CDO-Camiguin Tour

This is my first time traveling to Mindanao, and first stop would be in Cagayan de Oro. It was Piso Fare offer in Cebu Pacific that got us to travel to CDO, booked way back February of last year?? Together with all the surcharges and taxes, our fare just came down to almost Php 600 per person.  A few weeks before our trip, we were supposed to just hire a travel  agency to book everything for us, but the practical side of me took over and decided to try to book the tours and accommodations. Being so busy with work, I decided to just POAT on Pinoy Exchange Forum on CDO thread asking for itinerary. Luckily, Noel Greene responded to me. I'm not sure, but I think he is the owner, or co-owner, of Manage TravelTours in CDO. It's a little bit complicated as Noel resides in Ireland, while his brother-in-law resides here. They provide the transportation service/tour within CDO and to places nearby such as Bukidnon and to port going to Camiguin. Noel also booked me in Victoria Suite Hotel, a cheap hotel in CDO, and gave me contact to book our Camiguin Tour. They've also arrange our White Water Rafting and tour Dahilayan Park in Bukidnon.

Finally all was set and our day of departure finally came. We met up about an hour and a half before our flight leaves, since we were hungry, we decided to eat first. We felt relax that we just went to the boarding area about 40 minutes before our boarding. The crew told us to wait first as she was going to check if we can still be boarded. WTF? All of us were speechless for a moment there, and when the crew let us pass through, we were so relieved and found it hilarious at the same. We didn't know what to do if the plane left us. About 1 1/2 hour later, at almost 5 in the afternoon, we finally arrived at CDO.

Emero, Noel's brother-in-law, picked us up in the airport and drove us to Victoria Suite Hotel. The hotel was nice enough for sleeping and taking a bath, it's clean  but small. For just Php 900 for twin sharing, one can't expect a lot from it. Emero was kind enough to drove us around the area to see where we could hang out. Since it was late in the afternoon, we really don't have time to do anything much, so when we saw a cute small bakery, Missy Bon Bon, we decided to hang there to eat. It was a chic bakeshop, with different cakes and breads, plus gelatos and some other dishes. Must try is their Macaroons and Pistachio Gelato. Although, it's a little bit pricier than the other flavors, at Php 100 per scoop, it's the best pistachio gelato I have tasted so far. Continue reading here.

Strawberry Short Cake from Missy Bon Bon

Surfing in La Union on my 25th Birthday

Since it was my 25th birthday, and I thought that 25 is already a very old age, I wanted to try out something new. I know I'm over-reacting when I say that 25 is a very old age, but I just feel like I'm having another stint of  quarter life crisis, questioning myself, my choices, and where I want to be.  So I decided to invite 4 of my core friends to celebrate my birthday with, my "posh" gang as we like to brand ourselves. Haha. The first plan was actually to go to the Hot Air Balloon Festival in Pampanga to ride the Hot Air Balloon, but since they 're not yet willing to pay about $150 each, I decided we just go surfing since we had that plan since last year. 

My brother already went surfing in La Union, so I decided we just go there since my surfer friends also told me that La Union is the surfing spot for beginners. Being the assigned travel planner and since it was me who invited them, I had the task of looking for a place to stay and I just have one week left. The most popular surf resort in La Union is the San Juan Surf Resort, where they house the Billabong Surf School. I think it is owned by Luke Landringan, the guy in the Highlands Corned Beef commercial. Haha. We plan to leave Manila on Friday afternoon, and go back by Sunday afternoon, so I had to book 2 nights accommodation. Turns out, San Juan Surf Resort is already fully booked on Saturday, so I had to find another resort.  My next choice was the Sebay Resort, but when I made an inquiry, they were also fully booked on Saturday.  Wow, many people are already into surfing. So back to searching again, I found Kahuna Resort, but their rates were a little expensive compared to the others, more like rates for foreigners. But I must admit, their place looks really posh and relaxing. Finally I found Costa Villa which is quite new in that area. They don’t have a website yet, but I found their Facebook page where their contact number can be found. I just sent a text message to them at +639162751884 to make an inquiry, and they immediately called me up to attend to my inquiry. The owner was the one who called me up, so if you want to contact him directly, you can call him at +639178432386. The room good for 4 cost Php 3150 a night, but since I told him we're gonna check in late, he gave me a discount and the room only cost me Php 3000 a night, with breakfast included for 4. He gave me their bank details where I deposited 50% as down payment for the reservation.  Finally, this is really going to happen! Continue reading here.

Post Christmas Getaway at Zambales

Every year my family and I make it a point to go the beach. This year, this annual thing happened quite late, but it was still a time well spent. My brother suggested to go to Potipot Island, which is in Candelaria, Zambales. It's much like Anawangin Island where there's no resort situated in the island, and not even electricity. It’s just an island, literally, with just a few huts and comfort rooms.

So my family headed to Zambales, Monday morning, a day after Christmas. We took the NLEX route then SCTEX. We left home at about past 9 in the morning, and was able to reach Subic at around 12 to have lunch first. We had lunch at Aristocrat, then headed to the road again. It was like another 2 1/2 hours more of driving to reach Candelaria, Zambales. 

We finally arrived at Candelaria at almost 3 in the afternoon. Since my family really didn’t want to camp out on Potipot Island, we stayed at Dawal Beach Resort at Calendaria. It’s a pretty decent resort, one of more high-end ones, relative to the other resorts in the area. They have different types of room, from Standard rooms, Pool side rooms and Penthouse. We rented 2 Standard Rooms, good for 3 each, for 2 nights. The room is for Php 4000 a night I think, with television, air condition and hot & cold shower. We also checked out the Penthouse, which is already good for 6, but it has only one bathroom and television, so we decided to just rent 2 separate rooms.

After checking in our rooms, we decided to head out to the beach for a swim. It's almost sunset then, so it's not really hot and sunny. The beach is ok, the shore is long with water that is not too deep. The only drawback is that the sand is black, so it looks like mud, but the water is clear and clean.  Continue reading here.

Dawal Beach Resort Shore at Candelaria, Zambales

Another Random Road Trip to Tagaytay

I've been to Tagaytay more than a few times already, some with them with friends, some with family, most of them random..

My trip to Tagaytay  with my posh friends started at 5:30 in the morning. Excited? Haha. Jamie and I met up with JE at UP Engineering Building. From there, we just took one car, JE's car, and hit the road along Edsa to fetch Ivanz. Ivanz was thoughtful enough to buy waffles, but not enough for all of us. Haha. He just bought 3, so JE and I had to share one.

So off we went to Tagaytay, taking the SLEX route. Our first destination was to eat breakfast. We looked for a place, and randomly found Bag of Beans. JE had a hard time remembering the name, thinking like it  was bean bag and bag of bones. Hahaha. We didn't know that it was famous place there in Tagaytay. We were just enticed that the place looks nice and we were starving already, so we didn't want to be choosy. The place is posh, the ambiance was great with it's antique and rusty feel. A perfect way to start our trip. Continue reading here.

Bag of Beans

Surviving Pakistan

Ok, so my travel to Pakistan doesn't really fall into the category of posh but cheap travel, but still it's something worth blogging about. Never in a million years did I imagine going to Pakistan. As open as I am to travel every corner of the world, I have never dreamt of going there. With all the things that had just recently happened there, and still happening right now;  I don't think any traveler would want to visit that place.

So how did I end up there? Well, I had no choice. My company assigned me to handle the Middle East process, and was assigned to go there to have face-to-face engagements with the stakeholders. First thing that came to my mind when I got the email that I would go there is "I'm scurred"(scared hahaha). My office mates were very supportive, saying comforting words such as "we don't need your pasalubongs, we just need you to come back in one piece". Even one of the bosses joke me to bring an Armalite and wear a bullet-proof vest, how comforting hahaha.

Since we are allowed to plan out our itinerary ourselves, I had to take the opportunity to ride one of the best airlines, the Emirates Airlines. Since my flight would take longer than 2 hours, company policy dictates that we book business class for safety and health reasons. Woohoo! Business class for the first time, and it would be in Emirates. Sweet. I booked my accommodation in Sheraton Hotel which is one of the best hotels there.

My flight consisted of about 10 hours, 8 hours to Dubai, and another 2 hours going to Karachi.  I left Manila Saturday evening. I had a little episode with the Immigration officer since he was asking me about my purpose there. I told him that I would be there for business, so he asked my company ID. The thing is, our company ID is not exactly an official ID since it only has our name and photo, without any company logo whatsoever. It's more like a smart card to be used in our computer. So I showed him my invitation letter from the company, which is out of date since my visit was moved to a later date, and the date indicated in the letter was the original date.  I explained to him that the original date was postponed and I was not able to obtain an updated letter. Anyway, he did let me go afterwards. I guess he was just concerned of what a kid-looking girl like me would do there. I wanted to tell him if I have a choice, I wouldn't go there. Haha. So I was able to pass the immigration, and now I would have just to wait for my boarding.

It was very comfortable as it can get in the business class. The seats can be reclined as much as a bed, and everything was very spacious.  Each has its own screen where one could watch series and movies. The flight attendants address our every needs. So after about 8 hours of flying, we finally came to Dubai. I am really excited to check out the Dubai Airport since it's one of the best airports in the world. The Dubai Airport is huge, with its own mini shopping mall inside. Every thing is state of the art and modern. I checked out some of the shops so I would be familiar with it when I came back there on my return flight since I'm planning to go shopping then.

After about a 3-hour stopover in Dubai, it was time for me to fly to Karachi, Pakistan. I was still flying with Emirates. Their business class is not as beautiful as my first flight, but I guess this is because the flight is only for 2 hours. Finally, at almost 12 noon on Sunday, I arrived at Karachi Airport. The Karachi Airport is more like the Manila Airport, it's not so modern and not so big. 

There's a 3 hour difference between Karachi and Manila. Upon my arrival at the airport, a protocol officer from my company was waiting for me. I wasn't expecting someone would be waiting and assisting me, but I was quite relief that someone was there to accompany me with the immigration officer. I actually arranged with Sheraton hotel to send someone to pick me up but turns out I have a company driver to pick me up.

So I rode with the company driver to my hotel. Karachi is much like Manila, not Makati, but Manila; with the busy dusty streets swarming with people. After about 20 minute ride, we finally arrived at Sheraton Hotel. The security was very tight, I actually got a little bit scared of their guards. They are like hardcore Middle Eastern looking, with the mustache and all, wearing bullet-proof vest and long Armalite rifles. After checking in at the concierge, I was brought to my room. My room is beautiful; it has queen size bed, a table and computer chair to work on, a television with cable, and a bathroom with a bathtub. The only downside of it is the balcony area is covered with net. I'm not sure if it's for security purpose, or just to keep away the big black birds that loom around the sky. I asked my driver what type of birds they are, and he said they're falcons. Well, to me they look like black crows, and they really creep me out. Continue reading here.

My Sheraton Hotel Room