Hello Seoul

On the month of May, my family had the sudden impulse to travel. However, we couldn't reconcile all of our schedules so we decided to just have a quick out of country trip. Since it's summer, majority of the flights were booked. Our travel agent had the hardest time processing our visas, with just a week of notice, and booking our flights. We almost didn't push through with Seoul, so we had a back up flight to Singapore just in case. Thankfully, the day before our flight, we were also able to book a connecting flight to Hongkong after our Seoul trip and our Korean visas were released! Talk about timing! :)

Anyway, these photos are basically just a summary of our Korea trip.

Ready to fly!!

This is me - hoarding the window seat - yet again. 

We stayed in Myeong-Dong! This was taken outside of our hotel. It was definitely a good pick since majority of the shops we wanted to visit were there and N-Tower was just few blocks away!

2,500 Korean Won goodness! My siblings and I pretty much splurged on this every night! 

Myeong-Dong at night.

On our second day, we went on a trip to the Demilitarized Zone. It was so amazing seeing North Korea up close. Well, maybe not close, but definitely closer than being in South. We also trekked down tunnels dug by the North Koreans in an attempt to invade Seoul. 

We were also able to go to Seoul's train station to Panmunjom, North Korea, if ever there will be a reconciliation between the two in the near future.

After our visit to the DMZ. Oh, did I mention it was his 17th birthday too! My little brother's the luckiest. Every year, whenever we'd celebrate his birthday, we'd always be out of the country!

Myeong-Dong at night! It looks crowded, but once you're walking along the streets, the ambiance is pretty laid back and relaxed.

On our second day, we went to Lotte World. I took this picture to prove to Alba that 'bump cars' can also be called as 'bumper cars'. 

This was taken inside a hot air balloon. My knees were definitely shaking while the hot air balloon was going up.

Still in Lotte World! It was such a different experience as compared to Hongkong's Ocean Park.

On the fourth day, we went to the Gyeongbokgung Palace. It's so amazing finding a traditional palace in the middle of the city. In my opinion, it definitely adds touch to Korea's distinct ambiance. 

Lol, do we blend in now?

With my beautiful mother

 

And ofcourse, what's Korea without their Korean Barbeque! I kid you not, this was the best Samgyup I've ever tasted. 

Afterwards, we took a cable car to the Namsan Tower.

Look what I found the moment we got there! Love locks!

The view from Namsan Tower.

Another food I splurged on in Korea

There were so many pretty bow hair ties I couldn't stop myself from taking some home with me. 

This was taken on our way to the airport.

I'm truly thankful we got to visit Korea even just for five days. The country truly got me hooked with their culture. I loved that even though they were big on modernization, they still manage to keep their culture and tradition. I'm insanely in love with their history - involving, of course, North Korea. In addition to this, I also can't help but get hooked with their food! Korea is definitely one of the best countries I've been to, and I'm pretty sure my family and I will be back soon.

Roadtrip to nowhere

In college, it is a given fact that I can't be with my high school best friends twenty four - seven. We wanted to pursue different careers which means having lesser time for each other. This is why I always make it a point to always immediately grab the opportunity of spending time with them.

About a week ago Aressa, one of my best friends, and I were talking about LEAP (for everyone who doesn't know, LEAP is usually a day allotted for other creational activities hosted by school; thus, it usually is a free day) and since she knew I never bothered attending those activities, she asked if I wanted to go on a road trip with her. So off we went, with absolutely no plans apart from having our very much craved for Bulalo.

Our Taal volcano view while eating.

With Aressa

Since it was cold, we decided to have coffee right after lunch. However, Bag of Beans was full so we went to Starbucks right away. Imagine our surprise when we saw lots of schoolmates there! Haha.

Always a great adventure with these guys!

Afterwards, we just went around Tagaytay Highlands then went back to Manila. It was such a beautiful day, and I'm truly blessed to have such amazing friends.

Cebu Diaries

Last June 6, I went on a local trip together with my family at Cebu. Being extremely busy with school weeks before the trip, I didn't have any idea as to what our itinerary would be. I crammed my packing, and wasn't really able to prepare well for the trip. However, the trip was such a welcome distraction from my everyday stressful life that I didn't really mind. 

Here are some of the few pictures during our trip.

Here's my plane ticket!

 

 While waiting for the plane! All ready to hop on the plane and fly. Lol, if any of you are wondering, that's a Kindle Touch I'm holding.

Can you guess who? It's me and my window seat! Everybody in my family knows that every time we travel, I get to have the window seat! It's simply non-negotiable.  

To me, one of the best perks of flying window seat is that you get to see the view from an aerial perspective (well, right, ofcourse). 

Here's where we stayed for the weekend. Imagine three days of pure paradise! Haha, this is at Imperial Palace Water Park Resort and Spa. I really recommend this place! I've been to numerous hotels nationwide, and nothing compares to this. It's too bad I wasn't able to capture the suites where we stayed. It was absolutely perfect! Not to mention the number of waterparks they offer! I'm definitely going back :)

Island hopping! Look how peaceful it is out there.

Island hopping, still. 

And lastly, one of Imperial Palace's many pools!

It was such a perfect weekend. I love you, Cebu!

Singapura day 1&2

Singapore snapshots at Universal Studios in Singapore. Best trip, yet!