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Rediscovering Baguio

Ending my 2022 with a quick trip to Baguio, it was an unforgettable one because I have discovered new places and food trips which made me realized that there is more to this place rather than being the summer capital of the Philippines.

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La Union– 2022

Me and my partner was originally planning to go out of the country for our Anniversary but since we have recently acquired a simple townhouse in Cavite and preparing for the potential “gastos” it will bring to us we have decided to do a quick getaway instead on a nearby province, it was an almost 4 hours’ drive from the metro including stops since we made, I think 2 stops in between to eat breakfast, get coffee and smoke.

Requirements:

Since Covid 19 Restrictions here in the Philippines has eased out, we did not prepare any requirements.

Accommodation:

Since it was a last-minute decision to go to La Union we had a hard time booking for an affordable yet aesthetic-ly (LOL) looking place to stay, luckily we were able to book a cheap villa with Vistas Buenavista.

The place was super nice plus the villa we have booked was spacious as well as very clean.

They have access to the beach but if the tides are too much to handle like what happened to us, they also have a pool that you can swim at and chill.

To check them out please go to this page:

Villas Buenavista

Padua Street, San Juan, La Union, La Union, Philippines, 2514

Budget:

Villas Buenavista, Villa – We were able to book it thru an app which is around 6k PHP a night with breakfast inclusion, there are also a lot of nice budget friendly accommodation you can search via google but we decided to go to this one because it was our Anniversary anyway LOL

Pocket Money – About 5k PHP since we wanted to have a no hold bar vacation trip but if you are in a budget, I would say less than 5k would do

Itinerary and Experience:

As mentioned in the introduction, it was roughly almost a 4 hours’ drive from the metro plus stops but probably depending on how long you would stop.

And so, this is how our Itinerary looked like:

1st day – 

Arrived in Villas Buenavista

Went out to have lunch in Mad Monkey

Coffee Shop Chill 

Back to the Villa

Swim in the beach and pool

Dinner at Dampa at San Juan

Night out Flotsam & Jetsam

Night walk along the San Juan District

Back to the Villa

Rest

2nd day –

Breakfast in the Hotel

Swim in the beach and pool

Early Check out

Went to San Fernando to have Lunch at Halo-Halo de Iloko

Drive back to Manila

Stop at Nike Factory Store along NLEX

Home Sweet Home

So yeah, it was really a short trip for us to just really celebrate our Anniversary yet boy o boy La Union did not disappoint, from the food and resto’s to the place and ambiance itself.

I  understand now why it’s very popular not just here in the Philippines but around the world as well especially for the surfers out there LOL

Thank you for reading and don’t forget to like share and subscribe to my other socials:

IG – https://www.instagram.com/yoshi.space/

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Siargao Island – 2022

Siargao – 2022

And so, we went to Siargao as my Birthday Vacation Trip last July 9 until July 13, 2022.

Requirements:

So far not much of a requirement was asked from us for this trip which came as a surprise to me since I was really anticipating the same requirements, we have in our Boracay Trip.

So far below is what we have prepared and submitted:

Confirmed airline and accommodation

Vaccination Card submitted to the hotel

Accommodation:

It was hard for us to choose an accommodation because there was a lot of good options online, good thing we have talked about the kind of inclusions both of us wants which made our choosing duties easier LOL

We wanted to have that breathe taking aesthetic, a pool and close to the most tourist locations in Siargao.

And so, we ended with Las Palmas Villas and Casitas, as they have the things, we were looking for in terms of the kind of accommodation we want for our Siargao Trip.

You may check them out on this link - https://laspalmassiargao.com

Budget:

Las Palmas Accommodation – We were able to book it thru an app which is around 4k PHP a night with breakfast inclusion

Pocket Money – About 20k PHP since we wanted to have a no hold bar vacation trip but if you are in a budget, I would say less than 10k would do

Itinerary and Experience:

We landed in Sayak Airport at around past 12pm in the afternoon, we did not book any airport to hotel transfer so we had to improvise.

We asked around the airport where the public transportation terminal would be and have managed to get a semi private van transfer to our hotel for 600php per head, I know it’s a bit pricey but it’s a door-to-door transportation plus the travel time from the airport was about 30min to an hour so I would say it’s a good deal already.

Upon arriving at Las Palmas, we were greeted with a welcome drink and the nice view of the place.

The receptionist handed us over a tour package list in case we wanted to take advantage since to be honest we have no prior plans at all LOL

And so, this is how our Itinerary looked like:

1st day – 

Rest in the hotel upon arriving

Dinner at a nearby resto 

Sleep

2nd day –

Woke up early for our Land Tour Package

Land Tour Package Inclusion:

Free Van usage

Magpupungko Rock Pool

Sugba Lagoon

Maasin River 

Coconut Plantation sight seeing

Hidden River

Free Lunch

Came back to our hotel at around 5pm 

Dinner at a nearby eatery

Sleep

3rd day – 

Woke up early for our Island Tour Package

Island Tour Package Inclusion:

Free Transportation going to the port near the public market

Daku Island

Naked Island

Guyam Island

Snorkeling Time

Free Lunch

Came back to our hotel at around 4 or 5pm

Quick snack at Kermit Resto

Dinner at Harana Surf Resto

Sleep

4th day – 

Breakfast at the hotel

Quick tour at cloud nine surfing area

Quick bite at Shaka Café

Last minute strolling and pasalubong buying

Check out

Back in Manila at around 6 or 7pm

Note that on our second day we decided to rent a scooter which was so much fun as we were able to stroll around the area with ease and less hassle.

Siargao is still not at its 100% since the hit of the last Typhoon but slowly and surely, they are recovering already from it, as a tourist you just have to set your expectation especially those who have been on the Island post Typhoon Event.

I really enjoyed the vibes on the Island just like what most people have been saying about the place, the chill, relaxed vibes far from the stressful and fast pace environment we all are accustomed to in the metro.

Given a chance I would love to spend a longer say in the Island and who knows might decide to stay there for good LOL

Thank you for reading and don’t forget to like share and subscribe to my other socials:

IG – https://www.instagram.com/yoshi.space/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/Chlarkzz

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Let’s Get Physical!

Let’s Get Physical

Okay this time around I’m going to talk about my fitness journey, ever since puberty I have been struggling with my weight and I think it was 2016 or 2017 or 2018, I was at my biggest/fattest LOL

I’ve been eating a lot and really living a sedimentary life style on those years which really led for me to blow up literally LOL

It was in early 2018 that I have decided enough is enough and so I enrolled into a gym and started doing intermittent fasting.

It was a STRUGGLE and painful, there were days that I don’t want to go to the gym and just stay at home, sleep and eat LOL

But I have a goal, I promised myself that I will do whatever it takes to achieve that body goal of mine, after few months of struggle and hard work I started to see results.

I was so happy and became so eager to continue on with my journey, and after just a year or less than I was able to achieve my body goal (See Picture).

With the right amount of discipline, hard work, patience and perseverance nothing is really impossible.

I hope I was able to inspire you guys and if you are reading this, this is your sign to start working out and live a healthier life style.

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Let’s talk about my fitness journey on the next blog, stay tuned 💪🏻🏋🏻‍♂️ https://www.instagram.com/p/CcHHCqbPCz8/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Bangkok, Thailand – Land of Smiles

Bangkok, Thailand – Land of Smiles

My second international travel was as memorable as my first because it’s on a place/country that I was really looking forward to visit.

I heard a lot of great things from Bangkok which made me super excited for this trip and boy Bangkok did not disappoint me.

So now let’s talk about Accommodation:

I was with my then close friend on this trip LOL and we decided to book our accommodation via the Airbnb app, after checking out a lot of great options we ended up getting condo near one of the BTS Stations which was hosted by a super host in Airbnb App.

The per night stay was 1,390PHP and since we stayed there for 3 nights plus other charges, we were able to pay a total of about 5,112PHP which in my opinion is a good deal already.

The host was very pleasant and nice to talk with, she is currently residing in the US but originally from Thailand, her mom and dad are the ones who looks after the condo.

Once you arrive in Bangkok depending on your agreement with them her mom and dad will meet and fetch you guys via their family car and will personally drop you off the condo unit.

The place itself was nice with everything you need already prepared and the neighborhood was quiet and relaxing.

What I like about it is that it’s near establishments as well and if you guys are into street foods, the place itself is surrounded by street food facilities/vendors.

Here’s the Airbnb link: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/20972755?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=0e14f5dd-12b8-402e-a42d-68013d0eed35

Highly recommended especially for a couple or small group travelers.

Budget:

I already anticipated I will be spending a lot on this trip and so if my memory serves me right my pocket money was about not lower than 25k PHP, just to be on a safer side since I don’t want to end up borrowing money LOL.

Air fare was about around 4-5k PHP round trip so based on my memory and manual computation all and all expenses was somewhere around 30-40k PHP.

Itinerary and Places we visited:

I personally was the one who created our Itinerary for this trip and so I was able to keep a screenshot of what I did that time LOL:

1st day –

Temple of Reclining Buddha also known as Wat Pho

The Grand Palace

Temple of Dawn also known as Wat Arun

China Town also known as Yao Warat

Dinner and Night Strolling

2nd day –

Breakfast near Silom

Chatuchak Market

Patpong Night Market

Dinner near Silom

Silom Night Clubs and Red District

Soi Twilight

DJ Station

3rd day –

Lumpini Park

Brunch at Lumpina Park

Santichaiprakan Park

Siam Paragon

Bazaar Malls

Dinner at Siam Paragon

Beer night at nearby establishment of our Airbnb

4th day –

Breakfast at nearby establishment of our Airbnb

Swimming at our Airbnb place public pool

Siam Paragon

Bazaar Malls

Last minute shopping

Airport

I really enjoyed the night life as I never felt discriminated being part of the LGBTQ+ Community, in fact they have a lot of Gay Friendly bars which is quite expensive in my opinion but hey you only live once LOL

Another thing I really enjoyed would be the Bazaars and Night Markets especially Chatuchak Market! Everything was so cheap and budget friendly that I exceeded my baggage allowance going back to the Philippines LOL

I am dreading to go back once international leisure travel is back BAU but for now, I will just continue to reminisce my memories in this country which is really in my opinion the “Land of Smiles”.

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Taipei, Taipei – First International Travel

Taipei, Taipei – First International Travel

Ever since I graduated and had my first job, I have been the “Bread Winner” of our family with the main goal of ensuring my baby brother (who was in college still that time) graduates hoping he will have a better life than mine, anyhow this is not a blog for that story, I just want to quickly explain as to why I was only able to experience “Travelling” at the age of 28, you guys get the picture LOL

So on to the main story which is my first international flight/travel and the destination is “Taipei, Taiwan”.

Actually, my first international travel was supposed to be Hongkong but I got into a bit of an issue when I was processing my passport application, it was a nightmare actually because I already paid for the tickets, accommodations and all but end up not joining as I still don’t have my passport in time of our flight 

So, when the same group of friends invited me to go to Taipei, Taiwan when I was able to get my Philippine Passport I immediately said YES! Like a proposal CHAR!

Since I was a newbie on International Travelling, I was really nervous because I don’t know what to prepare and expect that time but, in my mind, since I already paid for my air fare and my share for our accommodation then I am good.

Accommodation:

It was my friend who arranged everything and since it was way back 2018, I can’t clearly remember what transpired but what I can remember in terms of accommodation is that we have agreed to book via Airbnb App as it was cheaper compared to hotels and other options.

We were able to book a decent condo type place with 2 beds and is near the bus station.

Budget:

For what I can remember the pocket money I saved for this trip was around 20 to 25k PHP which I was able to stretch in our duration of stay (I really can’t remember anymore how long we stayed LOL)

Itinerary and Places we visited:

Since it was my first time travelling abroad so I just kind of go with the flow on this one and let them decide where to go or what places to visit but so far what I can remember is the below:

Ø  Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Ø  Taipei 101 Ø  Night Markets (Can’t remember the names LOL) Ø  P.S Bubu Ø  Rainbow Village Ø  National Chung Cheng University (I know right? Well, we are all a Meteor Garden Fanatics)

There is a lot of “Night Markets” in Taipei and I really can’t remember all of those we have visited but I remember the one overlooking the city or situated on a mountain, I think the name is Jiufen apart from that would be Shi Lin since I frequently visited this market as it’s the nearest to our Airbnb place.

Sadly, I was not able to go to the Rainbow Village and National Chung Cheng University because it was far from where we are staying and you need to ride a train and a bus to go there as early as 5am or 6am Taipei time in order to fully experience the places, being a lazy person that I am I woke up late and my friends let me be and went there without me LOL

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Though it was a struggle communication wise because it was hard to find someone who can speak English especially when asking directions or riding a Taxi or Bus.

Overall, it was an amazing experience being it my first international travel, the food is great, fantastic actually, it was there that I was able to taste an authentic Chinese food and serving wise it was huge like you will really be full for the day.

What I like the most aside from the food would be the Markets/Night Markets, I remember wishing I have more money because I wanted to shop sooooo badly LOL

The Markets and Night Markets are complete from things you want or needing or just simply can buy to entertainment, food trips and more :)

If given a chance and if allowed already, I would definitely visit Taipei again :)