SFO in five hours

We're spending two days and a night in San Francisco and I found it extremely difficult to choose which neighborhoods to explore there. But amazingly, this guy did it in five hours!

I think I'm going to break the rule of not wearing athletic shoes in the city. I have to wear the comfiest shoes I have because we're breezing through Golden Gate Bridge, Haight-Ashbury, Mission, Alamo Square, Union Square and Fisherman's Wharf on day 1. Then on day 2, we'll be going to Alcatraz, North Beach, Telegraph Hill and Chinatown. Just looking at our itinerary makes me tired already! But I'm super excited to lose my heart (and our way too! but not too much, hehe) in San Francisco!

Off in five days! Yahoooo!

are we pregnant? why are we so lucky?!

A lady just called me and told me I WON FREE ACCOMMODATION FOR TWO AT ANGSANA BINTAN!!!


She said I'm the first winner of Harbourfront Centre's Great Singapore Sale raffle and they will be announcing me as the winner at Class 95 FM on Monday morning.

How frickin' cool is that?

Thank you great, awesome God for all the blesssssssingsssss!!!

Well if we're not pregnant yet, I wish we'd be after the Angsana honeymoon! Hahaha.

the BIG trip is happenin'

Yeah, against all odds! Anong economic crisis? Anong swine flu? Wala nyan!!! Boo!

Got our tickets last night and we both

JUST.

CAN'T.

WAIT.

visualisation and vibration

According to The Secret, visualisation is a powerful tool you can use to help you achieve your dreams/goals. So that I would be inspired to work when I'm stressed or getting bored with what I do, I decided to set up an inspiration board. I've asked B to print these photo collages for me:


I'm pasting it onto the bulletin board here at home. Since I don't have a board at the office, I just looked for Rome wallpapers. I figured it'd work just the same.

But visualizing is not enough, according to The Secret. You have to feel and believe that you're already where you want to go/be. Something to do with vibrations of energy ito. I think I'm feeling these cities enough and I believe we'll be able to travel to both.

Puro travel-related ano? It's because as of now, traveling is the only thing I'm completely sure I would want to do for the rest of my life.

And speaking of travel, we just got back from Phuket, Thailand. More about that later. For now I have to write about Aalborg and Crete. Maybe I would learn something about these cities that would make me want to visit them too.

Arrivederci!

trip planner

I'm planning a trip to (somewhere I can't say yet) and just noticed it's almost 4PM. Time passes by quickly talaga if you love what you're doing.

Planning trips is one of the things I love doing the most. I love doing it so much I wish I could turn it into a career.

Hmm, why not?

I really love everything about travel and tourism so maybe I should consider a career shift. I am in the travel industry now but what I'm doing (writing about hotels) is quite not what I really want to do. It's close and I like it but it's still not quite it.

Hehe. Obvious ba? I'm researching about (somewhere I can't say yet) instead of working.

no such thing as a bad trip

Any trip can be fraught with disappointment: Expectations are always high, and anything can go wrong. Here are a few suggestions for both first-time and inveterate travelers: More important than packing a bag full of money, pack a bag full of patience and curiosity; allow yourself--encourage yourself--to be sidetracked and to get lost. There's no such thing as a bad trip, just good travel stories to tell back home. Always travel with a smile and remember that you're the one with the strange customs visiting someone else's country. Relying on the kindness of strangers isn't naive--there are good people wherever you go. And, finally, the more time you spend coming to understand the way of others, the more you'll understand yourself. The journey abroad reflects the one within--the most unknown and foreign and unmapped landscape of them all, the ulitma terra incognita. As Mr. Twain said, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

--Patricia Schultz, 1,000 Places To See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List

dream destinations

What are your dream destinations?

Here are my top five:

1. Rome, Italy - Tinatawag talaga ako ng Rome. I just have this feeling that I belong there. Maybe I was a Roman in my past life. Hehe.  I would also love to see the Colosseum, the Pantheon and the Duomo, among many other stunning sights. And eat authentic Italian gelato of course!

2. Florence, Italy - I will probably spend a day in the Uffizi, getting lost in all the masterpieces there. I'll visit the Duomo too and admire Brunelleschi's octagonal dome.

3. Athens, Greece - I want to see the Acropolis!

4. Barcelona, Spain - I want to experience this city and see all of Gaudi's works.

5. Cairo, Egypt - I want to see the pyramids!

Somewhere down my list are London, Budapest and New York! Sana tumama na lang kami sa lotto para magtravel na lang forever!

two days to go

And the weather in our destinations are looking good.

Macau

Hong Kong

But then again, these are just forecasts. Could be correct, better or worse. Correct na lang sana.

Or better.  

wedding over, will travel

Two-Oh-Oh-Eight was a year when we scrimped on travel because we had to allot money for our trips to the Philippines and back, and of course, the wedding. So we're really excited for 2009 because it's going to be the year we satisfy our wanderlust! It hasn't even started yet but we already booked tickets for three destinations, including one for Manila. Now we have to buy another set because WE WON FREE STAY FOR TWO NIGHTS AT THE DUSIT THANI LAGUNA RESORT IN PHUKET!!!

Our company, which is an online hotel booking company, had a small (but big on food!) year-end gathering last night at my boss' place. They raffled off round-trip tickets from Jetstar (one of our partners) as well as hotel stays, tours and dinner packages. I was praying I'd get the round trip tickets for two to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam because B and I haven't been there, but what we got was good, too. We haven't been to Phuket yet so it's another must-see off our list.

The new year hasn't even started yet but I'm loving it already!

Happy new year everyone! Mucho you all!

i'm so there. i can smell the chocolates already.

B and I love Ghirardelli chocolates, and I would love to experience San Francisco. There could be no other perfect time to go.

a place to see before I die

Since I'm done for the day, I started browsing the office's copy of 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. Naturally, inuna ko ang places to see sa Pinas. There were only three: Taal Volcano, Banaue Rice Terraces and Amanpulo.

Taal Volcano I already saw. I still haven't seen Banaue Rice Terraces but that's easy. What caught my fancy was Amanpulo.


I go online to check this resort-to-see-before-I-die and I was blown away! Ang ganda! Ang puti ng sand, ang water, pristine. Walang sinabi ang Krabi. I checked the rates and ahahay! So expensive! Nasa USD pa ang presyo!

I sent an e-mail to check if they have special rates for locals. After a few hours, I got a reply from their reservations desk. Meron nga, pero naman, still expensive!

One night is P27,500 (+10% SC, +12% government tax), tapos ang minimum is two nights. Do the math. Bukod pa yung P13,000 net/person round trip airfare from Manila to Amanpulo and vice versa.

Ayayay. Cannot afford lah!

Puerto Galera na lang tayo. Hahahaha.

wanderlust

Writing about destinations tickles my wanderlust. How can you write about the Cristo Redentor in Rio de Janeiro or the Acropolis in Athens or the beaches of the French Riviera without wanting to see them in person?

Since we're saving up for our wedding, B and I haven't been able to set aside time and money for travel. Siempre, imbis na sa travel, sa wedding na lang muna namin ilalagay. But next year, we aim to travel big. Just need to save, save, save and to cut back on mini trips.

Hopefully, we would also be able to visit places in the Philippines we haven't been to yet, such as Palawan, Ilocos and Bicol, and go back to Boracay and Bohol. Ang ganda kaya ng Pilipinas and it's such a shame na nauunahan pa kami ng ibang turista makapunta sa mga lugar na yan.

Hay...Ang saya!

Kayo, san niyo gusto pumunta?