Our Eheads concert oasis
MANILA, Philippines — With the Eraserheads: Huling El Bimbo concert set to draw in around 70,000 people, we knew we couldn’t battle traffic getting into and out of the SMDC Festival Grounds, so we decided to look for a hotel room close by where we could spend the night after the concert.
We were lucky to land a room at the nearby Hyatt Regency Manila in City of Dreams. It was, indeed, an early Christmas miracle. (Most rooms at COD were already fully booked.) The Regency Club floor is a great option for those who want to avoid the madding crowd, as you get access to the Club Lounge on the seventh floor where you can take breakfast, afternoon snacks and evening cocktails — all included in the price of your room.
We were booked in the Aqua Suite, a truly gorgeous 85-sqm corner room with wraparound views of the Manila Bay sunset, a king-size bed, free minibar with chips, chocolate and sodas, spa tub, and 55-inch flat-screen TV with cable.
After an ultra-smooth check-in on the seventh floor by Hannah, who gave us concert hacks based on her experience at Ben&Ben, we had lunch at Rossi Pizza on the Upper Ground level.
Rossi serves Roman-style pizza fired up in Moretti Forni ovens that were specially flown in from Italy to get the most authentic Italian pizza possible, according to City of Dreams Manila vice president of public relations Charisse Chuidian. We could taste the difference in the lightness of the crust and the freshness of the ingredients. The vegan Funghi pizza was absolutely delicious, with its creamed and roasted mushrooms topped by spicy arugula on top. Pull a slice and the mozzarella stretches practically forever until you have to cut it. The Tonno & Cipolla pizza is a great option for pescatarians, with its confit tuna and capers in tomato sauce.
Everything at Rossi is house-made, from the pizza dough to the pasta and even the gelato. Must-tries are the Ravioli Con Funghi Selvatici e Parmigiano, ricotta cheese and spinach stuffed into refined pillows bathed in a Parmesan cream sauce; and cherry, strawberry (with real fruit chunks), and tiramisu gelatos.
We got so much energy from this lunch we didn’t even need to eat dinner at the concert. It was about a 20-minute walk from City of Dreams to the SMDC Festival Grounds — the perfect way to work off our Italian feast.
In the mosh pit Scott and I were on our feet for seven hours but didn’t get hungry — we were that well-fortified. After the concert we couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel to drink the unlimited supply of Nordaq mineral water in sustainable glass bottles (the whole of COD has gone sustainable, Chuidian says), and take showers in the Aqua Suite stall, which is twice the size of most showers, using the Pharmacopia natural body care provided.
After some much-needed shuteye on the high-thread-count king bed, we made up for our lack of dinner with breakfast at the Regency Club, which not only has a buffet spread of longganisa, bacon, and healthier options like salad and fruits, but also an à-la-minute station serving eggs, dim sum (hakaw), and miso soup. The attention paid by our server Melody was VIP all the way — she recommended getting croissants, Danishes and ensaimada “with a surprise inside.” Guess you’ll have to sup at the Hyatt Regency Club lounge to find out what that surprise is.
