TLO's 3rd Birthday - Part 1

Bad parents. Bad. We wanted to have a birthday party for TLO but somewhere in between dreaming, hoping, conceptualizing and working, we forgot about dates (a tendency of our little family) and before we knew it, TLO's birthday week said hi-what-the-hell-i'm-here!

We wanted to go to the beach, as a second option, but rates have soared twice/thrice the usual due to the holy week fever. We've already accepted the fact that we're going to be stuck in our apartment, looking at other people's vacation photos --- teardrops. Then came some good ideas and blessings.

First, Dadda agreed to take advantage of my employer's special offer. Yey! For a very reasonable amount, we were able to book a 3day-2night stay at the Crowne Plaza Galleria. I still maintain that joining IHG was one of the best life decisions I've ever made - not merely a career decision, this is for life!

Second, as I was preparing to leave the office a day before check-in, when I chanced upon a guardian angel through Gmail Chat. Let's call him Buffy. Buffy is a training manager at the hotel. I asked if we'll see him when we check-in and he said no... BUT! He said he'll have a surprise ready for TLO's birthday.

So here's part 1 of Buffy's surprise... we didn't have any cake for TLO's birthday but we found this in the room when we checked-in. TLO loved it. Oh, we loved the cake. It doesn't even deserve to be called a cake. It's a chocolate bar of heaven, with a very thin crust of bread. Thank you Buffy! We can't get over the fact that Crowne Plaza Galleria "knew" about TLO's birthday and did something about it. Thank you Crowne Plaza Galleria. Thank you for making our first hotel experience, fanta-bulous!