KL 2012 : Day 1 (09.27.2012)

Because I owe this blog so much. I will try to recount my first trip to Malaysia.

Part of my birthday ritual was to spend another year in another country.

Thanks to FB I have photos to help me remember what  I did during that day haha.

First stop: Petronas  Twin Towers

Vietnam 2013: Hanoi (09.25.2013)

Just like what I posted in my fb account, I am back in Vietnam, this time around in the northern part, Hanoi! there's something about Vietnam that makes me keep coming back for more, the good food, culture, history and the best part, cheap finds! 

Unlike Saigon, I find Hanoi a little bit tamed, less the hustle and bustle. For the first two days of our stay  it was raining cats and dogs! Surprisingly, Hanoi has four seasons, and the month of September was supposedly fall - autumn, the best time to visit Hanoi. The rain didn't stop us from seeing the beautiful spots in Hanoi.

Bangkok 2013: Day 3

A trip to Bangkok wouldn't be complete if you don't go on a shopping splurge, luckily this time our scheduled trip and last day on this vibrant city falls on a weekend. Chatuchak Weekend Market is the ultimate shopping mecca for tourists and foreigners.

Bangkok 2013: Day 2

Second day was more exciting, we took the BTS to National Stadium and walked to Jim Thompson's house and museum.

Bangkok 2013: Day 1

Here I am again, back in Bangkok but this time around with my 2 brothers. We've traveled for 5 hours by land from Cambodia. Arrived earlier than expected which gave us more time to explore the city.

Overland: Siem Reap to Bangkok

We left Manila around 8pm and arrived in Siem Reap at 930pm, there's a time difference of one hour, Siem Reap being an hour behind. It was a 3 hour and 15 mins flight. The next day we toured the temples of the Angkor Complex, saw the War Museum, watched the Aspara Show and slept to prepare for our journey to Bangkok.

The guesthouse made arrangements for our taxi the next day, we were surprised to that it was a van, for $35. It was a two hour drive from the guest house to the border, Poipet. The original plan was to take the bus from Cambodia to Bangkok for $28 each, and travel for 8-9 hours. Since my Mother wasn't keen on traveling for long hours with no toilet and she has scoliosis, it was then decided that it would be better to hire a taxi; it would cut the travel time less from 8 hours to 5 hours, we can stop anytime for toilet breaks and we were traveling as a family (Me, Mama and 2 brothers) the expenses would also be the same if we take the bus.

After departing Cambodia and been cleared in Thailand Immigration, we rented another taxi to take us directly to the city and drop us in out hotel for $60.

Taxi Breakdown:

Siem Reap to Poipet - $35

Border to Bangkok - $60

Toll fee - 35 baht ($1.10)

Total - $96.1

Bus Breakdown:

Direct Bus - $28 x 4 pax = $112

Taxi to Hotel - 150 baht ($4.72)

Total - $116.72

It is best to just a hire taxi if your traveling with a group! travel time will be cut short and you'll be comfortable, little difference from the expense but like we did, we gave that as tips to our drivers :)

Cambodia: Siem Reap (08.14.2013)

To see the beautiful temples in Siem Reap is part of every travelers bucket list, thanks to online resources, I was enticed to see these charming temples and it didn't fail to deliver. I was happy that Cebu Pacific now offers direct flights from Manila to Siem Reap. We left Manila around 8PM and arrived 1030 PM (930 PM Cambodia time) 

Ilocos: Burgos - Bangui - Pagudpud (04.08.13 - 04.09.13)

I've been to Pagudpud two years ago but I haven't seen these powerful windmills up close, this time around I made sure that this was part of our itinerary.

Ilocos: Laoag (04.07.13 - 04.08.13)

Day 2 of our Ilocos adventure, from Vigan we drove to Laoag for almost 2 hours. We first went to Batac, to see the Marcos Museum and Mausoleum.

Ilocos: Vigan (04.06.13 - 04.07.13)

Plan was to drive up north, equipped with a map and waze (thank you technology) we were able to reach our first destination, Vigan City. After 12 hours of driving, countless times of restroom breaks, passed by Isdaan to experience tacsiyapo and also prayed to Our Lady of Manaoag in Pangasinan, we finally reached the beautiful lighted street of Calle Crisologo.

Kuala Lumpur: Day 3 (09.29.12)

Since we've covered everything we wanted to see (Petronas, KL Tower, Merdeka Square, Batu Caves) in KL and our flight was in the afternoon, the last day was dedicated to not waking up early, relaxing in the hotel, so I thought, after breakfast my adventurous Mother wanted to see the Chinatown, I was reckoning that i'll take her in Binondo instead because I just want to lay in bed and watch tv, take time in preparing before we head out to the airport. She insisted she'll go alone and the guilt trip was effective.

Mornings in Chinatown

Kuala Lumpur: Day 2 (9.28.2012)

Mama has been to Malaysia but she wasn't able to see the Batu Caves and based on our research for only 1 RM we can take the train from KL Sentral to Batu Caves, it was a 30 minute hassle free train ride.

Train Ride to Batu Cave - New train and route to Batu Caves

Kuala Lumpur: Day 1 (09.27. 2012)

Celebrated my birthday in Kuala Lumpur last year, keeping the tradition that I spend my birthday traveling abroad, isn't it a good excuse to travel and see more places? *big smirk*

First order of the day was to see the beautiful Petronas tower. It was a 15 minute walk from Bukit Bintang to KLCC, the weather was perfect and the walkway all the way to KLCC was air conditioned, which made the walking much easier and walking is the best way to see and explore a new city, a new country!

PILIPINAS represent! upon purchasing the tickets they will ask you from what country, in my case, the ticketing officer asked me if I'm from the Philippines :) 

Fisheye Travels

Tondol, Pangasinan 

HK 2006: Part 1

Hong Kong was my first out of the country trip, I have no idea about traveling and what traveling is about, now I realized I should have properly smiled for the camera, took photos of random things and blogged about it. Good that I uploaded all photos to multiply.

Hello 2006 Me.

Iloilo Day 2 (07.21.12)

This blog post is part of the series: TRAVEL BACKLOGS. As the year ends, I'll try my very best to write or rather photo blog.

07.21.12

It was our 2nd day in Iloilo and the last day of our 3 day holiday. Woke up kinda late and decided to go to Jaro Church and watch a movie in SM Iloilo, how touristy right? haha.

2012.

Before the year ends, i'm changing my domain name! Now my site looks legit! Woot woot!

Here's a snippet where i've been to this 2012. I'm looking forward to more adventures and travel this 2013. Excited for Cambodia, Bangkok, Hanoi and Dumaguete!

January: Potipot, Zambales

Iloilo 2012: Day 1

This blog post is an exercise to hone my (travel) writing skills, a good excuse to write a blog post :)

Iloilo - Guimaras trip happened last (07/19 - 07/21/12) this a pefect definition of backlog. It's hard to write after a vacation, the next day your back at work, working your butts off to pay for the next trip haha it's a vicious cycle.

Boat ride from Guimaras to Iloilo

Guimaras 2012

It truly is Thanksgiving haha! since today is a US holiday, I can sneak a blog post during work hours while my boss is away and it's downtime here in MNL. Since, I'm grateful, let me share to you our crazy adventure in Iloilo - Guimaras.

Booked the tickets 8 months before the trip and yet again, Airphil never ceases to amaze me, they have once again, changed our flight details, from our early morning flight to afternoon flight, sorry I can't remember the exact time, it wasn't worth remembering haha.

We arrived at Iloilo airport around 12noon I guess, all I remember was being hungry and dying to try Iloilo's batchoy.

First order of the day: BATCHOY!

 

Teaser: Puerto Princesa

Spent the long weekend in Palawan with my brothers and boyfriend. It was 4 days of fun filled adventure and food trip!

Never a dull moment with the boys! Finally get to spend time with my brothers less the parents. Budget wise it burned my pocket haha! It's all good, time well spent with the fam!

Photo dump after the jump