SOFITEL STAYCATION (PART ONE)

For my little lord's birthday weekend I treated TEAM YAP to an overnight stay at SOFITEL MANILA because I wanted the boys to swim in their famous pool till they get all happy and wrinkly. After a quick lunch at LAU CHAN, we finally drove to SOFITEL for family staycation and bonding that I hope they will never forget!

(Warning: Just in case you follow my blog (maybe by force?) and know how I tend to make long entries, this one has LOTS of pictures. Hence, THIS being the "part one". Sorry... tee hee!)

SOFITEL!

Driving up!

My boys love riding the baggage trolley and when the bell hop goes along with it with a smile, it's usually my tell-tale sign that the hotel is "kid-friendly". He he he he he! 

Just checked in and going up to our room in SOFITEL!

SOFITEL gave us 333!!!

Inside our room at SOFITEL! Andrei plopped himself on one of the beds immediately!

I sincerely love the view!

Wait... isn't that the most haunted cinema in the Philippines?

(inangkupu)

Future tycoons talking about business and out staring each other.

Reading lamp!

Our SOFITEL late night munchies...

Our SOFITEL toiletries... 

Our complimentary SOFITEL mineral water...

Shower....

The most hottest female specie you will EVER see...

... besides the whale....

SOFITEL robes which we didn't use.

Mati and Andrei waited while I unpacked our clothes.

Yes it's my thing. I like it better when I take out all clothes and arrange it in the cabinets. It makes everything easier for me. Sometimes I even bring my own hamper because I cannot take mixing up the dirty clothes with the clean ones. 

This how I usually do it...

Check this out in our family staycation at F1 Hotel (click HERE)

Weird? Yeah. I've been called that. Ha ha ha ha!

It was a staycation and I let Mati have his favorite chips!

While Andrei waited patiently...

... and watched his favorite cartoons!

But LO and BEHOLD. I mentioned to the front desk that it was the birthday weekend of my bunsoy and they sent up a cake!

WOW! Thanks SOFITEL!

After unpacking, it was TIME for a swim!

We went to the pool area and confirmed our room number with the smiling receptionist. 

SOFITEL is famous for their vast swimming pool which occupies most of their outside area. 

And the water is CERTAINLY inviting. 

I know it's not really an eternity pool but it does give you a front seat view of Manila Bay and hopefully, the sunset later on.

Fancy some drinks while taking a dip? Why not?

The kiddie pool area of SOFITEL has this amazing slide which seem to scare the bejeezez of swimmers with their screams going down!

This bridge over the SOFITEL pool seem so romantic.

IF you're into that sort of thing. I haven't felt it so I wouldn't know. 

:P to my husband. Ha ha ha ha!

See the white mattresses in the middle? You could get a relaxing massage after your swim!

Isn't it perfect to get a relaxing massage amidst all this beauty? 

...or you could just ogle at the six or twenty packs of guys who would pass by while you sit on their lounge chairs.

Their SOFITEL cafe is nearby too if you want to order some chomps while at the pool area. 

Walking around I loved that everywhere I looked there were greens and landscapes.

The presence of many trees just gives that relaxing feel to everything don't you think?

Mati's eyes just lit up with the SOFITEL pool and he was a million times excited to swim!

He was very curious with the slide...

... and immediately climbed up to check it out. Do you see him?

It was actually raining while they swam and nobody minded one bit.

The kiddie pool was very shallow but I still insisted on making them wear floaties because my motto is always better be ULTRA safe than sorry. 

Yes I WILL make them study swimming this summer! It is highly due! He he he he!

Somebody thinks he could get some "pogi points" when posing like that. 

Mati loved the water under the bridge (tee hee...).

Yes! Here comes the sun dooby dooby!

Everything is just picture perfect!

My Chinese Adonis!!! He he he he! I should've asked Yub to draw some six pack like what Edward Cullen did in the Twilight sequel!

The smile that made the rain go away :)

... and the one that only a mother could love. Tee hee!

Oh quit it Yub!

My husband dared to try the slide!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

He went down so fast the SOFITEL slide you would wonder why his underwear was still intact.

Awww Andrei and his favorite "cute cute" pose.

The guy behind him? Never mind. 

Andrei felt cold already and wanted to go back to the room. While waiting for me to gather up his bag, I caught him looking far away into the Manila Bay.

Isn't this a wonderful shot of him? 

After giving the kids a bath, we went down again to see the Manila Bay sunset. To think that I was already 28  years old (AHEM) and I haven't seen it yet.

While waiting, we thought of doing our usual L-O-V-E pose. Andrei this time insisted to be E. Look at him struggling to do it. 

The pic was okay but Mati's L was wrong.

We did it one more time but Andrei seemed to look like as if he was just scratching his knee.

I went back to do my usual E. But then again...

HAAAAY!

It was really a shame that the sun was covered by some rain clouds. That dampened our spirits since we were really excited about it. 

Oh well. We just took some more pictures! Ha ha ha ha!

Thanks sun for the lovely lighting!

Mati the never ending Power Ranger!

This kid will rule the world someday!

Of course my Yub wants a shot for his FB profile picture... Ha ha ha ha!

Is it just me or is this perfect for a videoke song picture? Ha ha ha ha!

My husband and I tried having a romantic picture with the lovely background.

Why is it that other couples could do this naturally while we come off as BLECH?

I guess we are not just THAT kind of photogenic.

THAT'S more like it!

Told you there would be a lot of pictures! I surely think that SOFITEL is a perfect venue for pre nups and family pictures!

He he he he!

Andrei loved that lamp!

Me and my Mati!

My boys!

Andrei saw the SM MOA flyer from this part of SOFITEL and immediately wished to go there after dinner.

Now that made him smile...

Mati did not want to join him though...

Here's me and Yub attempting again...

Oh yes we loved that lamp!

Tee hee...

Our "Before Midnight" picture!

The cool breeze and the view at this part of SOFITEL just made everything more memorable and got me sentimental as usual! How I wish I could just be in this moment whenever I want!

(Hence, this long post... he he he he!)

I love that there weren't too many people when we stayed at SOFITEL. I don't know if this is the usual crowd number but I appreciated that we got the area to ourselves!

Because we were able to act as silly as we wanted!

Yup! They're with TEAM YAP alright!

Of course Mati cannot resist to do another Power Ranger pose!

I love this picture!

Okay this is the last one here I promise!

Next time we're at SOFITEL we will definitely pick a date where it is not cloudy nor rainy so we would be able to see the sun set. We'll probably stay at this dock, lie on their chairs, and order drinks.

Now wouldn't that be THE LIFE?

Going out for dinner!

We had dinner at MAK CHANG (see HERE) then we split up afterwards...

Andrei wanted to ride the FLYER. Now since I was a cowardly custard, I told Yub that Mati and I will just stay at a nearby coffee house while they were on it. He suggested that it was better if we just go back to the hotel.

OKAY!

The boys asked to have their pictures taken with the SOFITEL Christmas decorations!

When Yub got what he needed, we then split up!

Andrei got his birthday wish to ride at the SM MOA flyer!

Andrei and Daddy!!

He was not scared at all!

Me and Mati had a little "date" and strolled around the SOFITEL grounds.

My little man is almost grown up! Not so fast please... huhuhu!

Mommy and Mati!

Nothing like a little bonding time with my first born....

We sat down at the SOFITEL lounge chairs and talked about a lot of stuff!

I will never forget this night with Mati :)

He was such in a good mood too that night that he even directed most of the pics. Usually, Mati would be cranky by the 5th shot! Ha ha ha ha!

We had fun! Too bad Yub and Andrei didn't take a lot of pictures on their "date"!

Mati even took some of his own!

Selfie!

Here's me getting sentimental again. This is our star for the night....

Time to go back to our room!

I love taking pictures of hotel corridors!

Yup! Going in!

Check out SOFITEL PART TWO (coming soon) for more of Andrei's weekend birthday celebration in this wonderful hotel!

It's okay. Don't be scared. Ha ha ha ha!

Adios!

Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila

CCP Complex

Roxas Boulevard

Pasay City

Tel: (+632) 551-5555

Fax: (632) 551-5610

H6308@sofitel.com

Check this out

SOFITEL MANILA WEBSITE