Four days ago, my friends and I flew to Boracay for a vacation amidst warnings of a few torrential rains and thunderstorms. But it didn’t matter since one of us had offered 12 eggs to the Gods to bless us with fair weather, hehe, and it worked wonders! And after all, I hadn’t set foot there for three years because I’m not a real big beach fan, but the trip turned out to be a very pleasant surprise.

We stayed at The Tides and it was a more than decent resort, but whatever good attributes it had was totally overshadowed and trumped when we were toured around Shangri-La’s Resort & Spa by our contact Yvette Recto. By definition:

Shan·gri-la \ (shnggr-lä) \ noun
1: an imaginary remote paradise on earth; utopia.
2: a distant and secluded hideaway, usually of great beauty and peacefulness.

And boy, was it that and more! I have been to quite a few resorts here and around the globe, and I’m a very picky too, but I can say that this resort is definitely world-class. We arrived at Shangri-La about half past eleven and we were treated to a sumptuous lunch buffet at the Vintana. The food was exquisite and not the typical buffet where food is stuffed in your face from all over and you’re bloated even before you’ve started. The mix of cuisines from East and West was a great combination and the desserts tickled your sweet-tooth with its fanciful variety.

After our hearty lunch we were whisked off to the guided tour of the resort. Just to give you guys an idea as to how huge the place was, we started touring from the main lobby at 2:30pm and ended up back there riding in our golf carts at around 4:30pm. And to think we probably walked through only half of the entire resort and it took us 2 full hours! All the images contained here are directly from my camera, raw, and this is exactly what we saw walking around this pure Utopia.

We started from the lobby and moved to their deluxe room, which is their smallest room at 60sqm and has broadband access coupled with a flatscreen TV, an iPod dock, and a private balcony with a daybed facing the sea. From there, we moved to their function rooms and then to the Entertainment Centre! This place had everything! It has 2 billiard tables, a karaoke room, an X Box 360, an air hockey table, a ping-pong table, and even a basketball arcade!

And right beside it is the Adventure Zone, a kid’s paradise with 2 huge slides! One that holds 3 to race and drops you down wearing a sack, while the other one dropping you down on a myriad of bouncy balls! I’m telling you, a family can stay here for hours on end and not be bored at all!

After that, we were brought to their gym and gee whiz, you wouldn’t think a resort would have this kind of a facility. It’s state-of-the-art with jacuzzi’s and sauna rooms and a really huge locker room and honestly, I didn’t expect to see this kind of quality. Moving further down, we had a short walk to the Villas, which is really one of the highlights of the tour. It was 99sqm and you would be wowed by how it looked inside. And when you open your door to the outside, it’s already the beachside!

And lastly, the jewel of the resort is the 5,714-square-metre Chi Spa. It is separated into pavillions built specifically to cater to your particular needs and designed as a sanctuary within the resort. If you were looking for a blissful place to relax and soothe those aching muscles from a whole day at the beach, then this is your haven.

Between that and the infinity pools and seemingly endless forest-like paths, the walk was absolutely breathtaking. I was ooohing and aahhhing on practically every place we set foot on and to think ALL of this is part of the package when you stay in the Shangri-La in Boracay.

The cost of staying in paradise? Their promo until October is a mere 14,000++ Php for 3 days/2 nights for 2 pax with the 2nd night free along with breakfast and transfer to and from the airport! All the perks in this resort for 14k is a gift if you ask me compared to whatever resort you’re staying in wherever in the world. I think I’ll go pack now and book another flight to Boracay again for next week, haha!

It’s almost the end of July and a whole 5 months to go before the year ends. Are there still any movies to look forward to? There have been some really good ones this 2009 but there was an equal share of disappointing ones too (cue Harry Potter).

So for the end of the year swing, these movies are the ones that look quite decent. Here’s a sneak peak at the posters and titles of what’s to come! Click on the picture to see the hi-res poster of the movie.

So there they are, the movies that are coming to theaters soon! There are quite a bit more but I just picked out the promising looking ones. Nice poster with Megan Fox too, hehe, but I’m 100% sure that movie is going to be terrible!

You guys can vote on your favorite movies so far this year with the poll on the right. Apparently, someone likes Night at the Museum, yeeesh! Haha! Below are MY votes for the year so far in terms of how I rated them.

GREAT - Transformers 2 – Watchmen – Star Trek – Angels & Demons – Ice Age 3
SURPRISING - Taken – Obsessed – The Proposal
DISAPPOINTING - Wolverine – Harry Potter 6 – Dragonball – Terminator 4
TERRIBLE - Inkheart – Legend of Chun Li – Night at the Museum

Related Links:
Movies of 2010: What to Look Forward to this Year!

Stamping his class on yet another epic Wimbledon final, Roger Federer needed a record 77 games to oust what was probably Andy Roddick’s best performance to date, but still was not good enough to beat the 5-time champ. The Swiss won 5-7 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 16-14 in 4 hours and 16 minutes to win his 6th Wimby and became the all-time men’s leader in Grand Slams won with 15 passing Pete Sampras.

The match was a pure joy to watch with both players having won every game on serve until Federer finally broke Roddick’s serve in the final game that sealed the match. But from the start, it seemed to be a very different and confident Roddick this time around, who amidst his terrible 2-18 record against Roger, stood toe-to-toe with him in every game and in every set. But in the end, Federer still managed to pull through and he even beat Roddick at his own game serving 50 aces against Andy’s 27!

The scary thing about all this is that Federer is only 27 and still has a long way to go before he even thinks of retiring. There ARE studs out there like Nadal who has conquered Roger majority of the time, but the other young guns like Murray, Roddick, Djokovic, and Del Potro, aren’t quite there in that league yet. So let’s see if they can ever develop to the skill set to overthrow the top two players in the world.

So the debate on whether Roger Federer is the best men’s player of all-time seems rather moot. Though some old-timers may still disagree, and some critics still don’t believe he can be the best if he doesn’t beat Nadal a few more times. But no one can discredit how at the feathery age of 27, a player in Fed’s caliber who still has a ton of years ahead of him has already broken the record for most grand slams wins ever. And that fact is undisputable.

My favorite animated film just hit theaters yesterday and what a hilarious 94-minute ride it was. I was pretty skeptical at first as to what possible storyline could still be made after 2 great Ice Age hits, but they did one heck of a job. I don’t recall the last time I laughed so hard watching a movie and this is definitely the BEST of the three films so far. I actually think adults might enjoy this movie more than the kids will, but for sure, this is a movie no one who wants to laugh their hearts out should miss. I looooved it!

The storyline of the movie moved from one of survival to friendship and now to family. In the third installment, Ellie and Manny are expecting their first child and as with many soon-to-be dad’s, he becomes obsessed with making things perfect and safe for his new family. Diego chases an antelope and ends up running out of breath with the antelope making fun of him in the end while Sid is his usual slobbering self looking for his place in the herd (or out of it). And of course, the side story of Scrat’s never-ending pursuit of his acorn but humorously finds love this time around… or does he?

The speed bump in the movie comes in when the herd meets Buck, played by Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead fame, MI3, and Star Trek), a hermit possum who has a few bells ringing after a life and death encounter with Rudy, the largest carnivorous dinosaur in the world. He has been foraging through the world underneath the ice and joins the herd in the hopes of saving Sid from a Momma Dino.

The cast is again as great as ever with the two crazy possums in Crash and Eddie tickling your funny bones in practically every scene. And with the new character in Buck leading the way blessed by Simon Pegg’s awesome English accent and the ride the herd takes to save Sid added to the tinge of how a real family should be, makes Dawn of the Dinosaurs a truly heart-warming and entertaining third installment!

There was a part in the movie that was probably one of the most hilarious movie scenes ever where the herd was on track to find Sid and had to cross a chasm of “poison green fumes.” You guys need to watch the movie to know what I’m talking about and I won’t spoil it for anyone but I guarantee you’re going to laugh like crazy. So what are you guys waiting for? Besides the disappointing 7.7 rating by IMDB, I highly recommend this movie and it’s definitely not even close to that rating!

Personal Rating (out of 10): 8.8/10
IMDb User Rating (out of 10): 7.7/10
Starring: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Josh Peck, Sean William Scott, Simon Pegg
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
Duration: 94 minutes
Links: Official Site, IMDB
Wallpapers: Manny, Ellie, Diego, Sid, Crash and Eddie, Buck, Baby Dinos, Momma Dino, Scrat, The Herd
Trailers: Apple Website