Long weekend getaway: Enjoy 'eat-all-you-can' Korean hotpot, 'Samgyeop' at BGC 'staycation'
MANILA, Philippines — Looking for something to do for the upcoming long weekends and holidays ahead?
According to the Labor Department, August 21 has been designated a Special (Non-Working) Day to mark Ninoy Aquino Day, while August 28 is National Heroes Day, a Regular Holiday — meaning, there are two successive long weekends ahead for this month alone.
For those who miss traveling abroad, especially South Korea, but find the upcoming long weekends not sufficient enough to fly and spend time in the “Land of Morning Calm,” F1 Hotel Manila in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Taguig City offers affordable room accommodations and meeting room choices for lovers, families, friends or colleagues. Some rooms provide a good view of BGC’s modern buildings and skyline.
Anytime is a good time to stay in the hotel, with its amenities that include lap pool, kiddie and adult pools, gym, play area for kids, lounge area, and walking-distance accessibility to BGC’s malls and commercial areas such as Central Square, Bonifacio High Street, Serendra, Market Market, SM Aura (location of the newly-opened Prism Park) and One Bonifacio High Street mall, where the new "Da Vinci" immersive artificial intelligence (AI) experience recently opened.
But the best time to check-in at the boutique hotel is every Friday, so you and your loved ones can treat yourselves to the hotel’s Korean hot pot night every Friday.
A must-try especially during the rainy season, the Korean hot pot night includes unlimited Shabu-shabu — with stoves and cooking utensils installed in your own tables.
Apart from Korean delicacies like Japchae (sweet-savory stir-fried glass noodles and vegetables dish) and Korean fried chicken, the hotel’s restaurant buffet presents a wide spread of Shabu-shabu ingredients – from raw vegetables to cooked seafood and meats, to different sauces and noodles — that diners can scoop up to be cooked at their respective tables to their own liking.
Waiters offer different kinds of broths to be poured into every diner’s own hotpot. The hotpot is typically divided into two, so one could sample two different kinds of broths — like the spicy Laksa and the sour Tom Yum — at the same time.
Complementing the Shabu-shabu feast are a round of free drinks served in Tiki-themed glasses, salad and dessert spreads, and stations for eat-all-you-can Korean barbecue, Samgyeopsal and Beef Bulgogi freshly cooked on-the-spot by the restaurant’s Filipino chefs.
WATCH: BGC 'staycation': Korean hotpot night, 'Da Vinci' experience
