing and not too sweet!
The Prawn Dumplings (Hakaw) is a delicious classic made fancy with the gold leaf on top. Though it tastes like almost every other Hakaw out there, there's a very noticeable feeling of quality when you eat it which is the most important thing. Hakaw is delicious wherever you go, but you can easily tell that the quality is much better here.
The Pork Buns at Lung Hin definitely rival that of the famous Tim Ho Wan's. I especially love the crunch of the bread! The filling could probably taste better if it was less sweet?
My feelings about the Pork Siomai are definitely same to that of the Hakaw which is that tastes similar to any Siomai out there but the quality is boosted and definitely noticeable. The Truffle Sauce is sadly undetectable due to the strong existing flavors of Siomai.
The vegetable stir fry is fresh, tasty, and garlicky. It's a combination of bok choy, spinach, and broccoli. Basically everything I look for in a simple Chinese stir fry. The Broccoli tastes especially amazing!
The Beef Cubes with Goose Liver is a decadent treat and definitely one of my favorites. The beef is soft, tender, and incredibly flavorful. The Goose Liver is effectively infused which makes the flavor of the beef even better! The tiny bits on the side are fried goose liver you can enjoy with the beef cubes. They're very fatty so watch out if you're not into that kind of thing. I liked it a lot though!
The 3 Flavored Prawns is a house specialty and I can understand why. First of all, the prawns are HUGE. Almost the size of fists! They remind me of my childhood dinners at President in Ongpin where they served Hot Prawn Salad with giant prawns just like these! The three flavors here are Salted Egg, Blueberry, and Sakura. I first tried Sakura which is most reminiscent of the sauces in Hot Prawn Salads in every Chinese Restaurant. However, thanks to the Sakura, the sweetness is deepened and warmer which I love. The Blueberry is a bit strange for me, but still good. I'm just bothered by the sweet fruity aroma that contrasts with the deep fried prawns. Of course, the salted egg is the most memorable of the three with its pungent flavors and aroma. The crunchy salted egg coating plus the giant plump prawn is too good to describe. However, eating these three together can be overwhelming because of the richness.
We capped off our night by quickly exploring how the main lobby looks in the evening and we were definitely not disappointed. These spaces were definitely designed to shine in the nighttime!
The Connect Lounge seems to transform into a black and gold haven compared to its earthy browns and blues in the daytime.
Stay tuned for the final leg of the Marco Polo Ortigas series!
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