Lifestyle: Microtel Work-from-Hotel for APCC

When I was younger I saw an article that featured three girls cosplaying as "Slave Leia" for San Diego Comic Con. They had a photo series which featured all three girls checked in a hotel, getting ready with their Cosplay and going out together as a "Tree Slave Leia" of some sort. I thought to myself, "Wow! They even checked in a hotel for SDCC" which is probably nothing new for con goers, especially abroad. 

I never thought that I myself would stay in a hotel for two days for a convention until #TeamPCheng stayed at Microtel Mall of Asia for Asia Pop Comicon. We were fortunate enough to have scored a 50% off discount thanks to Blogapalooza and Microtel. So it was like just paying for a one night stay. Since we were covering all three days with photos and blog posts needed, it was such a big convenience to just walk "home" after a long day at the convention. Especially given the traffic situation plus living all the way in Antipolo. 

Posting content photos and blog posts real time and right after-the-fact is very important and having the strength to do that can be challenging if you have to travel about two hours to get home, so at least when you're checked in a hotel it is possible. 

These are all work photos and the stay was strictly business but still definitely a pleasure. I also saw a lot of con-goers who were staying at Microtel as well, fellow Geek bloggers, a family from the province and yes, even the Singapore counterparts of the 501st and of course Kylo Ren who came all the way from Cebu.

 Given that most of today's conventions are being held in SMX, then Microtel Mall of Asia can easily be the "home away from home" for "geeks on the go" like us or cosplayers, you know with all that costume, make up and props that they have to bring. It definitely helped us survive APCC and get all that work done, editing photos for Paul and writing for me. 

Each floor had it's own water dispenser and ice (Yes!) - which is a big deal for us since Paul is a big water drinker. Getting the ice in the middle of the night just reminded me of that "American Horror Story: Hotel" scene. No worries, there were no vampire children or serial killers lying in wait. 

Unfortunately the package we got, did not include breakfast so we had to eat outside but ordered Jollibee delivered to our room during our second day. Maybe next time we will get to try their breakfast and even lounge around the pool. By the way, Microtel has different hotels all over the country Baguio, Palawan so looking forward to getting to visit those as well, for business or pleasure it doesn't matter, it's always nice to have a home away from home. :) 

Be happy. Love Your Life Now.

Quick Dip in the Sofitel Pool :) 

Life is never easy, there are always challenges, struggles and trials but sometimes all we need is a positive perspective and a little luck to help us be happy and love our life.

Lifestyle TV has this beautiful campaign about loving your life now and with all the negative energy and bad news going around we definitely need this touch of optimism in our lives. 

I saw online that they were having a Love Your Life contest, mechanics were to simply cut out paper hearts and have a photo taken of holding this up against something that makes you love your life now. 

It was very simple and had such a positive outlook that Paul and I jumped at the challenge. From the different things that we love in life we decided to feature photography/photos. We took some printed photos we had, an old Minolta film camera and an old film and set them up on a piece of wood which was actually cut from one of the trees in the house. We cut paper hearts and scattered them on our set up and had one hand (mine) hold one paper heart. It was fun working on the styling and the shoot and doing the write up for the piece. 

This was our entry in the contest :) 

With a little hard work and a little luck we won an overnight stay for two at Sofitel Manila with breakfast and Statement Tees! 

We were so lucky and winning the hotel stay came right in time for our 10th anniversary (as a couple) and Asia Pop Comiccon (will be posting more on that soon!) which was held at World Trade Center -just across Sofitel! Talk about great timing and coincidence right?! 

Sofitel was just so beautiful and luxurious it was so easy Love Your Life! We were working hard covering APCC and we got to go home to what was literally a stone's throw away and it wasn't just any home but a room in Sofitel! We had only won a Superior Room but we were upgraded to a Luxury Suite! After a long day covering the event we got to rest, in the best way possible. 

The next morning we enjoyed the Manila Bay view, swam a bit in the pool (which my Grand Uncle designed by the way) and had a hearty breakfast. After relaxing for a bit it was time to Check Out and go back to covering Day 3 of Asia Pop Comiccon. 

It was an unconventional way of celebrating an Anniversary but Paul and I are very passionate about what we do and getting the chance to take photos, cover events and write makes us love our life! 

Thank you to Lifestyle TV and Sofitel! It was a great misadventure! 

#LoveYourLifeNow ❤️❤️❤️

Click Here for MORE photos! 

Events: Tune Hotels Grand Opening

Who doesn't like crashing in a nice comfortable hotel? Whether it is on a nice comfy staycation (which has become popular these days) or just a place to catch some zzzs when you are in a tight schedule and too far away from home. 

In many of our misadventures Paul and I have done both- relaxed for a staycation or checked in to rest, we do have unusual hours so crashing in a hotel to sleep after what we call 'immortal mode' going on full 24 hours from work to events (which has happened) is not unusual.  

Which is why we just love Tune Hotels - which aims to provide basic necessities to the weary traveler.   

Tune Hotels is owned by Red Planet Hotels which is the largest international hotel chain owner and operator in the Philippines. 

There are six Tune Hotels in the Philippines and the latest was opened in Quezon City last October 8, 2013 (100 Timog Ave. Brgy. Sacred Heart, Quezon City - it's walking distance from GMA)  there are 140 rooms which aims to provide high quality basics such as a five-star bed, powerful hot showers, housekeeping services, CCTV surveillance and 24 hour security. You can have add-ons such as Cabled TV, high-speed WiFi, towels, toiletries and air-conditioning. The electronic key card system stores pre-paid credit which allows you to access these amenities. 

So you basically get what you give and in other words what you really need. In this day and age we have to be smart with your money and having the choice to only pay for what you really need is a great way of doing that. 

Tune Hotel's five star bed for a good night's sleep. 

Tune Hotels is an international brand with hotels in Malaysia, England, Scotland and the first in Australia will open next month. 

More Tune Hotels are also opening in Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. 

Cute background in the lobby features the Quezon City Circle and local sights-even a jeepney! 

Make sure to like Tune Hotels' Facebook page here and check to see their affordable rates and packages! 

You can check out their Tune Hotels website here to make a reservation today!