I’ve decided to create my own blog for the purposes of honing my memory (coz these signs of forgetfulness may lead to dementia or worse Alzheimer’s! LOL) and becoming a creative writer (writer wannabe) as if…it’s just a narration of some of my lately blahs…=)
Best Escape: America. One month of obesity. The land of free thinkers and open minded people like myself. :)
Selfie at the Capitol in Washington DC
Best Gift: Of all the good things in my life, Kisses is my fave. (And I mean my pup!)
Kisses, the 6 month old shih tzu
Best Moment: Oct. 4, the day I went to Niagara falls. Mum's the word.
Best Book: Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami.
Best Investment: URC stocks.
Best Vice: Shopping! (Sigh)
Best Skill: Web Hosting. I learn from the best ninjas at work.
Got issued a new laptop this year. Been working in this Australian bank for 3 yrs now.
Best Song: Lost Stars by Adam Levine
Best Learning: More in than out. (I'm talking about money!)
Best Play: Chicago the Musical
Best Art Exhibit: The Mona Lisa Project. When you look at art closely, don't say it's nice or it's good but say how you feel. Art makes you feel something when you look at it and I certainly need more exposure to it.
An artist rendition of Mona Lisa.
And then..
2014 Regret: Missed the opportunity to befriend that stranger. La douleur exquise..
Each year, life experience makes us stronger in many ways that you don't even notice. We both made it this year and once again let's try to beat our own personal best.
Gawd I already miss travelling. I wish I have so much money that I don't need to work and just go around places, meet people across the globe, have new experiences and learn different cultures.
So last week, I went to USA with my cousin and her son (Yes my nephew #secondcousin) as T is almost twice my age. My father has 8 siblings and my dad is the youngest which makes me and my brother the 'young ones' when it comes to nephews and nieces. I was suppose to travel alone but when they found out, they decided to tag along with me which is nice because I've never travelled alone outside the Philippines but I'm open to experience that so maybe one of these days. :)
Better than business class! I had the entire row to myself! I flew United Airlines btw and got my airfare during Manila's travel expo for only $1200. The normal price is around $1600 to Florida so basically saved myself $400 bucks. :) Got myself a great deal!
ORLANDO, FLORIDA
Anyway our first stop was Florida, where my auntie resides and basically free loaded myself here! (She basically paid all the entrances here, thanks so much Auntie!) She toured us to Orlando and went to theme parks like Universal Studios, Epcot and Disney Magic Kingdom. My highlight here was Harry Potter wizarding world as I'm a huge fan! I've read the books when I was in high school and that time it hasn't even materialized in film industry yet. It was surreal and felt like you were at Hogwarts yourself! They did a good job of making it come to reality. You can buy wands, bertie bott's every flavor bean, Marauder's map or basically anything HP merchandise found in the book. For every Potter fan you should definitely come to this place. They recently have the same HP theme park in Tokyo so I suggest you go there instead. I'm sure there's not much difference and saves you 18 hours flight travel! (Yes Manila to Florida = 18 hours on the plane!)
Hogwarts Castle! Best ride ever, you shouldn't miss this it's like you're playing Quidditch and hanging out with the gang!
Hogsmeade! I've even bought myself butter beer but didn't like it. Too sweet and honestly I have no sweet tooth.
We're so lucky we were able to see Diagon Alley, it's the newest attraction and has been opened for what I know, only this Sept. Perfect timing, they did a good job of mimicking the ones in the movies. The dragon on top of Gringott's bank also breathes fire!
HP is in Universal Studios, I recently went to Universal in SG too (like a week before this trip) but the one in Orlando is much bigger. I rode the transformer ride to both places and they're exactly the same. But there were differences in attractions such as ET, Terminator as well as a lot other attraction in Orlando that were not found in Singapore.
If you go to Disney Magic kingdom, be sure to go to Epcot as well. It's a separate entrance but this is where you experience a little taste of countries from across the globe. They've got all sorts of food from different countries such as Germany, Italy, France, Australia, China, Japan etc (offcourse you need to pay for the food!). Plus the famous tourist spots are in miniature so it feels like you've been to that country a little bit. The people working in that area are locals of that country too so their accent and dialect are foreign!
Feels like Japan to me!
Have you been to Mexico?
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, WASHINGTON DC and NIAGARA FALLS
After Florida my cousins and I went to a 5 Day tour to New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington DC and Niagara Falls. I have a separate room from them because I had this trip booked ahead as I was suppose to travel alone.
For those interested you can get your package here at www.tours4fun.com. It's a travel agency and you can avail West, East or Central America tour packages. The tour only covers the hotels, bus and airport transfers so you need to pay the entrances, airfare, food and $8 tip per day to the tour guide. Total cost of this trip would be below so you would have an idea for your budget:
5 Day tour to New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington DC and Niagara Falls = $499 includes hotel (3 star only) and airport transfers.
Total Entrance Fees Paid = $217 (I think or somewhere $200-250)
Food Expenses = $300 (Food in New york is expensive despite that the tour took us to fast food chains already. I can't imagine how much fine dining would cost there.)
Mandatory Tip = $40 (5 days)
Airfare = $700 (In my case this would be Tampa, FL to Newark then Buffalo to Chicago as we went to Chicago after this tour. And my tip is to buy the airfare ahead so it will be cheaper. Booked mine in United airlines around April so this is already considered cheap!)
Total: Around $2000 for this 5 day trip- (So you can buy souvenirs too. :P)
Here are some photos, there are more in my FB account although I try to limit my posts as much as possible so it's still a few though.. I also met some Romanians (they're pretty!), Indians, Koreans and Bulgarian in this trip. I wish I've gotten to know them more but I wasn't travelling alone so my 'making friends move' was a bit limited. I like connecting with people from different countries because it gives you all sorts of perspective how people are, cultural differences. :)
Yep it's a George Washington selfie, Lol this is in New york, Wallstreet.
The statue of Liberty Cruise, I've got so many fans.! #wot
The statue of Liberty was given by the french to the americans. During the war, French helped america win the war against the brits. However the brits and americans came to a treaty and made them closer which made the French jealous so as a gift they built the statue. If you look at it, it's not facing new york at all but northeast. It's facing towards direction of France bec it's a reminder by the french that without them, americans would have lost the war. Yes I'm paying attention to the tour guide!
Intrepid, it's a US aircraft carrier. I'm actually fascinated here! Too bad it's just a museum and replica of actual airforce planes.
Eating a very salty pretzel in front of the Metropolitan Museum, largest in New York. Seriously don't ever try this pretzel you've been warned.
I love the Egyptian section of Metro. There were hieroglyphics and mummies!
View from the Empire state bldg.
Freedom hall in Philadelphia
This is a moon stone from Smithsonian national air and space museum. You're suppose to touch it for good luck. I did and it just felt like glass, I don't think it's the real feel of an actual moon rock. They probably placed it under glass. Btw that's not my hand!
The Capitol or Congress in Washington District of Columbia
With honest Abe. You can only find Madam Toussad's US president edition in Washington
White house, I saw a sniper on the roof probably related to the crazy guy who ran and got inside.
Abraham Lincolm Memorial where he was assasinated.
The Washington Monument
Watched maiden of the mist too, it's a good show gives a short background about Niagara falls.
Niagara falls at night and Ontario Canada on the other side. My phone network actually changed to Canadian when I was here. Welcome to Canada!
I actually manage to create a short video in Niagara falls, we got extremely soaked here coz it was raining at the same time the waterfalls will make you wet! It's a good thing I have a Sony Xperia Z2 phone and manage to record this moment! (Waterproof phones are awesome!) Here's the link to it.
Here are our travel buddies too.
The tour guide's the one in the middle wearing all black. His name is Jay.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
After our tour, we flew to Chicago and I stayed at my cousin's house and he also treated me here! I'm so lucky to have awesome rich relatives (lol). So basically still saved me a ton money because my Florida and Chicago expenses were sponsored. Basically we went apple picking, Shedd aquarium, downtown chicago and watched the blue man group show.
Rode a truck with a bucket empty ready for apples
Some serious apple picking happening here!
Fruits of labor
One of my cousins in Chicago who is a big time administrative law judge! Don't mess with her!
The millenium bean!
With family relatives at Buckingham fountain. :)
The face fountain, it changes faces and spits on you like that! Just kidding
Downtown chicago being fancy at night,
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
After a week in Chicago, a friend of our Auntie in Florida was willing to drive us back so we could experience a little bit of road trip and pass by some states in Central America. I was able to get a glimpse of Missouri, Tennessee, Atlanta basically states that will eventually lead us to Tampa, Florida where we will depart back to Philippines. We stopped by at Elvis Presley's mansion in Memphis as they were huge Elvis fans. The entrance fee was $36 I think, then we also slept in an Inn somewhere in Tennessee. (18 hours road trip happening here buddy)
Missouri's cotton farm, dunno how many acres but I tell you it's huge.
Everything Elvis'
Elvis' mansion it's not really a mansion but during 1950's this was the biggest house hence mansion. If you compare it to houses at this generation, it's just ordinary for me.
What I love in america is there are a lot of wildlife! L is calling out three squirrels here.
Autumn. :) Love the view because we don't get it here in the Philippines.
Btw I was able to step into Japanese soil! Lol. Yes I am a Japan fanatic, I love their quirkiness, anime and games. Their approach towards technology and innovations just fascinates me. United airlines booked us a hotel because our flight from Denver was delayed so missed our connecting flight from Tokyo to Manila. Availing insurance is definitely a must if you're travelling with connecting flights. So happy I was able to see Tokyo even for just a while.
Hotel Nikko in Narita, Tokyo :) The food is awesome here.
1000 yen! Japan's money changer is automated, I'm impressed. (even their toilets talk!) Geez.
I feel so cosmopolitan now that my passport have a stamp from Japan, Lol. #wot
Anyway here's pretty much a summary of my trip, I need to save some more money to be able to travel next year to Japan. Yes I've always wanted to go there it's just it's probably as expensive as this trip. People tell me to save money to buy a house but I'm saving that task when I reach age 30. Seriously when you purchase a house, all your money will go there! Enjoy life people, don't get stuck paying bills. Right now, I'm not thirty yet so live, travel and enjoy youth. :) You can't buy youth back.
Anyone who wants to travel with me, I'm open to that experience so you can definitely count me in. I'm cosmopolitan person. ;)
Hi! So off course every trip of mine is equivalent to one blog post so here goes.
I'm actually thankful 'R' created a video summary of our trip to SG. This way I no longer have to create a long post.We went to the usual places tourists go to such as USS, Marina, Sentosa, Merlion, Seloso, tried the cable car and luge, gardens by the bay etc. The formula one event was also happening at this time so might as well join the fuss.
Youtuber mode. Watch our SG vlog. Credits to 'R'. :)
We're not fans of F1, god knows we don't know who the racers are or the rules of it but we bought tickets just for the experience. They're too fast, can't even get a good glimpse of the race car! (went by so fast like my money! 'Vroom' is all you will hear!) In the event, there are booths where you can try all sorts of stuff related to racing.
This is day 1 of Singapore Grand Prix race 2014. The actual race is held today, Sept 21 and still happening while I'm writing this post. I have a feeling Lewis Hamilton from team Mercedes will win. Who do you think will?
So tired! We tried to squeeze everything during our 4 day trip, despite pushing ourselves, it was so much fun! I arrived home at almost midnight just in time for my birthday. The immigration officer in Manila greeted me and made my day because we had such a turbulent flight back. Today's my birthday and just stayed home to celebrate it with my family.
I'm flying to USA on tuesday, Sept 23 I know it's gonna be one tiring trip too but I'm all for it! Travelling is my passion. Off course tell you all about it here!
So I've been dying to experience the thrill of swimming with whales (although whale sharks are classified as sharks, but it will do!) so we went to Oslob in Cebu.
Oslob is a seaside town in Southern Cebu. People have been coming to this place just to experience swimming with these gentle giants. I've learned that the people of Oslob have been feeding them with krill in order to keep the whale sharks in the area, about 30 kilos a day. They guarantee that during your tour, you will see whale sharks, else money back and now I know why as they've been feeding them. In my opinion though, since whale sharks are migratory and are suppose to find food by themselves, will be disturbed somewhat. However I am unsure what the effects are if they don't migrate at all, whether good or bad only time can tell. The positive side though, (I've been interviewing my tour guide), is that the government is planning to turn the place into a sanctuary. Sanctuary means no motor boat allowed and whale sharks to be protected meaning, catching, hunting and harming them are prohibited by law. Although those are already practiced and whale sharks have been protected in Philippines since 1998, (since they started appearing in Donsol) let's just hope that it will remain that way. I love the fact that the fishermen are protective of the whale sharks not just for tourism purposes but also for the sake of these creatures, I just hope that no other citizens will harm them. I mean their exposure could attract poachers and sell them in black market. Anyway I believe this is also a great opportunity to study their behavior when you're around the area. Ok I'm getting serious with my post, I've just been weighing the pros and cons as I myself is an animal lover. I've learned how elephants are treated in Thailand let's just hope it won't happen to our whale sharks. Anyway check out our photos below. The fisherman said, there are about 13 whale sharks in the area, if my memory serves me right.
A fisherman feeding a whale shark with krill (alamang)
The whale sharks are just about 20 meters from shore
Bigger than our boat, this one I think is about 7 m. And look at the number of Remora fish under it! If you don't know what remoras are these are basically fishes that live in a symbiotic relationship with sharks or large sea creatures and they fed on their left overs and I think cleaning them.
So I basically ruined a perfect shot of the whale shark. They were so close to us!
Look at it filter feeding!
Got hit there with its tailfin, ignore my tummy!
Safety reminders, do not apply sunblock as these can harm the whale sharks, no touching (although I'm pretty sure you would as they are so close you will accidentally touch them!) and wear rash guards. I swear the water stings and probably microscopic jellies are living there! I swear I didn't see them jellies yet I got stung!!
It's just a small scab from jellies but I swear it's a pain felt like my hips were on fire!
In case you're interested, you can avail of the package in this link which includes, Tumalog falls trip and also Blue Water resort day pass in Sumilon Island.
I suggest you avail of the complete package. This includes lunch buffet in the resort plus activities such as kayaking, fish feeding, trekking, snorkeling etc. The package also comes with a pick up car or van depending on the number of people ( we were 5 so it was an Innova) anywhere in Cebu.
More photos in my facebook account shot by Xperia Z2. I have no regrets buying that phone! I had it everywhere with me, waterproof phones are the best during island hopping and beach vacays! Go buy now too! #lol.
Anyway I had a nice short vacation, next trip will be on September. I can't wait. :)
