braggies

Beach Getaway: Minang Cove Resort, Tioman Island

Going on even a short getaway is becoming a rarity for me unlike way back few years ago. My present job assignment hold me 6 days a week, and it means I can only have Sunday as my free day. What more is I cannot easily just file a leave if I want to. That is why only when a public holiday falls on a weekend can I plan to travel. But the downside of travelling during these period is, it is expensive because of the expectation that everybody is travelling out in Singapore. During public holidays in Singapore, hotels and resorts in neighbour countries have mark up their rates.

The Hari Raya public holiday falls on a Sunday so the following day is the official holiday. This means I have only 2 days to spare for this holiday. I was thinking of another beach getaway that does not require me to take plane to go there. Two options came up for me, the nearby islands of Indonesia and the beaches in Malaysia. In Bintan Indonesia, all the cheaper nice beaches have been fully-booked already and the only left are those high-end resorts which way too expensive for my liking. So I searched for possible getaway in Malaysia. I have been longing to go back to Fort Dickson, the first time I went there years ago I enjoyed the place and have a nice recollection of the place. But when I searched online for a nice resort to stay, the one I love to stay were all fully-booked. I was looking for the stilt rooms by the sea but all were taken up already.

Another on-going exhibition at Asian Civilization Museum that I had the opportunity to view is the Joeson Korea – Court Treasures and City Life. During the Singapore Heritage Festival held on May, the museum was open to the public for free. I took the oppurtunity to check the exhibition as I was intrigued with Korean culture and heritage. I have no idea that Korea was once ruled by a king.

Last Saturday I went to Gardens by the Bay to watch the multimedia show at the Supertree Grove area in celebration of the 5^th anniversary of Gardens by the Bay.

Upon arriving at the garden, I have notice long fabrics hanging on some of the supertrees so I expected it there will be acrobats that will be swinging and rappelling up and down. As the area near these supertrees were already crowded, I walk further and trying to find a good location so I can have a good view of the show. I thought viewing it at elevated platform will give me a good perspective and can shoot the acrobats at eye level

I seldom talk about where I went to eat. But this case is a bit worth talking to. One lunchtime, I tried the food of Bonchon at Compass One mall, Sengkang. Bonchon is a South Korean-based fried chicken restaurant franchise, and what I heard and read, it is quite popular because of the fried chicken they serve. On a first glance from the outside I have mistaken it as a fast food chain, but then I realized there is no counter to order food. It is only then that I realized it is a set down restaurant.

One of the attractions in Resorts World Sentosa in Sentosa Island, Singapore is the S.E.A. (South East Asia) Aquarium. Home to over 100,000 marine creatures contained in one huge building. Its main attraction is the humungous viewing panel that by standing in front of it gives you the feeling of being on the ocean floor. It’s quite enormous and overwhelming.

Because I am an Islander, I was able to visit the S.E.A. Aquarium at a discounted rate of SGD 10.00. And here’s my experience of the visit.

The visit to the aquarium is comparable to traveling to an island destination that keep changing ports before reaching to its final destination.

skywatch

Caramoan in the Philippines is one of the favourite shooting location of the tv reality show Survivor. Because of the exposure it gets from the show, Caramoan became a holiday destination for both locals and overseas tourists. Caramoan is famous for its island hopping. The several islands that scattered around the Caramoan peninsula has its own characteristics and attraction worth exploring. Some of them were close to the mainland while others were quite far away. That is why the island hopping tours are group into two trips, the short trip which is half-day tours covers the nearby islands, and the long trip that will take whole day covers the farther islands.

This year Standard Chartered marathon was held this weekend here in Singapore. The starting point is in Orchard Road and culminated in Padang area fronting the National Gallery building.

This is a yearly event and one of the most participated marathon being organized here in Singapore. This year there were about 46,000 runners took part. The half and full marathons were flagged off simultaneously in Orchard Road and later joined by the 10K racers at Esplanade Drive.

Among the attraction of Sentosa Island is the stretch of sheltered beach on its southern coast. Some parts were artificially built, reclaimed using sand from Indonesia and Malaysia to make it attractive for swimming recreation. The entire stretch is separated into three and named Tanjong beach, Palawan beach, and Siloso beach.

The Flower Dome is the twin cooled conservatory of the Cloud Forest. The main attraction at this cooled conservatory is of course flowers and plants from Mediterranean regions, South Africa, California, Australia, and South America. It is also home to a collection of plants from deserts all over the world and showcases the adaptations of plants to arid environments.

Cable car is one mode of transportation that transport passengers to uplands and mostly for recreation purposes. Langkawi island in Malaysia has one. The cable car here is not for the faint-hearted. Not only it has the longest cable, a total length of 2.2 km (1.4 mi), it holds a world record of the steepest incline at 42 degrees!

In all of my travels whether local or overseas, I always take economy class. My thinking is that it is same whether you are on an economy or in business class as you are riding the same plane.

One of the key attractions at the Gardens by the Bay is the Cloud Forest. It is one of the 2 cooled conservatories that confined a 35-meter man-made mountain and waterfalls. The Cloud Forest were contained flora of a moist climate region found at a height of 1,000m to 3,500m above the sea level.

In the few islands that I have been to in Malaysia for holiday, Rawa Island is one that I can say clearly defines an island paradise. It has a white powdery sand and gentle lapping waves beach. Rawa island is a small island with no inhabitants and private. To enjoy the island you need to book at least for an overnight stay. Package rate includes accomodation, food, and boat fare. The booking need to be in advance and walk-in is not allowed.

Langkawi Trip: Surviving the Sky Bridge

One of the attraction at the Oriental Village in the upper northwest of Langkawi Island in Malaysia is the Langkawi Sky Bridge. A pedestrian bridge appears to be floating on top of two mountains. The experience to be there is exhilarating and be rewarded of the commanding view of the rainforest and its nearby islands.

Back to blogging

I am going to blog again. I intend to start over again and tried to regain the habit of writing. This blog has been going on for years already and had been to few changes. I remember the first time I created this blog my aim was just to write anything I would like to remember. After awhile I forgot about it. When I started working overseas, out of boredom I started to blog again. Writing some personal stuff and met online friends from blogging. When I felt that I was revealing more of myself I somehow feel ashamed of somehow opening myself more, so I started writing only about my travel experiences since during that time I was already enjoying traveling overseas.

This might turned out to be anything goes blog. I will make changes as to the format and appearance of this blog later. I feel like I am starting all over again. I wish by writing again I meet the old friends and hopefully meet new friends once again.

Orchard Road Singapore Christmas Light Up 2014

Its the time of the year once again when the whole stretch of Orchard Road, the shopping district in Singapore comes at its brightest. Last Saturday 15 November the lighting ceremony was held at Shaw House open area. As in the past years, no less than the President of Singapore graced the event and switched on the christmas decors lightings.

This year's theme is Christmas on a Great Street. Indeed!

Part of my travel to Myanmar was the overnight trip to Bagan in the central region of the country. To reach there I took a night bus trip from Yangon. I arrived Bagan in the early morning. The hotel I will be staying was located at the Old Bagan where the thousand pagodas and ancient temples are located.

After years on my bucket list, I finally was able to travel to Myanmar this year as my birthday gift to myself. It was a smooth and eye opening experience for me.The reason I keep delaying my travel before because of the visa and the frequency of the flight to Myanmar from Singapore issue. Even when traveling to Myanmar has ease up, still travelers were required to apply a visit visa before one can visit the country and airlines flight schedules were limited to twice a week only. I am holding a Philippines passport, and when we were allowed to travel visa-free then I decided to grab the opportunity soonest as I am curious to see Myanmar at its present situation. I read about Myanmar and become curious and anxious to find out the effect of its isolation from the rest of the world.

I thought it was just ordinary grilled chicken, so when my friend/ colleague told me to try having lunch at Nando’s I just say yes but did not take the initiative to seriously go for it.

But yesterday while I was in Johor Bahru and cannot decide what to go for lunch, it cross my mind to locate Nando’s at City Square Mall just outside the CIQ Complex. Despite of numerous visits to the mall I have no idea where it is located. So I keep going up and coming down to locate the restaurant. Finally I decided to go to the basement and just go for Japanese sushi. Alas Nando’s is also at the basement and situated in a concealed corner.

So how’s the food?

I tried many times to return back to blogging, and during those times I struggled so hard to gain the momentum, I have many things in my mind to tell and to share, personal milestones, travel holidays and things that I want to share. But words just don’t come out easily to develop into sentences and turns into paragraphs to form a story.

I kept on trying and everything ended to nothing. But during those times I keep checking my blog to see and check my readers. I am happy that even it is not active it still get readers.  

On Good Friday

On Good Friday we remember the day Jesus willingly suffered and died by crucifixion as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins - 1 John 1:10

image source

Fashion Night Out 2014 at Orchard Road Singapore

Last night, part of Orchard Road was transformed into a fashion runway for the annual Fashion Steps Out. There were close to 150 models who walked from Ion Orchard to Paragon Mall donning the designs of local fashion brands.

I took this opportunity to do my photo shoot, Its been a while that I haven't touch my dslr. I was not happy with the result I took but at least I got to use my camera.

I got no fashion knowledge so my favorite was the beach wear collection lol.

Twenty13

There is no update for this blog the past year. I was too complacent and preoccupied by other things that I totally neglected visiting and updating my blog. I have been to several trips overseas the past year mostly for rest and recreation rather than discovering new places. I still have few countries within asean that I planned to visit last year, but because it requires longer days I did not pursue them last year. Laos and Myanmar was part of my bucket list last year.

source

“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.” - Luke 9:22

Universal Studios Singapore : Waterworld

The first time I went to Universal Studios Singapore, I was not able to explore the Waterworld area since it was close to the public. During that time the main entrance gate was closed and only a small close signage hanging on the wall with no written notification why if was closed. So I told myself then that I have to come back to check the attraction since I heard that it is one of the shows not to be miss when in Universal Studios. And that is exactly what I did when I come back to Universal Studios Singapore, it was the Waterworld area that I have check in first.

In Singapore, there are four major wildlife parks for viewing and leisure attractions. These are the Singapore Zoo, the River Safari, the Night Safari, and the Jurong Bird Park. Of all four I have only been to Jurong Bird Park so far, even if I have been here in Singapore for over four years already. Maybe because I am not fan of viewing caged animals especially those kept in small confined fences. But learning that Jurong Bird Park is exhibiting birds in naturalistic setting I was tempted to pay a visit.

The following day I visited historical sites in the city. First stop was the Royal Palace & Silver Pagoda. The Silver Pagoda compound was the only one open to the public during my visit and the Royal Palace is close because the Father King's body lie in state that will last for three months before his body will be cremated. The entrance fee remains at USD3 even though the palace is close.

Thinking of what to do during the Deepavali holiday here in Singapore last year, I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to go out of the country again. As it was a last minute decision I searched for the cheapest flight within Asean and Phonm Penh came out on top of the list. So without much preparation I embarked on a short weekend trip. I have little expectation about the city and was just looking forward to see firsthand how is the city like in an ordinary weekend. The trip turned out as my last holiday trip outside Singapore for year 2012.

After spending two nights in Pattaya, I went back to Bangkok for another night stay before heading back to Singapore the following night. I stay this time at a small boutique hotel just a short walk from the Sam Yan BTS station. I have the whole day still since my flight out was at 10:00 in the evening. So after a quick late breakfast, I hurried out to explore Chatuchak Weekend Market. I took the BTS train from Sam Yan station to Chatuchak Park station, its quite a long journey I guess as compared to taking the metro line.

The next morning, I laze at the hotel health center at the fourth floor. It has a pool, a steam room, and a sauna. There was no one using the facility so I have the whole place for a couple of hours. When fellow guests began to arrive I decided to leave as the place is just too small to share even for few guests. By 11:00 am I was ready for check out, and hid to my next trip destination, to Pattaya.

I woke up late the following day. I was supposed to wake up at 5 in the morning and leave hotel before 6, but I woke up past 8 in the morning so I was way behind late for my floating market trip. After a quick shower and a hearty buffet breakfast I hurriedly left the hotel and took a train at Lumpinee station to Victory Monument station. I was told that the closest mrt station to the Southern Bus terminal is at this station. After a quick look at the Victory Monument I hurriedly took a taxi to the bus terminal which is still quite a distance, If my recollection is correct I paid 100 baht for the taxi fare.

My trip to Bangkok happened last May as my post birthday treat for my self. I have been busy with work and got no time to write it up right after I came back. So I am just writing it now.

I spent the whole first week of May in the kingdom where I savor what the city can offer. The trip were centered on exploring the colorful nightlife and parts of Bangkok that I haven't been explored during my first visit to Bangkok.

Leaving yesterday behind

2012 was my laziest year in blogging, and I am not proud of it but I must admit that the lost in interest was the main culprit. I would like to left it behind and I want to be active again in blogging this year. I will need a lot of motivation and fresh ideas to achieve this as at present I still don't have the drive to basically be active again. In my previous post I stated that I will be writing on the trips I made in the second half of the year. I already started making drafts but I just can't finish it so I never got to publish it.

I want to change the template of this blog, to help me move on and be active again but I still can't decide one that will be pleasing and clean looking. I might change the format of my writing too, maybe it might help me break away from the lost of interest in blogging.

I will be backwriting my trips I made last year in snippets or in whole depends on how good is my brain in recalling what transpired of the trip and alongside my present trips and some interesting activities. This blog will still be focusing on my travels and maybe I can insert some bragging if I have the guts to do so.

As I am looking forward for a wonderful 2013 both personal and career wise, so as for this blog too.

Orchard Road Christmas Light Up 2012

The popular shopping district of Singapore has full of lights and christmas decors as the annual lighting ceremony was officially held last Saturday 17 November 2012. As in previous years, the Singapore president launched the event. This year's theme is Christmas on a Great Street, with motifs of trees, heart, and doves as the major decors along the 2.2 kilometers stretch of Orchard.

It was raining hard prior to the ceremony so the turn out of people during that night was not as huge as last year. The street lights will last until 6 January 2013. There will be a nightly live musical shows beginning 17 December until Christmas day along the walkway of Orchard Road.

If you are in Singapore or planning to visit the country, spend a night in Orchard Road and be dazzled and experience the magic brought by the holiday season.

Enjoy!

To the moon and back

It's been six months that this blog has not been updated. And my blogger friend is filing a complaint to where I don't know hahah, thanks Reena. Actually I have many things to write and share here during those months and drafts has been readied including photos to be posted. But I have been to the moon, just kidding and honestly I was not so into it (writing) and was just waiting for the right time until I regain my interest back into blogging. The past six months I have been out of the country a few times, I have been to Bangkok and Pattaya in Thailand as my birthday treat to myself. I went home in the Philippines for a quick hospital visit to my mother who has been hospitalized due to heart condition. I also been to neighboring Malaysia several weekends just for a quick r&r in Johor Bahru. I became addicted that I keep coming back there as I can't resist traveling out of Singapore. My job limited me from traveling on a longer period nowadays.

But last weekend I got to travel again to southeast asian city of Phnom Penh in Cambodia. It was a short trip but nevertheless a good one, since I got the opportunity to see and experience another city. I intend to come back there again as I think the city deserves a second visit heheh. The Cambodia's capital city may not be as slick and less glamorous compared to other neighboring ASEAN capitals but it has its own distinctive character that uniquely its own.

On the local front, after four years stay here in Singapore, I finally got the time to visit Jurong Bird Park, the largest bird sanctuary in the country. I finally watched the Waterworld show during my second visit to Universal Studios Singapore. I also been to Garden by the Bay, a new must visit place here in Singapore. I only explored a few of the attractions and need to come back to see the rest of this place to offer.

So expect that most of my entries in the coming updates will contains all that I just mentioned now.

Welcome back to me, and thanks for reading.

Peace!

Random travel shot :)

Today

MacRitchie Reservoir, Singapore

One of the beautiful spot to spend weekend morning here in Singapore is at the MacRitchie Reservoir located along Lornie Road. It has one of the nature scenic morning view and at the same time a lot of activities are happening in and within the reservoir. It is surrounded by a 12km circular jungle trail. Rowers, joggers, and oldies doing their exercises are the usual crowd here on weekends.

"If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins and we are to be pitied more than all men" (1 Corinthians 15:17, 19)

Happy Easter!

By HIS wounds, we are healed

iLight at the Marina Bay

Now on its second year, the iLight Marina Bay 2012 is a sustainable light art festival that features more than 30 light art installations displayed along the Marina Bay waterfront. Here's some of the installations that I find interesting and visually stimulating.

Over a hundred fashion models literally steps out onto Orchard Road last Saturday night. The stretch of Orchard Road from Ion Orchard to Paragon Mall were turned into a fashion runway as models strut down the road. Seeing these models walk on the road instead of the usual catwalk is refreshing and I believe is the first time that a busy road has been closed and used as a fashion runway.

Never mind if this is already late. I would like to make an assessment on the list of task I set for 2011.

Last year I have been to eight places in four countries and went home to Philippines twice. Last year also was my first time to Hong Kong and Macau, second time to Vietnam, and nth time to Malaysia. In Malaysia it was my first time to Penang Island and Putra Jaya. While I live in the Philippines, the travel to Corregidor Island and now famous Caramoan Peninsula were my first time.

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated by the Tamil community here in Singapore. The festival is a religious ceremonial worship in which devotees implore physical burden as offering to their God of War Murugan.

The physical burden or kavadi comes in various types, from simple carrying of pot of milk to piercing the skin, tongue or checks with skewers.

Claimed by the organizers as the grandest in Asia, the Chingay Parade is an annual event held as part of the Chinese new year festivities in Singapore. This year the parade was confined at F1 Pit. A 360m waterway was built along the parade grounds.

Whoah! It is already mid month and yet this blog haven't leap to the new year.

Busy at work and family matter capped the year 2011 on a not so happy end for me.

I was prepared to not spend Christmas in a place outside of Singapore and resigned to have a repeat of how I spent it the the year before. But what I was not prepared to was to received the news that my mother was rushed to the hospital two days before Christmas due to heart problem. It was her second. My family back home literally spend Christmas in the hospital, and I left worried and alone and waiting anxiously news from home. She's out of the hospital on new year's eve, and now she's undergoing physiotherapy as right part of her body was affected.