Today, I give thanks to God for the blessing of travel opportunities. The past year of my life has been filled with them that I, myself, can’t believe that I managed to do all of it… where did I get all the finances to support all of them (Especially while paying for the house)?

But then, I did ask God to amaze me— and He did more times than my pebbled mind can count.

This year before my third decade, I visited several places that made me feel like a child and an adult at the same time.

TAGAYTAY WITH MEANIES (MAY 2017)

Following my depression last year, I hungered for alone time: Away from family. Away from work. Away from it all. This is why when my meanies’ planned for a staycation in Tagaytay, I didn’t think twice about it. While technically not alone, it gave me time to reflect… just to rest and think things through. Talking to them also helped me lot. I don’t care if this officially made us a “Tita.” It helped me get through the dark times. Our fellowship will always be something I’m thankful of. The nice view and cool, fresh air? Just a bonus.

BAGUIO WITH THE FAMILY (November 2017)

After a deep heart to heart talk with my sisters, this year’s vacation in Baguio has been much better, more fun and much more memorable. 

Two of my kiddos were added to the family. Antoneth and Angela joined us. We rented a house just outside of Camp John Hay and explored leisurely around. There’s a time for my kiddos and me when I toured them around the city.

Then there was family time when we visited Café in the Sky for the first time!

We also held Angela’s baby gender reveal and Ate Ivy’s birthday celebration.

It was a blessed few days indeed!

SENSECAMP IN KAHARIAM FARM BATANGAS (JUNE 2017)

In a complete work of fate, I met one of the entrepreneurs who own Sun E Trike in Batangas. I was just looking for a couch to surf, to end my summer in a blast, when he told me about the SenseCamp in Kahariam Farm, Batangas. SenseCamp is a meeting of Social Entrepreneurs organized by MakeSense Foundation.

It is a real blessing indeed to meet people from all parts of the world who seek to make a change— simple things like business through recycling, building sustainable cities, and innovating junks.

It’ll be nice to work full time for organizations such as this. But, oh well… one can hope.

SOUTH KOREA WITH SIJEI (OCTOBER 23-29, 2017)

This is it!!! It all started one morning in January when my college friend, Sijei, woke me up to tell me that there’s a cheap plane ticket to Busan, South Korea. So— like a  full-blooded tourism major, we booked a flight and thought of how to proceed months after! (Hahahaha…)

Funny thing was, around end of summer last 2017, we received an email saying our flight was cancelled due to network changes. Apparently, there will be no flights from Busan to Manila after October 23 so they had to cancel our flights and we are free to rebook with no additional charges. Plus… Here’s the catch! We get an additional roundtrip ticket for free!!! 

God, seriously! Why do You amaze me so? I love You! 

And so around July, Sijei and I met to fix our visa schedule and itinerary. We met again around September with Visa approved (Gratis, dude!) and a set of itinerary: October 23-26 in Busan and October 26-30 in Seoul. 

October 23 – We arrived in Busan (Gimhae Airport) around 4PM, rode the KTX to Busan/Choryang Station then proceeded to find our airbnb room, which we booked in advance. We got lost! But thanks to two angels, one a firefighter and another a doctor, who escorted us all the way, we reached our room with no issues.

PREPAID EXPENSES
Roundtrip Ticket: Php4, 562.00
Travel Tax: Php1, 620.00
AirBnb (Oct.23-26 for 2pax): Php5, 332.55

October 24 – Sijei and I bought Busan Coast Cultural Day Tour package via Klook. We went to KTX Busan Station Exit 1 and rode the double decker tour bus around 8:20AM. The places we visited are:
o    Taejongdae
o    Songdo Walk
o    Gamcheon Culture Village
o    Haedong Yonggungsa Temple

KLOOK TOUR COST: Php2, 033.00 each

October 25 – Contrary to the guided tour the previous day, Sijei and I opt to have independent tour this day. We bought the Red Line Bus Access via kkday. This allowed us to ride the Red Bus unlimited throughout the day while we choose which station to alight on. There are about 13 stations, but Sijei and I decided to just visit places we wanted to see to be able to spend quality time on each destination. The places we visited are:
o    UN Cemetery
o    Busan Museum
o    Gwangali Beach
o    Dongbaekseon Island
o    Haeundae Beach
o    Gwangbok-ro Busan Station

KKDAY TOUR COST: Php550.00 each

October 26 – It is such a memorable day.  Imagine buying tickets for KTX Busan to Seoul ahead of time. Fully relaxed knowing it leaves at 8:30AM. Your room is about 5 minutes walk to the station so you plan to leave around 8:10AM. Then around 8:10AM, you realize it was booked wrong and will leave at 8:15AM? 

Sijei and I never ran so fast until that moment! Like we were trying to escape zombies on our way to the train station in Busan, no less! Did we make it? Of course not! But thank God we were allowed to ride the next train with no additional charge. I warn you dear readers! Don’t try it. We just got lucky because we were ushered to the next train by mistake and there were very little number of passengers so we were allowed to ride it. It took sometime before Sijei was calm enough to talk to me! (Hahahaha…)

It was good that we lucked out on the airbnbs we booked both in Busan and Seoul. They were all pretty short walk from the subway stations. We checked in at Yun Stay at Gyeongbokgung Station (about 5 minutes walk from the palace). Rested for a bit and proceeded to explore Seoul. The places we went to on the first day were:
o    Dongdaemun Design Plaza (Stroll)
o    Gwangjang Market (Lunch)
o    Myeongdong (Shopping! What else?!)

PREPAID EXPENSES
Busan to Seoul KTX: Php2, 710.00 each (2.5 hours)
Airbnb (Oct.26-30 for 2 pax): Php8, 466.74 

October 27 – It was a magical day. I know for a fact that it will be a lot of walk and wearing my boots will be torture but I couldn’t help but have a great OOTD for my Nami Island Tour. Sijei and I booked this tour ahead of time, so the morning of the 27th, we proceeded to Myeongdong Station Exit 2 and waited for our bus.

WARNING!!! October is the autumn season and there are hundreds of people who will be joining so prepare yourself. There will be several buses so you just have to find which one you belong to.

After visiting Nami Island and Petite France, Sijei and I went to Hongkik Station to watch some buskers perform. There were many shops at night, so you can also enjoy shopping and eating while watching Koreans dance or sing or both along the streets.

KLOOK TOUR COST: Php1, 918.00 each

October 28 – This is our day to explore the cultural heritage of Seoul. Sijei and I woke up early to walk towards Gyeongbokgung Palace. We were quite early so we had a nice time roaming around the place. We did not wear Hanbok here. It will come later when we went back to Myeongdong. 

At Myeondong, we tried to find the Seoul Global Cultural Center where, we were told, we can try Hanbok for free. We didn’t realize it was located above a known department store in Myeondong. (Hahahaha…) We also got lucky since we were the only people around when we went there so we were allowed to exceed the normal time of borrowing hanbok. We were able to take pictures for as long as we wanted. 

After the Hanbok experience, Sijei and I went to Insadong for souvenir shopping. If Myeongdong is the place to go for beauty products, Insadong is the center of culture-related must –buys! We explored the area but decided to not go from end to end since we had to save money. Being in such a place sure is a temptation! Yeah, we decided not to finish the entire street. Instead, we went around the village. Saw coffee shops, wall art and get this! We realized it was just a few minutes’ walk from Gyeongbokgung Station! But we decided to just take the train back home because our feet were already hurting from too much walk.

That night, we went back to Hongkik for another KPop night.

October 29 – This day is another day for nature. Sijei and I woke up early and rode the train going to Haneul Park. We were not prepared for the long walk but the early morning sun, the cool breeze and the beautiful view made it all worthwhile. After this, we made a quick detour to Gangnam before going to Ehwa Women’s University.

October 30 – It was a bittersweet moment when you realize that it’s almost time for you to wake up from a very nice dream.  Busan and Seoul where like magic to someone like me. It’s a combination of nature, culture and man-made attractions. A piece of history combined with development. But like every good thing, It was our last day here.

Sijei and I checked-out early, rode the train to Songdo Central Park and meet my Alice Dreams sister Nicolette! This is such fun experience. Alice Dreams is my very first contact with people from around the globe that became my friends. I met Alecia in Singapore and now I’ve met Nicolette. I wonder who will be next…

Apart from meeting my friend, Sijei and I explored Songdo for a bit. It’s a city in the making so not much attractions to see. But the iFez sightseeing area and virtual tour was a cool experience.

All in all, I think it cost me around Php22, 000.00 for necessities including food and beverage, T-Money, and additional entrance fees. Then an additional Php6, 000.00 for shopping… but I know that’s on me. Who can say no to cheap Tim Tams, cute socks and durable bags? For the first time, I had to buy check-in baggage allowance! (Hahahaha…) 

I will definitely go back. No matter what.

LEYTE WITH THE FAMILY (JANUARY 22-27, 2018)

Ever since my father came home from working abroad, he has been pushing for us to visit his hometown. The Leyte Tour we had was a little bit of a challenge. My parents are both retired. This means, my sisters and I had to share for their part of expenses. We did pull through, with very little issues. The places we visited are:

TACLOBAN, NORTHERN LEYTE – Tour starting point
o    MacArthur Landing Memorial
o    San Juanico Bridge
o    Yolanda Memorial

NAVAL, BILIRAN – Tour starting point
o    Sambawan Island
o    Kalanggaman Island

ORMOC, LEYTE

HILONGOS, LEYTE 

HONGKONG AND MACAU (FEBRUARY 19-24, 2018)

My last tour of the decade is also my first independent tour. I was a bundle of emotion days before my departure. A little bit nervous and a whole lot excited. The only consolation is that Jimmelyn will be there to join me when she’s off work.

February 19 – 9AM, Jimmelyn was waiting for me at the arrival gate of Hongkong International Airport. We last saw each other in 2012 but it seemed just like yesterday. We started chatting while I picked up my simcard and octopus card at the exit gate. Off to Tsing Yi.

Jimmelyn and Jerone’s place is just a few minutes’ walk from the boardwalk and Tsing Yi MTR station and mall. After leaving my bags at their house, Jimmelyn treated me with lunch. The places we visited are:
o    Victoria Harbour
-    Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade
-    Avenue of Stars
o    Mongkok

PREPAID EXPENSES
Roundtrip Air Ticket: Php5, 396.00
Roundtrip Airport Express – Php492.00
Travel Tax: Php1, 620.00
Sim Card via Klook: Php350.00
Octopus Card via Klook: Php648.00

February 20 – This is the first time I will be crossing borders alone. I mean, I did it when I rode that plane alone and went to Hongkong. But I knew Jimmelyn will be there to wait for me. This time, I will be going to Macau and explore the place all on my own. It was scary but so exciting. My target? Spend as little as possible.  The places I visited were:
o    Grand Lisboa
o    Senado Square
- St. Dominic’s Church
- Ruins of St. Patrick
- St. Augustine’s Square
o    Venetian (and surrounding Casino-Hotels)
o    Fisherman’s Wharf

Roundtrip Turbojet Ticket: HKD 500.00
Free Shuttle: 
Macau Otuer Harbor Ferry Terminal to Grand Lisboa
Grand Lisboa/Sintra Hotel to Venetian Hotel
Venetian to Macau Outer Harbor Terminal

February 21 – Meeting the Panda at Hongkong Oceanpark with Jimmelyn.

KLOOK TICKET COST: Php2, 410.00 each

February 22 – Fulfilling a dream at Hongkong Disneyland. It was drizzling a little bit but it was blessing in disguise since we managed to explore with very little number of competition. (Hahahaha..)

KLOOK TICKET COST: Php3, 492.00 each

February 23 – Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car ride to Tian Tan Buddha and Ngong Ping Village.

KLOOK TICKET COST: Php1, 776.00 each

My last day in Hongkong was a very relaxing one. It was a time to relax and rest from all the days of walking. All in all, it cost me around Php22, 000.00 including food and beverage, additional transportation allowance and souvenir shopping money. So far, out of the six countries I’ve been to, South Korea and Hongkong are my favorites.

This year, as I enter another decade, I am filled with anticipation. Where will I go next? What opportunities will come knocking at my door? I guess I’ll never know until it comes. But when it does, I will be ready. I will enjoy it and give all the thanks and gratitude to God who made it all possible.