Hanging in Brotzeit waiting for Mecky

I am sitting in Brotzeit, a German themed bar in the Philippines at the Shangri La Plaza alone waiting for my friend with a German wheat beer on my table and my Galaxy tablet in hand.

I am seeing staff running around serving customers and what springs to my mind is the dedication of the staff. They have remembered me from previous visits and have been very polite and accommodating, this is the type of service that keeps people coming back.

The hospitality industry can be brutal on staff, retail and service is now the mainstay of the domestic economy with so much outsourcing the main strategic weapon. None of this worries me right now, I am enjoying a German wheat beer waiting for Mecky who is spending time with a high school friend returning to Canada the next day.

Until late 2016, I hadn't had a beer for close to twenty years until no options were available and I had a Tiger beer on Clarke Quay in Singapore and actually liked it. Now when I am at the Shangri La Plazza in Edsa, I slip over to Brotzeit for a quality beer on the sidewalk watching people wander by.

Hanging with Mecky at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

My favourite coffee haunt when visiting the Philippines is the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in the Greenbelt 5 shopping complex in the business district of Makati in greater Manila. What I like about the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is they serve their coffee in proper cups, not those disposable paper cups of other chains - let's get serious here.

This is a great hang, I can set up with my laptop computer and reference book and work from there for hours at a time. There is plenty of activity, but that doesn't seem to distract me and the double espresso they have on offer is some of the best coffee on offer from the large coffee chains.

Planet Grapes - where food meets wine

Planet Grapes is a favourite haunt of mine when I am staying with Mecky in Mandalyong or close by in Ortigas. This is a bar and restaurant serving good quality wine alongside top notch food - I really enjoy going there.

When I found out they offered wine tasting and wine education, the waiter pointed to the wine shop across the road on the other side of the shopping complex. I am familiar with this wine shop, they have premium wine for sale as I found out much to my surprise - the prices were outrageous.

Fortunately, Planet Grapes wine pricing is more affordable and although the bill sets me back, this bar and restaurant is significantly cheaper than the shop across the road. On my next trip to the Philippines, Mecky and myself will definitely engage in some wine education that involves some tastings.