What A Life!

Today I've come across a mother's blog about her family,kids,life.

The author tells us about what's going on in her family. It's some sort of a diary which a blog is supposed to be in the first place. She has a knack for writing but in one of her posts she says that she just doesn't have any idea what to write on and asks her readers what inspires them. That's being interactive in the posts which is very good. In fact, google is encouraging every blog to let their readers participate. Hmmm... seems like a good bosst for a level up on those PRs.

I love the way the website is designed. It's not heavy on advertising, is very simple but has a lot of meat in it. Well, someday, when I get the urge to focus on learning CSS, I'll probably do the same for this blog. And showcase all my photos. My, there are thousands of those. I wonder if blogger won't breakdown if I do that. What do you say BertN?

New Zealand - Land of Milk and Honey

Literally, New Zealand is the land of milk and honey as it is a vast agricultural land . We have been invited to visit New Zealand. Why? After my husband's friend heard that I have gotten my nursing degree, he sent us a link about how NZ needs nurses and how they prefer Filipino graduates. That's good. After all, I had been prodding my husband about migrating to NZ for a very, very long time.

As an Executive Secretary, I saw several pictures of Auckland, Wellington and Queenstown from business contacts. They had brought me goods from the place. I heard so many stories about how they live by the beach while driving to work everyday. I love that kind of life.

Auckland is a city near the beach. But despite its urbanity, it does not fail to showcase its heritage and culture. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and apart from being an arts and culture center, it is beautifully set in a place very close to nature - forests, mountains, wildlife sanctuaries, the sea. It's a nature lover's paradise. Imagine the tranquility of the forest or the sea breeze on a cloudy day...

I think it's worth a family vacation to check on whether the place suits our taste. Or, if not to immigrate, at least to enjoy its culture and its landscape that sets it apart.

The Land the Merlion Protects - family trip to Singapore

I love Singapore among other things. I love how the city is kept clean and how the people are disciplined. You can't buy a chewing gum there because you'll get caught. No kidding. Also, don't try to bring gum nor cigarettes into Singapore because you'll be made to pay dearly. There are many job opportunities for my husband and I. And, not to mention, that it has one of the best educational system in the world.

We were there in October of 2006 and had only 3 days stay . Like the other trips, it was a treat for my daughter. But, we were on a tight budget unlike when we went to the US and to Bangkok. The hotel we booked with was the YWCA Fort Canning Lodge. My husband's cousin, Rowie, who is based there, suggested it. It had a small room but it was clean and we were comfy. The location is great because it is very near the Raffles and very close to the malls. What more could I ask for?

For the 3 days stay we only got to visit 3 places: The Sentosa Island, the Singapore Science Center and the Snow City which is at the back of the SSC. Ikee enjoyed it best at the SSC. I think most kids would. It's an interactive museum which features all kinds of science exhibits and has a 3d movie house. The Snow city is a place to play in a very cold place. It simulates the feeling of a snowland (which is why it's called snow city in the first place... hehehe). We liked it there too because we were able to frolick. It was just soooo cold!

Sentosa is an island. We rode the cable car to get there. And there's a bus that goes around the island if you just want to see it first. There was an aquarium in the likes of the Aquarium of the Pacific but smaller. It was a shame that we didn't get to see the lights show but there's always a next time. Just not sure when though. Great for a family trip too.

The best way, to travel around singapore is via the MRT. It's cheap, fast and you'd get a bird's eyeview of what Singapore really has to offer. There are interconnections almost everywhere that it is impossible to miss it.

Many of the Singaporeans speak english. Not the kind that you'd expect from a Filipino but they're quite good. We did not have a single problem communicating with them. The resto I can recommend is the "a place with no name" or something that sounds like that. it's near the channel where they have the Merlion. Their seafood is to die for!

Shopping in Singapore isn't really that good with the exception of electronic goods. But if you buy electronic goods, you'd have to be a regular traveller to Singapore or know someone who does since the warranty that they give is only applicable in Singapore. I'd buy my goods in my home counry if I were you. The rest are just as much as what we have in the Philippines. Shopping is a lot better in Thailand.

The weather is pretty much like the Philippines. It has two seasons - summer and rain. It gets really hot during the summer and is humid throughout the year.

Well, that's it for now. Ciao!

Hong Kong on a Budget

Everyone who visits a new place and does not take a package tour will be jittery and a bit scared of getting lost and feeling really helpless. What more when going to a place where noone speaks english or your native tongue? I feel that way everytime we go on a trip abroad. I mean, I don't know the place nor does my husband. The worst part is that everyone in our party counts on me to know what to do and where to go, as if I was the tour guide and that adds to the jitters. But each time we come home from a trip, the feeling of being able to accomplish something for yourself and for your family is there, and it feels good.

Well, I always start with research,then book, then research, buy a map, then research, and more research. So yes, you got it right, the secret is to research. Start off with viewing websites such as virtuatourist and lonely planet. These two offer tips for going about your destination and you can book online with them. But I don't book with either one. With VT, I am able to save my travel guides to a certain folder which is exclusive for a particular destination. You'll have to be a member to do that. Anyway, membership is free. I read travel guides and ask questions in the forum. The guys at vt (I'm a member too you know) are really accommodating and will try to help in anyway they can.

After I have made my temporary IT, I try to check out the prices. I won't expound on this as I have written a blog about it so do read the other posts. the resources I have for booking flights include Trip Advisor, Booking.com, cheaperthanhotels.com, Expedia.com, Asiatravel, ctrip.com, and Hostelworld.com. Hostelworld and booking.com have hostels listed for the budget conscious travellers which we are.

Next, I read more on the places of interest. For Hong Kong, I found THKA and the Hong Kong tourism Board to be of so much use. THKA offers a local's way to go around hong kong, saving the traveller money from taking cabs and suggests walks that can be done by themselves. The Hong Kong Tourism Board gives you more options to include in your IT attractions that you can visit for free such as the museums that are free on wednesdays and tuesdays, heritage walks, free chinese junk ride, free visit to a theater, and the MTR-Ocean park package (which gives you a free ride).

I don't find Hong Kong cheap at all. So, because we have 8 days and 7 nights to spend for our holiday, I've decided to include both Macau and Zhuhai in our IT too. These two places are also interesting because they give another perspective of the modern China - Macau for the Portuguese-cantonese culture and Zhuhai for the beach, the chinese palace and shopping! Well, Shopping mainly because according to my sources, Zhuhai is the place where you can get cheap goods (mostly unbranded and imitations though). Cheaper than Shenzhen and way way lower than Hong Kong.

We need a visa to go to zhuhai. So, instead of getting a chinese visa from here which will cost us 1,500 php each, I've discovered that we can actually get them at either Macau or Hong Kong. It only takes a few hours to secure the visa and is good for single entry and exit at zhuhai only. This costs about 750 php which will save us 50%. Also, Zhuhai hotels cost only about 30 to 50% of the hotel prices in HK and Macau for the same hotel star rating. Jumbo Hotel costs only 30 USD per night and it's even a 4 star hotel (5 star even according to some).

If you've been following my blog you'd know that I gave myself a 25k challenge for the whole Macau, HK and Zhuhai trip. So far so good. I've still managed to keep the costs to 21k including the ferry trip which costs around 4,500 php for all 3 of us, and the chinese visa. It is a good thing that the main purpose of the trip is to orient my daughter with chinese history and culture so we can actually stay out of Disneyland. Well, quite frankly, she's not so interested in going because she says it's too small when compared to the disneyland parks she's been to. That saves me at least 180 USD. plus, the places she wants to see are either free or cheap with the exception of the Ocean park which is not that expensive either.

I guess that's that for now. I'll let you know my final IT before I leave. Check back in when you can.



Jane


For more info, please visit:

Travel Hong Kong Attractions
This site offers you an ultimate virtual guide on how to get there, to the Hong Kong attractions and where else you can go from there. Save your time and money to your Hong Kong journey, know before you go.

Trip to Macau - Creating an Itinerary

Whew! I never thought preparing for a trip could be so exhausting. Or maybe I've just forgotten how it is to get ready for a family holiday. It has so far cost me sleepless nights and huge eyebags in the morning, not to mention that my sleep pattern has been altered to that of GMT -8:00, being awake in the wee hours of dawn and asleep until noon.
Cebu Pacific recently had an PHP888 promo for all its international flights. After all taxes and charges had been added, it amounted to about 4,600 pesos or so. It was the perfect opportunity for us to travel abroad after not having done so for the last 2 years. Instead of taking a trip locally, why not go abroad? After all, part of the reason for travelling is to familiarize Ikee with the place which she will study about in the Social Studies subject next school year. Second year in PCSHS has Asian History. Social Studies has always been boring to her. But travelling makes it interesting. So, why not hit two birds with one stone?
This time it would be Macau-Hong Kong-Zhuhai. It should've been Beijing after all Chinese history revolves around it. But it must be so boring for my husband that when presented with a choice of Shanghai-Beijing and Macau-Hong Kong, he chose the latter. So, I said what the heck? Macau and Hong Kong are Special Administrative Regions and Zhuhai is part of mainland China. We're getting 3 histories for the price of one.
I know very little of Macau and Hong Kong but I absolutely did not know Zhuhai was even part of the globe! But, the adventurous person that I am, I started to buy our tickets from the Cebu Pac website which endlessly bumped me off until i finally got our booking for 7 nights! I couldn't do anything. It was my first time to book online with them and from what I heard before, I had to get the first schedule available for me.
I am so used to coordinating travel plans for my family even when I myself am not familiar with the place. Usually, I would have read heavily about the place before I even book. But with this trip, it's the other way around. I got to learn about the places only after we had purchased our tickets. So, I then I found out that travelling to HK and Macau aren't so cheap after all. Zhuhai however is a different story.
The more I learn about Zhuhai, the more it becomes inviting to me. It has cheap hotels and has both beaches and hot springs which I like going to. Not only that, it's a shopper's paradise. Of course I've not gone there yet and might be proven wrong. But so far, from the virtualtourist.com traveller's reviews and reviews from both Yahoo travel and Trip Advisor, I've been able to locate Hotels and interesting spots which I have not heard of in the past. All hail the net!
The challenge is to be able to come up with an itinerary which would be both interesting and affordable. So far, I've come up with the idea of spending 2 days in zhuhai, 3 days in hong Kong, ang 2 days in Macau.

Let's see if I can meet the challenge. 25k?

Rating afineplace.com - Just How Good Are They?

Always when I search for baguio accommodations, I never fail to see the listing of afineplace.com. I used to wonder whether these guys who operate the site were real or a hoax. But some friend of my husband recommended it to us after my hubby transferred from his former company (where accommodations in Baguio were had for a minimal price) to his present one which does not provide the baguio treat. So, far we've occupied 2 of their properties and we liked both thus far.
The houses are well kept, there are caretakers who can attend to your requests, there's enough space for the specified number of persons, we can cook and barbecue and , in unit A which we rented this year, we had a fireplace. the only thing though about both properties is that they are not in the middle of the action (which we actually prefer) so we need a car or take a cab going to and fro. But don't take me wrong, they're not too far from the center of the city either. Just not right at it.
Both properties are along Marcos highway just about 5 to 10 minutes away from SM on session Road. Unit A cost us about 2,200 per night for 5 persons for a house with 3 rooms. Unit A cost us 3000 per night for 5 persons. As far as I'm concerned, afineplace.com gets a grade of 8/10. One thing I didn't like with the unit I (or was it F, sorry I've forgotten) though is that it was a little noisy at night. It is a compound and there were about 2 other "houses" right below ours. Some foreigners were occupying the place and they would play in the middle of the night. The caretaker tried to tell them twice but they'd be back to it just the following night. But that's about all. Those guys, just like us, were transients too. That means, there will be other people there every week and not the same ones we were with. So, the next time you're planning a trip to Baguio, you may want to consider afineplace.com instead of a hotel. You contact them through their website at www.afineplace.com. Do tell them Jane Cajuguiran highly recommends them.