Thoughts: I'm at Singapore, Terminal 2 Right Now!

We just boarded down the plane and making our way to the Arrival Hall.  But I used the free computer terminal and internet here at Changi Airport, first.

See you later!

Thoughts: Flying to Singapore!

     In a few hours, I will be flying to Singapore!  It'll be my third time there, but the first time for my mom and sis.  I am super apprehensive right now because all I could think of is the cost that I will have to spend for the three of us.  We are also travelling with my friend. 

     So, my plan is to just go to Singapore and to Malacca.  My friend's plan is to shop, shop and shop.  Well, it's the Singapore sale, so what can I expect.  However, I don't think I could shop, even for a little.  I'm kinda strapped for cash considering that I'll be spending for three.

     Well, at least, our hotel, the Festive Hotel, is already pre-paid, and it comes with 2 tickets to Universal Studios and 2 tickets to Voyage La Vie.  I will only need to buy an extra ticket to Universal for myself.  So I think that'll keep my family busy for at least a day.  I don't plan on bringing them to the tourists attractions around Singapore but perhaps we could all go to the Marina Bay Sands at night.  Besides, our hotel is in Sentosa, so there's a lot to do in the island alone.

     Then on Sunday, we'll go to Malacca and spend the night there.  I found a coach service that stops a mere two minutes on foot from the hotel I booked, the Courtyard@Hereen.  It's organized by Luxury Tours and Travel and the departure point in Singapore is at the Concorde Hotel in Orchard Road.  And, if we take the MRT, we'll alight at Dhouby Ghout  Station and walk a mere 500 meters to reach the Hotel.  Going back to Singapore, we'll be taking the 707 Express.

     

Taiwan Travel Adventures 2011: Day 2 - Ximending and Sophisca Candy Shop

     Since I came back early in Taipei from Jiufen, I took a short rest at the Hostel.  A shower with hot water came after that.  Then I went back to Zhongxiao Fuxing Station to buy some Jill Stuart cosmetics.  

     Anyway, for one reason or the other, I decided to dress up.  I bought a dress just for my Taiwan trip, and I wanted to use it that night.  I even curled my long hair.  Call me vain, and I won't take it against you.  Besides, I want to look great for my night out in Taipei, plus, I was hoping Eric from the hostel would see me in my kinda pretty state.  And, it never hurts to look presentable.  Who knows, I might meet someone.  Heehee.

This is me, all dressed up, with hair curled, and looking grotesque.

     So, I decided to go to Sogo first.  I know my way there and so I just took the blue line and alighted at Zhongxiao Fuxing Station.  I headed to the cosmetics department which took me a while to find.  I bought  some Jill Stuart cosmetics because I've almost emptied my compact.  And I found myself withdrawing cash at an atm.  Oh, well.  

     A Jill Stuart sales person helped me find a great lipstick, pinkish, which works best for me, and a very flattering blush.  However, the sales staff thought I won't be buying the lipstick and the blush, so they weren't added to my bill.  I guess, it was not really meant for me to buy those.  At least, I looked nice in the lipstick and blush I had on my face.

     So, I went to Ximending, a place I was not able to visit the first time I got to Taipei. It was easy enough to find.  It was on the blue line, too.  However, when I got to Ximending, I was like, "this is it?"  Well, let's just say that I was a bit disappointed.  I felt the place didn't appeal to me.  There were a lot of people, for one thing, and I think, I am just too old for the place.  It's hip and young, and I am not.  Heehee.  Besides, it was not bright and as colorful as I hoped it would be; not that I was hoping to see Rainbow Brite or anything.  It was even hard to take pictures using my point-and-shoot camera.  So, none of my photos turned out great.  They're either overblown or overexposed or blurred.  Well, I am partly to blame because I don't really know how to work a camera.

     I wandered around Ximending.  One thing's for sure, the place is alive, and there are a lot of cinemas!  They're everywhere.  And since I came around dinner time, the restaurants were packed and I saw a lot of food stalls with really long lines.  I wanted to line up, too, but I was not up to it.  I still needed to find a candy shop that I specifically intended to visit.

     And the shop is called SOPHISCA. They sell candies and chocolates in cute and novelty packages.  There's a condom choco, sanitary napkin marshmallows, jelly syringe, candy boobies and more.  There were a lot of people inside so I was only able to take a photo or two.   As to how I found Sophisca? I just walked till I got to the right alley and saw a white sheep against a pink background  (logo).  It was luck.

 Don't forget the logo!

      Inside the shop.

     I got these photos of Sophisca's products from their website:

      FYI, there are branches in Jiiufen and Danshui, too.  And these are the stuff I bought at Sophisca as treats and souvenirs for my friends and family:

     I couldn't remember if I ate dinner that night.  I don't think I did. I remember my feet burning because I had been walking with flat shoes since early morning.

Thoughts: Stop Procrastinating and Research About Melaka, Silly Me!

     Before I knew it, the long weekend is almost over, and I am supposed to fly to Singapore this weekend and go to Melaka, too.  But I haven't started my research!  I am not so much concerned about Singapore; there's always a cab to take us to places.  Besides, I've been there twice.  It's Melaka that I am concerned about.  It'll be my first time in Melaka and we only have a day to spend there.  Geez!  Sometimes I forget about the most important details because my head is full of clutter!  

     I know Melaka is easy to navigate but still, I don't want to loiter around the streets of Melaka like some lost puppy.  And, I want to get the most out of our stay in Melaka. 

     I'm thinking if I should bring my laptop with me.  It'll make my life easier.  But it's heavy.

Taiwan Travel Adventures 2011: Day 2 - Jiufen Once Again, and Crazy Bus Drive Back to Taipei

 

     I took a bus from the Gold Ecological Park to Jiufen.  As it was a Saturday, Jiufen was crazy full of people.  And it's magic seemed to have waned on me.  Perhaps there were so many people it was suffocating.  So, I didn't stay long, although I planned on having tea at A-Mei's tea house.

     However, I finally tried eating some goodies but just a little because I just had lunch.  I focused on the food stalls and some quirky shops, squeezed my way through herds of people and wandered up and down the narrow alleys and stairs.  And I survived!  Yay!

     Afterwards, I boarded a bus which says "Taipei."  I didn't ride the train anymore so I'd know the difference.  And what's different?  Well, the driver was cute, really nice and polite.  He greets each and every passenger who boards the bus and says good day to those who depart.  But he drives like a maniac, on a winding, narrow one-lane road of Jinguashi! Well, let's just say that I uttered prayers not only directed to Jesus but also to Buddha.  And almost all of the photos I took of the view from the bus were hazy because I couldn't steady my hands with the way the cute driver was driving.  So I gave up taking pictures.  It was that or risk my camera slipping off or being thrown away by the impact of the crazy driving.  On second thought, bus drivers in Hong Kong's hilly, one-way slopes are just the same.

     While the ride was crazy, it was fun.  There were a bunch elementary kids with their teacher (about 15 kids) who rode the bus from Ruiefeng station, and they look like they're in first grade or so.  They're so, so cute!  I wanted to pinch and hug them all!  Plus, there were no more sudden twists and turns!  We're back on the plains!  Yay!

     The bus finally made the end of its journey at the Zhongxiao Fuxing Station in Taipei.  If I remember correctly, the bus passed by a known night market, I think it was Raohe night market.  Honestly, I just boarded the bus without knowing where it would finally stop.  Heehee.  I got to Taipei safe and sound, around 4:00 p.m., and, I was lucky since I am familiar with the area around Zhongxiao Fuxing station as I used that station extensively the first time I came to Taipei last year. 

     

Food trip!

A-Mei Tea House: Spirited Away!

 A shop with old charm...

 ...beside a cave full of graffiti.

 Jiufen's First Tea House

Chinese Calligraphy

 In case you need one...a condom shop!

 Even Jiufen was not spared by the tween-bait known as Twilight, the movie.

 Obligatory picture-taking of the view.  It was the best I could 

because it was so darn foggy.

Taiwan Travel Adventures 2011: Day 2 in Jinguashi (Part 5) - A Miner's Lunch Experience and Strolling Around the Gold Ecological Park

     I know, I have way too many posts about my Jinguashi trip.  But don't worry, this is the last, I promise.

     The gold panning experience wrapped up at lunch time.  Before I headed down, I snapped pictures of the surroundings, including the dogs that seem to live in the area I found sleeping at different places in the Park.  While going down, I saw a very dilapidated Japanese house.  It looked forlorn and desolate.  There was a sturdy wooden gate but the house itself was beyond repair.

     In one of my earlier posts about Jinguashi, I wrote about the food stall of Show Luo's grandmother in Corner with Love.  It's actually part of the alfresco dining of a restaurant at the Park.  And, the restaurant's offering a miner's lunch set which comes with a stainless lunchbox, chopsticks and cloth wrapper.  Very Japanese.  It has rice and breaded porkchop inside and pickled side dish.  It's such a treat!  It was for TWD 230.00, if I remember correctly.

     .There are other interesting places at the Gold Ecological Park.  Even the police station looks really, really cute.  It's the best looking police station I've seen anywhere.  It's made of wood, too, to blend in with the Japanese feel of the Park.  There are food stalls, too, selling those Taiwanese sausages.  And there's a very quaint, very cute coffee shop with the cutest owls and dogs decorations ever!  It's in front of an old, dilapidated wooden house that looks straight out of a suspense movie.

     And, there are dogs inside the Park.  I don't know if it's the same dog, but I've seen it around the Park, sleeping!  So, so cute!

     And, if you need to use the  toilet, don't fret.  They're clean and I think they have western toilets, too.  But I used the eastern toilet.  I think it's cleaner since your skin won't have to touch the seat and the  flush. You just have to face the hooded end and press the  flush with your foot.

   
   

Thoughts: 20,000 Page Views! Thank you so Much, Readers, Guests and Followers!

     OMG!  I can't believe that there are people who actually visit my blog and read my entries!  Who knew that having 20,000 page views could make me happy?

     I didn't put up a travel blog for anything else other than make it a repository of my travel adventures and of course, to help people plan their own Asian journeys.  But really, I am quite honored to know that there are people out there who visit my blog, and perhaps, read my entries.  Even if you just stumbled upon my blog by mistake, I'm still so grateful.  And I'm even happier whenever someone leaves me a comment or two.

     I would like to thank my readers and visitors from the Philippines, especially the members of PinoyExchange.com, the United States, Malaysia and Singapore, the top four countries from where my readers and visitors hail from.  Of course, my heartfelt gratitude goes out as well to all my audience from around the globe.  Thank you very much! 

     Finally, I hope that my blog is able to somehow help  my fellow travellers with my more-often-than-not boring and lengthy posts.  I am trying my best to post my travel adventures as often as I could, with better photos and stories to tell. Please bear with me when I write down the details too much, for any grammatical mistakes (I'm lazy about editing) and when I don't make sense at all.  I'll try to change for the better, or so I hope.

     Again, thank you very much! 

  

Thoughts: So Busy! Plus, Planning for a New Trip

     I've been so busy the past few weeks.  I had one too many "rush" papers that I successfully managed to finish; and I got great compliments from the boss for a "finely written" job (the boss' words, not mine).  Yay!  However, I'd still be busy next week considering that I'd be leaving for Singapore.  So I need to wrap up my work before heading off for a vacation.

     Anyway, I've been updating my Tripadvisor contributions because I was sent an email by Tripadvisor telling me that I'm just 5 reviews away from earning a green-with-yellow-badge. As I wasn't able to update my Tripadvisor account since November 2010, I made reviews for the hotels I stayed at and the attractions I've been to in Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City and Taipei.  I could add a few more, but I'm still trying to find the energy to do so.  Besides, I still need to update my blog trip report about Taiwan, and I am not even halfway through.

     Despite my quite busy life lately, I still have the audacity to conjure up a plan to go to Shanghai, China, in early December or late November of this year.  I am really, really hoping to visit Japan in November but I think I would not have enough savings to pay for a Japan travel.  I mean, we all know that the standard of living in Japan is high, so the transportation and accommodations are relatively expensive as well.  And, if I'll be visiting Japan, I'd make sure that I'll stay there for at least 7 days, or a few more.  I'd love to travel to Hiroshima, Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo and a slew of other places as well.  So, I need a lots of money.

     Anyway, Shanghai?  Why not?  Well, I've been meaning to go to, and I've watched Shanghai Sweethearts (Show Luo and Yang Cheng Lin) and Tsuki no Koibito (Kimura Takuya and Lin Chi Ling) last year.  Besides, there's a lot of shopping to do there.  Plus, I've read that there are great places some 2 or less than 2 hours away from Shanghai, like Hangzhou and its West Lake, and Suzhou, the Venice of the East, with its classical gardens and canals.  These places are so rich in history and I'd very much love to walk along the banks of the West Lake and the canals and be amazed at the beauty that inspired scholars and artisans alike.  Just thinking about the classical gardens makes me want to go there as soon as possible.  Ah, I want to see such beauty in my own eyes.

     What am I doing daydreaming?  Well, I have not made plans for our Singapore and Malacca trip and yet I'm planning a too-distant trip.  Oh, well.   

It's More Fun in the Philippines: Bataan - Day 1 at the Westnuk Beach Cove

Westnuk Beach Cove on a stormy afternoon.

     Our accommodations at the NPC Village includes a free day pass to the Westnuk Beach Cove.  It is located inside the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) in Morong.  Before, you cannot go to the Westnuk Beach unless you know someone from the National Power Corporation who could accommodate you as a guest.  But not anymore!  It is now open to the public, but for a minimal fee.  If I'm not mistaken, entrance for day-trippers is around Php 130.00 per person, more or less, with discount for government employees..

     Now that it is accessible to the general public, the secret of its beauty is now out!  And it says so in its website:

Hidden away in the heart of Morong, Bataan, Westnuk Beach Resort is the perfect getaway for weary travelers looking to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. Our resort is only a two and a half hour drive from Manila. Getting there is an experience in itself as the roads you travel are filled with scenic views of where the mountains and the sea meet.

Even in its simplicity, Westnuk Beach Resort features comfortable accommodations with scenic ocean views. We cater to friends, families, and even companies seeking to have fun under the sun. For larger groups and company outings we can accommodate over five hundred people at our hotel at NPC Resort Village, a twenty minute ride via our shuttle service. That’s two venues to experience in one convenient package.

Be surrounded by nature unspoiled by man. When you’re not swimming, facilities for basketball, beach volleyball and karaoke are available for you to enjoy. Come and enjoy one of the Philippines most beautiful and unspoiled beaches for a holiday you’ll never forget.

     You know what?  NPC got it right.  The roads of Bataan to Westnuk do offer scenic views and are well-maintained; no traffic, too.  And the one from NPC Village to Westnuk Beach showcases rows of fields and clean creeks or streams.  It's very calming.

     It is a treat to go inside the BNPP and to see the Plant itself.  And then, you'll see the cove and it looks amazing.  However, since there was a storm when we were there, we didn't thoroughly enjoy the beach.   At first, the weather seemed fine: the sky was overcast, but no rain.  Thus, we were able to wade in the water but not for long.  Well, the winds started to get crazy and it affected the waves.  Good thing it was a cove so the waves were not intimidating.  Then, the skies suddenly grew darker and darker.  And it started to rain hard.

No rain yet.

But the waves came in succession,turning sea water to foam/bubble.

Heavy rain started to pour, and the waves got a little bigger.

See the rocks in the background shrouded by the rain.

     The Westnuk Beach also offers overnight accommodations, but it is almost always full.  Their ocean-view two-storey guest pavillion has four air-conditioned rooms and three regular rooms able to accommodate a total of forty-two guests.   If you can't get a reservation at the beach, the NPC Village and the NPC Hotel, 15-20 minutes away by car, are the alternatives.

Thoughts: Travel Updates

     I have been busy the past two weeks; worse, I am busier now.  So, I have not made a new post regarding my Taiwan trip last April.  Neither have I updated my blog with new travel stories.  I have been to Baguio and Subic in May and to Tagaytay the past weekend.  I have a couple of photos I would want to share  about the places I've been to; I just don't know when will I get the time to do all these.  Oh well.

     For heads up, we stayed at the Manor in Camp John Hay and had a zipline experience inside the Camp.  I visited again the Zoobic Safari during a very stormy weekend in May.  And I've been to Tagaytay Highlands,and the Memory Lane just yesterday.  Photos and stories to follow.

     Till then! 

It's More Fun in the Philippines: Bataan - Day 1 at the NPC Nuclear Power Village

     Since I am just a short post away from wrapping up my Macau travel adventures, I'm going to blog about my Bataan adventures since I've been itching to do it for a long time already.

     If you remember, last August 2011, the Philippines had a rather extra long weekend because of several holidays.  So, I was so flustered thinking about being stuck at home.  I wanted to go to Baguio but my reservation was put on-hold and when it was finally okay, it was already too late to go.  Anyway, my family and I ended up staying at the National Power Corporation's Nuclear Power Village in Bagac, Bataan.

     It was my third time to set foot in Bataan.  The first one was when I was in college; the second one was for a 2-day work-related matter. But the road we took going to Bagac was different from the one I used before, so it was like my first time going to Bataan.

     Anyway, I liked Bataan.  In fairness, the roads are wide and paved; there are a lot of trees and really, nature still abounds.  However, there are not too many vehicles on the road and Bagac is like 2 to 2 1/2 hours away from Manila.

     To reach the NPC Village, which is now open to the public for rentals of the villas, is really easy.  It's after the Philippine-Japanese Friendship Tower, turn right from the gas station and you're there.

The Philippine-Japanese Friendship Tower

    The Village is past its glory days.  Really.  The houses are sad looking and old, but for its price, its okay.    I think I paid around Php 3,000  with discount, for 2 days and 1 night.  However, if you need to use a ref, the tv or a gas burner, you'd have to rent it for a fee.  I forgot how much, though. Anyway, they have a maximum number of guests allowed per house but don't worry, they won't make a head count.  We were almost 20 in our group although the allowable people per house is just 10-12.  We didn't pay extra.  If you prefer, they also have a small hotel.

It's easy to know that this place has once been grand.  See the helipad in front of the hotel.

     Most of the amenities are non-operational.  But at least, the pool remains.

But there's a fire station inside!  How cool is that?

     There are 4 huge rooms (or 5?).  We all fit in. I requested for extra sheets and pillows and they didn't charge me for those.

 These are the bungalows.  So huge.  Ours is across this one, but smaller.

These are the abandoned bungalows.

      And bring your own food.  It's difficult to find a place to eat, even at the "bayan."

     There's a good thing about the NPC Village.  It comes with free entrance to the West Nuk Beach at the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.  They also have lodgings at the Beach but it was fully booked so we had to settle with the village.  The catch: it's about 15-25 minutes by car from the Village.  But the trip is all worth it, I promise.

     The NPC Village also has a swimming pool; old but clean and decent, and the compound is huge and good for a stroll or for jogging.  And, there are a lot of guava trees.  We just picked from the trees, with blessings from the guard (he says it'll just get rotten anyway), and the guavas we got were so delicious! Juicy and ripe!  Yum.  We even got to take home some.

The guavas either just fall on the ground or get eaten by birds, like this one.

     And, if you don't know it, you can view from the Village, the famous Las Casas Pilipinas, a resort nearby which painstakingly restored, piece by piece, some of the historic houses, mansions and even school buildings, from around Luzon.  

 Las Casas Filipinas as seen from the NPC Village.

     Finally, I must say that the views here are gorgeous.  See the photo below where the road seems to meet the sea and the skies.