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#RewardYourself: 10 New Things to Try and Places to Visit When In Manila

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Photo from Pazoo.com

No matter who you are or what you do, everyone has something in common: We all love to eat! As Filipinos, it is embedded in our culture to love food and drinks. For us, they are not just merely tangible matter, but an experience that we share with our loved ones.

With that being said what is extremely irritating is to not be able to enjoy our favorite food with our favorite people if we experience something likeย singawย also known as canker sore in English. Weโ€™ve all experienced singawย and when we do, it would be such a hassle! These lesions in our mouth, lips or tongue can be very painful and annoying, making eating or talking difficult.

Whatโ€™s worse is for you to miss out on simple pleasures such as hanging out with friends or enjoying something new to reward yourself like the list below:

10. Having bespoke cocktails at Hooch in Salcedo
10 Cocktails We Love When in Manila Daktarin

Hooch is located in Salcedo Village Makati (right next to Tobyโ€™s Estate and Wildflour). Itโ€™s one of those bars where youโ€™re extremely curious, but donโ€™t immediately head in. Once you’ve entered, though, the place tells a story. It is themed as one of those secret bars in the prohibition era when they were not allowed to consume alcohol (1920โ€™s). It is beautifully themed for a quiet night out.

In my opinion, if you wanna get hammered, donโ€™t go to Hooch. However,ย if you want a quiet night out, talk toย your date or catch up with your friends, pour your heart out to your officemates aboutย the stress that comes with your job, this is the place to be.

Never had a bespoke cocktail before? Bespoke cocktails are specially tailor-made, depending on your mood.

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We suggest you try theย Yellow Birdย whichย is a mixture of real bananas, bananaย liqueur, and a lot of secret ingredients to die for. Yes, my first thought would be: why would I wantย bananas in my drink? But Iโ€™ve learned to not judge a cocktail by its ingredients as Yellow Bird is now one of my favorites. I swear by it.ย If you like your cocktail sweet with a caramel undertone, you have to tryย Hooch Sours.ย Itโ€™s a rum-based drinkย that isย torched in front of you.

9. Sharing stories while playing board games with your friends atย Dyce n Dyne

Dyce n Dyne When in Manila Board Games Frank Ruaya Mae Ilagan-19

The board game craze is back on!!!! I am so happy!!! This was my childhood. Sadly,ย as technology progressed, it slowly died down. As such, I am so glad that there’s a place like Dyce n Dyne that offers unlimited board game playing.

The usual hangouts of my barkadaย includeย drinking and eating, and i got so habitual, we wanted to try something new. Well,ย we instantly fell in love with board games, so we ended up having weekly sessions just to continue an on-going game. Note that we are all in our 20’sย andย working in serious firms, but this is one thing we tried that really worked for us to de-stress.

Dyce n Dyne When in Manila Board Games Frank Ruaya Mae Ilagan-29

What’s great aboutย Dyce n Dyneย is that you don’t have to pay a fee or an hourly rate unlike other board game cafes where you pay Php100 or more just to play the games. Also, their food is really good. You’d go backย solely for the food.

8. Trying a cool themed cafe like Uke Box Caffe

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Whether you are a die-hard fan of ukuleles like me, are interested in learning how to play the ukulele, know someone who plays the ukulele, or simply want to eat, relax, bond and have fun,ย Uke Box Caffeย in Eastwood is the place to be. You can learn to play the uke, too,ย which is something we highly recommendย since it’s not as complicated as playing other instruments.

Uke Box Caffe also has ukulele playing training sessions for those who want to take uke-playing seriously, but donโ€™t know how to teach themselves. In fact, theyโ€™ve got a free ukulele workshop every Sunday from 3 to 5 pm! (Follow their page to learn more about their schedule)

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7. Celebrating and trying out Vikings Venue

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If you love buffets,ย there are a lot of buffets out there to try and we encourage you to try as many buffetsย as you can. We recently featured Vikings Venue, a newly opened part of Vikings in SM MOA By the Bay. Located right beside its flagship store is the perfect events place for you guys whereย the only thing that youโ€™ll have to pay for would be the luxurious food buffet; the place comes free.

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The newly opened Vikings Venue is so luxurious – perfect for gatherings! Itย is perfect for your parties, be it weddings, debuts or even company events. The price that you would pay for this would be the same as the Vikings MOA buffet price.

6. Trying the Spicy Chicken Wings challenge

Buffalo Swing Pizza Chicken Wings

Everyone loves wings! Some wing lovers don’t like their wings spicy, though. You should definitely try them spicy at least once, though, and wash them down withย a cold bottle of beer.

10 Cocktails We Love When in Manila Daktarin

While I was at Historia Bar in Tomas Morato, I also came upon a challenge. A group of promo girls came up to different tables and asked us to do an Awwsome challenge. Apparently, they were promoting Miconazole (Daktarin Oral Gel).

To those who donโ€™t know, itโ€™s a medicine that treats singaw caused by fungal infection. Anyway, they challenged us to drink margaritas and finish a bowl of spicy wings. Just imagine: if Iย had singaw that day, it would have beenย such a bummer not to do the challenge because of the spiciness of the wings and the alcohol from the margaritas. Something as simple as singaw can really get in the middle of the things you want to do in life.

5. Trying an array of food atย strEAT food parkย in Maginhawa

16 Bestsellers at StrEat Maginhawa Food Park

Can’t decide where to eat? When I’m with my barkada, everyone has a different suggestion on where to eat depending onย what they’re craving. A food park is the best place to go, so you can experience something new everytime.

StrEAT is located in Maginhawa. It’s similar to Z Compound if you’ve been there. They have an array of different tenants, which have different kinds of food.

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