A couple of weeks ago, I found myself trailing the significant other who was browsing through the luxury shops in Singapore buying stuff for clients.  It would have been great if some of the stuff she was buying was for me but unfortunately it was all about business as usual.  The great thing is that I finally was able to come to Singapore, not for some gut-wrenching project but for purely materialistic and gastronomic purposes.

Weeks prior to our trip, the SO suggested that I come with her for an all expense paid trip to the city of fines as she was given an incentive by some company for some sales feat she achieved.  I was hesitant at first because having experienced going with her to another country wasn’t exactly the kind of fun that I imagined;  it was all supplier hunting and stocks and infernally long walks in crowded bazaars.  The only R&R I got from some of our out of country sorties was the foot massage at the end of the day when I can barely drag my feet up another stair.

This time however, before saying yes, I checked out what’s happening in the place she was inviting me to and got really excited when I learned that the Ultimate Ramen Championships is happening there (and continues to this date) and all the best Ramen shops in Japan were in town.  I immediately said yes and couldn’t wait to say Itadakimasu, Naruto-style.  I imagined myself slurping down oodles of noodles and sticking a toothpick in my mouth afterwards.  I was also looking forward to getting fiery mouthed with Indian fare from Muthu Curry and slopping bread with Singapore’s famous chili crabs.

Our fist day in Singapore immediately started with a walk-athon inside Marina Sands where the SO just had to go through all the Chanel stores, the Louis Vuitton shops, and the Hermes shops.  Goodness gracious, a freaking bangle for P35k?  Madre de cacao who would wear such a thing?  Sure it’s an Hermes but what gives?  The SO said that it’s for a rich client and further added that the reason I can’t appreciate such a luxury was because I can’t afford it.  Fair point.

Next was a cellphone strap priced at P25k.  My mind was swimming at the number of cases of San Mig Lights that I can buy with P25k.  I decided to shut my trap just in case the SO gets too annoyed.

The great thing about our Marina Sands visit was, it coincided with an exhibit of Salvador Dali’s works.  Dali was one of those surrealist guys whose works I really enjoy.  A certain reality twist is something that a guy who’s always looking to escape life gets a kick out of.  After all the walking I did for the SO, she really couldn’t refuse when I asked her to check out the exhibit.  The entrance fee is way more than 5 cinema tickets here but you know, when in Rome…

The Dali exhibit was a revelation.  I can’t pretend to understand what goes on inside the man’s head but I’m pretty sure he’s got a few screws loose otherwise he won’t be able to conceive a lot of those things he’s made.  The exhibit title says ‘Inside the mind of a genius’ I dare say it’s like going into the inner sanctum of a basket case.  I can’t really say anything else lest I be labeled as an ignoramus, which I probably am, but I do admit that looking at his works really challenged my simplistic way of looking at things.  Oh well, enough with Mr. Moustache.

The next two days were spent walking, walking, and more walking.  I did manage to visit the Ultimate Ramen Championship site at Iluma, near Bugis Junction and got to order Tetsu’s Very Rich Special Paitan Tsukemen (Pork, Chicken, & Seafood Broth).  Eating ramen Tsukemen-style is slightly different from eating ramen the normal way.  The noodles is separated from the broth and to eat it, you have to dip the noodle in the broth which is placed in another bowl.  The first thing I noticed was that the noodle was really springy.  It’s not like the usual noodle which gives up once you sink your teeth into it.  It sort of puts up a fight which makes the experience very enjoyable.  Or it could just be that this is how noodles should be and I’ve just been eating mediocre noodles all my life.  The broth indeed was very rich and somehow due to its richness it’s now almost like gravy.  Which is not to say that it does not taste good.  It did taste good.  In fact it tasted really good.  The only thing was I didn’t order any drink so all the time I was eating I had to make sure that I don’t gag on those very springy noodles.  Tetsu’s Paitan noodles costs SGD13/bowl.  That translates to around Php455 which is more than my day’s budget for food in Manila.  Perhaps that was the reason as well why I didn’t order another bowl from the other Ramen Stalls.  Poverty does steal one’s thunder sometimes.

The second night led us to one of the more popular hawker centers in Singapore.  The one we went to was near the Esplanade, that big durian looking structure near the bay.  I was already relishing the thought of having chili crabs, something that I’ve been dreaming of eating again for the longest time.  Unfortunately while the SO did order chili crabs, they were not the kind of crabs that I expected.  They were of the alimasag variety– not the alimango ones that I was looking forward to.  But since beggars can’t be choosers I went through the motions and managed to enjoy (even just a little bit) the inferior chili crab in front of me.

The last food in my list, chicken briyani, didn’t fare so well either.  I was expecting a really spicy chicken or mutton briyani just like the one I used to feast on back in the days when I often visit this city for work, but unfortunately what I got were the touristy variety.  It still tasted about the same but without its fiery quality.  I guess we were eating too much in places where tourists congregate so I think the Indian stalls had to flavor it accordingly.  Worse, they were not from Muthu Curry.  I really should go back there some other time and hunt down that elusive Indian stall.

I think Singapore, for a tourist at least, is best experienced when you have lots of money in your pocket.  We went to Funan on our third day to look for things, again, for the SO’s clients, again, and I chanced upon this gaming rig.  Looking at it was painful because I know I can never buy it.  This alienware laptop has 8, mother of god, gigabytes of RAM.  It was just too much for my poor envious heart to handle so I just took a quick snapshot and went away.

Overall, the Singapore trip was a great workout.  I must have burned gazillions of calories from all the walking that I did.  Although I think I promptly got them back during dinner.  Still it was a welcome trip, different from the usual out of country travels that I did with the SO.  But I know I can’t let my guard down.  The next time she asks me again to accompany her, I still have to make sure what the trip is for, and if it provides for a little window for R&R.  Other than that, everything’s right with the world.

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Well it’s been more than a month since my last update and I only have life to blame for it. Nature too.

I planned on going to Surigao’s Sohoton Cove last December and swim with the jellyfish there but unfortunately mother nature thought it was a bad idea so she had rain visit my hometown every day forcing me to stay indoors and accumulate fat. I decided not to tempt fate and listened to the rhythm of the falling rain. hmmm.

It wasn’t really such a good holiday season for me. True I get to go home to Buenavista, Agusan Del Norte, stayed at my adopted city– Butuan City and played cashier in the SO’s store. Though truth be told, I was only pretending to do some cashiering– I was too busy with the internet to really notice the shoppers who came into the store. My holiday was short-lived though. I was able to spend Christmas with the family but I was painfully alone during the New Year which is some kind of a mortal sin if you’re Filipino. But what can I say, as a corporate slave (not for long though) I have to do the bidding of my corporate masters.
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My first real trip for the year occured a few days after new year and this was another road trip to Pampanga. I went to Alfredo’s Resort which should be one of the premier summer outing destinations for Manila based companies. Especially for those who have a large number of employees. Of course there will be a post on this one and lots of pictures too!

Another first for the year is my first overseas trip. I went to Macau to see the Venetian Hotel and did a little side-shopping in HongKong. The good thing about this trip is that instead of the usual all expense paid trip courtesy of yours truly, this time I am the recipient of one. Sweet yeah? The trip lasted for 4 gloriously painful (to the feet) days. In fact, it ain’t over yet. I’m actually at the Hong Kong International airport typing this quick update.

I love the wifi here. PCCW provides the free WIFI to passengers. Not sure if the government of Hong Kong compensates the Li family for this but I’m almost positive this service is on the Li Ka Sheng house.

I should have a more interesting account of this trip in the coming days. In the meantime, stay cool, stay mobile, and keep on travelling them Philippine Islands!

With hundreds of thousands of passengers (maybe millions, who knows) going home to their cities and provinces during the week preceding the 25th, and especially more so on the 23rd and 24th of December, the airports are gonna be packed tighter than your favorite brand of sardines. It’s not a stretch to imagine that. Just how many airports are there in Manila, Cebu, and Davao? How many entrance gates (this is important)? And lastly how many are going home to their provinces?

If there’s one event during the year that needs intense and urgent preparations, its going home for Christmas. Marriage? Fuuu, no one’s ever prepared for that so don’t bother. Kidding.

Alright so here’s a few simple guidelines for your Christmas travel.

1. Book and book early. When I say early, I mean now, yes, while it’s still September. There are a lot of advantages for booking this early;
> If you’re working, you can advise your boss early and he’ll be very happy that you gave him ample time to reshuffle resources. I should know. (hmm..)
> There are still plenty of flights available you can choose what date and what time– hassle free.
> When you book this early, you can avail of the many Christmas Promo flights, like the Cebu Pacific Air Christmas Promo. Trust me on this one. Try being stubborn and book your tickets two weeks before Christmas and you’ll either;
>>>get the highest ticket price known to man,
>>>get the worst schedule ever,
>>>and if you’re not very lucky, you’re not getting any. Hmm that didn’t come out right, I mean you won’t be able to get any ticket AT ALL coz everything’s fully booked.

2. Be at the airport a full 2 hours before your domestic flight. If you’re going out of the country, be at the airport a full 3 hours before your scheduled flight. The queue in getting into the airport is so long you think it’s the biblical times all over again and Moses is out in front. It’s not hard to imagine getting stuck in that queue line for an hour. There are going to be queues everywhere so better be there very, very early.

3. If you can swing it, wear slippers (or slip-ons), and jeans without belts. lol. Airport security is just crazy these days. One of the things that I really hate is having to take off my shoes and my belt and put it through the xray machine. I was even thinking evil thoughts one day and wanted to step on cat poo just to let them smell my annoyance (I didn’t though). But seriously, youll see that this will actually save you a few wrinkles (and time too).

4. Bring an MP3 player or a portable DVD player (if you’re rich) or a book. It’s the Christmas season, and during this time, God loves to test our patience with flight delays just to see if we can still ‘give love on christmas day’ when you’re stranded in the airport. Having these things will help you pass the time. It’s a good way to meet cute bored girls/guys too. Use your imagination on this one.

5. Never forget to bring a jacket or anything that will warm you up. Airports can be quite cold and even if you’re travelling at noon, there’s no telling that your flight’s gonna be cancelled.

Oh well, that’s all for now. All these things are at the top of my head so if you have other Christmas Season travel tips, leave a comment!

One of the absolute must-knows or must-haves for any traveller is an accurate information about the weather. You wouldn’t want to plan a beach outing without knowing what the weather is going to be like on your target date do you? For us Pinoys, the first thing that comes to mind when talking about weather forecasts is PAGASA or the Philippine Atmosperic, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.
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PAGASA is a Philippine national institution dedicated to provide flood and typhoon warnings, public weather forecasts and advisories, meteorological, astronomical, climatological, and other specialized information and services primarily for the protection of life and property and in support of economic, productivity and sustainable development – Wikipedia

Accessing the Philippines weather forecast is easy enough. You just go to PAGASA’s website at http://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/ and you can easily get REAL TIME WEATHER, FLOOD FORECAST, CLIMATOLOGY, etc., etc.. What you won’t get however are the itsy bitsy details that are so very important to travellers like; the weather for obscure Philippine locations e.g. Buenavista, Agusan Del Norte, or more importantly what’s the weather forecast for Boracay Island in the next 7 days. These are the little things that are oh so lacking in our little backyard (should I say backward?) weather institution.

Weather Forecast Resource Alternative

Of course we don’t just give up. If our local weather stations cannot give us the information that we desire, we just have to look somewhere else. And this is the resource that I found if you want a 7 day weather forecast for a certain Philippine destination:

WWW.WEATHERBUG.COM

It’s unbelievable what this site can do. It can drill down to the city or town level in the Philippines and provide its 7 day forecast. How absolutely amazing is that?

To make your life a little bit easier. I have here the link that will automatically bring you to the city/town selection page so you don’t have to exert anymore effort.

7 Day Weather Forecast For Philippine Cities and Municipalities

So there you go. Enjoy planning your next trip!
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At last a long weekend that I’m not obligated to work. The girlfriend was supposed to come to Mohammed but THIS Mohammed decided to explore the mountains instead (hold that crazy thought). Since I’m so lacking in adventure in the past three weeks, I made a spur of the moment decision to go home to the province and finally conquer the ENCHANTED HINATUAN RIVER of Surigao Del Sur, the bluest river I’ve ever seen in my life, at least in photos. I’ll be bringing my two little elves with me and we’ll go and explore that part of Surigao Del Sur.

Darn, I can already feel the trip jarring my bones but man, I can’t contain my excitement!

If you can’t feel my excitement, you might want to read this article by Jojie Alcantara that awesome photographer from witerary.com ==>> Return to Hinatuan’s enchanted river

Photo shamelessly lifted from dokhey.blogspot.com.

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I finally did it! I wasn’t really sure how to install a photo gallery without using any plug-in from wordpress so I sort of did a little bit of research. I checked with my webhost if they have some solution for me. And boy did they have something! I’m pretty happy with how this thing turned out.

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Actually there were three softwares to choose from; Gallery2, Coppermine, and ZenPhotos. The last one ‘sounded’ cool so I installed it. The result? I can upload a lot of photos in one go with the gallery living up to its name. It’s very… Zen.

As I have loads of photos to upload, I was only able to upload my photos for my Caramoan and Baler Adventures. Do visit the gallery from time to time to check on the latest uploaded photos

Check out the photo gallery now at agiledeals.com/photos.
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Photos from WOW Philippines
I will be a cliche and say that Boracay is still, by far the best beach in the Philippines.  No other Philippine beach comes close to it. Palawan, also called the last frontier, may have its beautiful little beaches but when individually putting  these beaches side by side with Boracay, Palawan’s beaches pale in comparison.
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So why do I love Boracay so much?  Let me count the ways.

Boracay has a 3 kilometer shoreline of fine dazzling white sand.  Even if you walk barefoot on a scorching sunny day, the sand seems to absorb the sun’s heat and never gets hot as to require you to wear slippers.

Blessed with warm waters from the __ sea, you can dip in Boracay’s waters any time of the day and not shiver in the cold.  And the color of the water, it makes you want to drown yourself underneath and never come back up.  Even the seabed has fine sand which makes it all the more enjoyable.

With the advent of commercialization, some folks say that Boracay is no longer the paradise that it used to be.  True there are now establishments along the beach but I do believe that it only opened up the island to all walks of life.  Now it’s not just for people who prefer to rough it out with nature.  The filthy rich can have the luxury that they are accustomed to while the not so rich still have their choices of very affordable accommodations.

The food on the island has also become very varied which can only mean that people have more places and restaurants to choose from.  Those who complain that the place has become quite expensive don’t know where to look, or lack the stomach for adventure.  You only have to dig deeper to see that not everything is priced for foreigners.

The nightlife is thumping as well.  There are a lot more bars and establishments now so after a full day of swimming and frolicking under the sun, you can drown your sorrows in beer or dance the night away in the many bars and restaurants by the beach.

Boracay has also become more accessible.  Before, people have to spend long hours at sea just to be able to save on fares, but now with plummeting plane fares, everyone can just hop on a plane and be on the island in just a couple of hours minus the financial distress.

Having said that, what’s not to love about Boracay, the best beach in the Philippines.
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Cebu Pacific has been bludgeoning Philippine Airlines with their very low domestic fares. In just a very short period of time, they have without a doubt taken over the reins from PAL as the undisputed domestic airline carrier of the Philippines. So much for seniority huh?
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Anyway, being the domestic airline of choice is well and good but this new title brings along with it a lot of complications and unfortunately these complications resulted in really bad service for its customers. Because their fare is so low, most folks now book with Cebu Pacific. I think they have realized their slogan “It’s time every Juan flies” with their offerings. Unfotunately this slogan can also mean “It’s time every Juan suffers in the queue lines”.

I’m not sure how much has changed in a couple of months but the last time I travelled with Cebu Pacific, the queu was horrendous. Sure they’re now in NAIA 3 and there are a lot of generic (no speicifc routes) check in counters to cater to passengers, but still, the lines! Even if you come in really early for your flight, you still have to go through this very long passenger line.
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Now we could hem and haw about the really bad service (or so we think) or we can all just RELAX.

Relax because well, there’s no point bursting an artery just because the lines are long. The trick is to be at the airport between 60-90 minutes before your estimated departure time. Anything earlier and you’ll burst an artery. Anything later and you’ll die of nervousness.

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but when a plane is due to depart within an hour, the Cebu Pacific people will open a dedicated line for that particular route. All passengers who are in queue and headed for that route are asked to transfer to that line.

This my friends is the window of opportunity.

You don’t have to be frustrated over the really long line, just be there with enough time to spare, you can queue if you like, just make sure that when the Cebu Pacific crew begins calling out for departing passengers bound for blahblah, you haul your behind and go into that line. For sure you’ll be in a very short line and you won’t be left behind by your plane.

What if you’re in the queue outside the airport?  Well just tell the guard that your plane is due to depart in an hour, show them your ticket and they’ll allow you to get inside.  Look for a Cebu Pacific crew and check if a line has been opened for your route and that’s it.  You don’t have to camp out or anything.  Just a little common sense and street smarts should do the trick.

Hope this is helpful for you harrassed passengers.
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photocredit: daylife.com

One of the reasons I created this blog was to appreciate this world we’re living in, one country at a time. I have not yet reached the point where I can go to a country anytime I want, which is a pity really. So if you have a few million bucks lying around, please feel free to send me a note and I’ll give you my bank account number.
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What I’ve done however, is to make sure that every job I take involves travel. So far, I’ve been an external auditor which allowed me to travel around the Visayas Islands extensively, an internal auditor (allowed me to travel the Visayas and Mindanao), and a process migrations person (which allowed me to travel to locations outside the Philippines). It’s just too bad that those travels I had weren’t recorded in this blog. But give me time, and I’ll probably get enough clarity to post about them as well.

Another reason for this blog is to reach out to like minded individuals who share my passion for travelling and seeing new places and discovering awesome sites. By networking and linking with you guys, I hope to be able to learn from you as well. Thus I really appreciate the effort you guys took in posting your comments here. I have not been a very good blogger in the sense that I haven’t been replying as soon as I should. The reason for that is that the commenting system that comes with this template sucks. There I said it.

But not to worry, I have remedied that situation and installed the Disqus commenting system here, which sort of pretti-fies the comments section and allows me to thread comments. Which means that when I reply to your comment, it automatically is linked to your comment that I’m replying to. Sounds cool doesn’t it? Another good thing about this as well is that even if you don’t have a Disqus account, you can still comment. This is a really cool thing because people are often turned-off by anything that requires them to register. So that should take care of that.

However, I would suggest that you register and install the commenting system in your blogs as well as it really rocks, both in ease of use and aesthetics.

So folks, thanks for your comments, I hope you post some more comments, and if you have travel tips for me, let me have it. It’ll be very much appreciated. Hey, expand those comments enough and you could probably have your own guest post here! Ta!
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This April this little Pinoy Traveller will be heading towards opposite ends. My first destination will be the little known Cagwait Beach in Surigao Del Sur. The girlfriend alerted me to this venue and has nothing but great words for the place. This considering that she’s never been there. From what I can research over the internet, people have been raving about it. Not much photos about the place though. I think I will have to change that.
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My next destination will be the surfing sites of Baler. What got me interested is of course the awesome movie featuring Anne Curtis and Jericho Rosales. Not. Some friends have been bugging me to go with them and visit the place. Since I haven’t tried surfing them waves, I’m definitely getting wet this time. Oh, and I’ll make damn sure I post their mugs in this blog; make them famous for a change.

I’ll be going to these places in the 3rd and 4th week of April. Man I can’t imagine how much all of these is gonna cost me but hey, it’s only money right?

Stay tuned for my review of these places. In the meantime, why don’t you subscribe to my feed by clicking this link ==> Philippines Travel Blog.? This way you don’t have to visit this site everytime there’s an update. All my posts will automagically find their way to your rss reader. Don’t have a reader? How about an email? Of course you have. In this case you can subscribe to Subscribe to Philippines Travel Blog by Email.
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