I believe in fairy tales, or those with happy endings, anyway. I’m fascinated with romance & mythical creatures. So when my kids asked where I want them to treat me for mother’s day, I suggested the dinner buffet at H20 Hotel without batting an eye. It involves a mermaid show, you see. Now tell me, wouldn’t you be fascinated too? ;))

When I googled H20 Hotel, I saw this. Their Aqua Room 6k php/night. Cool! I thought, how bad could it be? I was thinking 5 star -4 at the very least!

Ensogo has a mother’s day promo of 688/head (valued at 1,500 php) PLUS 1 free for every group of 5. Too bad I wasn’t able to avail of the early bird discount, so I just counted on the 5+1 free deal instead. I figured I could save the kiddos some money & get to see a mermaid show at the same time. 2 birds with 1 stone & all. I was patting myself on the back for this genius idea of mine! ;P

Mother’s day came & off we went for my much anticipated dinner -with the mermaid show let us not forget! ;P I donned my new Criselda Lontok all-orange ensemble for my dinner date with the hubby, the kids, my mom & MIL. A triple celebration indeed!

But as soon as we got to the “Hotel”, I knew it was a bad TERRIBLE idea! 🙁 Imagine Gateway (araneta)! Yep, ocean park & the “hotel” share an entrance area. Very VERY public & busy. And it took us a very long, long, LOOOONG walk getting from the parking, to the outer entrance, to the inner entrance, to the walkway, and finally to the dining area. And I had 2 senior citizens huffing & puffing, walking the long green mile with me! @_@

Outer entrance..

Climb the stairs.. walk..

walk some more towards the inner entrance..

Walk The Green Mile towards the dining area/Hotel

More walking on The Green Mile..

To reach the Pacific Ballroom of the hotel. Sigh… so sooooo far away! Menu: Hot & Sour Soup & Salad Suckling Pig Teriyaki Chicken fillet Beef Tenderloin in black pepper sauce Steamed Fish Fillet Stir Fried Vegetables Baked Spaghetti (FTW???) Oriental Fried Rice Mango Pudding & Chocolate Fountain

Finally seated after 15 minutes of waiting IN SPITE of our PRIOR reservation. And no, we were not ensogo voucher holders -we were there to pay FULL price, imagine that! Behind them is the huge aquarium where MY mermaid was supposed to enchant me -all 15 minutes of glory! 😛

Too bad I didn’t get to watch this… :'((

What’s more, the dining room was PACKED to the capacity due to the ensogo voucher diners. It took one of the receptionist (all were trainees I think -they were so CLUELESS!) 15 minutes to seat us. Inside, 2 buffet tables were prepared but at least 30 or even more people were queuing per buffet table -and there were no more plates, so we stood in line waiting some more! I finally had it. I took my brood & left. What a mother’s day celebration it was turning out to be.

Ate called up the nearby Gloria Maris Restaurant to save the day night & got us booking on such short notice (she is finally learning something from me -another proud momma moment! <3)

It was jam-packed too, but at least we didn’t have to fight for food! OMG I think I am finally cured of the buffet syndrome! I never ever wanna have buffet again if there will always be a feeding frenzy involved! @_@

“His & Hers” mothers! 😉

1 kilo Swahe

Assorted Cold Cuts

Hot & Sour Soup, my poison! <3

Garlic Fried Chicken

Yang Chow Fried Rice

Broccoli in Garlic Sauce

Hakaw

Beef Hofan

Sweet & Sour Pork

Taro Sago

Buchi

Masachi

Lomaichi

and Mango Sago (BURP!)

Our discounted bill was 6k, courtesy of the kids! <3 They saved up their allowance to pay for our dinner. I am so LOVED & cherished! <3

Thank God everything worked out quite nicely. The “walk” made us all hungry, a good preparation for every meal. So all’s well that ends well.

Thank you, my fantastic kids, for a lovely dinner treat. And for being the kind of children every mother could wish for. I so triply blessed! <3

My 4 babies with lovingly made mother’s day cards (yes, even Jela had one too!) & balloons <3