MANILA, Philippines?No photo with Obama plus the restaurant service sucks.

Sen. Lito Lapid might well have just stayed home.

After failing to have his picture taken with US President Barack Obama, Lapid was said to also not have enjoyed the P1-million dinner which he and other members of the Philippine presidential delegation had at Le Cirque restaurant in New York.

It was Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago who yesterday recounted Lapid?s unhappy experience at the favorite hangout of international celebrities, while herself expressing distaste at such a display of ?outlandish? spending.

Like Lapid, Santiago joined the recent US trip of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, but she said she skipped the dinner at the popular French restaurant, which the New York Post said cost a whopping $20,000?or P1 million.

Those who go to restaurants like Le Cirque pay ?for the prestige of that place and the privilege of seeing and being seen,? Santiago said in an interview on radio dzBB.

Apparently, the ambiance of the restaurant failed to impress Lapid.

Slow meals

Santiago said she learned that Lapid had told protocol officers that he did not enjoy the dinner.

?Sabi niya, grabe naman itong restaurant na eto, katagal tagal dumating ng order (He said this restaurant is terrible, the orders take so long),? Santiago said.

According to her, Lapid pointed out to protocol officers that it took time to serve the meals because the waiters would change plates and silverware with every course.

?That?s why he did not like the French restaurant,? she said.

Unfulfilled wish

During the US trip, the movie actor and former Pampanga governor also raised eyebrows?not to mention giggles?when he admitted that he would like to be part of a select group meeting Obama because he wanted to be photographed with the US president.

Lapid did not get his wish. He wasn?t included in the exclusive group.

Santiago said she skipped the Aug. 2 dinner at Le Cirque with President Macapagal-Arroyo and her entourage because she said she normally did not like to go to such places as this would require her to doll herself up with make-up and jewelry.

The senator also said she was not a ?scintillating personality after 8 p.m.? She attributed this to her chronic fatigue syndrome condition which, she jested, makes her cranky in the late hours.

Still, she said she was surprised to find out that the dinner was at the watering hole of the rich and famous.

?Powerful woman

The senator said that, when in the United States, she preferred to go to Vietnamese restaurants because for $10 to $15, one could have a meal of rice and viand.

Regarding Lapid?s missed photo opportunity with Obama, Santiago said she explained to Lapid how strict the protocol was at the meeting, adding that the Philippine group itself didn?t have a chance to be photographed with the US president.

?We have no picture with Obama because we?re not allowed to have pictures with him. His time was very very limited,? she said.

Santiago said Obama was all business. ?So there was no picture taking,? she laughed.

She said that at the meeting, she was able to tell Obama that ?America would not be able to get what it all wants from President Arroyo because she was not free to sign treaties as these needed to be approved by the Senate, which is dominated by the opposition.?

For that remark, she said Obama told her with a laugh, ?I can see you are a powerful woman.?

It was a good thing that at the meeting, there was no talk of Muslim radical prisoners in Guantanamo being shipped to the Philippines.

Had this been mentioned and with Obama telling her she seemed to be a powerful woman, Santiago said she might have ended up being really ?powerful in a sense that I would have raised my voice? on that issue.