Travelling with a Toddler

Two months from now, we'll be going on a long-haul flight with my 5-year old. I'm really dreading it as my son gets bored easily. This was evident during our wait at the US Embassy for his visa interview. We waited for almost two hours for his number to be called and he was horribly bored by the time we were in line with the consul. Since electronic devices were not allowed inside the US Embassy, we had to contend with a sticker book and chatting with seatmates.

I'm already planning my strategy for our flight. It will be a three-hour wait at the NAIA 1 airport as we intend to be there by 8AM for our 11AM flight. And then 2 hours on the plane to Hongkong. Another 4 hour wait at HKIA before our flight leaves at 540PM. And then there's the 16-hour flight to Newark where we'll arrive at 940PM. That is more than 24 hours of travelling!

I'm thinking of adjusting his body clock even before we leave. That means that I'll be disrupting his sleeping schedule. I'll have him sleep sometime after midnight the night before we leave. So by the time we leave for the first leg of our flight, he'll be very sleepy at the airport. When we get to Hongkong, hopefully, he'll sleep it off while waiting for our flight. However, that means he is awake most of the 16 hour flight to Newark. I guess I just have to entertain him with books, crayons, IPad and hopefully, the movies of Cathay are entertaining enough for him. Or my husband and I can take turns taking catnaps while somebody watches over him. I truly hope he won't annoy the other passengers as he can get really loud and chatty. I guess we have to brief him on flight etiquette first.

I will definitely be posting on our experience when we get back.

Thankful - Feb 4

My blessings for today:

1. My safe travel to and from the office - I left the house extra early today. Good thing I did as after entering the highway through Filinvest, traffic came to a stand-still and I saw this plume of smoke in front of me. There were also no cars at the southbound lane. I knew then without looking at Waze or the news that there must be an accident down the road. Fortunately, traffic started moving and a kilometer before the Skyway entry ramp, a bus was at the southbound lane still smoldering. Apparently, the tire of the bus caught fire and it exploded. Good thing nobody was fatally wounded by the incident. It did, however, cause heavy traffic.

2. Helping my son with his Kumon assignment - it's a blessing that he was cooperative the whole time and he did not complain. He also used to pitch a fit if I would erase his answers because I wanted him to correct it. Tonight, he just wrote the right answers and finished his homework in less than 30 minutes. Now, if i can just teach him not to rush his work to lessen his mistakes.

3. My seatmates at work - I am blessed to have my cubicle seated between two wonderful people. My good friend and lunchmate is seated on the cubicle on my left and we sometimes talk to each other through the thin walls. People would look at us oddly whenever we would have our "through-the-wall" conversations as it looks like as if we're talking to ourselves. As to my right, I'm sharing my cubicle with another colleague who's quite financial savvy and keeps his own blog here. He's my soundboard, translator and thesaurus all in one. And he gives sound financial advise too!

4. Done Quiz for CIC - I finished my quiz for Saturday in early this week. Usually, I would be cramming it on the day before. Actually, I forced myself to finish it early as I requested my husband to have the print-out reproduced at the nearby copy center. I did not want to print the test papers on my home printer as I have more students in Cost and Internal Control (22) than in Risk Management (15).

5. My blog - This blog is a blessing for me as it helps me remember things and lets me exercise my creative writing. I also realized that my site celebrated its 10th year last year yet I did not even have a big celebration like other sites (on that note, my blog is one year older than Facebook. FB turns 10 today!). I've ignored blogging for almost 3 years and I intend to be more active in posting this year. I blame Facebook and my penchant for buying pretty notebooks which I use as journals. Sometimes, I get too lazy to post as I'll just be repeating whatever I wrote on my journal.

Party in the U.S.A.

I'm not a Miley Cyrus fan. I just posted the video as there's a very big chance that we're going to the US of A this May.

Last time we were there was 3 years ago and it was just my husband and I (see our itinerary at the side bar). This time around, we're bringing our 5 year old son with us. I'm quite excited about it and at the same time, quite scared. Basti already rode the plane when we went to Bohol a couple of years ago so he should be fine. It's just that the travel time to Newark is quite long. The shortest travel time that I found was 19 hours. That's a big difference compared to the 1 hour flight to Tagbilaran.

I'm already racking my brains on how to keep him occupied for the whole flight. Cathay Pacific, which has the cheapest fares so far, leaves in the morning. Two hour layover at HK and then the 15 hour flight to Newark. Hopefully, he'll conk out during the long-haul flight. I don't know how I'll be as the last time we went there, I barely slept on the plane (I so envied my seatmate then as she was asleep the whole flight--only to wake up during meal times). I'm praying that Basti will cooperate and will not sorely test our patience.

Anyway, we'll finalize our plans after our son's "interview" at the US embassy at the end of this month.

US Vacation - Getting There

The day that I've been looking forward to in more than 20 years has finally arrived, I am able to return to the US and experience its wonders all over again.

We were actually supposed to visit in April 2008, a few months after my husband and I got married. Together with my US visa getting renewed, we confirmed that I was pregnant! So we had to postpone the trip until I gave birth. That occasion finally arrived when my mom invited us for her 60th birthday celebration and my sister for her son's Christening this June 2011.

I booked an EVA Air ticket for my husband and I (we did not bring our son with us) last March for a three week stay in the US. After that, there were a flurry of email exchanges between my mom, sister and I as we planned our itinerary.

On the morning of June 16, we were in NAIA around 3.5 hours before our flight. That's my husband with his rare smiles as we patiently wait for the check-in counter to open and that's me at the Gate waiting for our flight to be called.




Our flight left almost one hour behind schedule at 130PM. It wasn't a problem as our flight does not leave until 650PM so with the almost two hour flight time, we'll surely make it without stressing ourselves too much.

When we arrived at Taipei, we went around familiarizing ourselves with the place and trying to find a place to eat.



We settled on a noodle house where we had beef noodle soup. The serving was so huge that my husband and I shared a bowl.



We boarded our flight right on schedule. The flight though was uneventful and horribly boring for me as I could not sleep. The EVA Air entertainment/interactive system helped me keep my sanity. The movie selections sucked though but I did manage to watch an episode each of Family Guy, CSI and five other shows.

We touched down Newark airport 20 minutes ahead of schedule. I was so grateful that I wanted to kiss the airport ground but that would probably not be advisable. :)

Due to the lateness of the hour, there were only a minimum number of passport control officers who were manning the counters to process our arrival. There were more officers for the US and Canadian citizens and green card holders. We were in line for more than hour until we were up. Our fingerprints and pictures were taken and we were asked how long we will be staying.

After that, we proceeded to the bags carousel to retrieve our luggage. As we've been stuck in line for so long, our bags were already on the conveyor. I got a couple of carts (which costs $5 each!), loaded our bags and was fortunately waved through customs. I don't mind the random bag search but I was so tired already.

It took around 30 minutes before we finally found my brother-in-law, Jeff and got everything loaded in their SUV.



My niece, Madison, and my sister, Claudine, greeted us when we arrived. I still had strength to open our bags and give out pasalubongs. It was already 130AM when I was able to take a shower and lie down. Unfortunately, I was just too tired to sleep that I only had 2 hours of rest. I gave up when I woke up at 4AM and decided to just tough it out that day.

Our Day 1 and 2 kuwento here.

Bohol Travel Kuwento

I managed to back-post an entry which I initially wrote in September 2009 but was only able to save it as a draft. I finished it today and you can read about our Bohol Travel Kuwento here.

I really want to go back to that place. Hopefully really soon.

Travel Kuwento: Bohol August 21-23, 2009

At the start of August, I already asked Leo where we will celebrate our second wedding anniversary. Last year, we went to Subic and this year, I want to go somewhere else again. I can't remember how we arrived with Bohol but I can recall that there was not much discussion involved. We somehow just agreed with Bohol.

We next settled with the date. We initially wanted it during the long weekend of our anniversary. But since I had finals, we moved it a week earlier which happens to be another long weekend.

As we only had two weeks until our agreed date, I rushed everything. I booked online and we got Cebu Pacific this time around. We also found a nice resort as recommended by my online friends.

The reason why we chose Cebu Pacific other than it's price, is that it leaves Manila a tad later than PAL giving us more time to get to the airport (via Skyway!). Also, I wanted to see NAIA III.

I woke up all excited as I've really been looking forward to this trip. I was a bit sad too as we'll be leaving Basti behind (my in-laws though, took him to Tagaytay). We arrived at NAIA III two hours before our flight. I expected the worse and I was surprised by the cleanliness of the airport and how it can really rival airports from other countries. I do hope that the government settle whatever they would need to settle so they can fully operate the airport. It beats NAIA I hands down!

We had breakfast at one of the airport kiosks (food choices are definitely better than NAIA I) and patiently waited for our flight. It didn't take long though but we were diverted to another gate as the flight before us was delayed.

Flight to Bohol only took one hour and a half. I was again pleasantly surprised by the plane. It's clean and the interior looks new--like the PAL plane that I rode going to Singapore last year. Our photo was taken by our window-seat seatmate who kindly offered to do so.


As we were not seated by the window, I was not able to take a good photo of Bohol from up in the air. I assume though that it looks exactly like in the map. The airport is surrounded by hills and trees, typically provincial Philippines.

We requested for an airport transfer and we were happy to see that the driver from our resort--Alona Tropical--was there at the gate. He took us to a Toyota Vios and after loading our luggage, drove out of the airport and on the way to Panglao Island. I asked if we'll be taking a bangka ride going to the island and he mentioned, much to my relief, that there's a short bridge connecting both islands eliminating the need for a boat ride.

Seeing the coast was such a welcome sight. The water was so inviting and so clear! You could really see your feet underneath the water and it feels like you're swimming in a pool! This was the view from the restaurant at our resort. The beach is just FABULOUS!!!Makes you want to jump right in...and here's another unobstructed view.

We opted not to go anywhere on our first day and just stayed at the resort. We (or rather, I), swam in the beach in the afternoon and we even tried out their pool (it's SO deep as they also use it for teaching people on how to dive). We also explored the stretch of beach and found other resorts where you can have lunch/dinner, which we did that night.

DAY 2
As discussed with our tour guide/driver, we wanted to do the land tour thing on the 2nd day. I only have two things that I wanted to see in my must-see list--the must acclaimed Chocolate Hills and the indigenous Tarsier. We set out at 8AM and started off to Chocolate Hills which was an hour's ride from the resort.

We first stopped at the Sandugo sight (which was a replica of the "agreement" made by the locals with the Spaniards). Unfortunately, there were too many tourists waiting for their turn with the statues so we only took a few pictures.

Though I lacked sleep, I was excited in seeing the sights that I barely noticed my tiredness. The tourguide/driver was also full of trivia and tidbits about the towns and landmarks that we passed. I'm very impressed with him and I assume that the rest of the guides are the same as well. Whoever trained them did a damn good job and I commend them for their effort and success.

My first glimpse of the famed Chocolate Hills was full of awe. Apparently, the hills fan through 3 or 4 towns and I asked the driver to stop so I can have a picture with the first few hills. The small hill at the background is indeed a chocolate hill. The bigger ones though are further into the island's interior--which we'll be seeing later on.


Finally, we got to the base of the viewing deck and the climb towards the viewing deck was definitely worth the climb (200+ step!). The view is absolutely magnificent and marvelous! There were hills as far as the eye can see! You would really wonder how these hills came to be and they would really look like little chocolate kisses come summer when the hot summer sun turns the grass covering the hills into brown.

After probably an hour at the place (we had ice cream at the base of the viewing deck), the driver returned for us and we traced our route back to the resort. Stopping at places of interest for us. Oh, another interesting thing to note, the restroom there has aircon inside! People wanted to stay inside the restroom because it was SO hot outside. Me included. Hehe.

Our first stop back was the butterfly farm. I felt it was no different than the other butterfly farms in the Luzon island but it was the first time that I held a live caterpillar and let a butterfly rest on my hair. Seeing the insects flutter about the garden was also very relaxing and I somehow got over my fear of them. There's an urban legend that if a butterfly wing touches your eye, you'll get blind. Apparently, there's no truth in that--according to our guide.

After the butterfly farm, we finally got to a place that lets you view the tarsiers and like other tourists, I was able to get a shot with the famous mammal. Apparently, there are a lot of tarsier farms in the area and we were brought to this one. We're not allowed to touch the little guys so I tried to get as close as I can without bothering them. This was the best shot that we got.

Another thing I love about Bohol was the churches. We visited two of them and both of them are quite ancient. If I'm not mistaken, they were built way back during the Spanish era. I also learned a bit of trivia. This church is the second oldest church in Bohol. According to Wikipedia, it was originally built in 1602, but soon reduced to ashes. The bell tower of Loboc is about 100 meters from the church.

We also visited another church, the Baclayon church. This church was initially built in 1596 and located near the coastline. Next to the church is the old convent (which we also visited) which also houses a small museum with centuries-old religious relics, artifacts and other antiquities, dating back to the 16th century. Here I am posing outside the church.

After the churches, we had lunch at one of the boats cruising the Loboc River. While having lunch, we had a local singer serenading us with local songs (and even Japanese songs for the tourists). This shot was taken towards the end of the cruise and I felt so calm and peaceful while looking through it again. There's really something about the sea can calm a person (I think there's a psychological test somewhere on how you look at the sea).

The cruise took around 30 minutes to an hour, I think. We stopped by a "settlement" where local people dressed up in tribes gear entertained us with their drums and dance. Other than that, it's just seeing the palm trees along the river and enjoying the music, food and view. Really something that a Bohol visitor should experience.

We got back at the resort at around late afternoon and I could feel myself coming down with something. Apparently, I caught a cold because of the abrupt change in weather (it was hot outside and after sight-seeing, we would take shelter inside the car where the aircon was on at full blast).

DAY 3

We were at the Tagbilaran airport right on time. Unfortunately, I was nursing a cold and I tell you from experience that it's so difficult to fly with a clogged nose. I was so miserable throughout the whole flight even the cold medicine that I took could not knock me out.

Anyway, the Bohol trip was the best local trip that we've had so far. That island is so beautiful and there are still a lot of things that we were not able to see. I'm looking forward to going back and hopefully, we can bring our brood along.

Malaysia, Simply Asia

Leo and I will be going to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on December 26 and will be back on December 30. KL was not our first choice actually. We were debating between Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam but we ended up with KL (I've already been to Singapore; there's no direct flight to Cambodia and Leo will be having a company meeting at Vietnam next month). We bought a guide book on KL and we'll do our own tour thing. We prefer it than rushing from one place to another.

Map of Malaysia taken from http://www.oceaneering.com/uploadedImages/Locations/Malaysia_KualaLumpur%20copy.jpg

Bohol Trip

Leo and I went to Bohol on August 21 to 23 to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary.
We stayed at Alona Tropical Beach Resort at Panglao Island.
Bohol is such a very beautiful and enchanting place. We will return there someday and we'll bring Basti. He'll surely enjoy it.
Take note, it's not expensive as other people would say. It's really cheap. The airfare is more expensive than what we spent for the room and other expenses. Better if we were able to find cheap fares going there.

First Year Anniversary

Leo and I are planning our First Year Anniversary celebration. Is there anywhere that we can go that does not entail getting there by plane? Where the travel time will not exceed 4 hours?

Tagaytay is already out of the question. We're there almost once a month and though we haven't explored it that much, we would prefer to go somewhere else.

Leo has been harping on Subic or Clark, but I don't know what else to do there. Any other suggestions?

Oh, and no beaches please (as much as possible!).

Cebu, B?

Before I get too big to travel, Leo and I are planning to go to Cebu at the end of the month. I'm on leave for a week and I want to spend it somewhere else other than here at home. We initially thought of going to Hongkong but I'll probably be miserable as I don't have enough money to go shopping and I won't be able to enjoy HK Disneyland as I won't be able to walk as much as I want. So we're left with local choices.

Leo suggested Cebu and I liked the idea as we've always been planning to go to Cebu but those plans never seem to push through. Might as well.

Anyway, we would appreciate any suggestions on where to stay (preferably a pension house) and what to do and where to go while we're there. We're just going to stay at the Cebu proper and probably would not have enough time to go to Bohol. We'll probably just walk around and taste and see the sights. Would want to see Magellan's Cross but it's in Mactan Island (I need a Cebu map! I can't seem to get my geography straight!).

Would appreciate any suggestion. Thanks!

A License and a Visa

I've had a busy couple of days. I did not blog about it much as I was not ready to announce or talk about it.

I've been on leave from the office since Wednesday. I went to the Land Transportation Office and applied for another (my third!) student license. This time, it was clear to me that the license validity is only for one year and I can switch to a non-professional license in a month's time. Desperation made me do it as we won't have a driver for a month and my in-laws will be out of the country. I won't have someone who will drive me to the shuttle station every morning and fetch me from the station in the evening. Well, there's my husband but I don't have the heart to wake him up everyday at 7AM (he gets home past midnight) so he can drive for me.

I enrolled at A1 Driving School for a refresher course. I drove yesterday for 5 hours straight and my left knee and thigh are still hurting. I chose a manual car as the practical exam for the non-pro license requires us to drive a manual car (an owner-type jeep). I drove through EDSA AT RUSH HOUR!!! The gentle slopes that defined EDSA felt like mountains to me as my "hanging" was sorely tested. My parking still needs practice and my lane changing. According to my instructor, I have the tendency to jerk the wheel whenever I get nervous (e.g. when a bus or a truck drives alongside). So I need to calm my nerves and ensure I don't drink any coffee before I drive.

This morning, my husband and I had our interview at the US Embassy for our Non-Immigrant VISA and I'm happy to say that we were approved! After 21 years, I'm going back to the US of A! I can't wait to see my mom, my sister and her new baby on September (and my brother-in-law and other relatives, of course)!

The interview was relatively painless. She just asked us some questions--who are your immediate relatives in the US (me - my mom and my sister; leo - 3 sisters of my mom), what other countries have you been to other than the US (me - singapore and thailand; leo - singapore, thailand, and europe), how long have you been working for your company (me - 8 years; leo - 1 yr), how much do you earn (ay secret na yan. hehe) etc etc. I took out the documents that I painstakingly prepared and photocopied in case she asks for them but she did not ask for anything! The consul said that we're a good risk and gave us the yellow paper (it felt like American Idol. It's the Golden Ticket!) which indicated that our application/renewal was approved.

We were only inside the embassy for less than 2 hours. However, it tooks us half the day (we were there at 7AM and left 11AM) as the travel agency inadvertently gave us an expired application form (my husband's) wherein the payment was made January 2007! When the pre-screener discovered this, it was only 730AM. :( So we had to go out, wait for the bank to open and for our agency to pay for the application fee again. By the time we got back inside the embassy, it was already 930AM and we were at the tail-end of the crowd.

While waiting for our turn for the consul interview, we were listening to the other interviews (we couldn't help it. There were speakers outside each window so you could hear whatever the consul was saying). There was an interview where the appplicant was too honest:

CONSUL: Why are you going to the US
GIRL: To visit my boyfriend
CONSUL (with humor in her voice): To visit your boyfriend?
GIRL: Yes
CONSUL: Is he an American Citizen?
GIRL: Yes
CONSUL: Has he been here? How long?
GIRL: Yes ((can't hear how long. I think it was a month)
CONSUL: Who's going to pay for your ticket?
GIRL: Myself
CONSUL: How much do you earn?
GIRL: ((can't hear but it was either minimum or she doesn't have a job))
CONSUL: What other income documents do you have?
GIRL: ((can't hear what she exactly said but she can't seem to present anything))
CONSUL: You should've known about it when you paid for your visa application. How long will you stay there?
GIRL: A month or so.
CONSUL: How will I know you're coming back?
GIRL: I'll be coming back.
CONSUL: Yes, but how will I believe that you will be coming back? You might stay there for 6 months or so and you won't be coming back.

Anyway, I don't know how that interview ended as it was our turn already in another window. I have a feeling though that she was declined.

There was an old couple though who were granted visas and the old man was crying. The consul was consoling him. She was saying, "It's ok, Sir. It's ok." Maybe he will finally see his children who he hasn't seen in years.

Singapore

Singapore was everything that they said it would be. What really struck me was how clean everything was. You could probably drop a piece of bread on the floor and you can still eat it without fear of germs. And heck, tap water was potable! It's been a very long time since I was able to drink from the tap.

I made the mistake of agreeing with our EA who booked my trip that I was ok to leave Manila at 740PM. I thought that there was a time different so I would arrive at Singapore at 10PM. Just enough time for me to go to the hotel, check in, fix my stuff and go to sleep. Obviously, it was a wrong call. That's why I was not too alert at the first day of the workshop. Good thing our facilitator, my boss (indirect line), was understanding enough to acknowledge that not all of us would be participative on the first day.

When I arrived in Singapore Tuesday night, it was raining. When I woke up the next day, it was drizzling and by the time we were done, it was raining--hard. It prevented me from going around too much.

The whole workshop was interesting though--even if we worked through lunch during those two days. We ended at 530 on the first day and 6PM on the second day. I guess that's why we worked through lunch so we can leave early. Meeting my counterparts from other countries made me a bit insecure about myself and the work that I do. I felt so insignificant and for the first time since I got the invitation email, started to question my own presence in the workshop. I felt I had no input whatsoever as the other countries have better operations and business than what we do. But I learned a lot in terms of improvement of our process and having some sort of goal for my team.

One thing I noticed was that people there work really hard. During dinner on the first night, everyone was so quiet. Either everyone was really tired or everyone's just serious. We had dinner at Peach Garden Restaurant at the 31st floor of the OCBC Centre near Orchard Road. They served Chinese cuisine and it was good. Not superb but good. The portions were small but afterwards, I felt so full! It was 7 courses, I think.

On the second night, I met up with my friends based in Singapore. They took me to Suntech Plaza where we had dinner at Pepper Rice where I had a Chicken with Pepper Rice while they had Salmon with Pepper Rice (would want to try that next time). After that, we went to Carrefour where I bought some pasalubongs.

It was 9pm when we adjourned. Since my friends had work the next day, they took me to the taxi stand where I caught a cab that took me to Mustafa located in Little India. I swear, being in that mall was the longest time I held my breath. I had to go out every few minutes to catch my breath. (You have to go there so understand what I mean.) But it was the only mall open at that time (they're open 24 hours!). I managed to buy more pasalubongs and the tissue box cover that my mother-in-law asked me to buy.

When I woke up Friday morning, the sun was shining! Of all days it's when I'm supposed to leave for home. While waiting for my shuttle to take me to the airport, I walked around the block and check out the sights. Since I'm far from Orchard Road, I was only able to see a couple of temples and more buildings.

The shuttle was prompt in picking me up and when we got to Changi Airport, we found out that our PAL flight was delayed by an hour. However, there are a lot of things that one can do at Changi Airport and the hours can fly by unnoticed. I went shopping, surfed the net (go free internet access!), mailed some post cards and had lunch at Burger King.

When I got home, I still went to Duty Free as Leo was asking for Planters Cheese Curls--which they did not have. So I just bought more Combos and chocolates. Haha.

I would want to return to Singapore someday and hopefully, Leo will be with me. It was an adventure though. It was my first trip alone in 20 years!

Singapore Trip 11-14Mar08

I arrived in Singapore 1130PM Tuesday, Mar 11 and stayed until Mar 14, Friday.

It was a business trip so I was not able to go around that much. I only was able to go to Suntec City Mall and Mustafa. In the morning before I left, I walked around the vicinity of my hotel and took some pictures.

On an frustrating note, when I arrived in Singapore, it rained non-stop. When I woke up this morning to get ready to leave, the sun decided to shine. Argh!

Uniquely, Singapore

It's final. I got my invitation this afternoon. I'll be going to Singapore next week for a business workshop/meeting with my new boss. Since my department transferred divisions this year, I not only got a new boss, but a new indirect reporting line in the Region as well. It's good, it's also bad. But it's a new exciting change for me.

I was nominated by our Regional Credit Officer together with my Malaysian counterpart to attend the workshop. We'll be brainstorming together with our new regional boss and some other representatives from other countries on where we will take our respective departments in the next 12 months.

I don't have my travel arrangements yet but the workshop will run on Mar 11 and 12. So that means I'll be leaving Manila on the 10th. I don't know when I'll be returning though. Of course, I want to stay an extra day and do some sightseeing, but it would depend on my boss.

My boss told me to come well-prepared. I need to bring a laptop though and I'm not bringing my personal laptop. I'll see if I can borrow one at work.

So, what can I do/see in Singapore?

=================

UPDATE (04Mar08) - My workshop is scheduled to start on March 12 (not March 11 as I earlier mentioned) at 8AM and will end on March 13 530PM. It's going to be off-site so instead of our office there, it will be held at a place near Bras Brasah. We were recommended to stay at Rendezvous Hotel or Carlton Hotel. My boss' EA is helping me with my flight and hotel bookings. PAL flights that we saw: Leaving Manila on Mar 11 at 740PM; Leaving Singapore on Mar 14 at 1PM (last flight!). We'll just see if I can extend.

Sonya's Garden 16Feb08

Leo and I had lunch at Sonya's Garden yesterday with my parents-in-law, grandparents-in-law and the sister of my mother-in-law.

Sonya's Garden was bigger and better than it was when we went there a couple of years ago. Their food is still delicious and the flowers still beautiful. They now have a bed and breakfast for those who would want to stay overnight.

Shop Til You Drop - Our Bangkok Adventure Day 4

Being our last day, Leo wanted to check out another mall at Central Chidlom.

We had our last breakfast at the hotel, checked out early and left our bags with the concierge. We took a few pictures of our hotel and of our surroundings.

The second picture was taken at the overpass near our hotel. You can't believe that this street will be full of cars by mid-afternoon. A New Year's countdown party is scheduled to happen that night in front of Centralworld.

We then walked towards Central Chidlom. As the malls don't open til 10AM, we waited at a nearby Burger King.

Central Chidlom is like Rustan's (although I like Rustan's better). We bought more pasalubongs and Leo bought more stuff. We went around for an hour and returned to Big C to have an early lunch at KFC as we will be picked up at noon by the van which will bring us to the airport.

The airport looks beautiful in the daylight. It looks so imposing when you drive towards it. It's design lets in a lot of natural light. They also have nice set-ups inside where you can take pictures.

(note the shoes. This was the shoes I bought in Siam. Such a comfortable pair).

This set-up, if I remember it correctly, was near the entrance and check-in counters.

Speaking of check-in counters, it's really different compared to our NAIA. They have hundreds of check-in counters all over the place. And the counter was already open when we arrived.

After checking-in, we went through immigration and customs and walked towards our gate. The airport is actually a mall extension. Lots of brand shops going to the gates. It also helps that they have a walkalator.

Our flight was thankfully on time. We left Bangkok at 305PM and arrived in Manila 715PM. We were home by 9PM. Just in time for the fireworks.

Bangkok was a wonderful experience. Too bad we did not have enough time to go out of the city to see the floating market or experience Chatuchak. Or even Phuket! Maybe in the future.

Until my next travelogue.

Shop Til You Drop - Our Bangkok Adventure Day 3

As we had no scheduled tour the next day, we were in no pressure to wake up early. Nevertheless, we were up at 630AM. We planned to go to Health Land Spa at Sathorn Silom and avail of the world-renowned Thai massage.

We finished breakfast by 830AM and Leo being the every-boyscout that he is, managed to find out how to get to Health Land by just taking the Skytrain. So we walked to the Ratchadamri station, got on the Silom line and we got off at the Su Ra Sak station. We backtracked where we found the spa--still closed but with a line already. We were the fourth pair to be there.

Fortunately, the receptionist speaks English so we were able to book a couple's Thai massage for 450baht each for two hours (not bad) with no problem at all. We were made to change into slippers, pajamas and a loose top. We also had our own room. The massage was really heavenly. I remember dozing off and being so relaxed.

Thai massage is not for the weak hearted or those with a low threshold for pain. It's a combination of pressure and strokes and the massage is also dry (which I prefer. I hate the oily feeling after a massage).

After our massage, we decided to go to Siam Center and check out the malls there. When we got a cab, I asked the driver if he knows the Standard Chartered branch at Silom. I wanted to take a picture of myself outside the branch and fortunately, the branch was just around the corner. I jumped out and posed beside the big sign with Leo taking my picture. I felt like I was part of the Amazing Race Asia. Hehe.


When we finally got to the Siam, I was so overwhelmed by all the branded/signature stores that I saw: Gucci, Chanel, Balenciaga, Valentino, Kenzo, Hermès, Giorgio Armani, Jimmy Choo, Chloè, Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry and Salvatore Ferragamo (wala halos lahat nito sa Pilipinas!). After ogling at the bags and shoes (I did not dare enter the store. I felt so out of place), we found our way to the food court where we had lunch at a little restaurant called Homework. Leo said that he read about it and the food is good and the review is very much correct.

We walked around some more and saw that they have their own ocean's world underneath the mall. However, Leo opted not to go inside as he wanted to use our baht to buy other stuff. So I just contented myself by posing beside the sign (while eating my my Haagen Dazs dulce de leche ice cream)

I also bought some books at Kinokuniya Bookstore. Found some books that are not yet distributed here (new book of Linda Howard and Julie Garwood).

From Siam Paragon, we walked to Siam Center and then to Siam Discovery. My feet were really hurting so I gave up and bought rubber shoes at New Balance. Was I so thankful that I did. We had a banana split at Swensen before going back to MBK which was just right across the street.

Upon entering MBK, I saw this stationary shop where I went gaga over the designs. I had to stop myself from buying one design of each. Yes, I still buy stationary as I have a friend who only corresponds through pen and paper. I oblige her as I love writing and receiving mails (and I love buying statio too. There was a time that I went through a Papemelroti stage where all of my statio was only Papemel).

We walked around more where I found and bought 2 jeans that fit me nicely and a couple of blouses. Leo bought more shirts.

After that exhausting walk, we got on the National Stadium station, got off at Siam and caught a train at the Sukhumvit line where we got off at Chidlom station. We checked out another mall (Gaysorn--another luxury mall--Christian Dior, Fendi and Louis Vuitton) and went back to the hotel where we rested again.

We then went to the Super C Mall where we had an unsatisfying dinner at a small eatery. I was still hungry so I had a gogo sandwhich at a nearby KFC (yeah, sue me). We then walked to Centralworld where we went malling again. This time, we discovered the Arsenal merchandise shop which Leo excitedly entered but did not buy anything (even if I offered to pay for it).

I succumbed to temptation and had my last Haagen Dazs ice cream. I reasoned that all the walking burned off the calories that I had from all the ice cream eating that I did. As it was technically our last night there, we stayed out late and went back to the hotel at 9PM (yeah, that's late for us).

Shop Til You Drop - Our Bangkok Adventure Day 2

Since we were going to be picked up at 8AM, Leo set our alarms at 6AM. Not contented with our two alarms, he had the front desk give us a wake up call as well. When the alarms went off, he woke me up and told me to take a shower first. I don't know why I had to go first but I didn't argue (after all, I was so cranky with him the night before).

After a hearty breakfast, we were still early so we walked out a bit. This was what we saw:



CentralWorld, according to Wikipedia, is the largest shopping center in Southeast Asia (was this written prior to the opening of Mall of Asia?). I would agree on it being big though. Lots of brands too (Leo went gaga over the Arsenal merchandise shop. More on that later).

As promised, Ping Pong picked us up at 815. Reason for him being late was that he had to pick up another Filipino family checked in at the Amari Hotel who will join us in our half day city tour.

Our first top was the Wat Hua Lam Phong temple (I think). Nothing special about it except it's really beautiful.

The red platform behind us is where the monks  meditate. In fact, no one is allowed on that platform except for the monks.

It's very spacious outside.  There are buddha images outside as well as bells which will bring you luck if you ring them (which I did).


After this temple, we went to Wai Trimit where the Golden Buddha is located.  This buddha image was constructed during the Sukothai period and weighs 5 1/2 tons of pure gold. It used to be encased in cement but during the 1950's when it was being moved, a chunk fell off and they saw that it was gold underneath. It was said that the image was coated with cement to prevent the invaders from stealing it from the temple.

There were a lot of European tourists in the area. Heck, there were a lot of tourists.Period.

From this temple, we went to a jewelry factory where Leo bought me a pair of earrings (blue topaz, amethyst and citrine) and after that, we went to a leather factory where I bought a wallet for Leo.

After the very exhausting tour, we went to a Thai restaurant (Chon Ngern Chon Thong) where we had lunch. It's where I realized that I'm not really partial to Thai food (I just don't get the spicy sour soup). Leo loves it though.

We then asked that we be dropped off at MBK (Mah Boon Krong) Shopping Centre. It's one of Bangkok's famous malls. Actually, I see it as one big bazaar. 7 big floors of merchandise. Leo bought jeans, rubber shoes and shirts on our first foray.

By mid-afternoon, I was beginning to feel the lack of sleep and was getting all grumpy. I asked Leo that we take a cab back to the hotel as my feet was killing me too. We readily found a cab but when it encountered traffic, he let us off at the Royal Bangkok Sports Club and said that we can walk the rest of the way. We thought that it was nearby but apparently, it's quite far. I don't know how far it was in meters but it felt like we were walking for 30 minutes.

By the time we got to the hotel, my feet have died. I quickly changed into my Havaianas (muwah muwah muwah) and after resting for an hour, we went to CentralWorld. We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant up at the grocery and I found the rice cracker wrapped in seaweed snack that I'm so fond of (low cal! baked not fried!).

I also had my 1st cup of Haagen Dazs (at 2 scoops each!) Dulce de Leche ice cream at Central World. Prior to that, I had a Blizzard at Dairy Queen while we were at MBK. Speaking of which, I noticed that Thais love spicy food. Maybe to offset the spice, they have ice cream at every corner. They have so many Haagen Dazs, Swensen, Dairy Queen and Baskin and Robbins branches! I just had to taste them all. :)

Since we both lacked sleep, we went back to the hotel at around 8PM. I soaked in the tub for around 15-30 minutes and was asleep by 930PM.

Shop Til You Drop - Our Bangkok Adventure Day 1

What can I say about Bangkok? Definitely a shopaholic's paradise. Make sure you wear sturdy and comfortable walking shoes. I bought a pair of walking shoes from Naturalizer before I left but my feet still hurt. I ended up buying a pair of New Balance rubber shoes at Siam and they're definitely more comfortable.

Anyway, to start off with the travelogue:

Our Thai flight was scheduled to leave on Friday, Dec. 28 at 820PM. Papa dropped off me and Leo at NAIA at around 430PM. The check in counter opened at 6PM (Yes, we waited for an hour and a half). After checking in our luggage, going through immigration and customs, we ate at one of the restaurants inside the airport. Not expecting much food at the flight, Leo and I had beef and noodle soup.

Leo tried surfing for awhile and I kept myself busy playing with my Nintendo DS. We walked towards the airline gate at 730PM. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed. Boarding was supposed to be at 750PM but the plane hasn't arrived yet.

Finally, the plane arrived at 9PM and our flight left at 930PM.

Being a first time flyer (international flight) in almost 20 years, I did not know what to expect. The flight was pleasant and it was a good experience. I initially expected that we'd be flying PAL but we ended up with Thai. Good thing though. I loved the rice crackers that they served. They even served a full meal which I readily gobbled up.

The flight was not that full so it was not much crowded. I entertained myself with my DS while Leo got some shut eye.

We arrived at the Suvarnabhumi airport at Bangkok 3 hours later. It was 1130PM local time time but 1230AM Manila time so I was VERY sleepy already. I love their airport. It helped that it's relatively new (around less than 2 years old). Immigration takes your picture while they stamp your passport.

According to our travel document, we're supposed to meet our tour coordinator at Gate 9. I was very cranky already and I wanted to sleep! I left it to Leo to look for our ride while I just tailed him. Fortunately, Ping Pong (yes, that's his name) was patiently waiting for us at the gate and he hurriedly ushered us to the waiting van.

Even if I was very sleepy, I loved their highways. We were going FAST! I'm not familiar with speeds but it was very fast compared to our highway. Probably more than 100 (kph? mph?). Their highways are also new and I had to get used to the right-hand drive thing. We were driving on the left side of the big highway.

We were reserved at the Arnoma Hotel (part of the package). Location was absolutely awesome. In the heart of Bangkok--Ratchaprasong. Our hotel is right across CentralWorld and beside Gaysorn. Very convenient. Ping Pong dropped us off telling us that he'll pick us up at 8AM (but he'll be 10-15 minutes late).

We hurriedly checked in and upon getting to our room. I showered, changed into my nightclothes and fell onto the bed. I think I fell asleep before Leo did (he knows I'm cranky unless I get my sleep).

That was our first day in Bangkok.

Happy New Year!

Leo and I just arrived from Bangkok last night so I'm still out of it.

I'll post a detailed account of our trip probably by tomorrow. I have to catch up on my sleep.

In the meantime, I've already uploaded the pictures in the photo section.

Happy New Year!