Merry Christmas

Does this is the way we should be doing when we travel? May the birth of our Savior continue to inspire us. Have a blessed Christmas!

The Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore 2011

On its ninth year, the annual Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore was held last sunday December 4, 2011. Just like in previous years, different categories have different starting points. The full-marathon begins at Orchard Road near Ngee Ann City, the half-marathon at Sentosa Bridge, and the 10km race starting point at the Esplanade. All routes end at the Padang.

Casa de Lou Kau in Macau

 One of the places of interest within the historic center of Macau and inscribed by UNESCO as a world heritage site is the Casa de Lou Kau. The Casa de Lou Kau or the Lou Kau Mansion is a traditional Chinese courtyard  house with western influence located on one of the alleys close to Largo de Senado.

This Chinese House was built in around 1889 was one of the residences of the wealthy merchant Lou Cheoc Chi who made a fortune operating gambling facilities in Macau.

Orchard Road Singapore Christmas Light Up 2011

 The Christmas season in Singapore  is officially on. Last saturday the annual Orchard road Christmas Light Up ceremony was held in front of Takashimaya Shopping Mall along the Orchard Road. No less than the president of Singapore graced this annual event. This year theme is "Christmas Blooms in Singapore" where the whole stretch of the famous road is adorned with glittering silver and blue lights. Flowers of blue colored heart-shape petals hanged on the trees transforming the shopping strip into a wonderland garden.

Haw Par Villa

Its been months that I have been eyeing to check out Haw Par Villa but since it is located in a place I am not familiar with, I did not take it seriously. Now that the new mrt circle line  had opened and one of the stations is at the theme park doorstep I went there  during the hari raya haji holiday. Feedback has it that the place is empty most of the days, but the day I was there its quite a bit crowded, maybe because it was holiday. 

Exploring Caramoan Islands, Philippines

This post is the highlight of my trip to Caramoan, which is the island hopping. Caramoan is bless  with beautiful  rock formations and lush small islands having white sand beaches scattered within the vicinity. 


Upon arrival at the Paniman beach and hired a boat for the island hopping, I bought food for lunch in a nearby eatery while the boat is being readied. I was advised to have my lunch first since it was almost lunchtime, but I was not hungry yet so I opted to bring along the food and have lunch in the island.  Immediately after we left Paniman, the approaching scenery was captivating. The rock formation that first to appear, was a good welcome start and really made me excited for the rest of the place has to offer. There were still props used by the Survivors show challenge  hanging on the rock formation wall. Caramoan Islands is now popular location shoot of Survivor shows from European countries and some other Asian countries. The last one who just left the island is Survivor India.

Exploring Kampong Buangkok, Singapore

There is a last rural village standing in Singapore up to now. And last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to explore the place and observed how is a rural village in Singapore look like then. As almost of Singapore land area has been  developed and transformed into a modern city state, this one spot of secret tropical eden has been left behind and kept into its original condition as in the early years of Singapore.

Though it is just a compact village with just over twenty houses, it still  provide a glimpse of how a traditional rural way of living in the early days in Singapore. All one-story houses were owned by a single owner and being rented at a nominal amount to mostly the owner family friends who where living there ever since.

This blog is on

So this blog is in hiatus once again for over a month now. And no one is asking why. It goes to show that nobody is really reading my blog and those who happens to drop by were only because google direct them to here.

Anyway i am busy with work, and in the past month i was not able to go out on a trip because again due to work. And this will go on until the project completion targeted to be on April next year. Unlike in my previous job assignment, I am on my own here on my present post so i cannot file a short leave even if i am intitled to. So my short holidays will be on hold for now.

My Trip to Caramoan Islands, Philippines

I took a short leave from work coinciding the 2 days holiday here in Singapore, and went home to the Philippines. I have to two reasons on going home, one is to settle some design issues of the on-going renovation of our house, and second to finally explore the Caramoan Islands. It would be my third attempt this time, so the excitement and determination to finally pushed it this time is there.

My Trip to Hanoi : Day 4

 My last day of my trip to Hanoi Vietnam was a tour to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and its nearby attractions. After breakfast at the hotel I took a taxi that brought me direct to the mausoleum. I have to deposit my bag before I can enter the mausoleum, that turned out to be inconvenient since coming out from the building I have to follow the route that passes all the attractions before I can get back my bag that contains the camera. So I have to retrieve back my camera, and return to where the exit point of the mausoleum by passing by Ba Dinh square front of the mausoleum.

My Trip to Hanoi : Cruising Halong Bay

Day 1 in Hanoi

The next day of my trip to Hanoi Vietnam, was a cruise to Halong Bay on board  Elizabeth Sails Junk. I booked a two days one night cruise arranged for me by the hotel tour desk manager. The cruise cost me USD109, inclusive of 2 lunches, dinner, and a breakfast. The tour guide will pick me up at the hotel supposedly by eight in the morning, but arrived in the hotel almost an hour later because of the traffic and being I was the last to be picked up.

My Trip to Hanoi Vietnam, Day 1

This month travel happened last weekend for four days to Hanoi, Vietnam. I filed a two days annual leave to coincide with the National day holiday here in Singapore. This is another last minute trip since I really can't decide where to go in the first place. I have been wanting to go to Hanoi to visit the Halong Bay, but due to inability to find a cheap airline fare the plan has never been materialize until only last week when I chance upon a cheaper one coinciding the holiday. And I have a blast in Hanoi.

Weekend in Malaysia

 Last month I crossed over to Malaysia for a two days one night short trip because I have to accompany a blogger friend who wanted to visit Malaysia before he goes back to the Philippines. The trip was done by land, as we had to pass by Malacca before heading to Kuala Lumpur for a night stay. Instead of taking bus from Singapore, we crossed the border and took a bus at the Johor Bahru's Larkin bus terminal as it is cheaper. We arrived Malacca by lunch time and leave for Kuala Lumpur at 3:00pm. For three hours we managed to cover famous landmarks in downtown Malacca, being my friend's first time visit I knew he had the same experience I had when I visited the place for the first time.

Booking a hotel room

In every travel that I made, I am particular with the hotel room I will be staying. Midrange hotel is always a good choice, not only that it is within the budget but you can be assure of comfortable stay. 

I maximized my time exploring the place, and visited more if not all the attractions in the place I went to. So at the end of the day I will be tired and exhausted. So the need to have a hot dipped at the bath tub is always a welcome respite, and especially if I still have to explore the night life after that. Choosing a nice bed and room comes handy online, and hotel bookings online is reliable and always deliver. I always rely on agoda for my hotel bookings, not only the hotels on their selection is true, but they offer discounts that hard to resists.

Emperor Qin's Terracotta Warriors

I finally got to see the terra-cotta warriors or some of them and  was overwhelmed seeing them up-close. Now on exhibition until 16 October 2011at the Asian Civilization Museum here in Singapore, the collection on display were just a fraction of actual numbers of 7,000 life-size sculpted clay terra-cotta soldiers, chariots, and horses.