The Parisian Experience

I have always wanted to visit the Parisian Hotel in Macao or Vegas eversince they were built. The idea of having to see an iconic replica of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, within a crowd full of casino bright lights and colorful architectural structures and interiors, makes it feels like you are in a world where everything is perfectly built and designed.

Touchdown: MFM

It was a short weekend trip, so I had to choose the less expensive and shorter travel time.

What’s up, Eiffel tower?

What’s new, Cotai strip?

It has been a week, but its beauty still awes me.

The hotel interiors, the view from our room, the amenities, the restaurants, shops and casinos, the staff, and hotel location all deserve a double thumps up.

How to get there: 

By air: Choose MFM as destination.

From MFM: Hotel shuttle services are free. Follow the arrows. You will never get lost.

How to get around:

Buses are near the hotel connections within Cotai strip for only 6 MOP per way. Taxis are also available.

Hotel Rate: Book in advance to get the best rate. 14 days in advance is ideal and will cost you less than a 5-star hotel in MNL.

Other places of interest:

St Paul Ruins, Macau Tower, Senado Square

Other hotels with casino and shopping centers:

Venetian, City of Dreams, Studio City, Four Seasons, etc.

Must try: Macao Tower 360 Buffet. It offers international gastronomic dishes on a rotating platform with a 360 degrees view of Macao from the 60th floor.

Macao tower also has fabulous convention centers and offers extreme adventures, from Skywalk to Bungy Jumping.

What’s more important is I get to travel and learn new things with the love of my life, and I get to meet some friends and shared several good conversations over a sumptuous meal. 

Until our next trip. 😎

Dinadiawan Weekend

Have you ever heard of the place, Dinadiawan? How about Dipaculao? If yes, good for you. If not, you’re not alone. 😆 But what’s special about the place? Glamping. And yes, you heard it right. 

Though this is not my first glamping adventure, the experience is comparable to Blue Water Sumilon Glamping in Cebu. The only differences are the price, amenities and travel time. It is very much cheaper here, and there’s no need to book a flight. All you need is a travel arranger who will bring you to this beautiful town in the province of Aurora. The pricey overnight glamping on the latter, on the other hand, has great amenities and better restaurants. 

Below is a photo of me and my babe inside the glamorous tent.

If you are up to a relaxing weekend getaway, with a little twist of new experience, then this is the place to be.

The beach is creamy white and powdery. 😎

We spent the whole day by the beach, by the tent and by the nipa huts playing uno stack. The night was spent with friends over bottles of beer and chips.

On our way home, we had some stop over in Baler, another famous landmark in Aurora province.

The 7-8 hours on the road (one way) is worth all the muscle pain.

This is a must-try weekend road trip.

Until our next trip. 😎

Legazpi Weekend Getaway

Short weekend getaway is the best stress therapy for me. Why? First, it doesn’t cost that much. Second, flight times are only 1-3 hours including air traffic. Third, it doesn’t require approval for long vacation (if you are employed). That said, the preparation is not stressful to begin with.

So where did we go this time? Legazpi, the home of the beautiful Mayon Volcano, in Albay. It’s approximately an hour away from MNL via plane. 

We stayed at the Oriental Hotel near the city center.

They offer buffet breakfast. They have two other restaurants within the lobby area and a grill near the pool area. Rates are reasonable. 

There are several tours to choose from for a short trip and we chose the ATV adventure (to Mayon) and a Misibis Bay Day Tour. Both are pricey, but also reasonable.

It was raining when we had our first tour, so we had to wear rain coats.

The rain adds to the fun. Crossing the river via these terrain vehicle is extremely enjoyable.

It took us an hour (including a short trek) to reach the Mt. Mayon marker. Going down, you have two options: there’s a zip line and slippery trek. We chose the former.

On our second day, we were picked up early after breakfast and had a shuttle to Misibis Bay.

The place is majestic. 

There are also several activities to choose from. They have pools for all ages. The beach is clean and powdery.

It’s a relaxing escape after our short ATV adventure yesterday.

The rest of the stay was spent on church visits, food trip and pasalubong shopping.

It was a short trip, but definitely one for the books.

Until our next trip! 😎

My Favorite Journey So Far

Falling in love is a journey. 

Of all the hundreds of travel escapades that I have ever had, traveling with the love of my life is, so far, the most wonderful experience I have ever encountered.

I can document all my travel expeditions with a thousand beautiful words, but spending this holiday with her is, so far, the best getaway, one travel blogger can ever have.

We took advantage of the holiday and squeezed in all our favorite things to do in one and a half weeks of fun-filled vacation.

Our first conversation, after 24 years of knowing each other, started with a coffee date invitation. Everything else was history.

We spent several moments talking about life goals and future plans, while enjoying the moment together over a cup of coffee or a bottle of beer or wine. We have spent a lot of time catching up over good food, live band and cozy ambiance, with our favorite fruit shakes and cocktails. 

There was never a dull moment with her. Just staring at each other, holding a promise that we’ll make this vacation worthwhile, makes every moment more meaningful to both of us.

When we started the relationship, we both agreed that God (not religion) should be the center of our relationship. We had several church visits during this holiday break, and we made sure that we hold on to our promise of staying true to each other no matter what.

Most visits were accompanied by mom and Micmic.

We also spent moments at the beach at night, listened to the waves, gazed at the stars, and had a relaxing body massage in a popular beach resort.

We also spent time exploring our hobbies together. From indoor firing to jet skiing, biking, mall hopping, movies and pop corn, food trip and a lot more, we tried to squeeze them all in a short period of time together. 

Every little moment counts and every little things that we do together is part of this journey. This journey, that not only a traveler wishes to have. This journey, that’s inspired by a strong foundation of love - a journey that leads to forever. 😍

Until our next trip. 😍

The “Almost” Backpacking Solo Singapore Trip

It’s been a while since I flew solo. The idea of being alone at the boarding gate, waiting for a flight, has never crossed my mind for years. But here I am, still reliving my passion for traveling, and being single does not mean I won’t be traveling again.

I had my usual coffee stop over, and will always be a part of my airport activity. Can you see what has changed in the cup?

Everything was smooth from boarding to deplaning. The immigration officers were more friendly and polite. 

I had some small chat with my seat mates at the plane and I am happy that one is also a solo traveler, so that doesn’t make me a loser.

I was picked up by my mom’s cousin (Kuya Hector) and her wife (Ate Genah) at the airport. It has been a decade since I was last picked up at an airport by a relative. It has always been a car rental company or a hotel’s private shuttle service who has been doing my airport transfers ever since.

We had our late lunch at the airport. I ordered chicken satay and curry flavoured tofu. I am always a fan of satay and tofu and that made the start of my trip.

I stayed at the Amolar’s humble home in Ang Mo Kio Avenue and shared a room with my cousin (Jessy). I had a wonderful 12-hr sleep. It has also been awhile since I had that peaceful sleep.

Wen, also my cousin, flew over the next day. She was with her husband, Nick. We had some food trip bonding while watching BGT with kuya Hec and ate Gen.

Kuya Hec cooked breakfast and we had pizza for our second breakfast.

I have been in contact with some SG-based friends/former officemates (Boss A, Boss Kate and Mark) since I booked my flight and we were able to find some catch up time over coffee and dinner. 

This trip was still beach inspired. I am always a beach lover and will be always be. We skipped the normal city itinerary and focused more on the Northern and Southern part, where the beaches are.

On the Northern part, we biked from Punggol to Coney Island and back. Wen and Nick joined me with Mark and Kate.

We had dinner at the House of Seafood, where US president Trump and N.Korea prime minister was also attending a press conference. They also have a scheduled summit on the 12th.

My next few nights were spent in a pod in Chinatown. It’s my first time to book a backpacker inn and it was surprisingly clean. Wen stayed at Nicks’s place in Bradell, so I was alone in the pod. I have made friends with some of my pod neighbours. They are from Jamaica and France.

Sentosa has always been a stop over every time I visit SG and we focused more on the Sentosa attractions and skipped the USS. We stayed there for one whole day, enjoying our day pass while spending hours talking about goals and happy memories over food and coffee.

My last night in SG was spent in an airport hotel. The hotel has a pool and a pool-bar.  My solo room was small but the bed and linens are of 5-star quality. Since it’s within the airport, I am also within the shopping areas (Duty Free). Don’t ask me what I didn’t buy for myself. Haha! 

I was never really alone in this trip. That was the initial plan, but I guess, that’s not my thing. I realised that it’s always been my nature to bond with people close to my heart and I will always find a way to meet up with good old friends and close family members, to squeeze them all in a weekend getaway.

I enjoyed every bit of this trip. It made me buy some time for myself to reassess my worth. The trip was stress-free and full of fun.

I am definitely ready to travel again.

Will I fly solo again? Why not? 

Until my next trip.