I had the opportunity to pay an overnight visit to Manila back in Aug 2014. Manila is the capital of the Philippines and one of the oldest cities. 

As it was my first visit, naturally I am excited about it. I am more excited about what good food I can get to savour. 😝

I flew there via Philippines Airlines and get to experience their sky dining.

Had my dinner at Mang Inasal located inside SM Mall of Asia. SM Mall of Asia is a shopping mall in Bay City, Pasay, Philippines. It is currently the 4th largest shopping mall in the Philippines.

Mang Inasal is a Filipino barbeque quick service restaurant and serves authentic fusion of traditional Filipino cuisine with the dine-in concept. It is famous for its native-style and “nuot-sarap” Chicken Inasal.

1 piece Chicken, skewered and grilled the Mang Inasal way and 1 piece Pork BBQ stick served with a cup of rice. Food is really yummy.

Pinoy Halo-Halo – Delicious and creamy shaved ice milk concoction topped with red sago, buko pandan jelly, langka, ube halaya, yellow beans, red mongo beans, leche flan, macapuno, banana, ube ice cream and barquillos.

Sounds like tongue twister to me and the ingredients looks alien and mouthful to read them off. In short, this dessert is “damn steam, power, champion, wala, heavenly!”

This dessert is beyond description. You need to experience it for yourself. 

I stayed at the Sofitel Philippines Plaza Manila for this trip. The hotel is further down from SM Mall of Asia.

Room is big and spacious. Sofitel belongs to the AccorHotel group. Being the Accor Platinum member does help in this instance. I was immediately upgraded to the Club Floor upon check-in.

Enjoying complimentary welcome drink (Mango Smoothie) at the lobby lounge.

Waking up to a beautiful morning view from my hotel room.

Sumptous breakfast served at the hotel Club Lounge.

While on the road, saw this interesting vehicle. This is their local motor transport, jeepney. Similar to Tuk-Tuk in Bangkok.

Next, I had one of their local authentic specialty meal at Abe Restaurant @ Alabang Town Centre. With this meal, it marked the end of my overnight trip. 

Overall, food in Philippines is pretty unique and pork based. 

Wish I had more time to do some sightseeing and more food exploration. Hope to be back again soon.