Persian Recovery Massage at Aramesh Spa and Wellness, Salcedo Village, Makati City, Philippines

In line with our #RoadToGoodHealth journey (peppered with weekly runs and a healthy diet); I would like to take this time to emphasize the need for a good recovery regimen. Aside from resting and eating the designated post-workout food, I believe getting massages or at least foot spas are a must for any runner. You can choose to have a session after every run or once a month, it's really up to you; but nothing comes close to the feeling of relief after having your tight and overworked muscles kneaded by professionals especially after hitting your PR (personal best).

For this particular massage recovery session, we decided to try the Aramesh Spa & Wellness. Tagged as the 1st one to offer Persian massage in the Philippines and ranking top 1 in TripAdvisor, these were reasons enough for us to try them out.

Notice the Fashion Smile Dental Clinic signage? Yeah, we did too. It is a bit unconventional and unnerving to see a spa place right beside a dental clinic.

But they do their best in alleviating your apprehensions by showcasing their awards and trophies all lined up in a row for all to see.

To fully immerse your sense to the relaxation to come, they serve you this hot delicious tea served in a pot and cup adorned with intricate details. Then they give you a questionnaire wherein you check your choice of either soft or hard massage and which part of the body you wish your therapist concentrates on. This is an efficient way to communicate your massage expectations without the need of speaking later on during the actual session; they want you to fully enjoy the service in tranquil silence.

The Persian theme continued all throughout the place. Lights were dimmed as well to further relax your senses.

Business Set Lunch Offerings at Vask Tapas Room, Bonifacio Global City, Philippines

Lunch menus are all the rage nowadays. Restaurants offer "tasting menus" or set lunches which are smaller servings of their ala carte dishes, so you don't actually get to save money since you get what you pay for (they cut back on the serving sizes) and sometimes even less. We fell into that same trap when we saw Vask Tapas Room offering a 3-course business lunch set. Thinking that perhaps this place would be a bit different and it would be nice to try out a new place; we decided to schedule our lunch here.

At the lobby, we found some interesting sculptures.

Vask is located at the 5th floor of the Clipp Center which is easily accessible by elevator.

We made reservations for 12:30pm but seeing the place almost empty even during lunch time when we arrived, it was apparent that there was no need to. One advantage of that is I get to take better looking pictures of the place.

The walls were covered with interesting fixtures and the ceiling too was eye catching.

Here's a shot of their lunch menu*.

My Birthday Lunch 2016 at Foo'd by Davide Oldani, Shangrila The Fort, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, Philippines

The main reason why Foo'd by Davide Oldani came into our sights was because they offer a 3-course meal by a chef, that owns a Michelin-starred restaurant, at only Php 800*.  Yes, that's an appetizer, main course & dessert. Hubby was game to try and timely too since it was my birthday. 

Located at the outside part of Shangrila The Fort, it takes a bit of walking but once you see Toby's Estate and Pink's Hotdogs, then you're on the right track.  From the outside, the huge black doors looked uninviting but Davide's smiling face (printed on a standee) welcomes you in. We made reservations 2 days before to avoid unnecessary hassles.

The receptionist was busy talking on the phone & took several minutes before ushering us in. A bit of a let-down since there were no other guests but I'm trying not to let that dampen our spirits. Chalking it up to their "soft opening blues".

As you enter, you'll notice that they divided the place into several areas. You can choose to sit by the open kitchen; by the side which looked like a big nook with decorative grills or in the middle part like we did.

Tables by the open kitchen 

The Nook

The middle part

As you sit, they hand you their one-page menu. At Foo'd, they make ordering easy; either you get their 3-course or 4-course and from there, you can begin to customize your meal. I got the 4-course (Php 1200*) while Hubby got the 3-course (Php 800*). Yes, since it was my birthday, I get to eat more! :)

While waiting, they give you these thick slices of bread that comes with an olive oil & balsamic vinegar dip. It actually reminded me of a certain Italian restaurant which serves the same dip but with parmesan cheese. 

We each took a bite, placed the bread down and pushed the plates as far away from us as possible. It just wasn't good.

Thin salty bread sticks

Then we turned our attention to these thin bread sticks.  Now this we absolutely liked.  Crunchy and with a bit of saltiness, it was like you were nibbling on a pretzel.  We happily munched on these the whole meal.

Latin American Vibe at Empingao, Poblacion Makati City, Philippines

When talking about Latin American cuisine, the dish I'm most familiar with is tacos. Imagine my surprise when we went to Empingao, which boasts Latin American wares, and find out that tacos takes a bit of a backseat in this place.

With the walls covered with colorful busy artwork, it never felt lonely even though we were the only ones there during dinner time.

The first item on the menu that jumped at me was the dish called Mofongo (which I first heard from Guy Fieri). I was really excited to try it out but at the same time scared to do so. After much deliberation, we decided to save that dish for next time and chose some safer/ more familiar options.

To start us off, we ordered from their Churrasco (grilled/barbecued meats) section.

We ordered a stick each of their Lamb Chops (Php 95/stick). They serve it on a skull plate which was definitely unique. They top each stick with salsa and sour cream. The brown sauce on the side looks weird but works really well with the game-y taste of lamb; so go ahead and dip.