#wewandertoo

[findingmarv]

brighter than the sun . . . . . . #forumsession_2017feb28ByeFeb #forumsession #victorsguild #feature_the_best #vscophilippines #recklessimage #livefolk #TLpicks #travelstoriesph #exploretocreate #pinasmuna #vscogood #folkvibe #whatstoloveph #igmasters #govisitphilippines #agameoftones #aov #createcommune #visualsoflife #faded_world #thedailyadventurer #grammerph #findingmarv #WTNadventures #timeoutsociety #travelstoke #wewandertoo (at OMNI Aviation, Clarkfield Pampanga)

[wewandertoo]

All Thai'd Out: Overview

We're all Thai'd out!

Karla has outdone herself yet again, planning-wise. When we first discussed this trip last year, we agreed that we wanted to stay in Thailand for a relatively "long" time (longer than we normally would on an Asian country) and aim for more cultural experiences. You see, the usual expectation for a Filipino tourist is that said tourist will stay in Bangkok for 3-4 days, check out some temples, ride an elephant, then spend the rest of the time food tripping or shopping. Sure, we did loads of those too, and then some. Looking back at the entire journey, the only thing missing to complete the Thailand experience is a trip to the beach (personally, though, I'd still rather go to one of our own).

By the end of the trip, the conclusion is clear: Thailand is rich with color, flavor, and character. I mean that in both a literal and figurative sense. It's an exciting destination with plenty of offer. No surprise that people from all over the world are so enchanted with this place.

Our 11-day journey concentrated on two areas: Bangkok and Chiang Mai. In Bangkok, we did the "required" activities like shopping and going to their very golden temples. We also got to eat and drink at both dirt cheap but oh-so-good places (still dreaming of my 45 baht noodles and 25 baht Thai milk tea!) and higher-end settings (still reeling from the view from the Sky Bar at Sirocco). We also got way more than we bargained for when we signed up for the Hangover 2 tour. For the record, I never watched the movie, and even Karla did not expect this tour to be something other than your friendly neighborhood pub crawl. That was, however, very interesting, and it probably made me very suspicious of guys going to the strip club, ha ha ha!

We spent more time in Chiang Mai where most of the action happened. We had our share of close encounters with animals, namely tigers and elephants. We also did an overnight trek up to a mountain village, which made my thighs ache miserably for days! We visited Karen villages and even the crossed the border to Laos (and earned an extra stamp on our passports). My personal favorites, though, were joining a Thai cooking class and checking out the contemporary White Temple (Wat Rong Khun) up in Chiang Rai.

Here's a summary of what we did:

Day 1: Fly to Bangkok (AM), temple hopping (afternoon), Hangover tour (evening)

Day 2: Free day for shopping and food tripping

Day 3: Fly to Chiang Mai (AM), tigers

Day 4: Day trip (waterfalls, Karen village, Twin Pagoda), traditional khantoke dinner and cultural show (evening)

Day 5: Thai cooking class, relax for the hectic days ahead

Day 6: Overnight trek Day 1 (elephants, sleep in traditional village)

Day 7: Overnight trek Day 2 (with white water and bamboo rafting)

Day 8: Day trip to Chiang Rai (Wat Rong Khun, Golden Triangle/border crossing to Laos, Karen long neck village)

Day 9: Free day to explore downtown Chiang Mai, relax, get a Thai massage, and eat eat eat

Day 10: More food tripping, fly back to Bangkok (PM)

Day 11: Last-minute shopping and more food tripping (what did you expect?)

Day 12: Fly back to Manila (AM)

The pace was just right. We had time to do all the activities we wanted to do, but had enough space for free exploration and total relaxation. This is definitely up there on my list of favorite trips. Hoping to share much more in the coming posts!

[findingmarv]

take time to do what makes your soul happy. . . . . . . . . . . . #artofvisuals #typekita #pinasmuna #thelostkidsph #vsco #vscohub #findingmarv #curationnation #WTNadventures #timeoutsociety #travelstoke #theglobewanderer #welivetocreate #livefolk #folkvibe #visualsoflife #vscophilippines #fotografiaunited #exploretocreate #manilamagazine #vscophilippines #wewandertoo #ipadlettering #procreateapp #brushlettering #thedailytype #typematters #grammerph

[findingmarv]

there's a restaurant along argonaut highway in subic freeport zone with good food, well-designed interior and a view like this. . . . . . . #forumsession_2017feb24BetterOrWorse #forumsession #victorsguild #feature_the_best #vscophilippines #recklessimage #livefolk #TLpicks #travelstoriesph #exploretocreate #pinasmuna #vscogood #folkvibe #whatstoloveph #igmasters #govisitphilippines #agameoftones #aov #createcommune #visualsoflife #faded_world #thedailyadventurer #grammerph #findingmarv #WTNadventures #timeoutsociety #travelstoke #wewandertoo

[findingmarv]

this didn't happen. . . . . . . . . . . #artofvisuals #typekita #pinasmuna #thelostkidsph #vsco #vscohub #findingmarv #WTNadventures #timeoutsociety #travelstoke #tastethefeeling #cocacolaph #welivetocreate #folkvibe #visualsoflife #vscophilippines #fotografiaunited #exploretocreate #manilamagazine #vscophilippines #wewandertoo #ipadlettering #procreateapp #brushlettering #thedailytype #typematters #grammerph #PIHABF21 #balloonfestph

[findingmarv]

taste the feeling . . . . . . . . . . . . #artofvisuals #typekita #pinasmuna #thelostkidsph #vsco #vscohub #findingmarv #WTNadventures #timeoutsociety #travelstoke #tastethefeeling #cocacolaph #welivetocreate #folkvibe #visualsoflife #vscophilippines #fotografiaunited #exploretocreate #manilamagazine #vscophilippines #wewandertoo #ipadlettering #procreateapp #brushlettering #thedailytype #typematters #grammerph #PIHABF21 #balloonfestph (at OMNI Aviation, Clarkfield Pampanga)

[findingmarv]

Sometimes you get up close and face-to-face with things upon which your life depends. This mechanism is from a cable ride in one of the attractions at the Treetop Adventure Park in Subic. . . . . . . . . . #forumsession_2017feb20Luna #forumsession #victorsguild #feature_the_best #vscophilippines #recklessimage #livefolk #TLpicks #travelstoriesph #exploretocreate #pinasmuna #vscogood #folkvibe #whatstoloveph #igmasters #govisitphilippines #agameoftones #aov #createcommune #visualsoflife #faded_world #thedailyadventurer #grammerph #findingmarv #WTNadventures #timeoutsociety #travelstoke #wewandertoo (at Treetop Adventure Subic)

[wewandertoo]

Postcards from Seoul: Seoul Tower, Teddy Bear Museum, and Our Best-Kept Secret (Family Mart!)

It was only our first day but our huge group was quite determined to cover a lot of ground! After exploring the more traditional Gyeongbokgung and Bukchon Village, we were off to the highest point in Seoul--the N Seoul Tower (N서울타워). Once again, Seoul managed to add some cute and surprising touches to what could easily have been a typical lookout point of the city!

N Seoul Tower located on Mt. Namsan offers great panoramic views of the city, and has been a symbol of Seoul since it first opened to the public in 1980. The tower has not only been given a new look, but also a new name following a complete makeover. It is now a true cultural space with various performances, movies, exhibitions as well as upscale restaurants and snack bars.

via Visit Korea, click for visitor information to Seoul Tower

We made our way to N Seoul Tower via bus (and a lot of walking). It's also possible to get there via cable car, though. In any case, some of us got hungry enough to make a quick stop at our addiction and budget-saving secret, Family Mart!

Family Mart is a Japanese convenience store chain, and sells what you'd usually see in your friendly neighborhood 7-Eleven, Circle K, Mini Stop and the like. What sets it apart, I think, are the convenient Japanese bento-style meals, maki rolls, and priceless finds like these:

Please dessert it, because you deserve it. A+ marketing, I see it.

Milk drinks by Maeil. Rustan's/Ayala Corp., please don't forget to stock these when you open Family Mart in the Philippines!

But okay, finally we went to the tower itself. It had many quirky, Koreanovela-worthy features like...

The locks of love. The fences were bursting with all these promises and declarations from lovestruck souls. Seoul is quite a couple-friendly destination if you're into these things!

The Teddy Bear Museum within the tower itself. It's basically an exhibit of Korea's rich history and evolution packaged in a very cute way! (Click for official visitor information)

Korea from a bear-y long time ago...

Seoul managed to bear the test of time and the changes that came with it...

(Disclaimer: We spent the next few days coming up with bear jokes. It eventually became quite un-bear-able... ha ha ha!)

Finally, we went in line to take the elevator that went up the observation deck. The line was pretty long, but fortunately, they had a well-organized boarding system.

We got hungry again. Predictable!

City lights are always beautiful from this perspective.

Not seen in the pictures: A couple fighting and drawing the attention of other tourists/visitors in the deck. Hopefully, they were able to resolve their differences! I guess this is inevitable in such a romance-friendly destination.

The tower itself is a spectacle at night.

The lighting of the trees on the way back to the buses also adds to the ambiance, I must say.

On the bus as we made our way back to Hongdae, where our accommodation was located. We had dinner and street food. Yes, all we really did in Seoul was eat, eat, eat!

UP NEXT: The always-photogenic Nami Island!

RELATED: The Road to Seoul | Gyeongbokgung | Looking for Bukchon Village | Seoul Tower and Teddy Bear Museum | The Way to Nami Island | Nami Island: Always Picturesque | All posts about Korea

[wewandertoo]

Postcards from Seoul: Looking for Bukchon Village

As I look at this set of photos, I realize that I "saw" less of the traditional village and more of the quaint little shops in the area. These corners have plenty of character, don't you think?

UP NEXT: Namsan Tower, Teddy Bear Museum, and Our Budget-Saving Secret, Family Mart

RELATED: The Road to Seoul | Gyeongbokgung | Looking for Bukchon Village | Seoul Tower and Teddy Bear Museum | The Way to Nami Island | Nami Island: Always Picturesque | All posts about Korea

[wewandertoo]

The Road to Seoul: Counting from Two to Ten

My friends always say that I have a knack for finding a good travel deal. I think it's because of the system my travel buddies and I devised. Even before airlines go on sale, we peg the dates when we are free to travel and decide on the places that we want to see. Based on this list, I research to know how many days should be spent in a particular place. When we finally chance on a promo, all we had to do was check our selected dates vis-a-vis our destination picks. But in the process, we realized that it’s hard to wait for everyone to decide whether it's a go or no-go. As such, we created a new strategy: If you're good to go, just book it! Convince the others later on.

Korea was no different. What started out as a trip for two people became a vacation for 10. More often than not, my friends leave it to me to convince and persuade people to join in. So far, I have been successful.

It seemed a lot easier to travel during our college days, when most of us shared the same breaks. Now that we are working, we have to consider work commitments and schedules. Before, my concept of group travel was arriving together and leaving at the same time. Korea broke all those rules. We arrived not only in different batches, but at different times and by using different airlines at that. We left the same way. Unknowingly, some of us booked a stay in Korea for a total of 8 days. That's what happens when you focus on finding the cheapest tickets.

So here was a new challenge to my trip planning skills: I had 10 people of varied interests and schedules to work with. First, I looked at all the must-see activities in Seoul and presented them to the group. I made them pick their top choices and made sure that those were our activities when the group was complete. As a bonus, some of us opted to watch the musical, Wicked, which was a running production in Korea at the time.

Some of our top picks:

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Nami Island

Everland

In a group of 10, no matter how detailed the itinerary is, plans are bound to change. My experience in traveling taught me that I have to be flexible and adaptable to the changes in schedule. Sometimes, these changes work out for the better. It's good to have a general idea of what there is to see, but it's also fun to play it by ear, especially when you have enough time to spare. After all the research, planning, and polling, what did a group of 10 end up doing in Korea? Watch out for our photo posts in the coming days as we take you through our day-to-day activities!

  RELATED: The Road to Seoul | Gyeongbokgung | Looking for Bukchon Village | Seoul Tower and Teddy Bear Museum | The Way to Nami Island | Nami Island: Always Picturesque | All posts about Korea

[wewandertoo]

The Surfers of Sabang Beach, Baler: We Rise After Every Fall

Unlike Karla, the thought of surfing terrifies me. You crash head on against the waves. The waves slap against your face and chest. You struggle for balance. To submerge underwater is inevitable, and you have to trust yourself to stand up and try again.

I do not quite trust myself to stand up and conquer my fear of the water--yet. So I turfed, meaning I stayed on the shore and observed with two feet planted firmly to the ground. So here's a photo post featuring the surfers of Sabang Beach, Baler--those brave souls that I admire, for they choose to rise after every fall.

I have mixed feelings about this turfing session. As happy as I am to have captured the action, I am aware of my physical (and psychological) distance from the subject/s.

Then it happens. It's not a sudden, jolting realization, but a gradual, inevitable conclusion that formed in my head.

I need to be closer.

How to get to Baler / Main sights in Baler / The first surfing experience / Photo post: Surfers of Sabang Beach / The return to Baler (Mother Falls, climbing up Lukso-Lukso) / All posts on Baler