Brisbane Trip Day 1

Brisbane is the capital city of Queensland. A few minutes flight from Sydney, this state is known to be the Sunshine state. I suppose this is because, it is much warmer in this side of Australia. Hehe!

So after a week in Sydney, which was mostly spent for work, I went to take a quick trip outside New South Wales.

I arrived in Brisbane around 8 am, on a Saturday and I was picked up by my Ninang (Godmother), her daughter and my uncle (her husband).

We stopped by to have breakfast at McDonald's. And after some rest at their house, we plan to go to South Bank and then explore the city.

Here's a panoramic view of the river.

There's a lot to see in South Bank. We first took lunch at one of the food shops there. And afterwards head to the man made "beach" and took a refreshing dip.

The weather then was a bit cold so imagine swimming in the pool in a very cold weather. It was really cold for me. But I enjoyed it anyway.

There's a number of food stalls to choose from

This is me and my kinakapatid Sharlyn.

After a refreshing dip, we head to the city via ferry.

We took a ferry from South Bank to the city

View of the skyscrapers on our way to the city

We walked around the city and took a lot of pictures.

Where to go next? I love street signs.

Inside the Cathedral of St. Stephen

Facade of the cathedral

This is a very attractive building. Swarovski's on display

Walkway but there seems to be some construction on this area

Whatever?!

Another church where we stopped by

We went to have dinner at a Thai place. The food was good except that the meals took a while to be served.

Photo op at a Thai statue

The Thai Orchid Restaurant

After dinner, we went home and took a rest. The next day we'll be heading to the beach in Surfers Paradise.

Taiwan Holiday 2012

I can't believe I have a couple more backlogs. I noticed this Taiwan trip lying around my list of drafts so I'm now trying my best to recover the memory and provide you details of that trip.

This is another international trip that I have planned together with my closest Couchsurfing friends. We all decided to couchsurf again as it would really save us some more money and at the same time get more acquainted with international couchsurfing community which we all enjoy doing.

So why did we actually choose Taiwan. Basically, the love of telenovela, F4 would have been one reason. And one is because the promo fare then was so attractive we can't avoid it any longer. There is also some suggestions from other friends in CS that Taiwan is good and is not too expensive.

Taken at the Taroko National Park Entrance

After booking our flights, it was long before we decided to prepare what we wanted to do. Of course, I was usually busy researching and looking the perfect host. Until finally there was one who happily hosted the 4 of us.

The itinerary was also mostly prepared by myself. I decided to choose to head to Taroko to see the gorge. It was a few hours train trip and the scenery on the way was very nice. We got through mountains which is amazing.

I will try to re-write the post accounting and our itinerary and hopefully I can still remember all of them. Haha!

Five Day Batanes Trip Post Accounting

Many have inquired about how much my trip costed. So here you go:

1 The meals are not included on the package. You can avail of the set meals in Shanedel's. It will be specially prepared for you by Ms. Dely or her daughter. :) Shanedel's offers set meals for as low as 150 up t 350. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. You need to advice ahead of time because they need to still buy from the market.

Day 4 and 5 meals where a bit pricey since I decided to splurge a bit at Fundacion Pacita.

2 Tricycle in Basco can be arranged for 100 pesos per trip. I only needed to take the tricycle when I had to go to Fundacion Pacita.

3 There is a pasalubong shop near Shanedel's that sells keychains 3 for 100 or 35 pesos each. There is also a pasalubong shop next to the Basco Airport if you fancy last minute 

Some links to help you:

Skyjet - http://skyjetair.com/ (Starting May, Airphils is also flying to Basco)

Shanedel's Cafe and Inn - Ms. Delly Millan, http://shanedels.wix.com/batanes 

Fundacion Pacita - http://www.fundacionpacita.ph/

Our very helpful tour guide: Kuya Rom - 0908 9272358

Tricycle Contact: 0929 7038404

Finally, Batanes

Everybody is really awaiting for this moment. So, finally, it's here.

Fundacion Pacita, up the top of the hill

After more than a month of being busy with other stuff, I can now clear my head and start writing about my trip to Batanes.

To many, Batanes is an impossible dream destination. It is quite untouched and used to be accessible only by limited flights from Manila. Although there are also other options like taking boat, the most convenient is by flying. However, the cost is somewhat steep for a normal traveler like me.

Given this, I thought, one day I'll try and see this place with my own eyes when I got the moolah and of course, the courage to make it to one of the most picturesque islands in the North of the Philippines.

It was early this year that I thought of taking a trip on a holy week. I initially planned to travel to India as I wanted to see the Taj Mahal. But then, I realised I wasn't ready yet and there are more priority stuff I have to take care of and I cannot take a longer leave. So I thought of Batanes, I have been seeing a lot of fellow travel bloggers doing the Batanes trip early this year, and I got so interested to do the same.

I was so excited that I actually didn't realise how much it would cost me. Sometimes, I take this impulsive decision that whatever I want to do I'll just do it. And so I did.

The basic things have been booked. The flights, the accommodations and the tours.

I have been contemplating if I should do it on a diy, but thought I would have a more relaxed time if I just avail the packaged tour. Besides, I want to take it all in, relax and just enjoy the sights that Batanes would offer me.

In my Batanes series, I'll give a run down of the cost of my trips, itinerary and some food I have tried during the tour that we did.

So I hope, to those who are about to and planning to go to Batanes, my posts will be able to help you.

Hundred Islands Weekend Trip

The weekend trip to Hundred Islands is a much awaited team building for our team.

Hundred Islands is in Pangasinan, almost 5-6 hours from Manila by van. We had one stop over along the way.

The tour package is actually a discounted one I got from an online deals site. It includes the overnight stay, the tour and daily breakfast. The staff in the hotel were very nice. There is even a videoke if you fancy singing your heart out.

Anyhow, I'll just let the pictures tell how beautiful the islands were.

In Marcos Island, there was cave where you can do a short cliff jump. I have no pictures but I did a short jump into the water. It was scary but really liberating when finally shoot up the water! Oh yeah, I'm still alive!

On our way back to Manila, we decided to take our lunch in Isdaan Floating Restaurant. Our experience wasn't too good as the food was so late but we enjoyed the chicken which is their specialty.

We also made our way on the Tacsiyapo Wall. It was hilarious because the person will announce where you hit the wall.

I even had a quick photo op with the First Lady, Michelle Obama! *wink*

The Paradise Island of Camiguin

I was really excited that I'm finally going to Camiguin. As this is my first time to travel to Mindanao, I'm glad that I'll be seeing a lot of new places in just one go!

We left in the morning to make way to Camiguin. We took a ferry to the port and I think the travel is just less than an hour.

We arrived in Camiguin in time for lunch.

We then headed for the White Island! All smiles before leaving the port.

On our second day, we went to the Sunken Cementery and Katibawasan Falls.

On the evening of our first night we went to have dinner at Rooftop resto and found this nice quote.

Cagayan De Oro and the Majestic Falls

I missed my blog. It's been a while since I last made a post. I know, I've been too busy with work and other stuff. But today, I just felt I need to get back to my blogging and write about the places I've been to last year. There's a few more backlogs waiting to be published - CDO trip, Hundred Islands, Taiwan and Cebu in 2012 and then my first outing this year at Pagbilao, Quezon this February 2013.

Anyhow, I'm glad to have this time to post once more. Now, I'll be writing about my exciting trip to CDO last August of 2012.

This trip is one of the most enjoyable trips of 2012. I went with my friends from Couchsurfing. Trips with them never get boring, you know!

I wish I could have noted the expenses but it was too long ago! And because I wasn't the one who mainly organised this trip, it was one of my friends who arranged the accommodations, transportation and stuff. I was happy to just get along with the plan.

The thing about this trip is that, I was almost about to back out due to it was scheduled same day as our team building in Hundred Islands. I had to re-book my ticket a few times because I wasn't too sure that time.  Fortunately, the team building was moved to October.

Day 1

The rest of the group went ahead of me the day before. I traveled on my own to CDO the next day. I met them on Saturday morning at the hotel.

The plan on the first day is to go to Maria Cristina Falls. First we had breakfast near the hotel (forgot the name of our hotel!).

If I remember, we took a jeepney and then took a motorbike to take us to the entrance of NPC Park. From the entrance of the park, you have to pay an entrance fee. And then they have a shuttle that takes you to the Falls and back to the entrance. The shuttle first took us to the botanical garden.

It was so awesome to see the Maria Cristina Falls. I could only remember seeing it in my Social Science books as it was always the example given for the Falls in the Philippines! It is so majestic (for loss of the appropriate word) that we can't help but take so many pictures with it.

After the Maria Cristina Falls, we made our way to another Falls i.e. Tinago Falls. We had to take a motor bike going there. Funny is, we are actually 4 in that motorbike! It was hilarious and a once in a life experience. Oh my gosh, did I say it also hurts the butt!

Tinago in Filipino literally means "hidden", and it was. But we were able to find it with the help our guides! haha

What is amazing about this falls is that you can make way to the falls itself with the help of a bamboo raft being pulled by the locals. There is an additional fee though. I didn't try it but my adventurous CS friends did. I knew they enjoyed it a lot by the looks of their face.

We were all tired and hungry after that. We went to a bbq place known for their roasted chicken. It was a good meal and we are really stuffed! We can't wait to go home and rest. The next day, we are leaving early for Camiguin. Let's go!