LIVE, LOVE & LOU: March 2015

Be Social Brunch at Aramede - Crowne Plaza Business Park

Looking for a great place to have brunch on a Friday? I luckily got an invite from Doaa of Hungry Birds Doha (she also manages Food Bloggers Qatar, God bless her) for brunch at Crowne Plaza's Aramede Restaurant for their Be Social Brunch.

"Why Be Social?" you might ask. Well, there's kind of two answers to that question. First, we all need to put down our phones every now and then and start being social at the dinning table. That's just what we, together with the lovely ladies of Food Bloggers Qatar, did. Subsequently, they also encourage social media, which we all know everyone uses these days as a means of communication. Thus, the hashtag #BeSocialBrunch.

I arrived at Crowne Plaza a little past 12:30 and I'm embarrassed to say the I missed the first part of the tour. But that doesn't mean I didn't get the chance to try all the food, I just don't have enough photos. I'll just have to direct you to the other bloggers (read on until the bottom for a link to their blogs) who were also there with me.

The very first thing I notice when I entered Aramede was this very attractive wall of cupcakes, which is both welcoming and tempting.

They offer a variety of food from salads to curries, cupcakes to cheeses, pizza to sushi. I'm sure you can get something, whichever cuisine you fancy.

So here's where I caught up with them...

Carved Meat section

Seafood section

They have shrimp, calamari, mussels, oyster and octopus. You can ask them to cook it any way you want. Our table had buttered garlic shrimp which Allyson (of Life with Karlly) requested to be cooked and graciously shared with all of us.

Sushi section

Now, the sushi spread was my favorite part of the buffet. Unlimited maki, sashimi and nigiri sounds good, right? Mind you, all their seafood are fabulously fresh.

Bread section

Cheese section

And, of course, we were not to miss out on the dessert table. We specifically set aside one hour of brunch just for dessert.

Dessert section

Lemon Meringue

The lemon meringue and the creme brulee, for me, were the superstars of that table.

Chocolate Fountain

I can tell you that we were really handled well. We even had pizza, fresh from the oven, delivered to our table. And entertainment was also well taken care of.

Pepperoni pizza

Yann, an accordionist from France

Our host, Eunice, was very gracious and accommodating, and so are the rest of the crew.

Of course, this brunch was not just about the food but also the company and conversations you have. I'm so glad to have shared the table with these fascinating ladies from Doha. Talk about being social, we chatted about anything and everything under the sun; from food to family, etc. I would like to thank Doaa for getting this group together and to Crowne Plaza for having us for brunch.

L-R: Doaa of Hungry Birds Doha, Kim of Mama Baba Ganoush, Hala of Ms. Hala, Eunice of Crowne Plaza, me, Allyson and Karen of Life with Karlly

As promised, here's the link to these ladies' blogs/pages, do check them out.

Doaa of Hungry Birds Doha
Kim of Mama Baba Ganoush
Hala of Ms. Hala
Karen and Allyson of Life with Karlly

I was also overjoyed to finally meet Noemi of The Greek Pinay and Pinay Flying High who was also a guest together with her husband. We've been in touch for a while trying to meet up. And then we bump into each other here, of all places. But I think she agrees when I say that we must do something again (together and soon).

Image from TheGreekPinay

Crowne Plaza's Be Social Brunch is held every Friday. It costs QR255 for non-alcoholic and QR333 for bubbly. It starts at 12:30 until 4:00 pm.

I highly suggest you head on over to Crowne Plaza for #BeSocialBrunch together with your family and friends. I'm sure everyone will enjoy.

CROWNE PLAZA DOHA - The Business Park
ARAMEDE RESTAURANT
Location: Airport Road, P.O. Box 22080, Doha, Qatar
Phone: +974-4448-7777
Other links: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

We were guests at the Amarede. However, all opinions stated above are neither influenced nor forced.

Sunday, March 29, 2015
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Qatar International Food Festival 2015

Food

For the third year in a row since we arrived in Doha, we went to the Qatar International Food Festival or QIFF. This year they leveled-up a bit on adornments and signage. (But come to think of it, I did quite get lost looking for the bathroom. I ended up having to keep it in and waited till we got home. Enough talk about my bladder, and let's get down to business.) When I say signage, I meant for the affairs around the park.

We came around 7 pm, and needless to say, we were famished. We headed straight for the hotel booths and ordered some burgers from Movenpick Hotel. And as you might have noticed, I didn't get a chance to take a photo (proves just how hungry we were). I know, I'm a bad blogger. To make up for that, here are some mouthwatering photos for you to feast on.

By the way, the price of the food ranges from QR5-40.

The Yalla Natural Roadshow trailer is handing out free healthy meal. Every hour, their chef is cooking up something hearty for the crowd. They were offering Spinach Pasta when we passed by.

They also had some nutritionists near their trailer to assess the people. Aside from that, there were booths set up with doctors to take your blood pressure, among other things. There was a huge cue, though, so we skipped that part.

There are a bunch of affairs around the park, aside from the food, which I know everyone will enjoy.

There's the live cooking show hosted by Qatar Airways in the Cooking Theatre:

There was a bunch of acts lined-up at Main Stage, we came across these Pizza Freestyling Duo:

And stumbled upon this group of Qatari men playing some traditional instruments:

Of course, there's Dinner in the Sky which is also hosted by Qatar Airways and the Qatar Tourism Authority.

This dinner costs 500QR. I, personally, couldn't gather up the courage to try it. Maybe some of you would like to try and share your experience?

The highlight of the night is definitely the fireworks display:

The Events schedule for QIFF 2015 can be found here:QIFF 2015 Events Schedule

We might be back any day to try out Marsa Malaz Kempinski's Oriental High Tea or their Dinner Set.

This year's annual QIFF kicked off yesterday, March 24, and will run up to March 28. So be sure to pass by until then. It's a very fun event with so much activities and food you can enjoy.

Also, please remember that there is no parking in the venue, you can either park somewhere near in the Corniche and walk or go to the designated parking areas (please see here), there is a shuttle that goes to and from the venue.

Thursday, March 26, 2015
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CamSur Watersports Complex in Pili, Camarines Sur

Places

CamSur Watersports Complex. This is our first stop on our way to my dad’s hometown in Sorsogon. We chose to have breakfast at their clubhouse rather than going to the usual road trip highway eatery.

Image source: CWC Website

CWC, though a few hours’ drive from Manila, is still a popular destination for wakeboard enthusiasts as it is the pioneer wakeboard complex in the Philippines.

We were a bit early (around 5am) so we had to wait a good 30 minutes before they opened the kitchen. Also, the events of the night before were obvious from the looks of their tables (beer bottles and used plates/utensils everywhere). Apparently, they don’t clean up in the evening; maybe be because guests tend to stay up really late. We decided it was a good time to roam around the premises while waiting.

After our breakfast, the guests (who we assume all have hangovers from last night) started showing up with their wakeboarding gears so we stayed a little while more to watch some action.

They also offer beginner courses for those who are eager to try out this sport.

CamSur Watersports Complex

Location: Provincial Capitol Complex

Cadlan, Pili

Camarines Sur, Philippines

Phone: (054) 477-3344 & (054) 477-3349

Things we did in Bicol:

Day 1: CamSur Watersports Complex in Camarines Sur
Day 1: Walk around my dad's home town Gubat, Sorsogon
Day 2: Bulusan Volcano Natural Park: Boating and Trekking
Day 2: Rizal Beach in Gubat, Sorsogon
Day 3: Mayon ATV Tour with Your Brother Travel and Tours
Day 3: Lunch at Embarcadero de Lagazpi
Day 3: First Colonial Grill's Chili Ice Cream
Day 3: Cagsawa Ruins in Albay

Tuesday, March 24, 2015
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Cagsawa Ruins in Albay

Places

Another thing you can't pass up while in Bicol is visiting the Cagsawa Ruins. My family and I have been here a few times before and we will always be amazed by the beauty of Mayon.

Unfortunately, the Mayon was a tad bit shy, it got cloudy later in the afternoon after our ATV Tour so this was what we got to see.

The Cagsawa Ruins (also spelled as Kagsawa or Cagsaua) are the remnants of an 18th-century Franciscan church, the Cagsawa church. It was built in 1724, but was destroyed by the eruption of the Mayon Volcano in 1814. It is located in Barangay Busay, Cagsawa, in the municipality of Daraga, Albay, Philippines.

It is now transformed into a park which they say, have the best view of Mayon. Our pictures may not verify that (since we came at a bad time) but I assure you that it does offer the most spectacular view of Bulkang Mayon in different circumstances.

The church was ruined during the 1814 eruption of the Mayon Volcano. Although the bell tower and the facade both survived the eruption; the latter gave out decades after, due to earthquakes that hit the area.

There are a group of tour guides around the park which you can approach and ask to take your photos. Mind you, they are quite good with photo tricks and jumpshots. Heck, they were better with our cameras than us, the so-called owners.

Aside from taking our photos, our guide even gave us a tour around the old church. But as I've said, we've been here a bunch of times, so we knew well enough not to listen to stories about the church being buried in lava. A little bit of research would tell you that it is not true; although the church was ruined, it was not buried.