When Travel Bug Bites

Travelling is like a pill to me, it is a great cure for boredom and monotony. I like to travel every year on my birthday. There is so much to learn and learning never ends in this familiar ground. 

I use to have a fear of heights and the infinite. I thought I couldn't brave the sky and the clouds, only endless roads. I told myself that planes do crash and if this will happen, lifeless bodies will be fed to sea animals or the wild ones depending on where it will crash. 

But life takes you to unexpected places. Four years ago I decided to fly and see what's out there. My first travel experience was in Singapore where I moved from one house to another along with my sister and a friend. Living in SG wasn't easy because everyone's a total stranger but it was a learning experience away from home that I will never forget. 

Getting lost in Singapore

I came to SG looking for a better life but end up missing home, there's no place like it. I fell in love with this country because it was so different from home. It is very progressive, clean and citizens are afraid of the law. Fines are huge for any violation and people respect that. There are many beautiful places to go but be prepared to spend because the cost of living isn't cheap. 

My sister and I thought we could find a job in a month apparently, it is taking longer than expected and not all employers are willing to hire foreigners without a ready work pass. We decided to explore every town we've been to instead and gave up finding a job. We moved from one HDB (government housing for rent) to another. What I love about SG is that there's always a nearby park and supermarket in every community. It's easy to get around and the MRT system is a breeze. It's amazing that this country is earthquake free so I wonder where their calamity fund goes or if they ever use it at all.  Buses and private vehicles are smoke-free so there's obviously no air pollution. 

More about SG

I didn't enjoy most of the tourist places in SG because I'm not a fan of popular places where most people go. I am more interested in eco-parks and weird theme parks like Haw Par Villa or shopping districts like Little India and Chinatown. I also fell in love with SG food. I will never forget the very tasty chicken rice, nasi lemak, the refreshing bubble tea, and Makansutra's Aglio Oglio. 

I might come back to SG but there's more to explore in Southeast Asia.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Last year on my 34th birthday, I decided to spend it in Siem Reap, Cambodia. As much as I hate evening flights, I have no choice because all the morning slots are sold out so my sister and I endured the view of nothing but darkness outside. A three-hour flight seemed like forever thank God the weather is good so there's no turbulence or any scary factor. A tuk-tuk (Cambodia's version of tricycle) driver brought us to a 3-star hotel called Hotel Angkoriana where we have reservations for 2 days and 2 nights. What I like about this hotel even if it is 30 minutes away from the airport, is that it is cheap but decent. They have all the basic amenities in the room like coffee and tea making facilities, free wifi, breakfast, pool, airport pickup (via tuk-tuk), etc. I remember staying at a cheap hotel near NAIA T3 that's way too basic they have no electric pot, mini fridge, not even a telephone in the room so if you want room service you have to use your cellphone to order from the menu posted in the walls of your room from the restaurant at the ground floor. Seriously? I'd rather go down and eat. Spell inconvenience. 

Seam Reap, Cambodia

We arranged a 1 day Angkor Wat tour at the hotel front desk upon arrival. Our tour guide and driver fetched us from the hotel around 8AM the next day. I think the tour finished almost 2PM. We visited I think less than 10 temples. We kept walking under the scorching heat of the summer sun, the only chance we got to rest was during our lunch at a fancy jam-packed restaurant filled with foreigners too. At the end of the tour we are so darn exhausted, we were all sticky and dusty that I couldn't wait to shower as soon as we head back to our hotel. After an hour of rest, we strolled "Pub Street" which is only few minutes from our hotel via tuktuk for food and souvenir shopping. Nothing much to remember about food in Cambodia because we only tried one dish but for sure, lots of spices will always be present. I don't know why we only spent 2 days in Cambodia. I thought maybe because there's not much to do anymore but later I realized that we have time to spare for 1 more day. Cambodia time is an hour behind from us we got confused the next day if we have to follow their time or Philippine time for our flight so we arrived really early at the Siem Reap Airport. I guess it's better to be early when in doubt just to be safe. 

I guess I'm addicted to adventure. This year on my 35th birthday along with my twin sister, as usual, we visited Hongkong for a change. I had my sister booked our flight and ensure that we get a morning flight this time thank God most flights to and from HK are in the morning, yay! A travel agency arranged a 4D/3N trip for us. We stayed at a 3-star hotel called Silka Far East in Tsuen Wan near the MTR station but far from all the major tourist attractions. My sister's first choice is a hotel in Mongkok because it is in the shopping district but the hotel doesn't look good on pictures and the area seem crowded and unsafe so I decided that it's best for us to stay in a hotel that's a little far but comfortable. 

Hongkong getaway 2015

Our half day city tour the following day lasted for only 3 hours we spent half of the day exploring HK. We climbed the long stairs of the Tian Tian or Big Buddha temple then went night shopping in Mongkok. It was our birthday the next day and have nothing more to do so we bought cupcakes from Hello Kitty's Le Petit Cafe and some more souvenirs. We flew back to Manila the day after and checked in at the nearby airport hotel then traveled back to Baguio the following day. 

Hopefully, I can visit Vietnam next year. I'm looking forward to seeing the beauty of Ho Chi Minh and stay at the Old Quarter. I have done some research already on nearby places to go but still collecting more information. So much to see, so little time. My feet is yearning to travel again, I can't wait.

Birthday Holiday Hongkong Getaway

Leaving Manila

Tune Hotel

Chillin' after a 7 hour tip at Holiday Inn Manila Galleria

Silka Fareast Hotel Tsuen Wan, HK

Our room

At the Avenue of Stars

I've been working so hard and I deserve a break so I decided to take time off from work for 2 weeks for my birthday. My twin sister and I usually plan our travel at least 2-3 months in advance. While I decide on what country to visit and most of the research about the area as well as local hotel reservations, she takes care booking our flights and coordinating with the travel agency that will take us to where we are going. We were in Siem Reap, Cambodia last year but it was only for 2D2N and we didn't go through any travel agency because the hotel we stayed at offer tour packages to Angkor Wat and it's cheaper to arrange it there plus we'll be more comfortable not joining a group. This year, we decided to go to Hongkong and have it arranged with a travel agency for a 4D3N Free and Easy package. Despite our schedule difference I'm glad that we made it work, thank God our vacation leaves filed 1 year ahead got approved. We left Baguio at 7AM via Victory bus and it was a 7 hour trip to Manila. We checked in at the

Etude House, Mongkok

Sampan boat ride at the Aberdeen Fishing Village

Holiday Inn Manila Galleria in Ortigas overnight and took advantage of our employee benefit. Our elder sister and niece slept over then we head to Tune Hotel in Aseana, Paranaque the next day because it is closer to the airport (NAIA T3), our flight to Hongkong is at 7:25AM via Cebu Pacific. The weather was very cooperative and perfect for me to take aerial shots since I am seated beside the window...just right by the fire exit! Yes, my sister told me that she didn't know, geez. Although I was a little uncomfortable seated by the fire exit at first because the cabin crew will sit in front of you during take off and landing, I also realized that it's not so bad after all, I have a lot of space so I was able to stretch my legs. It was an easy, breezy 2 hour trip. When we 

The Big Buddha, Ngong Ping, Lantau Island

landed at the HK airport and as soon as we got passed immigration we purchased 2 Octopus MTR cards and a local sim card so we can get in touch with our travel agent that will take us to our hotel and get some rest. We were supposed to withdraw funds from NAIA but the Immigration Officer didn't allow me to go out anymore since we already have our boarding passes so we thought we'll just do that at the HK airport. Anyhow, it took us roughly 45 minutes to get to our hotel in Tsuen Wan aboard a mini van together with other Pinoys and our Chinese driver. We stayed at a 3 star hotel called Silka Far East which is quite nice. As soon the front desk staff swiped my credit card for incidental fees and gave us our breakfast vouchers we settled in our teeny tiny room and we can't be 'choosy' because we know what to expect since we've checked this hotel's website already and learned from reviews that most HK hotels aren't spacious anyway. We scoured the area after resting for a few hours but we're unable to withdraw funds from the nearby ATM machine we called BPI and have our ATM cards activated for international withdrawal unfortunately, we are still unable to withdraw and we got stuck with whatever HK bucks that we have until the next day. We woke up early to grab breakfast at the hotel before our tour. We waited for our bus and tour guide at the hotel's lobby. Day 1 is the start of our half day city tour. A tour bus with an English speaking Chinese tour guide drove us to our first destination which is the Avenue of the Stars where we took pictures for about 15 minutes. Thank God for our monopod we were able to take a lot of pictures together using my phone and we took turns in taking a few individual shots using our digital camera. I didn't bring my DSLR with me anymore since we can't use it for our monopod anyway and it's quite heavy. Next stop is the YSL 

Ladies Market in Mongkok

jewelry factory which I didn't enjoy at all because I'm not a jewelry fan and everything there was really expensive. The next attraction was just as boring, The Victoria Peak mid-level. We saw the Victoria Peach at a very far view you have to zoom in your camera lens or phone in order to appreciate it. I was getting bored of this whole tour already hadn't because of the Sampan boat ride at the Aberdeen Fishing Village. Honestly, I was quite hesitant at first to ride a boat but surprisingly I find it refreshing. Our half day city tour ended almost lunch time, our bus dropped us close to the Mongkok area so other guests can continue on with their Disney tour or whatever and we are starving we decided to have lunch and finally able to withdraw funds from a Standard Chartered ATM machine, yay! We realized that it was just that ATM machine close to our hotel that doesn't work with our bank (problem solved!). Our luck continues when I saw an Etude House in the area where I bought a black liquid eyeliner which is currently sold out in the Philippines and nobody can tell when it will be back in store again. Twinnie and I still have time to explore HK so as planned we went to visit the Tian Tian Buddha (Big Biddha) in Ngong Ping, Lantau Island. It was a long climb of 286 steps to get to the hugest buddha I've ever seen but it was well worth taking pictures when you get to the top where it sits comfortably overlooking the island. We had snacks and rested for a while then after dawn we went back to Mongkok to one of the shopping havens in HK at the Ladies Market for souvenir shopping. Back at the hotel we were so tired but we slept late. It's our birthday the next day and we travelled 30 minutes to Causeway Bay from Tsuen Wan just to see the Hello kitty Le Petit Cafe where we bought our birthday cupcakes. We originally wanted to go to the other Hello Kitty Cafe called Secret Garden but it is closed on Mondays and we're leaving HK the next day (sigh). Nothing much to do on our last stroll in HK we just had our last minute 'pasalubong' shopping. We woke up early on our last day because breakfast starts at 6:30AM and we don't want to miss it before our flight. The shuttle bus is supposed to pick us up at the hotel at 8AM because our flight is at 10:45AM but came late at almost 8:20AM we have  no choce but to hurry and look for the check in counter immediately at the airport as soon as we get there. We still have time after we checked in our luggages we had our MTR card balance refunded or our almost 100 HKD will be put to waste. We almost missed our flight back home and we're so not used to getting to the airport in less than 2 hours we came running to get to our boarding gate when we saw the LED light flashing 'Last Call' gosh! We landed safely in NAIA then checked in at Tune Hotel again so we can at least get an overnight rest before another 7 hour trip back home. Our HK getaway was worth it but of course there are still things that didn't go well as planned but that's part of the whole travel thing, you learn everytime. I might go back to HK but will possibly spend more on hotel accomodation somewhere close to the city and less on MTR fare. So where to next? Think tank.