Holiday on a Budget

So, you want to go on a holiday but you think you haven't saved enough? Here're some tips to help you have that trip at a low cost:

1. Plan out a realistic budget.
Perhaps you've saved some money just for a holiday or if you're getting it from a bonus, identify how much it is. Whatever amount you can spare or can afford to use for your trip is your budget.

2. Identify the place you would like to visit and how long you'd like to stay there. This should be done way ahead of time.

3. Depending on the place you would like to visit, make the details of your budget. Your major costs are transportation, hotel/lodging, food. Will you have to ride the plane, boat or bus? If you're taking your own vehicle,find out how far the place is from where you are and make an estimate of your gasoline expense based on how many kilometers (or miles) per liter your car is able to run. Your formula should be km/liter / distance in kilometers x price per liter.

set a budget for lodging. A hostel or budget hotel would be your best bet. Or, you might know someone who you can stay with. Just be sure to contribute to the expenses in the home where you are staying. That way your hosts will not be burdened by your presence.

Make a budget for food. Count in all meals including snacks that you need to take.

4. Visit forums such as virtualtourist.com or travelblog.org and ask questions about the place you want to go to. I have been a member of virtualtourist for more than 2 years now and I must say that it has been very useful in planning for our vacations. Use the power of the internet and you'll find that you can actually get useful tips from bloggers and members of organizations such as those I have mentioned earlier.

5. Check out vacation packages, fares, hotels, and other things from websits such as expedia.com, hotels.com asiarooms.com or asiatravel.com. These so far are the best places to get more information on expenses you might incur for the trip. Hostels are the best places for budget travellers. I've tried Hostelworld.com and they've done a wonderful job in recommending hostels.

6. Walk your way around. Try walking instead of using a cab. Get hold of a map to identify and cluster the places that interest you. When you do need to ride, try the train or bus.

7. Get into culture. This could be the cheapest way to learn about a place and not spend so much. Experiment on local things such as restaurants that serve local cuisine or visit villages, etc.

8. Stick to your budget. The most common pitfall of a budget traveller is being an impulsive buyer. Set aside money for all costs and try to work around that budget.

9. Go with a group. When you are with other people, you are able to split the bill with them. Some people on virtualtourist get other people to join them in their trips.

Well, this is it for now. I'll edit this page as soon as I can. Goodnight all!

Travel Promotions Within the Philippines (Domestic)

For those budget travellers who are looking for low fares, the following airlines have promotional sales for this period:

Cebu Pacific Airlines
P1 seats for Cebu-Bacolod, Cebu-Butuan, Cebu-Iloilo, and Cebu-Cagayan. The promotion will run from April 26, 2008 to June 30, 2008 with both sale period and travel period on the said dates.

The airline is also offering P888 seats for its Cebu-Macau and Cebu-Taipei routes. The seat sale is from April 26 to 30, 2008 travel may be availed from May 1, 2008 until June 30, 2008.

Fare is non-refundable and exclusive of surcharges and government taxes.

Asian Spirit
9 Php for Manila-Busuanga, Busuanga-Manila, Manila-Boracay, Boracay-Manila, Cebu-Boracay or Boracay-Cebu. Get as low as PHP1,199 for Manila-Busuanga or PHP699 for Manila-Caticlan. Busuanga is your gateway to the Coron island in Palawan while Caticlan is your gateway to Boracay Island.

Sale Period is from April 20 to May 31, 2008 and travel period is from May 5 to Oct. 15 2008. For those who are new at travelling, this means that you can buy your tickets only during the sale period and use these tickets during the travel period only.

Green Travel - Helping to Save the Earth

As more and more people get to travel all over the world, the risk of damage or destruction to the earth's resources increase in direct proportion to it. Well, that is until we, the travellers make it a point to go green even as we walk the face of the earth.

I've been an affiliate of Expedia.com for sometime now but I didn't realize they were into saving Mother Nature too. You may want to check out the link below everytime you travel. They have green hotels, hybrid car rentals, and the likes.

A traveler's guide to going green! Green hotels, tips for responsible travel, reducing your carbon footprint and more on Expedia.com

Returning to The Walled City - Intramuros, Manila

The last time was in 2003, when my cousin Erin was around and we showed her the place. Luckily, that wasn't my first time in Intramuros but it seemed all new to me because the first time I went there it was nighttime and there were some bands playing some tunes over near the ruins of a church.

This time we went there to walk around the area with our guest, VirtualTourist.com member Barbskie who has been living in Switzerland for the past oh, 20 years or so. The rustic charm of the walled city is still evident. Some areas had been restored while others still stood where it was 400 years ago. Like the San Agustin Church. Nothing much has changed. Although what really caught my eye, which I didn't notice before, were the chinese figures (in the likeness of dogs) that were made to stay under the idols in the facade. there, of course, was the contrast of the Spanish and Chinese cultures. The european touch is more simple and predictable while the asian - as mysterious, alive and invigorating.

There was the Manila Cathedral where several weddings were being held literally one after the other. It's rather costly to get married there these days and I heard that if you would like to tie the knot there, you'd have to book it 1 year in advance. 1 year?! Facing the cathedral was a statue of King Carlos (I think that's what his name is) who had sent vaccines to the Philippines. Good guy? I wouldn't be so certain. Maybe so to deserve a monument. The Spaniards may have wrought havoc in our land but they did do some good things too.

As we walked along, coming from the ruins of a church, I noticed a lone brick window of a dimly lit room. It looked really old and I couldn't be certain whether it was made to look that way or it has really stood the test of time. Anyway, it did catch my fancy so I figured it was worth having a creative shot of it. I tweaked the settings of my camera (it is one of those point and shoot cams with some manual settings on it), positioned myself right in front of it and took the shot. As the flash came on, a voice emanated from that dark room... it was a man, in his underwear, his back facing me! Apparently, he was startled by my intrusion and got up from where he was. I was surprised too and got a little scared, that I ran toward my companions who were about 100 meters away from where I was standing. They had a laugh when I told them what just happened.

We didn't have the time to go to Fort Santiago because the guys wanted to watch the sunset at Manila Bay. After all, that, according to some, is one of the most picturesque in Manila.

Intramuros is still beautiful and would be a perfect venue for a Filipiniana wedding. Well, you might be wondering about the Manila Bay sunset - we were late!

Hong Kong Science Museum - A Must See!

You want to know where to go in Hong Kong - that high tech city, with high tech facilities and high tech things around. Naturally, you gotta go to a high tech museum. hehehe



But kidding aside, one should not miss the Hong Kong Science Museum as it is something for old and young people. It is full of exhibits most of which are interactive and unlike the ones normally seen in a science museum. It covers paleontology, anatomy, physics, chemistry, electromagnetism, computers, telecommunications, solar energy, etc. What I liked the most there was the TV studio where they created a real life studio (a small one of course) and the visitor is able to make a TV show where he operates the buttons behind the scene and another visitor acts as the newsman. There's a TV where the show is broadcasted and the effects we see such as rainfall or snow are shown.


The science museum is right in front of the museum of history. The entrance fee is 25 HKD per person but it is free on wednesdays.

Lively Macau!

We were in transit in Macau twice before we finally stayed overnight. First was on our way to Hong Kong and the next was when we were going to Zhuhai, China. It is spring time in all three places but the weather was best in Macau. It was cool and had some fog even during the daytime. Perfect for walking.

There were a lot of things to see in Macau, contrary to what I was told by my friends. And unlike how I had pictured it, Macau is pretty much a city as Hong Kong. The place is as alive in the morning as it is at night in comparison to Las Vegas where it is sleepy during the daytime. Also, unlike Las Vegas where gambling is everywhere with slot machines found even in the remotest place, Macau's gambling spots are confined to the Casinos.

We checked in at the Metropark Hotel at Rua de Pequin. But, since the check in time was at 3 pm, we left our luggage with them and went around the place first. Our first meal was at 3 pm (again!) at the Artica Trattoria, a european (Italian I believe) restaurant in the vicinity of MGM Hotel. They had really nice pizza and pasta. Most of the staff were Filipinos who made us feel comfy. We got some tips on how to go around from them and they've been pretty helpful.

Next we went to the Leal Senado which was so full of tourists and proceeded to the St. Paul Ruins. Just beside the ruins were the Mount Fortress and the Macau Museum. Museum was closed at that time because they were renovating but we were told that they'd be open by April 15. too bad as we'd be back in the Philippines by then.

We did some window shopping near Leal Senado after that because we intended to look for the cheapest wares and purchase them the following day. But going back there did not happen as the following day we went to the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Park, then to lunch at Dom Galo. After lunch, we had a tour of the casinos which included the MGM, the venetian and Starworld.

The taxis were hard to find at certain places and times. As I recall, there were at least 3 times when we had to wait an average of 40 minutes to get one. The worst was that we had to walk so far to find a cab too. And it was rather hard to follow the map I had as it did not indicate which parts had tunnels and were impossible to walk on.

The trip ended there. 8 days in all three places (Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai) were not enough to see the sites. Perhaps another trip in the future would be longer? Impossible!

So What's in Zhuhai? - Our Next Stop

From Hong Kong, we went to Macau but only in transit to Zhuhai, China. We left our hostel at Hongkong at 11 am, took the 11:30 ferry from HK to Macau and went directly to the border. The sea was rough as it was drizzling that time and there was a strong wind. From the Ferry Terminal in Macau, taxi cost about 25 pattacas to the Porto Do Cerco or the Macau side of the Macau-Zhuhai Border. You see, you just have to cross this border by walking through and you're in Zhuhai. There are two buildings: the Macau side which is called the Porto Do Cerco and the Zhuhai side which is called Gongbei. A visa is needed to get to from Macau to Zhuhai. Check this blog for the options on how to get one.
Having arrived at almost 3 pm, we were starved already. We were booked at the Hotel Jumbo which is just about 5 minutes from the border. Right in front of our hotel is ShunAn Restaurant which was recommended to us by a hotel staff. A waitress from the restaurant fetched us. Apparently, their specialty is seafood. And why not? We were in Zhuhai which is a city by the sea. The food was really good. We had shrimps in garlic, an appetizer which we suspected was made of eggwhites and some herbs, some shellfish, and kangkong (morning glory) with oyster sauce. Unlike what we picture of Chinese dishes, the ones we had were not oily at all. In fact, they hardly had any oil in it. The best is the service. We had a waitress that waited on us literally, and she was paying attention and anticipating your every need. Service fit for a king. The only trouble is that it was hard for us to communicate with her and almost everyone else. it was good that there was one who had very little knowledge of english. She didn't understand everything we said but at least we got almost everything we wanted.
We didn't go out after that. Instead we stayed at the hotel to rest. It had been a long day.
In the morning, we had a buffet breakfast at the hotel and went to the Meixi Village. It turned out to be Chen Fang's ancestral home. He was one of the richest and kindest man in the history of China that some archways were built for him. There was a wax museum within the compound. The wax people looked so real they were both beautiful and eerie at the same time. One of the vendors sold wooden fans which you could have your name in chinese characters written at the back. My husband bought one for my daughter. Of course, we weren't certain whether he wrote the correct name on it. None of us spoke or read or wrote in Chinese anyway.

We tried going to the Agricultural Academy but couldn't understand nor were we understood by those whom we asked so we didn't find it. My mistake was that I didn't ask the hotel front desk to write the chinese name of the place down. We ended up taking pictures of flowers and a small reptile - a lizard or at least something that looked like one. Anyway, we took the bus from the station. From there, we went to have lunch at the McDonald's at Hita Plaza which was near the Fisher Girl Statue. After lunch, we went to Jing Shan Park where we took a cable car to the top. The view was panoramic up there. You could see the Pearl River where the statue of the Fisher Girl is, the view of Macau and almost the whole of Zhuhai, with its hills green of vegetation. I bought jade miniature of the statue for only 15 RMB. We had the option of taking the sliding car going down to the entrance but opted not to grab the opportunity. It appeared to be quite a high and rather scary ride and we are not made for that kind of thrill. When we got down, some man sold us fans again and we bought some at a much cheaper price. My daughter kept laughing at how I practically coerced the guy to give it at a price lower than that of the fan we had earlier bought. I got three for 55 RMB. Her fan was 20. Talk about bargaining skills. hehehe

We walked toward the Fisher Girl Statue and passed by the Haibin park along the way. Nothing spectacular. It was a nice place though because it was full of trimmed grass, and there were quite a number of trees that gave the park its shade. From there we went to the Fisher Girl Statue. It is a monument to remember a demi goddess and her "true love". We took some pictures (some were of my crazy poses) and went on our way to the Hita Plaza once more to have dinner and do some shopping. It was frustrating though because the prices were not as low as expected. I was told later that we should have gone to the Lianshan pedestrian street or the lower Gongbein underground shopping center. We didn't because we were too tired from all that walking. Next trip maybe.

The following morning we were off to Macau. As expected, lunch was at 3 pm - again!

Vote for Tubbataha Reef As One of the 7 Wonders of Nature

Hey guys! Why don't you help Tubbataha Reef become one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. It's easy to cast a vote. Just go to the website of the New7wonders, register and vote. It's that easy.

Let's help the Philippine tourism by supporting our nominees. The other 2 nominees are the Chocolate Hills in Bohol and the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River Park. We can do it, Pinoys!

Ocean Park - Still the Best in Hong Kong

Even with the presence of the Disneyland in Hongkong, still noone can say that Ocean Park's has lost its charm. In fact, it has surfaced all the more. When we were there, several areas of the park were undergoing improvement. I didn't think it was huge, that all the while I thought it was just as big as our own Enchanted Kingdom here in the Philippines. But no, the park has two big areas which are connected by cable car. Also, unlike Disneyland, this park has rides too which reminds me of the Sea World in San Diego.

One place that caught my attention is the frog museum inside the park. and yes, its really all about frogs which came in different shapes and sizes. Another creature that caught my fancy was the, of course, panda. Two were unmindfully sleeping on their cots while one was feeding on some bamboo.

If you plan to go there, I suggest you check out their website ahead of time so you know the schedule of the shows they have. The only one we watched was the dolphin show and it was even almost the end of the show. Well, it will be worth another visit.

Highlights of A Macau Tour

We will be staying at Macau for only 2 days and 1 night. Actually, that would only be about 36 hours. Within that time, I hope we'd be able to finish our DIY Tour. Here's the itinerary I've prepared:

Day 1
Taipa
11:00 Tin Hau Temple
11:30 Walking tour towards Civic & Municipal Affairs Bureau/Rua Correia da Silva /Travessa da Felicidade/Rua dos Mercadores, /Largo das Virtudes and Largo Maia de Magalhães to
12:00 Lunch at Rua da Cunha,
1:00 pm Back to Macau/ check in at Hotel
3:00 pm

4 pm walk to Senate Square,/St. Paul's Ruins /Museum of Sacred Art/Monte Fort /Museum of Macau /Old Protestant Cemetery /Casa Garden /Camões Garden
7 pm dinner at
8 pm tour of casinos and hotels

Day 2
Coloane
9 am Walking tour at Coloane Village (Largo Presidente António Ramalho Eanes/Tin Hau Temple/Chinese medicine shops/wharf of the Ponte Cais de Coloane /Tam Kung Temple /small Tin Hau Temple/Rua dos Negociantes/Lord Stow’s Bakery then back to coloane town)
11:30 check out of hotel

2 pm - bum around and find some souveneirs

Well, I hope we've covered enough for a highlight of Macau.

The Hong Kong Story and the Museum of History

On our first day in Hong Kong (April 6), we had lagged behind our schedule. Having arrived at 3 am from Macau, we had slept through practically the whole morning. I had scheduled for us to visit 2 museums on that day but we only had time to go to 1. Naturally, we chose to go where there would be a guided tour and one which would serve our main purpose for the trip - The Hong Kong Museum of History. There were only 2 days in a week that the museum had guided tours which were on saturdays and sundays and we couldn't pass it up.

My family wasn't so excited to go at first. What would we see there? Bones and relics? These weren't the kind of things you'd like to view on a holiday right? But the museum was far from just that and so far among all of the museums I have seen, it is by far among the best ones. The exhibit area was a wide, 3-storey building. The management had taken pains to paying attention to the minutest detail. The airconditioning was perfect, the lights went on a cycle of dim to bright to dim again. This, according to our guide, is because they had wanted to recreate a whole day for the visitor. The reception area is not so impressive as it was large and dim with just a single counter where a lady receptionist was to attend to visitor questions. From there, we went down to the basement. The museum observed a one way flow of traffic such that all exhibits will lead you to the exit.

The exhibits went from the prehistoric period, to the geological compositions of HK, to the time of the british occupation up until the reunification of China. There were at least 3 movies which were all free. Our guide, Eric, told us stories at each stop we made. The exhibits were fantastic. One of my favorites is that of a remake of a chinese village where a wedding was going to take place. According to their tradition, the bride is not allowed to see her groom until after the wedding. She would have to be fully covered lest some spirits play tricks on her and cause her to get ill, crazy or even die. Neither is she allowed to touch the ground before they are wed. Instead, she has to be carried on the matchmaker's back the whole time. Tough job huh? The matchmaker plays a vital role in every girl's wedding just like in Mulan. The matchmaker's job starts when she chooses among the girls who is worthy of being a bride. Then, she looks for a suitable husband for her. After that, she has to be in the wedding, attend to the bride until after they are wed. They didn't hear how much events planners are paid these days. hehehe

The museum had 3 floors and each floor had several themes. I had only alloted 4 hours for that visit. It turned out that it was so beautiful that the 4 hours was not enough. 6 hours wasn't either but we had to cut short the trip because they had to close the museum already.

Ah Shan The Great

For lack of a catchy title, I chose the one above. But this is not a tale of a dragon but a review of Ah Shan, the hostel in Mongkok, Kowloon.

When I first sought out a place to stay for our holiday in Hong Kong, I had nothing in mind. With the realization that we probably will not be able to afford more than 75 USD a night, I checked out hostelworld.com. Ah Shan got one of the highest rating and the reviews seemed good enough for me. So, I booked and we got here last Sunday early morning. The price we paid is even less that 55 USD per day for 4 beds.

Coming from the Macau airport, we went to the ferry terminal and took the turbojet to HK. At almost 1 am, it was the only one available and it didn't even go to Kowloon Island but to the Hong Kong Island which means we'd have to travel by land to Mongkok in Kowloon. But, as we were all sleepy and exhausted, we didn't have a choice so we took it.

It was quite hard to find the hostel because it was our first time in Hong Kong and the cab driver did not speak English. He didn't know where Argyle street in mongkok is. Either that or he just didn't understand the way we spoke. However, he was very resourceful. After much hand signals and body language, he finally said "Ah! Chinjere House, ok ok". Ah Shan is in Sincere House and he knew exactly where it is. We paid him about 80 HKD, 20 HKD lower than the price of the cab driver who was offering us a ride. It was good that we went directly to the taxi stand.

We got to the hostel at 3 am. If you're familiar with hostels in Hong Kong, you'd know that it isn't like a hotel where they have a formal reception area and all that. Mostly, the reception area serves many purposes. It is the office, the storage hall, the computer area for both guests and management, etc. It is like that at Ah Shan. So, our arrival came as a surprise to both myself and the staff - a man in his late 50's or early 60's who I eventually called Uncle. We were expected at 1 am as indicated in my reservation. But the good Cebu Pacific flight left 1.5 hours later than schedule so it produced a domino effect.

We were given a small (about 9 sqm) but clean room. It is a good thing that I booked for 4 beds because I had anticipated that there would hardly be any room for our luggage. I was right. There were two single beds and a double deck. Since there were only 3 of us, we had made the extra bed into a luggage area - luggage were on top of the bed and the shoes and other extra stuff were under it.

The room I got is what they call an ensuite which means that the bathroom is inside and not shared with other guests. It is quite small - about 1 square meter big. The location is right in the middle of the city where lots of food options are available. It is close to a mall and the MTR (train) thus we were able to get to most destinations in a few minutes. Like going to Hong Kong Island only took about 15 minutes or so. The Ladies Market is about 2 minutes walk and can even be seen from our room's window. The Langham Plaza is about 5 minutes away, and if you like budget shopping, there are stores that sell cheap ware at the ground floor of the building. Finding food was not hard. Well, that is if you like chinese food. We do so we tried the small restos nearby. The Ferry Terminal in Kowloon which we took going to back to Macau on our way to Zhuhai was just about 15 minutes away and taxi fare was just about 40 HKD. We could have gotten the ferry to the Jiuzhou port in Zhuhai from HK but we had to get a visa at Porto Do Cerco to enter china. The China Travel Service was asking for 750 HKD per person to secure a Chinese visa but I said no because I knew that it would only cost 150 HKD at Gongbei. But it would have been cheaper had I learned earlier. (Please read my hub for securing a chinese visa.)

My husband was so happy with the place. He had brought his Thinkpad to do some unfinished work. Fortunately, Ah Shan had 24 hours wi-fi inside the room for free. Also, we were happy because we were able to eat real chinese breakfast. I am an early riser and got up the earliest. When I did, I'd go down and find some bakery (not a nice bakeshop with aircon and all that but a real chinese bakery) and buy some pastries and bread. It cost less than 20 HKD. Very good huh?

Going around from Ah Shan wasn't a problem probably because I am able to read a map well enough to get around and the hostel staff were very helpful. Even when it was hard for us to understand each other, they were so patient to try to understand what we needed. At one instance when we were looking for a place to eat which is not chinese, the staff brought me outside, pointed upward to a building and said " tai twelf floh" which of course meant there's a thai restaurant at the 12th floor.

After having spent 4 nights and 4 days, I was asked to give them a rating. What should I give them? They have the kindest staff although most of them do not speak nor understand english. They were very helpful, and their place is right in the middle of everything. Above all, it only cost us 440 HKD per night for 4 beds per night. So, the 90% rate I gave them would probably be justified.

Travel But Don't Stop Working

Since I started to work, I had also began looking into the prospects of entrepreneurship if only because it is a way for me to be able to travel as much as I want to. I am fascinated by how much money people make that they are often able to go places almost worry free. In time I realized there are only two ways which will earn me money and allow me to journey across the globe: The first is by leveraging and the other is by e-commerce although I prefer the latter because leveraging would mean depending on other people's performance.

The ability of being able to transact business away from your home-base or even while you sleep is possible through the use of an ecommerce software like the one provided by Ashop. Their software will me to set up my business, make it ready for the internet, and help me market my product. I already have a product in mind. One that is here in Hong Kong. Now all I have to do is get in touch with the owners of the product for me to market in the Philippines.

Our Manila-Macau-Hong Kong Trip - A Dreadful Experience

We're presently in Hong Kong and staying at the Ah Shan Hostel. We got in from Macau yesterday early morning, about 3 am. Why? Here's the story.

We were booked on the Cebu Pacific flight to Macau from Manila on flight 5J362. We are PAL flyers and so we were at the airport about 3 hours before our scheduled departure which was at 7:30 pm. To my dismay, even at 3 hours prior to ETD, the check-in counters were still not open. They did when we, the passengers on that flight who were already there, decided to line up after an hour of waiting. I believe they were forced to open the counters because many of us went to complain about it. I mean it did say on the ticket to be at the counters at least 2 hours prior to the departure. It was disappointing enough that we had to wait for us to get checked in but it was equally disappointing that we were not able to find any seat at the NAIA International Airport.

Apparently, the Cebu Pacific delay had started in the morning. It was 7:15 pm when they announced that our flight would be delayed. The reason they gave was because of overbooking. Actually, it really meant they oversold tickets. I wonder why airlines would do that? So, anyway, they tried to bribe some of us to stay by offering a two way ticket with a confirmed flight the following day and an overnight stay at a hotel. I was telling my husband that if they would offer about 100 dollars or so, I'd grab it. We couldn't just take the opportunity because we had a confirmed booking here at the hostel.

Finally, at 8:30 pm we were allowed to board the plane only to find out that there was another delay. The captain had announced that we had to wait for some documents before we could take off and it meant another 40 minutes of waiting. It took 1.5 hours for Cebu Pacific to fix the delay.

The flight lasted for almost 2 hours. We got to the Macau airport and were lined up at the taxi stand when Boyet's cousin texted to say that he was picking us up. From there, we went to some restaurant in Macau, I think it is called the Golden Island, ate a bit and proceeded to the Ferry terminal. It was already almost 1:30 am.

The Ferry we took was the TurboFerry. I thought we had made a mistake of buying the ticket because we got the one to Hong Kong when were supposed to go to Kowloon. But at that time of the day, that was the only one available. I got a bit worried. This is the first time for any of us to travel to Hong Kong and being in a foreign country where most people do not speak english, it is really quite scary.

The Ferry ride took us 1 hour. It was rather hard for us to bring our stuff. I brought a suitcase for my and my daughter's things while my husband brought a bag, his camera bag and his Thinkpad. 3 pcs of luggage for him and 1 for me. But that 1 luggage was really hard to transport. Why, because the ferry had a narrow path going to the dock (I think you call it the plank) and the staff were unlike the Filipinos who would readily help their customers when they see them having some difficulty. Hurrah for Filipinos! From the terminal in Hong Kong Island, we took a cab to our hotel.

See the World But Protect the Earth

As I was doing our itinerary in Macau , I read in the macautourim website that in one of the stores they still sell traditional Chinese delicacies, one of which is the shark's fin. I admit I was taken aback by it. There's been so much buzz about how sharks are endangered already and yet there, they seem to not mind.

Another instance is when people go on hunting trips or even fishing trips to bodies of water where the reefs are shallow and the corals get hit by motorboats or destroyed by man when they stand on them. I remember how one cartoon (I think it was on Sesame STreet) said when we destroy corals, we destroy the habitat of little fish. Without the little fish, there can be no big fish. And it affects man and all goes back to that coral. It is exactly how the ecological balance works. We should probably go see places that increase ecological or nature awareness. If we can't save the earth, at least let's not contribute to its destruction when we travel.

2008 Summer Travel Deals

If you're planning to go somewhere this summer, whether alone or with friends or family, take note of the following discounted airfare from:

1. Jetstar Asia:

Kuala Lumpur to Singapore at $8
Bangkok to Singapore at $18
Medan to Singapore at $28
Jakarta/Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore at $29
Phnom Penh/Siem Reap/Surabaya to Singapore at $39
Macau to Singapore at $59
Denpasar (Bali) to Singapore at $68
Manila to Singapore at $78
Hong Kong to Singapore at $88
Taipei to Singapore at $98
Yangon to Singapore at $128

You'll have to buy your tickets between 2 - 6 Apr and travel between
10 Apr & 30 Jun 2008.

2. Cebu Pacific's 1 Peso domestic fare for Cebu to the following: Bacolod, Butuan and Cagayan de Oro. Go to www.cebupacificair.com.

3. PAL'S Fly all you can promo from Manila to the following Asian cities:
Bangkok, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Macau, Saigon, Singapore, Taipei, and Xiamen. The deal is that you get 1 free ticket when a business class ticket is purchased at regular price. Tickets should be purchased between 28 March 2008 and 11 April 2008 and travel should be done on 15 June 2008 until 15 October 2008. Travel must be completed by 15 October 2008. Note that it is not available for internet purhcase. Check them out at www.philippineairlines.com.

4. Asian Spirit's PHP99 deals for flights from Manila to the following: Baguio, Basco, Busuanga, Calbayog, Catarman, Caticlan, Masbate, San Jose & Virac. Another thing with Asian Spirit is if you get a mastercard visa from EastWest Bank, you can avail of additional 20% discount on airfares whether regularly priced or discounted. and you still get your rewards points! I've just checked the price to Basco (Batanes) and the lowest airfare is 1099 per way inclusive of all other fees. That's really not bad at all. Check them out at http://www.asianspirit.com.

Happy Travels!

Travelling from Macau to Hong Kong

Travellers know that the fastest way to get from Macau to Hong Kong and vice versa would be to go by ferry. Being my first time to go, I had asked my husband's cousin, Richard, which among the ferries that ply that route would be the best. But instead of choosing between these, I was told that we have to use both. According to him, going to kowloon, we should take FIRST FERRY. From kowloon to hongkong side, we should take JETFOIL. I'm guessing that going back to Macau or Zhuhai from Hong Kong, we should still take first Ferry. I wonder why he hasn't recommended the turbojet? Is it more expensive or is it a matter of getting better service? Hmmmm... I'll let you guys know when I get back.

How Valuable is a Shopping Cart When You're on Holiday?

We all know that travelling not only entails a person to be on vacation from work or school, it also means that he gets to spend more than he earns. Well, that's usually the case. But maybe not if one has an e-business with a shopping cart.

Part of my purpose for going to Hongkong and Zhuhai is to find some goods which I can sell online. It's a double purpose trip for me - spend some time with family while looking for other sources of income. It's good that I found the shopping ecommerce software and the ecommerce software. As I have written about my desire to have a business in my other blog at www.businessbee.blogspot.com, online businesses are advantageous because for one I'd have less expenses. It's a good way to start. I have my business in mind and have the knowledge of how to run it too.

I find the Ashop Commerce of good value to any ecommerce business. The features of the company I like the most are that it has a shopping cart to help you with selling even when you are not online. And they link you up with That's extra money for shopping while I'm on vacation. I also like the fact that it is able to help its clients with the SEO listings. That way, customers will be able to find my business right away even while I'm on holiday. Isn't that great?