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Since I was celebrating my birthday on a budget, I wanted to make the day special without going overboard on expenses. So, I started looking for good dining deals and promotions, and I found a few options that I want to try. 

Some of the promos I found required a minimum of 4 guests, but we’re just a family of three, so I was glad to discover that The Café at Hyatt Regency only required a minimum of 2 guests. Their discount was 30% off, which may not be the biggest, but it worked for us. A week before my birthday, my husband called the hotel to reserve a table. 

Breakfast (6:30 AM to 11:00 AM) – PHP 1,400 

Lunch (12:00 NN to 3:00 PM) – PHP 1,950 

Dinner (5:30 PM to 11:00 PM) – PHP 3,150 

How time flies! After ten years, we finally revisited City of Dreams. The last time we were here was also for my birthday. We visited DreamPlay back then, parang anak ko yung may birthday! Hehehe!

We arrived at The Café just five minutes before 12NN, and there was already a long line. But they let guests in right on time. 

All seats were already pre-reserved, so even if you arrive early, you can’t change tables. The Café can accommodate 315 guests, and during our visit, the place was almost full. Because of that, I only managed to take a few photos of the buffet spread. 

The Cafe has different stations such as Italian Kitchen, Carving Station, Flame and Skewer, Mexican Fiesta, Maki Bar, Fresh Catch on Ice, Asian Noodle Bar, Taste of India, Crispy & Crunchy, and Sweet Endings. They also have live cooking stations, which make the experience more interactive. 

I explored the different stations, and I was a little bit disappointed because they don’t have steak and ebi tempura. Ito kasi yung favorite ko sa mga buffet and hindi avaialable. 

After our food trip, I looked up more information and found this on the City of Dreams website: “Chef’s Carving Station - a daily highlight from our rotating selection of one premium meat or one fresh seafood”. Waah! 

Meat: Roasted Pork Loin, Roasted Whole Chicken, Lechon Belly Roll, Slow-Roasted Brisket. 

Seafood: Shrimp, Fish 

One meat or one seafood lang so I can’t help but compare it to Cucina by Marco Polo na marami choices sa Carving Station. But I’m happy with the Lechon Belly Roll, masarap ito. 

Among the stations, I focused on Carving Stations, Flame & Skewer, and Fresh Catch on Ice. These had the most satisfying selections for me. 

To top it all off, the staff surprised all birthday celebrants with a birthday cake, complete with a candle and a birthday song. Now I understand, bakit hindi pwedeng magpalipat ng table. hehehe! Kasi per section yung kanta nila so nung turn ko, 3 kaming sabay-sabay na binigyan ng cake and kinantahan.

When the staff brought us the bill, she mentioned that we could stay until 3:00 PM, but since we were already full, we left before 2:00 PM.

As always, I kept my birthday simple and intimate; just me and my little family of three. I didn’t need a crowd or a big party to celebrate, just great food, a cozy setting, and each other. 

This birthday reminded me that luxury is not always about how much you spend, it’s about how you feel. And on that day, I felt happy, content, and loved. Here’s to more joyful celebrations, smart spending, and memories that last way beyond the bill! 

Ground Floor, Hyatt Regency Manila, City of Dreams 

Aseana Avenue corner Roxas Boulevard, 

Entertainment City Parañaque, Manila 1701 

Tel:+63 2 8691 1234 ext. 1163 

Email: HyattTheCafe@cod-manila.com

Lunch Buffet is PHP2688 

50% off credit card promo = PHP1344 

Minimum of 2 and maximum of 10 diners 

Thursday to Sunday 

12:00NN to 2:30PM 

The promo is from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025 (not valid on holiday/blackout dates)

I informed my mom about it, and she approved, so my husband called to reserve. The staff asked for his contact number, and they sent a Viber message for confirmation, and called again, the day before our visit, to confirm our reservation. 

We were all first-timers at Cucina by Marco Polo Ortigas Hotel, so we were looking forward to our food trip. We arrived early, so we just waited at the lobby until 12NN. Cucina is on time, pagkapasok pa lang namin sa restaurant, sinabihan na kami na pwede na kami magstart kumain.

Cucina is an all-day dining restaurant that offers Continental and Asian cuisine. Their concept is an open kitchen. The buffet spread is not that big compared to other hotels that we have tried, but it is complete from appetizers to desserts. In addition, may free drinks na rin. 

My personal favorite here is the “Paluto”, similar to Marriott Cafe pero limited sa Grilled and Sauteed with Garlic and Butter lang yung choices. It is still okay for me since most of the time yung lang din request ko, grilled or with butter and garlic.

This was my mom’s despedida, but when my husband called to reserve, the staff asked kung may birthday daw ba. And hubby said yes, since 3 sa family namin ang may birthday ng June. And we received 3 complimentary cakes with candles pa when we dined. Actually, they also have a birthday promo 4+1 pero mas mura yung 50% off kaya yun ang ginamit namin.

Overall, we enjoyed our food trip at Cucina. We loved the food, and the service was also good. Mababait yung staff dito, nakasmile. They are fast in serving the ordered food, getting our empty plates, and refilling our water. 

Birthday celebrant dines for FREE as long as accompanied by 4 full-paying adults.

The celebrant gets a standard complimentary cake. 

Group dining with a 15% discount on the total bill. 

Birthday celebrant dines for FREE.

Celebrant gets a complimentary 4x4 cake. 

The discount is applicable to the birthday celebrant only. 

Minimum of 2 persons dining. 

Includes a complimentary standard cake. 

The offer is valid on the birth month only; must present a valid ID. 

Marco Polo Ortigas Hotel 

Meralco Avenue and Sapphire Street, 

Ortigas Centre, Pasig City, 

1600, The Philippines

T +63 2 7720 7777

If our second day was chill, our third day was another busy day because we had an event from morning until evening. 

We woke up early for our buffet breakfast, 6:30AM pa lang nasa Table 88 na kami so we had enough time to eat before our tour.

Just like our Hoi An Tour, we just joined a group tour; Ba Na Hills Tour for $70 per person. The rate is similar to Klook Ba Na Hills and Golden Bridge Day Tour from Da Nang. 

- Golden Bridge 

- International buffet lunch 

- Flower Garden 

- Fantasy Park 

- French Village 

- Wine Cellar 

We were a big group divided into two, one bus and one van. For Team Philippines, we were a group of 12 so we all went to the van and left early. Travel time from Sheraton Grand Da Nang Resort to Ba Na Hills is about 45 minutes. We arrived at 9:15AM but according to our tour guide, we needed to wait for the bus before we could start our tour. So we spent our time taking pictures at the Time Gate. 

According to the flyer, Impressively designed with a moon and sun clock, the Time Gate is a skillful and subtle combination of sound with the art of performing light and water, creating a magical symbol that opens the door of time, allowing you to cross the spatial line and enter the surreal world of the Land of Giants. 

We were done taking pictures but the bus was still not there. Waiting was fine at first but we waited for more than an hour. I don’t understand why they were so late when 8:30AM is the call time. Same hotel lang din kami nanggaling and ito pa nakakainis, may isa na nag CR break sa bus passengers, walang problem kasi right niya yun. Pero yung alam mo na ikaw na lang hinihintay at nakatingin na lahat kami sa kanya pero para siyang naglalakad sa ulap, hindi man lang bilisan ang lakad after magCR. 

Finally, at 10:30AM we started our tour and after walking for few minutes, pinahinto kami ng lead tour guide, just to give our tickets. Grr… Ang tagal naming naghintay doon sa nagCR, sana kanina pa siya nagdistribute ng tickets. Ang daming nasayang na oras. 

On our way to the cable car, it started to rain so mas nainis ako kasi kung maaga lang sana kami nag-umpisa, okay pa ang weather, sana may picture pa kami sa taas ng Sun World Amusement Park na walang fog at rain. Anyway, kaysa masira araw ko, I have to change my perspective. Despite the undesirable situations and non-stop rain showers, at least natuloy pa rin ang trip namin. 

To be honest, I was surprised when I saw Sun World Ba Na Hills and nasabi ko na lang sa sarili, bakit wala kaya ganito sa Pilipinas. How I wish we also had this kind of amusement park, hindi lang Enchanted Kingdom. 

Sun World Ba Na Hills is located on top of the hill with a height of 1,487 meters from sea level and because of that, this place is also called “heaven on earth”. This is one of the top tourist resorts in Vietnam. 

Their cable car is one of the world’s longest and highest cable car rides. It has 6 cable car routes and can accommodate 10,000 passengers per hour. Open from 8AM to 5PM. 

We arrived at the Golden Bridge around 11AM. The Golden Bridge was opened in June 2018 and was part of the "Top 10 best destinations in the world in 2018” by TIME magazine. It is located at an altitude of 1,414 meters above sea level. It has the shape of a silk strip floating in the sky and held by the hands of the giant.

The garden keeps the marks of the Giants with the legs, hands, or even faces of the giants sleeping in peace between mountains and flowers. 

9 gardens with 9 different emotions, according to legend, Le Jardin D’Amour is a place to witness the dating and marriage of the giants. 

A unique cellar was built by the French in 1923. The wine cellar extends 100 meters deep underground.

Travel back in time and experience the architectural attractions of the French Village.

We had a late lunch at Arapang Restaurant. It was around 12:30NN so the restaurant was full and it was hard to look for a vacant table. I don’t have photos of the buffet spread, but they serve international dishes. We had one hour to enjoy our buffet lunch. 

The meal is part of our tour package but the rate during our visit is 300,000VND. Open from 10:30 - 3PM with 2,200 seating capacity. 

Since it was raining, we just spent our time at Fantasy Park. It is an indoor entertainment with rides including a Free-fall Tower, Airborn Shot, and 3D-4D-5D Cinemas.

The tour ends around 3PM, fortunately after the cable car ride, hindi na kami naghintay sa bus passengers. Nauna ulit ang Team Philippines, pabalik sa hotel. We were in a hurry because we had dinner buffet at 6PM.

The dinner starts at 6PM but we arrived at 6:30PM pero one of the early birds pa rin. I already shared our experience on this blog. 

Buffet breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so kahit pagod, laban lang para sa food. Hehehe! 

Opening hours: Monday to Sunday: 7am to 10pm 

An Son Village, Hoa Ninh Commune, 

Hoa Vang Dist., Danang 

Hotline: + 84 (0) 905 766 777 

Email: banahills@sunworld.vn